CMBN Allies DAR Suzuya Vs Floki ***No Floki***

[Suzuya]

"The difference between the novice and the master is that the master has failed more times than the novice has tried."

Well since i have always fancied doing one of these here is my battle vs Floki in a small town located in the arse end of Holland, i was fairly lax on the specifications of the battle so we are duking it out in an urban AO with the dastardly Huns raising gloves against the jolly Brits.

While i'm a tad doubtful i'll manage to win this one this terrain should prove just as deadly to Floki's Germans as to my own men so with the cunning application of tactics and liberal appliance of HE i may be able to snatch victory.
For this bout i will be in command of the Brits and i have chosen to lead an airbourne unit into the fray. Given the lack of firepower the average commonwealth squad has they would have been i'll suited to city fighting and the small airbourne squads with lots of short ranged firepower are in their element.

The map is a meeting engagement with large points during an overcast day.

(I have forgotten to grab screens of the units so i will allow speech to suffice)

As the above shows the map is decently sized but very built up with open areas few and far between and i built my force composition to suit.
I've taken most of an airbourne battalion with all 5 companies, rather stupidly i accidentally kept the AT guns of A Coy so i have a number which will be of little use but no problem! No great victory can be won without small setbacks. In addition i dropped A Coys mortars as with so short lines of sight and such narrow areas i felt direct fire support would be preferable.

From each company i have ditched one PLT to bring them down to 3 (Aside from E Coy who only have 2) which i feel will be more manageable in a city and have attached at least one machinegun team to each company which i intend to use to lock down streets and key intersections.

For armoured support i have brought along 3 Shermans which will be attached one per company to allow some limited fire support and rapid response, i'm guessing Floki may have brought some Stummels or Stuhs for close range support so i'm hoping the Sherman attached to each Coy can support in case these show up. And to round off i have bought a Churchill AVRE, given that speed should not be much of an issue i'm hoping this will allow me to level any firing positions or HMG nests that get set up near the mid point of the map.

My initial movement will be as follows

The lines indicate where i intend to set up defenses and the X's are some points i expect Floki to secure with scouts if nothing more and have some of my heavier guns ready to kill anything that pushes out from those points.

One section from C Coy will be rushing forwards with a Bedford to try and at least get eyes into the forest before i arrive and D Coy in reserve unless needed elsewhere will be preparing to assault through E or reinforce C Coy should they manage to gain more ground than i expect to.

My main concern is that with a lot of points in wasted AT guns which i would have much rather had another Sherman PLT from i am spread quite thin, should Floki hit one area hard with a small mech element backed up by armour i will be hard pressed to hold and as soon as D Coy is committed i have no more reinforcements and no real fire support. Still unless a Panther or a Tiger shows up my Shermans give me a chance of dealing with it.

 

[Suzuya]

And turn one has already started with a bang, Floki did exactly what i hoped he wouldn't and has rushed a PLT of halftracks down a side road towards one of my objectives meaning i'll have to double time it to try and get in position to stop him entrenching.

However on the good news one of my AT guns emplaced on the main road has eyes on an enemy Pz4 and goes for a swing

and a hit! for no discernible result... drast.

Still i can still see him and the crew has already got the range so hopefully i can hit him again before Floki backs him out of sight.

 

[Suzuya]

Huzzah, the Pz4 was destroyed this turn as it attempted to retreat meaning at least one tank down, i don't expect Floki to have too many of these

My AVRE is sneaking forwards with my right flank ready to ambush the mechanized element that i saw rushing towards the objective on that flank

And the main contacts i have seen thus far

Red Arrows showcasing where i believe they will go and lines showing definite movement.

The arrow on the right was where a mech infantry PLT raced down the road out of LOS of my AT guns on the road and the ones on the left are as yet unknown vic contacts, given what i have seen i suspect these are halftracks dropping a vanguard to buy time for the regular infantry to move in and set up.

My squad that was moved up via truck will try to get some scouting information and perhaps ambush an unsuspecting squad should the chance arise.

 

[Suzuya]

Twas a sad turn as two brave pixeltrupen fell while scouting for Jerry

And poor Terry

The overview at the end of this turn looks like this

Red circles are known infantry positions with a suspected tank and scout team in the north on the main road, most of the armoured contacts shuffled around this turn and i am sure that at least one of the contacts on the left is a halftrack so i am sending C Coys Sherman to flush it out. On the right flank i am sending the AVRE closer to the front where B Coy has hostiles holing up in buildings, hopefully if i can pin them down with the infantry it can demolish Floki's front line but there is a possible armour contact with them so i will need to be cautious.

