A Bit Defensive

Read JasonC's comments on this AAR.

• Quick Battle
• 1500pt Axis Attack
• German SS Mechanized vs. Soviet Guards Mech
• Played as allies with 10% casualties, 90% ammo

Setting

A square battlefield about 1.2km on a side. This is farmland covered in scattered wheat fields. There are small, rolling hills with a moderate amount of trees. It is midday. I selected random weather and ended up with overcast skies, some wind, and wet ground. It feels as though we've had some rain and more may be coming, typical of September in the southern area. The year is 1942.

There are five flags (three large, two small) spanning my side of the map. They are spread out, indicating that I am defending a portion of a front, not a specific objective. A road enters from my left rear and heads diagonally toward my front line before turning and running straight off to the right. It is entirely within my setup zone. In my center rear is a prominent hill that the road runs over. It is mirrored by a broader, flatter rise across from me. On the left I have a small hill with some pines looking out at a broad flat plain beyond my setup zone. I have some clumps of trees to use near my front line, but my enemy will have mostly just wheat fields to use for cover here, not much help in the fall. The right is a very different story. The Germans have a very deep bowl across from me that they can move anything through without me seeing it. There are plenty of trees around it for cover also, and a small but convenient crest with trees just inside my setup zone. In the right-center area there is a nicely forested area that is split by the forward edge of my setup zone. It has a very good view of the right and central areas (except for that deep bowl on the right).

Forces

I will be fighting with a Motorized Rifle Battalion (Tank) '42 along with two KV-Is (model 1941), two T-34s (model 1943, early), and two T-60s (model 1942). They will be supported by 3 76.2mm Regimental Guns and I will have two TRPs, five trenches, and two each of antipersonnel and antitank minefields. With my remaining points I threw in a 50mm mortar as well.

The Motorized Rifle Battalion consists of an 82mm spotter, an antitank platoon (of 6 PTRD antitank rifle teams and an HQ), and 2 Rifle Companies (Motorized). The rifle companies each have two company level Maxim machine guns, three motorized rifle platoons, and a machine gun section (with three additional Maxims). Each rifle platoon has four Motorized Rifle B Squads.

Setup

When I arrive at the field of battle I find my men thinned out a bit. In addition to the few squads missing a man here and there I find that A company's first platoon is down to three, instead of four, squads, and third and fourth platoon have been combined into one platoon of three Maxims and one infantry squad. B company is a little better, but first and third platoons are each down a squad and they have lost one of their Maxims. All the tanks and guns are there and working, though. My men are mostly experienced regulars, with a couple new recruits here and there, as well as some men with more experience.

The best infantry approach is on the right, with plenty of room for vehicle support as well. I expect a strong push to come up through the bowl and swing through the trees at the far right. The center offers some trees for infantry to move through and tanks can fire down off the central rise to support them. The left is not friendly to infantry but the flat, open field offers good sightlines for tanks and guns.

I put the better manned B company on the left and spread A company over the center and right with lots of support. I'm worried about tanks so I've planned many ambush points for them to roll into using my antitank rifles and regimental guns. Maxims will be scattered around with a few in reserve.

Ahead of the leftmost flag location there is a clump of trees near a wheat field with a decent range of view for incoming infantry (though I'm not expecting much here). I set up a couple squads in the forward edge of these woods to observe. Their officer is behind them in the woods and the other two squads from this platoon are in a cluster of trees farther back. I will set up several platoons in "vertical lines" like this. The forward men are to observe and report incoming infantry. There is a squad nearby for support if they have to fight and their officer is kept close. Hopefully I will get a look at incoming forces with enough time to adjust my plans to the situation. The vertical layout is so that I can move the rearward guys up if opposition is light or fall back under their cover if enemy strength is high. The rearward squads are also far enough out of line of sight that I can safely move them "horizontally" to other areas if additional troops are needed.

Accompanying this platoon is a Maxim machine gun and a 76 by themselves in some trees off to the left. It is risky to leave the 76 without immediate infantry support (if enemy infantry can get close he won't be equipped to defend himself) but I'm not expecting much infantry on this side. To the rear is a little hill with some pines from which the whole left side of the battlefield is visible. I've put one of the KV-I heavy tanks there. He is in full view but his thick front armor and good gun should protect him. In the wheat field in front of my forces I've zeroed in a target reference point to assist in hitting armor crossing the field.

