Group Anders Long Long Road

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Alby,
 
I won't peek.

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North Deployment Battle #2

I’m anticipating the main German advance to come down that central road. My plan is to be ready for that. My northern combat team is the strongest.

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North Deployment Battle #2 (detail)

My north combat team plans to use the 3 small hills as cover from which to launch ambushes and flank attacks.

Also note that I am employing stacking rules. I intend to have no more than 3 units in any hex voluntarily, except in very rare circumstances. And no matter how rare the circumstances, I’ll never voluntarily have more than 6 units in a hex no matter what. This is based on my conclusions regarding historical combat stacking in the “Stacking” thread. (Note: I also employed these stacking rules in Battle #1, but forgot to mention it.)

[vahauser]

Center Deployment Battle #2

My recon units will advance as far forward as possible into the rough terrain to act as the forward eyes. The AT gun line will deploy east of my victory flag.

[wrong screenshot attached, see next post]

[vahauser]

Center Deployment Battle #2

My recon units will advance as far forward as possible into the rough terrain to act as the forward eyes. The AT gun line will deploy east of my victory flag.

[vahauser]

Center Deployment Battle #2 (detail)

My artillery and the 17-lbers are resupplying at the northern supply point. The 6-lbers and the LMG teams are resupplying at the southern supply point. Transport vehicles are standing by. This is a circumstance where I would consider it justifiable to stack more than 3 units per hex, but I’ve decided to only stack 3 per hex in this case for demonstration purposes. In future battles I might stack 4 per hex.

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South Deployment Battle #2

My southern combat team plans to use the hill as its maneuver/ambush anchor. Recon units will push forward.

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South Deployment Battle #2 (detail)

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Battle #2
Canadian Meeting Engagement vs. Germany, near Bizerte, Tunisia
6 March 1943
Situation at the end of Canadian Turn 1


A) Wild Bill Surprise #1. Artillery! German 105mm howitzers fired a pre-game bombardment into my deployment area at three places. Since most of my units were deployed well behind the start line, only one of my recon patrols was affected. However, not only does this bombardment make me aware that the Germans have artillery support for this battle, I must also be on my guard regarding deployment in future battles, too.

B) My scouts fan out and push ahead, while the rest of my units begin taking up their combat positions.

C) The 17-lbers are deployed just north of my artillery, with clear lines of fire in the direction of the anticipated German advance. They are sited far enough away from my artillery so that if the Germans bombard the position then the scatter is not likely to hit my artillery. They are also sited far enough back so that they will not engage the Germans without support from my other units. These are by far the most important support units I have this battle and I want them to be as carefully and well sited as I can make them. I’ve assigned core scout carriers as their transport.

Next situation report at the end of Canadian Turn 4.


Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 1 (north sector):

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Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 1 (center sector):

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Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 1 (south sector):

[vahauser]

Battle #2
Canadian Meeting Engagement vs. Germany, near Bizerte, Tunisia
6 March 1943
Situation at the end of Canadian Turn 4

A) Almost all of my units are in their initial combat positions.

B) My artillery carpet is not well placed. It looks like many German units are going to bypass it to the north. I’ll have to try again.

C) The battle is about to be joined.

Next situation report at the end of Canadian Turn 7.

Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 4 (north sector):

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Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 4 (south sector):

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Battle #2
Canadian Meeting Engagement vs. Germany, near Bizerte, Tunisia
6 March 1943
Situation at the end of Canadian Turn 7

A) Wild Bill Surprise #2. Brandenburgers! On Turn 6 a squad of German Brandenburgers appeared close to my victory flag. The two Crusader I SPAA units I had guarding the artillery were able to eliminate the threat. I must remain vigilant.

B) The 3 German batteries of off-map 105mm howitzers have been busy. However, they have yet to cause any significant damage besides some suppression. On Turn 6 they bombarded my northern tanks causing some suppression. But of special note, on Turn 5 they bombarded near my two hidden scouts that had pushed ahead into rough terrain in the center of the map. How the artillery knew my scouts were there, since they haven’t spotted those scouts all battle, is a mystery.

C) Speaking of hidden scouts, you might be wondering how I know if my scouts have been spotted or not since I play Enhanced DVRN which has no “willy meter”. The answer is simple. I just check to see how many movement points my scouts have. If they have 11, then they have not been spotted. If they have 8, then they have been spotted.

D) I re-positioned my artillery carpet on Turn 5 and it is in a much more effective location now. It has made a significant contribution to my fight in the north.

E) Overall, my scouts are providing excellent information. They have worked their way around both German flanks and are also occupying forward positions that are giving me one or two turns early warning regarding German movements.

