Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 28th:
Spearhead Division #15 - Dillenberg
Location, Location, Location
Author Matt W
Method Solo
Victor Italy
Play Date 2012-08-19
Language English
Scenario DeRa038

Two relatively equally matched forces of Italians and Indians face off with the Indians goal to push the Italians off a ridge. The Italians are tasked with staying on the ridge in some force and eliminating enough of the Indians to have actually fought a battle rather than running around aimlessly. Both forces are primarily infantry with the Itlaians having some AT and AA guns and the Indians being supported by a company of Valentines and some ACWs carrying some aboslutely useless 2 Pdrs. The key is that the Indians have a multitude of leaders since they have the VCOs and a morale advantage so that they will have the upper hand if it comes to assault combat.

It seems clear that the Indians will come rushing across the flat land to get to the ridge and will push forward to assault. Once on the ridge the limiting terrain will hide them until they close for assault. The ridge is too long to defend all of and too wide in most places to be able to spot the Indians if they choose to infiltrate the line and then come from behind.

Since survival is the key for the Italians I use a time-honored approach and set up a box close to, but not at, the east end of the ridge. I provide sufficient room for the Indians to pass through the east edge unseen (due to the limiting terrain). I have left a weaker section of the box in the northeast corner, primarily due to the limitation of the force mix. It was only after the Indian assault that I saw this as critical.

A quick view of Daniel's (Hugmenot's) pictures of his replay on the forum makes it clear what happens if you try to use the map edge to aid the Italian defense. I did not see these before my play so I can only say that my setup was fortuitous to the Italian cause. The Indians lost their mortars while crossing the flat and were led by the Valentines up the ridge. Correctly surmising the weak corner of the Italian box (for those statistics hounds, the box was a rectangle five hexes long with a four hex bulge at either end. Most heavy weapons were located at the corners with only the northeast corner without a gun) the Indians began a trek across the ridge.

The Valentines move in to soften up the corder and eventually disrupt the Italian infantry on the eastern edge of the box. At that point the British tank commander, clearly out of his mind, ordered an assault. The Italian infantry platoon passed the ensuing morale check and was joined by two other platoons, led by a Tenente in a counterattack which demoralized two of the Valentine's (Turn 10). Tea leaf readers will realize this leads to the loss of two tanks through double demoralization as the Italians immediately seize the initiative and repeat their assault in the next turn.

The Indian infantry then catches up to the Valentines and begins assaulting as well. In order to minimize the Opportunity Fire they assault directly from the east and take no losses with the only serious morale failures being leaders, thus slowing the process of investing the Italian line. Italian reserves are rushed to the corner but not committed to the battle pending the results of the assaults. While the Italians were not particularly successful in their rolls on assault combat or opportunity fire they seemed to have extreme luck on morale checks, rarely failing beyond disruption and often recovering. The Indians were able to eliminate many steps but couldn't eliminate entire stacks until 3-4 turns had passed.

The Italian Colonel (located in the southwestern corner of the box considered his options as the game approached the halfway point. It was clear that his forces were getting chewed up and that continued combat would only result in the entire Italian force being frittered away. As of turn 15 the Italians had lost 18 steps (one AT gun, one AA gun, one mortar, 5 HMG and 10 INF), the Indians had lost all three ACWs, the two Valentine steps and 2 mortars. both sides had a number of troops in DIS or DEM stage but the key factor was that the assaults were clearly going to take a number of turns to resolve and that survival was now the key as the Indians had lost the requisite number of steps (although not inthe fashion one would expect). Seeing a vast distance to the west of ridgeline, the Colonel ordered the western half of the box to begin a trek leaving behind those troops trapped in assaults or immobile (the AT guns) which could delay the Indian pursuit.

This was the key. By removing these troops from contact, while the Indian forces were still in assault hexes they were able to make a clean break and remove themselves from sight. One can only consider the plight of the British Colonel when looking up from the successful conclusion to another interminable assault on turn 22 saying "I thought there were a whole bunch more of them. Where did they go?". Italian defenders from the western edge of the initial box continued to hold out through turn 25 and the guns and HMG which were left behind did their job of delaying the pusuit sufficiently that the remaining 12 Italian units at the western edge of the ridge were able to reconstitute a box (much smaller) and the headlong rush of the Indians was disrupted as it came into view.

At the end of the scenario the Italians had lost half of their infantry, 4 of their six HMGs, two mortars and all of their guns. The Indians had lost 4 infantry steps in cleaning up the mess of the original box. This was a clear tactical victory for the Indians but a strategic victory for the Italians. I enjoyed the play as the Italian strategy did not come to me until late in the game. It was a little "gamey" but reading the storyline in scenario 39 it becomes apparent why the Italian suvival was necessary. I give it a "3".

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