Maj. Artemenko is set up under cover of some tree in the center. Ahead of him are a couple Maxims in trenches overlooking much of the center and left. Just off to his right is the other KV-I, positioned for good lines of sight into the center. Again, he is not hidden at all, just standing there ready to shoot. There are plenty of troops hidden in this area, though. Reserves of all kinds are in the center, ready to be deployed wherever they are needed. The other platoon from A company is in some pines near the road. Behind them the two T-60s wait on the road behind the hill. I don't want them exposed to enemy tanks or guns. They can provide good infantry support but only after the tank threat is cleared out. Three ATRs with their HQ wait under cover along with four of the Maxims.

On the right I have a full platoon from B company in another "vertical line" with its front end in the group of trees that splits the front of the setup zone. A split squad will move to the forward edge as observers on turn 1. The rightmost group of trees doesn't provide very good sightlines with a small ridge right in front of them, so it's not much use as a lookout. Since I expect heavy infantry through there, I'll let them have it, along with some antipersonnel mines and a target reference point. I set up another vertical line farther back that peeks over the hill with the rightmost flag. Trenches atop the hill will provide forward lookouts. The other platoon is hanging back in reserve, covered by some pine trees.

I've set up a bunch of tank ambush points along the right front using two of the 76.2mm guns and several ATR teams. Each consists of the weapon in some trees, pointing to the side, with orders to fire only on tanks within an arc to that side.

The two T-34s are on the road, positioned so that trees block the lines of sight to them. They will stay hidden until I see how I can best use them.

Action

The battle begins when Ser. Iadov spots troops moving on the left from his KV-I. Two Panzer IVs and some infantry are spotted in the far left corner. He immediately fires on one of the Panzers. It's a hit and a moment later the crew is seen bailing out. The other Panzer IV moves off to the right and Ser. Iadov loses sight of it. The infantry is still back there, though, and he fires on them with his machine gun and hurls some high explosives their way.

A possible light tank in the right-center is soon reported. Ser. Batsanov in the other KV-I sees it too, identifies it as a halftrack, and opens fire. About four minutes in he also sees two Panzer IVs far in the center. No action on the right yet.

Infantry on the left is moving forward across the open. Ser. Iadov keeps firing but they're small targets and a long way off so he can't stop them all. When they get within 300m I let the Maxim over there open fire to help out. A few more men are suppressed, but even more are appearing and moving forward. They are out in the open with only a tiny clump of trees by a wheat field for cover. They are scattered across the wheat field where I placed a target reference point, so after five minutes I ask Lt. Yushkevich to call in the 82mm artillery he's here to spot for. I order a wide dispersal to cover the whole wheat field and he reports that it will take about a minute to start hitting. I have plenty of time still before they start hitting my forward infantry so I wait to see what the arty will do.

The troops on the right are getting a bit nervous. They hear firing off to their left and know the fight will reach them soon, but the wait is unnerving. Shortly after the artillery is ordered their wait is over as the men far forward in the trees near the right start seeing infantry squads emerging from the hollow ahead of them. Men are coming up and heading across toward my center. I don't think my men have been spotted yet, but the enemy is only a little over 100m away. It's just a few scattered squads so far so Lt. Stepanov calls his rear squads forward in case he needs them. He's soon glad he did as he spots more men moving toward my forward right corner. He grins, knowing that if they keep heading in that direction they have a minefield waiting for them.

On the left the artillery is falling and scattering men all over the wheat field. The machine gun keeps up its fire, holding the enemy at a safe distance but more squads keep appearing. After two minutes of shelling I call off the artillery because I'm running low on ammunition. I'll save it for a (hopefully) more focused attack later. Ser. Iadov sees the other Panzer in the back left again and fires quickly. The gun is knocked out and the crew abandons it.

