Sixth Army Campaign AAR

[springer]

[X(]WARNING: Potential Spoilers Here [X(]

In my opinion, Tweber's Sixth Army Campaign is an outstanding example of what AT can do just using something close to the standard set.

Part of the fun of playing the scenarios are the "nasty little" surprises that make each scenario unique. So I would recommend playing the campaign in full before looking over an AAR like this one.

However, AARs are one of the major reasons I come to the website, and since Balder's outstanding AAR is still winding down and the Global Domination AAR is still building momentum, I thought I'd do my part to keep the AAR section going. So here it goes:

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During spare moments, I find myself still playing around with the Sixth Army Campaign. I played it once to the end, and it was a great game. It gave me some nice insights into the mechanics of AT and new ways to think about strategy and tactics. And there are some nice, delicate balances in the game.

After pondering the game mechanics in the simulations in the . Sixth Army Training Center. I thought I'd test out some of the conclusions and see if they get the Sixth Army through the Stalingrad scenarios.

So I jumped in and got the campaign started again. Since I'm documenting it as I go, the results will be shared below.

[springer]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the design of the first set of the scenarios have a similar feel. For me, the scenarios really emphasize the method of operations as outlined in the Wikipedia article on blitzkrieg.

As I mentioned elsewhere, the France '40 campaign quickly trained me to stay focused on the concepts of schwerpunkt, pursuit and destruction of resistance really do typify victory in this game. What's particularly cool about this, is the blitzkrieg works with a force that starts with an armor contimgent is 4 Medium tanks, 8 Light tanks, and a handful of armored cars.

The actual implementation will be clear from the posts.
The army starts with four corps: the VI, IX, XI, and XXVII. There are also some army reserves, who I treat as auxiliaries to the XXVII for the time being. I keep the organization and OOB given (I try to keep to the basic OOB throughout the game).

Perhaps because they are in red, I tend to use the VI corps as my schwerpunkt. Their job is move forward. Units can be peeled off the main task to take on targets of opportunity, but their job is to keep the forward momentum toward the objective. IX and XI corps will be the workhorses who keep the flanks clean and mop up lost units.

I will often use XXVII to do "bottom feeder" duty. They'll clean up the marginal areas and make sure that the enemy forces are sufficiently tied up so as to not create trouble for the main show. As they get experience, they may have the opportunity for something more glamorous. Unlike the typical AT random map campaign, these corps really do seem to take on unique identities.

So here's the plan. There are three paths to Brussels. Liege, Huy, or Eben Emael.

Our forces will go through Eben Emael since the paratroopers have already taken the fortress (And previous simulations have proven it works). VI will drives through Eben Emael on to Brussels. IX corp will cover the flanks.

(The advantage of the northern route is that most resistance will come from the south, so IX corps can focus primarily on only one flank to cover the IV corp. Still, I'd like to see somebody AAR the Liege or Huy routes as the schwerpunkt).

The main objectives is simple: Take Brussels ASAP, keep casualties to a minimum, and gain experience for the units.

[springer]

Here's the standard starting position. As can be seen, the position dictates the role each corps is going to take. (They could be changed on the fly, but that take time. And, time is the one thing this army does not have.)

Since IV corps as the only units that can reach the paratroopers, the weight of IV corps will have to go forward. XI corps has little choice but to drive in the direction of Liege.

Student's paratroopers are vulnerable and their toehold needs to be strengthened.

[springer]

Turn 1: Allocating Corps to Their Objectives

First German move is simply getting pushing all the elements forward as fast as they can go. There are only three additional objectives: 1) Support the paratroopers with IV corps armored elements. (Piling in troops to make the position not worth attacking). 2) Maintain Corps integrity (unit cooperation is critical to giving the Germans the edge they need to keep going.) 3) Use airpower to ensure the paratroopers safety and to minimize casualties.

Because my reconnaissance has identified two artillery units and an HQ, these are targeted
1) The Belgian I Army HQ is targeted by one air unit, mainly to suppress their AA gun, when the artillery is hit.
2) The two artillery by Maastricht are targeted by a second air unit flying two sorties.
3) Each of the two infantry units on the hexes south of Eben Emael are hit.  The purpose of these attacks is twofold: to discourage the AI from attacking either the paratroopers (unlikely given the armor) and the IV corps artillery, which is being pushed forward as fast as possible.

