DAR: Poland

[RERomine]

Turn 29

Turned two more flags, so I've got three to go. I might have forgot to mention I turned one last turn. Close to two of the ones left. My tanks got to the road, which engaged some enemy there. Hit one enemy mortar with some "counter battery". Nothing like a tank at point blank range Once I finish with the mortar, I'm going to move those tanks after the back flag, because they are the closest to it. Encountered the enemy HQ unit and sent it running as well. A routed army needs a leader.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 30

My tank section on the road is still working on that mortar. It's running, but not dead. The enemy is swarming all over the road. It's good they are all routed. There are a couple of infantry AA machine guns running with them. A unit or two farther north have a little life left in them, but not enough to stop me. A marksman showed up near a flag I'm covering with a scout unit. I'm going to send back one armored car to support the scout. Artillery has been plotted on two known locations of Polish 75mm howitzers.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 2 casualties.

Enemy: Estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 31

My point tank section lost one tank to a hidden Bofors. At least the crew survived. I don't have time to be delicate about getting to the last flag, so I guess I have to let that one go. I got one of the others and am 100m from one more. Enemy units on the road got chewed up pretty well. Not many left. The mortar was abandoned. Enemy off board artillery started to counter my on board batteries, so they will be running soon.

Casualties

Friendly: One PzKw IIIb/d (s) tank destroyed.

Enemy: Estimated 30 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 32

I've got 20 out of 21 flags and have to be happy with that. The last one isn't worth the risk if trying to get to knowing there are Bofors out there I haven't even located yet. A few enemy infantry units are moving to flags I just recently captured, but they are covered so I'll hold them.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 33

Picked off a few more isolated enemy units, but for the most part am holding my position. Enemy artillery is pounding the cross roads, but I left there a while ago.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 34

Looks like the enemy got one of my artillery pieces a while ago. No matter, I guess. Still holding position.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Estimated 10 casualties.

[RERomine]

Decisive Victory!!!!

Turn 35

My scouts spotted two Bofors, took out one and shot up the other. At that point, I brought to bear everything I had close. After several squads, five tanks and two armored car fired at it, I finally got it. My forces also engaged a few other enemy units seen as well.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Two 40mm Bofors destoryed and estimated 30 casualties.

Total Casualties

German

Men: 76
Artillery: 1
Soft Vehicles: 0
APCs: 0
AFVs: 3
Air Transports/Helos: 1 (one spotter plane)
Aircraft: 0

Poland

Men: 1277
Artillery: 18
Soft Vehicles: 0
APCs: 0
AFVs: 40
Air Transports/Helos: 0
Aircraft: 0

Score

Germany: 5363
GB: 491

Final Comments

I got the decisive victory out of this battle but I wasn't really happy the way it turned out. Most of the plan went as designed. I captured Hill 3, elements from Hill 1 were able to push forward as were the elements in the South Woods. The flanking maneuver around the North side of Hill 3 didn't happen, because I had to commit my reserves elsewhere. One has to be willing to just throw the plan away as soon as it becomes clear the AI won't cooperate.

There are three factors that come into play for the struggle during this battle. The first is the overall experience of my core. I started over because of the latest patch and my core was at national average experience. My units ran when under fire more readily than they did with a more experienced core. This applies to my artillery crews as well.

The second again was related to me starting over. I'm use to a rapid force capable of assault style tactics using infantry and half-tracks. My force has trucks right now and not half tracks. All I could do is run forward and drop my force off. The speed of the trucks still helped. It was better to be fighting from the tops of the hills than fighting to get up them. Starting my fighting 250m farther back could have resulted in me getting a marginal victory. It will still take time for me to upgrade my trucks to half-tracks, so I have to get use to it.

The final factor was getting use to the artillery changes. For sake of realism, my core has four FOOs. One is assigned to each company and one at battalion level. I wanted to make the most of them to minimize the impact of the artillery changes. It's difficult to say I really had a chance to adapt to the artillery changes because the AI hit my artillery with counter battery fire much earlier than it usually does. Fire adjustments may be more delayed, but not nearly as much as waiting for crews to return to their guns, if they come back at all.

Overall, I guess I shouldn't be unhappy with roughly a 15 to 1 destroy rate of enemy assets, except aircraft. Looks like the next battle will be another meeting engagement. I've added six truck mobile 81mm mortar units, eight SPAA units and two ammo trucks. Also, I upgraded five PzKw IId tanks to PzKw IVb units. Overall, getting 20% fewer repair points didn't seem to hurt.

I've attached the save just before I ended my last turn. Enjoy!