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German Campaign using War Cab
After posting this thread http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=52472 I decided to actually do a proper AAR covering this units exploits.
The first 2 battles will be a bit sketchy as that thread is the second battle & was not doing an AAR originally. I will be using War Cab by Erik Cumps to assist in the reporting as it seems to work well. Used in no intel mode throughout the battle then full intel at end as that shows the position of ALL enemy troops. German Campaign starting in Sicily, & covering the Italian campaign along with a quick excursion to go play in the bocage of Normandy then is as far as I have thought. FORCE COMPOSITION at start of 2nd battle 832 men Infantry Company A - 13 Squads 4 of whom are Sturmpioniere's + 2X HMG groups & 2X Light Trucks to move them in. Infantry Company B - 12 Squads + 2 HMG groups + 3 5cm Pak38 ATG + 3 SdKfz 11 halftracks to dual role moving MGs & ATGs Panzer Grenadier Co - 11 Squads + 2 MMG all with halftracks + 2 scouts riding 250/11 gun halftracks Support Units - 1 FOO 4 Panzerschreck teams 3 Snipers Armour - 10 MkIVH + 6 StuGIIIG +2 SturmpanzerIV Anti Aircraft - 6 Self Propelled 2cm FlaK Artillery - 2 15cm infantry guns & 4 mortars with transport + 4 Self Propelled mortars + 1 17cm off map battery + 3 munitions carriers. SUMMARY - 36 squads - 13 armoured halftracks - 5 soft vehicles - 18 Armour units - 3 ATGs - 4 - 6 AAA units & 11 Artillery units. Not counting artillery & munitions transport. NOTES First campaign using mainly MkIVs I supplemented with StuGs so at least some of my armour can take the high ground without inviting hits to that weak turret. Decided to be lazy with offboard arty normally buy 10cm K18 but took the easy path for counterbattery this time. Only have to worry about the 8inch & that is rare. Panzer Grenadiers traded in their 251/9 gun halftracks for the AAA units taking the total to 6 as allied air becomes a problem. Infantry is a bit odd as jumped the gun & started converting to 3 squad platoons by changing some to Sturmpioniere's. Does not happen till 1944 so whoops they will stay that way till then when platoon leaders will lose the 5cm mortar. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Welcome to Vizzini Sicily its a baking hot summers day visibility is 66 hexes & the map size is 100 wide by 80 deep.
Later maps will be 90 wide by 70 deep as this caused the AI to be to dispersed resulting in an easy first outing. Timed objectives are set to 6 for the campaign. Meeting Engagement vs The British Firstly Kudos to the map generator the map could represent several areas in the Mediterranean & indeed reminded me of the view upon cresting a rise on a drive in a heatwave there. Sorry no pictures for this battle save was overwritten. MAP for this AAR we will assume the top is always North The map is dominated by a sprawling hill range in the centre around 30 hexes wide with 3 distinct flat peaks around 70 hexes high. These overlook other smaller hills around 30 high so are a good vantage point & the game kindly placed the VHexes on each of them. Forestation is quite sparse just lines of trees scattered around, 2 broken tree lines around 7 hexes long running so \ crossed the top 2 levels of the North hill on the AI side & were the only real ones that mattered. Apart from that quite a few largeish vineyards & some patches of rough but not near where the fighting took place. A road runs E-W We will call the peaks 1,2,3 Top Middle Bottom. DEPLOY Simple split forces peak 1 was Company As objective, Peak 3 Company Bs. Tanks were split evenly & a platoon of Pz Gren accompanied each. ATGs went with A because of the road. 4 Tanks & the remaining Pz Grenadiers were assigned to the middle, not to take Peak 2 which we would deal with later but to reinforce whoever needed them. TO BATTLE Turned out the AI decided to make its pushes in a similar fashion peak 1 being its main push & just as the PZ Grens were ready to crest the rise there the Brits took the victory hexes. Cresting the rise cannot see anything probably an Armoured Car behind the trees. 2 of them place smoke to let the ATGs deploy safely & the 3rd risks using the other line of trees to move forward so I can see hats coming. My tanks will not crest the hilltop for another 2 turns so one takes position to interdict the AC while the others push forward bailing out their riders. Halfracks headed back to scoop up infantry. Next turn 3 Shermans & a Honey crest the rise & drop riders, heck no need to see whats coming & I can't now they are here. I charge onto the hilltop firing smoke as am fast moving. We are only 7-8 hexes apart & the Pz Gren reports infantry movement but 2 tanks have reamined stationary & have been joined by a third. Assume the other 2 have moved to the lower elevation & are skirting to the North. The AC or whatever it is has vanished perplexing not a lot of cover. The hills are shallow 3-4 hexes between contours producing strips of blind spots. I decide to play the waiting game to just moving infantry as am still waiting for some to arrive & arty will land next turn. I want to look over the edge to & the central force is coming to reinforce though still a few turns distant. Bit worried about the lone tank I left behind as he may be facing more than an armoured car so he actually pulls back to increase the range of any exchange. sporadic fire nothing serious. Spotted more AC about to take Hill 3s VHexes. I have taken none & its the same situation Pz Grenadiers are nearly there but nobody else is close except the 250/11 halftrack that takes up an ambush position. Sticking with hill 1 its now around turn 5 we push forward & first kill somehow my Sturmpanzer is leading the charge trying to pin the infantry & separate them. Not the most sensible situation to be in though he has a Pioneer supporting him. Still no sign of the units that vanished but I am now in a position to look North over the crest & see what's going on. Scout takes a look & there are now 8 or 9 Shermans & half a dozen infantry. Looks like they are trying to skirt round behind me in which case they will run into the ATGs. & that lone tank. There are also 3 Shermans approaching the Sturmpanzer. If the North group turns back he will be between them. So far I have been picking off exposed units now I am forced to go I have artillery plotted as now committed it all to this hill that should hit the Northern force if it moves West so take position while trying to cover the Sturmpanzer as best as possible. An AT team & 2 squads go to support him as fast moving to safety is risky. The AI indeed heads West the AC dies to an ATG which also dispatches a Sherman with a flank shot, some exchange of fire but the lone tank is not targeted its to far away I guess as they are moving. It misses everyone when it opens up. The Sturmpanzer kills one of the Shermans approaching from the East that pops up 2 hexes away & the Pioneer heavily damaged another, 1 left. My artillery hits. I do not like attacking tank formations with so many infantry close but its time to pull the pin. The single tank advances, now he is taking low probability fire. Fires smoke to break target lock & keeps coming. One ATG opens up killing a Sherman with its second shot, now spotted as it to draws fire so stops shooting. Scout has a look to see the layout & a squad tries to look at what he missed & receives a lot of infantry fire for his trouble. The Sturmpanzer & a few squads move to the North Forces rear & pick off infantry out of view of the Shermans. AT Team & squad should deal with the last West Sherman but Sturmpanzer discharges smoke to its rear just in case. I think around 2/3rds of the allied tanks have 1 shot or less & they are suppressed & moving so try my luck which holds 1-3 hex moves engage then smoke & move my infantry up behind the screen as this was a 4 -6 hex ranged engagement. They should provide protection if the AI decides to enter the smoke. Got a fair few dischargers saved the rest, War Cab kill list for turn 8 which was a decisive blow to the Brits & the height of the battle. https://i.imgur.com/WSZAmDA.jpg Note the artillery killed some of the infantry the Sturmpanzer had been working over & at this range the 250/11 gun halftrack is a potent tool. fast high ROF & an accurate gun I like it though sometimes ask to much of it. My losses so far an AT team & the 250/11 on the other hill after taking on the armoured cars he went head to head with a tank. Apologies I remember now they were Cromwell Is not Shermans that's why they got there fast. One of my Stugs took 1 damage in the exchange but fully operational. A squad has lost a man & the poor guy that took a look lost 5 men. That was pretty much the battle over for this hill just moping up then fending off sporadic infantry attacks. Only advanced about 10 hexes past the VHexes with some squads to spot approaching units & let the MG & halftracks deal with them from the hilltop. Funny you remember tense battles quite well bit vague about hill 3 as that was a lot easier but we can save that for tomorrow. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Hill 3
Similar start to this one a couple of Humbers & Dingos got there just before me. 250/11 Halftrack made a short move to ambush as they came over the crest & 2 of my tanks took up position. The 250/11 got one & the others ran into my tanks sights. Forgot there was a small clump of trees here to on my end of the hilltop, 250/11 took up position behind them & the Pz Grenadiers headed out for a looksee. This time some of my tanks had reached the crest just a 1 hex move to the hilltop. Next turn 2 honeys & 3 Cromwell's turned up & took pot shots at the Grenadiers. The 250 could move 1 hex to line up a Honey while screened from the rest so it did & knocked it out with the first shot. Now I got overconfident Grenadier placed smoke so it could take on a Cromwell by moving another hex, it fired wide of the mark, we fired - no effect. Another stray round comes our way so risk another shot its damaged, unfortunately its superficial & the return fire kills me. Still that's 2 tanks that wont fire at me as I come over the rise. Grenadier places smoke blocking one of the tanks view & we come over the lip & kill the 4 we can target then stop. It died next turn when it moved as did another couple of Honeys that turned up. There then followed a battle with quite a few infantry trying to take the high ground. I remember thinking that's more than the tanks could have dropped. A squad & MG drove over to hill 2 to get a better angle on them & zipped round the VHexes at the same time. The infantry were contained I now had free armour & a few halftracks in support though had to be careful not to expose them as we had Churchills inbound. These were spotted earlier from hill 1 & keep dipping in & out of view so its time for the StuG's to do their thing 3 move out including 1 from hill 1 with an infantry escort. Trip to firing positions is fairly uneventful, one got shot at by a Piat team which was quickly killed by the escorting infantry. Did not engage odd infantry encountered let the HMG pin them or smoked till we were in position. The British 2 Pounder does not have APCR yet so the StuG's have a sweet spot & opened up at 20-24 hex range as they are safe from return fire unlike the MkIV. W fire the MG a couple of times then let fly the APCR seems the best way. Saves ammo & rarely triggers the dischargers just before you get that accurate shot. When the last one died around turn 14 the Brits threw in the towel, I was quite surprised how much infantry was advancing on hill 3 that I had not detected yet. None could get near the VHexes however due to the tanks & MGs defending them. That is why I changed map size battle was easy partly because the AI never got all its units to participate. Will use War Cab a bit more this battle was my trial & I kept forgetting to save the data Here's a War Cab end of battle screen & my losses screen. From that forgot my artillery got hit by the Brits the Maultier soft halftrack is my infantry gun transport simply because I have never used them before. plan to use some other untried equipment as we progress. https://i.imgur.com/4hf5ZAv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WigUS7e.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Before moving on to the battle that prompted this AAR a quick note on War Cab now I grasp it more.
