Forums

Hello gents and welcome to the front lines.

I've always enjoyed reading AAR/DAR's, and as the CMx2 engine looks so lovely i'd thought i'd give it a go. I must stress at the beginning that i'm no tactical genius and expect to make plenty of mistakes along the way but i'm hoping it will still be fun for you to watch and see how the brain of a newb works! :-P

I will try to explain my reasoning for any choices i make, be they right or wrong, i just ask that no-one give me any clues as to what Raz is up to as i dont want to spoil the fun and surprise.

Intel on the past

Well firstly i'm not exactly a newb to CM having nearly racked up 100 games with the CMx1 engine, but i am a very big newb with the CMx2 engine having completed only 3 games too date, one against my oppo for this game raz-atoth. It feels quite a different beast so far and this is only my second QB and i have to say i'm finding the purchase screen a little bit of a beast to navigate. I'm sure though that once you get used to it it is a very powerful tool for purchasing units....but for this game i'm gonna try to keep it simple.

In our first game i was Axis and Raz was Allies (ofc), and i had to cope with a damn great hill in my startup zone that gave most of Raz's units clear lines of fire on my deployment zones. In the end my brave Panzer Grenadiers took a small village with the aid of a single platoon of Stugs but couldn't hold on, eventually being destroyed to a man by waves of Shermies and arty with inf in support. This also showed me that there is no global moral system in CMx2 as i had to surrender the game even though i had zero men on the map!!!

The main event

For this game we decided to use the preview feature so we can try to pick whats best for the game and make things a little fairer. The only house rule we are using is a No Tigers rule to keep things a little balanced and no deployment zone barrages on the first turn.

First thoughts

OK so here is the map, and my first thought was "oh god not another hill!" but this is Italy after all so i shall have to get used to climbing up and down these things. Actually it's not just a hill but a ridge line with a pass in the centre, a large hill on my centre right with a forest on my right flank.



My deployment zone is a large open area with clear lines of sight all the way to the ridge line, its a dawn scenario which i'm assuming will decrease the distance i can see. I have no idea if the CMx2 engine models changes in daylight but if it does then the battle is 45mins long so i guess that all this open area will become a killing zone as sight lines increase with daylight!





The victory zones are fairly well spread out with there being 5 in total (3 along the ridge itself, one in the forest and another at a road junction on the far side of the ridge). The easiest for me to reach i guess will the the Northern Ridge and Mountain Pass VZ's, after that i guess things will get 'sticky'!



I'm guessing that Raz's deployment zone is the far corner like mine, if so then he is right on top of the Road Junction VZ and well within sprinting distance of Hill 1234. The VZ in the forest, the Ruins, is a short distance from Hill 1234 and i doubt i'd get there before his tropps could.



I'm not sure what the name of this QB map is but i'm gonna call it The Ridge Of Doom as i have a feeling there's gonna be tears before bedtime!

The Troops and basic plan

Well i always find if i over think something i get in a right ol' mess so i'm gonna try to keep this simple for now. With all the open ground on my left and centre i fancy i'll use tanks to cease the Northern Ridge fast then wait for infantry to catch up and hold the VZ's. Then after that i'll try to find Raz's main force and push forwards towards Hill 1234 and the Mountain Pass.

This is a a 2k5 point game which means i wont have much to play with i dont think. First look at what i can purchase doesnt seem to give me much at all. I want tanks, as many as i can get really as in CMx1 the Shermans always seemed very fragile and prone to explosion so i guess they are much the same in CMx2, the one good thing is that i dont think at this point in the war Axis inf have the dreaded Fausts and Shreks that always tear me apart in Normandy!!! I also want infantry to hold the VZ's and if needed fight through the forest as my tanks will be no go in there. Plus i want some sort of arty support, i'm always unsure just how much arty i should take as its normally quite pricey.

In the end i picked an understrength Coy of Shermans with two Coy of Rangers in support with the assistance of three 81mm mortars as arty support, and as i've never tried them and they were quite cheap some TRP's just for fun! I cant show how i deployed them yet as thats to be done in my next turn.

Well my fingers hurt after all this typing, hope this proves an interesting and fun battle, if you can think of anything that i can do to improve this DAR just say as it's being done for your entertainment as well as mine!

TTFN

Love AAR's - thanks for this.

Deployment and first turns

Well this was a turn of surprises and shocks, nothing too bad really just me showing my greeness with CMx2 actually! :whis:

Firstly now that i actually have some units on the map i see that i've totally underestimated the size of this map. I dont think i'll be reaching the Northern Ridge for at least a few turns yet!!

