fivefivesix WWII DAR Thread: "HILL 82"

[fivefivesix]

Not gonna lie, I quit the game after watching that replay - had to give it 24 hours to lick my wounds before jumping back in to return the file. Elements of B company can hear the enemy armored car as it makes a short circuitous route behind the ridge line:



I pushed an M3 M2HB forward a few meters to see if I could catch the armored car in the flank. The Italian crew spotted my halftrack first and a short blast of 20mm fire raked across the front of my vehicle. The enemy car was halting as it fired, so the majority of rounds sailed high. A single round penetrated high on the driver-side windshield, killing Pvt. Cowan from Weapons platoon HQ. Both vehicles stared each other down for a split second as I prepared to regret another 60 seconds of poor command choices. As the armored car lets a volley of MG fire towards my halftrack:

(Admittedly the gif would be better with sound but thats what I could figure out for now). But who took out the enemy vehicle? Had a lucky stray rifle round caused the enemy car to explode? I replayed the scene several times before I realized who my savior had been:

 

[fivefivesix]

"FIRE!"



Both guns from 1st and 2nd squad antitank team get in on the action. 2nd squad (above) gets the first hit, and then 2 more penetrations follow in short succession:



I normally find AT guns to be pretty useless, especially the 57mm variety - however, things are different in Italy and in this case I kept the entire battery allotted to this infantry battalion. I have to hand it to these 57mm AT guns, they've bailed me out several times during this battle. My opponent and I agreed to a ME with mixed forces but no armor (nothing without at least 2 wheels). So I figured they may have a use, at least to keep my opponents vehicles on their side of the ridge line.

The Italian infantry running ahead of the enemy armored car in the gif above were cut down in short succession:



The driver of the M3 that took the blast of 20mm sustained minor injuries. I'd say he got pretty lucky:



Hopefully the prior turn when I took 19 casualties was an anomaly. Despite taking heavy losses, the Italian infantry have been dogged and fight hard. With the armored car out of the way, progress can be made towards the final building needed to secure the hill top. This enemy officer hasn't given up yet:

 

[fivefivesix]

Very interesting DAR and a good chosen pictures which illustrate the situation well! I follow with interest and I also gained new DAR ideas, regarding picture use.

Thanks @Kraut ! I've followed your DARs as well and have used several ideas inspired by your DAR presentation.

 

[Lethaface]

Keep it going! :shootero:
Really enjoying the DAR as well, although I might have jinxed your game with my comment regarding the low wall ridges .

 

[fivefivesix]

Keep it going! :shootero:
Really enjoying the DAR as well, although I might have jinxed your game with my comment regarding the low wall ridges .

Thanks @Lethaface! No one to blame but myself for that disaster, I’ve been fortunate to have dodged a lot of enemy mortars during this battle. Staying up-tempo has helped tremendously. The platoon that was hit hard was stationary at the hill top, helping with suppressive fires across the map, so they were vulnerable. I’ve always tried to be good about splitting squads when possible to avoid bunching up, but got a bit complacent and my opponent made me pay for it ... consider it a good lesson learned!

 

[fivefivesix]

Update from the top of Hill 82: the final enemy holdouts at Casa Marchisio need to be cleared out. This is a 2 story building with first floor windows on the north and east sides. The only entryway is on the north side. The enemy was suppressed and pushed from the second floor, now pinned on the first floor by surrounding support teams (not all pictured).



Elements of 1st platoon A Coy were approaching the building from the east when ambushed by point blank rifle fire and grenades (I initially wasn’t sure if there was any enemy alive inside). These Italians troops will not break. An assault plan is hastily prepared and grenades are readied:



Teams are instructed to briefly area fire into the first floor to hopefully get grenades inside. Support teams will move to blocking positions on the NW and SE corners. 3rd squad, 2nd platoon A Coy has the task of entering on the north side and securing the first floor. They’re on a 45 second delay to allow other teams to position, and they’re also a bit busy at the moment themselves:

 

[Lethaface]

Don't you have any breaching charges?
Also, the .50 works great for killing suppression fire. Those Italians seem still quite eager to defend. Rake m with .50 (through wall is fine for .50 IIRC) for a turn or two, that should make them more appreciative of guests

 

[fivefivesix]

Don't you have any breaching charges?
Also, the .50 works great for killing suppression fire. Those Italians seem still quite eager to defend. Rake m with .50 (through wall is fine for .50 IIRC) for a turn or two, that should make them more appreciative of guests

Unfortunately did not bring any breaching charges. I looked over the map in preview and the few buildings didn't strike me as worthy of bringing engineers. In any case, the assault on the building seems to have been a success. The Italians have been eager to fight, but this rally was short lived. Grenades were thrown, rifle grenades were launched, lots of small arms:

 

[fivefivesix]

 

[fivefivesix]

This battle has now concluded, only a few turns after securing the Casa Marchisio objective. While the top of Hill 82 was secured, a minor objective (Casa Marcos) was left in enemy hands. Friendly casualties began adding up, and the prospect of sending troops assaulting over a ridge to a reverse slope position with unknown enemy disposition was not very enticing. A cease fire was called by both sides:



Looking at the enemy positions after the fact, I'm glad I didn't try anything further:



A few notable performances:





SGT Peters gun mentioned above (not pictured) was ordered to area fire at enemy infantry in the open with AT rounds, I was surprised to see 15 casualties inflicted. Perhaps this was a bit gamey - let me know what your thoughts are - just felt wrong leaving the gun to sit in place while enemy infantry were in the open in LOS.

I hope this was an entertaining DAR for those that followed along - this was the first for me, and while enjoyable, was certainly time consuming. A part of this production was seeing what is possible with the very basic image annotation and manipulation I can do, so I'm happy at least to have figured out a good system for future DARs.

 

[Lethaface]

+1 what Kraut said.

Nice DAR, nice battle! The inserts and fire projections were very informative!