I can use full intel so long as restrict myself to the opponents kill tab - this lets me check what they killed/damaged that turn. This is because losses are a running total not per turn like kills as once a unit is dead its dead every turn. This does mean it reports enemy force size as in men formations which does not give anything away in my view, scared the $#@% out of me though! Also gives their readiness status which gives a bit away on how I am doing but fine with it. I have asked Erik who is very helpful to confirm readiness is based on - units destroyed plus suppressed state of current units. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
War Cab reports Map width x height so 90 wide 70 deep not so sunny today though soon visibility was 0
https://i.imgur.com/5vYdiXp.jpg How many men! MISSION DEPLOYMENT We are tasked with holding the bridge & stopping the advance, in the bottom of the map I added fords to every other hex along the stream to aid the AI crossing, nothing got stuck. Purposely deployed light on expected main avenue of approach & behind the bridge as expected heavy bombardment, was right just did not think big enough. They were supposed to be supported by units on the elevations to each side but due to the level of dust this never happened till turn 8. North Flank purposely deployed heavy & with halftracks to act as a reaction force. Shot myself in the foot bought mines to place in front of the bridge then decided that was to much & was going to place a few to screen squads but forgot. RECAP We are currently on turn 13 so some screenshots - smoke off its light Thought I had a deployment save but no. 3 most forward squads & a sniper have perished Company A who were tasked with holding here could well lose 2 complete platoons so things are not going so well this time. 2 StuG's & a platoon of Pz Gren (1 dead) are behind a broken tree line by my mouse cursor at the bottom of the picture. Top tank attack swung in after meeting resistance - infantry may be following? The AI formed up truck infantry & tanks here before following the first push by SPGuns & infantry after it eased the front edge of the bombardment which stopped completely on turn 11 https://i.imgur.com/Nz67cst.jpg Bottom attack was lead by a probe with SPguns one however decided to stop so I sent a squad to find it. My SPmortars & HQ were camped on the flank to avoid the barrage which they did but I had to pull them out. Company B has had a quite time only one squad has engaged taking out a tank with its AT mine on the second attempt. Tanks & AT teams have engaged the armour attack which has only just commenced. https://i.imgur.com/1mMOwYw.jpg My squads on the main approach fought valiantly I could not have asked more of them but once the tanks turned up & they ran out of smoke they were overwhelmed. They received virtually no supporting fire till turn 9 because of the blanket of dust, turn 11 before could really help much. They managed to stall the first push but now the tanks have turned up the AI is moving forward. I missed an opportunity to place fire missions on the form up area, partly because my arty was only firing every other turn in an effort not to give away their positions. When I did place it missed anyway as the AI remained in place. Arty is now going full bore as I think positions are known 2 Spitfires made a run around turn 6. Both were hit one downed but not before overflying my artillery park. We will take up the action next post but I think I made a bad call leaving my arty battery on CB fire. That's habit thought fire missions were to dangerous but I bought 17cm it can do them. Should have used it to stall the infantry & perhaps damage some armour to give my squads some relief. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Forgot bought 2 ammo dumps & 2 bunkers as support.
1 ammo dump & a bunker were destroyed by the barrage in the first few turns. The other bunker is heavily damaged can only fire one shot a turn & so far has fired twice for no effect. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Position at start of turn 15
Lost contact with my offboard battery so only plotting this turn. Only 4 or so British batteries opened up on turns 13-14 (now 12) so decided to throw caution to the wind & risk moving a few units. Mobhack surmised I think correctly that most are general support so long call times. Really fretted over the underlined units considered pulling them out but I need kills the Brits still have more armour than me. Be a shame to lose them StuG now has 12 kills taking out 3 last turn, the MkIV damaged 2. If the other StuG digs in in time I may be able to pull them out. StuG advanced to take position to cover the advance & hopefully dig in before the arty starts. MKIV pulled out heavily damaged its fight is over https://i.imgur.com/KERPHTg.jpg Halftrack has tanks inbound so retreated. The StuG managed a probe killing 2 tanks but now not sure what to do with it as the artillery is inbound. Head for the stream & hope no arty or risk trying to dig in. AI did a nice combined arms move sending that squad in, if there are more we could be in trouble here all the units I have there are in the screen shot. Reaction force is looking less & less likely as 2 of the 6 armour units are heavily damaged. The one that pulled out confirmed it cannot shoot if it moves at all. https://i.imgur.com/Mq4nEhh.jpg Down South its been fairly quite which is a worry I think all hell is about to break out, is the AI forming up again? Pretty confident I can stop this attack with minor losses though so only 1 8cm Mortar is supporting here hoping to lay some suppression. https://i.imgur.com/hDc7TCo.jpg One of my artillery crew is making a valiant attempt to return to his tubes. I have a horrible feeling I have signed his death warrant & he wont make it in time. Over turns 13+14 the AI gained little ground & we managed to kill a further 14 units for 2 losses ourselves. Kill ratio is just over 4:1 in our favour but the AI still outnumber us by 4:1 in terms of men. The AI losses are evenly split between infantry & armour, 31+32 26 of which are tanks. We have managed not to lose any tanks yet though 2 are effectively out of action. More confident of containing them now when the barrage restarts they probably will have to stop advancing. Only issue is if they can make a run for the VHexes. https://i.imgur.com/w7pHbWE.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
The next 2 turns did not go so well kill ratio is falling we got 10 units but lost 5 in the process.
The barrage has still not resumed at intense levels & the AI managed not to hit itself. My artillery crew has made it back can he reform & entrench in time, another crew has vacated its position however. Screen shot shows I decided to pull out the StuG & MkIV under cover of smoke. Tanks near by were unsuppressed & when an AA unit & halftrack tried to put suppression on them at 20 odd hex range they died instantly. If all goes well & my smoke lands okay they & the StuG that moved up should be able to lay flanking fire on the 4 hex rows before the bridge. Bet something interferes but its worth a shot. Purple lines shows 250/11 moved to get a rear shot on that Sherman but failed to cause damage, it then moved back in cover. During its turn the Sherman took the bait & moved into its sights & a MKIVs, its undamaged but retreating. I think we have killed most of the armour from the top attack, fairly sure there are some infantry still around fending off probes. https://i.imgur.com/GoHG9Pq.jpg The main approach is nearly overrun 4 unhealthy squads with 10 armour units bearing down on them & I saw more Churchills in the formation area. The Bunker did get a SPGun before a Churchill put a round through the observation slit. I was right to think the position in the second screen shot in previous post was getting dangerous. The StuG got immobilised by the barrage, it now shares the same hex as the lead halftrack which has lost its MG & the squad above died. The other StuG there managed to fend off a Sherman at point blank range despite being suppressed. Getting tense & if a tank swings in from the middle its out of the StuG's fire arc & a sitting duck. Action in the bottom part of the map was surprisingly quite maybe there are not more tanks there. We missed the Sherman that was in our LOS & it fired the dischargers. The AT team got it in the AIs turn but is now out of ammo & in a precarious position. The Churchills advanced have LOS on one still but all hits bounced & it seems to have shrugged of any suppression. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 18 Things are now getting really tense the barrage has not resumed in strength probably about 10 fired & its moving around not like the original barrage that just stayed in place for 8 turns or so.
