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#3763895 - 04/07/13 06:45 AM CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard  
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Rambler Offline
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This DAR is the companion to Luke's DAR. Here you'll be able to see the battle unfold from the Allied perspective. Let's get to it!

Situation:

This is the briefing my Polish forces received from General Maczek earlier in the day.





As you can see, my objectives are to keep the North Slope and Vimoutiers Road under my control, and then take the knoll and the road to Hill 239. Boisjos Manor, while not a map objective for me, sounds like it will be a map objective for the German forces to attack and occupy.

My forces at the start consist of six tanks from 3 Squadron; five Sherman IIIs and one Sherman VC Firefly. I also have seven anti-tank guns (two 17 pounders and five 6 pounders), two Vickers machine gun sections, an 81mm mortar section, A and B Cos from the 8th Infantry Battalion and two platoons of infantry to defend Boisjos Manor. I also have at my disposal some off-map artillery assets, which you can see in the second briefing screen. Hopefully those reinforcements the briefing alluded to will show up in time!

Axis of Attack:



After analyzing the map, I decided that the Germans would try to attack on both of my flanks; one drive toward Boisjos Manor and the other attacking toward Vimoutiers Road. I came to this conclusion by noticing the land is these two areas are low lying and would nicely mask the German advance. I do not expect them to attack through the bocage fields and woods just north of my center. Woods fighting is nasty business, and I doubt the Germans would want their forces chewed up in such a fruitless endeavour. I also feel they will try to utilize the more open terrain to their advantage, especially if they brought Panthers with them, which the unit icon in the briefing screen hints that they might have. Save for my Firefly, the German's 75mm KwK L/70 gun on the Panther has better range and hitting power than my Sherman IIIs. I would definitely want to use that to my advantage were I them.

Defensive Plan:



That is the overall look at my defenses. I plan to use the woods to my advantage, in both advancing toward the knoll and in defending the North Slope and Vimoutiers Road. Like I said, woods fighting is a meat grinder, especially for the attacker, and it is the best way for me to give the Germans a hard time in taking those two areas. I have kept my troops out of those objective areas for the opening turns in case the Germans decide to hit those areas with artillery at the outset. You might notice vehicles scattered throughout the woods. These are Universal and Lloyd carriers. Why are they in the forest? Well, they're full of ammo. I've placed them there as supply points to fall back to whenever fighting occurs in the woods. Didn't really know what else to do with them to be honest.

The arrows indicate my opening moves. I have decided to send two Sherman IIIs to help fortify the defenses at Boisjos Manor, two Shermans IIIs to help defend Vimoutiers Road and the remaining three will help support B Co in moving into the wooded area just to the north of the North Slope. B Co will move into and occupy the wooded areas I previously mentioned. They are moving into this area for two reasons. First is so that they can take the Knoll and then press on toward the Hill 239 objective. Second, and most importantly, is to act as a pincer to hit the German's flank when/if they drive toward Boisjos Manor. I want to have him sandwiched between my two forces on that end, mainly because I suspect that's where the bulk of his force will be attacking. I am also sending out several scout teams to act as eyes to see what his forces will be doing. The following pictures are vignettes of the defensive positions in each area of the map.



Defenses at Boisjos Manor. Somewhat of a defense in depth array. The 17 pounder AT guns are positioned to have LOS on the open fields in front of the manor and the road. The squad at the second line of defense has the only PIAT I have right now.



This is what I'll call the pincer force. B Co and the three tanks supporting it will move into the wooded and field areas north of them.



Defenses at Vimoutiers Road. A Co is just off screen, and there's another AT gun just off screen that covers the open fields at the edge of the map.



Taken at the B Co jump off point. We are about to bear the brunt of an attacking German force bent on relieving their comrades in the Pocket. I suspect this will be a fierce battle. These troops are more than ready to dish out some hurt to the Germans; they have a score to settle. Pamietac Polska!

The Battle

1400-1405 hrs
1405-1410 hrs

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#3764120 - 04/07/13 08:17 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Nice to see the other side!


