New AAR (gonna be long) using RobO Campaign Rules

[Cap'n Fantastic]

--INTRO--
Now that Rob Oelsen has helped settle questions regarding how to calculate favor and experience (I'm using Version .91), I've decided to start my campaign anew - this time with an armored company of SS infantry entering the East Front in the Summer of 1942. Just to let folks know , I'm not choosing the unit for any other reason than it's one of the options provided in the rule pack and I want to practice my use of HT borne infantry (something I've never been really adept at).

That being said, the mission is an Axis Probe, fought against 1500 points of combined arms Russian troops (regular quality) in clear weather (at dawn) on a map that's about 1600m wide by 1100m deep. Obviously, I'll be pushing East, so my troops will be lined up North to South. I've attached two images of the map, which was too large to encompass in a single jpeg so you can see what I'm describing. The first image (in this post) is the Southern half of the game board. That's where all the action will start. The second shot is of the Northern half. Use the forked road as a point of reference.

I've got 43+ Turns to work with, and my TO&E is as follows:
· The Armored Infantry Company
· A platoon of three StuG IIIFs
· Two 105mm Fos (radio)
· Two HMG42s
· Two 50mm Paks
· Two 81mm onboard mortars (yeah, I tend to buy everything in twos)

My map shots show how I've lined up my troops (except for the 81mms and 50mm ATGs, which are hidden in some trees near the Southern side of that central road).

The idea is to concentrate on two of the flags. The large VL shown in the crop field near the map's SE corner, and the ridgeline (with a small VL) bordering it to the North. My support weapons - 4th platoon - will move to a line of trees directly West of the ridgeline and use their MGs and mortars to pin down any troops in that area. My extra 81mms can cover the high ground as well, thanks to the Company HQ, who's acting as a spotter.

One StuG will stay in a hull down firing position to cover the ridge and my left flank (marked by that central W-E road). It will be supported by the Paks and my onboard mortars. The other two StuGs will move up to provide direct support on my assault elements (1st and 2nd platoons). Those fellas will race around the Southern edge of a hill overlooking that crop field and move on to the large VL after it has been pounded by 105mm arty. My reserve is 3rd platoon. I'm hoping I can leave them free to take the central road VL - depending on how things start out.

[Cap'n Fantastic]

-- OK… --
The first shot below shows 4th platoon moving into position. Sorry that the screenshots are kind of dark. Just look at them as early morning silhouettes.

My support weapons move into position without incident. One StuG III suffers minor damage from an ATG about 800m to the North (placed near that small VL North of the central road). It pulls back out of sight - only to have its commander take a bullet from a Soviet sniper on the ridgeline it's supposed to be covering.

The second StuG takes its position overwatching the crop field - its left flank protected by the slope of a small hill - and is targeted by an 82mm mortar barrage. It pulls through without any damage except for some scratches to its paint.

I had a 105mm FO riding piggybank on that StuG, and soon plan a fire mission which should hit the crop field in 3 Turns.

Almost immediately, I spot a KV-1 trundling over the ridgeline North of the field. It's taken under fire by my two 50mm Paks (which are only being used to suppress and rattle the crew), as well as two of my assault guns. The beast manages to shrug off more than a few 75mm AP shells, but is eventually KO'd by four front hull penetrations. See the attached screen shot. The smoke in front of the tank was used to block the LOS of that pesky anti-tank gun to the North.

1st platoon begins to move up…

[Cap'n Fantastic]

THINGS HEAT UP
4th platoon's 251/10 spots a BA-64 armored car scooting around the central road and kills it with three shots from its 37mm gun.

At the same time, 1st platoon moves past the StuG covering the field (threading its way around the Southern side of that small hill). Everything's just peachy until a hidden field gun (plunked in a small patch of woods bordering the field) opens up and wipes out Unt. Elm and his entire squad in a fiery explosion that sends bits of panzergrenadier 50m into the air. The sight is disheartening to the following 251/1 and its passengers, but they keep chugging along as to stay still would mean certain death. Tree bursts from my mortars quickly knock the gun out of commission. 2nd platoon begins to shoot forward and the overwatching StuG moves to join the surviving members of 1st platoon.

These grenadiers are happy to stumble across a mortar crew in the woods just West of the field (on the very Southern edge of the map) and merrily beat it to death with their rifle butts in order to avenge their fallen comrades.

