L'Emmerdeur v Hank2

[L'Emmerdeur]

Hank2 is my new opponent so I have started the scenario again. End of 1st turn attached. I got most of what I wanted to achieve done but the turn ended earlier than I thought so I didn't get to move the ships away from the coast and some odds and sods. But, most of my units needed to be dug in were so that's OK.

Sword beach - reasonably happy with this area, seem to have Pegasus Bridge secure for now and making good progress down to Periers Ridge. I think I have enbough room to move reinforcements when they come next turn. On games against the AI I always find this a difficult area to start with as I seem to get bogged down fighting in fixed positions around Benouville. Not sure about the area east of Pegasus Bridge, whether it will hold probably depends on how much stuff he throws at it. Hopefully some of those turn 2 reinforcements can come here.

Juno/Gold - looks OK, front lines forming OK and in reasonable strength. Wasn't able to destroy a couple of rogue German units but when reinforcements come I think they will not be around for long.

Omaha - reasonably happy with progress here. Kind of have a pincer move developing so I can sweep around south east and move west to help the units moving directly off of the beaches right into the hedgero.

Utah - lots of movement up here. Seem to have secured the southern area OK and will need to add some strength there next turn for the attack on Carentan. The Merderet River is almost contained.

Generally speaking I'm reasonably happy given I do not really know what Im doing:D . I think though that maybe I have left everything a bit too spread out.

[Heinz57]

Your situation is looking good. If it was possible, securing the bridges near Carentan would have been very helpful. Odds are the Germans will blow these bridges at the very first opportunity. Effect is minimal, it just slows you down, once you have engineers available - fix them and everything will be back in order.

Once you have forces available to do so, it might be good for you to bring the 502nd Airborne Regiment to link up with the rest of the division for optimum performance. As it is, it is not bad and initially your forces are limited so you had to make do with what was available. So no worry there.

Good advances in Omaha considering it is the toughest. Watch for your navy - it looks like you targeted some artillery that fired back and got a battleshiop or two.

You have a good perimeter for Pegasus - overstacked but shouldn't be an issue. What is important there is the position of 6th Airborne's HQ (85, 34). If it is destroyed, 6th Airborne loses a lot of proficiency. Always protect your HQ's unless you are in a case of last resort...which this isn't.

Overstacked in 81, 34 - might invite an attack by the Axis...but that's the only significant target of opportunity you've presented him, and he'd be pretty daring to go for it...unless he has some expendable units.

A lot of units are dug in, which is good. The only thing to watch here is to set them to ignore losses. This part resides in the area of attention to detail and gradually becomes natural in that every time you even touch a unit not engaged in an attack, set it to ignore losses - unless there is a reason not to.

Overall, good job - good advances and organized.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Next turn attached.

Not so sure about my positions. Hank2 blew a few bridges whcih has created some pockets. Hopefully Ill get engineers in next turn to fix them so I can start moving. Hank2 seems to be sending a lot of forces to the Pegasus Bridge area and North Caen. I need reinforcements soon to shore up the lines and hopefully start flanking the axis and clear some way through the the reinforcements to come.

Certainly this is playing out very different from when I have played Elmer (and I have not beaten the AI yet).

And I forgot to check the loss settings for all units. There is sooooo much to remember!

[L'Emmerdeur]

Next turn. Not really happy with my position or moves here but I hope the reinforcements that are about to come will help me push the axis back. Just need some space to move and some bloody good engineers to repair bridges.

[Heinz57]

Looks like you are catching on quite nicely - looks good! Some notes -

You are probably overcommitting on the eastern flank of Sword Beach - unless you want to wrap around the river to create an interesting situation on his far right flank...could give you good access to the Caen area. If that's your plan, it is a good one.

Your screening of the entire length of the front is excellent.

With artillery, I note a lot of it is in mobile status. You can balance your artillery deployments by having a few dug in, a few providing tactical support in case they are able to advance later in a turn, and have a few providing direct support. Balanced across the front, you are assured that if the enemy attacks, you will have something providing them support - while you also optimize your offensive for multiple contingencies/functions. You can adjust the balance - two dug in for one providing direct support, or however - but best to be prepared.

If you cannot get engineers into the hexes to fix the bridges you want, the next option is to screen that area, perhaps with an extra couple units - and route around the resistance using the bridges you do have and force him to respond.

Fortified positions that are surrounded don't last very long - and that is what the objective of maneuver warfare engages to create - situations that force your opponent to abandon favorable positions, or risk those units not being able to contribute to the real fight - when and where you choose to press it.

[L'Emmerdeur]

End of my turn 4 attached. Still not quite sure how well I am going. His blowing of bridges is forcing some bottlenecks and hindering my ability to use mobility. I think I had a good breakthrough just south of the Merderet River which appears to leave the road open for a push to cut off the Peninsula. This is how I am seeing things at the moment. Took Heinz' advice and dug in or made tactical reserve a lot more artillery. Also learned the vital lesson of not feeling the need to attack everything but to choose where I attack so I can hopefully make breakthroughs.

