German Campaign using War Cab

[Imp]

Turn 9 Update it deserves one

A + B were fairly straight forward found an extra squad in each location but managed to deal with simply enough.

C - The house on the hill either belongs to the Commander or is full of Gold Bullion defended or what.

Kicked off with the MkIV firing smoke behind the splash attack hex so we could move up safely to assault the squad there.
Sods Law dictated just when you want splash it hardly happened just pinned adjacent squads.

Followed up starting around 1 clearing W>E
Trying to get position on the pinned squad at 3 we discovered 2 more dug in squads at 2.

Panther & MkIV assisted from 2 then Flame HT from 3 so can move on hex 3 & assault.
However squad that was at 4 is still an issue for further advance so that had to go as well.

All because that row of 3 entrenchments had 4 squads that would route into them & likely dig in, its been a slog.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere in this a squad decided to look on the hill & paid a stiff price - just how many are there defence in depth save the Gold.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Situation now.
We are boxed in looks like another line of mines in the South so trying to create space we could be here a while, hello artillery.
We are poised for the next push not over extending at all!
A - priority is the lower of the 2 squads might smoke the other.
B - If squads here remain routed (3 80mm Mortars will fire) we can move to 2 & get on the hill.
Flame HT is now in hex SW of 2 with the MkIV, they can fire at C from 2 kicking things off.
Can't see it but another unit at ? will put a spanner in things.

This is a tough one I am really enjoying this battle, considered going round but where is the fun in that.

[Imp]

That arty is a bit close for comfort looking at it should have left flame HT 1 hex to SW.

[Imp]

Quick screen

Arty did land OK however B had 2 pinned squads but we decided to go anyway as thought still a way, had better thoughts.
Its now developed into a full on brawl honeymoon phase is over, it could not last urban fighting normally has higher casualties than we have been taking. If I move someone takes a shot at me, attempts to support just leads to more units that need help so we are now overextended.

So much for my comment there will not be anyone at ? hex there was & he had a few Comrade's 8 new units discovered entrenchments highlighted.

AT teams made an appearance touting AT rifles & caused light damaged to 4 or so vehicles including a MkIV then to top things off a still hidden T-34 took out a halftrack.

At least things are quiet up North everybody is here

[Imp]

Turn 13


Fell into that oh so easy trap at least for me in urban warfare of becoming a bit Gung Ho normalcy has now returned.
Its the road networks I think, tempts me to reinforce quickly rather than sensibly & suddenly units are scattered to the 4 winds & cohesion is gone which can be dangerous as your reacting to the enemy & tying yourself up in knots.
Luckily this map has a lot of paved areas so got away with it as vehicles can actually take position because enemy squads do not have ranged AT weapons. This means the Flame HT is far more effective on the Eastern front though we lost the other one to ATG fire as it was moving to take its first shot as shown.
The squads heading for the Mortar were in position to move in for an easy kill.
Bunkers Gun only has light penetration so Sturmpanzer will engage.

Next group has just cleared the area of a couple of squads & AT teams, ATG missed a flank shot so smoked for now rather than find as had enough to deal with already. Bonus arty was plotted on AA Gun here already as we should attack the others this turn freeing the spotter plane to fly again.

Lower Group has finally cleared the area if you look at a previous screenshot you will see progress has been slow.
If we had not cleared the South mine & broke through there we would probably have been here for another turn or 2.
Just cleared 2 other gaps so we are good to move out against the AA guns.

Despite the hold up still on target to wind up in about 25 turns, 17cm Battery has still only CB fired once.
Still using infantry to path find but letting vehicles enter a unentered hex to attack now as that is probably it for the mines.

For an urban map this one is an easy play as no real areas with houses lining both sides of the road. You can leap frog from cover to cover & vehicles can take position on targets relatively easy. No idea if this is the norm for BATloc 111 but I will try it again its great fun.

[Imp]

Turn 15

The lower group made rapid progress after breaking out but has now hit the wall of AT units that has been giving the centre trouble & slowed progress to a crawl.
The next line of defence mainly consists of AT Teams & HMG with the odd squad thrown in.
I cannot remember the position of all the AT Teams but most are shown, we also killed a few squads & HMGs that I cannot recall in heavy fighting.
Spotter plane made its pass okay revealing some of the T-34s.
A few turns back we had about a 10:1 kill ratio now its jumped to 15:1 - Losses stand at 4:60 currently.
We have lost quite a few men though probably adding up to at least another 3 squads.


From the top
Its quiet here we have killed the Mortars & are moving onto another bunker but now need to wait for infantry to catch up as we ended up supporting action further South

At the next crossroads I think we can move on the T-34 without interference from other units however its not ideal.
Our AT Teams are several hexes away & the other T-34 there will move at some point.