I really cannot wait wish it had resumed so I know where its safe to move we have problems I will just have to take risks Firstly ammo resupply has moved up most of my arty is ammo critical, the good news is my 17cm has finally fired & hit a lot of tanks in the main advance so they should be suppressed. They have been one hex move or stationary firing at the few remaining squads there, all but 2 are wiped out. They may try making a run for the bridge once they are gone. Due to this 2 tanks have moved to take up position from the South Force, don't like sharing emplacements but realised the other is on impassable terrain once I got there Doah! Some arty started falling here hope they dig in & view does not go to pot. https://i.imgur.com/FgUb0gZ.jpg The StuG that has been in the centre of the action took advantage of the suppressed tanks in the centre & killed 2 more but it took 4 shots to dispatch them, AP ammo is low but should hopefully last. We had a lot of hits bounce this turn which has not helped & while I was correct we had virtually eliminated the original Northern Push a Churchill turned up bet more are inbound. Arty has started to fall here to but light & towards the rear. Ended up sharing emplacement here because of it as we were moving forces to cover centre. 5 hits on the Churchill for 1 damage damn. Tanks without LOS fire smoke to block that LOS & screen infantry & an AT team who have left cover to take up assault positions. They put some fire into the couple of infantry units there along the way now there is only one known. https://i.imgur.com/DXUcsFP.jpg Just South of the main attack the situation is lost the StuG that can still fire placed smoke to screen the other & fended off another adjacent attack but took heavy damage in the exchange - another one shot unit. Still managed to destroy another tank as the dust cleared in my turn before bolting for the treeline. 2 squads have PIATs my MMGs can cover this area but not very well I expect the other StuG & halftrack to die. https://i.imgur.com/gntP5Es.jpg In the South maybe I was wrong there is nothing more coming a couple more Churchills turned up & despite a fair amount of duds we managed to kill them. The Sturmpanzer got 2 & tanks the others after a fairly heated exchange due to the duds, no damage was taken. If nothing turns up next go I am going to send infantry out for a look I have a lot of units here. Would like to reinforce the centre if the artillery allows. The AT team is moving to a safer position as its ammo is gone & I still need to deal with that SPgun its not moved. Its in a tricky spot to attack however so that might have to wait till I see if I manage to resupply my artillery & can spare one unit to suppress it. At least the kill ratio is back up to 4:1 as the Brits only killed a couple of units, losses now stand at 80:21 Company A has lost most of E & all of F platoon, Pz Gren have suffered to especially the halftracks due to the bombardment - they are close to losing O platoon. As we are approaching 20% losses we will take a look at some War Cab screens in the next post. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Okay so lets take a look at some of War Cabs offerings its fairly easy to grasp.
Note with most of these you can hover over a point & a popup will give more info. We will start with a few from the Dossier tab, this will show how my core progress throughout the campaign. You could if you wanted look at individual units progress & kill history & there is a screen that gives top & bottom 5 in several categories but we will start with core makeup. This is by units not cost & as I have made only made minor changes remains the same for both battles. Swapped squads for pioneers. As you can see 39% of my force is infantry, hover over others for popups Armor is 13.9%, Halftracks (APC) 11.3% etc https://i.imgur.com/KOjTx5d.jpg Here are a couple of screens showing my experience progress from one battle to the next. For the first battle only 6% of my troops were Veterans jumping to 20% for this battle many of whom have I think died so it will be interesting to see the results after this battle. https://i.imgur.com/VGFA6fj.jpg This shows experience another way my average experience is now 74% Best is a MkIV with 86 - Worst a SdKfz11 with 63 https://i.imgur.com/HDKGeKQ.jpg Now lets look at a battle screen this is kills over time (turns) The green line tracks the best unit so starts at 5 as that was my best unit in the previous battle. The blue line tracks average kills per unit - which started at 0.67 & has currently doubled to 1.27 kills per unit on average. Took screen shot a couple turns back when StuG was on 13 kills. Note the delay before I killed anything due to the barrage. https://i.imgur.com/Z3c7Sn2.jpg Next we will look at the suppression report blue is the average & green most suppressed. You can see the effects of the original barrage - where it lifted the front - stopped & now its climbing again as its restarted but with far less ferocity. https://i.imgur.com/cGKClS4.jpg Out of interest I decided to look at British suppression report while I can relate to it. Did not think this would give anything away but think it has if I am reading the report correctly. Will leave till battle end as said I would in future but was intrigued to see the difference. Because I can mouse over suppression for first 6 turns was from my counterbattery fire. Hence the reason Average was still near zero just 1 unit hit per turn. My average was higher for that period as say 1/3rd of my force was getting hit. Shortly after my arty started continuous fire their average suppression climbed to similar levels (come on supply trucks reload keep it going :)) What I think this has given away is while my arty fire is more concentrated its still affecting a good portion of their force. I may well be wrong new to this but that's my guess https://i.imgur.com/9iSBrNB.jpg I am not but if your the type of person that likes to track units individual progress this is a great tool - highly recommended. Still a good tool to play with as I will be interested to see how my experience progresses through the campaign. Also fun to realise some units performed far better than you thought. Last battle I thought Co A was in the thick of it but it was Co B units that had the high kill numbers. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
This is going to be a simple post as the artillery is back & I need to remember where they are hitting.
We have now lost 27 units the Brits 98 Starting at the top More Churchills turned up a squad assaulted & killed 1 I am guessing the others have turned in to reinforce the centre as have lost sight of them. Barrage is heavy here including 5in which really hurt if your out in the open. D platoon moved against the Churchills & lost 10 men to the artillery all squads damaged only one not routed. E & F platoon have been totally wiped out so there is not a lot of A Co left. One of its HMGs & the Co Leader are only units unscathed. All squads are gone from the main approach as that was A Co they have a free run to the bridge & are only 3 hexes from VHexes now. They put up a valiant fight & the 2nd to last one hero rallied & took a Sherman with him. Lost sight now but more Churchills & trucks turned up I counted 19 armoured units still coming. God help us this is getting really complicated I have had to place smoke to stop me taking fire from the new arrivals while I engage the lead tanks. Hopefully mainly with flank shots there are quite a few Churchills now in fact one is leading the way. The AI is making it difficult to I have not seen a tank move at more than 2 hex speed in the last 5 turns here so am burning through artillery ammo to suppress them & reduce accuracy. Things are really reaching a head right now. Star StuG is on 19 kills but is down to 10 AP rounds & again in a really dangerous position. The 2 tanks that moved up SW of the bridge have taken up position & dug in without incident just before the barrage intensified. Of course they can't see a damn thing now, I just knew this was going to happen. Amazingly the immobile StuG still lives it took 2 PIAT hits but we managed to route the squad. Other squads were held at bay also. I decided to bring the other StuG back to give support as we regained control of the situation. A Churchill is on the other side of the trees but approaching in its field of fire, however now we cannot see a thing here either. In the South sent a couple of squads on a recce mission we have 2 Honeys inbound which I am not worried about so I have managed to reposition 2 tanks with a LOS covering this side of the road to the bridge. Long shots around 24 hexes & not ideal by any means but at least they are free of the barrage & can see something - for now. Cannot spare the arty for that SPGun so sent squads & an AT team with back up from the 250/11 to take it out. In position to attack this turn except guess what they are all pinned hit by arty. It missed the 250 & SPgun maybe its going to move the area to the right of it took a pounding from 25pounders. My arty got a partial refill but one of the ammo trucks had not fled far enough so died & crew has abandoned his post. Hope I do not lose contact with my 17cm battery currently walking it around waiting for the best time to use the last of its ammo which will probably be next turn. Immunity to CB is great especially in this battle but fairly limited ammo & no smoke are the trade off. Confident unless visibility goes completely I can stop them reaching the second group of VHexes after the bridge. If they reach the first however taking them back will be a mission. Of course the AI has demonstrated good use of smoke in past assaults which will really throw a spanner in the works. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 23 This battle is just bonkers should have called it the engagement from hell instead of barrage which is moderate & I am trying to pick paths through it.
