I finally got my MCLV. I don't want to take anything away from the other MCs but this one seems more interesting. You only have a small force, no 88s, etc. you have to work hard and think harder to win here. I've got to the third scenario without any branches so this should be applicable to all. I don't want to give away any surprises but I wanted to share some mission analysis. Ah this is reality. Motorized infantry, no tanks, no 88s, just like it really was.
San River initial crossing: You have to make the initial assault crossing of the San river into the USSR. There are no bridges so your forced to attack only with infantry. You do have an option to select some augmentation. You can choose engineers, artillery or Stukas. Although they would have been the only potent anti-armor weapon available on the far bank, given the smoke and close ranges I discounted them. Engineers are useful for bunker busting as the briefing states but they can be smoked and bypassed. I did not want to spend my augmentation force on something only useful for mopping up. I chose the artillery. It sometimes is not available but because it can instantaneously range over the map, its very useful. The battle started after preparatory fires. I saw that the bunkers that were spotted were all routed so I figured that the first order of business was to cross the river and smoke or assault the USSR positions before they recovered. I started with a few scouts already on the far bank and they were invaluable for moving laterally and finding bunkers while my main force was crossing. You must expect that infantry battles to be bloody and slow moving but this was not too bad due to the general suppression of USSR forces caused by the artillery. Even without choosing the engineer option you do have some. It is hard busting bunkers with regular infantry and even the engineers seem to have little more success. I *think* that if you leave your infantry in place a few turns before you assault, the % goes up. None of the bunker crews abandoned despite numerous assaults. This surprised me, tough guys those NKVD.
Expansion of the San river bridgehead: Historically the clearing of the castle and NCO school took several hours, a decisive victory for the USSR in game terms. You start off with the option to attack immediately before a bridge is built or to wait. If you attack immediately, you must do so without your vehicles but if you wait for them the Soviets will have had time to organize a defense. I chose to wait figuring that a proper combined arms attack would prevail even if the defense was more organized. The most difficult thing was that the battle started with the two sides in contact. I had to cycle though all my units several times to see who could see and shoot who. Once I finally got the feel for my forces it was a straight forward attack. Fire artillery, move up armor to further suppress then close in and clean up with infantry. It was close though I took my last VHs on turn 14 of 15.
Exploitation: A bridge is to be taken by Brandenbergers and you must relieve them. This is the first scenario where you do not start in contact. This gives you the freedom to maneuver but adds the uncertainty of not knowing where or in what strength the enemy is. You are out front, the point of the spear, exciting but no arty support this far forward. The briefing says that this will not be just a drive up to the bridge. You are augmented with a section of PZ IIs. I saw that the only road to the bridge had one VH at a junction. The only other VHs were per-turn on the bridge. Hmmm, I thought. I have to seize the bridge with the Brandenbergers on turn one to get max points but this will trigger some kind of a counter-attack force and I just bet that the road is going to be defended making it hard to relieve them. I took the indirect approach with my recon and some infantry and armor. They headed cross country to the bridge while the remainder of my units headed for that road junction. I think that this was the correct plan but I was surprised by the strength & timing of the counterattack force. I can say no more except that it is a challenging battle. I got a draw due to the losses that I took. My force was essentially a light one with three PZ IIs and my Stugs while the USSR had considerably more fire power and protection. Not only do you have to beat a heaver force but you have to do it without losing much. As I said, a tough battle.
The fourth battle promises to be fun. I actually have tanks! A whole company of PZ IIIEs & Hs with some IIs and IVDs However is 1AM and I'm too tired to think clearly so this will have to wait till tomorrow.
MCLV Initial AARs
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Larry Holt
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MCLV Initial AARs
Never take counsel of your fears.
Interesting approach, larry. I designed those 3 battles to be in a correspondingly more difficult for each one. The fact you got a decisive on node 2 while using the delay option shows you are indeed a very high caliber player. The objective in the node design was to give the player a bloody nose after an easy time crossing the river.
You are right in the design of node 1. The frontier troops were bombarded for nearly 1/2 hour and were fairly well stunned, some runn8ing around in their underwear, but the NKVD units had been alerterd first by Kirponos and were very tough, fighting to the last man and ambushing passing patrols late in the day. Reading the documents give hints as to what to expect in the battles.
