Ok -- have taken the plunge, bought this game and amd downloading it now -- hope it lives up to the promise.
Looking fwd to them taking on other theatres.
Looking fwd to them taking on other theatres.
DECISIVE CAMPAIGNS - THE BLITZ FROM WARSAW TO PARIS
- Thread starter Bootie
- Start date
B
Bert Blitzkrieg
Guest
The "waterland" depicts inundated fields which are/were below sealevel. They made it harder to cross.
B
Bert Blitzkrieg
Guest
A little extra info on the attack on the Netherlands in 1940: http://www.waroverholland.nl/
U
USS Wyoming
Guest
C'mon, I want more of the AAR, you tease!!
C
cillmhor
Guest
Great stuff Rico, once you have got to know the game, give me a shout and we can try a PBEM.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Thanks for that Bert, not a part of history I'm very familiar with at all.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Sorry work has reared its ugly head, I wont be able to get the next turn out until Monday...
Hi Cillmhor -- yep, got the game -- dabbled a bit with it yesterday evening, and yes, it's basically a really good-looking upgrade of the AT game engine -- works like a dream.
I struggle a bit to keep an overview of the strategic situation and the time limits set on scenarios do add a strain on the Germans
-- I can imagine the full France Campaign must be a beast to manage,Yes, keen on a PBEM -- any suggestions?
Thanks for the link -- the 1940 Holland battle so often gets ignored a side show to the France battle.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Hi Cillmhor -- yep, got the game -- dabbled a bit with it yesterday evening, and yes, it's basically a really good-looking upgrade of the AT game engine -- works like a dream.
I struggle a bit to keep an overview of the strategic situation and the time limits set on scenarios do add a strain on the Germans
Yes, keen on a PBEM -- any suggestions?
Yes, the gameplay and interface are slick and easy to pick up. The bigger games are beasts, but in multiplayer, you can divide the command a bit, to make things a bit more focused.
Once you feel up to it, we can try the Netherlands scenario if you want, its the smallest and simplest to play, you as the Germans. Drop me an email when you are ready for it. The key for the Germans in that one is to break the Dutch morale by destroying their forces, sa this tends to happen before the VP conidtion is triggered.
Heck -- why don't you start it up and send it over ricoschacherl(at)gmail.com -- and I'll kick my side off tonight or tomorrow.
I'd be happy to defend as Dutch as well, not fussy
I'd be happy to defend as Dutch as well, not fussy
C
cillmhor
Guest
Heck -- why don't you start it up and send it over ricoschacherl(at)gmail.com -- and I'll kick my side off tonight or tomorrow.
I'd be happy to defend as Dutch as well, not fussy
Okay dokey, I'll see who has to go first in the PBEM, as this will be my first
C
cillmhor
Guest
Turn 3.
We start in the south this time, and the 56th Division continues its advance on Eindhoven. We had driven the Dutch Light Division back in the last turn, and the 56th intends to continue the drive forwards. I have also sent Engineers over the river to be ready to repair the bridge next turn, one thing about Engineers is that they need to be in position to repair the bridge before the turn begins.
You can see that the Light Division has Dutch motorcycle troops, some light MGs and a handful of light tanks. I have recon of 240 on the Dutch troops, which means any info I have I can be reasonably sure it is accurate. So in the bottom left corner you can see some icons which represent different characteristics of the Dutch troops. The red arrows represent Action Points, I do not know how many they have. The fuel containers represent supply, again I do not have any intel on what the Dutch troops’ level is. The yellow hierarchy symbol is unit integrity, if this drops below a unit can break, unknown to me here. The green triangles represent readiness which is vital to offensive action, the Dutch have a poor rating here out of 100. The yellow stars represent XP, and the Dutch have reasonable XP it appears, probably boosted by their recent brush with the 56th. The blue flags represent morale, and that figure is very poor, which means that the Dutch will not stand long in the upcoming fight. And finally the yellow sandbags represent the level to which the unit is dug in, here we see they are not dug-in at all. The orange bar on the unit icon tells me that the unit strength is pretty low. Up top in the terrain window it tells me that they sit in open fields, so the chances of a successful attack here are very high.
First divisional arty softens them up. As you can see I have inflicted 100 casualties on the infantry. Not brilliant. This may be due to the fact that the arty only had 40 out of 100 APs left, as I had to move it up into range, before bombarding. So here is an instance of divisional arty being not so effective, despite the enemy being in fields and not dug in.