UTAH area

Opponent seems to have invested a lot of forces in creating the front lines in the north and west areas. Got a break out happening east of St Saveur. Hope is to push reinforcements through that gap to Le haye and cut of the peninsula and to push reinforcements south east towards Carentan. For Carentan, plan is to have a pincer movement from west and east to try and force a reaction of his forces holding Carentan (can't see them yet but I think they are there) to enable the buildup of my forces around the Taute and Douve rivers to repair bridges and pur across.

The forces up north around Montebourg and Quineville for the moment will just hold his forces in a static position but will try and attrite them slowly. If I can fix those forces here, hopefully manouvring around the southern sector will allow me to cut them off and render them useless.

OMAHA area

Plan to break through at Isigny and swing towards Carentan and also swing some forces east to outflank his forces that are forming a fixed line in front of the US forces.

GOLD area

Largely the plan here is to tie his forces up so they cannot be used for the defence of the Caen area or against the US forces when (if?) they break out of the OMAHA area. Already he seems to have committed strong armour forces to static defence lines so it might be hard for him to use their mobility without creating gaps and allowing my forces through to outflank. I just need to hold a bit longer for the reinforcements to arrive. A bit worried about the line at various points but cross fingers.

JUNO area

Tactics here are similar to GOLD - ie hold his strong forces in a static line preventing their mobile use and their deployment around CAEN.

SWORD area

A lot of forces are building up in front of Caen. His are basically forming a static line which might make it hard for him to redeploy elsewhere. Plan is to break through east of Pegasus Bridge, build another bridge over the Orne and move south to attach Caen from the east. Not sure if it will work but it might make him have to pull units off of the line and if he does that, I can attack with my forces in front of Caen.

[Dicke Bertha]

You're still having most artillery in mobile - yet you have had time (?) to move the navy far off shore (why?) so that's double lack of support elements. The enemy will be able to try your defences or only harass and tire your troops for free. I notice a lot of your troops are in red - move your HQs up, normally around to where your artillery is, the HQs increase the supply to adjacent troops.

Interesting/promising situation developing east and north of Caen.

Beware, some battalions of 12 SS can cut through between Caen and Bayeux - a few grenadiers on the beaches is all it takes to really mess up your supply.

Interesting game, still very much in the balance!

[L'Emmerdeur]

My turn 5 attached.

So far he has done well at limiting my ability to manouvre but I had a reasonable few rounds of combat. In particular, got some units right into Caen itself but I think they may be quickly overcome, still the shock might cause him to transfer some units east to defend Caen. If he does that, I can try and break through where he pulls his units from.

Isigny finally fell so I hope to be able to exploit that and get some units towards Carentan and force him to move his units guarding the broken bridges that have caused me to stall.

All in all, I think it is OK and at least I am learning stuff along the way. If I was starting now I would do things differently.

Does anyone think my opponent might have committed too early and made his lines to far north?

[Heinz57]

Your situation is looking better - organized, more artillery dug in (good job, might want more though). His 12th SS, Lehr and 21st Panzer are all committed West of Cain and you have a a good situation developing there where you managed breakthrough - capitalize upon that to the fullest extent possible. If it means risking an engineer to advance along the river even with the potential of suffering a disengagement attack, it's worth doing - even it it takes a few engineers to do it. You want to exert as much influence and pressure on the base of your breakthrough.

Basically, every hex in which you can place a unit, especially on the base and flanks of a penetration, increases the durability of your breakthrough, increases your opponent's movement costs for lateral moves, etc.

Across from Utah - the St. Saveur - Valognes Perimeter... to cite Clausewitz, "Reinforce Success" -- shift forces away from the bottle neck northwards, where it looks like you're creating a good penetration. Continue to screen the current perimeter and probably keep a good 3-4 battalion reserve...as he starts shifting forces to respond to yours, use that reserve to hit his week spots. And if he doesn't respond to your shift of force, so much the better!

It takes several games but gradually you start to get a feel for what you are likely to accomplish and not likely to accomplish with a set of forces in a given time frame. You're doing good!

[Dicke Bertha]

L'emmerdeur, I agree it is looking rather good, but you're maybe behind schedule. I don't think your opponent is sweating too much, but there are sections where you are well set-up and he is in a bad situation. And many artillery units are still not dug-in - is the enemy not counterattacking at all, is that why you play it coolly?

One advice at this point would be to decide what your ultimate objectives are, and not let the enemy decide where you can advance...

[L'Emmerdeur]

but you're maybe behind schedule. I don't think your opponent is sweating too much, but there are sections where you are well set-up and he is in a bad situation. And many artillery units are still not dug-in - is the enemy not counterattacking at all, is that why you play it coolly?



Dicke, I agree, I thought I would be much further advanced at this point (at least compared with playing this scenario against Elmer). I really struggled early on because he destroyed a lot of bridges and it has taken ages to get around that problem, also he has set lines of defence very close and limited my ability to manouvre.

It has taken me a while to get the message about digging in artillery:rolleyes:

I am surprised he has not counter attacked as much as I expected but I don't know why that is - does he have reserves waiting or is he having problems of his own?

Anyway, as this is the first time I have ever wargamed, Im having a blast. The good thing is I can say that if I were to start the scenario from the beginning, I would do a lot of things differently.