You are right in the design of node 1. The frontier troops were bombarded for nearly 1/2 hour and were fairly well stunned, some runn8ing around in their underwear, but the NKVD units had been alerterd first by Kirponos and were very tough, fighting to the last man and ambushing passing patrols late in the day. Reading the documents give hints as to what to expect in the battles.
Brent Grenadier Richards
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Larry Holt
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Brent,
Well I got my bloody nose. I am at the 4th battle. Yes, I do have 2 platoons of H's with 50mm but the Soviets have what seem to be several companys of heavys, KV-1s & 2s between me and the VHs. While I can defeat them by maneuvering and taking flank/rear shots I can't do it in 15 turns!
I chose the aircraft option. Since it was that or nothing I took it. Did this trigger more AIP forces?
Well I got my bloody nose. I am at the 4th battle. Yes, I do have 2 platoons of H's with 50mm but the Soviets have what seem to be several companys of heavys, KV-1s & 2s between me and the VHs. While I can defeat them by maneuvering and taking flank/rear shots I can't do it in 15 turns!
I chose the aircraft option. Since it was that or nothing I took it. Did this trigger more AIP forces?
Never take counsel of your fears.
Well, I got DV's in the first and the second scenario, while the third was only a draw. I think it was because it took me too long to clear the little village at the crossroad, and because the paratroopers on the bridge weren't able to hold against the Soviet armor reinforcement.
The fourth battle, indeed, was very tough. However I managed to get a DV here. My tactics were to attack and seize the town with two platoons of infantry and some PzII's, while the bulk of my armor, on sighting the enemie's armor, took position on the hills that run north to south on the left. Than I began to pound the Soviets with everything I got (also arty when available), trying first to destroy their light armor. Infact they slowed down, maybe also hindered by the terrian (mixed).
In the center, I than leaped forward from north (out of the town with PzIV's) and west, taking the heavys out from close distance. In the south, I stopped them on the VH hill; than 4 T-34 tried an attack westwards from there. I supressed them with fire from a platoon of PzIIIH's (actually destroying one T-34 from a 15 hex or so distance), than leaped forward with PzIIs. They destroyed the remaining T-34 from close distance.
In the meantime, the Soviets attacked the eastern corner of the city with some 4 or 5 tanks. They were all destrozed from close assault of my infantry, which already had secured the town. One squad alone killed a KV-1 and two BT-something!
In the end, I almost wiped the enemy out, losing only 3 PzII's.
A tough fight, mainly because one has to fire and fire again in order to suppress the heavy Soviet tanks. Fortunately, their op-fire is rare and not very accurate if you continue to shift the attacking fire. In fact, I took out two KV-II with PzIIIe's attacking them one after the other with the whole platoon. Once you're close, it's only a matter of time.
But the main problem of the Soviets seems to be their low experience/morale/fire control. They fire rarely and bad. Don't know if they will improve during the campaign, but if yes, it will surely get harder!
AC
The fourth battle, indeed, was very tough. However I managed to get a DV here. My tactics were to attack and seize the town with two platoons of infantry and some PzII's, while the bulk of my armor, on sighting the enemie's armor, took position on the hills that run north to south on the left. Than I began to pound the Soviets with everything I got (also arty when available), trying first to destroy their light armor. Infact they slowed down, maybe also hindered by the terrian (mixed).
In the center, I than leaped forward from north (out of the town with PzIV's) and west, taking the heavys out from close distance. In the south, I stopped them on the VH hill; than 4 T-34 tried an attack westwards from there. I supressed them with fire from a platoon of PzIIIH's (actually destroying one T-34 from a 15 hex or so distance), than leaped forward with PzIIs. They destroyed the remaining T-34 from close distance.
In the meantime, the Soviets attacked the eastern corner of the city with some 4 or 5 tanks. They were all destrozed from close assault of my infantry, which already had secured the town. One squad alone killed a KV-1 and two BT-something!
In the end, I almost wiped the enemy out, losing only 3 PzII's.
A tough fight, mainly because one has to fire and fire again in order to suppress the heavy Soviet tanks. Fortunately, their op-fire is rare and not very accurate if you continue to shift the attacking fire. In fact, I took out two KV-II with PzIIIe's attacking them one after the other with the whole platoon. Once you're close, it's only a matter of time.
