Slitherine

Game AAR1: GL88 as Allies (see Enric's report on AAR1 for the German moves)

Folks, Enric & I have made a gentlemens' agreement to spend <400 on King Tigers, Panthers and Tigers during force selection. We're going to play it out in an after action report (AAR) style so our (my ) shame and embarrassment will be horribly public. It will make it easy to see whether capping the Germans to two heavy tanks evens up the odds and makes 2.0.4 more fun again...

The map is Meeting Engagement Redux started in BA 2.0.4.

1. FORCE SELECTION FOR ALLIES

Meeting Engagement is a biiiiiig map, where the trick is being first to figure out where your enemy is hiding. That means max out on scouts and other infantry. Once you've found the enemy, bombardment units are useful from range, so max out on Priests, take the Calliope, and some mortars/AT guns. I can only take 3 transports so lets have 'em. The extra firepower from the Sherman 76 is a no brainer over the regular Sherman (when I know I'm going head to head with German heavies), while the extra firepower (and defence) of the M36 Jackson makes it the better choice for a tank destroyer. An M18 Hellcat would have been nice for its speed but the defence is poor, so I'm going to try to live without it...

1ST TURN (25 remaining)

Everything starts pretty bunched up, with similar units all in the same place, ie. Shermans with Shermans, engineers with engineers, so first thing is to reorganise things a little, the way that I want it...
I'll send four Shermans forward, two to the right... load up with the two mortars (they're usually useful earlier in the game) and one of the AT guns, leaving the other to sit patiently for awhile... the infantry are steadily marched towards the town... I made a mistake here because it's smarter to leave one space gaps between units, particularly this early in the game, where an experienced opponent (eg. Enric) knows pretty much where I'm going to start and might just target his artillery or a fighter-bomber there.
I remember to leave the one space gaps for my M36s and Calliope, moving along the road towards the village
Meeting Engagement is fun but it's a sloooooooow slog at the beginning, to get into the action spots, nearer to the town, so you might want to tune out for awhile...

2ND TURN (24 remaining)

First Contact: There's a corner of the map (northwest corner if you imagine the Germans starting in the north and the US in the south) where two opposing scouts start very close to each other. Usually one gets to see the other when it breaks cover from the trees. Here, I can see the German scout running to a tree line. He's out of range of my scout, and he's too far for my Priests or Calliope to bombard. I could set up an air raid for next turn but he'll be safely into the protection of the trees, so I'll save it for something juicier. For now, sit and watch.
Keep bringing the Priests forwards so that (hopefully) the next juicy target should be within range.
Meanwhile, bring the AT guns and mortar towards the town, using the roads because the halftrack transports move MUCH further on them than on snow.

3RD TURN (23 remaining)

Use the scout to take the first flag, at the edge of the woods in the centre of the map, and move back into the forest (where it's safer but I can still watch for his tanks)
Use another scout to push into the woods in the southeast corner of the map (imagining Germans start at the north, US at the south). Watch but don't run for the flag because I'm sure he's out there somewhere. Switch "hold fire" on so the scout doesn't accidentally reveal his position.
Use a third scout to take the flag at the bottom of the map. Push everything else forwards. Drop the mortar, out of sight behind the trees, to go back for the remaining AT gun.

4TH TURN (22 remaining)

A whole lotta watching going on...

Scout in the central woods can overview the area between the woods and the town where the German panzers usually emerge.
Second scout makes it across into the forest, moving closer to the German parts of the town. US ranger sneaks along the hedge to support him.
Sherman 76s move forwards.

5TH TURN (21 remaining)

That didn't go so well. 262 bomb run takes out my scout in the central woods (no more helpful view). And a German scout moving the other way (presumably planning to sneak into the house) catches my ranger in the open. Enric's scout (with support fire from a Panther the other side of the hedge) puts down the ranger.
I set a bomb run on the scout and an artillery barrage on the Panther (would be nice if he's got two of them there).
M36s move to back up the scout watching in the woods in the southeast corner. No contact with Enric yet at this end. I wonder if he's chosen a King Tiger and it's gradually meandering this way?

6TH TURN (20 remaining)

His scout finds my scout and batters it, with support from the Panther. Suppressed. Since there's no morale rally button in Meeting Engagement, the Panther knows he's safe and even turns his ass towards me (looking out for my Shermans). What a snub!

First things first. Move the suppressed scout further into the woods so the Panther can't take it out next turn. His infantry will find me but it might buy me some time to recover.
Change of plans for the Shermans. I know his Panther is there. It's got much higher stats than any individual Sherman (Panther ArmourPiercing 88, HighExplosive 39, ArmourDefence 86, Speed 32 versus each Sherman 76 at AP 71, HE 34, DEF 53, SPD 24). I can't take him on front-to-front, even as a team, so I redirect the group to seek opportunities for side shots.
Use the M36s to suppress the nearest woods. He's bound to have his scout in there somewhere. No complaints heard so I guess he's not there. Try different squares next time.

