Need Help with Operations Planning

[bigjackmac]

All,

Sorry, this is not a batrep per se, but will lead to four of them, and sorry this is a bit of a long post, but your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help me with mission planning for a mini-campaign I'm going to play out on the tabletop.  Here's the background:


Americans attacking from north to south (right to left), and the final objective being the village at far left.  There will be four fights on the tabletop, in order from 1-4.

US Order of Battle:
Battalion HQ
CO
XO
FO

A, B, and C Company (each)
CO
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Plt - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Wpns Plt - MG, 60mm Mortar, and Infantry AT

Weapons Company
2 MG, 2 81mm Mortar, Infantry AT, 2 ATG

Attachments:
1 x Engineer Platoon (3 Engineer Squads)
1 x Tank Company (3 platoons of 4 M4 Shermans each)
1 x AT Platoon (3 M10 GMC)
1 x SPG Section (2 M7 GMC)
1 x Battery of 105mm Howitzers (eight total fire missions)

I will be soloing as the US force commander, playing against the Germans, and I have already devised my scheme of maneuver.  That is to say, I have allocated the US forces listed above into four 'packages' for each fight, 1-4.

Your job is to assume the role of the German commander and do the same.  I will then set up the two sides' forces and fight out the four battles in order as a mini-campaign. 

German forces:

Commanding Officer (CO)
Forward Observer (FO)

1st and 2nd Company (total)"
Company Commander (CC) 1
CC 2
Rifle Plt 1 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Rifle Plt 2 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Rifle Plt 3 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Rifle Plt 4 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Wpns Plt 1 - 2 MGs, 1 80mm mortar, and Infantry AT
Wpns Plt 2 - 2 MGs, 1 80mm mortar, and Infantry AT

Weapons Company
MG 1
MG 2
Mortar 1
Mortar 2
PzSchreck 1
PzSchreck 2
PaK40 1
PaK40 2
PaK40 3

Attachments:
Engineer Plt (3 Engineer Squads)
Panzer Plt 1 (2 Pz Mk IV)
Panzer Plt 2 (2 Pz Mk IV)
FlaK 36 88mm ATG 1
FlaK 36 88mm ATG 2

1 x Nebelwerfer Battery (5 total fire missions)

If you would be so kind, please allocate the German forces as you see fit (within the 'rules').  Here are those rules:

-When allocating troops, the rifle platoons and Wpns platoons must stay together as a platoon, and each fight must have at least one infantry platoon allocated.  There are four total rifle platoons and two weapons platoons, so the easy thing would be to allocate each of the rifle platoons to a fight, and add Wpns platoons where you want them, but you don't have to do it that way. 

-Don't forget there are Wpns Co MGs, Mortars, Infantry AT weapons (PanzerSchrecks), and Anti-Tank Guns. 

-You can mix the forces (in 'packages,' as listed above, i.e., Rifle Plt 1, Wpns Plt 2, PaK40 3, etc...) however you like, but each unit can only be used once.

-I would advise to go relatively light in fight #4 as that is well everyone will regroup.  That is, I hope the Americans are going to win each fight.  If that is true, the fight's will continue in order, 1, 2, 3, then 4 (if not, I'll have to figure something else out).  Each surviving German element from the defeats in fights 1-3 will fall back to #4 for the fight there.  Be careful though, as there's no promise as to what/who will survive from fights 1-3.

-Regarding leaders, the Germans have a battalion commander (CO) and two company commanders (CC1 and CC2).  They also have a forward observer (FO), who does nothing with regards to leadership but can call for fire from the Nebelwerfer batteries.  The CO can call for fire at -1 and the CCs at -2. 

-You don't need to worry about allocating the Nebelwerfer fire missions, there are eight total that will/can be used by the CO, either CC, or the FO throughout the various fights.

-If you've cheated and looked at the American scheme of maneuver, don't worry about local reserve/battalion reserve, it doesn't apply to the German side.

So, please staff the four fights as you would see fit, for example:
Example Fight #1:
CC1
FO
Rifle Plt 1
Wpns Plt 1
MG 1
Mortar 1
PzSchreck 1
PaK40 1
FlaK 36 88mm ATG 1

So, have at it:
Fight #1

Fight #2

Fight #3

Fight #4

I look forward to seeing these, if anyone can be bothered to read this whole thing and actually fill it out   If not, I'll figure something out, but I wanted to see if it would work.

You can visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/

I have the US scheme of maneuver mapped out there, expecting you're not gonna cheat!

V/R,
Jack

[fred.]

I'll have a go at this - but it will be later this evening.

Would it help if I write out all 4 sets of orders, and only post them 1 at a time?

Or is it that battles 1, 2 and 3 happen independently of each other, so it doesn't matter that you know what will happen on each of those 3?

[bigjackmac]

Fred,

Thanks, I'd appreciate it, not getting a lot of bites here 

You can post all four at the same time; none of the fight's are contingent on each other.  That is to say, I've written the plan for all four fights for the Americans, and they will happen that way no matter what.  The same goes for the Germans, except for the fact German survivors from the first three fights will fall back to fight again in fight #4.

It's not the most realistic way of going about things, but I think it will work and I've got to start somewhere.  The only thing that can 'break' it is if the Americans lose any of fights 1 through 3 badly.  If they lose a close fight, I might just be able to do a hasty regroup of the same forces and fight it again, hopefully with the Americans winning so that I can progress to the next fight.

If the Americans lose badly that would likely a cause a wholesale change to the US plan and likely mean they would need reinforcements from another battalion in order to carry on with the mission.  I suppose I could live with that, with it having a negative impact on the US victory conditions.

