Out of The Mist

[SoccerDJ]

Out of The Mist​

Scenario Designed by: D. Bevard​

Scenario Information and Background:



“Guines, 10km S of Calais, France: [Best played as Allied] After a much-needed day of rest, Guderian's Panzergruppe was on the move again by 22 May. Now his instructions were to swing northward and secure the French Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais. This would prove to be no easy task as the British defenders had received orders to hold at all cost. To the resourceful General Nicholson, commanding the defenses at Calais, this meant sending the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment with infantry and anti-tank support from the 2nd Coldstream Guards on a brief raid to meet the enemy before they found themselves trapped. On the morning of the 23rd near Guines south of Calais, the leading elements of the 10th Panzer Division were just beginning their morning routine when the British tank regiment struck out of the mist. With most of the division scattered along the roads to Abbeville the German tankers and recon troops scrambled to man their weapons. For the British, the ensuing engagement was one of the few chances to meet the Germans on their own terms.”



Setup:

I played this scenario as the Allies against the computer. All optional rules were on and there was no advantage to either side.



Beginning Basic Plan:



As I first look at the map I see that my objective is to take the town of Guines that the Germans currently hold. I decide on a simple plan that will split my forces in two parts. I will take Captain Birch’s company of Cruiser Tanks to the West (right) along a dirt road and deploy them in a little village called Hames. Then I will order them up the paved road and attack the West side of the town of Guines. I will later follow these tanks with infantry that should be arriving on the first turn. While I do this I plan to bring the rest of my forces, which are on the map, straight up the Calais-St. Omer RR and attack the town of Guines head on. I will leave my artillery and the lone anti tank gun where they are on my Eastern (left) flank. This will be my only protection on my Eastern flank until my reinforcements show up. I will take the tanks that should show up on turns 1 and 3 and move along the dirt road on my left flank to the little village of Le Marais. Then I will order these tanks to attack and take Guines Station, which is located on the Eastern side of the town of Guines. This is my basic battle plan as I see it now before I see any enemy troops. I must remember to always be flexible!!

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 1:


Allies- Good I received my reinforcements!! I slowly move Captain McAllister’s tanks up Calais-St. Omer RR and get fired upon by a small German anti-tank gun. I return fire and neither side takes a loss. I finish moving the tanks and infantry up the RR. I then move Captain Birch’s tanks down the dirt road toward Hames and encounter no resistance. I then bring on my reinforcements. I send the infantry in their trucks to follow Captain Birch. Then I send Captain Pocock out along my left flank towards Le Marais. I then target my artillery on and around where I encountered the anti-tank gun.


Axis- The anti-tank gun fires at my lead tank twice and nothing happens. I also see an armored car in the town.

Turn 2:


Allies- My artillery eliminates the anti-tank gun. So I proceed carefully forward, down the RR line in to the town with Captain McAllister’s tanks. As I get close to the town, my three lead tanks are ambushed by three enemy recon vehicles. I return fire causing two of the three to retreat and the third takes a loss of one strength point (SP). I bring up my infantry and off load them from their transports a little ways behind the tanks. Next I move Captain Birch’s tanks out on my right flank into the village of Hames. I encounter no resistance so I move a little farther down the road and halt. I move the infantry in their trucks up behind Captain Birch’s tanks but get them back out of sight. Then I move Captain Pococks tank out on my left flank into the village of Le Marais. I find no enemies so I proceed down the road a little more and pull up at a rise in the terrain. Then I sight my artillery on the town were I was ambushed.



Axis- Their artillery hits one of my infantry units, causing him to retreat and lose one SP. Infantry and a small tank shoot at my tanks that have entered Guines. A recon vehicle attacks Captain Birch’s tanks and one of the tanks takes a SP loss of 2. I also see a couple empty trucks leaving town.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 3:


Allies- My artillery does no damage. I destroyed the recon vehicle that attacked Captain Birch’s tanks and move up the road to then be fired upon by an armored car. I continue to keep the infantry back out of sight but will unload them soon so they can help take the town. Captain Pococks tanks move slowly up the road and encounter no Germans. They provide supporting fire into Guines for Captain McAllister’s tanks that have run into trouble. As they move into the outskirts of town they are attack by two armored cars. One of my tanks is destroyed and three of the Kraut’s armored cars retreat. I move infantry up closer to the town and infantry and a recon vehicle in the town fires on them. I sight my artillery on the town.



Axis- All of the German artillery misses. Their armored cars fire at my tanks and Captain Birch and McAllister’s tanks take disruptions. There is a lot of infantry movement in the town. Two infantry platoons move into the fields outside of Guines.