The resulting attack with 2 regiments of the 56th resulted in the Light Division breaking and so they’re out of the game. A lack of integrity probably put paid to them, but also if the retreat paths are controlled by you then a unit simply breaks, as it can not retreat to a friendly hex. In this case, a friendly hex was available, so the unit probably just broke under the attack.
I now have the Asten regiment facing me to the east of Eindhoven, I could level bomb them to soften them up for the next turn. But I feel I need to use my air power elsewhere this turn to try and make some progress against some tougher concentrations of Dutch troops further north.
Further north you can see that the 256th Reserve Division of Wodrig’s Corps have cut off a regiment of the Peel Division. The unit has no retreat option to a friendly hex, and is weakened, as well as being not very well dug in. You can also see the 526th 18th Army Reserve Division has made it up to the front. I have used my rail transfer allowance to move it up from the rear, as moving by road would have meant that it would not make it into the battle at all.
I use 256th and 9th Panzer arty to soften the Peel unit up. I remove 200 infantry and 100 Light MGs with the double bombardment, and the arty did not have to move so a prolonged bombardment was possible. Also I removed the entrenchment of the unit. So the upcoming combat should be swift. The more even a combat is, the longer it lasts, draining APs.
Above you can see that the concentric attack bonus is up at 60%, and divisional is at 40%. There is a slight overstacking penalty for the attacker, but this attack should go off with minimal losses. And it does, the Peel unit disintegrates quickly against the heavy attack. And the 9th Panzer is able to break the two other Peel units to the south, and a regiment of the 9th Panzer attack and breaks the 5th Division artillery unit which was guarding the bridge. The artillery was driven back in the first attack and broke under the second. A mismatch artillery against tanks. Also a valuable rail bridge intact to maintain supply.
Above we have the situation around Nijmegen, with Engineers having repaired one bridge, and now waiting until the next turn to repair the next. Also note that the Corps artillery highlighted has a lot more firepower than the divisional arty. I’m about to use it combined with the 254th’s Divisional arty to bombard the Dutch Brigade. So we’ll see here how devastating a big bombardment can be. The result was 600 infantry casualties, so quite a big difference. The 3rd regiment of the 254th follows up the barrage and in two attacks breaks the Dutch unit.
The 2nd regiment of the 254 ID (above) moves south to support the 1st regiment in an attack on a dug-in 6th Division unit. The unit info I have tells me that it has 39 entrenchment, not much but a bit, and that it has 100 readiness. So this attack could be a bit tougher. To make things a bit easier, I call in some of those bombers I have saved. As you can see from the screenshot below, I’m going to use Fliegerkorps VII, which is a bomber formation. The icon contains a ‘B’ after the korps number, which tells me this is bombing formation. Some HE-111s and JU-88s as well as fighter cover.
I unleash the bombers and they inflict 600 infantry casualties, and 100 light MGs. A good softening up of the target. The air raid has also given me recon of +400, which means my intel is spot on. Entrenchment is reduced to 1 point. And readiness of unit is now 24, and integrity is 74. And the air raid reveals that my initial intel’s estimates of enemy strength were incorrect, there is more Dutch infantry than I first anticipated. A two-regiment attack brings a quick breaking of the Dutch unit. If I had not made the bombardment, who knows how much harder the attack would have been.
Below the 254 ID first regiment highlighted still has 70 APs left, as it had not moved when the above attack took place. So it has a chance to attack a seemingly weakened 5th Division unit to the south. I’ll take the chance here for a one-regiment attack, with no air or arty support, just to keep things moving.
The Dutch retreat with 900 losses to my 200 losses. Not a bad result, and that unit will now be easy to defeat next turn.
Here is the situation at Rhenen further north still. I have moved Schmidt’s SS-Verfugunstruppe Division into position to help 7th Fleiger Division to clear out Dutch resistance. First up is Brigade B which is dug-in, has good morale and readiness. So in comes an airstrike to soften it up. Entrenchment reduced to 11, and readiness reduced, incurred 300 casualties. So still a fairly formidable force. Divisional arty and the last APs of Corps arty do 500 more casualties, and reduced entrenchment and readiness still further. The Corps commander could play an infantry attack card here, but I feel I should save this for a time of greater need. So two regiments assault Brigade B. The result it the Dutch panic and lose 900 troops. But do not retreat. Not sure why, but they remain. And if a unit remains like this, then the remnants of the battle add to the overstacking points of any subsequent battle in this hex this turn. There are 100 extra overstack points if want to attack this hex again this turn. I guess it simulates the disorganisation/confusion/logistics of units coming through to try and attack an area which has shortly before been attacked by other units already.