Secondly it seems that each of my two Ranger Coy's has two 60mm mortar sections in support, this is a welcome surprise as i was starting to think one unit of 81mm wasn't gonna be enough.....probably still wont but every little helps eh!

I decide to split my advance into a sort of staggered line, to the north i deployed the full strength Sherman platoon with one Ranger Coy to hold the Northern Ridge VZ. In the middle i have the Tank Battalion HQ's section which is another three Shermans, and immediatly to their right i have the second Ranger Coy to provide flank security.



Orders for the first turn were simple, Advance lads, the northern group has a general advance order straight towards to ridge, the first tank platoon has quick orders so that they can arrive that little bit faster and have a look around before the rest of the group arrives.



The Tank Batt HQ moves forwards to a small group of rocks where they can hopefully see and keep overwatch on the exit from the Moutain Pass and Hill 1234.



And finally the second Ranger Coy starts the long walk towards the edge of the forest and Hill 1234, again one platoon streaches ahead of the main body to provide some scouting and make less of a target for arty.



In CMx1 you could load certain sized units onto the backs of tanks but so far i've not been able to work out if thats still possible in CMx2....never mind walking keeps you fit so i'm told!

TTFN

It's now 6 minutes into the battle and things are going to plan, if slower than i originally thought they would, theres still no sign of the enemy yet.....nothing visual or sound contacts.



The the Rangers have secured the Northern Ridge and one platoon has taken up position right on the very edge of the ridge, i'm hoping this will give me line of sight to any enemy units trying to sneak around my left flank......nothing in sight yet! The climb up the hill has left them in a tired state so i'll have to hope they recover quickly before we meet any contacts. The second platoon, with a couple of the Shermans on overwatch, have started to advance towards the Mountain Pass.



To the south things are equally as quiet, the leading platoon of Rangers are drawing closer to the forest. Maybe its just me but i cant help feel i'm being watched from the shadows of the trees!



I'm pretty sure its my imagination but i'm sure the shadows are changing and the sun rising higher........maybe it was the knock on the head i took when i jumped into my Sherman this morning!



TTFN

Super good stuff Fubar!

(09-03-2012, 01:08 AM)Compass Rose Wrote: [ -> ]Super good stuff Fubar!

Totally, on the edge of my seat.

Sit back Ash, you're blocking my view!

(09-03-2012, 03:27 AM)Compass Rose Wrote: [ -> ]Sit back Ash, you're blocking my view!

Loving it!

Great read !

Well i guess every battlefield commander has the moment when he gets that cold empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that something is about to change......well i've got that feeling right now!

To my left the advance is going to plan, the Northern Ridge is still as quiet as the grave, the men there have sent no reports back yet of any movement, all seems calm. The second Ranger platoon are advancing past the first platoon towards the Mountain Pass, still with the Shermans on over watch, scanning the skyline for movement and keeping a beady eye on Hill 1234.



To my right the leading Ranger platoon are just reaching the woods, still feeling like their being watched but otherwise unharmed. The second Ranger platoon is now moving up behind them, keeping a respectable distance just in case of any nasty surprises. The Shermans of the Battalion HQ are moving up slowly in support using cover arcs to watch the hill and tree line.



Looking into the shadows of the ever nearing forest Sgt Fewell starts to get a creeping feeling running down his spine, on his left is the other section from his platoon moving up to the edge of the woods level with his own squad, and just behind him well withing yelling distance is his platoon HQ squad. Turning back towards the woods again he thinks he hears something, maybe its nothing more than an angry squirrel annoyed at their tresspass or maybe its something more! He gives a quick warning to his squad, just in case...



Contact front!

Finally some action, just as i feared Raz has not only got to the ruins but he's also started to move elements forwards through the woods! Question is how large a force is this? Is it nothing more than a scouting party or is this the leading edge of his defence? I decide to hold in place with the squad that made contact while i see if i can turn his flank with the second squad. Meanwhile the second platoon changes its direction of advance slightly just in case they need to swing to my far right and flank his lines over there.



Zooming the map out i see that there are also two vehicle sound contacts near the Ruins! Surely it cant be tanks can it, would Raz put tanks in a confined space like that? My guess is its half-tracks or armoured cars, if it is HT's then it would explain how his infantry got so far so quickly....i shall need to proceed with caution from here on in. Looks like my tankers will get to earn their pay soon i'm guessing.



TTFN