Fighting Withdrawal AAR.

[Fionn]

Withdrawal Under Fire: An AAR.


This is an AAR of an ongoing PBEM game using CMAK. It is set in Italy in February 1944 and features a 3600 point German force seeking to hold off/withdraw from an Allied attack which has somewhere between 6000 and 7000 points ( I forget which right now).

Basically I thought it’d be challenging to conduct a fighting withdrawal since all the books pretty much agree that’s the most difficult manoeuvre to pull off successfully. The terrain is quite wooded and dusty and not at all conducive to quick armoured movements but, by the same token, this reduces the speed of the German withdrawal to a slow walking pace and limits the ability of a small sacrificial rear-guard to use good defensive positions fronting on open terrain to establish a delaying position. Why? Simple, the broken terrain and many intervisibility lines would force me to spread them too thinly or, if I concentrated them, allow my opponent to flank them.


Purchases:
4 Jaeger Companies. ( Regular)
3 x Panzerschreck Teams ( Veteran)
2 x Panther ( Veteran)
2 x Brummbaer ( Regular)… This is only my second PBEM of CMAK and I’ve always quite liked the Brummbaer but never actually gotten to use it in a game of CMBB or CMAK so, what the hell ;), it’ll be fun even if the points turn out to be massively wasted.


Concept:
The first two Jaeger Companies will spread out into half-platoon detachments and establish a forward screen. Their job will be to strip the enemy of his reconnaissance elements before my main line of resistance is reached. I have utilised the “fall-back position” option to create several lines of foxholes leading towards my main line of resistance. It is my intention that the forward detachment will halt in or near each of those fall-back positions to further bleed the enemy reconnaissance elements before, finally, withdrawing through the MLR and setting up further, more concentrated, delaying positions behind the MLR.

The main line of resistance comprises two Jaeger companies deployed in platoon-sized detachments. Each detachment is sited to cover a likely enemy route of advance. Wherever possibly these detachments have been sited so as to take advantage of intervisibility lines to shield them from enemy direct fire but where this hasn’t been possible they’ve just been sited with a view to having some clear terrain in front of them within their firesack. Once the enemy has reacted to the MLR fire by deploying into attack formation and launching firestrikes on my positions the MLR will withdraw and take up positions behind the forward detachment. From this point onwards the two lines will leapfrog eachother as the retreat continues. Should counter-attack opportunities arise whichever line can seize the opportunity will do so with support from the immediately supporting portion of the rearward line.

Panthers and Brummbaer… Panthers will be tasked with anti-armour activities while I will try to keep the Brummbaer available to blast any enemy concentrations with their 15cm main gun. It is hoped that the blast from this main gun this will either throw the enemy into such confusion that the infantry facing that portion of the enemy advance can withdraw under little pressure OR that this carnage will provide a counter-attack opportunity.


Once the Allied forces have been whittled down sufficiently that all aggressiveness has been leeched out of them it should prove possible to break contact and withdraw cleanly. That, at least, will be the aim of any fighting done.


Note: As all my units are tagged for withdrawal it should be noted that not only will I not gain points if a unit isn’t withdrawn I will be doubly penalised for all losses since I will lose the cost of the unit AND will lose the points to be gained from withdrawing it.

So, all in all, it is essential to hurt the enemy badly ( so as to allow me to break contact) but it is also essential not to lose heavily in doing so as that would render any withdrawal a pyrrhic victory.



Estimated enemy forces:
At least 1 Bn of dismounted infantry.
Probably 1 company of infantry mounted in HTs.
A company of 76mm-armed Shermans.
A few FOs in the 105 to 120mm range.

All in all the points given the attacker allow them to craft a really nasty force, especially as the attacker is being favoured with more than the normal points ratio for an attacker.


PASSWORD: l'audace


Turn 1 & 2.

No contact so far. Just some infantry movement into forward positions and relocation of a single Panther into a more favourable forward position. I'll post further turns as they happen.


Feedback welcome.

[Fionn]

Turn 3.

Quite an interesting little turn actually.

The Panther which was moving all "big, dumb and fat" in the open triggered an ambush attempt. Four Shermans ( with what look like 75 L/38s) moved up to try and get flanking shots. The, in my opinion and that of my opponent, over-active self-preservation coding means that while I think they got 2 AP shells off they spent most of their time going "WHOA, let's pop smoke and back out of here." The Panther also got a nice first round kill at about 800metres. The extra muzzle velocity really helps with first round hit probability, just as it did in the real war.