The screenshot below shows the aftermath of the SS-Verfugunstruppe attack, the remaining regiment cleared out the battered 2nd Division unit, and moves forward. The 7th Flieger is now ready to another 2nd Division unit and Brigade A to the north of Rhenen. The Dutch panic, but they inflict significant damage to the paratroopers again. But the retreat of the 2nd Division allows the 7th Fleiger to make it across the river.
And finally my efforts to force a greater bridgehead across the inundated area meet with mixed results. Brigades A and G are pushed back, but with some difficulty. Brigade G is given a mauling though, as it was defending in inundated polderland, which has a very poor defensive rating. I don’t pretend to understand all of the modifiers, but you can see that urban for instance gives good protection against air and arty strikes, and tanks don’t do too well attacking against infantry in towns and so on.
But the Huzaren at the bridge further north stop the SS Der Furher in their tracks inflicting heavy losses. So although things are beginning to open up in the south, the north still hangs in the balance. Still two more turns until I can drop the 22nd Luftlande, as they need 15pps not 10 as I first thought. That’s it for now... Turn 4 on Monday.
We start in the south this time, and the 56th Division continues its advance on Eindhoven. We had driven the Dutch Light Division back in the last turn, and the 56th intends to continue the drive forwards. I have also sent Engineers over the river to be ready to repair the bridge next turn, one thing about Engineers is that they need to be in position to repair the bridge before the turn begins.
You can see that the Light Division has Dutch motorcycle troops, some light MGs and a handful of light tanks. I have recon of 240 on the Dutch troops, which means any info I have I can be reasonably sure it is accurate. So in the bottom left corner you can see some icons which represent different characteristics of the Dutch troops. The red arrows represent Action Points, I do not know how many they have. The fuel containers represent supply, again I do not have any intel on what the Dutch troops’ level is. The yellow hierarchy symbol is unit integrity, if this drops below a unit can break, unknown to me here. The green triangles represent readiness which is vital to offensive action, the Dutch have a poor rating here out of 100. The yellow stars represent XP, and the Dutch have reasonable XP it appears, probably boosted by their recent brush with the 56th. The blue flags represent morale, and that figure is very poor, which means that the Dutch will not stand long in the upcoming fight. And finally the yellow sandbags represent the level to which the unit is dug in, here we see they are not dug-in at all. The orange bar on the unit icon tells me that the unit strength is pretty low. Up top in the terrain window it tells me that they sit in open fields, so the chances of a successful attack here are very high.
First divisional arty softens them up. As you can see I have inflicted 100 casualties on the infantry. Not brilliant. This may be due to the fact that the arty only had 40 out of 100 APs left, as I had to move it up into range, before bombarding. So here is an instance of divisional arty being not so effective, despite the enemy being in fields and not dug in.
The resulting attack with 2 regiments of the 56th resulted in the Light Division breaking and so they’re out of the game. A lack of integrity probably put paid to them, but also if the retreat paths are controlled by you then a unit simply breaks, as it can not retreat to a friendly hex. In this case, a friendly hex was available, so the unit probably just broke under the attack.
I now have the Asten regiment facing me to the east of Eindhoven, I could level bomb them to soften them up for the next turn. But I feel I need to use my air power elsewhere this turn to try and make some progress against some tougher concentrations of Dutch troops further north.
Further north you can see that the 256th Reserve Division of Wodrig’s Corps have cut off a regiment of the Peel Division. The unit has no retreat option to a friendly hex, and is weakened, as well as being not very well dug in. You can also see the 526th 18th Army Reserve Division has made it up to the front. I have used my rail transfer allowance to move it up from the rear, as moving by road would have meant that it would not make it into the battle at all.
I use 256th and 9th Panzer arty to soften the Peel unit up. I remove 200 infantry and 100 Light MGs with the double bombardment, and the arty did not have to move so a prolonged bombardment was possible. Also I removed the entrenchment of the unit. So the upcoming combat should be swift. The more even a combat is, the longer it lasts, draining APs.
