Battle of Dinant (France '14 AAR)

[TimeKiller]

Hello Blitz!

I had a ton of free time lately so I ran myself through a solo game against the AI and decided to make an AAR out of it. It's my first AAR so I'm sort of flying blind here. Any feedback (either on the AAR or my actual gameplay) would be greatly appreciated!

Let's start by setting the scene:

Early morning, August 14th, 1914


The town of Dinant with the Citadel looming on the heights in the background.


The German 1st Army is at the gates of the city of Dinant, deployed along the Meuse River. They have the misfortune of falling under the command of a relatively inexperienced leader (me) who has been instructed to secure the town and any bridges crossing the river.



This is the disposition of my forces at the start of the scenario. I hold under my control two divisions, the Garde-Kav-Div. which is primarily B-rated troops, and the C-rated 5. Kavallerie-Div further north around Ciney. Also pictured is a typical Uhlan company to give an idea of quality and strength.


A quick look at the victory conditions tells me this battle will hinge entirely on securing the entire town of Dinant for a full 1000 VPs, any other crossings or VP areas will of course help in that goal, but I am going for the main prize.

With a goal in mind, I chalk up a rough battle plan.

The idea being to concentrate most of my strength on Dinant itself while probing toward the north at Yvoir and Houx as well. I don't know what sort of opposition to face, but knowing that my force is essentially entirely cavalry, I am wary about any direct engagements with entrenched French infantry.

I begin my advance on that same night, not content to let precious time go to waste. Companies of Uhlans feel their way along the roads in the night. It isn't long before a company of them encounter French forces occupying the redoubt overlooking Dinant known as "The Citadel"

Not wanting to risk a heavy engagement with what is just a scouting party, I withdraw, unmolested, a kilometer back and wait for the bulk of the division to arrive in the morning.

Sunrise, August 15th, 1914.


The situation becomes more clear with sunrise.

I was afraid that the French would have already secured the vital crossing points, not only that, I see a significant concentration at Anseremme of infantry backed with machineguns. Despite my misgivings, I know that I only have a limited window of time to secure the crossings so I press on with my original plan, carefully maneuvering my lead cavalry screen to avoid major confrontation until the bulk of my division catches up.


Northern Flank

Husaren-Regt. 6 discovers that the French have secured even these far flung crossing points.


Southern Flank

The situation in the south becomes more clear. The French commander has deployed his forces well to cover all avenues of approach it seems. I do see a small "finger" of land cut by a curve in the Meuse that juts behind the French position at Anseremme. I plan to use this to screen my cavalry advance and perhaps isolate those two battalions on the eastern bank of the river.

In any case, I see now that there will be no "hand outs" today. Anything gained will have to be paid for with the blood of German soldiers. Without relish, I give the go ahead for the attack and send my forces forward.



Combat begins inauspiciously as a few companies of Uhlans from the Garde-Kavallerie -Div make an faulty attack across the bridge south of Dinant, the lead company is disrupted by machinegun fire from the French defenders, grinding the attack to a halt, preventing me from making a pincer movement to isolate the French completely.


A pair of Uhlan companies of the 5. Kavallerie-Div conduct an opportunistic attack on the Citadel which, strangely, has been largely evacuated by the French, perhaps afraid of the possibility of being cut off, they have left a single machinegun company to man the fortifications. The Uhlans conduct a mounted charge on the position, taking light casualties, but failing to dislodge the French.



Now Fully engaged, both cavalry divisions have pressed on the French position south of Dinant. Several battalions of Dragoons have closed to deliver the final blow on the beleaguered French. Further north at the Citadel, a battery of Field guns have arrived to help reduce the French redoubt if required.


On my Northern flank, a minor setback as one of the only unguarded bridges is destroyed as my Hussars advance into Houx, triggering a bridge demolition which will make my plans to seize the remaining crossings that much more difficult. Despite this setback, we have otherwise advanced uncontested. At the right edge of this image, you can see a pair of Jaeger battalions which I plan to use to cross the light bridge just to the south. The larger Btl. 13 is truck-mounted and thus incapable of crossing the light bridge in any force, because of this I will be relying on the Btl. 11 of Jaeger cyclists to seize the bridge itself.

