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fivefivesix WWII DAR Thread: "HILL 82"

F

fivefivesix

Guest
Hi fgm,
whether its of any interest to anyone else I can't be sure, but I figured I'd start compiling some pics and commentary from recent PBEMs. I'm sure like many of us, I've been spending a lot of extra time at home, so CM PBEMs have been a good way to keep in touch with the rest of the world.

*** PLEASE STOP HERE *** if you recognize my handle in the event we're facing off in a current PBEM. And feel free to stop by after things conclude to see my side of the battle! No hard feelings if you mistakingly stumble through here and get some high level intelligence - I'm taking that chance - but it'll probably make things less interesting for you if you study my TOE and plan.

I hope theres some interest and discussion generated, and I certainly hope to learn from my mistakes, so please point them out and let me know where I can do better. I'll try to post new content with some regularity as best as possible.

- 556
 
HILL 82
JULY 29 1943
ITALY

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The situation 10 minutes into the AO. Blue circle: Weapons platoon, B company provides overwatch from the south.

Red circle: 1st platoon, A company assaults up Hill 82 while 2nd platoon, A company puts small arms fire onto the Italian infantry on the ridgeline to the east (single orange ellipse).

Green ellipse: Estimated at least 2 platoons of Italian infantry begin an assault, charging into B company at the top of the ridgeline on Hill 82.

57mm AT guns have knocked out several Italian reconnaissance vehicles, including a tankette.

Double orange ellipse: 3rd platoon, B company is assembled in M3 halftracks as a QRF.

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Italian infantry pours over the ridgeline en masse to the awaiting barrel of M1919A4 of 4th platoon, B company. Cpt Jacobson, 4th platoon CO is 70 meters forward from here and immediately orders all three 60mm mortar batteries (positioned 100mm back up the hillside) from 4th platoon to fire on the ridgeline 30 rpm sustained. He’s well aware several Italian brixia mortars are about 16 seconds away from getting rounds in the air onto the entire weapons platoon.

Overwatch positions on a wide open forward slope wasn’t the most ideal situation, but I worked with what the map gave me. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be the approach my opponent took, but I dang sure wanted to be prepared for it.
 

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An M3 carrying the M2HB returns fire on Italian infantry and snipers on the ridgeline beyond. 2nd platoon, A company rests along the low wall in the foreground after sprinting up the hillside minutes ago. Private Anderson was killed immediately by small arms fire. 3rd platoon, A company is in position behind the low wall 300 m in the foreground.

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1st platoon, B company pours rifle fire onto the Italians assaulting up the ridgeline. To their benefit, most of the italian infantry is caught in the open. 60mm mortar fire from Weapons platoon begins landing 200m in the foreground every few seconds. Private Reynolds was badly wounded by small arms fire.

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Italian counter-battery fires begin. Cpl Cook was killed immediately by shrapnel from a brixia mortar. Privates Todd and Hart have been knocked unconscious. They are alive but badly wounded. 1st and 2nd platoon, B company are holding on the ridgeline in the foreground, engaging Italian infantry where able.

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Private Kalajian tends to Cpl Perez as the rest of 3rd platoon watches up the reverse slope. Both casualties were wounded by mortar fire from the hillside beyond. An M3 with M2HB provides overwatch with 50 caliber fire. Italian infantry are heard less than 100m away over the ridgeline.

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1st squad, 1st platoon, A company sprints up the hillside towards their objective. The entire platoon is fully rested after arriving on the hillside by M3 halftrack.

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3rd platoon, B company is the QRF. They prepare to drive up the hill to support the rest of B company against the Italian charge.

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Update on the battle at Hill 82. First on the action at Casa Marchisio, with 1st and 2nd platoon of A company.

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2nd platoon A Co occupies KT JUDY, 4th platoon A Co occupies KT HEDY:



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The key structures needed to take the Casa are labeled above A, B, and C. Structure B sits on top of high ground as marked by the broken orange line. 1st platoon, A Co are now close-assaulting structure C, protected from the other structures by the low ground.
 