Because I've played this  a number of times before (I've played the Belgium scenario about 4 times, three to completion before this one.), I didn't do one thing that I should've.  The IX corps HQ should have been pushed down the road all the way to the river across from Maastricht and then retreated on hex (it's remaining movement). This would have detected the artillery NW of Maastricht.  Because I know it is there (the unit icon was present, but not it's identifying information), I attacked it. (I think people who play the Barbarossa scenario repeatedly can be the same way about the first turn.)

(Using HQs for reconnaissance is an essential part of the campaign, IMHO: Sixth Army Corps commanders don't sit in the back lines!)

[springer]

Turn 1: The Belgian Response

The Belgian response to the first move can vary somewhat, but the Belgians have chosen the courageous but less-than-wise option of assault, which may go down in annals of history like the Song of Roland.
The Allied intelligence artificielle has thrown the elements of the Belgian I corps (North) and Belgian III Corps (South) across the Meuse to stop the Germans in their tracks. The Belgian III corps commander was particularly serious about the attack... the troops out of Liege have all burned their bridges behind them. In fact, the Belgians have wisely destroyed bridges on the main approaches of attack except for the road into Maastricht, which they intend to use to funnel reinforcements for a bold northern envelopment.

Casualties have been light. Three German infantry and one paratrooper have been lost. Luck was also with the Germans in the airwar. The Belgians lost 5 fighters and took out no aircraft. Though the Belgian airforce may still have a bit of teeth, the loss of five fighters means that the chances of losing German aircraft to air combat have been greatly reduced.

The Sixth Army response is outlined with the arrows. Student's paratroopers will move out of Eben Emael and grab the bridge head. There are engineers close enough to repair the bridge. This will allow the IV corps to keep pushing forward toward Brussels. The number of hexes IV corp will move forward is small, but this is because we are building up the schwerpunkt (similar to the mini-AAR I did in the discussion with Rufus Firefly in "Campaign and Mods).

Most AT players know this, but it is better to use planes than artillery to soften targets if those targets are sitting behind an intact bridge that would be nice to capture. This is important here as the IV corps thinks about the best way to move the Belgian forces off the road to Brussels. (The bridge linking Maastricht to Brussels isn't vital, but it would be nice to have so that the IX corps can move it's forces around a bit faster)

The IX corps will encircle the elements of the Belgian I corps in front of Maastricht, the XXVII and Reserves will envelop the elements of the Belgian III corps in front of Liege. XXVII corps looks like it has its work cut out for it: Liege looks like it's going to be putting up more resistance for a few turns. And it's unlikely that Liege is as bare as it looks.

The XI corps will clean up the Belgian III corps forces south of the Meuse in preparation for moving to Huy and beyond.

[springer]

Turn 2: Destruction of the Belgian Army Forward Elements

The equivalent of 20 regiments of Belgian troops realized the futility of warfare. All elements West of the Meuse, except for a couple of units south of Huy, have been eliminated. The cost was high for the Germans too. The Germans lost over 100 INF (equivalent to over 2.5 regiments) in this turn.

A look at the map shows the critical role that artillery plays. Artillery played an important role in reducing the Belgian pockets. It'll be important to keep some artillery with the schwerpunkt.

The bridge out of Eben Emael was repaired so that the support elements of the IV corp (artillery) can move forward without hindrance. A pontoon bridge was tossed across the Meuse just north of Liege to initiate an encirclement.

The schwerpunkt is being reinforced. The tip includes one of the three remaining mobile armor elements protected by infantry. Strung out behind this tip are support elements (infantry, artillery and engineers) to help keep the forward momentum toward Brussels.

The critical casualty was the lost of one of the medium tanks in the XI corps in what was suppose to be a minor mop-up. (The commander says that the loss was due to mechanical failure, not combat).

This loss points out one of the beauties of the game: German firepower is delicate. The loss of that medium tank is the loss of 25% of the total number of medium tanks the German has. In addition, it has lost its primary value as a mobile unit, it is now part of the infantry and artillery with equipment and manpower (light tanks and scouts) too expensive to just use in mop-up operations. The choice is to use it in it's hobbled state, pull off some scouts to give it back it's mobility, or find some mobility (i.e., scout cars or trucks) to bring it back up to speed.

