Well, here it is: the next installment in my series of AARs from my game of ABTF CG III with Tom Mueller. We play once a week on VASL, and have made pretty good progress, completing the three CG scenarios played so far in about two months (8 VASL sessions).
18PM AAR:
Despite not having many Germans to attack, I selected an Attack Chit anyway simply to force Tom to fight. Knowing that his force would be wildly outnumbered, I wanted another opportunity to destroy Germans. I decided that it was worth it even though it would make my DRM on the ELR chart pretty bad. The Germans started with control of Blocks A (upper left corner) and Blocks X, Y, and Z (lower right corner). The Brits controlled everything else.
Once again my Brits are up to the task, and the German force is roughed up. Things started poorly for Tom's Germans right after 18AM. Two 447s, two 658s, and a leader were left in Block A, and a leader with a LMG was left in Block Y at the end of 18AM. Tom tried and failed to shift the Block Y leader to an entry area, so he was stuck there. Tom's other shift DR to get the Block A guys to an entry area was even worse. Boxcars eliminated the four squads and the leader (and all their SW). My shift DRs were uneventful, and I only made a few of them; one failed and I ended up leaving more men in Block R than I wanted to, but it didn't hurt my setup too much.
So, Tom's on-map force to start 18PM was: LMG/8-0, plus the 120mm OBA that double-red carded during 18AM before it could place a FFE.
My Brit on-map force to start 18PM was 59 squads, all my leaders, plus the 57L, the 76mm MTR and the captured German 50L. Added to this setup force for 18PM were the three 76mm MTRs that the Brits get as OB-given reinforcements.
Pretty grim for that one German sergeant…
For 18PM Tom purchased:
1 x SS PG Pltn from KG Knaust (north edge) with 3 x 658, 1 x 9-1, 3 x SPW 251/1
1 x SS Rifle Pltn from KG Brinkmann (east edge) with 3 x 658, 1 x 8-0, 1 x LMG, 1 x 50 MTR
1 x Hvy Tank Pltn from KG Brinkmann with 2 x Tiger I
1 x SS PG Pltn from KG Harder (west edge) with 3 x 658, 1 x 8-1, 3 x SPW 251/1
1 x 80mm OBA with offboard observer
Tom was obviously going for the mobile attack option. With two OBA modules, I presume he wanted to interdict my forces as much as possible, then zoom on the map and capture a block.
For 18PM I purchased and/or was OB-given:
1 x Para Pltn (4 x 648)
2 x Glider Pltn (8 x 458)
2 x Commando Pltn (6 x 648)
1 x Engineer Pltn (3 x 648)
1 x MG Sec (3 x 228, 2 x MMG, 1 x HMG)
2 x Carrier Sec (6 x Carrier A with 228 crews)
1 x MTR Sec (3 x 76mm MTR)
I set up my on-map forces to cover every map edge (Including the Graebner bridge entry area). I also spread them out a bit and put them in cellars where possible. This was because I believed (rightly so, as it turned out) that Tom wouldn't bring on his reinforcements until Turn 5 and instead spent a few turns prior just pounding me with OBA. My setup was such that no more than two locations would be effected by a FFE concentration at any one time.
My reinforcements entered right away on turn 1 and took up positions in Blocks C, D, H, G, and E to cover the West edge. Also on turn 1, some troops in Block R moved to Block Y to dispatch the German leader hiding there. Everybody else just sat there and waited. Strange feeling, selecting the attack chit and then waiting for the Germans to come on the map!
Turn 3 saw the arrival of Tom's OBA. He didn't want to start it up too early for fear of losing it via Red cards before he needed it on turn 5. The 120mm landed and had no effect on a squad defending in Block V. The 80mm placed an AR also in the Northeast corner indicating to me that his troops would move onto the map in somewhere on the North/East portion near the corner around Block V. This was tempting to the Germans since Block V was lightly defended (a 648 in the Cellar of GG2, a FT/648 in II3, and a DC/338 in GG4). I didn't want to stick too much stuff in Block V, since it's potentially difficult to retreat out of. The DD0 - II8 road is pretty easily interdicted. Furthermore, Block W was empty, even though I controlled it. The majority of this block is right on the map edge, and I didn't want Germans swarming into my positions (or just advancing in).
