Any News from Kommerscheidt or Schmidt?

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Fri Jul 20, 2001 8:12 am

Any transmissions from the 112th down in the Kall Gorge? General Cota was asking. ;)Maybe no news is good news

The Colonel....

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Fri Jul 20, 2001 10:40 am

Originally posted by Wild Bill:
Any transmissions from the 112th down in the Kall Gorge? General Cota was asking. ;)Maybe no news is good news

The Colonel....

You bet. Look out for those German flamethrowers, they will totalliy wipe you out with one squirt. See the thread I started.

Otherwise, a great campaign, Bill. Marginal in the first battle, decisive in the second, with a little help from my 105mm friends - I played campagins for some time before I knew I could ask for reinforcements on the first turn / first battle. And the game gives them to me, right away!! Jerry wants to get nasty with 120mm mortars and Nebelwerfers? Answer him with FA, this he will understand.

Also go hunting the onboard German arty, it is there but I am not going to say where to find it, why spoil the fun??? When you do find them, take several tanks with you, about three per arty emplacment, because the game doesn't really WANT you to do away with emplaced troops.

Melee assault hasn't worked at all for me, I just line up the firepower and blast away - riding a squad up to the sandbags on a tank, dismounting in the adjacent hex and blasting away has worked fairly well, it still takes a LOT of firepower to kill a crew of a crewed weapon, if you don't they will just go back to their guns. I've pumped fifteen or twenty rounds into the buggers before they ran away. What makes them so tough?

Bing

Marder_MatrixForum · Post by **Marder_MatrixForum** » Fri Jul 20, 2001 3:20 pm

Just finished the first scenario, got a draw, very challenging.

Made the mistake to advance (after taken the first village with just 5 men losses) the village south west with my tanks and just 10 squads of infanterie. Lost two of my shermans against the 75mmFK, thought this inf.guns couldn´t deal against my shermans, but now i now.
Destroyed four german tanks, stopped the counterattack, but i ran out of time to attack the remaining objectives.

Marder

AC · Post by AC » Sat Jul 21, 2001 4:30 pm

Well, so far I got a marginal victory in the first and a draw in the second battle. As for the first, I took Kommerscheidt without any problems and very low losses, and proceeded cautiously to Schmidt. As I expected, the counterattack came and I was able to smash it. Lost 2 of my tanks and a halftrack.
The second was much tougher, especially for the German arty. Quite historically, I lost Schmidt (only 2 units with 11 men survived), but I made the Krauts pay for it! Several times I was able to retake the bottom-most VH; I'm not sure, but I think that this delayed and de-synchronized the German counter-attack 'cause everytime I took the VH, some German tanks came back to retake it. And, in fact, the heavy German armor showed up at Kommerscheidt in very small concentration.
At Kommerscheidt, I placed my armor in a very defensive way, preparing killing zones between the first buildings of the village and waiting for the enemy. That worked fine, and after all that talking on the forum about those great German tanks it was quite satisfactory to blow up 5 or 6 Panthers by hitting them in the back from 2 hexes away.

Bottom-side was that my GI's had to take quite a lot of heavy bombarding while waiting for the enemy. Also, defensive and cautious positioning and moving of my armor didn't give me the possibility to strike back and to retake eventually Schmidt (did anybody do this?).
But anyway, in campaign games I prefer to be cautious: there will be another battle tomorrow.
Last but not least, compliments to Wild Bill and to the testers: again, a very good scenario/campaign.

AC

Truckeye · Post by **Truckeye** » Sat Jul 21, 2001 6:35 pm

ok, ill bite. what campaign is this from and where do i get it?? jp

Warrior · Post by **Warrior** » Sat Jul 21, 2001 6:39 pm

Originally posted by Truckeye:
ok, ill bite. what campaign is this from and where do i get it?? jp

go here: http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/spwaw_camps04.htm

RockinHarry · Post by **RockinHarry** » Sat Jul 21, 2001 10:20 pm

Battle one was finished with "marginal" to US. Kommerscheidt taken with low casualties, most of them from lethal MG42 fire and mines. Left two platoons of GIs in Kommerscheidt and advanced with remaining grunts n´armour to Schmidt...but was unable to take the last VH just in time. Lost 1 M1A1 Sherman, but managed to destroy 4 german armour in response.

Battle two...coming soon.

_________
Harry

Red Baron · Post by **Red Baron** » Sun Jul 22, 2001 1:35 am

Originally posted by Wild Bill:
Any transmissions from the 112th down in the Kall Gorge? General Cota was asking. ;)Maybe no news is good news

The Colonel....

My Dear Colonel WB..
US Grunts just have taken Kommescheidt and is preparing them selves to advancing SE..Caulties uptill now has been moderat..AAR will follow in the end..Odd smell!? Think predators is on their way, smells like Panthers!! 112th over and out.....
Regards..Michael.

Don Doom · Post by **Don Doom** » Sun Jul 22, 2001 3:52 am

I have not had time to turn your campaign yet, but would not support and flametanks be a better choice.?

DoubleDeuce · Post by **DoubleDeuce** » Sun Jul 22, 2001 9:29 am

Just starting the 2nd battle myself (turn 12).

1st Battle - I took Kommerscheidt pretty much with no problem (smoke'm and flank'em !!!) but then about halfway to Schmidt I got nervous and slowed my advance to a crawl (previously lost to many men to Wild Bills notorius counterattacks in other campaigns). Never got to actualy attack the town there before I ran out of time.