Above you can see that the concentric attack bonus is up at 60%, and divisional is at 40%. There is a slight overstacking penalty for the attacker, but this attack should go off with minimal losses. And it does, the Peel unit disintegrates quickly against the heavy attack. And the 9th Panzer is able to break the two other Peel units to the south, and a regiment of the 9th Panzer attack and breaks the 5th Division artillery unit which was guarding the bridge. The artillery was driven back in the first attack and broke under the second. A mismatch artillery against tanks. Also a valuable rail bridge intact to maintain supply.
Above we have the situation around Nijmegen, with Engineers having repaired one bridge, and now waiting until the next turn to repair the next. Also note that the Corps artillery highlighted has a lot more firepower than the divisional arty. I’m about to use it combined with the 254th’s Divisional arty to bombard the Dutch Brigade. So we’ll see here how devastating a big bombardment can be. The result was 600 infantry casualties, so quite a big difference. The 3rd regiment of the 254th follows up the barrage and in two attacks breaks the Dutch unit.
The 2nd regiment of the 254 ID (above) moves south to support the 1st regiment in an attack on a dug-in 6th Division unit. The unit info I have tells me that it has 39 entrenchment, not much but a bit, and that it has 100 readiness. So this attack could be a bit tougher. To make things a bit easier, I call in some of those bombers I have saved. As you can see from the screenshot below, I’m going to use Fliegerkorps VII, which is a bomber formation. The icon contains a ‘B’ after the korps number, which tells me this is bombing formation. Some HE-111s and JU-88s as well as fighter cover.
I unleash the bombers and they inflict 600 infantry casualties, and 100 light MGs. A good softening up of the target. The air raid has also given me recon of +400, which means my intel is spot on. Entrenchment is reduced to 1 point. And readiness of unit is now 24, and integrity is 74. And the air raid reveals that my initial intel’s estimates of enemy strength were incorrect, there is more Dutch infantry than I first anticipated. A two-regiment attack brings a quick breaking of the Dutch unit. If I had not made the bombardment, who knows how much harder the attack would have been.
Below the 254 ID first regiment highlighted still has 70 APs left, as it had not moved when the above attack took place. So it has a chance to attack a seemingly weakened 5th Division unit to the south. I’ll take the chance here for a one-regiment attack, with no air or arty support, just to keep things moving.
The Dutch retreat with 900 losses to my 200 losses. Not a bad result, and that unit will now be easy to defeat next turn.
Here is the situation at Rhenen further north still. I have moved Schmidt’s SS-Verfugunstruppe Division into position to help 7th Fleiger Division to clear out Dutch resistance. First up is Brigade B which is dug-in, has good morale and readiness. So in comes an airstrike to soften it up. Entrenchment reduced to 11, and readiness reduced, incurred 300 casualties. So still a fairly formidable force. Divisional arty and the last APs of Corps arty do 500 more casualties, and reduced entrenchment and readiness still further. The Corps commander could play an infantry attack card here, but I feel I should save this for a time of greater need. So two regiments assault Brigade B. The result it the Dutch panic and lose 900 troops. But do not retreat. Not sure why, but they remain. And if a unit remains like this, then the remnants of the battle add to the overstacking points of any subsequent battle in this hex this turn. There are 100 extra overstack points if want to attack this hex again this turn. I guess it simulates the disorganisation/confusion/logistics of units coming through to try and attack an area which has shortly before been attacked by other units already.
The screenshot below shows the aftermath of the SS-Verfugunstruppe attack, the remaining regiment cleared out the battered 2nd Division unit, and moves forward. The 7th Flieger is now ready to another 2nd Division unit and Brigade A to the north of Rhenen. The Dutch panic, but they inflict significant damage to the paratroopers again. But the retreat of the 2nd Division allows the 7th Fleiger to make it across the river.
And finally my efforts to force a greater bridgehead across the inundated area meet with mixed results. Brigades A and G are pushed back, but with some difficulty. Brigade G is given a mauling though, as it was defending in inundated polderland, which has a very poor defensive rating. I don’t pretend to understand all of the modifiers, but you can see that urban for instance gives good protection against air and arty strikes, and tanks don’t do too well attacking against infantry in towns and so on.
