German LC

[sigeena]

Hello,

Time to play a German LC, 60 battles starting from Invasion of Poland.

Follow the trials and tribulations of a German Infantry Battalion.

But I will only upload battles beginning from Operation Barbarossa onwards, since the Russians are the only enemy interesting enough to fight, and I will probably only post battles which are Delay or Defensive, since those tend to be more suspenseful.

Broadly, my battalion is as follows.

A0- Commander

B0- 10cm Mortars, 4 tubes (Heavy Mortars to be replaced with 12cm Mortar eventually)
C0- 8cm Mortars, 6 tubes
D0- HMG Platoon, 4 guns Tripod mounted
E0- HMG Platoon, 4 guns Tripod mounted

F0- 1st Coy Commander
G0- MMG Section, 2 guns Bipod mounted
H0- 1st Platoon
I0- 2nd Platoon
J0- 3rd Platoon
K0- AT Rifle Section, 3 guns

L0- 2nd Coy Commander
M0- MMG Section, 2 guns Bipod mounted
N0- 4th Platoon
O0- 5th Platoon
P0- 6th Platoon
Q0- AT Rifle Section, 3 guns

R0- 3rd Coy Commander
S0- MMG Section, 2 guns Bipod mounted
T0- 7th Platoon
U0- 8th Platoon
V0- 9th Platoon
W0- AT Rifle Section, 3 guns

I will upgrade the platoons over time, so that they are more and more AT capable, but I will refrain from buying molotovs as they are expensive. As of Operation Barbarossa, the main infantry AT weapon is still the humble grenade bundle for close assault.

[sigeena]

Delay in August 1941.

44 Turns, and 74 Visibility. Map size is 80x120, so it's about 3km depth from the start-line.

The terrain here favours the attacker since there isn't much good cover, and the 2 roads leading E-W also helps any attacker in pushing down fast.

I bought the following support units
X0- Recon Air
Y0- Munitions
Z0- 3.7cm AA Platoon 3 guns
AA0- Panzerjager I Section
AB0- Pz III G 5cm Section

Since all my AT assets are mobile, and the main consideration is if the EN comes down the 2x E-W roads, I decided to place my PzJgr and Pz III along the roads and fight initial contacts there. PzJgr with 1st Coy and Pz III with 2nd Coy.

The rest of the battalion is spread out in corresponding sectors. My HMG platoons, D0 and E0 are both in 3rd Coy sector, since they lack supporting AT weapons.

Blue circle marks my arty park, with munitions and AA guns.

[sigeena]

A closer look at my Arty Park.

Blue Triangle is my Commander

Blue Stars are the 3.7cm AA guns

Blue Circles are the mortars themselves.

[sigeena]

1st Coy sector

They've been set-up to ensure maximum firepower along the road. My MMGs are sited so that they can hose down any EN armoured units roaming down the road, while my PzJgrs will scout ahead gingerly for approx. 400-500 metres, and take ambush positions.

Blue Stars mark the AT Rifle Section.

Only 1 platoon, H0 is deployed in reserve.

In the event that the EN doesn't move down the road, or the EN armoured units are moving towards other Coy sectors, I will withdraw the PzJgr, using the road for quicker movement and with terrain masking find a flanking position. I estimate I will need to make such a decision by Turn 3-4

[sigeena]

2nd Coy Sector

2nd Coy has been set-up with an early skirmishing force while the rest are held in reserve.

The skirmishing force is a pair of Pz IIIs and my MMG Section. The main objective is to destroy any EN advance elements and gradually pull back to the reserve line.

[sigeena]

3rd Coy Sector

3rd Coy was set up in a very dispersed manner. Main thing was to try and hide most of the platoons under cover.

HMGs have been deployed very forward, and intended to slow down any possible EN advance. 3rd Coy is the southernmost sector, so if they need any AT support, it will be leaning very heavily on 2nd Coy's Pz IIIs. Fortunately, the road running E-W will be very useful for them to relocate.

[DRG]

Just a hint. If you have software that can save the screenshots as PNG they will display as better images

[sigeena]

This is how the battle unfolded. You can see that the ebb and flow.

[sigeena]

New battle October of 1941

Delay somewhere near Vyazma.

Visibility is 60 and a total of 45 turns. Map is same as before, 80x120. AI is not tank heavy but with Russians, that still means a helluva swarm.

Key terrain features.

2x E-W road, 1 in the North and 1 nearer the bottom half of the map.

1x N-S road, that intersects with both E-W road.

This means I can have quick and fast access to reinforce any portion of my force using the road network.

Very flat terrain, and with the long LOS, it means long weapon systems will dominate (HMGs and ATGs)

Some buildings along the roads will provide hard cover for defending force.

Support units

In consideration of the above. I decided to bring along the following support units.

X0- Air Recon
Y0- Munitions dump
Z0- 3.7cm AA Platoon
AA0- PzJgr team
AB0- SdKfz 10/5 PaK 5cm (Portees with 5cm PaK 38s)
AC0- 5cm PaK 38 ATGs with halftrack support

I think there's very good manuvreability with my AT weapons. The portees have a speed of 19, while the halftracks have speed of 18.

Here's an overview of their deployment.

[sigeena]

Deployment at Arty Park

Fairly standard. I'll position such that both mortar platoons can share the munitions dump.

The 3.7cm AA guns will provide defensive firepower.



1st Coy Sector

1st Coy is the northernmost force, and their main task is to delay EN advance down the northern E-W road. I've attached the PzJgr section with them and most of their firepower is deployed upfront. Upon movement phase, I will push the PzJgr and AT Rifles 300-400m ahead as a speed bump.

In the event that the EN does not push with any armour units here, I will free up the PzJgr to support the other coy sectors. I expect to make this decision by end of Turn 3-4.



3rd Coy Sector

3rd Coy occupies the area just south of 1st Coy. With the expanse of open ground, I have decided to attach the ATG platoon with halftracks. They are currently deployed in dead ground and will move up once we ascertain the EN advance. They are also quite near 1st Coy's E-W road, so if it is required, we can relocate them pretty quickly.



2nd Coy Sector

2nd Coy ended up with the biggest area to cover. They are attached with the Portee-5cm PaK 38, so they have long range AT weapons. The rest of the company is quite dispersed.