Section Leaders:
Fionn Kelly & Madmatt

 

 

The Sunken Lane

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German Commander - Fionn Kelly

NOTE: SPOILER INFORMATION. This After Action Report contains detailed information regarding units and  terrain disposition to a scenario that may be included in the release version of Combat Mission. If you wish to play this game Blind or partake in a Double Blind match then READ NO FURTHER!!!!

 

Graphics Note: While the events in this AAR were played on a very recent Beta Build of Combat Mission. The graphics, at that time, were not finalized. For Final Graphics please view the POTD Feature which runs daily here and various features on the CMHQ-Annex site.

 

Turn 15:

 

Thought Processes:

 

1.      Wittenberg’s platoon has caused enough casualties for now… I’m going to withdraw him about 10 metres deeper into the woods so as to prevent the tank from bringing direct fire to bear and I’ll keep him in position until my 120mm mortars hit the current Allied positions. I estimate that my mortar shells will begin landing in the second half of this turn so I’ll probably try to pull Wittenberg out at the beginning of the next turn.

 

2.      Bertram stays where he is until I know where the 2nd Allied reinforcing company is being committed.

 

3.      Duve and Sehmel continue under their current orders. One is running to the defense of my left flank while the other is waiting for the Allied attack on my right flank.

 

4.  Bil seems to be attacking straight along my extreme left flank so I’m going to    begin shifting machinegun teams and mortars leftwards to provide more cover of the wheat field on my extreme left.

 

Orders Phase:

Orders conform to the above thinking.

 

 

Action Phase:

 


As Wittenberg’s men retreat to get away from the tank’s fire they lose half a squad to enemy fire and one squad panics and fails to follow orders or return fire. This is disastrous since it means that next turn I either pull back with one and a half squads and leave the third squad to be annihilated OR I stay where I am and try to rescue the third squad at the risk of the entire platoon. On one positive note I will note that the artillery barrage has arrived and that it seems to be doing quite a bit of damage. One shell landed directly onto a concentration of several squads and definitely caused casualties and some of those squads to take cover and stop firing on me. I hope that the artillery strike has done a great deal of damage since I have a feeling that Wittenberg’s force is going to be badly mauled.

 

 


A British half-squad pushes forward across the wheat field to the little ridge nearest the bocage.  Bil is obviously using this half-squad as recon to determine how well-defended the bocage is in this sector. My HMG42s haven’t fired at the scouting half-squad but I think I’ll have them fire next turn. Anything I can do to scare him into slowing down will buy me invaluable time to re-deploy. I hope that this half-squad is killed so quickly that he gains little information as to how many of my units are firing at it. The less info he gets the more hesitant and slow his attack will be. If his company tries to attack the HMG42s across the wheat field there will be a slaughter such as hasn’t been seen since the Somme. A couple of HMG42s in mutually supporting positions emplaced so as to prevent any enemies from attacking from multiple directions can cut huge swathes in any attacker’s ranks.

 

 


Well, it looks like Bil hasn’t abandoned his attack on my right flank after all. Three tanks are proceeding in parade-ground formation for my extreme right flank. Behind them I can see a gaggle of infantry and HQ units. It looks like my ambushing half-squad a few minutes ago convinced him that he wasn’t going to be able to push through the middle of my position and so he has decided to attack elsewhere. This has also had the effect of stretching my line even further. I don’t think that 21 infantry can hold off two tanks and at least their own number of British infantry PLUS supporting MMGs and mortars.

 

 

It’s actually quite discouraging. Wherever I stand and fight I’m being swamped by overwhelming numbers of British troops. My men are killing or wounding between one and a half to two British troops for every casualty suffered but still the British are able to throw fresh forces in to overwhelm all my positions. Even those locations where the British infantry force is battered into numerical equality benefit from tank and MMG support. It is a sobering thought that on my extreme right flank I dispose 1 Platoon HQ, 2 squads at good strength and one panicked squad ( from a different platoon). Facing this we have an equal number of infantry, 3 tanks and 3 to 4 MMGs. Bil has more tanks heading for me than I have infantry squads or Panzerfausts. Even if I kill all his infantry and destroy a tank with every Panzerfaust I still have in action on this flank I physically don’t have enough Panzerfausts to stop him.

 

If he attacks I’ll do my best and try to kill his infantry and then, I suppose, I’ll have to just try to run away from his tanks and hope they don’t just hunt my men down and kill them. It’s not an enviable position.