But the main problem of the Soviets seems to be their low experience/morale/fire control. They fire rarely and bad. Don't know if they will improve during the campaign, but if yes, it will surely get harder!
AC
"Tridentina, avanti!" General L. Reverberi leading his Alpini troops in the decisive assault on Soviet-held Nikolajewka, 26th January 1943
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Larry Holt
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In MCLV node 5 I saw some strange loading situations at the start: The SIGs are loaded on the PZ IVs. You can not see the SIGs, select the IV and hit the "L" key and they appear. The A0 unit is shown on the map, on the ground but the troop list says that it is loaded. I tried to select the A0 but when I clicked on it a STUG was highlighted. I selected the STUG and hit the "L" key and the A0 appeared there.
Never take counsel of your fears.
So did I, TheZel. As I already have posted in another thread Matrix SPWAW Forum, I choose the 2 PzIV's and the 2 Sig's as reinforcements, but they never showed up.Originally posted by TheZel:
Larry, I missed the SIG's on node 5 altogether.. damn!!! would they have helped!
Also, just like Larry Hold, I experienced same problems with the A0 unit.
AC
"Tridentina, avanti!" General L. Reverberi leading his Alpini troops in the decisive assault on Soviet-held Nikolajewka, 26th January 1943
I'm also enjoying this campaign and have completed five battles so far, with 2 DVs, 2 MVs, and 1 draw. Here's how fared on the last two battles that centered on the town of Radziechow.
The first battle for Radziechow was a good challange and I managed to clear out the town after some effort. I grabbed the per turn victory hexes on the center hills, parked some Pz II's, IIIe's, and IIIh's there and held off the soviet attack. I managed to immobilize most of the soviet heavy tanks and destroy the others. I even had on the 37mm ATGs take out a KV1 or 2 at 11 hexes (got a lucky top hit). I used artillery to disrupt the soviet attack, but the key for this battle was putting the panzers on the hills to take advantage of the elevation advantage when firing on the soviet tanks. However, I got a draw (barely) because I did not take the 3 VHs on the heights to the southeast of the town. I reacted too late to the need to take these hexes and only managed to make to 1 of the 3--I missed taking the others by 1 or 2 hexes when the battle ended. Just like in football, it's a game of inches (meters actually)!
In the second battle of Radziechow, I chose the Stuka option and they did a good job of disrupting and destroying many of the soviet heavy tanks. The 88's were also key to this battle, but again, I the main german positions had the advantage of elevation on the soviets. Since the germans were defending the VHs, except for 4 VHs in the town, I held the main line and fed the reinforcements into the weak spots on this line. I destroyed all the soviet tanks and had most of the infantry retreating under a heavy artillery attack. The AI also foolishly moved the soviet HQ near the german positions, so I concentrated fire on it and destroyed it. i took a second force of tanks and infantry to take the VHs in the town and to attack the north flank of the soviet advance. Because the soviet advance died out quickly, these tanks ended up supporting the infantry attacks. With the luxury of so much artillery, I used much of it latter in the battle to attack suspected soviet artillery positions and did manage to reduce the amount of soviet artillery that was fired on my positions. I held all VHs by turn 20, so the battle ended then. The soviet KVs and T-34s in this battle never got close enough to have much of an impact. I did lose 2 PZ IIIh's to KVs, but those were my only panzer losses.
So far I have been awarded the winter combat medal, which seems odd to receive in July!
The first battle for Radziechow was a good challange and I managed to clear out the town after some effort. I grabbed the per turn victory hexes on the center hills, parked some Pz II's, IIIe's, and IIIh's there and held off the soviet attack. I managed to immobilize most of the soviet heavy tanks and destroy the others. I even had on the 37mm ATGs take out a KV1 or 2 at 11 hexes (got a lucky top hit). I used artillery to disrupt the soviet attack, but the key for this battle was putting the panzers on the hills to take advantage of the elevation advantage when firing on the soviet tanks. However, I got a draw (barely) because I did not take the 3 VHs on the heights to the southeast of the town. I reacted too late to the need to take these hexes and only managed to make to 1 of the 3--I missed taking the others by 1 or 2 hexes when the battle ended. Just like in football, it's a game of inches (meters actually)!