At A fighting has been heavy got both ATGs & all the AAMGs but most any action taken around here drew fire from a hidden unit.
The squad at A took the worst of it, the AT teams were dead or routed when he moved & got cut down to 7 men, tank placed smoke, not the best way to find enemy units.
The T-34/85 was also hidden & the tank fired dischargers before it could score a hit.

Lastly the bottom group finally made contact after killing the AT Team infantry moved back into cover so the vehicles can lay some firepower before they take up positions again.

The VHexes are tantalisingly close but getting to them is no easy matter.

[Imp]

Turn 17

Never got the chance to mount an attack on the tanks our artillery hit vacated locations as the enemy is on the move.
Should make it easier though we can only attack 1 as shown the others will hopefully run in to our sights.
Since realising my transports keep dying had been doing a much better job but made a couple of silly moves & lost 2 last turn. One had a Pioneer on board who survived but needed rescuing. This guy gets into trouble a lot had to rescue him in nearly every battle so far (only have 1 unit like him so notice).

Placed smoke to screen spotter run but misjudged & it made its last circuit on the wrong side of it taking damage.
Revealed those 2 AT Teams set well back, bit odd but could have caught me out if sent a halftrack to get last VHex.

So we will take out 1 tank & wait a turn to see what the others do. In the South for the points can go for the 37AA gun as 1 is revealed for the points & need to take up position for the counter attack. Couple of squads with range turned down as spotters & a tank should be enough to supplement the AA & MGs

[Imp]

[Imp]

Turn 22

The tanks were easy enough as ran straight into our sights as were the units we bypassed who did the same, seven squads in all they never fired a shot.
I only manually fired 3 or 4 shots at them as they routed into our arms op fire did it virtually all for me.

Good thing I took infantry when headed to kill the AA guns there were 2 ATGs as well but without infantry support picking off was straight forward.

Decisive victory & as did in 22 turns would have been the same result with timed objectives on

The gif will not show influence I think due to booby traps it could not figure it out.
Odd as well last frame a Russian squad suddenly pops up - only did every other frame though.


Had a blast playing that one not because we thrashed them just for the fun factor map actually provided lots of different ways to approach things.
It would actually have been more difficult vs US or Brits due to their AT weaponry meaning you need to be far more careful with supporting vehicles.

Flame Halftrack helped keep the momentum going its speed meant it could get to problem areas fast which is what I want them them to deal with.
Don't use flame vehicles often but vs US Brits I would go with a tank as you need the armour

[Imp]

While I remember as made a few changes its still April so ended up on the Eastern Front again in the Crimea offensive.

Assaulting again across open land & woods this time visibility is 31 hexes length 40.

CORE
Some of our veterans have been deployed elsewhere to bolster the ranks.
Sold 3 Infantry Platoons, 1 Panzer Grenadier Platoon, 2 AT Teams & repurchased so 4 Squads now have Panzerfausts as AT weapon rather than a mine.

Sold a sniper & the Sturmpanzer's & bought 3 222 Armoured Cars plus switched StuG(i) for a Marder 1. See if I can keep it alive.
Added 2 3.7cm Flak Guns

AUX
6 Pioneers half have flamethrowers
2 Scouts (smg)
10.5cm Battery
2 Munitions Dumps
Sniper (did not know it was an assault & that is when they are useful).
Spotter Plane
2 Fw 190F-8 carrying 2-250 & 1-500kg bombs

[Imp]

Turn 1 end

The initial spotter plane run was a bit risky it took fire the next one from a Gold Spot will hopefully be safer.
Early to say for sure but I would say there are no tanks situated in the open ground this side of the treeline.
Russian defence is different no wire anywhere this time.

A & G - Units on the flanks are just there to try & get eyes on ATGs in case they have been deployed there again.
C - Will split either side of the road & take position before heading down it, I expect the road to be mined so it could be faster to pass elsewhere. Artillery will be likely here also in my view.
D - Will spread a bit also on its way to the gap in the woods, had hoped C & D could go undetected I thought the high grass would block LOS from X & Y as road is at zero but had to place smoke as it does not. Will need more around D or to risk exposure, all AT Teams are with groups C+D.
E - All HMG & 2 snipers are here but kick off delayed due to artillery.
F - The 2 squads here are checking LOS for the tanks as some tree hexes are slightly raised so should give decent views across the high grass.

All pine trees are dense, mixed trees are just that around 50:50 dense transparent.

Not sure what to do with South Forces once we go much past the deploy line tanks will be susceptible to flank shots. Pushing hard with D to get eyes on the clear area in the East may be a priority.