Post by Aaron on Jun 2, 2005 10:04:57 GMT 12
In preparation for the invasion of Sicily US & NZ troops took part in a small scale military exercise yesterday. As they are newly recruited some of them went to war in a very unfit state. A combination of naked infantry & poorly made shoes meant some platoons where badly out of condition (Ie un painted models blu-taked down because we didn’t have time to glue them!). In addition being put under the command of Major c0d3monk33 (NZ) & Major Aaron (US) two totally green commanders severly reduced the life expectancy of all involved.
Deployment…<br>The tactical genius of both commanders showed thru immediately. Both managed to totally split their forces. The NZers on one flank set up the 6dr portees, the 17/25 antitank guns and 1 infantry platoon facing off against 1 infantry squad, a 2ic bazooka platoon & 4 M4A1 Shermans. On the other 1 infantry platoon, 3 stuart Honeys & 2 armoured cars for NZ face off against 1 Infantry platoon & 1 Weapons platoon (consisting of light mortars and light machine guns). You may think at this point the US are a little out gunned… they were.
First Shot to the 116th!
The Yanks started off the maneuvers racing forward on the left flank to occupy some broken ground an area pock marked with PITYAK STUDIOS ™ craters. The Shermans moved forward to support the infantry and spotting some 6pd Portee’s opened fire, no casualties suffered but the portee’s raced for the cover of the nearby forest.
First blood to the NZers!
On the right flank a platoon of US infantry backed by light mortars moved forward to the cover of a nearby field, but caught out in the open by 3 Stuart “Honey” tanks they get torn apart! Losing 4 teams in a torrent of fire they all immediately go to ground.
Return Fire!
As the NZ Portees rush for the shelter of a nearby wood they fall short by just a few yards, the M4A1 Shermans open fire again, this time stationary they fire at full effect, totally destroying all the 6pdr Portees. The command unit deciding discretion is the better part of valor retreats.
Infantry war
Mean while on the right flank the NZ infantry have dug in around the US objective, the honeys, now supported by armoured cars open fire again on the infantry. Having read the rules the US infantry are now MUCH harder to hit, having remained stationary & not firing (unable to get thru the armour) they “went to ground”. Casualties in this engagement are light and things are looking stalled.
Reinforcements.
“YOU’VE GOT HOW MANY?! Aaawh darn…” the US troops call in reinforcements as word comes through of the increased numbers of NZ troops (NZ 900pts US 750 pts). A reserve squad of infantry are hustled to the front & air support called in (who repeatedly fail to show up!).
Shermans redeploy!
Having wiped out the Portee’s and with 2 17/25 anti-tank guns moving into firing range the Shermans quickly redeploy to the right to aid the pinned down infantry. In a tactical masterstroke the US commander (ME!) orders the Shermans to open fire on the side armour of the “Honeys” Immediately destroying 1 at long range. In the 2 following turns (despite having smoke concealing 1 tank) they destroy the remaining honeys and both armoured cars. The NZ advance on the objective is stopped dead!
Stalemate till dusk.
On the left flank the infantry platoons shoot at each other from the concealment of forest & craters respectively. The higher skills of the veteran NZ troops is slowly whittling the US Infantry down but with the sun dropping in the sky the US hunker down to wait for night.
Last blood for the NZers
With the sun setting the 17/25 Pounders see the Shermans silhouetted and caught out of position. 1 gun opens fire with devastating effect, destroying 1 Sherman and bailing out another!
The sun sets with a draw (neither force able to capture an objective) but with the NZ troops superior skills starting to tell. Another few hours and the NZers would have controlled the field, but having paid a high price.
Lessons from the Front
Well it was our very first game so what did you expect? Tactical brilliance? It was a matter of hey can I do this? Dunno what do the rules say? Rather than plan and counter attack. For a first experience with the rules I feel it went very smoothly, it was enjoyable (which I think is rare for a first game) and it seemed to pick up pace as we went along and I’m definitely looking forward to the next game!
Mental notes:
17/25’s are very nasty; don’t leave tanks exposed to them.
