A Low-Carnage Long Campaign (Group LaCroix)

[vahauser]

This is an attempt to come up with a challenging and interesting campaign using the low-carnage format.


Group LaCroix, Belgian Long Campaign
Start Date: January 1942
Theater: Asia
"Parent" Nation: British (choosing the British instead of the Americans bypasses the American artillery advantage)
Version: Enhanced 2009
Initial Core: 3,000 points

I will actually be using Belgium as the basis for this campaign, and no British forces will ever be used (except for the A0) in this campaign. In Enhanced 2009, Belgium is one of the weakest Allied nations still capable of fielding a combined-arms force. Belgium is weaker than Canada, India, ANZAC, and France, for example.

I will post settings, limitations, restrictions, etc., soon. I plan to start the campaign this weekend.

[Alby]

Good Luck
[:)]

[vahauser]

This campaign is going to use a modified version of the Low-Carnage settings, as shown in the screenshot below. The modifications to the “default” Low-Carnage settings were made so as to reflect the differences in playing against the computer instead of playing against another human. The idea is to give the computer all the advantages and I get no advantages at all.

Notes:
1 – The computer is given higher settings than me in all cases.
2 – Manual Op-Fire is OFF (turning it ON helps the human, so it stays OFF).
3 – Live Delay is turned OFF (turning it ON helps the human, so it stays OFF).
4 – Message Delay is turned OFF (turning it ON helps the human, so it stays OFF).
5 – C&C is turned ON (this is a default setting for Low-Carnage and has nothing to do with “realism vs. non-realism”; it is turned ON solely to make the game harder for the human player and not to make the game more (or less) “realistic”).
6 – Auto-Rally is turned OFF (this is a default setting for Low-
Carnage and makes the game harder for the human).
7 – AI Level is set to 200 (makes the game harder for the human).
8 – Reduced Squads is turned OFF (turning it ON helps the human, so it stays OFF).
9 – Reduced Ammo is turned OFF (turning it ON helps the human, so it stays OFF).
10 – Mines are turned ON (but only the computer can use them; I will never buy or deploy mines during this campaign).
11 – AI Advantage is turned ON.

Bombardment Restrictions
1 – I cannot assign pre-game target hexes in Advance, Delay, and Meeting Engagement battles. I may only assign pre-game target hexes in Defend and Assault battles.
2 – I cannot fire pre-game bombardment in Advance, Delay, Meeting Engagement, and Defend battles. I may only fire pre-game bombardment in Assault battles.
3 – All of my on-map artillery must be 99mm or less (core or support).
4 – All of my off-map artillery must be 155mm or less.
5 – I may never use airstrikes during this campaign.

General Requirements
1 – I must reload all River Defense battles (they are too easy).
2 – I must retreat off-map starting on Turn 21 during all Delay battles.
3 – I may never conduct airdrops during this campaign.
4 – I may never conduct special-operations infiltrations during this campaign.
5 – I will use the Mr. Fix campaign utility following every battle.
6 – I may never voluntarily stack more than 3 units in a hex except when loading/unloading a transport, and any overstacked hex must be relieved at the first (before anything else) available opportunity.
7 – All battles will be at the Hard(x2) setting.

[vahauser]

This is my core. Battle #1 is coming soon...

[Riun T]

Looks like a very well set up core, the settings look fine,and I don't know anything about the "low carnage" aspect thats at work with this MOD,but I can hardly wait to see some screenshots of the action,and find out if u can make it to the end of the war? GOOD LUCK[;)]

[vahauser]

Riun T,
 
I just got some bad news.  I'm going to the hospital to have surgery soon.  It might be later this summer until I can focus on this campaign. 

[Alby]

ORIGINAL: vahauser

Riun T,

I just got some bad news.  I'm going to the hospital to have surgery soon.  It might be later this summer until I can focus on this campaign. 

good luck, nothing too serious I hope

[vahauser]

Battle #1, Belgium Delay vs. Japan Advance
Date: 8 Jan 1942
Time: 1000 hours
Weather: Hazy
Visibility: 19
Game Length: 39 turns
Victory Hexes: 15 per turn forward, 100 end game rear
Support Points: 1077

I bought 3 Belgian rifle companies, 4 mortar sections, 4 fwd observers, some pack mules, and a truck with my support points.

[vahauser]

Battle #1 Deployment

When faced with a larger and stronger opponent, your best chance is to do everything you can to not fight on your opponent's terms. I am reminded of the greatest boxing match I ever saw, Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman. Foreman was younger and bigger and stronger than Ali. Ali was an 8-to-1 underdog, but did not fight on Foreman's terms. Ali won the fight.