I thought I forwarded a shot of the HT dying (the best one of the batch), but of course it isn't here
:nuts:
I'll have to add it later.

The attached screen shot shows the AT dying.

[Cap'n Fantastic]

-- CLOSING ROUNDS-- (at least until Thursday)

2nd platoon catches up with 1st platoon and moves towards the large VL. A second hidden AT gun kills one of its halftracks (but only inflicts three casualties on the squad inside). The platoon barely flinches. While the accompanying StuG destroys the ATG, the troops move that last 50m or so on foot and promptly gun down some cowering Russian rifle squads (already decimated by my arty barrage). I've included a shot of some surviving elements - apparently routed as they're running around like a bunch of headless chickens.

1st platoon is advancing on those poor saps, killing as they go (they're going to need some experience to make up for their 14 casualties so far). The StuG has claimed the large VL along with those troops and 2nd platoon has taken over the VL on the wooded ridge. 4th platoon has performed well (while suffering one casualty from a short-lived arty barrage), using its mortars and 251/2s to suppress, then drive off, any Russian troops looking to move up on that high ground.

I've spotted a T-34 near the central road, but feel confident that I can bag it without suffering any further losses. I've taken control of 50% of the flags on the board. I've lost two HTs and suffered a total of 20 casualties. In return, I've killed a heavy tank, armored car, two ATGs, a pair of onboard mortars and scores of infantry. The question now is whether I will simply stay put in let the Russians come to me in an attempt to reclaim those flags (which should net a lot of kills in the 25+ Turns remaining). Or if I should use my StuGs, remaining 105mm FO and 3rd platoon to try and take the VL along that road.

This report is going to be pretty long, even with the action kept brief and to the point, so I thought it'd be best to put it on the forum in two installments. The conclusion should be in this thread by Thursday.

Waddya think so far? I'm still managing to lose HTs, even with assault guns and mortars AND MGs on hand to provide support (I guess I should have fired into every piece of woods surrounding the field before moving in). But by and large, things are going my way.

[RobO]

Thanks, great stuff. I have a hard time keeping any german armor alive up to and including at least PzIVs and StuGs, and I don't know all that much about handling halftracks. It will be interesting to see how this works with my revised Favor and experience rules - to come as soon as I find the time to finish the details on the rules documents.

Please do a save of the final turn - the one that pops the AAR. I'd love to see it along with the spreadsheet (if you're using that). Or at least make sure to note down all the loss, kill and flag AAR data, as you will need them for the revised favor rules.

Do you mind if I link these AAR's from my ROQC website? And, in that connection, it would be useful if you would edit the versin of the rules into the first post (and whereever relevant when you update them).

[Cap'n Fantastic]

Go ahead and link it :D

[Cap'n Fantastic]

-- TAKING A RISK --
Once I've secured the VL on the wooded ridgeline, I see a second KV-1 growling towards my little bridgehead. This was the tank originally ID'd as a T-34, but I had a feeling that was going to change once I saw two 75mm shells simply bounce off its turret. The brute is targeted by two StuG IIIs and after two full turns (and the depletion of most of my remaining AP) it is abandoned by its crew.

A short time later, a pair of BA-64 armored cars try to gain the ridge, only to be knocked out of action by my 50mm Paks (showing some fine marksmanship at ranges hovering around 900m).

Just to interject a note about my poor, bloodied 1st platoon - its dropping Russians by the truckload -- the two squads and their command element leapfrogging towards the few remaining enemy infantry squads still lingering around the crop/wheat field. See the screen shot below.

I'm confident now that I've removed another anti-armor asset as my second 105mm FO has begun dropping a barrage on the spot where I last saw that ATG to the North. That little star icon is being bracketed by explosions.

So I decide to risk exposing 3rd platoon (they're going to have to cross a ridgeline - thus exposing themselves to every eager Russian and his mother) - to take a stab at that large VL positioned on the central W-E road.

I position my third StuG (the one providing cover to my forward elements) so it can cover the flag. And I begin pushing one of the other assault guns off that ridgeline I've described so much. With that, 3rd platoon begins tearing towards its destination.

Along the way I spot yet another BA-64 (the 4th one so far), and it also is killed by a 50mm Pak. I've attached a screenshot. The explosion is because the Pak killed the armored car with a HE shell. The AC was near the Eastern edge of the map, and in the background you can see Russian infantry running towards the central road's VL.

