Hell on Wheels Counterattack (Repost)

Soy, Belgium 01/04/1945 07:30 – This scenario pits the United States CCA 2 Armored Division against the German Kampfgruppe Kreutz in a 3 day, 2 hour and 31 minute attempt by the Americans to break through the German defensive lines in order to exit sufficient forces at Samree. This after action report presents an operation plan in two phases, then describes specific actions as they unfold.

Please note at the outset of the AAR that I am presenting the final play through to test a specific battle plan that won a decisive victory the first time implemented, and in this portrayal only resulted in a marginal victory because I refused two offers from the enemy to surrender.

One of the best compliments that can be given to the Airborne Assault game engine is that you can issue the same orders for the same forces time and again yet receive different results due to the enemy AI and a host of modeled issues (namely supply lines being blocked and unit fatigue).

With the default game parameters, there are no reinforcements scheduled for the Americans. What you have is the CCA 2 Armored Division consisting of 5,001 men, 311 armored fighting vehicles, 390 non-armored fighting vehicles, 105 gun units, an anti-personnel firepower rating of 4,729, an anti-armor firepower rating of 7,338, a bombardment rating of 842, an armor rating of 2,956 and an infantry value of 1,579.

This should be more than a sufficient force to push back the German’s who are shifting to the defensive. Initial intelligence reports a force of 2,654 men, 11 armored fighting vehicles, 580 non- armored fighting vehicles, an anti-personnel firepower rating of 2,790 and an anti-armor firepower rating of 1,145. The Axis forces are arrayed around four objectives: Magoster, Concy Ridge, Amonines and Davantave.

The weather for this scenario is forecasted to be between -1c to 3c (26-33F), light snow with visibility at 5,200m. Sunrise is at 08:00 and sunset is at 16:00 (these are all default parameters for the scenario).

Operational Plan Phase One

Task Force Alpha is ordered to attack the Beffe objective (D01 07:30 – D03 10:00, 10 Victory Points for occupation) with minimum rest and maximum aggro, rof and losses.

Task Force Bravo is ordered to attack the Amonines objective (D01 07:30 – D03 10:00, 10 Victory Points for occupation) with minimum rest and maximum aggro, rof and losses.

Task Force Charlie is ordered to attack the Concy Ridge objective (D01 07:30 – D02 10:00, 5 Victory Points for occupation) with minimum rest and maximum aggro, rof and losses.

Task Force Delta (Recon) is ordered to move to the Laid Prangeleux objective (D02 10:00 – D04 10:00, 10 Victory Points for occupation) with minimum rest and aggro, rof and losses.

CCA 2 Armored Division HQ is ordered to defend in-situ at their current positions in and around Soy.

Operation Plan Phase Two

D02 10:00: When the Concy Ridge objective expires, Task Force Charlie is ordered to move to the Davantave objective (D02 10:00 – D04 10:00, 10 Victory Points for occupation) with minimum rest and avoidance/bypass routing.

D03 10:00: When the Beffe objective expires, Task Force Alpha is ordered to attack the exit objective at Samree with a forming-up point 1km away at the main crossroads. The settings are minimum rest and maximum aggro, rof and losses. NOTE: On subsequent attempts it proved best to have the forming-up point at the Beffe objective so the force attacked across the route instead of moving to a distant FUP.

D03 10:00: When the Amonines objective expires, Task Force Bravo is ordered move to the Dochamps objective (D02 10:00 – D04 10:00, 10 Victory Points for occupation and 10 Victory Points for completion) with minimum rest and avoidance/bypass routing.

D04 00:00: Task Force Alpha is ordered to exit the map at the Samree objective after having cleared enemy forces from the area (I never made it this far, but it worked like a charm during a dry run).

The default game parameters I like to use: Realistic Orders Delay, Historical Weather, Historical Reinforcement Schedule and Normal Supply Schedule.

D01 07:30 - The initial orders as outlined above in Operational Plan Phase One.

D01 12:00 - Task Force Charlie has achieved the Concy Ridge objective and Task Force Bravo has achieved the Amonines objective.

D01 18:00 - Task Force Charlie has exploited well past the Concy Ridge objective allowing Task Force Delta (Recon) to advance on their way to the Laid Prangeleux objective.

D02 00:00 - The orders for Operational Plan Phase Two are set with the appropriate jumping off times for the new objectives. Task Force Alpha has achieved the Beffe objective on the right flank of the advance.

D02 06:00 - Task Force Delta (Recon) continues to move while the other Task Forces are in rest mode with little enemy action. Note how Task Force Charlie is remaining outward at the exploitation phase of the attack task (I would have expected them to reorganize on the objective and defend).

D02 12:00 - Task Force Delta (Recon) has achieved the Laid Prangeleux objective. Task Force Charlie has abandoned the Concy Ridge objective and is on their way to the Davantave objective.

D02 18:00 - Task Force Charlie has achieved the Davantave objective while Task Force Delta (Recon) has a small challenge on their hands at the Laid Prangeleux objective.

D03 00:00 - There is little enemy activity albeit some supply routes on the extreme end of the thrust are in jeopardy at the moment.

D03 06:00 - Four hours until Task Force Alpha and Task Force Bravo jump off towards their new objectives. With Task Force Delta (Recon) sitting on the Laid Prangeleux objective and Task Force Charlie in full control of the Davantave objective, Task Force Alpha should be able to have a relatively clear path to their forming-up point to attack the Samree exit objective (or so I thought).

D03 12:00 - Operational Plan Phase Two is underway for two hours now. Task Force Bravo is making headway while Task Force Alpha (the entire key to this effort) is encountering enemy action on the right flank.

D03 18:00 - In the dry run I did with this battle plan, Task Force Alpha was already forming-up to attack the exit objective. In this play through, they are lagging far behind.

D04 00:00 - With only 10 hours to go in the scenario, Task Force Alpha has been a disappointment. My only hope now would be to kill enough enemy in order to force a surrender.

D04 04:46 - Yeah, you saw that coming, didn't you? What is left of Kampfgruppe Kreutz begs for mercy. I give no quarter.

D04 06:00 - Not two hours later I am regretting my decision to place my boot on the neck of the Nazi scourge.

D04 10:01 - I should have taken the surrender offer for the automatic decisive victory, but I did not. Here is the Review Final Situation setting of forces.

Book of Proverbs, 16:18: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall".

And now from the German side...

Review Final Situation setting of forces.

A series of delaying actions results in a draw.

This is a repost of a write-up originally done on 8/31/12: Enjoy!!