On my left flank one of my platoons actually had the strange experience of the British WALKING through their position without actually doing anything about them. ARGH!!! I forgot that after CMBO they reworked the HIDE code and made it much more "hidey" and replaced ambushes with covered arcs. OOPS! Guess it really is obvious this is one of my first PBEMs after a couple of years off ;).

Anyways, only about half of my platoon even fired at the enemy and by the end of the turn the inability to gain fire superiority showed. 10 casualties each...

After seeing the movie and remembering about Covered Arcs I place them for all of my forces. A good thing too as they become very important next turn.

[Fionn]

I managed to break contact with two of the squads from my leftmost platoon. Unfortunately one squad is panicking right in the midst of the enemy platoon and will, undoubtedly, be wiped out. Still, losing 2 squads isn't too high a price to be paid for being reminded of the utility of covered arc commands ;). The remnants of the platoon are in new positions about 50 metres from their initial ambush getting ready to try again. This time they have arcs set ;).

The Panther scuttles off for the low ground in order to get behind some trees and hide LOS to its vulnerable flanks. I'll either withdraw it or advance it using the trees to screen its right flank depending on whether or not my opponent tries an armoured push through the open central plain.


On the right flank the enemy pushes up. Unfortunately the dissonance between the conflicting needs to be quick and careful has, in this situation, tended towards speed. As a result proper reconnaissance isn't performed and the enemy pays for this. Roughly 1 company ( 102 men) charge forward and, as near as I can figure, a maximum of 20 survive the experience.

Basically two platoons came over a hill crest and headed for a nearby woodline. Unfortunately Leutnant Arkhangelsk's platoon was guarding these woods. Less than 10 survived from this push. A little to the left a platoon reached woods less than 40 metres from another platoon. Normally woods are excellent cover. Unfortunately, they aren't good enough to protect you from an equal force ambush at such close range. Over half of this platoon is wiped out with most of the rest panicking and pinned.

This company-sized push is shown in Ambush1. My forces opposing this push didn't suffer a single casualty in the ambush. A much better showing than the "forgot about covered arcs" debacle of last turn ;).



Open Plain.jpg shows the central portion of the front. A 350 metre wide open plain. I really had expected a mechanised push through this area which is why I'd covered it with 2 Panzerschrecks and the Panther. All I see so far as a single enemy PIAT team which is walking right into another ambush. Interesting, wonder what he's trying to do here?


Lastly, on the extreme right flank a number of enemy Shermans are making their way forward. It would appear they are trying to support their infantry push ( well, the infantry who WERE pushing forward before they ran into my two firesacks).

Interestingly they're also pushing forward into an anti-armour firesack. Two Panzerschrecks, an overwatching Panther and a close-in flanker ( one of the Brummbaers) wait for them. I don't anticipate any great problems in wiping out this attack whenever it crests the same rise as the infantry company.

[Wolfe Tone]

Sounds like a good game Fionn. I have CMAK myself but need to reinstall it. If and when fancy another PBEM game?

I will be off work over Christmas and can play anyday, esp. Christmas Day! :D

[Fionn]

Sure thing.

I can't TCP/IP. Damned phone line disconnects whenever I tried it. I would, however, be open to a slow PBEM ( with speeding up on days we're both off over Xmas) if u would like?

[Wolfe Tone]

Thats fine. Give me till next weekend though to reinstall. Any scenario in mind?

[Palantir]

Hey, my Irish lads, Irelands such a "small" place why don't one of you just walk over to the others house for a LAN game? :laugh:

I know Wolfe- I should just get my Union butt back across the Potomac and be quiet! :whlchr:
;)

[Wolfe Tone]

Well thats like the big Texan who comes over to Ireland to visit his Irish cousins back on the farm.

Texan:

''Why back in Texas it takes me half a day to drive from one end of my Ranch to the other!''

Irish Farmer:

''Sure I used to have car like that meself!''

:cheeky:

[Fionn]

Turn 5.

Enemy artillery and tank forces enter the fray in earnest.