With that great thing called hindsight deploying either side of the main approach was a good call, if only I had placed those mines things would have been far easier. I deployed to many units in the South however & should have placed a few transport units in the area behind the bridge so my tanks could move up into the emplacements under smoke. Got some respect for the MkIV's they have proved surprisingly resilient to mid/long range attacks. If this was later & the Brits had APDS most would be toast by now. Calling StuG's tanks, I have 9 in the North 1 is immobile - 3 cannot move & fire - 1 only has 2 shots - 1 has lost its gun - 1 has 3 AP rounds left so 2 are in good order. The 4 tanks supporting from the South have faired better 2 have light damage but are mission capable. The scary thing is most are hanging in the breeze as is the remaining infantry there as we had to leave safety to intercept the British drive. Most of the infantry here were tasked with finding positions with LOS that the tanks could move to, been a major headache trying to find them. A few infantry there have other tasks - squad & AT team are going up against a Churchill - squad & sniper are going on a recce mission. That focused on stopping tanks forgot about the infantry want to see what I am up against. Arty will need to pause & reload before targeting them as the only way to win the tank battle was to throw everything at them. My 15cm infantry guns are the only ones with a healthy ammo supply, they have not been targeted at all by the barrage - 17cm is out of ammo. Pretty sure my arty killed 2 tanks think what happens if theirs hit my damaged ones while they are in the open, Sayonara Baby. Which begs the question how exactly do I stop the infantry? Managed to stop most of the Brits you can see the kill zone quite clearly however smoke dischargers messed thing up & 2 made it to the victory hexes. I cannot see the lead tank because of this, think its undamaged but retreating please please run. Ha just checked I have lost LOS to the one on the bridge as well things just get better & better. Its worse unless things clear I now only have 2 tanks with a LOS to the bridge approach - a 1 shot tank has LOS to the hex before the bridge & a lightly damaged one can target the road hex right of it. I am not stressed honest please let the tanks I can see be it. Situation with & without smoke https://i.imgur.com/hNI0Mtz.jpg https://i.imgur.com/NowjN9Z.jpg The immobile StuG still lives the Churchill went elsewhere, the supporting one will have to pull out again because of artillery fire. One of my 15cm infantry guns is supporting them & is the only piece that was not directed at the main force - couple of MG are helping to. Its tied up 6 squads for a good while now but its day is done the ammo bins will be dry next turn. Strongly considered pulling the fairly intact Pz Gren & his halftrack out to try & slip round the back through the woods & get some eyes on things. Decided 6 against 2 with MMG support they will duke it out to the end & tie those squads up, do not think the Brits will task armour here. Down South the SPgun is dead - forgot till I looked it has an unarmoured rear so just fired squad weapons there for an easy kill. Turns out there were 3 Honeys one still lives The 2 squads that went for a look have moved fairly far East, bit tricky avoiding Honeys line of sight but they report no contact. High confidence the battle for these VHexes is nearly over so we are pulling units as the artillery allows leaving a small attending force. One ATG made a high risk trip & hopefully will move to take up position covering the bridge area next go. Trip was to risky arty just missed it so the rest will take the long route all the way round the back of the map to avoid it when they can move out. Remaining arty transport is heading over to ferry them as I have little transport here. Need more infantry in the North for eyes not just armour. This is going to take a fair while, considered charging forward & round as of course its an arty free zone plus a punch to the rear but then I will probably run into AAA/ATG guns. This is an insanely hard battle so much for remaining dug in, way to much can go wrong for my liking. If we can get the Brits away from the VHexes I would expect then to throw in the towel but it will only take 1 size zero unit slipping through to prevent that leading to another 20 turns of hell. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quick update on AI turn little happened, barrage has eased somewhat
The Lone North Churchill has vanished probably heading to centre. Lead Sherman did retreat, single shot tank scored a hit - no effect. Just moved another & put a further 3 shots its way, 2 hit its now routed but that is one tough Sherman its still undamaged to my knowledge. MkIV & a Churchill exchanged fire its damaged we came off worse. Imm StuG is out of all ammo except a few AP rounds & now faces 9 squads there. My damaged PZ Gren squad perished just the one in reasonable shape & HT remain. South the last Honey died as did 2 Mech Scouts mainly by sniper fire, wonder if there is a 3rd they were probably riders. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Can this program be used on a standalone scenario ?
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
The short answer is yes.
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Thanks
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
DRG its worth taking for a test run even if it turns out not to be your cup of tea.
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Mid way through turn 26
We have lost a good portion of our core over 200 men, the Brits have lost over 900 & are still pressing forward. Around 1,000 of there men will be manning the batteries I would guess big crews. British morale might be fading the last turn seemed easier, lets hope so. Discrepancy in kills is because it only records core forces campaigns, Bunker must have killed another unit I did not see & somehow its crew still lives https://i.imgur.com/8DBrVgI.jpg Its a complete mess we cannot stop the infantry heading for the bridge from entrenchments so have gambled on the long plot times for artillery & have moved out as its quietened down. Trying to head for areas it has not hit like the stream & further East in the hopes it hits where I was. We were getting pounded so given up the emplacements we are now meeting them head on in an effort to reclaim the bridge. Just thought to look at suppression screen this shows why staying in place was a problem, a lot of my force was being hit by artillery. Slightly worrying that the average has risen in the last few turns, we have not avoided it all & the fighting has been pretty intense. its not just the barrage that's causing suppression of course https://i.imgur.com/IeEglTq.jpg Much of my arty has also left cover & taken up positions hidden by smoke from the fires in areas that were only hit at the start, they keep getting slapped in their entrenchments & resupply has been fairly untenable. Most MGs are also getting low on ammo to so selective firing to conserve it. Decided well forced really to split the South Force. Some are going round to contain the area behind the bridge just in case & attack from the front. The others are moving NE to hopefully attack from the side. They have had to lend support to stopping British infantry crossing the stream. A small portion of the North Force have also edged forward & have run into light resistance, artillery is hampering operations here & the supporting tank had to withdraw. Don't ask about the state of my tanks more are damaged than in good order now so have to be careful planning hit & run attacks. North https://i.imgur.com/zrYfHKT.jpg South https://i.imgur.com/Zi4QleC.jpg Amazingly the immobile StuG still lives would be nice if we can save him, thought he would have bailed out or died by now its been assaulted at least 6 times The action is not so intense now first ease up to date so this is what happened in main area - key is below https://i.imgur.com/on0lSkt.jpg Target is 2 Churchills & routed Sherman part way through my turn, they have been hit with mild artillery A - Couple shots each with MG for more suppression on squads there. B - My squad attacks also then switch to other as take a lot of fire from newly seen squads at F C - I hex moved & took out lead Sherman (done already) D - I hex move receives I shot so other moves up between them they take out all 3 targets then run visibility hexes are from D - heavy arty is falling in the hex we fired from hence scoot & shoot tactics. E - Repulsed infantry advances F - Discovered infantry & now dead routed Sherman G - 3 more Churchill's turn up. H - Poised to retake VHexes Its all action there is no let up they just keep coming. Superstar StuG is on 21 kills now, 19 in one battle must be a record surely. it only has a few MG rounds left. Going to try making a run for the rear covered by the damaged StuG that is poised to retake the VHexes (that's the bunker crew behind him). Probably just going to park up somewhere I would like to reload him but arty has priority. British owned Vhexes are currently worth 430 points a turn to me so we need them back. Major worry is getting caught badly by arty now we are in the open. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
A few British units are still turning up (unless they are empty trucks) but confident they have lost the will to fight now.
We had taken no losses in the last few turns then the arty resumed, those 5.5in hurt they are responsible for Allied kills. Also pretty sure one shell scored a direct hit on another squad killing 5 men. North Force have I think won the skirmish there, tank went round the barrage to lend support. 250/11 failed to kill the Churchill but forced it to continue running & put a shot up its tail pipes ending its retreat. They have partially achieved objective of getting eyes on enemy rear. View from sniper last turn. https://i.imgur.com/8o2OBQr.jpg Overview of situation this turn with barrage resumed in force. https://i.imgur.com/kFyCJmQ.jpg This has stopped play in most areas the units moving against the last 2 Churchills have had to retreat to safety. Only areas we are risking movement this turn are Road leading to bridge is clear 2 Pz Grens in HT will move to help 2 tanks performing dangerous task of picking through the wrecks now we have VHexes back. Very heavy barrage to either side MGs & my FOO are being hit hard. The push towards immobile StuG is free of barrage so will continue we might save him yet. Tanks have actually done really well cannot remember ever having so many damaged units but importantly most still live. 4 are trying to avoid action & survive as damage is severe now things are wrapping up. https://i.imgur.com/MmeBBam.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Its all over thank heaven 2 solid hits by a 5.5 in battery wiped out a pristine squad in 2 turns - all 13 men ouch.