[springer]

Turn 2: Belgian Response

The second wave of the Belgian I and III Corps have moved forward. The Belgian III Corps supported by elements of the Belgian I Corps have decided that the prestige of Liege is too great to surrender without a fight and the army is focused on stopping the Germans on the direct route to Brussels.

Because Liege is so important, the Belgian I corps has left only a screen to secure the road from Maastricht to Brussels.

Belgian combat was light. There was a sortie by five fighters in which three were shot down by the 20 German fighters. Belgian III Corps artillery south of the Meuse shelled a German infantry regiment and caused two infantry casualties

Fortunately, there has been no sign of French and British military units in the vicinity.

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The next stage of the intended German advance is as follows:

1) IV Corps has to keep a majority of it's units concentrated on moving toward Brussels. On the map, this thrust is in bold because it is the linchpin of the battle (There are 50PPs for every turn before the 10th that the Germans take Brussels). Hopefully casualties will remain light, the IV corp should be moving forward and not spending much time fighting. Stubborn units on the road should be weakened the by artillery and aircraft, and eliminated in concentric attacks by infantry. It'd be great to keep IV corp in good shape so it can lead in future battles.

2) IX Corps will support IV Corps by mopping up the units north and south of the road that can threaten IV Corps lines of communication. Elements of the IV corps will be supporting IX corps moves

3) XXVII Corps and the reserves will tie up the Belgians around Liege. The goal of the attack is to suck the Belgians into a defense in the name of prestige so that they leave the main thrust alone.

4) XI Corps, with it's one mobile armored regiment will continue its drive south of the Meuse to Huy. The goal is to create a larger encirclement of the Belgian elements around Liege. Infantry and artillery elements of the XI Corps will support the XXVII Corps in their attack on Liege.

[springer]

I should note, as I have elsewhere, that HQ, armor and artillery are all critical for my playing style in this campaign (Of course, the extent will will vary based on playing style.) 

How I use artillery can be inferred by comparing the Belgian response to subsequent German final position for a turn.  If the artillery is in the middle of nowhere and has no movement left, it probably pounded the Belgian unit that was in range in the previous Belgian Response screenshot.

However, HQs and armor often end their turns with other, more protective units so their role is somewhat invisible when the end-of-turn snapshot is taken.  Both Armor and HQs move fast and can retreat after they've accomplished their reconnaissance (For example, the discussion of the IX corps HQ on the approach to Maastricht on turn 1).  They're both great for encirclements, if an enemy unit is left unsupported by flanking elements, the HQ or armor can cut off its retreat, then pull back to a safe location and let the infantry and armor finish the job. 

In my experience,  the main difference between HQ and armoris that armor is has it's offensive ability that, in my opinion, should only be used judiciously and rarely.  For example, it can be used to clean up targets of opportunity, like the remnants of an artillery regiment that has been softened by airpower, or it can add that extra bonus that enhances the bonus and reduces casualties on an overwhelming concentric attack.  But I think the key is that their offensive use must be judicious:  By the end of turn 2, I have already lost an armored unit.  That loss temporarily crippled the entire regiment, effectively taking one quarter of my armor strength out of mobile operations.

In contrast, HQs' combat roles is defense.  Again, I think there combat use should be kept to a minimum, but their large staffs can make them an islands of safety that the IA is loathe to attack.  In a clutch, I have used an armor regiment and HQ stack to make make a solid, forward-position defensive stack that can hold key position in the face of moderate forces (i.e., a couple of enemy regiments) for a turn until the friendly infantry comes up.  (I just watch out for enemy artillery since every staff officer is valuable!)

[springer]

Turn 3: Reduction of the Second Wave and Preparation for Breakthrough

This round was a slower round than the previous. The defenses at Liege were better organized and more coherent, and the city is well-protected by the Meuse. The kill ratio is not as dramatic as the previous turn. Overall, the Germans have lost 225 infantry. This number suggests that the low casualties I got from a previous "Brief AAR" inspired by Rufus T. Firefly may have been more due to luck than skill. (Anyway, part of the fun of playing the AI is that it gives one an inflated sense of one's "skill". Real human opponents quickly correct that illusion!)

