AAR HSG First of Many

[Mad Russian]

This is an AAR for the scenario HSG The First of Many.

Scenario: HSG The First of Many
Date: 23 June 1941
Location: South of Bialystok, Russia
Type of Action: Meeting Engagement

On day two of the war, the 18th Panzer Division, is moving east, just to the south of Bialystok. They had no idea where, or when, to expect to meet the Red Army.

4th Front sent out elements of their recon forces to find the German spearheads.

The one question in both commanders minds was, "Where is the enemy?"

They were about to have their first engagement. Just the first of many......



First we select the scenario from the list. Choose the side we want to play and the difficulty level.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Once we've done that a listing of all the units available for purchase comes up. In this battle you have enough points to buy the entire German Order of Battle(OOB).

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MR

[Mad Russian]

Note that all the units have been moved from the Unit Cost box to the Current Battle Group box with 5 points left over.

Once we have selected our forces we hit the start button and the scenario will get underway.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

We are now given a view of the battlefield during the setup phase. We can move our units up to 200 meters from their starting locations, depending on enemy locations on the map.

The opening view is set with full tree coverage.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

By hitting the F12 key we can take some or all of the tree coverage off the map to allow for issuing of orders,making the locating of both victory locations and enemy positions easier.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

We give platoon orders and then tweak them for each vehicle if needed.

Both of our tank platoons are moving down the road until we make contact.

Both tank platoons were given Advance Orders and told to move forward.

The blue lines show the path each vehicle is to take.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

Both tank platoons are equipped with the PzIIB. The PzII had been a main battle tank in Poland and used mostly for recon in France. The PzIIB was used almost exclusively for recon in Russia.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

By selecting one of the tanks in the HUD and then pressing the Specs button you can find out everything you need to know about the vehicles mechanics, it's weaponry and it's armour.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

The turn is broken into two phases. One is an orders phase where you can give the units in your Battle Group any orders you want them to follow for a set time frame. (Determined in the scenario editor.) This is followed by a Reaction Phase. During the Reaction Phase you have a continuation of the Orders Phase with the capability to make some limited changes. During the Reaction Phase you may target any of your units to an enemy in LOS, you can halt their movement if they are going to far forward or you can withdraw them if they have gotten into trouble.

For the most part I play the 80 second turn without making changes in the Reaction Phase. SOMETIMES though it can really get you out of trouble and it's nice to have the ability to either stop or back up.

These limited changes have a huge impact on your ability to keep your forces out of trouble. If you have no need to respond to any threats then the original orders are still in effect.

With no enemy contact I made no changes to my orders during the 1st Turn Reaction Phase.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Turn 2 Orders Phase: Both platoons are still moving forward until contact is made.

You can turn on "view orders" for a single vehicle, a single platoon, or your entire force, to see just where everybody is going.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

The movement further to the east brings no contact during Orders Phase.

During Reaction Phase though the enemy is sighted. The first enemy unit spotted is an armored car.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

Since I have a PzII that has LOS to the Russian vehicle I use the Reaction Phase to target it. Here is a picture of the BA being targeted.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

Within moments of seeing their first enemy vehicle it's gone from sight without a shot being fired on either side.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

The gray line tells us that there is no LOS to this vehicles last target. The gun will reacquire if it comes back in LOS close to where the LOS was broken.

We select F12 and remove all trees to make sure there are no surprises in these woods.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

The first two sets of victory locations are now under my direct control. You must get with in 100 meters of a victory location to effect it. The more units you have within that area around the location the better your chances of controlling that location.

Notice the TAC map in the lower right of the display screen. There you will find the position of the victory locations and what their status is. Red is for Allied control, blue is for Axis control and yellow is for contested.

At this moment each side controls 2 sets of victory locations.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Reaction Phase 3. Nothing. No Russians anywhere. My column is getting a little ragged and needs to close up. The lead tank is very near the end of his movement orders and will stop and let the rest of the column catch up with him.

I'll keep a close eye on that farm since the 1 Russian armoured car I have seen was turned to go that direction.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

An Engage order can be used to tell a unit to move or target an enemy unit.

This time we are going to move. I select Engage, then select Move.

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MR

[Mad Russian]

The last tank is about to veer off the road. I'll bring him back. PCO allows the use of 3 waypoints. You get a waypoint by first giving a movement order and then holding down the "control" key for up to three points. Let go of the control key when you are done issuing waypoints.

This will let the others move down the road in formation and bring this tank back up on the road and back into the formation where I tell it to go individually.

When you have a unit selected it is highlighted with a flashing blue bracket. So that if you zoom out you can still know where it is. It's also shown as a flashing dot in the small TAC map in the lower right corner of the display. That allows you to see where that unit is in the larger scheme of things.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Contact comes in the Orders Phase of turn 4. We start taking fire. All incoming fire were misses. The rounds striking around us have kicked up dust and alerted us to the presence of Rusian AFV's.

Nobody returns fire.

At the same moment that we can ID the Russians with LOS they show up in the TAC map in the lower right corner as white spots bordered in red.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

I got my guys a bit too close and had a pathing issue. The TAC AI reroutes my vehicles so they can end up in the location I ordered them to. For the most part this happens smoothly. Sometimes though, like in real life, we get tangled over our own feet and have a fender bender.

The yellow line is the enemy targeting line. It shows this tank being targeted and the starting location of that targeting. You can't always see the enemy unit that is targeting you.

Good Hunting.

MR