2WIN - Murphstein (Allies) vs Golaith (Axis)

[murphstein]

Veers & GS:

I suspect the encirclement at Bayeux won't hold; he's got a couple of healthy units inside the pocket, but making him fight his way out, instead of rebuilding his line, will do for now.

Yes, I plan to send the BR 8ArmBde and 50ID and the US 1ID, 2ID and 2ArmDiv S to Balleroy and Cerisy, then on to St. Lo with other reinforcements coming later. The 29ID, 101AB and 90ID will connect at Caretan to protect the main effort's right flank, and the BR 49ID and 7ArmDiv connect the CA 3ID right with the BR 50ID left, protecting the main effort's left flank. The BR 3ID and 51ID will cross the Orne at Pegasus Bridge and try to take Caen from the NE. The BR 6AB and commandos will try to clear the coast of those pesky shore batteries, to let the naval units get into support range.

Yes, in turn 4 I started the 82nd AB across the river, and plan to send the arriving 9ID in that direction to cut off Caretan from the W.

Yes, I'm planning to use my recon units to exploit gaps in his lines; at Bayeux I used them, perhaps unwisely, to encircle the defenders.

[Veers]

Veers & GS:

I suspect the encirclement at Bayeux won't hold; he's got a couple of healthy units inside the pocket, but making him fight his way out, instead of rebuilding his line, will do for now.

Yes, I plan to send the BR 8ArmBde and 50ID and the US 1ID, 2ID and 2ArmDiv S to Balleroy and Cerisy, then on to St. Lo with other reinforcements coming later. The 29ID, 101AB and 90ID will connect at Caretan to protect the main effort's right flank, and the BR 49ID and 7ArmDiv connect the CA 3ID right with the BR 50ID left, protecting the main effort's left flank. The BR 3ID and 51ID will cross the Orne at Pegasus Bridge and try to take Caen from the NE. The BR 6AB and commandos will try to clear the coast of those pesky shore batteries, to let the naval units get into support range.

Yes, in turn 4 I started the 82nd AB across the river, and plan to send the arriving 9ID in that direction to cut off Caretan from the W.

Yes, I'm planning to use my recon units to exploit gaps in his lines; at Bayeux I used them, perhaps unwisely, to encircle the defenders.

Sounds like fun!

[murphstein]

Start: Axis 75/3, Allies 4/0, score -128/79/OD (+1 from end of Allied T4).

Plans for Allied Turn 5:

Western Sector:

US 4ID: capture Montbourg and clear out area SW to Mederet River bridges, linking with 82AB.
US 9ID: cross Mederet and Douve Rivers, exploit hole created by 82ABD, take river crossing at 31,31 and drive E toward Caretan and S toward Sainteny.
US 90ID: take river crossing at 37,31 and advance W toward Caretan; 1 rgt to drive SW toward St. Jean de Daye.
US 82ABD: 2 rgts to hold positions between Mederet and Douve Rivers; 2 rgts to open path for 9ID to Caretan.
US 101ABD: 2 rgts to take Vire River crossing at 41,30; 2 rgts to protect Taute River bridges.

Central Sector:

US 29ID: engage enemy from Grandchamps to Aure River east of Formigny, advancing on Isigny if possible.
US 1ID: break thru 12SSPzr defenders, take road junction at 58,32 and advance S towards Balleroy east of river.
UK 8ArmB: reorganize while holding Bayeux and bridges in the area.
UK 50ID: reduce encircled units E of Bayeux and advance SE toward Tilly-sur-Seulles.
UK 7ArmD: drive SW from Bayeux toward Balleroy, attempting to encircle Germans defending Cerisy

Eastern Sector:

UK 4SSB: reduce encircled PzJg units isolated W of Douvres
CA 3ID: push S toward Brettville and Carpiquet W of Douvres-Caen Road
UK 3ID: assault Periers Ridge just W of Orne River
UK 1SSB: break line of 711ID, push MLR back towards Cabourg and clear coastal arty
UK 6ABD: capture Dives River crossing at Troarns and clear woods of enemy resistance
UK 27ArmB: advance S on E bank of Orne River toward Caen
UK 51ID: support advance of 27ArmB toward Caen

Start of turn situation:

[General Staff]

I'd forget Caen and its VPs. Any decent German defender will have dug in so deep it will make your helmet spin. Go round. Think Bayeux and where you can head from there behind the hills to the east and bocage to the west.

Also hurry with recce units probing to try to disrupt German construction plans. Time can be a killer here for a cautious Allied player and it's about the only friend to a German player.