Meanwhile, more troops keep appearing on the right. Some shots are exchanged and the enemy stops moving across toward my center and instead turns to face my men in the trees. A wide arc of men is now turning in their direction. The squad that had been heading toward the minefield instead turns and advances on my men. I order the Maxim in that area to open fire. I'm beginning to worry that maybe I shouldn't have moved men forward into this area, but instead pulled back. I consider a withdrawal, but that would mean leaving behind the slow 76s. The situation isn't that desperate yet, but I order another Maxim up to their area.

Ten minutes have elapsed and halftracks start showing up with the men on the right. Lt. Orlov's 3rd platoon from B company moves forward to the trees the T-34s are hiding by. I'm still not sure if I will spring them forward or use them to cover a retreat, but I definitely want them closer. At the same time Ser. Iakovlov nudges his T-34 forward a little to where he can cover the far right side. Men and vehicles just keep coming up out of that bowl. Soon there are three halftracks in the area. That reserve Maxim is taking way to long to be any real help. This contact point will be decided before he gets there, so I have Efr. (Corporal) Korostelyova turn his 76.2mm gun around and push it forward to where he can fire on those halftracks.

Lt. Udovichenko and his men on the left are told to hold fire until the enemy is within 80m. I don't want them wasting ammo on long shots when there are better weapons covering that role. And they will need that ammo. Larger and larger groups of infantry have started moving across that wheat field. A minute later I order Efr. (Corporal) Kazakov to hold fire with his Maxim until 100m. The increasing numbers across from me are starting to get scary and it's not worth suppressing one guy when five more are still coming. I hurriedly tell Lt. Yushkevich to fire his remaining 82 rounds on that wheat field.

It is twelve minutes in and I now estimate at least company strength infantry advancing across the wheat field toward my single platoon on the left. I also have company strength infantry plus halftracks on the right, with more than a platoon advancing on Lt. Stepanov's forest, where he must defend one of the 76s and a couple ATR teams.

There are probably Panzers yet to reveal themselves on the right but I have to order Ser. Kurasov's T-34 forward to help out Lt. Stepanov and his men. I have Efr. Batitskii attempt to move his 76 back, but it is slow going and when he gets shot at, he immediately gives up on the gun.

I've seen and stopped two Panzers on the left so I'm sending Ser. Bobkin's T-60 around to fight the infantry advancing there. I hope no more panzers show up because he can't fight them. The remaining 82mm artillery lands in the wheat field and I think it is effective.

The few squads at the far right are down so Ser. Iakovlov turns his T-34 toward the action and moves forward. Guns blazing, he identifies several Panzergrenadier 42 squads and turns them away in full retreat. Things start happening quickly. Efr Lapshov, who has been keeping his head down with his antitank rifle, sees his chance and takes a shot at the nearest halftrack. The crew panics and bails out immediately. Out toward the center two more Panzer IVs show up. Both T-34s roll forward and open fire on a farther halftrack. It is immobilized by a track hit and abandoned by its crew. One of the Panzers starts firing at the nearer T-34 (Kurasov's). He slowly swivels his turret around to return fire. Another shot flies in and impacts the front of his hull. The armor stops the round, but splinters of metal burst off the inside of the plate and zing through the compartment. Nobody is hurt, though, and Kurasov and his men fire back, punching a hole in the Panzer's turret. A couple seconds later its surviving crew struggle out and crawl away. This brave action has earned Kurasov and his men a medal, if they survive.

The arrival of the tanks and flurry of action has turned away much of the infantry in the area just in time. Lt. Stepanov's men have suffered only minor casualties.

The other Panzer in the center is firing on Efr. Norov, alone on the far left side with his 76. I tell him to hide until the Panzer can be dealt with. The problem is the T-34s can't see him and neither Ser. Iadov nor Ser. Batsanov in their KV-Is has a clear shot. He soon backs off along with the remaining halftrack and another vehicle that may be an armored car.

It's fifteen minutes since the first shot and the situation looks like this: the T-34s have the infantry on the run on the right. Ser. Bobkin has arrived on the left and is pounding the infantry there with is main gun and machine guns. I have Ser. Rushaylo drive the other T-60 out to join him. I'm finally beginning to feel that the situation is under some level of control. I've knocked out a lot of vehicles and all my tanks are still ok. I've lost some infantry, but not much.