[Dicke Bertha]

Dicke, I agree, I thought I would be much further advanced at this point (at least compared with playing this scenario against Elmer). I really struggled early on because he destroyed a lot of bridges and it has taken ages to get around that problem, also he has set lines of defence very close and limited my ability to manouvre.

It has taken me a while to get the message about digging in artillery:rolleyes:

I am surprised he has not counter attacked as much as I expected but I don't know why that is - does he have reserves waiting or is he having problems of his own?

Anyway, as this is the first time I have ever wargamed, Im having a blast. The good thing is I can say that if I were to start the scenario from the beginning, I would do a lot of things differently.

All that you say sounds pretty sound and we've all been there before! This one is still to be won, but you will have to stay off women and beer for one week! Keep following your marrow feeling and post here for harsh replies and you'll soon top the ladder! ;)

[L'Emmerdeur]

Turn 6 atached. Starting to make some ground against Caen and hopefully some movement up north to flank his units or at least force him to respond.

[Heinz57]

Your situation near Caen looks pretty good, but he has enough armor in the area to slow you down should you engage to win through combat. Continue working your breakthrough as much as you can with primary concentration upon wrapping around and extending his flanks. Build a line of penetration to Vimont - wrapping it toward "the Ridge".

South of Omaha, you'll simply need to keep pounding away - and whenever a portion of his line gives away, concentrate on using movement to take the hex, dig in with a unit, and see if you can get another unit or two into the hex beyond...etc. Leap frog...

On the Utah section, reinforce to the north - what you have there could easily get bogged down by his shifting just a few units.

You are doing better with getting your units dug in - but you can still use a greater portion of your artillery either dug-in or in tactical support.

How many combat rounds are you averaging per turn now?

[L'Emmerdeur]

I am starting to get 3 to 4 rounds now (since the last turn or so). Bascially I was getting only about 2 in turns 2 to 4 but have been playing Elmer in the same scenario and trying out things and using the attack planner to work out timing and that has helped a lot. The artillery that is still not dug in is primarily due to the turn ending or me just having trouble keeping tabs on all of the units.

At this stage, I think my opponent will win because I think I will run out of turns. Basically I did not do enough in turns 1 to 4. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and at least I have learnt a lots. I am playing a game against Elmer and I am up to Turn 9 and am about to take St Lo, most of Caen is in the bag, Carentan is taken and the peninsula is almost cut off.

If I was to start again now against Hank, I would do a lot of things differently - but I guess that is what the workshop is about. I also suspect he is not a wargaming virgin like me:D

[L'Emmerdeur]

Turn 7.

I did not think I played this turn very well and made a stupid mistake at Carentan isolating some bridging engineers. They probably will not survive the next turn but I think he has withdrawn lots of units from around Carentan and I should be able to break through next turn. Getting a breakthrough in the bocage and a hook up with forces hopefully taking Carentan should be possible.

Made some more ground towards Vimont. Trying to stretch his lines as much as possible whilst making sure mine remain solid. In this way, I hope to have him pulling units of his lines to try and patch holes or anticipate where I might breakthrough. At the moment, plan is to sweep down around Vimont and outflank Caen. If he pulls units from Caen to deal with the threat, I will shift the emphasis back to Caen. Either way, I should be able to achieve something down there (famous last words).

Up north, not sure where is the best emphasis of attack. Any ideas? Should I aim for Cherbourg or aim to cut off the peninsula. Either way, his lines are thinning as he pulls units to make defensive positions further inland and to reinforce further east.

Man the learning curve is steep. I really feel I have let him bog me down and that i should have advanced far quicker than I have.

[Heinz57]

A quick test...

[Heinz57]

Having serious problems with my computer....probably too late to respond to your turn, but -

Reinforce your forces in the north driving toward Cherbourg as I mentioned 2-3 turns ago and you would already be in Cherbourg. You have a number of engineers not fixing the broken bridges South of Omaha Beach. Use your big armor units to try getting automatic overruns on the 1-1's and concentrate on movement. Continue as you are near Caen, watch for overexposure.

Generally, it looks like you are still trying to go through the enemy instead of around him and exploiting holes in his lines. You make comparatively few VP's for generating enemy losses, securing objectives is what earns the primary victory points. Anything that gets one unit one hex closer and/or facilitates getting another unit one hex even closer to the objectives is what will make or break your game in the early stages.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Here is my turn 10 - missed a couple in this thread. We are taking turns a lot quicker now basically because of some email problems that were causing delays in turns being received etc. That is now fixed so we should finish the game in the next week or so.

Ive taken Carentan. looks like Cherbourg will fall in the next turn or so. He does not seem to really have much left on the Cotentin. I really want to get to St Lo but I do not think I will be able to do it before the game ends. Trying to move around and flank his forces in Caen but Ive committed a number of mistakes in the whole east section resulting in too much of my forces being stuck in lines against his forces.

It looks to me like he will win because I will run out of time. Basically he played well in the early turns to prevent me being able to manouvre.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Our game is over, Hank won. We've posted under the observations thread in the main section.