Decisive victory - very pleased with only losing 6 tanks in the mayhem. The poor infantry suffered badly A Co is at less than 1/3rd strength. Artillery were exemplary returning to posts several times all but 3 are damaged, thought I had lost some. Would not have liked to try this without op filter most tanks were set to infantry engage range 2 to stop distractions. https://i.imgur.com/wez3THh.jpg Glad we did not need to mop this lot there are a lot of units left, trucks obviously are empty & moved to safety but that's a lot of infantry to Shepard. https://i.imgur.com/dOT14ys.jpg Suppression & readiness reports for the battle for you to make of what you will. Readiness is a contrived report by Eric that seems to represent the position fairly well in my view. https://i.imgur.com/LJ40Vmt.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CBBVXei.jpg Readiness collapsed around the time I thought they gave up reinforcing my view cannot look at enemy reports till battle end. https://i.imgur.com/TR2EiyT.jpg https://i.imgur.com/f8kW9UP.jpg We are tasked with taking advantage of the situation & pushing them back, attacking next battle. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Interim report
There are many other screens we can look at from kills & losses to increase in cost of units due to experience gain. For now we will stick to looking at Core experience gain. Unsurprisingly the Stug with 21 kills was the biggest winner gaining 13 experience. Several MkIVs gained 12 exp one is the most exp unit at 93 with several in the high 80s. Heavy losses mean average & worst exp units remain virtually identical due to the replacements. However we got a bigger jump in veterans than I thought we might another 10% On reflection the ones that survived were the ones that were in the thick of the action so they got big exp gains. Quite a few double figure drops in exp where units were replaced offset things. https://i.imgur.com/E76hgnM.jpg https://i.imgur.com/i58ld33.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
https://i.imgur.com/Z4g8ANF.jpg
British again - Map & Vhexes as came however visibility came out as 1 so I rolled 2 die, result 3-2 so set to 28 hexes. Support units 3 SdKfz 222 armoured cars 3 Opel trucks for transport 1 10.5cm battery it has smoke unlike my 17cm Forgot to mention Co A+B's HMG are doubles - Pz Gren's MMG are singles as expect to use at closer range so size zero preferable. Also small crew size makes it easier to scoop them up for a breakthrough into the rear. 3 of my arty units now have a call time of 1.2 not 2.2 so have some fast plots. 22 Turns till they start getting points for controlled VHexes PLAN Thought about the obvious North Road but looking at the map decided to take a leaf out of the AIs book & use the South Flank. So long as it has no one deployed in bottom 2 hex rows initial approach should be unobserved. Trying a feint in the North the force here is only to locate units unless the fighting is light. SP mortars have smoke plotted - will move after fired. 222A/C will move in LOS in the hopes the AI directs arty this way as everyone else is trying to stay concealed. Risking a fairly fast push down centre road to see if anyone is in the trees just before Hill 1 so I know if we are spotted. Opels are ferrying here. So main attack is on the hills with flanking force hoping to engage from side & rear. Rest may attack hill one frontally or from the South depending on what unfolds. Pictures shortly to clarify once we do a few turns |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 2 forgot to draw on British deploy line - its the hex row to the left of 222A/C path at the top.
First 2 turns are uneventful I do not think we have been seen yet, no shots fired. My 17cm battery is Exp 74 & seems very good at CB already as hit a 25 pounder on first turn. Unfortunately it landed directly on top of 1 of my SP Mortars, first blood to the Brits its immobile & has lost its weapon. One platoon on foot has had to go round the other barrage that fell. Central force has spotted a Honey & by luck an ATG has a LOS on it, the other should to next turn, most arty is plotted. We are not ready to kick things off yet, tanks are still moving to behind crest lines so they can pop up & fire, infantry has checked LOS for them. Will see if we can locate some other units before we open up or at least be in position to see them when they do. Would prefer the the ATG on the rough hex beside it that was its original destination but probably lose sight of the Honey. 15 Hex range so can take it out & hopefully return fire will give the tanks some targets. Tried stitching screenshot together for overview of position at end of turn 2 https://i.imgur.com/TSPv8Fg.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Position at end turn 3 ready for the kick off or may delay 1 turn to get 2nd ATG on a rough hex & let my arty take effect.
British have fired smoke screen between top & mid forces. TOP Will just report when contact is made, as can see the Honey we know it saw the 222A/C just did not take the shot due to range. Will they take the bait & drop artillery here? https://i.imgur.com/HTcOYwz.jpg CENTRE LOS hexes from 2nd ATG, HMG good fields of fire to though British smoke screen has obscured some of it. may have contact in woods next go. https://i.imgur.com/3FmMmW8.jpg BOTTOM LOS from 222A/C Units in bottom half of map have LOS to Hill 1 on this side of the tree line on it & about 2/3rds of Hill 2s top couple of elevations. Tree line is low or low density in quite a few spots. The ATG that went with flanking force will now proceed on foot to rough hex NE of it. https://i.imgur.com/GWIQnLN.jpg While think of it if get Brits next battle will probably reload to try & get the Yanks as like in RL they seem to have stayed in their disembarkation zone for to long. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
End Turn 5
The brits did indeed fall for it & place arty along the road, however some fell on Centre road killing an Opel truck I had supposedly moved back to safety. Its okay fast push means its falling behind us. No more CB fire by my batterie lucky first turn location. TOP Contact made that's one tough squad man down despite 7 units engaging inc the StuG & both A/C. One only moved one hex nearly 40% hit rate but just shrugged it off. Oh well but those little A/C are usually pretty hard on the on infantry.https://i.imgur.com/rbrnJPi.jpg Centre Honeys died to ATG one took 4 hits to succumb, no infantry fire from that area so will press on for front of hill 1 & that clump of Vhexes by the trees. Destroyed a Mech squad in trees & took fire from another squad, StuG smoked deal with later priority is locating an ATG as its holding up the advance. Leading squad risked fast move should get eyes on next go. We spotted an M10 3in tank destroyer unfortunately its 30 hexes away from the tanks so they moved onto hill so in LOS range next turn, received fire from ATG in AI turn. Arty should hit M10 & hopefully the ATG this turn. If anyone is interested M10's were very dangerous especially if armed with 76mm or 17 pounders the speed & visibility due to the open top worked. Germany had very limited artillery in the last few years of the war, could not manufacture the shells due to lack of resources. Being open top was therefore not such a big issue & the extra visibility compared to tanks of the day paid dividends. In US hands I think they destroyed around the same amount of tanks as all the Sherman's. BOTTOM Now engaged squad routed note arty plot including smoke. https://i.imgur.com/W6E5JuE.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Sorry Centre screen for turn 5
https://i.imgur.com/ccxWwuE.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Situation Turn 9 Start
Shocking couple of turns my brain must have gone to lunch the only reason I have not lost several tanks among other things is luck plain & simple. The AI missed several decent accuracy shots, brain finally came back on line to save the situation but spent most of the turns reacting to the AI in a stupid fashion. Wasted a lot of smoke that I will need for the ATG that are probably protecting the rear area. LOSSES A halftrack & immob another one with a silly move, drove 250/11 on top of Hill 2 by mistake - at least he spotted a Sherman before a Churchill I think killed him. Drove a truck straight into enemy LOS - pioneers survived with 3 hits. So many more cases of infantry taking losses due to silly moves. NORTH Resistance seems light pushing forward - there is enemy arty at far East of here. 3 squads engaged & trying to find a Bofors AA gun, 222A/C hiding in depression till StuG can deal with it. CENTRE There is a ATG just North of hill 1 its fairly close so tanks have had to pull South. There are infantry on front face of the hill, probably should not have attacked here till could come at from side as now need arty to tip the balance. There are not many rough hexes but the AI has made good use of them its units are on them making life harder. Finally killed the ATG but infantry took quite a few hits doing so, turns out screened by 3 or 4 squads. There is another one here just SE of the M10 making attacking the M10 difficult, they have fields of fire to flanking force. Calling in smoke my arty batterie somehow missed the M10 completely to make things worse, most in fact was errant & missed there targets. Force on rear hills is advancing, another 2 hexes visibility & they might have been useful there. Luckily the tanks did place smoke to screen before entering the depression or they might have been siting ducks. As said 250/11 located a group of tanks the hard way in SE map area, one spotted. Need a plan probably engage them from hill 1 with long shots then finish from hill 2. Will need smoke to cover from whatever else lurks in the depression behind hill 1. https://i.imgur.com/q6ApFpE.jpg I have lots of decent tanks effectively a Pz Kompanie 17 tank formation with 6 upgraded to StuG's & they all carry smoke. No mediocre tanks I should be using them better the AI probably has about the same number as its a delay. Hopefully we will make better progress & clear the immediate area in the next few turns. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Okay last effort obviously threw me this is turn 9 sorry.