But the Huzaren at the bridge further north stop the SS Der Furher in their tracks inflicting heavy losses. So although things are beginning to open up in the south, the north still hangs in the balance. Still two more turns until I can drop the 22nd Luftlande, as they need 15pps not 10 as I first thought. That’s it for now... Turn 4 on Monday.
R
Ratzki
Guest
Great read. The interface looks nice and clean. How does it feel?
C
cillmhor
Guest
I find the interface one of the best I've played. Pretty intuitive. The game is easy to pick up, but there is enough going on underneath to keep you interested. I've played other operational games, Art of War, Decisive Battles, and this is my favourite by quite some distance. It just has the right feel about it, difficult to put your finger on, but once these crucial elements are there, you just seem to know. All the information you need is there in the game, and as you progress, you uncover small nuances here and there. It it not perfect, the air model is very much a simplified abstraction. I have not played any boardgames, but I'm guessing this is like some of those. I have not read the manual yet, and yet I have still uncovered a lot about the game through the Matrix forums and just playing, I guess that tells you how good the interface is. With some other games I have played, I've been none the wiser as to how to play the game even after reading the manual front to back and back again!
R
Ratzki
Guest
That is good to hear. I have been left wanting with some of the previous titles, specially with the interface. I hate battling with it more then then enemy.
Looking forward to the appearance of the 22nd.
Looking forward to the appearance of the 22nd.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Turn 4.
Below shows how the 56th Division has moved up to Eindhoven and next turn the division will carry out an attack on the Aspen Regiment, which is dug-in in urban terrain, but which has low morale. So the victory should be fairly easy. Only one VP for Eindhoven, but the destruction of the Aspen unit will add to the percentage of Dutch casualties. Dutch casualties are running at 20% at the moment, if they go above 40%, the Dutch surrender.
And to the northeast of Tilburg a large concentration of Dutch troops has been uncovered. The 9th Panzer with arty and air support has broken a regiment from the 6th Division and next turn the 256 ID and 9th Panzer will begin an attack on the Light Division unit and the Zeeland unit.
I tried to attack the 7th Division with the SS Leibstandarte, but what I failed to notice was that it was dug-in and had a 25% defender bonus attached to the unit, sloppy on my part and the Germans took 1000 losses in the attack while doing no damage to the defenders. Shows the dangers of attacking without a clear advantage. Also due to the SS morale, they kept attacking despite the losses, and so suffered heavier losses.
South of Amersfoot the Huzaren moved back and allowed the Das Furher to move across the bridge, an AI mistake. But my follow-up attack results in more heavy losses for the SS.
Below I decide to send a recon air mission out over Utrecht, and it uncovers the II Corps HQ and another concentration of Dutch troops. This was to be my intended target for the 22nd Luftlande drop next turn, but after looking at this, I may need to drop them to the north to avoid the enemy units.
Here the 7th Flieger is going to attack a regiment of the Dutch 4th Division, which I have bombed, and which you can see is suffering from one of the random penalties which can afflict the Dutch troops due to their poor command and control and the poor quality of their commanders. Here the -50% in red and blue means that the unit suffers from a -50% combat penalty in this turn as a defender (blue) and as an attacker (red). So an ideal time to attack.
With all those penalties, and a divisional attack from the 7th, the Dutch break in double time. Meanwhile I have removed the Brigade G east of Doorn and two units of the 2nd Division remain dug-in in heavy forest, so I will wait until I can bring enough force to bear before attacking them, as I do not think I will succeed given the current odds.
And in the centre Engineers are poised to repair the bridge at Tiel next turn after the SS VT cleared out the defender there and now they sit poised to take on the 5th Division next turn. I may use the Corps commander’s Infantry Attack card then to make sure the attack succeeds. And two other infantry divisions from the IXL Corps move up into the gap to help break the Dutch line.
Below shows how the 56th Division has moved up to Eindhoven and next turn the division will carry out an attack on the Aspen Regiment, which is dug-in in urban terrain, but which has low morale. So the victory should be fairly easy. Only one VP for Eindhoven, but the destruction of the Aspen unit will add to the percentage of Dutch casualties. Dutch casualties are running at 20% at the moment, if they go above 40%, the Dutch surrender.
And to the northeast of Tilburg a large concentration of Dutch troops has been uncovered. The 9th Panzer with arty and air support has broken a regiment from the 6th Division and next turn the 256 ID and 9th Panzer will begin an attack on the Light Division unit and the Zeeland unit.