I used to work for a living, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
#3764509 - 04/08/13 03:20 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Nice initial write up! Nice use of those bren carriers as ammo dumps. Have not used them as that myself, learned a thing or two already. I usually use them as small taxis to ferry my troops to different areas quickly. You look like you've got a good handle on defense. Going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Good luck to you.

#3764796 - 04/08/13 10:50 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Nice write up, Rambler. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Do you still have to pay to upgrade the game to v2.0 or have they rolled that into the latest versions?


S = k ln W
#3764858 - 04/09/13 12:48 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Looking forward to this unfolding smile


Rabbits, break right and climb.
#3765984 - 04/11/13 05:01 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Rambler Offline
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Thanks guys! Hope y'all enjoy it. The updates will be a little bit different than what Luke is doing. Instead of an update every turn, I'll be updating the DAR after every five minutes of scenario time (No I'm not reading his biggrin. We discussed how we were writing our DARs).

Quote:
Nice initial write up! Nice use of those bren carriers as ammo dumps. Have not used them as that myself, learned a thing or two already. I usually use them as small taxis to ferry my troops to different areas quickly. You look like you've got a good handle on defense. Going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Good luck to you.


Yeah, I probably should have left a couple out for taxis. I wish I had a good handle on defense. To be honest, I feel it's one of my weak areas. I much prefer to be the attacker, as I feel I have more control over the tempo. It's a learning process, though; figuring out what works and what doesn't. This time I'm going to try and see if I can control the tempo as the defender better. We'll see how that works out. Glad you were able to learn some new things!

Quote:
Do you still have to pay to upgrade the game to v2.0 or have they rolled that into the latest versions?


I don't think BFC has released a standalone 2.0 CMBN bundle with Commonwealth yet. Their website still lists the bundle as 1.0 with having to purchase the 2.0 upgrade separate. They've said they'll eventually make one available, but I have no idea when.

#3768317 - 04/16/13 05:30 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Rambler Offline
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The Battle

1400-1405 hrs

The sound of Sherman radial engines and troops moving out fills the air. It is time to meet the German counterattack and prevent them from taking Hill 262.

Two Sherman IIIs get kicked into gear and race off toward Boisjos Manor to fortify the defensive positions there.



They arrive unmolested and take up positions behind the manor.



B Co, the pincer force, and its armor support begin moving out to their positions in the woods and fields to the North (I moved the tanks along the road to where the fence ends instead of busting through the fence for one reason alone; surprise. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks the game has is that it doesn't hide terrain damage, like broken fences or hedges, to your opponent. Had I moved the tanks through the fence, Luke would have had a pretty good idea armor, or some type of vehicle, was in that area).



While B Co is moving towards its assigned objective, the Germans commence an artillery barrage that, while heavy, falls on empty land just to the west of the Knoll. I definitely do not mind watching the Germans waste their artillery.



B Co arrives at the forest and begins to move into it.



It is here I take my first casualty (not the first casualty of the battle, however). The sniper in the sniper team attached to B Co takes a stray piece of shrapnel from an exploding artillery shell that landed approximately 150 yards away. Thankfully the sniper is only seriously wounded and not dead. Medics are working to stabilize him and should be able to move him out of the area.



One of the Sherman IIIs attached to B Co moves into position at the edge of the woods, while the Firefly takes up an overwatch position on a slight rise just to the west of the woods.





At Vimoutiers Road, A Co begins to take up positions within the objective zone.



The two Sherman IIIs assigned to Vimoutiers Road finally arrive, much to the joy of A Co.



Meanwhile, we make our first contact with the enemy on our far right flank. It is here where the first blood in the battle is drawn, and I am happy to report it is the Poles who make the first kill. The sniper team observing the fields and orchards on the right flank catch sight of a German darting between the trees. It is just a glimpse, but puts the sniper team, led by Grykiel, on alert.



Several tense moments go by. The team suddenly spots another German moving through the trees, and the sniper slowly squeezes the trigger until the rifle report shatters the quiet. The round hits home, and it is one less German we have worry about.



Immediately after the first kill, another German, who appeared to be the officer of a mortar team, shows himself directly in front of Grykiel's team. The sniper quickly dispatches him as well.