 

[Suzuya]

Another turn passes with more shuffling but while a few more troops were killed on my side one of the German firing positions has come into sight

Considering this has a 290MM main gun i almost feel bad for them, knowing my luck it will miss hit a tree and kill my own men however.

 

[Suzuya]

So i'm not sure if the AVRE has some issues with its main gun but for some reason it refused to fire it and instead just attacked with MGs, it had a 45 second attack window so i may have to assume that it is either bugged or needs very clear LOS to shoot.

On the left what i assumed was an enemy squad has turned out to be most of a platoon who hosed down one of my squads killing 3 men but i have reinforcements moving to pen them in and hopefully i can kill or at least push them back before Floki's reinforcements arrive

And on the right flank one of the contacts has been revealed to be another Pz4 so i am starting to get a grasp of my enemy's unit composition

Here is the current overview and finally some battle lines are being drawn

Green arrows and lines indicate my movement for this turn red arrows enemy movement with lines being expected. The situation on the right flank seems fine at the moment with the 3 green circles indicating kill zones i have set up with my machineguns and infantry to guard the flanks.

I would guess i have found about 4 PLTs of enemy infantry so far with two on the left and right respectfully and at least most of a PLT of Pz4s. Given that Floki has brought what i think is 44 panzergrenadiers given the large amount of MP44s and has brought halftracks for at least two of his platoons he seems to have gone for quality over quantity and may not have too many infantry with him.

 

[Suzuya]

For the suspected enemy platoon there were more troops hidden behind but it could just be a squad or two very split up at this time i don't have good enough recon in the trees to tell.

 

[DellieJonut]

FYI you were trying to fire that AVRE at its maximum range. Get a little closer and you'll definitely lob off a shell. I love watching them things in battle!

Good luck with the battle, it'll be fun to watch.

 

[Suzuya]

Ah thank you, i had never used it before and was wondering if perhaps there was an issue.

 

[Suzuya]

So mixed bag over these few turns, on the left flank my troopers and being thoroughly outgunned and positioned by Floki's troops with my advance squads in the forest taking hits from bunched together troops which i am struggling to punish

Instead of attacking these enemy forces where they currently are i am instead moving a PLT into a cordon around them and simply trying to keep them locked in place while i get the firepower or troops in position to allow me to move forwards.

The far left flank has turned out to have a decent amount of troops pushing hard, i have seen 2+ squads and i believe they are being supported by a tank with an unknown amount of troops in reserve

I am rushing one of my reserve platoons to the far flank where they can either reinforce my front line by the road intersection or hold my flank in-case Floki goes for a envelopment.

Good news however came from the right objective where Floki's lead Pz4 suddenly exploded much to my confusion, after replaying and looking close it turns out one of my PIAT troops scored the shot of the war with a single round through the turret front of a moving tank at 150 meters for which i will be giving the bloke a medal.

The tank advancing

After the shot

And the hit

What for, Tally Ho and a promotion for that man. With that Pz on the road knocked out my AVRE has far more room to maneuver and any attempt by Floki to re-occupy the buildings on the other side of the street should end poorly.

 

[Meat Grinder]

Nice. I'll be following both sides of this battle. Good luck, gentlemen.

 

[Suzuya]

So it turns out Floki had a small army hiding in a condo much to the unfortunate realisation of the squad who rushed into a firing position

The poor troopers

Floki's push into my flank

So overall the left flank is going horribly so far, 3 of my squads have been reduced to half strength or lower and 2 or 3 more have lost members and are either pinned or isolated. In an attempt to remedy this before it becomes seriously problematic i am rushing a platoon into the far left along with my tank to hopefully stem this attack but that means i only have one remaining PLT nearby not engaged and they are currently at the center of the map. I am going to have to decide soon whether to rush D Coy with their two remaining PLTs in to support which will leave the right flank with no reinforcements or withdraw and try and force a more favorable engagement deeper in the city.
Overview and movement

 

[eniced73]

Please tell me that your AVRE is close to that Kraut Kondo!! I would love to see a shell lobbed into one of those windows.

 

[Suzuya]

Oh if only, now that would have been a worthy action to allow my men to sit back and have a brew. Unfortunately the AVRE is on the right flank far away from this house, there is a Sherman maneuvering to attempt to dislodge them however getting a shot on the house is impossible without rolling out into the center of the street where i think Floki has a tank covering so for the time being it will be shelling the houses parallel and if i can just suppress that one building i can counter attack or at least regroup my surviving troops.

I do have a few 81 mil mortars in reserve so if possible i think i will drop some on that house and the surrounding area to weaken this push and i am planning on moving one of D Coys PLTs up to support and the remaining PLT and my center Sherman are ready to move to either flank when needed.