I tried to attack the 7th Division with the SS Leibstandarte, but what I failed to notice was that it was dug-in and had a 25% defender bonus attached to the unit, sloppy on my part and the Germans took 1000 losses in the attack while doing no damage to the defenders. Shows the dangers of attacking without a clear advantage. Also due to the SS morale, they kept attacking despite the losses, and so suffered heavier losses.
South of Amersfoot the Huzaren moved back and allowed the Das Furher to move across the bridge, an AI mistake. But my follow-up attack results in more heavy losses for the SS.
Below I decide to send a recon air mission out over Utrecht, and it uncovers the II Corps HQ and another concentration of Dutch troops. This was to be my intended target for the 22nd Luftlande drop next turn, but after looking at this, I may need to drop them to the north to avoid the enemy units.
Here the 7th Flieger is going to attack a regiment of the Dutch 4th Division, which I have bombed, and which you can see is suffering from one of the random penalties which can afflict the Dutch troops due to their poor command and control and the poor quality of their commanders. Here the -50% in red and blue means that the unit suffers from a -50% combat penalty in this turn as a defender (blue) and as an attacker (red). So an ideal time to attack.
With all those penalties, and a divisional attack from the 7th, the Dutch break in double time. Meanwhile I have removed the Brigade G east of Doorn and two units of the 2nd Division remain dug-in in heavy forest, so I will wait until I can bring enough force to bear before attacking them, as I do not think I will succeed given the current odds.
And in the centre Engineers are poised to repair the bridge at Tiel next turn after the SS VT cleared out the defender there and now they sit poised to take on the 5th Division next turn. I may use the Corps commander’s Infantry Attack card then to make sure the attack succeeds. And two other infantry divisions from the IXL Corps move up into the gap to help break the Dutch line.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Turn 5.
Dutch losses now stand at 27%, German losses at 4%. But I still am way short of the VP count I require, so the Dutch surrender is my only option for victory. If you were to play against a human, I would presume they would try and strike the balance between giving ground so as not to accumulate too many casualties too quickly, but at the same time trying not to give up too many VPs either.
In the south the enemy has abandoned Eindhoven, and so I send the 56th to flank Tilburg to the south, and the 255 ID has been moved by rail up to the front to help with the attack.
Below the Zeeland regiment has moved into a dangerous position and I use the 18th Army 526 ID to attack it, so that I can save my Panzers and Wodrig’s infantry units for forward operations. In the ensuing attack they take massive losses being left with 700 infantry, but they remain where they are. I’ll leave them now to be mopped up next turn.
I Move the 9th Panzer into position to take on the Dutch Light Division, with one Panzer regiment moving to the rear to increase the concentric attacking bonus. I will use infantry and air to soften it up before going in with the Panzers. Arty inflicts 400 casualties, the bombers inflict 1100 casualties, but since there is a flak unit nearby, I lose 10 bombers. In other scenarios, Spitfires can inflict heavy casualties on German bombers, if they are within range. The subsequent attack from 9th Panzer quickly breaks the Dutch Light infantry. The Panzers have enough APs to maul the arty and flak units which were beside the Light Division, and so the road to Tilburg is almost open.
Schmidt will play his infantry attack card this turn for the SS VT to help with their attack on elements of the 5th Division. As you can see below they now attack with a 25% (red) bonus. And as you can see they have removed two units of the 5th Division and almost taken out Brigade G, so it was a successful attack, and was worth playing the infantry card.
Below you can see Schmidt highlighted and that he has another card available still, this is the Achtung Panzer card, which gives an attack bonus to tanks. In this case Schmidt has no Panzers under his command, but you can transfer unit from one Corps to another, which means that if I had wanted to I could have transferred 9th Panzer under Schmidt’s command and played the card on them. But this would mean moving 9th Panzer up to within 10 hexes of Schmidt to make sure they got the bonus. But transferring units from one HQ to another can be useful for supply purposes etc.
The situation south of Amersfoot remains a thorn in my side, with Dutch defenders dug in and in tough terrain. First the two 2nd Division units, which have not separated, perhaps to avoid overstacking penalties, but one of them lost some of its entrenchment benefits with the move. A 100% concentric attack on the 2nd Division unit further west sends it retreating east with heavy losses, so now the two 2nd Division units sit together ready for the final attack. And the pocket is cleared.