7TH TURN (19 remaining)

Things are now going badly at both ends of the map. It's my own fault because I'm forgetting (or not being able to put into practice) the cardinal rule of keeping infantry everywhere that I plan to use my armour... and having taken down two of my scouts and a ranger, Enric's exposing my blindnesses...

In the southeast corner woods, his King Tiger reveals itself and takes out one of my two M36s (the blackened wreckage in the top centre). Boom. Goodnight.
It would be unwise to take on the KT with my feeble M36 so I bombard his infantry in the trees (wounded/suppressed rather than a kill sadly) and a visible PzIV. The PzIVs morale falls to 44. Aha suppressed! I bring up the M36 to take out the IV next turn. His infantryman can't see me.

So far, painful but not disastrous, I've got a 6-pdr AT gun in a house, ready to take his Puma and soften his KT. Zero chance of anything on the KT at this angle/distance and I don't want to reveal my position by taking the Puma. I bring up fire support including Priests, Calliope and mortars. If the M36 can take the PzIV, everything else should be able to suppress the KT.
Disappointment at the other end of the map. My perfectly targeted artillery barrage (set three turns ago) makes a beautiful pattern encircling Enric's Panther and Puma, reducing the Panther's morale to, wait for it, 121... this is going to be a loooooooong war, lol... the Puma is barely scratched also. I keep my suppressed scout hidden in the trees. His infantry is in here with me somewhere, but I don't want to find them until my morale gets back over 50.
Shermans continue forwards towards opportunities on the Panther...

8TH TURN (18 remaining)

Oh for the love of... Enric rolls up a transport straight into the loving arms of my AT gun... I assume he tries to unload but it won't let him, instantly warning him that something is lurking inside... his transport jumps back and all hell breaks loose as his armour unload into my AT gun which lamely fails to defend itself and quietly dies (follow the line of the KT's gun straight to the house with the roof missing; that's where my feeble 6pdr used to be)... sigh, lol
Too bad. I'm still confident because I've set up a reasonably robust defence, to the left of Enric's attack force. Out of his line of sight and ready to ambush, I've hidden another 6pdr AT gun, 2x mortars, 2x Priests, two Shermans, a Calliope, a couple of infantry to act as spotters and three halftracks, in case I need to pull out fast or to mop up Enric's infantry if things go well. I pour some bombardment onto the King Tiger, barely scratching it, and also onto the StuG that took my AT gun's surrender a moment ago (again no kill and a disappointing morale of 70).
The main battle is not a going to be a safe place for a weakly armoured M36 to play head-to-head with StuGs and the KT, so I take my M36 forward to finish off the 44 morale PzIV from last turn, and... BOOM!... a 125 morale PzIV takes me out. One shot... He must have had TWO of them... Man this is desperate.
Ok, it's all falling apart at the seams. What's the strategy now? The two PzIVs, I can do nothing about right now. Enric's main strike force that I can see, one KT, two StuGs, two Pumas, a transport and infantry are coming right into my ambush zone. It's fingers' crossed time.

9TH TURN (17 remaining)

Mmmm... it's worth seeing the during and after shots here to realise how comprehensively Enric's taking apart my carefully prepared ambushes...

First he's bombarded one of my two Priests (smouldering ruin in both photos), then he's used a scout to attack my scout in the house on the right, killing it and replacing it. Enric's scout then takes out the adjacent AT gun, probably with bombard support from an unknown source. Once again, another AT gun fails to defend itself with any response to the new enemy scout right next door [NOTE TO SELF: GO WITH ALL MORTARS NEXT TIME!! ]
The second photo shows my armour and AT gun ruins, and the German scout that has replaced the US one in a house on the right; there's also a King Tiger and a Puma in view. I bombard the scout, reducing its morale down to 47, although it's still 3/3 full strength. I really want to bring my halftrack into play to fire on the scout, but I can't because given my current run of luck, the Puma might take it out with response fire as soon as it moves into sight. So I mortar the Puma, bringing morale down to 80 something, and fire on it with the Calliope, reducing morale to 62. Ungf! Not even suppressed let alone retreating. Sadly, my evil plan to bring the M3 halftrack around the house to fire on the scout won't happen, not this turn at least.

Having lost the two AT guns, the scout and the Priest, it's going to be harder to suppress the King Tiger, but if I can, the two Shermans and Calliope should cope with his other armour, the three halftracks and remaining infantry can deal with his scouts, so long as I can suppress his armour.
My band of expeditionary Shermans is now wheeling around at the northern end of the map... hoping to catch his Panther, etc... But what originally seemed like a clever strategy to catch Enric unguarded now looks distinctly like an unwise division of my fighting forces...