 

[Suzuya]

Busy few days so have only been able to get a few turns out but what has went down has been fairly disastrous for me, unless i am scoring plenty of casualties on Floki i cannot see then it has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Still if i am going to loose this then i intend to go out with a bang!
The left flank came under a blistering amount of fire from about 2 Platoons and a Pz4 that blew my first line of defenses to rubble, those Mp44's really are terrifying

Back at my spawn the spotting rounds that had been falling all over the map finally came in and blew the crews of my MG and AT gun team sitting at the rear apart, however the fire i sent back at the clock tower (The suspected location of the spotter) stopped the shells and there are enough crew left to run both systems and they were not that important at any rate.

To cap it off Floki seems to have Simo Häyhä or Shiba Tatsuya in his troops as a squad moving onto a ledge a single burst of MG fire with about 10 rounds killed 3 men.

Something good however did finally occur in the forest on the left flank where a team of Germans tried to rush a suppressed squad of my men but were flanked by the survivors of another squad and caused 3-4 casualties, Kanpai!

In addition a mortar barrage will arrive in a few turns on the houses sheltering Floki by the map border

And i am huffing a full PLT plus armour to support this flank.

The right flank while still quiet had Jerry poke his head into the firing line for a moment but my HMG emplaced at the top of the road convinced them to reconsider

So the overview looks like this at the current time.

My thoughts are making this look pretty bad at current, i went and made a mistake i usually do where in my eagerness to halt my opponents movement have spread my elements too thin and without ample support. If i continue to hold my current ground i am fairly sure Floki will simply poke until he finds a weak point and will them push through and the entire flank will crumble. With that in mind i think my only hope of success lies in one swift attack, if i can disrupt the attack on my flank and convince Floki that he needs to commit his reserves to hold me back then i may just be able to grind him down to a stalemate. I will need to see what happens on the left before i make that call but i have the troops moving to allow me to make whichever decision needs to be made.

 

[Suzuya]

On the left flank the houses sheltering most of the German troops finally got some return fire when one of my Shermans rolled up and put some shells and MG fire through the windows killing a few shooters

And a squad of Pixeltrupen on the right flank attempted to sneak into my lines and found one of my emplaced MG teams to the immediate regret of two of their number

 

[Gnarly]

Great read @Suzuya , subscribed to both sides of this story!

 

[Suzuya]

Damn and blast, well if we could describe the last few turns as bad then these 2-3 have been dismal. On the far the left with my extra tank arriving i thought i spied an opportunity to finally kill that Pz that had been shelling my houses for the past 3 turns and while my Sherman kept it locked in place (or so i thought) my 2nd tank rushed around the flank. Genius! Undefeatable! a blitzkrieg that could have been conceived by Guderian himself. Unless the Panzer rolled back a few feet... which of course it did, so instead of the glorious flank i had envisioned in my head my Sherman instead reenacted the charge of the light brigade and going full speed down the road (Co-ax's blazing it truly was a glorious sight) and discovered the pointy end of a high velocity anti-tank shell. Needless to say it ended poorly for me.

The forested objective has been a curious mix of learning and slamming my head against a wall, so far the learning portion has consisted of MP-44s being better than Stens and me being terrible at setting up fire lines in wooded terrain. I am also convinced that Floki has veteran or crack troops in the woods as even when he runs into treelines and sets up in view of my men his troops see and engage me first (Don't get me wrong the commander no doubt has a hand in this as well!) The two platoons originally holding the woods are mauled very severely at this point at are down to around a squad + of effectives and the likelihood of holding the contain for much longer is doubtful. Thankfully E Coys PLT holding the left side of the main road were unengaged and full strength so i have sprinted two squads over to try and help hold the flank. At the very least their current position will stop Floki advancing.

In the turn i missed being able to get screengrabs off an artillery barrage has been raining down on my held objective on the right flank, most of my men were deployed on the outskirts so were thankfully unscathed however the very first shells to rain in killed the bloody Coy commander his assistant and to rub salt in the wounds killed the Coy XO and his assistant. I honestly don't even have a response to that so i am just going to sit and simmer for a minute, aside from that the only casualties so far have been a 2inch mortar team and the SL of a squad trying to sprint out of the barrage.

 

[Gnarly]

I sense and sympathize with your frustration @Suzuya !

 

[Suzuya]

Quick update, i will be heading away for a week or so so no updates will be out for that period and the lack of updates was due to the holidays eating into available turns combined with a part of the game where not too much is happening so i was making a compilation of the five or so that had went by.