Turn 4:



Allies- Again my artillery does no damage. As I move up Captain Birch’s tanks I am fired upon by an anti-tank gun, which destroys my lead tank. I lose another tank in a brief firefight with an armored car, which is soon silenced by another of Captain Birch’s tanks. I decide its time to bring in the infantry. So I unload the infantry that is supporting Captain Birch’s tanks as close to the front as I can. I move Captain McAllister’s tanks into town and run into a mortar team. But I manage to wipe out two armored cars and take an objective point (75VP). Then I bring up Captain Pocock’s tanks that destroy an armored car that was hassling Captain McAllister’s tanks. I also leave one of his tanks on the high ground to keep watch on the road coming in to town. I then sight my artillery on the mortar team and anti-tank gun.


Axis- No shelling by the Germans this time, they must be running out of ammo. A tank that is coming up the road fires on Captain Pocock’s look out tank. One of Captain McAllister’s tanks gets driven back by an armored car and infantry platoon. Six infantry platoon show up out of nowhere and take some potshots at my infantry. I need to get a foothold in the town on my right flank before the infantry can dig in. Captain Birch’s tanks take fire from the anti-tank gun but no damage is done.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 5:



Allies- No damage done by my artillery. I take two of Captain Pocock’s tanks to take care of the enemy tank that showed up along the road on my left flank. I continue my assault of the town with Captain McAllister’s tanks but do little damage to the infantry. I do disrupt a mortar team and destroy an armored car. Captain Birch’s tanks enter town from the right flank and destroy an anti-tank gun and an armored car. The infantry is still giving me problems and have formed pockets of resistance. I sight my artillery on and around the enemy infantry. Hopefully this will disrupt them and drive them from the town.



Axis- Again no artillery from the enemy. The tank on my left flank takes a shot, that does no damage, and then it moves forward. The Germany infantry takes some shots at my infantry and disrupt a few. An engineer platoon comes out of nowhere and kills one of my tanks. I also spot a HQ unit. This will be top priority next turn.


Turn 6:



Allies- My artillery hits a few targets but only cause one disruption. I take Captain Pocock's to tanks on my extreme left flank and attack the lone German tank. It turns out to be three tanks instead of one. I might be in some trouble on my flank. I’ll take one more tank and send it to support the first two. Captain McAllister’s tanks don’t do any damage to the infantry in town but my infantry platoon and anti-tank manage to take out the enemy HQ. Captain Birch’s tanks do no damage to the infantry but my infantry gets shots off at the Germans. I sight my artillery on the infantry who still occupy the town.



Axis- Enemy artillery does no damage. Captain Pocock and McAllister both lose a tank. I also lose an anti-tank gun and my foothold in the town. Then out of nowhere four tanks show up above the town. I’m in trouble. They don’t get any shots of but they are in the rear of some of my tanks.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 7:



Allies- My artillery mostly misses but causes a few disruptions. Captain Pocock’s tanks destroy two enemy tanks and an armor vehicle. Captain McAllister’s tank’s cause no damage and lose one tank. His infantry is still pinned down by enemy fire. Captain Birch’s move around the outside of the town to attack the enemy that shows up at the top of the town. His infantry slowly moves forward. Rats! All my artillery is out of ammo.



Axis- The enemy’s artillery does nothing. But their infantry still has the high ground and is laying heavy fire on my infantry. I saw a tank trying to break my lines and get in my rear so I’ll have to take care of that this coming turn.

Turn 8:



Allies- Captain Pocock’s tanks find another tank that is trying to slip through my lines and stall it. Captain McAllister’s tanks take care of the two remaining tanks in the town, but there are still two platoons of engineers in the town. His infantry is still pinned in a bad position. Captain Birch’s tanks continue to move towards the town. His infantry wipes out a platoon of enemy infantry and gains a little ground. All my artillery is resupplyed so I target the enemy infantry in the village.



Axis- Enemy artillery is off target. The enemy infantry disrupts a couple of Captain McAllister’s infantry. A German tanks also destroys one of Captain Pococks tanks, then moves a little farther into my rear area.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 9:



Allies- My artillery hits the enemy a couple of times and causes a few loses and disruptions. My anti-tank gun on my right flank takes care of a smaller tank. I was unaware the tank was there. I send the rest of Captain Pocock’s tanks to attack what I think is the last German tank. They cause a loss of one and disrupt. Finally Captain McAllister’s infantry makes a little progress towards the town, but there are still about 4 infantry platoons and two engineer platoons in the town. I again sight my artillery on the infantry in hopes of driving them from the town.



Axis- No enemy artillery fire this turn. The last German tank disrupts one of Captain Pocock’s tanks and moves into better cover. Captain McAllister’s machine gun platoon is destroyed but other than that the enemy does no other damage.

Turn 10:



Allies- Good, my artillery paid off big this time. It disrupted a couple of the enemy and eliminated a commander that was with a machine gun platoon on the high ground. Finally Captain Pocock’s tanks, along with the help of one of Captain McAllister’s tanks, destroy what I hope is the last enemy tank. I still can’t dislodge the enemy engineering platoon and lose what was left of an infantry platoon in the process. Captain McAllister and Birch’s infantry eliminate an enemy platoon and enter the town. I sight my artillery on the engineer platoon in hopes of disrupting it.