[Cap'n Fantastic]

--MY HALFTRACKS' FINEST HOUR-
3rd platoon arrives at the central VL, and, at first, appears to have stumbled into a hornet's nest of enemy infantry. No fewer than four elements make themselves known, firing from the light buildings or clumps of scattered trees sprinkled around that locale. But I have learned something from my previous attempts to use armored infantry. I have three 251/1s and a 251/10 grouped together (no one's isolated). They entered this fight already buttoned up and the closest enemy is 40m away. If I drop my infantry, they're going to suffer at least a handful of casualties. But if I wait a bit and clear some room by concentrating my MG fire, I can do some serious damage here without any real risk of losing a vehicle to assaulting troops.

And it works. One molotov comes close to hitting the 251/10. But within a few turns, my MG34s have eliminated three full rifle squads and a couple of elements I haven't yet identified without suffering a single casualty in return. Russian squads are first suppressed, then bolt and run. Or at least they try to. It's kind of ugly watching such a unit go from 12 healthy grunts to 0 in less than 60 seconds, as they're cut down in a hail of machine gun fire (having three Hanomags open up on a single element at point blank range really is something to see).

My panzergrenadiers dismount once the crossroads looks to be under control, and immediately run into the nearby structures, setting up a kill sack for anyone stupid enough to come back. Check out the shot of a last squad hauling ass. I don't blame them as dismounts are entering the building they just vacated and there's about 50 fanatical SS troops looking to squash 'em.

And with that, it's over.
:D

[Cap'n Fantastic]

--HEROES OF THE HOUR--
1st platoon - despite losing an entire squad in a matter of seconds, the survivors managed to take out no fewer than 34 Russians (27 by the infantry, 7 by the HTs).

3rd platoon's halftracks - the panzergrenadiers themselves didn't bag any Russkies. But the halftracks combined their firepower to wrack up 52 kills (I told you that intersection got bloody).


FAVOR
Calculations under Advance Operational Orders (experience will have to wait until later as I have a lot of guys to look at)

Kills
+1 for the entire kampfgruppe's kills (188)
+2 for the core force inflicting 100+ casualties
+3 for the kampfgruppe knocking out 3 mortars
+3 for the kampfgruppe knocking out 3 guns
+18 for the kampfgruppe knocking out 6 vehicles (2 KV-1s and 4 BA-64s)
+1 for the core force knocking out one of those vehicles (a BA-64)
-8 for the kampfgruppe losing two vehicles
-4 for those vehicles belonging to the core force (ouch)
-1 for the core force losing 20 men
So that's (28 x .4) - (13 x .4) = 11.2 - 5.2 or 6 Favor

Victory
The final result was 77%-50 = 27 x .4 = 10.8 or 11.

6 + 11 = 17 favor. I don't think that's bad at all. Losing the HTs and suffering 20 casualties from the core force hurt me. (I should add this is the BEST I've over done on the attack, even in a QB. Never managed 9-1 kill rate while attacking before. I imagine things would be a lot harder in an assault, where I was dealing with actual fortifications. Luck and lots of cover for my approach played a large part as well).

[Cap'n Fantastic]

This is out of order, but here's the death of my halftrack and Unt. Elm's squad of panzergrenadiers. I'm not sure, but I think it played living Hell with their experience rating :dead:

[RobO]

Version 0.92 will give you a good deal more Favor for this battle. I think that's deserved. I think you shoul recalculate your Favor and experience using 0.92 before for the next battle if you have'nt started it yet.

[Cap'n Fantastic]

Could you forward .92 to me? I have the excel tables, but not the rules as I couldn't DL them. I just sent you an email about it.

[Dazooz]

Nice job! A great read. Congratulations, I am eager to try this out too.

[RobO]

Be sure to use 0.93 to recalculate Favor from the first battle.

[RobO]

Cap'n

I'm still struggling a bit with the Favor distribution. Usign the formulas from this battle in 0.93 gives you 77 Favor. That's too much. You did have limited losses (in tune with the Advance mission) inflicted a fair amount of casualties and gained the majority of victory flags. So your mission was a succes, but not overwhelmingly so.

Halving the factors gives you 39 Favor. That's more like it. A bit more would be OK too.

Sorry for the rambling, I just need to think aloud. And I need a larger data base to make qualified decisions.