Italian Long Campaign

[sigeena]

Turn 6

Both sides are closing fast.

Once the EN tanks have taken the objective flag, they will either continue to head West (Arrow A) or head North (Arrow B).

If Arrow A, I will move my troops into position to set up a possible ambush. My HMGs are already well sited to cover their expected route of advance. I will move a platoon each from the 2nd and 3rd companies towards the stream as a block force and my tanks will take a slight swing and approach from the EN flank and perhaps rear.

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Turn 6

If the EN tanks move north instead, Arrow B, they will likely move into 1st Company sector.

Currently, my ATGs are covering the road. I will be moving them to take up ambush positions near the forest so that as the EN tanks move into the clearing, our ATGs will have good fields of fire. I will also be moving 1 platoon to stiffen this line. Currently, H platoon is already moving quite ahead of everyone else.

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Turn 9

The EN tanks move much faster than my own tanks and are fast approaching the objective flag. My HMGs are in good position to keep them buttoned up.

It's often good to spray EN tanks, firstly, if there are any tank riders, it gets them off. Tank riders help the tanks in spotting, so if you find that the EN tank seems to have noticed your infantry, it's usually because they have tank riders with them. The second thing is to keep them buttoned, so that they are more susceptible to close assaults. My infantry lack credible AT weapons, so it's up to close assaults.

My tanks will take another 2 turns or so to get into the EN rear. Hopefully not too late to the show.



This is turn 10, where the EN tank has blundered into my infantry. The 1st 2 tanks have been immobilised due to close assaults. The 3rd tank lurking behind is still a very valid threat.



Turn 11, it's all over. The EN tanks have been destroyed by Q platoon. Push on! Remember keep the EN tanks buttoned up. Keep your Company Commander close by. Move different infantry sections towards the EN tank. Assault from different directions.

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My air recon reported another platoon of tanks lurking nearby. These turn out to be Matildas, which are not much of a threat at all. Though heavily armoured, they lack main guns and are terrifically slow.



I expect the tank-tank encounter to occur near the blue star. Since they have no AT capability, I will go up to point blank to engage them

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Turn 14,

My air recon reports spotting EN infantry near the centre of the map, between 1st and 2nd Company boundary. This seems to be a diversion of sorts, as I could only see 1 platoon size at the most. In a meeting engagement such as this one, due to my size force, I expect a minimum of 2 infantry companies. So this can't be the EN main force.

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Turn 16,

Nearer to 3rd Company sector, my foot infantry reports spotting EN infantry in the forest ahead. This is very likely the EN main force. I estimate at least 2 companies moving towards my guys. Since the bulk of their units are still in the forest, I plan my artillery strikes ahead of time.



Turn 20,

My artillery bombardment has fallen squarely into the suspected EN concentration. I will let it fall for another 2 more turns, while maneuvering my infantry closer. I have also double-stacked my infantry so that the likelihood of panic is reduced.

You can also see the destroyed EN tanks.



Turn 22,

The EN infantry is losing cohesion and breaking. Their mortars are too short range and are unable to influence the fight. My artillery has been delivering on time.

The key thing for artillery is to influence where and when it matters. I could have used them earlier on suspected EN mortar sites, but doing so would reduce their ammo and they may have to end their strikes on the EN infantry prematurely. I had to slow-cook the EN infantry in this one, with steady bombardment strikes for around 3 turns before I was confident to advance my infantry closer.

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Battle Report

Once the EN infantry broke, it was pretty much pursuit. Due to the terrain, it took a fair bit of time before all objective flags were taken.

With Timed Objectives, this led to my first marginal victory. Once the EN timed objectives points cross 600, it was kind of expected. I like Timed Objectives because they create an extra layer of suspense.

[sigeena]

New battle was another meeting engagement against GB in East Africa.

Here's the map.

I would say that the main features are of a relatively high ridge running N-S near the centre of the map, but more on the Italian side. Compared to the GB side which is heavily forested, I have more open terrain to traverse, which means my forces should be up at the high ground before the EN reaches.

Again there is a road running E-W along the top of the map, which allows speedy access to the rear of the map.

Looking at the overall closed terrain, I would say that 33 turns is abit short to completely take possession of all objective flags. The farthest objective flag is near the bottom right of the map and would be very challenging to take.

[sigeena]

Again, the broad plan is for 1 Company to move along the road with motor transport and quickly dominate it.

Another 2 companies to secure the ridgeline and dominate the valley below.

Here's the breakdown in the companies.

1st Company attached with
F0- Scout Section
T0- Motorcycle Section
V0- AT Guns with Motor Transport

The AT Guns are riding together with 3 sections from J platoon. The Advance Force comprising of the Scout Section riding on Motorcycles, and the Motor Transport with AT Guns and J Platoon will ride ahead along the road.



By Turn 3, the Advance Force is to dismount and secure the road, as this is the straightest part of the road, it allows us to observe all movement along the road.

Once the rest of the company catches up and if there is no EN movement observed up the road, 1 platoon will then be sent down further the road to the EN rear. Sometimes, this allows us to directly engage the EN artillery park.

The rest of the company will turn south and secure the objective flags.

Also, as a lesson learnt from my previous battles, my AT Guns were very un-used once the EN armor was found to be lurking in a different part of the map. I intend to vary and release my AT Guns to the other companies if EN armour is spotted in their sectors.

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2nd Company attached with

U0- Tank Section (M-13/40)
E0- HMG Section
W0- Mule Section (To trooplift the HMG Section)



3rd Company attached with

D0- HMG Section

I made a small mistake and only bought 1 Mule section.



Blue line is the company boundary.
Yellow is the initial movement and Green is the subsequent movement phase.

My armour is allowed to roam if necessary. As before, it's main task to engage the EN armour.

I also have a Air Recon as usual. The pre-planned spot is near 2nd Company's first objective flag.