German Campaign using War Cab

[Imp]

Turn 11 start

Its still going well despite the visibility the Brits still sent in 2 Spitfires damaging a Halftrack, bombs are gone now so not to worried.
Apart from that we have lost a Truck to arty & 6 men, the scout lives but lost 2 men so will not be participating further.
The Brits have lost 47 units started killing infantry now 17 are tank losses.

From the top
Pz Grenadiers went to risky bounding advance as shielded by trees & will cover our flank for a few turns.

Main force placing smoke 11-13 hexes ahead of infantry so vehicles can move forward with minimum exposure, tanks will fill in the gaps. As usual some slightly risky Halftrack moves will occur behind the smoke to keep the pace up, getting infantry forward for the next smoke screen.
Working well so far had a minor scare with 2 undetected Piat Teams but as they were suppressed they missed, infantry spotted them as they fired.
Panther in slightly risky position as destroyed one but killed the first Churchill that appeared before the smoke fell.

MkIV managed to kill a couple of central Sherman's that the squad had located, now joining main force as Central Group is out of the Orchard.

ATG has 6kills now bagging a Sherman & is poised to possibly get another, its relocating for fear of arty shortly.

Southern units are doing likewise & getting eyes on approach directly for Vhexes.
Bit concerned there might be quite a few Brits trying to come this way, vehicles will struggle but if it uses artillery here we might struggle to hold the infantry back.
Its a long trip to come round behind them with relative safety we will probably miss most of the action. Hopefully by then this pocket will be all that's left & our artillery can save the day.

Tactics are allowing a faster advance than I anticipated so far. Southern group is to hold position it will not advance over the mud.

[Imp]

Turn 13 start

Well the good news is we got the Dingo & still have only lost 9 men but things have got considerably tougher progress has slowed.
British artillery hit everywhere location shown all but 1 squad has rallied & I think we lost 2 men, some squads will not have the speed to clear the area before the next turn.
Major strike where the PZ Grenadiers where, I assume planes spotted otherwise we missed someone. In the process of relocating 4 arty pieces & just clear of the strike when it hit however my Howitzers were not so lucky routed & transport is gone.
British losses now total 66 units.

From the top
Progress has been slow wary of tanks from the SE & there was a lot of infantry in the area of the field. Arty hit us due to the delay dealing with them & we have had to use a few dischargers for cover as could not spare our artillery.
A platoon & escorting MkIV will go after the artillery along the road. Armour & PZ Grenadiers are going to press on rather than wait for the foot infantry as I think most resistance is over here.

Progress on the Central Vhexes has met stiff resistance we managed to get the Sherman which helped. Having to deal with the units on the mud to the NW has split our firepower here. Hopefully the main force should be able to target them shortly.

Now to the fun there is another Sherman down there somewhere, possibly stuck on the mud we cannot see that hex.
MkIV fired smoke to let the ATGs take up position they are Y keyed to 5 hexes for the moment, prefer flank or at least a bit closer before opening up.
We need a strategy here possibly moving MkIV below them for flank shots, big worry is infantry spotting the ATGs so probably going to place arty here to contain them - only have 4 tubes available to plot at the moment.
The other ATG is on the way over & we will pick up the AT Team but I have a feeling things could get a "bit sticky" to quote Brig Tom Brodie.

In hindsight sent to many units North only really mess in the snow during campaigns & misjudged the time it will take for other units to arrive.

[Imp]

Turn 14 end
The artillery has stopped but British air is busy making the skies safer & took out 2 AA units.
Our Howitzers still live just have to wait for them to come back on line, we CB fired.

From the top
The fight is just about over in the field & mud South of it, the Pz Grenadiers are inbound so we can concentrate on swinging round the mud.
British tanks seem to have swung towards centre VHexes Panther is positioned to take a shot at the Churchill as it moves & several others should be able to engage it with a 1 hex move.
Going to run fast using the dischargers to see what's out there, that lone destroyed Sherman is bothering me where are the rest?
Also a Bren carrier & Truck appeared on the hill, if the Truck was facing the other way I would assume its empty but we may have more inbound. If its just infantry most units will sweep past & let our foot Infantry deal with them.
Routed an AAgun here & about to head up the hill using the road after the artillery there, 6 units I think.

Northern assistance let us gain control in the central area & take control of all the Vhexes, the North force should be able to rush for a turn or two as it arrives
here as the area will hopefully be secure.

Down South infantry is starting to appear driven off a couple of squads & more armour has turned up, wish they were Sherman's rather than Churchills.
As shown all the ATGs can cover a break out across the top mud area once they exit it & the MkIV could take up position as shown. I have no idea what the AI is going to do not sure it does either
it may run tanks back & fourth between the two obvious crossing points in which case the MKIV might catch a break.
Once most of our Artillery is back on line considering a big stomp here including the 17cm, May get lucky or at least make attacking feasible.

[Imp]

Update Turn 16 South

The Sturmpanzer engaged the Churchill that has disappeared last turn but had no effect.
Only the top artillery plot has actually landed but with more units appearing in the area when the opportunity arose I decided to take it.

Started with infantry fire as some enemy squads have LOS to the ATG's, this drew fire from the Churchill & Sherman the other Churchill had just made the move shown.
We needed to neutralise the underlined squad otherwise the ATG's would be spotted for sure so continued with the infantry fire. Pretty sure the tanks only have 1 main gun shot so its worth the risk now.