And now to the far north where the crossing at and south of Amersfoot must be secured. East of Amersfoot the 2nd Division’s artillery finally presents an east target for the SS Leibstandarte, and it has an infantry division in support now. The attack reveals that more Dutch defenders sit in Amersfoot, and with the Huzaren further south and the 7th Division hemming us in, it’s time to drop the 22nd Luftlande just west of Amersfoot to help dislodge this stubborn resistance.
And here are the results of the drop, the 22nd’s drop scattered and they are right among the Dutch troops! The next turn should be interesting, as I now feel I can put a severe dent in the defence around Amersfoot and Utrecht. And one of my 22nd regiments took losses as they dropped too close to the enemy.
Dutch losses now stand at 27%, German losses at 4%. But I still am way short of the VP count I require, so the Dutch surrender is my only option for victory. If you were to play against a human, I would presume they would try and strike the balance between giving ground so as not to accumulate too many casualties too quickly, but at the same time trying not to give up too many VPs either.
In the south the enemy has abandoned Eindhoven, and so I send the 56th to flank Tilburg to the south, and the 255 ID has been moved by rail up to the front to help with the attack.
Below the Zeeland regiment has moved into a dangerous position and I use the 18th Army 526 ID to attack it, so that I can save my Panzers and Wodrig’s infantry units for forward operations. In the ensuing attack they take massive losses being left with 700 infantry, but they remain where they are. I’ll leave them now to be mopped up next turn.
I Move the 9th Panzer into position to take on the Dutch Light Division, with one Panzer regiment moving to the rear to increase the concentric attacking bonus. I will use infantry and air to soften it up before going in with the Panzers. Arty inflicts 400 casualties, the bombers inflict 1100 casualties, but since there is a flak unit nearby, I lose 10 bombers. In other scenarios, Spitfires can inflict heavy casualties on German bombers, if they are within range. The subsequent attack from 9th Panzer quickly breaks the Dutch Light infantry. The Panzers have enough APs to maul the arty and flak units which were beside the Light Division, and so the road to Tilburg is almost open.
Schmidt will play his infantry attack card this turn for the SS VT to help with their attack on elements of the 5th Division. As you can see below they now attack with a 25% (red) bonus. And as you can see they have removed two units of the 5th Division and almost taken out Brigade G, so it was a successful attack, and was worth playing the infantry card.
Below you can see Schmidt highlighted and that he has another card available still, this is the Achtung Panzer card, which gives an attack bonus to tanks. In this case Schmidt has no Panzers under his command, but you can transfer unit from one Corps to another, which means that if I had wanted to I could have transferred 9th Panzer under Schmidt’s command and played the card on them. But this would mean moving 9th Panzer up to within 10 hexes of Schmidt to make sure they got the bonus. But transferring units from one HQ to another can be useful for supply purposes etc.
The situation south of Amersfoot remains a thorn in my side, with Dutch defenders dug in and in tough terrain. First the two 2nd Division units, which have not separated, perhaps to avoid overstacking penalties, but one of them lost some of its entrenchment benefits with the move. A 100% concentric attack on the 2nd Division unit further west sends it retreating east with heavy losses, so now the two 2nd Division units sit together ready for the final attack. And the pocket is cleared.
And now to the far north where the crossing at and south of Amersfoot must be secured. East of Amersfoot the 2nd Division’s artillery finally presents an east target for the SS Leibstandarte, and it has an infantry division in support now. The attack reveals that more Dutch defenders sit in Amersfoot, and with the Huzaren further south and the 7th Division hemming us in, it’s time to drop the 22nd Luftlande just west of Amersfoot to help dislodge this stubborn resistance.
And here are the results of the drop, the 22nd’s drop scattered and they are right among the Dutch troops! The next turn should be interesting, as I now feel I can put a severe dent in the defence around Amersfoot and Utrecht. And one of my 22nd regiments took losses as they dropped too close to the enemy.
C
cillmhor
Guest
Turn 6.
Dutch losses stand at 38% at the beginning of this turn, so a couple of battles and this game will be over.
In the south the Dutch resistance is almost at an end, the 56 ID and the 9th Panzer have pushed back the Dutch defenders once more. The move of Tilburg continues unabated, and things look grim for the remaining Dutch defenders.
Here is the 1st Division defending the crossing east of Gornichem, this is one of the few crossings left to the west and the major Dutch cities, as the AI played the inundate the second waterline card, which creates an second inundated waterline for the Dutch to defend wiping out a lot of rail and road links.
