Italian Long Campaign - Page 8

sigeena · #1 July 25th, 2019, 04:38 AM

Turn 23

Situation is improving. There are only a couple of EN armor units left. The EN artillery has gone silent and are firing smoke rounds, a sign that they've depleted their ammo. This means I can start firing my artillery without concern for counter battery. My ATGs in 2nd Company have been destroyed.

I estimate at least 3 infantry companies in the EN force. They are being attrited by HMG and mortar fires.

Offscreen, 3rd Company is also beginning to concentrate towards 2nd Company.

Turn 27

A better overview of the support moving towards 2nd Company. The EN is breaking en-mass.

sigeena · #2 July 25th, 2019, 04:46 AM

Battle Report at Turn 40

Battle ended once we recaptured all objective flags.

The 25mm ATGs were somewhat meh. The good thing is they are effective at ranges of up to 800m against anything with ARM 1. Against ARM 3, we probably have to go closer to around 400m or so. Highly accurate, fast firing, hard to spot, but not packing much of a punch.

The EN artillery running out of ammo by mid-battle was also crucial in this victory. I tend to buy ammo carriers so my artillery was able to keep firing throughout.

Steves308 · #3 July 29th, 2019, 02:42 PM

Sigeena,

I'm curious what the experience and moral of your units is averaging, now that they have some victories behind them. Italian units start off pretty low, almost as bad as the early war Russian units.

Steve

sigeena · #4 July 30th, 2019, 02:42 AM

The Italians start with 60-60 for their Morale and Experience. I don't recall seeing any Green units, so they are definitely better than the Russians.

The only downside is their comparative lack of armour and AT weapons.

Credits to WarCab, we are able to have a quick overview of the best and worst in the battalion

sigeena · #5 July 30th, 2019, 02:56 AM

Next battle is a Defend against GB in N. Africa. Timeline is Nov 1940.

I supplemented my force with the following support units

S0- 90mm Gun Emplacements (Primarily for AT purposes)
T0- Ammo Carrier (For Infantry Gun)
U0- Ammo Carrier (For Mortars)
V0- 20mm Flak Section
W0- M-13/40 Section
X0- Fwd Obs

I also bought 50pts worth of mines. Looking over the map, there wasn't really a strong position to anchor my defence. The only terrain which I could really hold with confidence was the forest in the north. To this end I decided to set up my Gun Emplacements forward and centrally to influence the early battle with the EN tanks.

As with any Defend engagement, I was only really worried about EN artillery. If they are fast and on target, they will destroy my Gun emplacements before they are able to destroy enough EN tanks.

sigeena · #6 July 30th, 2019, 03:21 AM

Turn 2-5

EN tanks were spotted moving along the southern flank towards 2nd Coy sector. Fortunately, our tanks are in the sector. I move them forward to take a position that allows flanking fire.

sigeena · #7 July 30th, 2019, 03:33 AM

Turn 10

It was quite obvious that the deployment of the 90mm guns were ideal as their frontage was rapidly littered with wrecks of EN armoured vehicles.

By turn 13, all EN armour was destroyed.

sigeena · #8 July 30th, 2019, 03:36 AM

Turn 19

There was a short lull from Turns 14-19 as the EN infantry was slowly moving forward after the total loss of their armour. Our infantry has largely remained where they are throughout the early turns. Our HMGs have been moving very vigorously towards the EN concentrations.

The 90mm guns are also taking long range shots at EN infantry. Once their ammo are depleted, they will abandon their positions. EN artillery is very heavy but very slow in arriving. I think they are mostly the General Support kind.

sigeena · #9 July 30th, 2019, 03:43 AM

Turn 27

We note at least 2 EN companies moving towards 2nd Company. The southern sector remains the EN primary objective. We plot artillery fires on the head of the column and let our tanks assail the flank of the other.

Turn 32

The EN progress is relentless. They are gradually worn away but they keep pushing forward. Their artillery is also finally finding its mark, and my HMGs grow silent to their front.

Turn 36

I've began concentrating 3rd Company to the aid of 2nd Company and their collective fires are having visible impact on the EN advance. This is probably the furthest the EN got to at this point.

sigeena · #10 July 30th, 2019, 03:46 AM

Battle Report at Turn 39

Once 3rd Company linked up with 2nd Company, the EN forces began to sound retreat. Overall we won, without having to commit at least 1 third of our troops.

The 90mm guns were very good. They are alot like the 88mm FlaK guns. The bad thing is I can only get them in defend battles.