The bottom ATG fired at the moving Churchill but it bounced as did the second shot, its 2nd return fire killed 2 men out of action for now.
Sturmpanzer moved unobserved as target suppressed & killed it with its 2nd shot.

The top ATG targeted the Sherman & hit on the second shot the Churchill returned fire all for no effect but suppression.
Can the MkIV enter the trees unspotted? Yes it can & kills the Churchill with its first shot. Next shot vs the Sherman goes wide & it fires the smoke dischargers.

Happy with that outcome despite the ATG positions being compromised.
Just 2 Churchills & a Sherman left that we know of & if they try advancing this turn it should end badly.

[Imp]

Turn 17 end
I hate planes can't hit the %$#@ things in this visibility - Halftrack & passenger down.
We have lost 8 units now all to planes or artillery, British losses are just shy of 100 units.

From the top
We are coming but probably going to be to late it could all be over bar the shouting.
Going after the arty we came across a stubborn AA gun as you can see ended up pilling in & throwing the kitchen sink at it, we ended up unscathed.
A few squads will head South with slim possibility of finding withdrawn transports.

Found & killed the HQ on our travels, resistance is over in the centre.

In the South the Brits are making a direct push where I thought they might but its to late fears were unfounded they will have full artillery support.
As they have the best guns vs infantry Sturmpanzer & StuG(i) are taking position to stop the infantry & marksman's progress had to pull AA unit back just in case the Churchills try a silly move.
The Sturmpanzer should contain them till the artillery hits then its probably all over.

MkIV tried a slightly desperate attack on Churchills which failed so I fired its dischargers. It can move to support from here if needed as ATG is not in place yet.
Only problem will be if Brits plot artillery down here we have 4 arty to plot around Churchills & troop concentration those shown are active.

[Imp]

Turns out that was it the AI threw in the towel at this point.
Artillery killed the Sherman so it might have been damaged.

GIF shows there were a lot of units left probably 2/3rds of the British Southern Force never saw combat, they had to cross fields & mud.
Not surprised really did say at the outset the map could be a problem.

Low visibility is also a major problem for the AI, it makes you work hard but you can scout sensibly & if desired bring overwhelming firepower as firefights happen in local pockets. The process of deciding what to do for a given situation is transparent but the brain must weigh up a lot of factors depending on what you want to achieve.
Enough factors that I had to ponder for a while on a the best course of action for some of the moves.

[sigeena]

The problem with knowing the visibility in advance is that we deploy our units with that visibility in mind.

Imagine we don't know the visibility beforehand and can't change it after deployment. If you deploy on the defense or delay assuming high visibility and then the battle turns out to be visibility 5 or 6, you'll start shifting forces in a hurry.

[Imp]

Probably not as much as you might first think, infantry wont be far off & they normally screen the armour.
Long range stuff like the armour & HMG wont be able to start targeting out where you expected but they are vulnerable at short range.
My guess is as its mobile you would move armour up as & when needed to act in a supporting role.
Only big problem is if you have gaps they can slip through undetected.

[Imp]

We have finished the restructure so quick recap on forces.
Much as I like them even if advancing for surprise attacks vs difficult to approach targets we have sold the ATG's & will buy when needed.

33 Squads (inc Pioneers) - 19 Transports (4 cannot lift a squad)
16 Armour (4 Assault gun orientated) -6 mobile AA
8 on map & 1 off map artillery pieces.

INFANTRY
Foo
2 Infantry Co 10 Squads each
1 Pz Grenadier Company 11 Squads 13 Halftracks (2 for MMG)
4 HMG, 2 MMG
3 Sniper (Rangefinder 5 Variety)
4 Panzerschreck AT Teams
2 Pioneers (1 has a flamethrower)
2 Scouts & 250/11 gun Halftracks
2 Light Trucks, 2 SdKfz 11 soft Halftracks (All for HMG transport)
ARMOUR
10 MkIV's
2 Each of Panther, StuG(i), Sturmpanzer.
MISC
6 Mobile 2cm Flak
17cm Battery
2 On map 15cm
4 Self propelled & 4 Static Mortars.
6 Transport vehicles for there use.

Probably a bit heavy on armour for a German formation but plan to use AUX units. Snipers are mainly there to make assaults easier.

[Imp]

Welcome to Anzio we may not have as much snow as the Eastern Front but we do have the mud, the suns out snow has melted & we have a quagmire.
We have enlisted the aid of a Partisan group in the hopes there local knowledge will help us navigate the treacherous terrain.

Advance vs the British Map 90x90 visibility 57 good vantage points for both sides.
AUX UNITS
2 - 3.7cm FlaK 43 Guns
1 - 10.5cm offboard battery
Italian Partisan Company (13 - 8 man squads armed with LMG & a rifle or SMG Experience 55, Morale 63.
An assortment of Medium & Heavy Trucks (4 of Each)

Hands up just realised bought from wrong OOB not changing now. Due to the restricted avenues of approach I did not really want AUX units but as the map is 90 high thought the British might be spread a bit thin without them. Luckily trucks are the same they were bought to see if any have 4WD.
We will use the trucks & 4 Partisan Squads as guides.

If your into mud & mountains Batloc 221 Anzio is for you this was originally a delay action but I took one look at the map & thought no way. The second roll was also a delay & the only passage from E-W without mud was a 2 hex wide zig zag!

Thankfully it gave me a better map as still doing 60+ hour weeks marked the passages on the map with the text tool so I don't forget in between plays.

Highlighted paths on the screenshot, the SW area in my deployment zone is cut off from the rest of it so will assume we got there from the lower edge.