Of course, with just under 350 men, they won't stand up in heavy combat, and would take serious losses trying to assault across the bridge. Because of this, I will support their crossing with the truck mounted Jaegers as well.

By ten O' Clock, the French position to the South is dire. Their units are isolated, their infantry disrupted. It seems my initial caution may have been misplaced, their line is wavering, now is the time to give them cold steel!


After a short, but fierce struggle, it seems my audacity has paid off, the French are driven back and Anseremme is in German hands.



Attacks by my dismounted dragoons are wildly successful, the two surviving French battalions are driven back against he Meuse River, although the French did manage to throw back my last, uncoordinated attack by an over-zealous battalion of dragoons. Despite this, I expect to finish off the French by Noon.


Here is a view of the small French pocket, you can see that they are in rough shape, soon to be worse as a I deliver the coup de grace to them come Noon. Also pictured is my assembly of several companies of Uhlans who stand ready to cross the Meuse in force to threaten Dinant from the south. Unfortunately, they aren't ready to make the cross quite yet. Once again, I expect by noon to be on the opposite bank of the Meuse.


In the north, the Husars close in. They are roughed up, but still in fine, fighting shape. Unfortunately without a clear breakthrough they can do little more than skirmish with the French, trading sporadic fire across the Meuse.

While I would like nothing more than to send my cavalry screaming across the bridge, sabers high, I know full well the effect a steady infantry battalion and machinegun company would have on a cavalry charge. I will have to be patient, even as the sun moves ever higher, threatening to sink to the opposite horizon before my chance to secure the crossing. A bit further south, I have closed my jaegers into range with the light bridge, a lone machinegun company defends it. I hope we can disrupt them with rifle fire alone so my cyclist jaegers may storm the bridge.

Noon, August 15, 1914.



The situation looks promising, but things can change in an instant on the battlefield, especially with an action as difficult as pushing a forcing a bridge crossing. However, I am confident that one way or another, come sunset the German flag will wave over Dinant. My initial hesitance to attack has been replaced with gusto, rapid action is required to smash the dastardly French and triumph this day. To start with, the massive cavalry attack on the isolated french battalions must go through.


French soldiers surrender in droves as they find they have nowhere left to run, while both battalions continue to exist, they are no longer any threat to my plans in this area. A second assault by my truck-borne Jaeger battalion nets another 400 French at the cost of ten of their own.

After the French here have been further reduced, nearly 500 of my Uhlans ride across the bridge to the south of Dinant onto the French flank.

Meanwhile to the north, the Citadel continues to stand, my men unable to drive the enemy out, but the enemy is unable to conduct effective defensive fire. A frustrating stalemate has developed while up by Houx, the situation remains relatively static, my cavalry trading shots with the French and my Jaegers mounting an unsuccessful attack over the bridge there.

By early afternoon, fieldguns of the 5. Kav-Div have deployed along the heights overlooking the Meuse and begun to drop shells onto Dinant itself it is primarily harassing fire with no decisive result to be seen.

Around Two O'clock, my Jaegers are startled to discover that the French have seemingly abandoned the Citadel. German Jaegers quickly occupy the fortress overlooking the town.



It is clear to me that the French command is suffering from many issues, among them confusion as the Citadel was the primary obstacle to taking the bridge at Dinant. With the Citadel in my hands now, it is only a matter of time before the city falls.


More stalemate in the north. It is worth noting the two battalion attack force I am sending to join my Uhlans on the opposite bank of the Meuse. I expect these added forces to be more than enough to drive off the French and capture the town.

By the evening of the 15th, the French are undone.