The Germans are alerted to the sniper team's presence, and they begin to return fire. MG42 rounds tear into the bocage concealing the team. Grykiel gives the order to move to another position along the bocage. Once the team reaches its new position, two more Germans are spotted and cross the sniper's field of view. In quick succession, the sniper takes them down in a cold, methodical fashion.



MG42 and rifle fire again rips through the air, this time making contact with the sniper and incapacitating him. Grykiel is pinned and unable to help his bleeding teammate.



Hearing the sound of their comrades coming under fire, two scout teams and a Vickers gun, who were at forward positions watching the center portion of the right flank, move to help.



They get out just in time. Mortar fire begins hitting their previous positions, forcing the remaining scout team to move further forward.



Situation at 1405 hrs:



The scouts have taken up positions well forward of the main defensive positions. They have good views of the terrain in front of them, and should be able to warn HQ early enough as to where the Germans are moving. The only contact with the enemy I have right now is on the far right flank. I've been able to ascertain a couple squads worth of troops moving through that area. In my analysis of the map, I failed to notice the slight hill the Germans are currently attacking overlooks the Vimoutiers Road objective zone. Had I realized that, I would have put several more of my troops there to give the German's a harder time. Instead, I'm having to move around a couple teams to meet their advance.

Unfortunately, the only two casualties I sustained were both of my snipers. Talk about bad luck.

#3768628 - 04/16/13 07:07 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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FrontierProject Offline
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Awesome AAR, looking forward to updates. Those are some nice textures, especially on the tanks and horizon, is that part of 2.0?


"Burn them all."
--------------
Intel Core2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
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#3768754 - 04/16/13 11:18 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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mugwump Offline
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Good write up. I'm eagerly awaiting the slug fest.

Dunno why everyone's screenies of this game look so good yet when I run the demo, it looks like absolute crap. I've got all the settings maxed.


S = k ln W
#3768940 - 04/17/13 01:56 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: mugwump]  
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Originally Posted By: mugwump
Good write up. I'm eagerly awaiting the slug fest.

Dunno why everyone's screenies of this game look so good yet when I run the demo, it looks like absolute crap. I've got all the settings maxed.

I'm pretty sure it's part of the 2.0 update, updated vehicle textures are part of the package iirc.


"Burn them all."
--------------
Intel Core2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
Sparkle Geforce GTX460
#3769379 - 04/18/13 04:39 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Rambler Offline
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Thanks guys. The tank textures are plain ol' stock textures. 2.0 only added normal maps, so some of the small details on the textures now react to lighting. The background, however, is Aris's horizon mod. I'll go ahead and list the visual mods you're seeing in the screens so y'all know what to download if you see anything you like. Also, I think the demo is still only at a 1.X version of CMBN, mugwump. 2.0 makes the game look a lot better, and, depending on your tastes, mods can make it look even better.

Visual mods seen in this DAR:

Aris Horizons
Drakenlorde's Flames
Drakenlorde's Muzzle Flash
Juju's Foxhole, Sandbag and Trench
Juju's Tweaked UI v2.0
Rambler's Trees & Bocage
Rambler's Minimal Base Markers
Rambler's Weapon Skins v2.0
Tanks a Lot's Buildings
Tanks a Lot's Barns
UK Helmet
Vein's Explosions & Smoke
Vein's Skies
Vein's Tracers
Vein's CW Uniforms

Last edited by Rambler; 06/25/13 07:00 AM.
#3769444 - 04/18/13 09:18 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  

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Go Poland!!! A very good read, looking forward to next episodes! salute

#3769560 - 04/18/13 02:37 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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I agree it's a good read, but I'm still rooting for the Axis biggrin mostly cause I prefer their fighting style etc. CoH, CMBN, whatever I'm playing, I usually end up going Axis.


"Burn them all."
--------------
Intel Core2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
Sparkle Geforce GTX460
#3771885 - 04/23/13 04:59 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Rambler Offline
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1405-1410 hrs

The initial German shelling of the Knoll comes to a close, and the dust and smoke begins to settle. Things are still very quiet on our left flank, with the only activity being B Co continuing to move into the woods. They are eventually adequately spread throughout the woods and begin to dig in for whatever may come.