By Turn 5 the 80mm OBA was gone, drawing two reds before placing a FFE (so Tom will retain it for the next scenario). The 120mm still hadn't even broken a squad. And Tom had to bring on his reinforcements since the Scenario might have ended (only 1 in 6 chance, but if it ends with RGs not having entered, those RGs are eliminated with full CVP awarded). His first unit to enter was a Tiger I. Tom probably should have done some recon work with a HS, since the Tiger entered the map adjacent to my FT/648 (in II3). One pop from the FT and the Tiger (with crew) was dead. Having fired the FT, the 648 in II3 wasn't much of a threat to his other tank, so Tom's other Tiger entered, CE with 9-1 AL, and pulled up adjacent to me to take me on in bounding fire. The MGs did no effect, and the MA shot served up a boxcars! Very bad start for the Germans, and it was only going to get worse.
The HTs from KG Knaust then entered Block V, driving up and parking in hexes HH1, HH2, and HH3. Two squads unloaded in HH2 and the HT in HH3 unloaded its contents of 9-1 and 658. These guys in HH3 got zapped by a stack of units in Block N, and both broke. The German infantry platoon entered partly in Block W and Block V, taking positions in II6 and JJ3.
So, the struggle in Block V was on. Tom was already down a Tiger, and the 9-1 and 658 would die for failure to rout if the FT/648 in II3 wasn't somehow killed.
The SS PG Pltn from KG Harder also entered on turn 5, on the West edge. Tom's goal was to race past my positions and then take refuge in the lightly-defended interior of the map. As soon as the first HT entered, however, I started flinging as much lead at them as I could. This included MMG, HMG, inherent, and 76mm MTR fire. One HT made it to N15, but with its passenger squad broken; the leader in that HT was ok, though, so there was opportunity for Tom to rally him. One HT made it only as far as E12 (5 hexes) before it was stunned and forced to BU and stop. The third HT made it only one hex before taking fire that broke its passenger and Stunned/Recalled the vehicle (boxcars on the crew's MC).
In the advancing fire phase, Tom's Germans failed to KIA my FT/648 in II3. So, his leader and squad in HH3 were eliminated in the rout phase, and Tom had to advance into CC with my FT guy to prevent it from taking out the other Tiger, which was still adjacent. The CC had no effect for either side, which I counted as a plus, since I had one squad tying up two 658s.
So, Turn 5 was everything I expected it to be. Violent! And I felt pretty good, since I had taken out one Tiger, a 658, a 9-1, and two half-tracks were sitting ducks over on the West edge. The 120mm OBA was ineffective, and the 80mm OBA was gone. All for no losses on my part so far.
During my Turn 6 I moved in on the two hapless HTs from KG Harder (easy to do since both were BU). I also repositioned troops that were defending against a Graebner attack to deal with the HT in N15. The DC/338 in Block V placed his bomb on an adjacent HT. While this might seem like a waste of a DC, I was gunning for the 30CVP DRM on the ELR chart. I also started moving troops into Blocks W and V to reinforce my defenses. Tom's troops in II6 (the corner of Block W) whacked a 648 trying to get into Block W with a K result giving me my first casualty of 18PM. But, during the MPh, I managed to get a substantial number of squads and a good leader into Block W, as well as a PIAT/648 into Block V next to Tom's remaining HTs.
In the AFPh, the DC destroyed the HT in Block V, turning it into a burning wreck. The PIAT in Block V took out a second HT, also turning it into a burning wreck. In my Turn 6 CC, the two HTs on the eastern part went down, passengers and all. My FT/648 went down finally in CC, but only after taking a 658 with it. So, although I lost the FT and the 648, that guy took out a Tiger and a squad single-handedly. Posthumous medals were recommended.
On Tom's player turn 6, his leader and squad in Block W retreated into Block V, but broke along the way. Two of his other 3 squads left also broke, leaving him with one good order squad in the block (manning my FT). His 120mm OBA continued to be ineffective, but he repositioned his Tiger to the road north of Block V to discourage any more Brit reinforcements. The N15 HT tried to start up, but got stunned before it could move by a LMG vehicle target type shot. This also put the passenger under DM again. The scenario-end dr came up high, so we played on to Turn 7.
In my player turn, I repositioned my PIAT squad in Block V to try to get a lucky shot at the Tiger. I also shuffled units around Block N to minimize potential OBA damage, and reinforced Block V with one more squad just to be sure that it remained under my control. I also moved two squads and a 9-1 leader up to be able to advance in and engage the N15 HT in CC and also surrounded the hex on the other side with a Carrier; the broken 658 and 8-1 had routed out underneath the HT. In my advancing fire, I wounded the 8-1 and the 658 was eliminated in the Rout Phase. I advanced in with my two squads, and dispatched both the 8-1 and the HT. My PIAT did no damage to the Tiger. Tom's Turn 7 was uneventful as he pulled back his Tiger, the remaining HT, and his squads to map edge to be able retained them in the setup area for the next CG scenario.