The platoon of Shermans on my extreme right flank continues to roll forward. By the end of the turn they are in full defilade positions just below the hillcrest which marks the beginning of my Anti-tank firesack. In anticipation of them sweeping forward I have begun to move my two Panzerschreck teams in this area forward, had the overwatching Panther creep into a hull-down overwatching position and am redeploying the Brummbaer so as to take any tank or infantry rush in the flank ( at a 200 metre range). This combination of forces should easily handle the 3 to 4 tanks and their tank-riding infantry platoon.


The HIDE command strikes again. The Brummbaer on my left flank is targetted and hit at least once by Shermans. The shot ricochets but, rather unbelievably, the Brummbaer continues to hide. It doesn't fire back, it doesn't even rotate to bring its frontal armour to bear. Fortunately it survives but the next turn will prove rather tricky.

Enemy artillery falls in two places on my left flank. It falls just behind the remnants of the infantry platoon from the failed ambush and also where my Panther had been last turn. Fortunately I'd kept the Panther moving so it wasn't discomfited too much.

The next turn or two should decide the armour battle, IMO.

[Fionn]

Tank exchanges:

Left flank.

In an effort to relieve the pressure on the Brummbaer the Panther on my left flank is ordered to reverse back up the hill, through the artillery bombardment and into cover near the little mined woods at the hillcrest. I hope that doing this will frighten the Shermans taking potshots at my Brummbaer and buy the Brummbaer time to move to a better position. In addition there are some worrying dust clouds appearing on my extreme left flank. It appears certain that another platoon of Shermans is going to try to dash around the failed ambush site and try to take the Panther in the flank.

Elsewhere the infantry in the centre and extreme right withdraw from their forward positions and fall back to the next set of pre-selected defensive areas.

As the turn starts these withdrawals occur without problem and, as the Brummbaer turns to bring its gun to bear on the Shermans they withdraw into full defilade. Pity, I would have liked to see what a 15cm gun would do to them.

My Panther reverses halfway up the hill and since the enemy tank platoon on my extreme left appears to be holding in place until my infantry are cleared away it is now pretty much assured of getting into cover before it can be flanked.

On the right the infantry withdrawal goes well with the infantry continuing to provide close-in protection for the rightmost Brummbaer. The two schreck teams are in position and as the Shermans crest the hill 1 x schreck team and the Panther take them under fire. The schreck team, unfortunately, misses but the Panther manages to pick off two of the three Shermans without being hit in return.

With 2 schreck teams and the Panther covering the route forward I am confident that the single remaining Sherman will advance no farther. The tankodesantniki are also bound to stall as the direct fire from the Brummbaer, covering Panther and nearby infantry are sufficient to annihilate anything less than a couple of companies.


With this turn out of the way my opponent decided to call it a day and surrender.
I'll post the end-game file once I'm back home and have access to it.

Casualties:
19 German vs 123 Allied. It is a pity my casualties were so high but all of my losses were in the failed ambush and I think that situation mostly occurred due to my inexperience with the HIDE order and forgetting to order covered arcs for that ambush position. I'm also a little disappointed that my plan for the next turn ( getting the Brummbaer on my left to AREA FIRE at the hollow the platoon of Shermans which had earlier fired on it had backed in to) didn't get to take place. I would have liked to see the effect of a 15cm near-miss on those Shermans.

As far as vehicles goes... 3 Shermans were destroyed. 6 remained in the game but with the exception of the platoon on my left which still had to be committed I think the remaining Shermans were out of position, robbed of their support and unable to engage me without severe further loss.


I also think that the ambushes seem to have worked out very well (once I remembered about setting covered arcs ;) ) and that it, again, underlines the importance of coup d'oeuil. I also think that it underlines, for me, that crack, elite etc troops are a waste of points. My view has always been that you should be able to do everything with regular troops and that if you can't then you need to sort out your small unit command, not rely on extra experience to get you out of the hole.


Mistakes:
Failure to place hidden arcs, failure to remember how much HIDE restricts a unit's ability to respond to incoming fire. Leaving aside the left flank failed ambush the exchange rate was 0:100+. Only the left flank failure screwed that up. Still, lesson learned.


Well, as I said, I'll post the end-screen tomorrow when I get back from work. I'd like to thank my opponent for the game and comments etc are always welcome.

[Fionn]

Well, as promised here's the end-game file. Password, as always, is l'audace

[KG_Norad]

Thanks for sharing. An excellent account of your battle sir! :D