Trying to use same colours in pictures - purple LOS/target - red move - blue ATGs etc - triangle low density unit - solid triangle specific unit. I will be relocating my arty over the next few turns as will need to target hexes out of range shortly. 17cm covering for as has not CB fired since first turn. Also as no planes have turned up half the AA units have gone forward to give fire support. Considering moving FOO later to Hill 2 but the AI is very good with its arty this battle, its hitting where I am not where I was. Only just started moving AT guns forward because of it. We have not suffered any major losses but infantry have taken a few hard hits 4 half strength squads & arty has damaged a few halftracks, 3 units lost. British losses to date - 2 Honeys - 3M10s - 1 ATG - 6 infantry units & their FOO last turn. Hope arty will become rest accurate now he is dead. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/azHBLZf.jpg Killed 1 of the original squads, the other 2 are running, discovered another 3 near the road. On rough again & they hit hard killed 4 men despite discovering squad moving slow. Where are the others - normally come in platoon's of 4? For the moment we will ignore them 1 platoon needs to get in front of StuG's to search for guns, once dealt with we will swing round & attack them from rear. Other platoon will support from purple area to bring overwhelming force then. Forgot to mark hidden sniper 6 hexes in front of StuG Sending an AA unit to support but no artillery support unless we run into heavier resistance. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/oOUOimm.jpg Supporting fire from tanks & AA has broken the defences on Hill 1, not found that ATG yet however. Hopefully we will be able to swing up & round to attack the area with 4 Vhexes from 2 angles. Fighting in the area to either side of the road has been fairly intense, cannot dislodge that squad on the rough hex despite Sturmpanzer putting a few rounds his way. Taking out M10s proved difficult (smoke had not fallen need to avoid hidden ATG) Other Sturmpanzer drew fire as decent armour revealing a second M10 in the trees. Not ideal 4 against 2 & I need to short move, somehow my 10.5cm battery missed them both - plotted right on it. Every single hit on both sides bounced damn, committed now so pioneer takes position checks LOS & smokes a hex to protect from a side shot from Churchill & StuG moves up, takes all shots to kill 1 so fires dischargers. Have several units with high hit chance targeting decided not to smoke & fired the 222A/C for good measure. It only fired once missed & our oppfire bounced again!! Smoke fell pretty well need to take out the ATG & time to get in position to attack Churchill & friends. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Update
In the North StuG & a 222 teamed up & dispatched the sniper. 222 went on to discover the 4th squad, unfortunately that lead to it being on the receiving end of a rifle grenade. M10 finally succumbed to the onslaught & we found the top ATG slightly further East than I thought. Its not going down without a fight & has killed several men. Central road is being targeted by arty hampering movement, expect it to stop now but bet it targets the area we want to attack Churchill's from. He has 3 friends 2 Sherman's & another Churchill, one found by a squad the other by a MKIV that fired dischargers & is OK. Should take our first VHexes next turn & hopefully find the other ATG. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 11 start
We have been killing infantry on the approach to Hill 1 & routing from the battle for the road, also got the ATG. Arty must have got the other ATG or routed it I am right on top of it, no sign of the gun though if crew abandoned. Did not think it was so many but War Cab now lists 22 kills for 4 losses. My arty is back online this turn so going back to CB fire - Expect some British arty to hit my locations but most should still be replotting. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/EEvBHcK.jpg Found the Bofors & a Patrol (under mouse pointer) forward StuG shares dead 222A/C hex SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/Z5PXhYs.jpg Attack against area A is going well a platoon of Pz Grenadiers is heading for the hill top from the SW. https://i.imgur.com/vxARLPB.jpg We are poised to kick off attack on the group of tanks, 10.5cm placed smoke & will move to hit that infantry line. Fine tune this turn but expect most smoke to disperse probably in the AIs turn allowing LOS from Hill 1. StuG's have dischargers off & should be safe at that distance if they take fire. Hill 1 will kick things off on the next turn & perhaps cause some damage. The group on Hill 2 will then go for the kill shots if dischargers do not mess things up. They are bound to hoping to get 2 of them, 3 if lucky. Furthest South ATG is in kill range arty delayed the others but they can add suppression if needed or get lucky if someone runs. Schedule is not bad forgot advance not assault VHexes are already giving Brits a few points. They own 17 so by my reckoning are now getting 78 points a turn more than me. Germans -24, Brits -102 |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 13 start
A lot happened this time 9 more British units down & we now control 10 VHexes. Amazingly while the North have had to modify slightly on the whole we are still following the original plan-nearly a first. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/s2T6DJZ.jpg Should kill the Bofors - if not will smoke it so we can destroy the enemy here. AA had an eventful trip one got caught between an ATG & the new squad now routed in trees. Not going after the ATG but it either moved adjacent to the squad or stayed in its sights, tricky rescue mission to target the squad. 222 & AA staying out of LOS along road as no idea what's there, probably smoke with StuG as don't want a shot to its rear either. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/SOxd4cq.jpg Nearly cancelled the attack as found another tank for 5 in total & there are no VHexes there. Also we had real fun clearing out area A on Hill 1, the StuG's went to take up firing positions - where they are now & the hex to SW. They did not notice the PIAT teams who as often happens were waiting to let off multiple shots in the AI turn which would be to the rear if I engage the tanks. Infantry spotted 1 then ended up pilling in when second was seen, trying to take that one out brought the Churchill into play. Got chaotic but caused retreat & a kill in the end despite there being 3 good order squads as well, 222A/C saved the day. StuG's were surrounded by smoke in the end. They 1 hex moved & started the tank battle finishing off the Churchill when it presented its flank to them. Going after the new Churchill now. Tank battle went better than expected got 3 the other 2 killed by the ATG - one had been damaged by a MKIV. The remaining Sherman may be damaged cannot remember. Sturmpanzer exited the depression behind it & took 1 damage from hidden ATG as smoke had cleared. That field is a pain need to get the infantry forward gun hunting there are bound to be more. Forgot infantry found a Honey about to assault with MkIV & 250/11 backup. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 13 update
We have lost a bit of cohesion now starting to get out of contact issues. All infantry platoon leaders have radios as do Platoon I of Company B. 2/3rds of Pz Grenadiers have them, unfortunately MG & ATG's do not. NORTH Overwhelming force hmmm more infantry keep making themselves known. Either need a bit of arty support or could smoke & go for VHexes then they might move off the rough hexes. HMG is tied up with Bofors forced abandonment by crew. SOUTH Killed the Honey - those Panzerndmine 3s seem pretty reliable for a 2 hit kill only lost one man, hopefully it goes as well against the Sherman. 250/11 took remaining VHex there & is immobile, PIAT hiding in the woods. Thought it was lost no rescue but 222 found an elevated position spotted & killed it. You have to love them vs infantry its nearly out of ammo but has saved my bacon 2 turns in a row. Tanks fired a lot of smoke to allow grabbing another VHex & screen from expected guns, its running low but should last. Several squads mounted up to move across the field & act as eyes. Risky but all the arty fell on Hill 1 - Company B Leader lost 5 men can't help him major suppression. 1 Damage on the new Churchill before it popped smoke, he has a friend who has just been hit with arty so is the next target. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 15 start
NORTH https://i.imgur.com/aHvFqwq.jpg Took stock here 5 vehicles supporting attacking from 3 sides we have overwhelming force, they will die fast as run into my arms. Worked perfectly 2 turns & that's all that's left of 6 squads without losing a man. Then ran 222 straight into a hidden squad. F Platoon are splitting going for 2 mortars down the road. Rest will take these VHexes & hold them. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/fYc0c4C.jpg Obviously its not Platoon F that's going to hold this VHex had them in my mind. We may need to head North into woods later to end the game I know an ATG is in there, possibly a few others units to. Assault on Sherman went well lost nobody, it was suppressed possibly damaged already. Lone Churchill has used its last discharger. Getting LOS on those other Churchills is proving harder than I thought & its PIAT team city up here another 2 encountered along with a couple of squads all dead. 222 is down to its MG now. Mortars are placing smoke behind Churchills just in case. V Hex just above them we need but if we push further East it will just be infantry with MG backup, why risk the tanks. Should have extended the smokescreen further South Halftrack & passenger died to an ATG. Co B Leader got hit again but no more damage & we got our 2nd CB fire in retaliation. Brits own 8 Vhexes losses G7:B41 Getting the hang of stitching the screenshots together now. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 16 it was all going so well.