The North Slope is also quiet. However, that quiet is shattered when a couple of artillery spotting rounds fall into an empty wheat field just north of the slope. A scout team arrived at the bocage that borders the field no more than a minute before the two spotting rounds hit, much to their surprise. The scouts observe where the rounds impact, and it appears the Germans may be targeting a cluster of farm houses and barns just to the east of the wheat field. None of our troops occupy those buildings, however.



The bulk of the action is still happening on our right flank near Vimoutiers Road. Grykiel, the leader and remaining member of the sniper team, continued to be pinned by intense MG and rifle fire from the Germans. He hugged the ground as close as he could, but momentarily looked up to peek through a gap in the low bocage. He froze. Just on the other side of the bocage lay a German soldier.



Their eyes locked for an instant. The German, already having his weapon shouldered, fired a burst from his MP44.



Unable to get his rifle up in time, Grykiel was severely wounded when the burst hit him.



With both members of the sniper team wounded, and the Germans obviously occupying the bocage, the teams that were sent to help the snipers change their plans. One team dashes across the orchards and fields in front of the Germans and takes up a position in a wheat field, allowing them to confront any Germans that may try to sneak along the edge of the map.



The Vickers team comes under fire as they reach the position where they were supposed to set up their MG.



Realizing that doing so would be bad for their health, they fall back to the south and hope the Germans believe that there are defensive positions in that area. They decide to set up in a copse of trees giving them a good field of fire that covers the edge of the map and portions of Vimoutiers Road.



Meanwhile, the scout team that was left behind to watch the center portion of our right flank engages in a deadly game of whack-a-mole with German mortar fire. Forced to leave their initial observation post due to incoming mortar rounds, they arrive at a new position 50 meters forward of their first one. They have no time to settle in, however. Within minutes, spotting rounds begin to hit nearby.



Waiting until the last possible second in order to keep the German mortar crews interested, they finally run to a new position 100 meters to the northwest as mortar rounds impact right on their heels. While they know what they're doing is crazy, they also know they're causing the Germans to waste their mortar rounds.





The scout team finds a good position to observe from, and within seconds they spot the hulking form of...something. A tank, perhaps? The leader takes out his binoculars and focuses in on the object. He stops breathing momentarily as he realizes what he sees. A Panther.



Situation at 1410 hrs:



All of our troops are in position. A Co has occupied the Vimoutiers Road objective, and B Co has occupied the woods to the south of the Knoll. Scout teams are far enough out to observe what the Germans are up to. All armor is in their designated positions, and we also know that the Germans brought some Panthers along with them. Now to kill the cats.

#3771892 - 04/23/13 05:39 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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enigma6584 Offline
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Bravo! Superb prose!

#3772073 - 04/23/13 03:06 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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FrontierProject Offline
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Awesome AAR, very engaging.


"Burn them all."
--------------
Intel Core2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
Sparkle Geforce GTX460
#3772082 - 04/23/13 03:25 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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FrontierProject Offline
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Does Aris have a full collection of all his vehicle retextures uploaded anywhere?


"Burn them all."
--------------
Intel Core2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
Sparkle Geforce GTX460
#3772123 - 04/23/13 05:20 PM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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mugwump Offline
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Great write up. Looking forward to the next installment. Hopefully your 17 lbers can take care of that Panther.


S = k ln W
#3801289 - 06/25/13 07:05 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Rambler Offline
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Houston, TX
Well, after a little hiatus, Luke and I will be resuming our battle sometime this week. I'll be posting an update tomorrow that will bring my DAR up to speed with where he is at. Got my screenshots in order, so now it's just writing it up. I've also updated the post where I list the mods I use with a couple new ones.

#3813671 - 07/24/13 04:25 AM Re: CMBN "The Mace" During Action Report: Poles Die Hard [Re: Rambler]  
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Hi Rambler smile
<Patiently waiting for the update>
biggrin

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