The most important casualty is the artillery unit, which was lost to counter-battery fire. I feel that losing long-range artillery at this point of the game is just poor unit management. The silver lining, I guess, is that leaves an extra horse for when the inevitable shortage of transportation occurs later on.

IV corps is consolidating it's forces for the next move toward Brussels.

Three of the four air squadrons have been moved up to Maastricht to increase the possibility of multiple sorties. The squadrons then went on to pound the set of units sitting on the path of the IV corps on the bridge across the Gette river.

IX Corps, XXVII Corps and the reserves are tied up in the unglamorous work of pocket reduction. Liege still has some firepower in it: the Namur garrison inside the city is still dangerous.

XI Corps HQ and Armor, which are off the screenshot, have taken Huy. Next goal is Namur. Though they are not visible in the stacks, some elements of the XI corp are assigned to cleaning up the Northern Banks of the Meuse between Liege and Namur.

[springer]

Turn 3: Belgian Response

The Allied intelligence artificielle has begun moving armored elements into the fray.
In a brilliant gambit, the Belgian I corps armored elements have flanked the northern position and threatened the aerodrome in Maastricht. In my disrespect for the Allied intelligence artificielle I've left the city without a garrison. Fortunately, there are units nearby. Unfortunately, the airforce may be tied up next turn saving itself from conquest.

Besides this armored flanking maneuver, it looks as if the elements of the Belgian Army are too disorganized to put up much opposition and the units in Liege are too hemmed in to escape.

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Below, only the IV Corps movement is pictured. The other units will reduce the units nearby and head towards any new units discovered.

[Josh]

My my that was a narrow escape! Belgian armour destroying your planes in a dastardly attack... that would've been something. [:D]

[springer]

Yes, the narrow escape would've been the end of that AAR! Thank goodness my incompetence of leaving an ungarrisoned airfield was against Allied intelligence artificielle and not a human being. Still, it was quite clever of the oft-maligned AI.

Here's a picture of the German pilot's psychological state as they scrambled in the face of Belgian armor. F(Don't look at the planes too closely!)

[springer]

Turn 4: Breakthrough and Pursuit

The Belgian Army's strategic reserve was built on a brittle principle: Defend the Meuse at all costs.
Once that position has been broken open, the Belgians seem incapable of forming a coherent line. This may be unique to the Belgian strategy.

This isn't to say the campaign becomes bloodless, pocket reduction is still a casualty producing process. Now, the primary limitation of the scenario becomes the German army's mobility not the Belgian Army's fighting capacity. The best the Belgians will be able to do is some desperate last-ditch blocking actions.

The gain in ground is dramatic, but the casualty ratio is not too good about 500 Belgian infantry were lost at the cost of 100 German infantry (MGs are included in the losses).

The two major Belgian HQs (I and III Corps) are finally surrounded. I Corps has bloated with officers since it was first spotted on turn 1. Interesting situation: no troops and a surplus of officers! I wonder what military doctrine they're modeling?

(In reflecting, it'd might be wise to pull the machine guns (MGs) out of the units all together and build some special defense-oriented units who have the job of just holding ground. Keeping them with offensively oriented units seems a waste of their intrinsic value and risks putting them on the casualty lists).

One infantry regiment of the IX Corps (30th Division/1) was pulled back to clean up the heap of metal left by the air force's defense of their aerodrome. Losses were high because the attack was with a single unit and the the infantry still needs more experience dealing with armor.

IV Corps- mobile, fighting, and artillery elements- is moving rapidly to Louvain.
IX Corps is keeping the roads clear for IV Corps.
XXVII Corps has little mobility, but it is now free to move toward Hannut.
XI Corp elements have crossed to Namur, but the fighting units are still lagging behind.

Reports should go quickly from this point.

[springer]

Turn 4: Belgian response.

The Belgian response needs no map. The only difference from the previous one is that an infantry division moved into Namur.
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Turn 5: Pursuit continues- Race to the Senne River

The fighting is light and most units are focused on moving forward. The most significant action was the destruction of the Belgian army's command structure. The Germans lose 14 infantry and 1 MG this turn. The Belgians lose about 100 Infantry and 220 Staff.

