Slitherine

GottaLove88s wrote: 5. Mortars are as critical to success as they actually were on D-Day itself. These little monsters are murderous and can fire every turn. Bring them into play as soon as you can and keep raining pain on your enemy. Use hidden infantry to spot for your mortars, so you can employ them at maximum range. Use armour to take surrenders once your enemy is suppressed. You'd be surprised how accurate this effect is (more later).

As promised,
"The Germans had made themselves masters in the handling of mortars. Their mortar 'stonks', landing without warning in the middle of Allied positions, inaudible in transit because of their slow flight, grated the nerves of every British and American unit in Normandy, and were responsible for an extraordinarily high proportion of casualties... 75% for much of the campaign... Every German infantry division possessed some sixty 81mm and up to twenty 120mm mortars, which could throw a 35lb bomb 6,000 yards... The Allies also, of course, possessed mortars, but never mastered the art of concentrating them with the devastating effect that the Germans achieved."
Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944 - Max Hastings

Use GJS'44's wide deployment zones to setup a couple of mortar teams just back from a cliff, in forest, or simply dug into tank traps on a beach, with hidden infantry/scouts further forwards spotting where your enemies are... You'll quickly realise that your mortars are powerful killing and suppressing units from your very first turn... Because if yours aren't, his soon will be...

Quick reminder, F2 will capture your screens and place them in the 'Screens' folder within your BA folder.

Gold Beach:

Losses: http://www.abload.de/img/screen_00000001wzuyw.jpg

Victory points:
-Germans-
Road to Creully - 5 Pts
Barracks - 3 Pts
Gold Beach - 5 Pts
VS
-USA-
East Cliffs - 3 Pts
Bunker - 1 Pt

GER 13 Pts VS USA 4 Pts

Ouch! That looks like one tough round.
You & KingT were really slogging it out there, Alex?

So... Gold is a German victory. Congratulations to a strong defender!
Allies won their 2nd flag so can remain on the beach. Congratulations also. That can't have been easy with just 1BG?
No dissolutions but both sides suffered quite a bit of pain from the looks of it...

I confirm the result and losses. That was a bloody battle and a very hard one. It's hard to advance without bonuses, but things are looking good for June 7th.

Congrats to both, looks like it was a good battle. I'm glad we have a toe hold on the beach.

Jon, quick question...I don't see any Kangaroos or halftracks on my OOB? (updating it). One thing I forgot to ask earlier...do we get any replacements? (ie. as in troops or points for troops etc... or is what we have, what we have and of course new BG's).

And just to confirm, all German units are fighting with -25 Morale Out of Supply penalty correct?

Yep, looks like it was a tough one... Allies win their first toehold... Frankly, I expected your first BG might get kicked off, since you attacked with singles... But you pulled it off!!

Alex, Suspect you're feeling battered and bruised right? Give a thought to the real fellas on the Atlantic Wall in '44... There's a heartfelt quote from a senior signals officer of 12th SS Panzer (due to arrive GJS'44 on June 9-10th )... "Should we win this war, Kruger, [to one of his lieutenants] I shall write a book about why we should have lost it..."... For our first GJS campaign, the defending German BG was kicked off and dissolved... so you did well to hold firm.

Seconded - good stuff.

All to play for.

Brummbar44 wrote:I don't see any Kangaroos or halftracks on my OOB? (updating it).

Bren carriers are the Brit equivalent of German 251/1 halftracks. They are on your original OOB. However, after doing further research, I've noticed that Allies had begun to use Kangaroos (which do much the same thing as Bren carriers but were a bit tougher) for some of their divisions around Caen... so I swapped some of your Bren carriers for 'Roos (think of them as equivalent to the German 251/9, although there's no way I'm letting you stick a 6pdr on it!)

Brummbar44 wrote:One thing I forgot to ask earlier...do we get any replacements? (ie. as in troops or points for troops etc... or is what we have, what we have and of course new BG's).

Sorry B, no reinforcements, no replacements. I wasn't kidding when I warned about looking after your transports... Allies get >20% more units than Germans over the full course of the campaign... GJS'44 will be won or lost by playing better strategies... using your BGs multifront to dissolve your enemy, and avoiding putting your BGs in places where they can be attacked multifront... Plus clever tactics by individual commanders... and possibly a lucky dice roll here and there...

