#4060625 - 01/07/15 07:12 AM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 11,234
LukeFF
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Veteran
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Posts: 11,234
Redlands, California
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Don't worry, I've not forgotten about you guys. So, where were we... Against all odds, the two units I sent scurrying out from under the guns of the Sherman actually made it, in part because the Sherman chose another group of men, who also by a miracle survived unscathed. The former group of men, once they were out in the open, were actually shielded from further fire by the Sherman, thus allowing their escape: No action of any sort farther up the hill in the woods on this part of the map. The left flank is proving to be a massacre for my men. This particular group of guys managed to chase off a two-man group of riflemen and then take down a man from another group nearby, but soon after they lost two of their own to concentrated MG fire. What's left of the infantry in this area is fading fast: Next turn orders: I'm going to continue trying to move more men out of the line of fire of that Sherman. These two squads are going to try to join the rest of their platoon in the orchard: Even though this tank is useless to me, I'm going to move it up as a ruse to see if I can shake out any of Rambler's men. Meanwhile, 6th Company will continue to cautiously move up:
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#4061803 - 01/09/15 09:36 PM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,010
piston79
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Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,010
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Been busy with stuff for Black Sea. I'll check to see if I have a new turn in my inbox tonight. What is this Black Sea stuff? A game?
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#4062256 - 01/10/15 09:42 PM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 11,234
LukeFF
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Veteran
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Redlands, California
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With a little bit of luck, I was able to extricate the two squads still under fire from the Sherman. As they made their move, the Sherman fired an HE shell at them, but a tree made sure its effect was harmless. By turn's end, they had made it into the edge of the grove. A nearby light mortar, meanwhile, also targeted these men, but their one shot just landed amongst a group of casualties: Over on the left flank, what's left of my men continued to be pounded by MG and HE shellfire. That shellfire is now being joined by my two fire missions, but at this point it's not going to make much difference. One notable moment from this turn came from the 2nd Platoon XO of 10th Company. With bullets and shrapnel landing all around him, he still had enough wits about him to aim his K98k at an enemy rifleman. Moments after this shot was taken, said rifleman turned tail and ran: As Rambler told me, the grave diggers (and souvenir hunters) are going to have a field day here after the battle is over. Next turn orders: Having made no contact with the enemy, 5th & 6th Companies will continue to move forward into the woods. The good news is that I now have men on this particular objective zone: The machine gun platoon I had sent to take the Knoll objective but now held up by the Sherman will now make their way back towards the way they got here. The plan is to then have them wait until the fire mission on the Sherman guarding the road commences. Once that happens, they will make a break for it and try to join 5th & 6th Companies in the woods:
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#4066386 - 01/20/15 01:25 AM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 11,234
LukeFF
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Redlands, California
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In the woods on the right flank, elements of 6th Company encounter two of the enemy this turn. One is wielding a Sten and is taken care of without incident; the second is a rifleman who managed to take out one of my men before nearly simultaneously being taken out by one of my machine-gunners: Meanwhile, up ahead on the road, 5th & 6th Company reported sounds of tanks on the move... In the orchard into which my 9th Company platoon escaped, contact was made with a small group of infantry. Fire was exchanged, but by turn's end I had lost two men, including this rifleman who foolishly remained out in the open: On the left flank, it's all over. No one's left there. Next turn orders: It's now all about the woods on the right flank. So long as I have men in this zone, I will deny Rambler victory points for this objective. As 6th Company is light on anti-tank weapons, 5th Company will bound forward and hopefully be the first to make contact with whatever armor Rambler may send into the woods:
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#4073027 - 02/03/15 02:52 AM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 11,234
LukeFF
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Redlands, California
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Skipping ahead one turn: I've split off a scout team from 6th Company to see if there is any activity on my right flank. These two guys did fire on an unspotted (by me) contact, but nothing else materialized here or elsewhere in the woods: My platoon that made it into the orchard is not faring well. Rambler reoriented his Sherman to fire upon it, while up on the hill some enemy infantry have slowly been chipping away. One bright spot this turn was this MP44-armed man who managed to return some fire right before turn's end: The one silver lining is that, as a result of the Sherman focusing its attention on this group, my men trapped farther up the hill have been able to make good their escape. They are now moving back up the hill into safety: Over on the left, the two survivors of one of my weapons platoons has managed to retreat behind a hedgerow and set up in a reverse slope position. They caught this two-man HQ team moving down the hill. Although none of them were hit, they were hugging the ground soon after these shots were taken: Next turn orders: 3rd Platoon 6th Company will pivot to the right to screen my flank, while the rest of 6th Company and 5th Company will continue picking their way forwards: Finally, my little MG42 team will move a bit down the hill:
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#4077901 - 02/13/15 04:38 AM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 11,234
LukeFF
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Redlands, California
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To wrap this up from my end, I'll start by stating where I went wrong. First off, I moved my Panzer IVs on the left flank too far forward. These tanks are already very vulnerable to Shermans by this date in the war, and so putting them even closer to the enemy really didn't help. To do it over again, I would have moved them no farther than where I first made contact with Rambler's sniper team (the one that took out my FO) into blocking positions that would have dominated the road junction. The second mistake I made was on the right flank where, instead of driving for the manor, I elected to swing left for the woods objective. This was problematic for a number of reasons: it negated the long-range advantage of my Panthers, and the woods are a meatgrinder for infantry. Even as it was, were it not for one 3-man enemy team, I would have held the right-hand woods objective, so maybe it wasn't all bad to go for this one. In any event, going for the woods left my right flank wide open, which allowed Rambler to swing around behind me and seize both the Knoll and an objective that was in an area I did not have to hold. If I had launched my rockets at the manor, I could have seriously attrited Rambler's forces there and set up a strong jump off point for attacks against the woods. Ah well, live and learn. And now for how some of my armor units stacked up in the end on the scoreboard: My one remaining tank at game's end - the one without any weapons controls - cleaned up nicely: My "rescue Panther" I sent running around the map with an under strength crew went above and beyond: So, that's a wrap from me on this one!
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#4079803 - 02/17/15 04:19 AM
Re: Combat Mission Normandy During-Action Report: The Mace
[Re: LukeFF]
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,401
Smosh
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Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,401
Gisborne, New Zealand
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Thank you for this AAR. I've followed it from inception.
Rabbits, break right and climb.
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CD WOFF
by Britisheh. 03/28/24 08:05 PM
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