Axis- No artillery yet again from the enemy. They attack my infantry but do little damage. The enemy machine gun platoon disrupts one of my infantry platoons and causes losses in another. I need to deal with that platoon quickly. It’s almost near the end of the game and I need to take those objective points.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Turn 11:



Allies- My artillery does no good. I decide to try to take the two objectives in the center of town. I send what forces that can get there to attack. I manage to make one engineer platoon retreat. I reinforce that objective point and hope next turn to be able to take that other. I concentrate my artillery on the two engineering platoons to hopefully do some damage and help me take them out.



Axis- Noartillery fire. The two engineering platoons do manage to kill two of my weak tanks. They don’t retake the objective that I took but they reinforced the one I’m planning on taking this next turn. They also disappear out of my LOS.

Turn 12:



Allies- Since the engineer platoons disappear out of my LOS my artillery falls all over the place doing no damage to the enemy. I mange to take the second objective point in the town of Guines and am able to reinforce it. I also destroy an enemy infantry platoon. Now it’s all up to how the enemy reacts.



Axis- Their artillery finally fires causing one of my tanks to retreat. However they are unable to take back any of the objectives but still retain pocession of the objective on the right hand side of the town.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Final Score:



Allied Minor Victory- 216 (see attachment)



Final Analysis:

I feel that I started the scenario off with a good plan but did not execute it as well has I had hoped for. I rushed into the battle before finding out what the enemy has in place. And then when I thought I had the enemy on the run I made some dumb mistakes. The enemy brought in reinforcements and almost surprised me in the rear of some of my tanks. I also should have waited to go into the town until after all my forces were in place. I didn’t attack as a group as much as I had wanted to. I also was in too much of a hurry when moving my tanks. I made the mistake of moving tanks that didn’t have enough AP to shoot in to the enemies LOS. Another mistake that I made was hastily throwing my forces into situations before they had developed all the way. I think the lessons that I can take away from this game are:

Recon the enemy

Coordinate my attacks better

Don’t become careless when I have the enemy on the run

Don’t be in a hurry to move with my last AP

I need to practice more of the shoot and scoot technique



This was my very first AAR, ever, so any feedback or comments are welcomed. Don’t be nice and lie, I can take constructive criticism and use it in the future. Thanks for any help you can give to a newbie like me.



DJ Pinkham

 

[Sir Richard]

General SockerDJ.

I wish to commend you on your most recent victory. Though, as a fellow officer, I hope you do not mind if I pass along my own observations as to the engagement.

I would like to offer that there is a disadvantage to having split up your forces into three groups to attack the town on multiple fronts. This type of strategy has the unfortunately effect of allowing all of the enemy forces to fire upon your own, and, by spreading out your numbers, makes it difficult for you to obtain superiority on any particular part of the battle.

Whereas, if you had focused your forces on a particular approach you would have still been able to bring the full of our firepower upon the enemy, but the enemy would only be able to counter with those forces that happen to be positioned in the way of your attack.

In addition, it is my habit to bring the artillery up nearer the fight, where it may fire more accurately. I typically take advantage of any report that my artillery is out of ammo to load it onto a transport and move it closer to the front, then dismount it on the next turn. The loss is typically small, and the advantage of being nearer the combat worthy of the slight cost.

I hope that your next adventure onto the battlefield ends, again, with you standing victorious on the field. And I hope that you may find something of merit in these comments. Yet, heed well the words of any who may speak against them. I more strongly wish your survival upon ignoring my advice, than a defeat that follows upon following them.

Sir Richard
RAF Headquarters.

 

[SoccerDJ]

Sir Richard,
Thank you for your observations and adivce. My resoning for spliting up my forces was I was afraid of clogging up the road with all those troops and not being able to move as freely as I wanted. I see you point in attack a certain point with everthing. I will remeber this in future battles:cheeky:
You right, I should have brought up my artillery But stupid my wasn't thinking and by the time I realized my mistake it was to late. But I think thats a good idea to load it when its out of ammo. I will also take this peace of advice to heart. Thank you for your comments and adivce.

SoccerDJ

 

[Sir Richard]

I also wish to thank you for posting your AAR and hope that you will do another. I was getting a little lonely here.

 

[ER_Chaser]

And may I butt in to thank both of you?

It is very interesting to read your AARs + this kind of discussion it really makes the forum like an "Officer's club" .... great work, gentlemen!

 

[SoccerDJ]

And may I butt in to thank both of you?

It is very interesting to read your AARs + this kind of discussion it really makes the forum like an "Officer's club" .... great work, gentlemen!

So.....when are we going to see one from you