Brummbar44 wrote:And just to confirm, all German units are fighting with -25 Morale Out of Supply penalty correct?

All German units, except those of 21Pz newly arriving in Vimont or Villers-Bocage, will have their unit morales reduced by 25 for June 7th... So a Marder III which normally starts with 100 morale 100 will start with 75... This matters more for VG units which normally start with 75 morale, and will now start with 50; one shot and they're <50 and suppressed... The "Ost" divisions will be desperately unhappy that their rear supply areas have apparently been taken by the hundreds of gliders they saw fly overhead last night...

8. Supplies

8.1 The last unit passing through a sector gains control over that sector for its team.
8.11 German-held sectors are marked on the Strat Map with a small black cross in the corner.
8.12 All sectors are controlled by the German-side until they are liberated by the Allies.
8.13 Once liberated, the black cross is removed, unless it is retaken by the Germans.
8.14 Sector control for each day is determined before that day's moves are made, ie. it will take one day to retake a sector (and to re-establish supply lines).

8.2 All units must be able to trace a continuous path of controlled sectors to a source of supplies.
8.21 German BGs can be supplied from either Villers Bocage or Vimont, provided that the supplying sector is held by the Germans.
8.22 New German BGs arrive in Villers Bocage or Vimont fully supplied for one day.
8.23 Allied BGs can be supplied from any of Gold, Juno or Sword beach, provided that the supplying sector is held by the Allies.
8.24 Beach landing Allied BGs, including commandos, arrive on the beach fully supplied for one day.

8.3 Out of supply BGs suffer severe penalties.
8.31 The base morale for all units in an "out of supply" BG is reduced by 25.

8.4 Paratroopers may land inside enemy territory and carry sufficient supplies for five full days, including the date of arrival.
8.41 The Allies must establish a supply line to its airborne commandos by day six, of those BGs will suffer out of supply penalties.

GottaLove88s wrote:

Brummbar44 wrote:I don't see any Kangaroos or halftracks on my OOB? (updating it).

Bren carriers are the Brit equivalent of German 251/1 halftracks. They are on your original OOB. However, after doing further research, I've noticed that Allies had begun to use Kangaroos (which do much the same thing as Bren carriers but were a bit tougher) for some of their divisions around Caen... so I swapped some of your Bren carriers for 'Roos (think of them as equivalent to the German 251/9, although there's no way I'm letting you stick a 6pdr on it!)

So Roos won't hold any guns?

GottaLove88s wrote:Yep, looks like it was a tough one... Allies win their first toehold... Frankly, I expected your first BG might get kicked off, since you attacked with singles... But you pulled it off!!

Alex, Suspect you're feeling battered and bruised right? Give a thought to the real fellas on the Atlantic Wall in '44... There's a heartfelt quote from a senior signals officer of 12th SS Panzer (due to arrive GJS'44 on June 9-10th )... "Should we win this war, Kruger, [to one of his lieutenants] I shall write a book about why we should have lost it..."... For our first GJS campaign, the defending German BG was kicked off and dissolved... so you did well to hold firm.

Yeah this was a very tough one, but from where I'm standing it was a well deserved Allied victory. I have plenty of medals to dispatch home. Also, I would have loved to carry over a 3-star infantry unit with Sniper shot, but that's probably for a GJS in a different year.

It'll be annoying to wait now for June 7 .

GottaLove88s wrote:

Brummbar44 wrote:I don't see any Kangaroos or halftracks on my OOB? (updating it).

Bren carriers are the Brit equivalent of German 251/1 halftracks. They are on your original OOB. However, after doing further research, I've noticed that Allies had begun to use Kangaroos (which do much the same thing as Bren carriers but were a bit tougher) for some of their divisions around Caen... so I swapped some of your Bren carriers for 'Roos (think of them as equivalent to the German 251/9, although there's no way I'm letting you stick a 6pdr on it!)

Thanks for the reply Jon, understood.

I only see Trucks for the Axis OOB on the June 6 units...no halftracks so that's part of the reason I asked...not sure where it came from in the screen shot.