Infantry in cover are hard to dislodge, veteran infantry in cover are impossible to dislodge
I can’t range in mortar bombardments to save my life! (12 attempts needing a 5+ not a single success)
Unarmoured vehicles on a WW2 battlefield are easy game!
Don’t set up anti-tank guns behind hills.
Deployment…<br>The tactical genius of both commanders showed thru immediately. Both managed to totally split their forces. The NZers on one flank set up the 6dr portees, the 17/25 antitank guns and 1 infantry platoon facing off against 1 infantry squad, a 2ic bazooka platoon & 4 M4A1 Shermans. On the other 1 infantry platoon, 3 stuart Honeys & 2 armoured cars for NZ face off against 1 Infantry platoon & 1 Weapons platoon (consisting of light mortars and light machine guns). You may think at this point the US are a little out gunned… they were.
First Shot to the 116th!
The Yanks started off the maneuvers racing forward on the left flank to occupy some broken ground an area pock marked with PITYAK STUDIOS ™ craters. The Shermans moved forward to support the infantry and spotting some 6pd Portee’s opened fire, no casualties suffered but the portee’s raced for the cover of the nearby forest.
First blood to the NZers!
On the right flank a platoon of US infantry backed by light mortars moved forward to the cover of a nearby field, but caught out in the open by 3 Stuart “Honey” tanks they get torn apart! Losing 4 teams in a torrent of fire they all immediately go to ground.
Return Fire!
As the NZ Portees rush for the shelter of a nearby wood they fall short by just a few yards, the M4A1 Shermans open fire again, this time stationary they fire at full effect, totally destroying all the 6pdr Portees. The command unit deciding discretion is the better part of valor retreats.
Infantry war
Mean while on the right flank the NZ infantry have dug in around the US objective, the honeys, now supported by armoured cars open fire again on the infantry. Having read the rules the US infantry are now MUCH harder to hit, having remained stationary & not firing (unable to get thru the armour) they “went to ground”. Casualties in this engagement are light and things are looking stalled.
Reinforcements.
“YOU’VE GOT HOW MANY?! Aaawh darn…” the US troops call in reinforcements as word comes through of the increased numbers of NZ troops (NZ 900pts US 750 pts). A reserve squad of infantry are hustled to the front & air support called in (who repeatedly fail to show up!).
Shermans redeploy!
Having wiped out the Portee’s and with 2 17/25 anti-tank guns moving into firing range the Shermans quickly redeploy to the right to aid the pinned down infantry. In a tactical masterstroke the US commander (ME!) orders the Shermans to open fire on the side armour of the “Honeys” Immediately destroying 1 at long range. In the 2 following turns (despite having smoke concealing 1 tank) they destroy the remaining honeys and both armoured cars. The NZ advance on the objective is stopped dead!
Stalemate till dusk.
On the left flank the infantry platoons shoot at each other from the concealment of forest & craters respectively. The higher skills of the veteran NZ troops is slowly whittling the US Infantry down but with the sun dropping in the sky the US hunker down to wait for night.
Last blood for the NZers
With the sun setting the 17/25 Pounders see the Shermans silhouetted and caught out of position. 1 gun opens fire with devastating effect, destroying 1 Sherman and bailing out another!
The sun sets with a draw (neither force able to capture an objective) but with the NZ troops superior skills starting to tell. Another few hours and the NZers would have controlled the field, but having paid a high price.
Lessons from the Front
Well it was our very first game so what did you expect? Tactical brilliance? It was a matter of hey can I do this? Dunno what do the rules say? Rather than plan and counter attack. For a first experience with the rules I feel it went very smoothly, it was enjoyable (which I think is rare for a first game) and it seemed to pick up pace as we went along and I’m definitely looking forward to the next game!
Mental notes:
17/25’s are very nasty; don’t leave tanks exposed to them.
Infantry in cover are hard to dislodge, veteran infantry in cover are impossible to dislodge
I can’t range in mortar bombardments to save my life! (12 attempts needing a 5+ not a single success)
Unarmoured vehicles on a WW2 battlefield are easy game!
Don’t set up anti-tank guns behind hills.
. However in future they most certainly will be placed as centrally as possible, hopefully behind some cover.