And so we have the situation east of Utrecht, two units of the 22nd Luftlande cannot receive supplies at the moment, but by the end of this round of attacks they should be able to receive supplies again. That’s the danger of dropping airborne troops too far behind enemy lines, you may not be able to link up with the before they run out of supply. In the east there is also an isolated unit of the Dutch 7th Division, which I will take care of with cavalry.
In the subsequent attacks the 7th Division in the pocket is destroyed along with the two battered Brigade A units, and the Naard regiment is pushed north, and so we have linked up with the isolated Luftlande units and are ready to push on to help flank the defenders further north near Amersfoot.
And below you can see how the troop levels have panned out over the five days of the entire campaign. The Germans have actually gone up due to my cards netting me two Airborne Divisions, where as the Netherlands’ troops have almost halved. You can pick troop types also, such as medium tanks etc. Looking at this should be reserved for the end of a game if you don’t want to spoil the fog of war, as you can see whether the enemy has planes of tanks etc.
Turn 7.
No pics here. I had made a mistake with how the Dutch surrender. I thought wrongly that it was based on losses, but losses only contribute to the erosion of the base morale! So what has to happen is that the Dutch base morale has to drop below 40, it is now at 37, and for every point under 40 it is there is a 20% increase in the chance that the Dutch will capitulate. So on turn 7 despite the Dutch having 47% losses, they did not surrender as their surrender is based on chance and being below 40 base morale! Doh!
I carried on with my attacks on Turn 7, no need for pictures now, as it is a case of mopping up the last of the resistance.
Turn 8.
And so as the screenshot shows on the final day of the scenario May 17th the Germans won. It was a bit closer than I wanted, and the AI is not bad, and you can do it some favours with help and variants. It does some stupid things from time to time, but in general plays a fairly canny game.
Hope you enjoyed the game.
Dutch losses stand at 38% at the beginning of this turn, so a couple of battles and this game will be over.
In the south the Dutch resistance is almost at an end, the 56 ID and the 9th Panzer have pushed back the Dutch defenders once more. The move of Tilburg continues unabated, and things look grim for the remaining Dutch defenders.
Here is the 1st Division defending the crossing east of Gornichem, this is one of the few crossings left to the west and the major Dutch cities, as the AI played the inundate the second waterline card, which creates an second inundated waterline for the Dutch to defend wiping out a lot of rail and road links.
And so we have the situation east of Utrecht, two units of the 22nd Luftlande cannot receive supplies at the moment, but by the end of this round of attacks they should be able to receive supplies again. That’s the danger of dropping airborne troops too far behind enemy lines, you may not be able to link up with the before they run out of supply. In the east there is also an isolated unit of the Dutch 7th Division, which I will take care of with cavalry.
In the subsequent attacks the 7th Division in the pocket is destroyed along with the two battered Brigade A units, and the Naard regiment is pushed north, and so we have linked up with the isolated Luftlande units and are ready to push on to help flank the defenders further north near Amersfoot.
And below you can see how the troop levels have panned out over the five days of the entire campaign. The Germans have actually gone up due to my cards netting me two Airborne Divisions, where as the Netherlands’ troops have almost halved. You can pick troop types also, such as medium tanks etc. Looking at this should be reserved for the end of a game if you don’t want to spoil the fog of war, as you can see whether the enemy has planes of tanks etc.
Turn 7.
No pics here. I had made a mistake with how the Dutch surrender. I thought wrongly that it was based on losses, but losses only contribute to the erosion of the base morale! So what has to happen is that the Dutch base morale has to drop below 40, it is now at 37, and for every point under 40 it is there is a 20% increase in the chance that the Dutch will capitulate. So on turn 7 despite the Dutch having 47% losses, they did not surrender as their surrender is based on chance and being below 40 base morale! Doh!
I carried on with my attacks on Turn 7, no need for pictures now, as it is a case of mopping up the last of the resistance.
Turn 8.
And so as the screenshot shows on the final day of the scenario May 17th the Germans won. It was a bit closer than I wanted, and the AI is not bad, and you can do it some favours with help and variants. It does some stupid things from time to time, but in general plays a fairly canny game.
Hope you enjoyed the game.
A
AirborneBob
Guest
Great compendeum..is there a next battle.....