10TH TURN (16 remaining)

Ok, here he comes... within sight, 2x StuGs, 2x Puma, King Tiger and a PzIV... I know there's a second PzIV out there too, from hitting it earlier and finding a fully repaired one immediately afterwards... his infantry take out my infantry waiting in the house (centre of photo 10a) supported by one of his halftracks. Enric uses his King Tiger to fire on a Sherman 76, which previously lined to face the enemy, retreats off to look at some trees, showing off its vulnerable side armour... Eek!... Unsurprisingly this free gift is gobbled... No more 76.
Well, no point in fighting to the bitter end. My planned ambush is now a shambles, down 2x AT guns, a scout, a Priest, a 76 and the infantry in the house... all in this single action... Time to pull back and find a better place to fight... preferably luring in smaller numbers of enemy, rather than the current brilliantly coordinated, unstoppable rush. I try to sneak out one of my M3 halftracks through the gap in the houses, avoiding exposure to the StuG and Puma on the right... Unfortunately, BOOM!, the Puma at the top catches it in reaction fire. One M3 lost. Two more to save.

I use the mortar and the Priest for bombardment fire, to slow Enric down; the mortar reduces one Puma's morale from 100 to 67, no kill, no suppression; following up with the Calliope, firing twice on the other Puma to reduce its morale from 100 to 81, then to 62. Again no kill, no suppression. The lack of fire effectiveness has convinced me that a pullout is the right tactic this time. Everything else is pulled back to safety, setting fighter-bomber and artillery traps to catch Enric as he chases me.
The only small good news is that I've finally found his Panther with my forward attack group of Shermans. I split them into two groups of two to take him in a pincer movement. If I'm lucky, I might find a Wespe or two back here as well...

It's worth noting (confessing) at this point that as things presently stand I'm down two AT guns, two M36s, one Priest self-propelled artillery, one infantry, one ranger, three scouts and and that M3, more than half of those lost in the failed ambush... And so far, Enric HASN'T LOST A SINGLE UNIT... I've suppressed plenty but taken nothing... It looks like the writing's on the wall for this game, and it's written auf Deutsch, lol

11TH TURN (15 remaining)

Use the remaining Priest to bombard the King Tiger to attempt to suppress it (morale falls from 82 to 53).
Use the Sherman 76 to fire on the SdKfz 251 transport to slow down the infantry wave (morale falls from 83 to 33; the halftrack retreats behind the King Tiger).
Infantry supporting one of the Shermans attempting to pincer Enric's Panther discover a scout but are immediately fired upon and suppressed. Use the 76 to soften the German scout.
Strangely, the artillery barrage I had set last turn appears to have cleared itself [any idea why this happens sometimes?]. I reset a new barrage further up. As expected, Enric's moving in for the kill, and he's doing it fast.

12TH TURN (14 remaining)

Enric's fighter bomber softens and exposes my Sherman 76 which is then bombarded twice. He brings up a StuG, which is fired on once in reaction fire, but the StuG destroys the 76 with its second shot.

I think Enric transports (the 251 I didn't get last turn, I wonder?) an infantryman into one of the houses in front of my Priest. Oops, no more safety there for me. He ambushes from within the house but the Priest manfully defends itself (infantry morale down to 9). Unfortunately, in doing so, the Priest exposes its vulnerable side which is easily taken by a fast moving Puma.

With no more artillery and no armour left of my original southeast ambush force, I pull the transports back with their valuable infantrymen. My four Sherman 76s surround Enric's lone Panther back in the northwest woods, but it's only a Pyrrhic gesture by now...

With 14 turns remaining, there's only one question... can I do anything useful with the four Sherman 76s and support infantry that I've moved to the wrong end of the map? and if the answer quickly becomes an obvious "no", then it's time to resign...

Nicely played Enric.

13TH TURN (13 remaining)

Oh well, that answers my question from last turn, hehe... All the action is in the woods northwest of town... The 76 notices Enric's scout moving and fires on it, killing it... Enric's Puma emerges and is taken in reaction fire by a Sherman... His Panther re-emerges, takes out the nearest Sherman and reduces morale of another... He brings up his main force for the coup de grace... I'm one Sherman down; if I lose another it's all over.

I close up the partnered Sherman 76s in hunt mode to fire on the Marder III... the first fires twice and suppresses the Marder's morale to 50. The second is out of range of the Marder, but can target the Panther... minimal effect gets morale down to 81... The solo Sherman 76 that took out the scout takes a targeted pop at the Marder... unfortunately, that was pushing my luck too much. The Panther fires in reaction... another Sherman down.
Unit review... what's left? Two 76s with near to suppression morales of 54 and 67, two healthy transports, two 5/5 rangers in the northwest trees, a 2/5 infantry and a 3/3 scout in the houses, all acting as eyes for the 76s, and three 5/5 infantry in the woods watching his main force closing.

Predictions: Enric's Panther (morale 111) is about to toast my 76s. With the rest of his armoured force approaching, I can't hope to reach and hold flags with only two transports and seven infantry.

Congratulations Enric... this one's yours, nicely done!