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Section Leaders:
Riesberg American – Riesberg
American Commander - Jason
McGrody Turn
16: Orders:
As I said in my setup, once I’ve spotted the enemy the
objective is to wipe them out as fast as possible.
The four spotted units must be destroyed as fast as possible
before they get reinforced. On
the left, the two out of command squads are ordered to regroup with
their HQ. These guys have
done pretty good destroying a mortar and 88 for only two casualties. My
left flank is secure and ‘D’ Platoon is no longer need to back up
‘F’. Rather, they need
to rush over and support ‘G’ in case any more Germans show up.
The remaining Sherman on the left and the supporting MGs are in
no position to provide support so they are ordered forward.
The MGs are to move near the ‘G’ HQ.
Since I am still a huge coward, the Sherman will again only
creep forward about 75 meters. There are four
enemy units and I have eight that can fire on him – the four units of
Platoon ‘G’, a Sherman, two mortars, and my Company HQ.
A squad of Platoon ‘G’ and the mortar and HQ on the hill
targets the unit in town. Considering
the range, the most effective unit is likely to be the mortar (think,
treebursts). Although the
benefit of having the squad fire is that I have fire from two
directions. The
units in town are bunched so close together that it probably doesn’t
matter who I fire at. I
can see a big square with three guys, a small square with three guys,
and a small square with one guy. My
guesses are, the big square is a squad,
and one of the two small squares in an HQ.
The Platoon HQ and the other mortar (conveniently in place to
provide support without having to move) target the large square.
The nearest squad and the Sherman target the small three man
square. The last squad
targets the remaining enemy. The units on the right are to hold tight until the Sherman
arrives. Action:
Turns don’t get much better than this.
I took zero casualties as the Germans mostly cowered and died.
The only return fire I received was two bursts from what turned
out to be an MG42 in the town that has decided it has had enough by the
end of the turn. I identify another unit as a Panzerschreck team that
breaks and starts moving back into town.
The three-man small square is eliminated before I can identify
it, but it was probably an HQ, which leaves one poor German unit left
in front of the town. Watch
squad G-1. It was firing
at the three-man small square, but because of the proximity of the
larger unit it looks like he caused more casualties to it than the unit
he was firing at. When
I first started playing CM I thought 60mm mortars sucked.
It was this game that changed my mind.
I love the little guys now.
They have a really high rate of fire.
They can have two shells in the air before the first one lands!
This turn, one mortar fired eight shots and the other fired
eleven, causing a casualty to the MG42 form a treeburst.
Since
no other Germans appeared I guess it wasn’t really necessary to move
Platoon ‘D’, but here they are anyway.
On the right, the Sherman should be in position next turn. Because I am a coward, when
I planned the tanks movement path a few turns ago I decided the safest
place for it would be if I swung it behind the wood buildings rather
than send it down the road. It
actually has a better view to the two stone buildings near the road
from there as well as having the infantry in front.
It will be vulnerable to a Panzerschreck shot but I don’t know
where else to put it. Turn
17: Orders:
I’m surprised that so far the Germans have yet to reinforce
any of the units I have spotted so far.
I did notice two foxholes near the MG42.
I think it is a bug that I could spot them, but then again,
maybe they are empty. In any case, my Sherman on the left has nothing better to
shoot at so I target one of the foxholes.
Maybe there is something there or an enemy unit may move there.
The rest of my units that can target the fleeing/cowering
Germans. Action:
More dead Germans, no dead Americans.
The
Panzerschreck goes down meekly to
burst of MG fire from a Sherman.
The MG42 manages to get away without incurring any more
casualties. My Sherman
Area Fire managed to flush out a German unit which breaks and flees.
Platoon
‘F’ hasn’t regrouped yet, The MGs haven’t moved into position,
and the Sherman with MMG passenger isn’t in place.
It looks like next turn will be a turn to consolidate my
position. Turn
18: Orders:
This turn is a turn of maneuver.
Platoon ‘F’ has LOS to two of the stone buildings so as long
as he has units on the wall facing ‘F’ he can see me.
I don’t think he does as I think he is more worried about the
two platoons and a Sherman knocking on his door.
Platoon
‘F’ is ordered to rush forward to another copse of trees.
Now that Platoon ‘D’ is where it is, I leave them there so
they can assault the front corner houses.
The 105 FO targets the stone building in the middle at the back
of the town. He has a two
minute delay but since he is hiding his delay is more like four
minutes. Platoon ‘G’
is ordered to occupy the position previously held by the Germans in
front of the town. From
there they will rush the front houses, which I’m guessing are empty. There
is only one enemy unit in sight, the fleeing squad the tank sent
packing the previous turn. The
Sherman targets it directly. I
hope to get a few shots in before the squad moves out of LOS. If
all goes well, this turn should be uneventful. Action:
All the movement of my units goes off without a hitch.
The Sherman manages a shot before to the fleeing German squad
causing at least one casualty. Then
all goes quiet except for a few cries of ‘Go, go, go!’ and ‘Get
movin’!’ Forty
seconds into the turn a sound catches my attention, the ‘Pum’ of a
mortar shell landing near Platoon ‘D’.