So, 18PM turned out be pretty weird. Only a fraction of my force even moved, much less fired. Whole companies just sat around in the Northwest and Southeast corners. For the small amount of force I did commit, and for the small amount of time involved (only 3 Game Turns), the Brits were successful in punishing the Germans. The Brits I think were justified in taking another attack chit for 18PM. By making the Germans fight, I managed to inflict another round of serious casualties, and the Germans don't have much to start 18EVE with. Even if my ELR drops, I feel it was worth it. It keeps the Germans off-balance for another scenario (or more, if they're forced to delay their attack for longer). Coupled with my minimal casualties, 18PM turned out to be a British success. One key thing is that I don't have to worry about the SS PG Pltns anymore from KG Knaust and KG Harder, since the Germans only get one from either of those groups (to get their last one, the Germans have to use KG Graebner, a sure-death experience this early in the CG). Total German casualties were:
5 x SPW 251/1 (no crews survived)
1 x Tiger I (crew did not survive)
5 x 658
1 x 8-0
1 x 9-1
1 x 8-1
for a total of 47 CVP
Total British casualties were:
1 x 648
1 x 338
making my total losses for the campaign so far only 2 x 648 and 1 x 248.
The Germans to start 18EVE have 4 x 658, 1 x 8-1 (or 8-0 I can't remember), 1 x Tiger I, and
1 x SPW 251/1. The Brits to start 18EVE have 80 squads, 24 leaders, 4 x 76mm MTR, 1 x 57L ATG, 1 x 50L ATG, 3 x 228 MG crews, 6 x Carrier A with 228 crews.
I'm left with all the blocks under my control, although that certainly wasn’t the goal. The Germans have been thrown off the map for the second time in a row, so I'm obviously pleased with the performance of my troops.
Some final thoughts:
I'm not sure the Germans want to use their SS PG platoons this early in the CG. There's a long way to go in the CG and they'll be more useful when the Brit defenses are in shambles. They're just too vulnerable; destroying all of the KG Harder SS PG Pltn took a relatively small amount of squads. If they're instead used when the Brits are having problems defending, they can be used to get into the rear areas to cut routs, interdict rally points, and maybe even take an undefended block. The German OBA so far has been a complete dud. In 18AM, Toms 120mm double-red carded before placing an FFE (so it was retained for 18PM). The 18AM 80mm MTR broke two squads. The 18PM 120mm didn't even break a single squad (the best it managed was to pin a 648) and the 80mm double red carded before placing a FFE. Although I think that the Germans need OBA, this illustrates that you can't bank on it and shouldn't plan your attack based on getting good results. There are enough tactics the Brits can use to limit its effectiveness (see the list below), and the LOSs for even off-board observers are limited. This leaves potentially wide areas virtually immune to OBA fire.
Ways to limit the effectiveness of German OBA in ABTF:
1. Cellars. These make the DRM on the IFT a +5 (+3 for Cellar TEM, +2 for the 2 full levels above you). Even large OBA becomes survivable, especially by 8ML troops.
2. Concealment. Try to gain it is often as possible. If lost, rotate them out and replace with concealed guys. This forces the Germans to make extra card draws.
3. Dispersion. It is pretty easy to set up a coherent and tough defense but yet make it so that no more than one or two locations could be attacked by an OBA module at any one time. One easy way to do this is to position your squads in every other hex.
4. No stacking. This keeps the damage to a lucky low OBA IFT DR to a minimum. The largest stack I use when OBA is near is two squads with a 9-2 leader or better. If the leader passes his MC, the squads are probably good to go.
5. LOS tricks. Once a few AR/SR counters have been placed, it's probably pretty easy to figure out potential hexes for German off-board observers. Take the time to figure this out. Then figure out which hexes are blind to the observer. The terrain is such that there will be more blind hexes than open LOS. Use this to your advantage by setting up rally points, defensive lynchpins, counterattack jump-off points, etc, out of OBA LOS.
Just some thoughts.
Mike
Michael J. Licari
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science
Binghamton University (SUNY)
http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~mlicari
This page last updated 3/17/00
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