NORTH Turns out the 222 died at 2 hex range to a PIAT armed squad & there were 3 of them. This is going okay 2 are dead. SOUTH Still not found the ATG's despite being only 3-4 hexes away. Turns out that lone Churchill wasn't on its own after all. Badly mauled squad & MkIV without a gun, another is going to die next turn. No dischargers or place to move so only hope was kill one tank & hope it blocked the line of sight to the other, it didn't. It missed a 80+% shot we are not going to be so lucky next turn. PARTICIPATION TIME Its a self contained action only these units can participate if you want to figure out a plan of attack yourself. British units in ignore area are routed or have no LOS. This is the push against the other Churchills that's been going on for a few turns. We have probably removed 5 squads from the area in that time & a few PIAT teams but they still have a lot of supporting infantry. Close range in my view to attempt a sneak attack & wont happen unless some units can be neutralised first. Slim chance my AT team is still hidden it received no fire in AI turn. Units with LOS to it targeted other units. KEY Germans - 1 pinned unit circled rest in good order - 2 halftracks have passengers. AT Team reports a 45% hit chance. British - 3 good order (ready) units others pinned buttoned. The top Churchill possibly fairly heavy suppression though the Brits seem to have rallied well so not banking on it. Orange - Low Density trees - Crest Lines - numbers are elevations - solid hex smoke no LOS Yellow - current LOS to infantry units. Purple - Current LOS to Churchills (dashed means nothing just did as getting cluttered.) https://i.imgur.com/HUabspb.jpg Hopefully screen is clear enough & some of you enjoy figuring out how to approach this one |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Right click & save picture might be the way to go if you want to have a think.
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Update its all correct except
Sniper - can see squad NW of lowest Churchill AT Team - can see that squad & the 2 below the Churchill (3 squads on the crest line) Bummer pretty sure dust obscured last turn. Did not mark but squad with adjacent British squad is only unit with LOS to it. would expect to win combat with 1 or 2 shots otherwise move up a tank. All infantry including sniper are known - only possible exceptions are the top squad & AT Team. Both MG should be concealed still. STOP IF WANT TO TRY I HAVE LISTED POSSIBLE OPENING MOVES BELOW HAVE AGO FIRST Possible opening moves I might go for fire against squad unless stated otherwise. MG > couple of bursts @ Churchill Pinned squad > SE Squad SW of pinned squad > E Squad below sniper > E Lowest squad > adjacent hopefully 1-2 shots then squad shown on pic He is only unit with LOS to adjacent pinned squad - did not mark as obvious AT Team > E @ Churchill Sniper > Squad mentioned above NW of Churchill - would like to fire before AT team but will probably draw fire from at least one Churchill which may suppress the AT team. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Bit reckless should really wait but we gave this a go
Some artillery should fall on lower 2 Churchill's & supporting squads, more next turn as only a few battles to spread over now. Need the squads gone to move ATG along channel & deploy (its not a rough hex at the end) Screen is position before artillery falls with & without smoke -numbers are damage taken. Pretty much followed opening & AT team lost a man (not shown) despite efforts to reduce fire at it. https://i.imgur.com/NYVbG36.jpg https://i.imgur.com/q2DhIwm.jpg My 2 squads that took damage opened the salvo - expected bad result - my pinned vs a ready squad is not ideal. Other was damaged as a Churchill fired at him. AT Team missed of course - squads & 1 Churchill forced retreat. Moved MkIV to MG hex (bottom left) to draw fire as longest engagement I could do - Churchill missed & dust blocked LOS. Bottom Churchill had taken a fair bit of splash fire so risked moving a bottom tank up- Churchill missed & got a it got a lucky hit around 28% for 1 damage Churchill pops smoke. The other tanks there moved to target infantry there. StuG made risky move to snipers original hex & MkIV took over - StuG & both Churchills damaged in the exchange. My top squads fired at infantry somewhere in this then let one shot at top Churchill - no response. Top MkIV made a desperate move against top Churchill's flank & only received MG fire from it. Hit chance got to 50+% but all missed. Last StuG & Halftracks moved up deployed & shot at infantry - top one smoked - other killed the squad there. If the Churchills move they will run into the squads the halftracks dropped. As fast moving they wont do much but it should be enough to let my tanks win. Back to more sensible play have plenty of time so probably should have just gone for the infantry. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 18
The Brits are on the move everywhere except the group of 3 Churchill's, my guess started on turn 16. NORTH Last 2 VHexes to take are here, will take one this turn the other has a Bofors AA on it. Infantry smoked when discovered waiting for the StuG. SOUTH Turned out leaving a guard on the VHex with the immobile 250/11 was a good idea repulsed 2 squads. The MkIV died as expected but its crew survived. 1 damaged Churchill left there now. AT Team got one & 2 squads attacked the other its in a difficult spot to approach. My fault forgot 4th squad in platoon has Gebalite Ladung for its AT weapon, not nearly as good tank shrugged off previous assault leading to MkIV's demise. Might upgrade these squads at battle end. Found & killed 1 ATG but now have British infantry advancing through East woods. Clearing out the area to move the waiting ATG up is proving slow work as only decent LOS to them involves vehicles on rough slopes which I would like to avoid if possible. British infantry may be inbound their anyway meaning using ATG is not a viable option. Little progress against 3 Churchills did not engage but got a couple more of the infantry moving. Forgot to check arty contact at start of my turn resulting in killing 3 of my men. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 21
That went on longer than expected infantry kept turning up, screens are from turn 18 as thought it was over. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/zmOVQ52.jpg Was poised to run a truck over the last British VHex as there were quite a few guns here so not risking the StuG then the infantry turned up. Took 3 turns to reach that hex then they gave up. Never made it to the mortars at the end of the road either, guns to the left of me guns to the right of me anybody would think it goes to Berlin. Pioneer was leading the way as he had a lot of smoke 6 I think, luckily he is my unit with the flamethrower. Had to use the Z Fire & set the terrain on fire trick as ran out of smoke. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/KBw8Nw2.jpg Did not think big enough with regard to holding that VHex, as said repulsed first wave no problem. Got a 3rd squad there when the next wave showed up. Probably lost about 20 men 1 squad wiped out before could reinforce & stop them. They kept coming from the East woods to though that was easier let them run into my line as a platoon swung round behind to finish them. Turned out there was a nest of ATGs 5 in all. Hunting guns both here & up North hurt had trouble spotting them & they wait till 2 hexes away to open up. Quick kill but get their pound of flesh first. 3 Churchills once striped of infantry were simple enough to pick off, good job to. First died easy enough second took 4 tanks to kill - 3 firing from 3-4 hex range, 10hits in all. The immobile one got hit by half my arty thought he would bail but no, squad just walked up to him & switched out the lights. Marginal Victory - thought it might be a draw to be honest played a few bad turns, fun battle overall though. https://i.imgur.com/DYoHZDZ.jpg War Cab shows the tank battle on turn 18 (1.30 on graph) was rough caused a rise in suppression & worst ready state of the battle. Green suppression line shows I got caught napping defending that VFlag a few units were in big trouble. https://i.imgur.com/QNLwJFI.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cDtLfoW.jpg Finally meeting the Americans for the next one. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Interim
As lost few units last battle we have a big jump in veterans to 47% of my force. https://i.imgur.com/IMJc4vZ.jpg Average experience is now 78% - 2% gain per battle. Green line shows though that the more experienced units gained little or none. https://i.imgur.com/G9yOTwb.jpg TO BATTLE Meeting Vs USA 90x70 visibility 38 hexes Upgraded Pz Grenadier leader - gave him a rifle instead of SMG as supposed to avoid trouble. Aux units - 2 Kubelwagen & Scouts - 4 MKIIIL's who will sit in instead of a platoon of MkIV's Skewed logic was thinking till Allies get APCR I have a long range tank advantage. Switching StuG's to MkIV would have made fairly even that turret is vulnerable at extreme range. Done first few turns so will do some changes next battle to the armour. Situation update shortly forgot to put notes on screenshot. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Interesting map hopefully - it came with all those fords though impassable terrain limits there use.