3rd squad, 1st platoon comes under heavy fire from an Italian recon vehicle creeping up the ridgeline 40m away. Fortunately the low stone wall protects the men. After several seconds the veteran squad recovers and spots the enemy vehicle. Private MacDougall arms a rifle grenade and fires:

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The sight line from structure B towards C:

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Now to focus on the action at another key terrain objective:

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This ridgeline to the east of Hill 82 is a key vantage point. From here I can see a huge portion of my enemies backfield from high ground (shown below). My original plan was to secure this ridgeline and use the vantage point to coordinate a mechanized assault of the Casa objectives from behind my opponents own lines. Unfortunately Italian resistance has been stiff across the AO and progress on taking this ridgeline was halted. The mechanized QRF teams were then committed to other objectives as reinforcement to our strong position at the ridge of Hill 82.

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This ridgeline must still be taken. Enemy infantry in this position can fire on the rest of A company assaulting Casa Marchisio. Occupying this high ground will also be necessary to interdict enemy reinforcements heading to the hilltop objectives. The ridge has been intermittently shelled with 60mm mortars for the last 5 minutes, and 50 caliber MG fire is now used to suppress any remaining occupants. Shown below, 2nd squad, 3rd platoon, A company (light blue) moves up the forward slope towards enemy lines, preparing for close-assault. The 1st light mortar section of 4th platoon, A company (dark blue) is out of mortar ammunition and now follows 2nd squad in support. 3rd squad, 3rd platoon, A company (broken yellow) was previously battered by mortar fire and now holds key protected ground with LOS to what was a strong Italian push.

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The enemy has been a fierce opponent at every point. 2nd squad, 3rd platoon, A company (light blue above) comes into contact:

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Fortunately the veteran squad hits the dirt and only 1 minor injury is sustained.
 
Now at the western ridgeline, where a company? of Italian infantry collided ferociously with B company:

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The point squads of 2nd platoon were caught surrounded when the enemy charged over the ridgeline.

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The heroic stand by 1st and 2nd platoon, B company has bought enough time for the mech QRF to arrive. Three M3 M2HB halftracks pull up on the ridgeline and are able to put enfilading fire on the bulk of the attacking Italian infantry. Weapons platoon 60m mortar fire continues albeit at a slower pace with several guns knocked out. 2nd platoon, in reverse slope at the far west map boundary, is hiding in position for (danger close) mortar missions to complete. They'll be asked to push the remaining enemy off the ridge in the next few minutes.

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Hopefully with the increasing pressure from mortar and MG fire, the remaining opposition will break quickly with a close-assault from 2nd platoon. If this occurs, we have a chance to catch fleeing enemy in a "L" shaped kill zone.
 
Also @Bootie - I was stupid and didn't realize there was a dedicated DAR/AAR sub-forum. Would this be better moved there?
 
Thanks for the DAR!

It seems you have things wel planned out! And so far you seem to be dishing out more than receiving.

Without analyzing the map it would be difficult to say if I could have come up with anything that would be better (in my eyes). And I'm not even sure if I'm qualified enough to critique your plans, not sure I'd do better?

Anyway; one lesson I am still learning myself is that ridgelines with low walls seem so nice but(!), while giving some protection against small arms the low wals don't really give any protection from HE. More importantly ridgelines are exposed to almost everywhere. Ridgelines attract enemy fire like a magnet and are easily targeted from a concealed position. I do know that when I see enemy troops behind a low wall on a nice ridge and I have any mortars, the drill is 'line, heavy, short, immediate'. Ideally pin them down or engage in firefight just when the spotting rounds start to fall.
So, I think it is better to just use ridgelines for observation, preferably concealed. And to organize the actual defense on reverse slope if possible, and or area's partly concealed by other hills/ridges. Those Halftracks you have on enfilade are a great example of a good position I think. And, obviously ridgelines can create ideal (hull down) shooting and scooting opportunities.

Having said all that I still find myself going for ridgelines and low walls a bit naturally. But when organizing a defense I try to account for lessons I have learned in the past.

Anyway, keep it up and hope you'll post some more of the battle.
 