IV Corps takes Louvain, which was bravely defended by an artillery regiment of Belgians. and moves into striking distance of Brussels
IX corps shift forces to follow in support. Belgian I Corps HQ is destroyed in concentric attack
XXVII Corps destroys Belgian III Corps HQ and pushes beyond Hannut toward the Gette River. Elements of the Corp formerly known as the Belgian III try to put up a stand to stop the XXVII from getting to the Gette. Unfortunately, these remnants no longer have an HQ, so their fighting trim is less than ideal.
XI Corps has some infantry move up and take Namur, the armor and HQ shift north toward Gembleaux.

At first glance, XI Corps looks like it is also in striking distance of Brussels. Unlike the IV Corps, whose fighting elements are still concentrated, XI Corps units are somewhat strung out between Gembleaux and Leige and in no shape to fight a high-powered concentration of Allies.

During the HQ reduction, the concentric attacks were sufficient for low casualty attacks. So all the artillery was pushed forward. Though Louvain was slightly damaged, three of the four air units were moved there. They were moved for two reasons: to be ready to support the assault on Brussels and so that recover from their trauma of near destruction by the Belgian air force by being closer to the security of a bigger force.

Here's the situation:

[springer]

Turns 6 and 7: The end

Below is a snapshot of turn 6 near Brussels. The preparatory bombardment Brussels of Brussels by the German air squadrons has begun. On turn 6, the Belgians blow all the bridges.

XXVII Corps and elements of the XI Corps clean up the pocket formed near Hannut. The demoralized Belgians surrendered without too much fighting.

The interesting example of sloppy play is the XI corps all lost supply. This was because the HQ unit was helping encircle the Belgian regiment in Gembleaux. The Belgian unit escaped by doing a retreat around the XI Corps HQ, cutting it off from the rest of the XI Corps. The irritation is only minor as the IX Corps has sufficient supplies to continue on. The HQ didn't learn it's lesson. It raced off to capture Wavre.

On turn 7, IV Corp infantry, preceded by an aerial and artillery bombardment, will finish the job. and elements of the IX Corps is about to begin. Air units are dedicated to softening resistance in Brussels on turn 6 and they will participate in delivering the coup de grace on turn 7. The artillery is also pulling up to do their part.

I also transferred the Sixth Army Reserve units into the XXVII Corps command structure on turn 7. I figured the command change won't hurt since it was the last turn of the scenario. I think someone had recommended that the reserve units be used for rebuilding damaged units, which is a good idea, but I wanted to keep the regimental flexibility that made the XXVII Corps and reserves so valuable in the center.

One thing that I did not do is clean up the Belgian elements that were still scattered about, such as the Belgian HQ near Brussels or the Belgian infantry north of Louvain. This is a mistake since they will make it to the next scenario. And though they are not in good shape, they are easier to reduce when disorganized now than when part of a coherent battle line in the next scenario.

[springer]

Visual Summary of the Battle of Belgium

(With a tip of the hat to Balder, who provided the inspiration!)

This shows pretty clearly how the brittle Belgian line was broken by turn 4.

[springer]

Staff After Battle Analysis:

The campaign matched the historical outcome, which was 7 turns. Though the team is congratulating itself, achieving the historical goals ends up in the noose of Stalingrad.
The 6th Army is going to have to do better in future battles.

The casualties of the battle are presented below. The results are comparable to those shown by Rufus T. Firefly in the summary of his Belgian campaign. My infantry losses are slightly lower, but his kills are slightly higher. Where the Germans have been particularly lucky is aircraft casualties, they have suffered none so far (though they almost lost 75% in the Belgian “rat patrol” strike.). Generally, about two seems to be the average from what I can tell.

The loss of special equipment has been acceptable: 1 medium tank, 1 scout, and 1 artillery unit.

Below is a breakdown by of the % of effective INF (rifles and MGs combined) remaining in each Corps. Also, the weighted average rifle XP of the corps is also given each



IV Corps (12 infantry regiments): 374 INF at 70% strength; 35 XP
IX Corps (9 infantry regiments): 280 INF at 72% strength; 34 XP
XXVII Corps (9 infantry regiments): 282 INF at 71% strength; 35 XP
XI Corps (9 infantry regiments) 347 INF at 86% strength; 33 XP
Total: (39 infantry regiments) 1283 INF at 74% strength; 34 XP

As can be seen all units suffered about 30% casualties for a relatively easy victory. This does not bode well for the future campaign. The XI suffered only 14% loss because it was the least engaged of the Corps because the Belgians never mustered a significant, coherent defense around the Huy-Namur regon.