My units quickly get a sound contact from the woods at the back
of town near my two hiding platoons.
I assume that this is the enemy mortar.
By
the end of the turn, my units have effectively encircled the town.
I am incredibly happy with how things are going.
I’ve suffered four casualties and a knocked out tank.
My opponent has suffered the loss of about thirty men, one 81mm
mortar, and one 88. Turn
19: Orders:
Next
turn should be the turn the final assault begins.
Platoon ‘F’ has just about regrouped and will be in position
to charge the stone building closest to them.
Likewise, Platoon ‘G’ should be ready charge the front row
of houses. The support MGs
should also be in position in case the houses are occupied, which I
highly doubt. The
FO is ordered to unhide to speed up the countdown. My Shermans still have large quantities of HE left so I give
all three area targets. The
one on the left targets the stone building between the two objectives.
The Sherman on the right targets the wooden objective.
I don’t actually plan on assaulting this area of town so I
really don’t care if there are any units there.
The Sherman in the rear of the town targets the stone building
objective with the big flag, There
is a cross in the building and I am convinced that the building houses
units. The range is 200m
which is at the extreme range for a schreck. Action:
The mortar sound continues firing at Platoon ‘D’.
I take one casualty and I guess I should consider myself
fortunate that it is only one. The MG42 reappears and lays down a stream of bullets at the
60mm mortar on the left. Two
men go down but since the mortar is down to four shells it doesn’t
affect its combat ability (what little of it is left). The
Shermans fire away with their 75mm shelling the wood building in the
corner to the ground. I
don’t think I caused any casualties, but the tankers didn’t come
along to be sightseers. The
big guns’ countdown is down to fifty seconds by the end of the turn;
guess when my assault is going to begin? Turn
20: Orders:
Nineteen minutes down and eleven to go and I haven’t even set
foot inside the lovely German village of Riesberg.
Now is the time my men have been waiting for patiently. Platoon
‘F’ is going to sit tight this turn and see what happens.
This platoon has pretty much done its job clearing out the left
side of the map. Platoons
‘D’ and ‘G’ are ordered to charge the buildings in the front
row of the town. While
I’m almost positive no one is in any of the houses I still have three
MGs and a Sherman in support just in case. At
the back of the town I decide to order Platoon ‘C’ to charge the
suspected mortar position. Platoon
‘B’ unhides in case any other Germans appear.
I order the MMG on the tank to disembark and move into the
house. I should have done
this last turn but it slipped my mind. Simple
orders, but they will have a big impact on the outcome of the scenario. Action:
The results of the turn were kind of a mixed bag. I
was correct in assuming that the first row of houses were empty.
The two platoons charge forward and a squad of Platoon ‘G’
takes two casualties from a German Heavy SMG squad that comes out of
hiding. Apparently, the
Germans had set up an ambush of an MG42 and two infantry squads.
With only one unit left to spring the ambush it doesn’t really
have much of an impact. Although
the enemy unit is a Veteran Heavy SMG squad, he doesn’t stand much of
a chance against two whole platoons.
I’m
not particularly pleased with what happened at the rear of the town.
Before the assault platoon files out of the house a German unit
appears looking like it is moving away from my units.
It quickly comes under fire and disappears as abruptly as it
appeared. What it was, I
have no clue. I don’t
think my men cared either. If
it’s a Kraut they’ll shoot at it. Since
the entire assault platoon is Regular, the platoon gets underway after
a twenty second delay. They
run down the stairs, across the road, and into the scattered trees.
All fine and dandy, but there is one problem. The HQ is way out in front
and that leads to a very unfortunate outcome. As the HQ exits the scattered trees, all four members of the
HQ are gunned down quickly by two German squads hiding in the woods.
I
didn’t realize why the HQ was so far out in front of the rest of the
platoon when I was playing this scenario initially.
After reviewing for this AAR I realized that the reason was
fairly simple. The HQ was
on the bottom floor and the rest of the platoon was on the top floor. All I would have had to do was give the HQ a pause and it
would have been bringing up the rear and out of harm’s way. Things
aren’t all bad for the now leaderless platoon. They only took one other casualty and are facing
only two squads (for now). The
platoon is either in or at the edge of the scattered trees.
Much better than ending the turn out in the open so they can get
shot up like the HQ. All I
have to do is cancel the movement orders and open up at the Germans at
50m. Plus, there is a
whole other platoon as backup. The
Sherman’s main gun is disabled this turn by something I can only term
an Act of God (and I’m an atheist!).
Having watched this turn over and over again from both the
German and American perspectives I can only assume the Sherman was
damaged by the most powerful sniper’s bullet in history.
The German unit in the stone building that is identified as
Crew? Is the sniper and if you watch closely the damaging of the
Sherman coincides with the sniper firing. Overall,
I’m happy. Things could
be a whole lot worse.
Movie Files American
Turn 16
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