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@Lethaface thanks for your comment! As far as the ridge lines I'm fighting for in this battle - I should've also added that I also need to take those positions to prevent my opponent from accessing them more than anything else. I've seen firsthand what you're saying regarding low walls on ridgelines - unfortunately in some cases they are the only cover to be found. My T30 HMC with 75mm gun helped pin and eliminate a number of enemy infantry in this exact position (see post #9).

I know I jumped right into the action without providing any context, and that was partly on purpose. This is a meeting engagement QB, so I've been trying to keep my infantry moving as much as possible to avoid the Italian light mortars. But I'm sure most of my casualties have come from them anyway. It's been an interesting battle because many parts of the map are isolated by terrain but in some cases also necessary to directly support movement in another area.

At this point in the battle (~15 minutes in), I'm basically out of of 60mm mortar ammunition, so all the mortar sections are being pressed into the line. I'm hoping that also means my opponent is running low on mortar ammunition as well.

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It seems you have setup some nice crossfires!
I noticed that you give much more movement waypoints compared to me usually. I always thought too close waypoints increases chance for units to circle around. Perhaps I should try again ;-).
 
It seems you have setup some nice crossfires!
I noticed that you give much more movement waypoints compared to me usually. I always thought too close waypoints increases chance for units to circle around. Perhaps I should try again ;-).

I've never had that problem with units circling ... I usually give a lot of waypoints especially for vehicles to prevent them from coming up with their own wacky routes.

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Making progress at the Casa Marchisio objective. I believe there is a lot of enemy still inside "B". The two squads nestled up alongside it are along a windowless / doorless wall. Hopefully area fire from them puts some grenades into the ground floor. Makes me wish I had attached some engineers along with my infantry ...

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As A company secures Casa Marchisio, it seems that my US infantry are gaining momentum on all fronts in the AO. Resistance and enemy fire begins to fade on the western ridge, although small pockets of well-positioned Italian machine gunners have been able to inflict casualties. The final terrain objective is Casa Marcos, about 250m from my nearest units. An Italian armored car with 20mm guns is positioned in hull-down position on a reverse slope directly in my path to Casa Marcos. It's crew has already spotted elements of 3rd platoon and sent them to the ground with 20mm fire, with no casualties taken:

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I plan to move 3rd platoon with attached M3 M2HB up to establish base of fire on Casa Marcos. 1st and 2nd platoon will be allowed to reconsolidate and recover before becoming maneuver elements to assault Casa Marcos. I have ~40 minutes left so plan to take my time and try to limit casualties. That armored car is a nuisance right now. My infantry should have enough capabilities to deal with it, the problem is getting them in position without being annihilated by its 20mm guns.

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Private Martinelli is the only member remaining from his squad's 57mm AT gun, surviving multiple light mortar bombardments. Private Kanner from the 1st AT ammo bearer squad renders first aid to other members of the AT gun squad:

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I usually let heavily attrited teams "take the day off" once they've been of use. In this case, I ordered the 57mm gun to be pushed forward a few meters to see if the extra room would allow any LOS to support B company on the distant ridgeline above. I'm glad I did - as the turn ends, Pvt Martinelli has spotted the Italian armored car and is preparing to fire:

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True to the nature of CM, the feeling of momentum is obliterated on the following turn. Blinking orange icons light up in waves across the map. In one area on the top of Hill 82, an entire squad (part of 2nd platoon A Coy) and 2nd platoon HQ team were caught bunched together by Italian Brixia mortars (~250m away):

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I wanted to continue to put pressure on my enemy so pushed several squads forward with disastrous results. Atop the ridgeline on the eastern flank, 3rd platoon A Coy was quickly pinned and battered by MG and other small arms fire:

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All said, there were 13 WIA and 6 KIA casualties in the 60 seconds, major oof. Extra disappointingly, Pvt Martinelli does not get a shot off at the Italian armored car. The vehicle reverses out of LOS at the beginning of the turn:

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Very interesting DAR and a good chosen pictures which illustrate the situation well! I follow with interest and I also gained new DAR ideas, regarding picture use.
 
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