The last pocket of resistance on the eastern bank of the Meuse was wiped out and in a daring charge, my Uhlans drove the remaining French from Dinant just as my fresh cavalry were arriving. The north continues to remain static, but now that their line is unraveling, it is merely a matter of time before that position becomes untenable. Night falls and I am left confident of my position. Now all that remains is to straighten out my lines and in the morning secure the bridgehead I have.



Morning of the 16th. Strangely, there is a French brigade deployed to the west of Dinant on the high ground. It is unclear to me why they haven to counter attacked in typical French fashion, but I won't let it trouble me. They are too late to stop me now that I have secured a position around Dinant. To add to my good fortune I have succeeded in driving the French back at Houx with gallant action by my cyclist Jaegers. Eager not to be outdone, my Hussars launch a similar foolhardy attack across their bridge, this one ends in failure as they are driven back in disorder, but they did manage to destroy the French machinegun company that had harassed them from across the river all night.


German victory, the fog lifted.

And with that last hurrah, the German army retires victorious.




Final thoughts:I quite enjoyed this scenario and enjoyed writing this AAR (my first!) although since my opponent was merely the AI, I can't help but feel like I fought a battle against an opponent who failed to bring their full weight to bear on me, my suspicions are confirmed once fog of war was lifted and it looks like the entire 3e Brigade was unengaged.

Never the less, I learned quite a bit. My background with cavalry comes primarily from the American Civil war and a touch of Napoleonics so I tend to think of them as being incredibly fragile, suitable only for screening, recon, and the finishing blow. I'm always surprised when Cavalry are able to drive off a determined body of infantry, especially those backed by machineguns! In the future, I think I will be more audacious with my cavalry units and especially employ their ability ot maneuver and attack where it is least suspected.


I'll chalk up my major victory to AI incompetence, but I still feel accomplished in the end. I recommend this scenario to anyone looking for a quick challenge

[ComradeP]

Nice AAR!

Cavalry is fragile when facing organized resistance, but disrupted and/or low morale units can certainly be assaulted to good effect.

As with, say, assaulting disrupted D quality units, you might still suffer somewhat if the enemy's units are still near full strength. Shaky D quality units might Disrupt after losing a dozen men, forcing them to vacate the hex when assaulted, but the defenders will still inflict losses.

[Mr Grumpy]

Thank you for the excellent AAR, isolating the French battalions on the east bank would never happen against a competent human opponent and shows that while the AI is an excellent learning tool, it is a poor opponent. 

[BigDuke66]

I had given some feedback( https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...#pid396241 ) to VM and it's likely that the next update will bring in an updated version that adds some missing stuff for the French troops and adjust some things, that is needed to keep the German on the other side of the river like it more or less happened in reality.

[TimeKiller]

Nice AAR!

Cavalry is fragile when facing organized resistance, but disrupted and/or low morale units can certainly be assaulted to good effect.

As with, say, assaulting disrupted D quality units, you might still suffer somewhat if the enemy's units are still near full strength. Shaky D quality units might Disrupt after losing a dozen men, forcing them to vacate the hex when assaulted, but the defenders will still inflict losses.

Thank you! I'm still learning things about the First World War campaigns, how everything acts and interacts. Cavalry has surprised me the most but I have learned to use them more effectively I think.

Thank you for the excellent AAR, isolating the French battalions on the east bank would never happen against a competent human opponent and shows that while the AI is an excellent learning tool, it is a poor opponent. 

That's always been my problem, I think I'm in an awkward place skill wise, I overwhelmingly win every battle against the AI, but get soundly beaten by human opponents. It will take some time for me to pick up on all the nuances of this game.

I had given some feedback( https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...#pid396241 ) to VM and it's likely that the next update will bring in an updated version that adds some missing stuff for the French troops and adjust some things, that is needed to keep the German on the other side of the river like it more or less happened in reality.

I'm playing this same scenario against a human opponent currently, but with me as the French, I am interested to see how things play out from the other side. I'd love to see an updated version of this scenario though, I enjoyed it quite a bit.