In the second battle of Radziechow, I chose the Stuka option and they did a good job of disrupting and destroying many of the soviet heavy tanks. The 88's were also key to this battle, but again, I the main german positions had the advantage of elevation on the soviets. Since the germans were defending the VHs, except for 4 VHs in the town, I held the main line and fed the reinforcements into the weak spots on this line. I destroyed all the soviet tanks and had most of the infantry retreating under a heavy artillery attack. The AI also foolishly moved the soviet HQ near the german positions, so I concentrated fire on it and destroyed it. i took a second force of tanks and infantry to take the VHs in the town and to attack the north flank of the soviet advance. Because the soviet advance died out quickly, these tanks ended up supporting the infantry attacks. With the luxury of so much artillery, I used much of it latter in the battle to attack suspected soviet artillery positions and did manage to reduce the amount of soviet artillery that was fired on my positions. I held all VHs by turn 20, so the battle ended then. The soviet KVs and T-34s in this battle never got close enough to have much of an impact. I did lose 2 PZ IIIh's to KVs, but those were my only panzer losses.
So far I have been awarded the winter combat medal, which seems odd to receive in July!
"I would have much rather that he had given me one more division" - Rommel after receiving his field marshall baton
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Don Doom
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AC could you send the save for node 5 and or any other info that would help me find the problem with node 5. I would e-mail you but you do not have an address listed. Thanks donOriginally posted by AC:
So did I, TheZel. As I already have posted in another thread Matrix SPWAW Forum, I choose the 2 PzIV's and the 2 Sig's as reinforcements, but they never showed up.
Also, just like Larry Hold, I experienced same problems with the A0 unit.
AC
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Doom
Vet of the Russian General Winter
For death is only the begining
Vet of the Russian General Winter
For death is only the begining
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Larry Holt
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Don Doom
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OK.Originally posted by Larry Holt:
Don, I did not metion this before but the first time I started the scenario my IV & SIGs were not there either. I did not save but alt-F4 to kill the game. When I went into the scenario a second time I found the SIGs loaded on the IV's
Hmm, interesting since the sig's are set up well away from the IV's.
Thanks
don
Doom
Vet of the Russian General Winter
For death is only the begining
Vet of the Russian General Winter
For death is only the begining
Sorry, but I went on with the campaign and have no save file from node 5. The units didn't show up in the unit rooster at all, but when I loaded the savefile in the CampaignWatcher programm, they were there. That's all I can remember. Sorry.Originally posted by Don Doom:
AC could you send the save for node 5 and or any other info that would help me find the problem with node 5. I would e-mail you but you do not have an address listed. Thanks don
dondoom@hotmail.com <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
AC
"Tridentina, avanti!" General L. Reverberi leading his Alpini troops in the decisive assault on Soviet-held Nikolajewka, 26th January 1943
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Larry Holt
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Blame the Fuhrer. he never instituted a medal for participation in Barbarossa <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">Originally posted by degen:
[QBSo far I have been awarded the winter combat medal, which seems odd to receive in July![/QB]
The Winter campaign medal and the Crimea shield was all I was able to come up with for 1941. Unlike the other countries, Germany did not institute campaign medals or ribbons, only battle shields line Kholm, Crimea, Kuban, and Narvik. The only cuff titles for a location were Afrika, Kreta, Kurland(never awarded) and metz 1944.
Brent Grenadier Richards
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Brent,Originally posted by Brent:
Blame the Fuhrer. he never instituted a medal for participation in Barbarossa <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">
The Winter campaign medal and the Crimea shield was all I was able to come up with for 1941. Unlike the other countries, Germany did not institute campaign medals or ribbons, only battle shields line Kholm, Crimea, Kuban, and Narvik. The only cuff titles for a location were Afrika, Kreta, Kurland(never awarded) and metz 1944.
Thanks for the info. I had read the Forgotten Soldier recently so I was thinking that maybe the germans had wised up early to how fricking cold it gets in Russia. But seriously, I'm curious as to the criteria that you used for awarding the medals--I'm trying to figure out the good thing that I did so that I can repeat it! <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
Right now I'm getting my butt kicked on "Exploitation at Radziechow" (scenario 42 designed by that crafty Paul Vebber no less!). I wasted too much time early on with conscripts and now I have KVs, BT-7's, and cossacks all taking whacks at me. My performance here may get me sent to a penal battalion. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
"I would have much rather that he had given me one more division" - Rommel after receiving his field marshall baton