F) My support 17-lber AT guns have been devastating so far. Easily the most effective combat units in my force.

G) My AT gun line in the center has also been effective in stopping a German push by armored cars.

H) In the south, my tanks have destroyed a few advancing halftracks, but now heavier German armor is approaching.

Next situation report at the end of Canadian Turn 10.

Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 7 (north sector):

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Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 7 (south sector):

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Canadian Turn 7 north detail

A) Here is what the artillery carpet does. It provides an effective smokescreen which is very effective in keeping supporting German units in the rear from firing in support of the German units that have moved in front. German units that move to the front of the artillery carpet tend to stop at the edge of the carpet because they are being shot at and they usually try to return fire, which expends all their remaining movement. This in turn places them right under the artillery which bombards them at the end of each turn.

B) My tanks are placed such that they can maneuver to either side of the small hill to get flank shots.

C) The 17-lbers are far enough away from the fighting that the Germans are having a hard time spotting them.

D) I have plenty of scouts to keep me well informed of German activity. Also, the scouts near my combat units also help by giving me LOS information if I want to relocate my combat units to new firing positions.

[vahauser]

Canadian Turn 7 center detail

A) Note how my forward scouts are in the middle of the German advance, just sitting there hidden, acting as eyes.

B) My LMG units are providing three functions. First, they slow down the enemy advance by putting # markers on the German units. Second, they provide a little suppression on the German units. Third, they divert a little attention away from the AT gun line.

C) The jeeps behind the AT guns provide convenient targets for the Germans. While the Germans are shooting at jeeps, the AT guns are shooting back at them.

D) The AT gun line is well placed to get flank shots on the German armor.

[vahauser]

Canadian Turn 7 south detail

A) Note how I operate my tanks in pairs. I do this 90% of the time. Gives me two shots per hex for every shot by the Germans (if I work it right, and I try very hard to work it right).

B) Here is one way that I work it so that my tank pairs can be most efficient. Mortar direct fire smoke. Note the 3 smoked hexes by the German tanks. The German tanks advance one by one to the edge of the smoke. My pairs of tanks now get two shots for every one of the Germans.

C) One of the reasons I tend to buy 3 sections of support mortars is to provide me with some direct fire smoke capability. I usually take the "#2 mortar" in each section and send it with one of my combat teams (the 0 command mortars stay with my artillery). For instance, if I have support mortar formations A, B, and C, then units A0, B0, and C0 stay with my artillery and units A1, B1, and C1 go with my combat teams. You can see the support mortar directly north of my tank pairs in the screenshot.

D) EXPLOIT ALERT: You can abuse the smoke rules very easily. Note that I am NOT abusing the smoke rules in this campaign. Since the game does not treat smoke as 'ammo', then as long as your smoke unit is ready or pinned it can fire as many smoke rounds direct fire even if it does not have any 'shots' left. Even if a direct fire smoke unit moves or unloads, it can do this. This is a serious abuse since the game does not treat smoke rounds as 'ammo'. However, I am NOT doing this in this campaign. I may only fire direct fire smoke if I have shots left. If I have no shots left, then I am not allowed to fire direct fire smoke.

E) Cool direct fire smoke side effect. When a unit fires smoke direct fire, then the last hex fired at will be treated as "targeted", by that unit only, (0.1 delay) for future turns' artillery bombardment.

[vahauser]

Battle #2
Canadian Meeting Engagement vs. Germany, near Bizerte, Tunisia
6 March 1943
Situation at the end of Canadian Turn 10

A) Wild Bill Surprise #3. Tigers! My northern scouts have just spotted a Tiger tank moving near the main road. I am planning a warm reception.

B) The German artillery finally did some damage. On Turn 9 they bombarded my north combat force and hit one of my tanks. In a very odd result, that tank suffered level 4 damage, and all 4 levels of damage were applied as suspension damage. Not suspension disabled, but suspension damaged. Everything else on the tank is still working fine. Very odd.

C) I re-positioned my artillery carpet on Turn 9 to deal with the threat of the Pz-IVGs that are now in the north combat sector. This new position is also directly in the predicted path of the Tiger.

D) My scouts are now in position to capture the north victory hex at my convenience. I don’t want to capture it just yet because that would re-direct German troop movements and I like the way the German units are moving at present. My scouts will also be in position to capture the south victory hex soon, but I will hold off on capturing it for the same reason as above.

Next situation report at the end of Canadian Turn 13.

Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 10 (north sector):

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Screenshot of the end of Canadian Turn 10 (south sector):