[murphstein]

Turn 5 Combat Results (see prior post for plans & intentions):

US:
4ID advanced along Mederet River but failed to take Montbourg.
9ID & 82ABD engaged 243ID units S of Douve River but didn't take next river crossing.
90ID & 101ABD engaged 6FJ units and others N and E of Caretan, took crossing, but probably won't hold it.
29ID advanced toward Isigny; 101ABD and 29ID are close to linking up at Vire River bridge or Isigny.
1ID & 2ID seem to have torn a hole in the German line at the edge of the bocage W of Bayeux.

CW:
UK 50ID wiped out the encircled defenders E of Bayeux and pushed back some 12SS and 21 Pzr units.
CA 3ID made no progress toward Brettville or Carpiquet
UK 3ID made no progress toward Perier Ridge and couldn't dislodge the solo Pzr unit out in front.
UK 4SSB tried to "mop up" the StuG islands and paid dearly for the effort...dang, those things are tough!!
UK 1SSB punched a hole in the eastern end of the German lines, maybe opening a path for the recce units.
UK 6ABD made no progress toward Troarns
UK 27ArmB and arriving 51ID thinned out but didn't dislodge defenders E of the Orne River.

Ships on TR, air on I, a few holes torn in German line from Douve River to Bayeux.

End: Axis 73/3, Allies 6/1, score -125/79 (OD).

SAL and JPG to follow shortly.

Methinks I dithered too long assembling my forces during the first third of the game, and wasted my shock advantages. Now every combat is a hard slog and often as not costs me more losses than I inflict. I'm only getting two combat rounds per turn now, so progress is excruciatingly slow.

I wasn't really considering attacking Caen, but bypassing it to the east with the CW 51ID and 27ArmB in a late-game lunge for Bourguebus Ridge.

The US 1ID, 2ID and 2ArmD, with help on their left from the CW 7ArmD and 50ID, still are heading for St. Lo.

The 9ID and 90ID, should meet at Caretan in the next turn or two, and then be in a position to advance S the support the main spearhead's right flank.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Goliath is putting up a good defense, as expected; I'd love to achieve a break-out, but apparently don't know how to manage it without a couple of rounds to prep, one to punch a hole, and one (with enough MPs left) to exploit. He's patching the holes as fast as I can open them...

Here's the end-turn positions:

[Heldenkaiser]

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Goliath is putting up a good defense, as expected; I'd love to achieve a break-out, but apparently don't know how to manage it without a couple of rounds to prep, one to punch a hole, and one (with enough MPs left) to exploit. He's patching the holes as fast as I can open them...

Looking at last turn's snapshot, I think you are already on the right track ... once you see the slightest bit of a hole in his lines, even one hex wide, slip anything through that has high recon and thus can go a few hexes nevertheless. Then be sure to dig in to consolidate the penetration, for exploitation next turn. It's not so easy to push away dug-in scout cars.

If you have superior forces (counter numbers is what counts), any way you can lengthen his lines even by making only dents, no breakthroughs, will help.

If I think about successful penetrations that I have seen (often) or accomplished (rarely), I believe it's often a two turn affair. They happen where your first turn has weakened the defenders so that a lazy opponent may just leave them there to hold the line, but fresh units of yours are in fact capable of pushing them out of the way with a series of RBCs in the second turn. When that happens, a frontline really collapses. Of course, by T5 in a 2WIN game, there may already be a second line of nasty black-clad motor infantry in place ... then it really becomes a meatgrinder.

[murphstein]

Starting position for Allied T6:



Start: Axis 73/3, Allies 6/0, score -124/79/OD (+1 from end of Allied T5).

Plans for Allied Turn 6:

Western Sector:

US 4ID: probe along the line from Quineville to Mederet River; link with 82ABD by taking 27,19
US 9ID: attack S thru 82ABD S of Douve River and capture river crossing to Caretan at 31,31
US 90ID: 2 rgts attack W and link w/ 101ABD at Caretan; 2 rgts expand S toward St. Jean de Daye
US 82ABD: 2 rgts to hold line between Mederet and Douve Rivers; 2 rgts support 9ID across Douve River
US 101ABD: 2 rgts to expand Vire River crossing at 41,29; 2 rgts to cross Taute River and attack Caretan

Central Sector:

