Italian Long Campaign

[sigeena]

Battle Report



Again, credits to Warcab, I extracted some strategic battle images and compiled them into a gif, to give an overall feel of the ebb and flow. There were 44 turns in total, and I only extracted odd number turns, so as to keep the size smaller.

You can see that the main push was entirely against 1st Company.

[sigeena]

Delay Battle against UK.

The ground here is very steep and rough. Infantry will take a long time to traverse, and any armour will probably travel fastest along ridgelines, rather than across it.

There is a road running E-W along the northern edge of the map, but I do not think the EN will use it to much advantage.

I supplement my core forces with the following

- Ammo Carrier (for Infantry Howitzer)
- Ammo Carrier (for 81mm Mortars)
- Tank Section
- 25mm ATG
- 47mm ATG
- 20mm AA Guns
- Air Recon

With availability of the Air Recon, I decided on a largely reverse slope deployment. This maximises my survivability as well as improves my ATG's accuracy and effectiveness.

Black line is the screening force. Maroon Line is expected to be main resistance and Green Line is my reserve fighting line.

[sigeena]

I deployed my Companies from South to North, with 1st Company in the South and 3rd in the North.

1st Company (Note the presence of my 47mm ATGs, oriented to engage to the rear.)



2nd Company

The screening force takes advantage of the reverse slope to enhance survivability against early EN contacts.



3rd Company

The HMGs are deployed to watch the road. Sometimes, the EN sends down their lorry-borne infantry along the roads. My pair of tanks wait in the shallow ground for opportunities to snipe from the flanks.

[sigeena]

Turn 2

Spotted a platoon of EN tanks coming down the road. My HMGs fire off quickly to ensure no riding infantry and proceed to pull back down the road.



The EN arty is landing around my tanks, and I have to keep them on the move to avoid getting in the worst of it.

It also precipitates their fast moving light armour stuff. My tanks are well positioned in this sector to engage them.



A13s are spotted coming on quickly towards 1st and 2nd Company. We also spotted a platoon of Valentines, which are likely to lag farther behind.

[sigeena]

Turn 5

The early skirmishing is lop-sided as the EN armoured cars do not have any main guns to threaten my tanks.

Also note the current position of the EN tanks along the road. If they turn south sharply, they may influence the skirmish.

My HMGs continue to pull back and keep the EN tanks buttoned up.



Turn 10

1 of the EN tanks split off and went around. The other 2 have begun turning south west towards 3rd Company. My tanks have taken up new positions after a successful fight with the EN armoured cars.

I expect the lone tank to be destroyed by my infantry with relative ease. The other 2 may need some coaxing to expose themselves.

[sigeena]

Turn 8

2nd and 3rd Company are now planning on how to deal with the fast moving A13 tanks.

My 25mm ATGs are in perfect position and the LOS is around 250-400metres.



Turn 10

Another platoon of A13s approach from a different angle. This approach is similarly covered by the 25mms.

[sigeena]

Turn 14

After the EN cruiser tanks were destroyed, we waited for the inevitable advance of the Valentines.

There are 4 of them and my only way of destroying them would rely on my infantry going for close assaults.

Here 1 of them is likely to scale directly into H platoon.

[sigeena]

Turn 14

3rd Company sector.

After the EN tanks were destroyed, we re-orient our tanks towards the advancing EN infantry.

I expect my tanks to whittle away at the EN advance, before they hit my main line.

We expect at least 2 companies worth of EN infantry.



Turn 18

Over the next few turns, the EN advance grew larger and larger. Our HMGs and mortars are providing the tanks excellent support. We may be able to stop the EN advance altogether.



Turn 22

A better overview of 3rd Company's positions. You can also spot the flaming A13 along the road, destroyed by my infantry.

The range from my HMGs to the EN infantry is about 850-1,100 metres.

[sigeena]

Turn 20

As the Valentines press forward, I decided to pull back my screening force. Their current position is too far forward and risk being engaged and destroyed in detail.

2nd Company moves back to their main line, leaving 1 platoon in the dead ground to ambush the Valentines.

1st Company has also largely pulled back behind and are hidden from the EN infantry.



Turn 22

As usual, my heavy weapons is disrupting the EN infantry from supporting their tanks. L platoon is in an ideal position to close assault the Valentines.



Turn 26

I smoke out the area as the Valentines roll forward. I keep them buttoned up with HMG fires. They seemed to have split their forces abit. 1 is coming towards 1st Coy and the other towards 2nd Coy. The last one is held in reserve.



Turn 30

Here the last EN tank is sent forward. L platoon prepares once again for a close assault.

[sigeena]

Battle Report

The EN brought alot of artillery for this one. They shelled our arty park a fair bit but we were able to shift our guns to alternate positions.

I was also pretty pleased with the performance of our tanks. They fought throughout the battle and they held off at least 2-3 companies of EN infantry. 3rd Company was quite unscathed.



Here's the cool dynamic map. Our tanks were really lively.