If 30% casualties can be expected against an enemy unprepared for Blitzkrieg, what can be expected later? (Hopefully, experience will reduce those casualties!)

Some observations.

1) MG units may be better used if they are pulled out of the initial campaign as fast as possible. The first battle was primarily offensive, but the MGs die in the attack at a rate similar to infantry without serving their proper role.. A possible strategy would be to pull them out as quickly as possible and put them in a strategic reserve since the initial battles are all offensively based. The machine guns can then be integrated into one of the corps that are given defensive duties. Possibly defensive, “holding regiments could be designated that are heavy in MGs).

2) The four Corps configuration seems highly flexible (A center group, a north and south flanking group, plus a strategic reserve/ defensive blocking/ line garrison group works well). I will keep it as long as losses allow.

On to scenario 2!

[springer]

Scenario 2: Dunkirk

The German forces have to drive to Dunkirk to stop the British Expeditionary Forces from being evacuated. The faster they arrive, the higher PP they can earn.

After the attack on Belgium, the German forces had earned 275 PP (75 PP for taking locations; 200 PP for taking Brussels by turn 7).

60 PP were spent buying replacements (2 infantry regiments, a tank regiment, and an artillery regiment). Elsewhere I had mentioned that buying replacements on the fly was better than waiting. I think that is true: During rest and refit, the same elements will cost 88 PP. However, waiting will earn three additional 88mm flak cannon, which are probably worth around 10-15PP (The infantry and tank regiments each get one). So the cost difference wasn't as great as I initially thought.

I did not do a good job of integrating the replacements into the units. Most sat out the campaign with the HQ. I think this was poor unit management.

Below are the two strategies that I see for winning this scenario. Plan A: the northern plan and Plan B: the central plan. Though I think it may be better, I have not tried Plan A (This AAR is only my second run through of the campaign. I've only played Belgium and second Kharkov more than once).

Reflecting on the campaign, I think Plan A would be stronger. This is because the route is direct there is no need to think about protecting the northern flank.

However, I was attracted to the large PP value of Lille, so I chose plan B.

One thing to keep in mind in this scenario. Hermann Goering will be using his prestige to stop the German offensive each turn so that the Luftwaffe can have some glory. Once he stops it (67% chance each turn), there are four turns in which the Germans can move only two hexes a turn (think mud). Once the four turns are over, there will be no more interference.

[Josh]

"1) MG units may be better used if they are pulled out of the initial campaign as fast as possible. The first battle was primarily offensive, but the MGs die in the attack at a rate similar to infantry without serving their proper role.. A possible strategy would be to pull them out as quickly as possible and put them in a strategic reserve since the initial battles are all offensively based. The machine guns can then be integrated into one of the corps that are given defensive duties. Possibly defensive, “holding regiments could be designated that are heavy in MGs).. 70% "

Yes unfortunately I've noticed that too. Mg's die at a horrible rate, you think they might stay behind to give covering fire... but it seems they dash along with the assault troops.

[springer]

Hi Josh,

You are exactly right.  I notice that on the offensive they die just like a regular infantry unit.  I'll toss out a question to the AT Grognards as to whether this is a feature (because it requires tactical sensitivity to properly use machine guns) or a weakness (because basic infantry doctrine should not have heavy HGs jumping out of the trenches after the artillery bombardment.)

If you (or anyone), mess around with the MG mix in one of Sixth Armycampaign scenarios, please post your results.  I'm curious as to how the results will vary.  (i.e., does pulling out MGs have unexpected side effects, such as increasing infantry losses.)  It's my guess that given the Western Allies 1940 doctrine (Form defensive positions in front of the Germans and pound them with artillery), the MGs would be best served by being dumped into the Sixth Army HQ as a reserve.  Once the Germans encounter an enemy with a more offensive doctrine, the MGs can be put into a Corps that has primarily a defensive mission.

I'm sure you and other AT Grognards would have an even better solution than I've just mentioned.

By the way, thanks for commenting. (And...ugh [:(] my typos constantly drive me crazy.  That's why I edit practically every one of my posts).