2nd Battle - Seems there may be alot of Bronze and Silvers Stars awarded in Schmidt (or at least the widows will get them). My Gi's have pretty much beaten back all attacks on Kommerscheidt by the German armor and supporting infantry. Unfortunatley all those panthers running around are preventing me and my tank platoon from assisting our comrades being overrun in Schmidt. But I do know that some of them must still be holding out. With my head up out of the turret of my M4 I can hear the faint sound of gunfire coming from that direction. Hope I make it there in time ! !

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Sun Jul 22, 2001 1:50 pm

One thing: GE Special Forces sqads.

More than once, single squads have rampaged through my lines wreaking havok to several platoons. Aigh. Thank god for flamethrowers.

Eh.. one more thing; Which battle is which?
I think I'm playing the first scenario, but I'm not sure...

[ July 22, 2001: Message edited by: Belisarius ]

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 8:38 am

Gentlemen, gentlemen!

Your feedback from the front lines I find most interesting and helpful.

You will find, I think, this series or the campaign will give more of the harsh historical events of that battle than others.

It is a HARSH, hard fight. In reality the 112th was literally chewed to pieces. Men broke and ran.

The artillery was overwhelming (but you know that) and enemy tanks, though not top notch tankers did blast away directly into fox holes.

Cota never even knew what was going on until the end of the fighting.

It was one of the darker moments for the US forces in the fighting in Western Europe, and even in the Hurtgen.

If any of you have seen the movie, "When Trumpets Fade," I really think this is the battle they were trying to portray.

It certainly reinforces what you are experiencing. You've done well till now. It may get rougher...Wild Bill
===============

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 7:51 pm

You've outdone yourself again, sir.

This is SPWAW at its best. I'm literally terrified for every hex I take through the forest. All these thoughts; which way to go, where do I want the units to end up, through the woods or along the dirt tracks with MG's on Overwatch..how close can my tanks go?...and WHERE are the Panzers? When all of a sudden you find half your force involved in grevious close-range fighting.

Many thanks, WB!

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 8:50 pm

I could not ask for a better compliment. This describes the real situation perfectly. Stark terror, dark foreboding forest, a feeling of being isolated and forgotten.

That's the situation, Colonel, and you have to make the best of it.

From you earlier description, sounds like you are or were in battle #1, Belisarius. It is the battle of November 3rd, about the only time the GIs have it fairly (I said fairly!) easy.

Wild Bill

Tommi · Post by **Tommi** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 2:17 am

Sir, we are knee-deep in Panthers and it's raining lead in here! Schmidt is falling, don't know how long those guys there will last. Kommerscheidt is mostly pounded to rubble but holding. The streets are full of burning armor, theirs and ours. There are several Wolverine crews that deserve medals, hell, most of our men deserve medals if they live through this!

I'm in the middle of the second battle. I think I've managed to break Jerry's attack on Kommerscheidt, but Schmidt will most probably be lost. Killer of a campaign (literally)!

This is my first real campaign (yes, I'm a rookie) and I'm only at the second battle, but I'm hooked. I quess I have to get the MegaCampaign.

BTW the first battle was a draw. I was way too cautious and basically ran out of time. It's strange that when you're playing a campaign you kind of start thinking about your units more closely than in a one-shot scenario. It becomes a more involved experience, really. I was amazed how I reacted when some poor squad walked in to a minefield. I jumped in my chair and went: "What was that? A mine! How many did I lose? Damn! Gotta be more careful." Excellent work Bill!

BryanMelvin · Post by **BryanMelvin** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 2:43 am

Bill, with what little spare time I have left, I am try'n out this campaign.

Draw on the first battle and on the 2nd battle now. The Units in Smd. are surrounded and are taking out many German infantry and have watched much German armor roll on by!

Kom. is holding nicely and the battle along the trail is going well. If the units can hang on in Smd. - they'll move out near end of game and retake the entire town - I hope..

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 5:07 am

Tommi, welcome to the world of campaigns. All I can say is that they are quite addictive!

Marauder! Thank you! I know how busy you are. It is good to get away from the Russian Front, is it not?

Both of you are experiencing what the GIs endured. It is a tough situation. Your results parallel.

But it is not going to get any easier. I don't want to say anymore except I hope somebody gets word to General Cota that this operation is not going as he thinks it is. :eek;

Wild Bill

BryanMelvin · Post by **BryanMelvin** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 6:38 pm

Well Wild Bill - Battle two end!

I won a decisive USA Victory! The Green Troops in Schmidt held on in the center of town and retook the Flags at games end. I wiped out all German Armor and German Infantry with min. loses!!

Now battle 3 begins ..

Spellbinder · Post by **Spellbinder** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 6:46 pm

Hi Bill,
well I'm in Turn 28 of the 2nd scen and everything looks good for the US, but I wish I would've seen that one VH on the right boardedge before

Now I gotta rush a Wolverine over there and hope I meet no opposition

Oh well, the Krauts Arty is really devestating, I just wish I had more ammo. My Mortars ran out of ammo on turn 5 or so

But I had a DV in the first and hopefully I can squeeze a draw out of this one

Whatachallenge!
Good work!
Spellbinder

Spellbinder · Post by **Spellbinder** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 6:50 pm

Oh Yeah,
the map is great! So many options, so much room for Bills "nasty" surprises

I love it!
spellbinder