US 29ID: attack from Isigny to Treviere and take one or both if possible; create more StuG islands
US 1ID: advance S betw/ Treviere and Port-en-Bessin road, opening a hole for 2ArmD to exploit
US 1ID: advance S betw/ Port-en-Bessin road and Aure River, opening a hole for 2ArmD to exploit
US 2ArmD: advance S along Port-en-Bessin toward 58,32 "Y" junction for breakout next turn
UK 8ArmB: hold line E of upper Aure River fork and maintain contact with left of US 2ID
UK 56InfB: w/ 7ArmD attack S toward Tilly-sur-Seulles between Seulles and upper Aure Rivers
UK 7ArmD: w/ 56InfB attack S toward Tilly-sur-Seulles between Seulles and upper Aure Rivers
UK 50ID: w/ XXX Corps units, attack E toward Bretteville along road S of the occupied ridges

Eastern Sector:

UK 4SSB: reduce encircled StuG units W of Douvres w/ assistance of naval bombardments
CA 3ID: hold line along Periers Ridge and withdraw 1 inf bde for strategic reserves
UK 3ID: hold line along Periers Ridge and withdraw 1 inf bde for strategic reserves
UK I Corps: withdraw "funnies" armor for strategic reserves
UK 1SSB: w/ 51ID and 6ABD recon units clear the coastline of ship-killing artillery
UK 6ABD: advance to Dives River N of Troarns and support 1SSB advances to the E
UK 27ArmB: defend Pegasus bridge and expand airhead another hex or two, if possible
UK 51ID: cross Orne River, join 27ArmB, bypass Caen, advance toward Bourguebus Ridge

SAL file attached.

[murphstein]

Allied Results:

US:
4ID broke up defensive lines east and west of Montbourg, taking a VP hex near Quineville, which should cause him to reinforce or risk losing Cherbourg.
9ID & 82ABD drove back defenders and reached the last river crossing en route to Caretan, which should cause him to consider abandoning Caretan.
90ID & 101ABD attacked defenders around Caretan and now threaten super-objective hex from two directions.
29ID reached Isigny and punched holes in the German line N of the Aure River, which may prompt a withdrawl, as the 101ABD has crossed the Vire River.
1ID & 2ID punched a good hole around 58,32 to escape from the bocage, have linked up with the UK 8ArmB and have US 2Arm right behind them.

CW:
UK 50ID are resting at the W end of Periers Ridge and will start heading E in a turn or two.
CA 3ID has gone on the defensive but will continue to threaten Brettville and Carpiquet.
UK 3ID has gone on the defensive but will continue to threaten Perier Ridge and Caen W of the Orne River.
UK 4SSB continued to whittle away at the StuG islands behind the 3IDs.
UK 1SSB liberated Merville and the 6ABD, 51ID and 3ID cav units have broken up the German defenses W of Dives River and have reached Cabourg, which should force a major expansion of the German lines to the NE map edge.
UK 6ABD no progress towards Troarns but whittled down both stacks defending in the woods.
UK 27ArmB and arriving 51ID made no progress toward Caen but whittled down one stack between the Orne River and the woods.

Some ships on TR (missed the UK fleet, dang); air on I; arty dug in.

End: Axis 72/3, Allies 7/2, score -124/79 (no net change from start of turn).

SAL file attached; situation map:

[Veers]

CW:
UK 50ID are resting at the W end of Periers Ridge and will start heading E in a turn or two.
CA 3ID has gone on the defensive but will continue to threaten Brettville and Carpiquet.
UK 3ID has gone on the defensive but will continue to threaten Perier Ridge and Caen W of the Orne River.

do you really have time to be resting these units?

[murphstein]

Veers,

Good question. I stopped the UK 50ID (mostly red) and the UK and Can 3IDs (attacking armor and StuGs dug into Periers Ridge) to regroup, assess my options and save my men. I don't really intend them to advance much further, but need them to hold the attention of the bulk of the German armor concentrated against them. I also expect Goliath to get tired of playing defense and launch a counter-attack at some point, seeking to reclaim one of *his* super-objectives; he'll probably judge Pegasus Bridge to be his best bet.

My intentions for the CW sector is to bypass Caen entirely, and by maneuvering units across the Dives River and from Villers-Bocage, to see if I can close on the Bourguebus Ridge from N and W near the end of the game. This is a secondary objective, however.

The primary objective remains driving the US V and XIX Corps from Omaha due S to St. Lo as fast as they can go, liberating Cerisy in the process. With the VII Corps taking Caretan, this should tip the score to an Allied victory.

Has anyone figured out how to kill StuGs? Armor doesn't do it, AA certainly doesn't work, inf gets chopped up, naval guns don't seem to help much...