FYI, Kangaroos were a Canadian invention (Gen. Simonds) that weren't developed until August for operation Totalize...while they would've been a smashing idea for the beaches (and Caen!) they didn't exist prior. But we're happy to have them!

kingt wrote:So Roos won't hold any guns?

Name, HE Attack, AP Attack, Armour Rating

Bren Carrier, 20,11,8
Roo, 24,11, 28

251/1, 33, 10, 8
251/9, 33, 29, 8

Think of a Roo as a Bren Carrier with some armour... And a 251/9 as a 251/1 with a 37mm Stielgranate...

GottaLove88s wrote:

kingt wrote:So Roos won't hold any guns?

Name, HE Attack, AP Attack, Armour Rating

Bren Carrier, 20,11,8
Roo, 24,11, 28

251/1, 33, 10, 8
251/9, 33, 29, 8

Think of a Roo as a Bren Carrier with some armour... And a 251/9 as a 251/1 with a 37mm Stielgranate...

I mean won't they carry the guns from place to place when the guns want to travel to a new ambush location?

Later edit: Nevermind, I misread above. I thought that for some reason you won't let us transport ATG with Roos. But you mean you won't put a 6pdr on the Roo to make it 251/9-like powerful. No need to do that actually, I just want to get my 17pdr and 6pdrs inside the Roos, and then I'll do the rest

Sure they will... if a Bren can pull it, so can a Roo (get it! )

Brummbar44 wrote:FYI, Kangaroos were a Canadian invention (Gen. Simonds) that weren't developed until August for operation Totalize...while they would've been a smashing idea for the beaches (and Caen!) they didn't exist prior. But we're happy to have them!

Oops! Before I have enraged Germans posting that I'm being biased and generous to you guys...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_(armoured_personnel_carrier) wrote:History

In July 1944, Harry Crerar's First Canadian Army was concerned by manpower shortages and Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, commander of the II Canadian Corps, devised Kangaroos as a way of reducing infantry losses. The first Kangaroos were converted from 102 M7 Priest self-propelled guns of three field artillery regiments of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division who were involved in the initial assault on 6 June 1944.

These were no longer needed, as these regiments were re-equipped with towed 25 pounder guns in late July. At a field workshop (codenamed Kangaroo, hence the name) they were stripped of their 105mm guns, the front aperture welded over, then sent into service carrying twelve troops. They were first used on 8 August 1944 during Operation Totalize south of Caen.

So, yes Kangaroos did not see active service until 63 days after June 7th... I let you have a few because I've been reading (too much it seems) on the Normandy campaign and noticed that Roos were heavily used by Canadian 3rd ID (of which you have 3 brigades) around Caen... I'm just letting Lt Gen Simonds work his magic a couple of weeks earlier...

If anyone has a problem with Allies getting some 'Roos, please shout up now, and I'll convert 'em back to Bren carriers?

PS. Do Germans want to keep their 251/9s?

Again, we're happy to have them...the R&D was just a little ahead of it's time in this alternate reality

The Germans can't complain, they have halftracks where they shouldn't...so all seems fair here.

Brummbar44 wrote:Again, we're happy to have them...the R&D was just a little ahead of it's time in this alternate reality

The Germans can't complain, they have halftracks where they shouldn't...so all seems fair here.

I like the Roos, I'll trade you a few Brens for them

On a different topic, can we have the German and Allied orders of battle in xls format. Looking at the images is harder, and I can't select, make adjustments, update and so on. Thanks in advanced!

Brummbar44 wrote:FYI, Kangaroos were a Canadian invention (Gen. Simonds) that weren't developed until August for operation Totalize...while they would've been a smashing idea for the beaches (and Caen!) they didn't exist prior. But we're happy to have them!

Have done some more reflective research, and ok, I'm persuaded... For the sake of closer to historical accuracy, I've removed 'Roos from all Allied BGs except the Canadians and some of the specials, eg. 79th Armoured and Guards Armoured... I still feel Allies should get some 'Roos but they're now happily hopping around where they belong.

Brummbar44 wrote:
The Germans can't complain, they have halftracks where they shouldn't...so all seems fair here.

I have a different OOB than the one listed here! That explains things...could I please get an accurate OOB in xls? Thanks in advance...