My Belgians are weaker in just about every way against the Japanese, especially in this first battle. If I spread my forces out and try to meet the Japanese along the entire width of the map, my Belgians will likely get overrun and slaughtered. Instead, I have a few ways to make the Japanese fight on my terms.

First, I will create a defense in depth and let the Japanese attack me on ground of my choosing. You can see this for yourself in the attached deployment screenshot (north sector). The large hill by the northern victory clusters is well suited for building a defensive perimeter. I placed the supporting infantry along the outer perimeter so that they (and not my core) will absorb the main Japanese attacks. My core infantry is arrayed in depth behind them. My experience is that the mortars and AA guns on the hill will provide enough suppresive fire along the perimeter to protect my weak infantry. And the Japanese should find it extremely difficult to penetrate very far into my defenses. However, since the 'low-carnage' settings make killing infantry more difficult, then it might prove difficult for me to actually destroy many Japanese infantry units. We'll see. Hopefully, suppressing and routing them will be enough.

Second, I'll use my Stuarts and Humbers to wage a battle of maneuver. I don't like to be a passive defender. I play an active defense with as much maneuver and local counterattacking as I can manage. Fighting a battle of maneuver is something that the computer does not excel at. So, I can use this to my advantage. Also, since I've basically left the southern portion of the map mostly undefended by infantry, then my Stuarts and Humbers might have to spend much of the battle down there. But they should have enough mobility to do that.

Note on Command Control ON and artillery. Playing with C&C ON provides some interesting challenges, especially regarding artillery. I bought 4 sections of mortars and 4 fwd observers with some of my support points. This gives me as many fwd observers as mortar sections. You don't actually need all those observers if your artillery isn't going to be shifting all over the map every turn. Once your artillery is on target, then any formation leader (as long as they are in contact and have orders remaining) can call in the artillery. You only need all those fwd observers if you need to rapidly shift lots of artillery around. But I like to have them, just in case.

Deployment Notes:
A) I stripped the LMG teams away from the supporting rifle platoons and gave them to my Stuarts. They provide the Stuarts some extra spotting and they also have some smoke if the situation gets really dangerous.
B) The Stuarts are in front of the stream which is not good. But I deployed them close to the bridges to get them out of there without increased risk of vehicle breakdowns. Everybody else, except some scouts, are behind the stream. The Japanese have to cross the stream to get to me.
C) I never (I mean never) deploy any of my units in Defend Mode when using C&C ON. I always deploy my units in Advance Mode. This not only conserves orders (which can be critical when calling artillery), but it also allows me immediate freedom to maneuver and be active. Remember, I don't like passive defense.
D) I'm a strong believer in covering ground with firepower and maneuver. I don't believe in exposing my units (especially my core units) to enemy attacks if I can accomplish the same thing with firepower and maneuver. This is a German doctrine that they learned having to cover enormous frontages in Russia. They found that local strongpoints with large open spaces in between covered by maneuver and firepower was more efficient and less costly. I use those same principles whenever I can, such as in this battle against the Japanese. And you can see that by looking at this deployment.

(North Sector Deployment)

[vahauser]

(South Sector Deployment)

[DROregon]

C&C Question: Where have you placed the Objective hex for the Northern Infantry Platoons?  

[vahauser]

ORIGINAL: DROregon

C&C Question: Where have you placed the Objective hex for the Northern Infantry Platoons?  

I placed the initial objective for all units on the big hill near the A0. The reason is that I want units to be able to get to the ammo supply even if they don't have orders available. However, the initial objective is only a starting point. I will often change objectives (especially during advances and assaults) during the course of the battle.

[vahauser]

Battle #1, situation at the end of Belgian Turn 1

I didn't move any units on Turn 1. I see an enemy railcar. I didn't shoot at it. I'll deal with it on Turn 2 if opportunity fire doesn't deal with it first.

As in my previous AARs, I'll post screenshots every 3rd turn unless something really dramatic happens. Next update on Turn 4.

[vahauser]

Battle #1, situation at the end of Belgian Turn 4

My northern scout has spotted some advancing enemy infantry. My infantry/artillery perimeter remains unchanged. Still waiting.
Tactical Tip: It's not always a good thing to spot the enemy. When spotted, they move slower. While usually this is an advantage, it's not always an advantage. Sometimes I want the enemy to move faster. It turns out that in this battle I actually want the enemy to move faster. The reason is that I only have 21 turns to break the enemy force morale. After that, the house rules I'm using for Delay Battles demand that I retreat off the map. So, in this case, my scouts are only there to give me an idea where the initial attacks will be coming from so that I can prepare my defenses accordingly.