Placed Vhexes to hopefully have fights round areas A + B & tempt AI to go to combat mode there. 1 in US rear so we need to push on. They have taken one VHex near the road hopefully a scout vehicle meaning timing about right. Of if anybody goes Mech infantry its the US we will find out. Deployed to try & fight in these areas as look more fun - scouts, & ATG are leading the way followed by infantry then tanks. Pz Gren are waiting till contact to move - only one arty plotted. Tanks roughly split MkIIIs in North with A Co & Grenadiers due to the bridge. This left B Co in the South with no transport so borrowing A Co 2 trucks to ferry them to the stream. They might get stuck if attempt a crossing. No plan just quick deployed though the top force should hopefully make faster progress & swing round as its semi mobile. Now looked at congestion in area A could make it a prime spot for US artillery. My arty will need to move up at some point, finding safe spots if the US move faster than I think was not that easy. Turn 3 start going to full speed now. Screen is a big stitch together hope its clear. https://i.imgur.com/MfoEXGo.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 6 Start
https://i.imgur.com/oiiiHIm.jpg Well this is going to be fun the idea sort of worked though the AI took off really hard & fast. I did not expect them to get quite so far but they did unload before we could hit any halftracks - got 3 empty ones. I know there are more scout had to pull back pronto. They even grabbed the VHexes by the buildings which was not really expecting at this point, wonder where they will head. Have to fight our way out of a box before the arty arrives & it looks like both sides mech infantry are on a collision course. Advance was so quick other scout had to pull out so sent him to get a look at the back of the hill the units crossing the ford will need to take. Needs another elevation to see which is not going to happen, in trouble again. Did not think would need to smoke Ford crossing but that's blown AI will have a lot of info for arty by turn end. If you have never used US Armoured Infantry they have a scary amount of firepower for the day. Right map & they are the king of assaults in WWII & the forerunner for todays formations. Only weakness perhaps is squads have a SMG rather than a LMG but in human hands that's okay due to the amount of firepower. Each Platoon has 3 Squads - Rifle, SMG, Baz Baz Team Decent ATG 7 MGs including the halftracks Self Propelled Mortar. My Armour Commander is more worried about them than the tanks, infantry can be pinned or chewed up & spat out fast to if they are not careful. Tanks need to take out the halftracks so infantry can engage at range & find the AT weapons otherwise vehicles tend to go bang. AI is getting 60 points a turn from VHexes already we need to get cracking. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 7 start
Have moved scout & MG for a look as shown, ATG going there. Jumping straight in with no plan may cost me now looked I think the South force will be the arty magnet. Its pretty wide open so guessing AI has eyes that can see vehicles at least. No transport to quickly relocate so it misses is going to be a problem, still it will take the heat off the top force & let them do their thing. South force is only just clearing the fords apart from the scouts, truck made it over the ford but ended up wasting smoke to block MG fire at it. Other is going to collect FOO & MG I think he will be needed West of the stream. Air strike killed scouts 250/11 here hence think it has eyes on me. The Aux scout & his Kubelwagen are trouble magnets they were the target of the other airstrike. Was worried about air have been using AA to help break out of the box need to stop now. Did manage to damage one Aircobra in the attack 21% hit way to go. https://i.imgur.com/wqNwe5d.jpg Exiting the box up North went better than expected - high grass blocked vision from the tanks situated there. If the Armoured Infantry had unloaded here instead we would be in real trouble. Lead squad took a hit for the team to place smoke & let the tanks operate, Pz Gren's swooped in to protect in AI's turn. Unloading sniper there was an accident he is probably dead. ATG did well killing & damaging the M10s, StuG in woods took out the other - only tank there that could short move. Rest helped the group SE of the trees take out the ATGs & other units there. Purple lines show only units with LOS apart from to underlined squad who obviously has a lot of heat on him. MkIII did try to take out an M5 but they bounced. 15 range which is about the max I think for any chance of damage. US tanks MG can see were hit by arty & are M3's so engaging as gun pen is only 8, others are M5 lights. Using MkIII 5cm compared to MkIV,s as reminded of their issues in my view. Ambush machines really 14 hex (9 once the APCR) is gone against most targets - less for reliable damage. Benefits - Accurate gun & higher ROF (3 have 5 shots) means more accurate overall at short range - helps the ambush role, better armour package. Downsides - Medium > Long range can only kill transport & armoured cars, poor infantry round & no smoke round. I can see the smoke being a real issue tanks were only issued with 3 rounds on average. We might have to take a leaf out of the US playbook & risk bringing the SP mortars up for direct support later. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 8 Start
SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/Up9sKuQ.jpg This does not look so good Sherman's are coming & we are still clearing the ford. An AA unit is the one with a LOS so had to move, some halftracks have vanished think they are heading for the Fords then South. NORTH Not a lot of movement group exiting the woods is stuck another M3 & leg infantry have turned up. They shot at the M3's getting one before pulling back but one tank lost its Coax Mg in the exchange. they are proving more of a problem than the M10's. Lack of progress was due to having to kill those Baz teams before we can move out. Arty fell in the woods did not get 1 ATG out in time, he is OK for now but it took out his transport. Really do not know how best to tackle the group of Arm Inf as surrounded by woods but some of my Pz Gren's have remounted. The problem is those Baz they all have them, lucky shot by a MG at a cluster of killed an AT team I could not see with splash fire. Wow War Cab says we have killed 30 units for 6 losses already, did not think it was so high. Say half a dozen Baz teams, M5's, Halftracks - 2 M10's, ATGs an M3 & a scout jeep, that's 24 no idea what the rest were. We have lost mainly transports so far. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 9 Start
I hate planes think there were 7 of them we damaged one, some strikes shown. Waste of time saving my ATGs planes took a strong dislike to them, lost a few halftracks to one was loaded. Both sides lost 6 units that turn but I also have several damaged now. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/tONCOKh.jpg Not a good turn overall the first MkIV that attempted to break out got taken out by an ATG before it saw it. Managed to take it out & an M3 then discovered the new group of Sherman's that have vanished. Pz Grenadiers have made minor progress but I am guessing they are about to be reinforced. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/DeWJ86f.jpg Not going well here either that M3 popping up was a complete surprise. Looks like the M4's are moving to join them after making a brief showing on the hilltop, nothing hit in the minor exchange here They definitely have eyes on us from a hill to the NW placing smoke but to late. Times like this make me wish I had an off map battery that fires smoke. Those 3 bottom VHexes are the only ones not under US control now. At the moment I will be happy if we get a draw. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 11 start
Now that's a problem a lone plane just took out the AA unit best located to defend the North Force. The South one manged to get stuck crossing the Ford. The main airstrike will probably be inbound in the next couple of turns so want to move vehicles as little as possible & put some distance between them & the infantry if possible. Need to try & get a couple especially the Airacobra that cannon really hurts, rest should be down to just MGs after this pass. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/juA95nY.jpg Turn before most of my infantry was pinned due to the airstrikes & my pioneer, Pz Grenadiers were about the only infantry that could move. They moved on Armed Infantry & made quick work of them as my arty had been hitting the area hard for a few turns. StuG moved into this area & dispatched an M4 down South. Tanks took position to try & take on Sherman's, unsure which way they would go N or E. Drew fire from A which proved easy they were moving slow but could not hit a barn. Two still had shots when MkIII broke cover at 3 hex range from behind causing panicked fire. Infantry at the top of the map were unsupported while this was going on so took a few hits including a sniper down. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/xfytfcC.jpg This lot I think were moving faster but could not hit a barn either, I think during both exchanges they only managed to hit one target. Checked experience is 65 but do not remember them being this bad in the past. Progress here is slow due to incoming forces tanks have being bounding advancing - half stationary while the rest move then swap. As we have no transport probably going to end up doing this all game. Decided unless we get a good map next assault will be a large affair on a urban map to mix things up & see how the Sturmpanzer's get on. More infantry some flame halftracks & borrowed Italian Assault Guns plus air if it allows. Not Italy but close enough European layout rather than city blocks. Maps here if you want a try so can relate to the upcoming battle. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showt...979#post847979 |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
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Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 12 end
Currently we are at 71 kills for 16 losses, only 1 tank down & 1 damaged - transport has taken a beating around 7 halftracks lost. Lets see if the air arrives next turn done what we can. Most vehicles remained stationary though about 5 moved in the South including the 250/11 to kill the Sherman. Tanks where possible are by smoke or fired some to rear in an attempt to make target lock difficult. Will count the Airacobras this time they are the threat top hit or any facing bar the front can take out a tank. Otherwise not worried as we are not engaged unless they attack the StuG I expect to reaction fire. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/V0iAA3d.jpg Clearing the area then moving out as shown, there are SP Mortars to our West & VHexes to SW. Made reasonable progress this turn on all fronts. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/2yrDLAw.jpg Clearing to the West, took a look over NW hill but pulled back as only a couple of units currently there. Have to say from glimpses of distant units I think the AI is having a few problems deciding what to do. On reflection not surprised really I have had problems deciding what to do with some units. Bet the air does not turn up or hits the artillery. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Airstrike came 7 planes 4 of which were Airacobra's, we damaged one plane & hit an Airacobra though don't think it was damaged.
They hit the arty park taking out most of the transport & resupply units & another AA unit. Not a bad result apart from the AA arty was not targeted this run. The M4 stayed where it was & unloaded a Baz Team, A M3 appeared by the buildings & got destroyed by a MkIII. Most of our infantry heading for the buildings & the South hilltop have been pinned by arty, conducted our first CB mission against it |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
John. Is this a generated campaign you are playing ?
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