Forum > Theater of Operations: World at War
Blue, Gray, and Bocage Scenario-German Perspective
choppinlt:
Updated narrative and visuals. :) We are still waiting on battle results, but these can be "normalized" as we go.
choppinlt:
Current Time 2200 Hours
Turn 8 Staff Report: By 2022 the Americans had fully disengaged. Our troops report that the 2 enemy battalions to our right had engineer support. The battalion to the far right was the only unit with tank support, and it appears 5 tanks were knocked out during this latest attack. Our forces also report liberal usage of artillery in every attack including 155’s, 105’s and heavy mortars. The unit with tank support advanced the furthest with a 400m advance. All other enemy units advanced 200m. Due to the total enemy advance on the day, only the infantry companies in reserve occupy prepared defenses. All other units occupy hasty defenses. Currently the enemy forces are consolidating gains, but it is unclear at the moment what their immediate intentions are.
In total we suffered 76 casualties this round of combat with 177 casualties total for the day. All frontline forces are recovering cohesion, and all units should be fully recovered by 2300 hours.
We just received a message from HHQ stating that due to the loss of Hill 192 (just off map on the east edge), our sector is a higher priority for reinforcements and resupply. In pa
rticular we should see improved ammo stock levels for our artillery. Reinforcements will continue to trickle in, however replacements appear to be nil.
2200 Unit Dispositions
Plan of Action: now that darkness has arrived we will start to withdraw and redeploy some of the infantry companies, and establish a new MLR in anticipation of renewed attacks in the morning. Hopefully we can recover some fatigue as well. There will be no offensive artillery fire missions tonight to allow stocks to recover for tomorrow. We are looking forward to see what reinforcements we receive.
Game Note: I have little data on the German casualty rates in this area from July 11, however I do have reliable information on casualties sustained and artillery expenditures for the Americans. Historically the 29th lost around 500 men on this day. This scenario produced 303 casualties, but the Americans delayed their initial assault till noon. So if the Americans had started their assault at 0600 in this scenario (as what happened historically), you could interpolate the results to be close to 500 casualties. So that is a good sign that my game mechanics are producing reasonable results! If anyone has any data they want to share (from credible sources), please feel free to let me know.
Even though I don’t have any data regarding the Germans, 176 casualties feels a little light…but I can’t be sure at this point. One huge factor is that I allowed the Germans to start in prepared defensive positions. I see no reason at the moment to tweak anything, but I will definitely keep an eye on this. You are witnessing the first real play-through with all these different mechanics in action together, warts and all! While there is definite work needed, I am happy with how it is coming together. I hope you are getting a lot of value with seeing a scenario unfold and getting a real feel for how the game concept is supposed to work. It is my hope that these scenarios will lead to better understanding.
I havn’t taken the time to analyze artillery expenditure yet, but that will be interesting to see how that turns out!
choppinlt:
Current Time 2400 Hours
Turn 9 Staff Report: All units have recovered their cohesion loss, except Kompanie 8/9. American armor was heard withdrawing on our far right, but otherwise all was quiet. It doesn’t appear the Americans are going to continue to press the attack, which means we need to prepare for another full day of combat.
Kompanie 6/9 has arrived and is now ready for orders. The entire 9th Fallschirm Regiment is now on the map.
2400 Unit Dispositions
Plan of Action: Since it doesn’t appear that the Americans are going to press the attack, we can think about redeploying our units to establish a new line of defense. The addition of the III Battalion should help tremendously in trying to slow do the Americans. In the mean time we await the arrival of additional reinforcements and supplies.
Our redeployment plan is as follows: 2/9 will withdraw from the line and assume a position in reserve to support the rest of I Battalion. This allows us to take advantage of 3/9 still occupying prepared defenses.
The significant gap created by 2/9 withdrawing will be partially covered by 7/9. It will also withdraw from the line and dig in a few hundred meters northwest of Hill 147.
5/9 will move up to the line and assume a position a few hundred meters south of where 7/9 previously occupied.
4/9 will move north and assume a position just east of Hill 147 that can support the rest of II Battalion.
6/9 will move north and join the battered remnants of 8/9.
9/9 will remain in place take advantage of their prepared defensive positions.
14/9 and 9 RHQ move down the Martinsville Ridge a few hundred meters toward St. Lo and take up new positions.
13/9 will fall back to the outskirts of St. Lo and can act as a fire brigade.
All units withdrawing from the line will do so using Infiltrate movement to help prevent the enemy of being aware of what we are doing.
Game Note: Infiltrate movement is the slowest rate of movement whereby small groups of troops move at irregular intervals to attract less attention than a mass movement would. Units moving by infiltration are less likely to be detected, and are less attractive targets for enemy fighter-bombers and artillery even if detected. The down side is that movement is very slow and the unit is potentially more vulnerable to ground attack due to being strung out.
Proposed Redeployment
choppinlt:
Current Time 0200 Hours
Turn 10 Staff Report: All movement is going as planned, and there is no enemy activity to report. The engineering company is marching to its destination and should be in place by 0230. 2/9, 5/9, and 7/9 are all infiltrating to their new positions, and they should all be in place by 0400. All other units that were given orders have reached their new positions.
0200 Unit Dispositions
Plan of Action: finish redeployment and dig-in. The additional battalion has helped shore up our defense. We have to be careful since our margin for error is much less, but as further reinforcements appear we can consider local counterattacks to disrupt the Americans. Yesterday we enjoyed the advantage of being in prepared defenses, but today promises to be a bloodier day since only 2 companies start off with the benefit of occupying prepared defenses.
choppinlt:
Current Time 0400 Hours
Turn 11 Staff Report: As you can hear the Americans have already started preparations by commencing harassing fire with artillery on all previously known positions. 2/9, 5/9 and 7/9 have all reached their new positions as planned, but the harassing fire caused 2 casualties each to 2/9 and 5/9 as they withdrew. 7/9 reports harassing fire in front of it hitting 5/9’s former positions, but is not suffering from its effects due to setting up positions behind where 5/9 had occupied. No other units have reported issues sustained from the latest artillery fire.
0400 Unit Dispositions
Plan of Action: 7/9 will be redeployed behind the mortar company, otherwise all other units will remain in place and await reinforcements. All artillery will all be under the Op FM orders in anticipation of the next attack.
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