In the south, my scout sees nothing yet. My Stuarts destroyed 2 enemy railcars and retreated off the hill and across the stream. They are positioned to move south, but are still waiting for developments.

Note that the enemy fired some artillery at my Stuarts on the hill, but my Stuarts had retreated before the shells hit. This is a standard tactic of mine, and is one of the main reasons I deployed them forward on that hill in the first place. The computer likes to fire artillery at vehicles (especially trucks and AFVs). So, I give them a mobile target to shoot at, thus tempting them to waste ammo hitting hexes that I no longer occupy. However, this only works if you don't move your vehicles very far. So, I try to limit my movement to 2 or 3 hexes per turn. This keeps the enemy artillery interested. Warning: this takes some practice, and even if you know what you're doing the occasional stray round will still hit your vehicles. I'm almost always willing to take that risk, but you should let your own experience guide you.

(turn 4 north)

[vahauser]

(turn 4 south)

[vahauser]

Battle #1, situation at the end of Belgian Turn 7

In the north, the enemy is about to contact my perimeter. I fired my mortars along the stream mainly to put a few points of suppression on any units trying to cross. However, if I had it to do over again I think this was a mistake. It's a mistake because I could have suffered some mortar malfunctions for nothing. No point in firing unless the risk of weapon malfunction is worth it. It was not worth it in this case. I was lucky that no malfunctions happened. The only good news is that now my mortars have zeroed onto target hexes. This means that I can use units besides my fwd observers to adjust fire, thereby conserving precious orders. Artillery management is one of the biggest issues when playing with C&C ON. My Stuarts continue to maneuver in preparation.

In the south, nothing seems to be happening. I've moved my southern picket scout to the northwest to see what's going on. Looks like nothing. This could mean that the computer has concentrated its entire force against the north. I'll know for sure within a turn or two.

(turn 7 north)

[vahauser]

(turn 7 south)

[vahauser]

Battle #1, situation at the end of Belgian Turn 10

Well, it's official. The Japanese has committed their entire force into my northern sector. How can I turn this to my advantage? Most importantly, this means that my mortars will have chances to bombard hexes containing big stacks of enemy units. Since there is no way my Belgians can destroy all those enemy units, then routing and retreating big enemy stacks is my best hope to break the Japanese force morale. Also, my Stuarts and Humbers might be able to cause some trouble against the enemy southern flank. This means that hopefully I'll be able to keep my mortars concentrated against the big enemy stacks and not have to deal with distractions to the south.

My forward supporting infantry are under serious pressure and are starting to fall back. This is not surprising, but it does mean that pretty much my hopes for defeating the Japanese rest with my mortars. If my mortars can't stop them...

That big mass of shell holes where my Stuarts were on turn 7 means I successfully diverted enemy artillery away from my infantry. I hope to be able to continue that success.

My southern screening force has started to move north against the enemy south flank.

(turn 10 north)

[vahauser]

(turn 10 south)

[vahauser]

Battle #1, Belgian Turn 10 Bombardment

You can see the line of range adjustments starting on turn 7 along the stream to the bombardment plot for turn 10. And even though you can't see many Japanese units, I assure you that there are lots and lots of them back there in the smoke.

How can a thin line of mortars and weak infantry can stop the powerful Japanese?

Well, all the smoke from the bombardments means that the Japanese can only fight from the front rank, all those other Japanese units to the rear cannot fight because the smoke blocks them from supporting the battle. But all of my units in the rear (and those 40mm AA guns on the hill are causing lots of pain on the Japanese) can fire in support of my weak infantry on the front line. And all that supporting fire adds lots of suppression to the Japanese in the front rank. And when those front-rank enemy units retreat, then they pile onto the other Japanese units coming from the rear to create big stacks that my mortars then pound, thus creating big stacks of routing and retreating units. And that can cause the enemy force morale to break if enough of them are routing and retreating at the end of any turn.

Also, and this is important, using mortars instead of big artillery actually works to my advantage. Notice that I'm firing very close to my own troops. This would be extremely dangerous for my own troops if I was using big artillery. But stray rounds from my mortars don't do much to my dug-in infantry (while they cause greater suppression/damage to the moving Japanese). Further, by dropping my mortars next to my own front line, when my front line does retreat I don't have to adjust fire until the following turn (which can be important when orders are at a premium).