A few squads start appearing in the center moving toward me. I think they are scattered units from the left and right companies. I move a reserve Maxim forward to help keep them at bay. Small infantry groups keep advancing on both the left and right, but they steadily become less frequent and less intense. My tanks are in position on both sides to keep them back.

The Panzer in the center emerges again this time to fire on Efr. Korastelyova's 76 in the pines on the right. I still don't have a good shot on him. Kurasov's T-34 might have a shot, but his view is blocked by a house. I tell him to roll forward to get a clear line of sight. Perhaps the infantry fleeing before him has lulled his mind, but even after moving forward he doesn't turn to face the Panzer. The Panzer's commander isn't so slow. He fires and hits his gun but luckily doesn't do any serious damage. That gets Kurasov's attention and he begins to slowly swivel his turret around. He is just lining up his shot when another round from the Panzer smacks into his upper hull. Again shards of metal tear off the plate and ricochet among the crew. This very luck crew gets no more than minor scrapes and cuts and immediately fires back. They hit the Panzer's gun. They quickly reload, but the Panzer backs up out of sight before they can fire again.

Back on the left the second T-60 has arrived and begins pounding away at the infantry in the wheat field. Those poor souls haven't had much of a chance since the first T-60 appeared, and now have no hope at all. They must be very determined, though, because unit after unit keeps coming forward from that tiny clump of trees and advancing on my men. The machine guns and high explosive rounds from the T-60s and KV-I turn most of them back pretty quickly. The T-60 machine gun fire is just brutal on infantry. Those that make it to within about 100m are then fired on by Lt. Udovichenko's men in the trees, all still fresh.

Over the next few minutes a couple vehicles tentatively identified as halftracks make brief appearances in the center, only to retreat back. Twenty six minutes into the battle one of them makes bold to fire on Ser. Iakolov's T-34 with his machine gun. Ser. Kurasov fires back, twice penetrating his hull before it is knocked out. This feels like a last gasp. Men are retreating on the left and not much is happening on the right. Is this battle over?

The fight has gone out of these German troops and over the next ten minutes the fighting slows to a trickle except for one incident. Some infantry that's been hiding in trees about 100m to Lt. Stepanov's left opens fire after sitting there for about twenty minutes. I swing Ser. Iakolov's T-34 around to help out and they are soon stopped.

At thirty eight minutes a lone MG-34 HMG crew throws up its arms and surrenders and the battle is over.

Conclusion

The result was a total victory (98%). On turn 27 I noted an in-game estimate of morale 98%, victory 97%. On turn 37 it was morale 98%, victory 98%. I know the AI isn't all that good on the attack but all the stats were so lopsided that I'm feeling confident enough to start giving the AI advantages in the future. Almost none of his troops ever even crossed into my setup zone and I had a company's worth of men that never saw contact (or even had line-of-sight to the enemy).

It turned out that that last Panzer IV had had its gun knocked out. The tank was otherwise fine and the crew was okay, but it couldn't fight effectively anymore so it just stayed hidden. The sometimes halftrack, sometimes armored car turned out to in fact be a PSW-222 armored car.

My lack of experience with tanks made me prep for them too much. I spent a bunch of time planning tank ambush points just inside my setup zone. I had 76s and ATRs all over with short cover armor arcs. On the one hand, if a tank had blundered in there he would have regretted it, on the other hand, what made me think they would rush their tanks forward like that without any infantry support? My ambush points had only the thinnest infantry to cover them, and when large groups of infantry appeared (of course) I was scared about how to defend all those vulnerable units.

My fortification placement was haphazard. Not a single minefield was entered and the right TRP went unused. The left TRP would have been more useful in the clump of trees it was near instead of the middle of the wheat field, but I had figured I'd use it on tanks. If it had been closer to the trees I would have fired my 50mm mortar on it later in the game. As it was he never fired. Trenches, which could be very useful in the right situation, never really came in to play. The problem with buying fortifications for a quick battles is that you really need to see the terrain to know what you need, so you just have to buy stuff and hope it is useful.

Overall I think I did okay. Around turn 12 I was pretty scared by all the infantry advancing toward me, but I made the right decision to roll the tanks out at that point. Enemy armor had been thinned out and it proved to be the decisive difference against all that infantry.