V/R,
Jack

[howayman]

Looks good .
A couple of questions on the terrain.
Is it a stream or river and is it fordable along its whole length.
Are the woods dense or open.
Are the roads lined with walls, hedges or ditches.
The buildings are single story, multi story, wood, stone etc.
Can the germans be dug in or have other fortified positions.
Sorry am i being a little pedantic?

[bigjackmac]

Howayman,

"Sorry am i being a little pedantic?"
Sure, but we are wargamers 

Please keep in mind that the fights are set with regard to the four areas; in fights 1-3 the Germans are dug-in in hilltop positions.  In fight 4 the Germans are occupying the village.  On to your questions:

Is it a stream or river and is it fordable along its whole length.
It's a river that can only be crossed at the bridge (sorry, the bridge is obscured by my red arrow).  The Germans are dug-in on the hill to the west overlooking the bridge, and the Americans will have to fight their way up the road.

Are the woods dense or open.
Not to dodge the question, but medium.  They will afford good cover/concealment, will slow infantry movement and be impassable to vehicles.

Are the roads lined with walls, hedges or ditches.
Yes to all three, in various places, though please note I mean 'real' hedges and not bocage.

The buildings are single story, multi story, wood, stone etc.
I plan on a couple single-story buildings in fight 1, and a village of one and two-story buildings in fight 4.  Fights 2 and 3 will probably not have buildings, and if they do, just a single, one-story building.

Can the germans be dug in or have other fortified positions.
The Germans will most certainly be dug in on every map, and can have sandbag emplacements for MGs, mortars, and/or ATGs.  no concrete bunkers/pillboxes though.

Good questions, and you sound just pedantic enough to be extraordinarily helpful in the future with more 'interactive' mini-campaigns like this, if you're willing to spend a little time to read and write out your thoughts.  Thanks for the help.

V/R,
Jack

[fred.]

Here you go - I've kept map 4 deliberately light, expecting to get troops falling back to it.

Map 1
Forward Observer (FO)
Rifle Plt 1 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Wpns Plt 1 - 2 MGs, 1 80mm mortar, and Infantry AT
PaK40 2
Panzer Plt 1 (2 Pz Mk IV)
FlaK 36 88mm ATG 2

Map 2
Company Commander (CC) 1
Rifle Plt 2 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Engineer Plt (3 Engineer Squads)
PzSchreck 1
PzSchreck 2
MG 1
MG 2
Mortar 1
Mortar 2
PaK40 3

Map 3
Commanding Officer (CO)
Rifle Plt 3 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
Wpns Plt 2 - 2 MGs, 1 80mm mortar, and Infantry AT
Panzer Plt 2 (2 Pz Mk IV)
FlaK 36 88mm ATG 1

Map 4
CC 2
Rifle Plt 4 - 3 rifle squads and Infantry AT
PaK40 1

[bigjackmac]

Fred,

Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!  So far you're the second reply I've gotten (I posted this on a couple other forums as well).  Both of you went heavy in 2 and 3, and left 4 real light, depending on fall-backs to regroup there.  The big difference between the two is the other guy left 1 pretty light as well, hoping to essentially serve as a picket line, sting the initial US thrust a bit, then fall back.  We'll see how it works out.

With the two I have leaving 4 pretty light, I can see I need to be pretty aggressive in the attack to not allow German survivors the ability to fall back    Just kidding, that's cheating!

I'm hoping to get at least two or three more, then shuffle and pick one.  Though it would somewhat throw off the force structure I created for the Germans, in order to surprise myself (I'm playing solo), I've thought about mixing them up.  Here's what I mean: if I get five different plans, that's five different setups for each fight, 1 through 4.  So, it's time for fight #1: I print out each plan for fight #1, shuffle them, and pick one, and use that plan for fight #1 on the table.  Then I would do the same thing for each subsequent fight.  Like I said, there's a risk it would 'unbalance' the whole mini-campaign, but it's offset by the fact I would be surprised each time.  And if it's too difficult for the US forces, I can always add reinforcements from another battalion.  The only real concern is if my random picks made it too easy, i.e., I managed to pick certain plans for each fight that result in the German Panzers and 88mm ATGs never showing up on the battlefield.

In any case, that's not the point of why I did this:
1.  I want to play a mini-campaign.
2.  I wanted to see if there was any interest online in helping with this sort of thing.
3.  I wanted help to break out of the 'one point of view' syndrome that comes with solo-playing.
4.  I wanted to see what kind of strategies folks would come up with, even knowing they couldn't decide whether or where to fight, only what forces would be committed to each one.

If this works, I'd like to use it as a springboard for future similar adventures.

Thanks again.

V/R,
Jack

[fred.]

It will be good to see how the games play out.

From reading the description I assumed that battles 1, 2 and 3 are independent of each other. Even though the arrows on the map imply they follow on from each other.

If they are sequential then I would probably have gone a bit differently with force selections.

[bigjackmac]

Fred,

You seem a little disheartened and I just want to say please don't, and don't overthink this.  This is my first attempt at soliciting input on the forums like this, and so I tried to keep it as absolutely simple as possible.  There are plenty of guys so far that want to get into all sorts of other issues and options, which is awesome, but I'm not ready for that yet.

Part of me doing this is figuring out what works in terms of giving information to you guys and me receiving it in a form that's easily transferred to the tabletop.  On another forum I've got a guy that wants to establish reverse slope defenses here and there, establish defenses in the woods to tie up US infantry, and have a mobile reserve come up to caught off the tip of the US armored spearhead.

All great plans, but I'm not ready for that yet!  As much as 'real-life' is 'free-flow' and we'd like to have our games be that way too, in my humble opinion it's probably too much to ask to try to do that via the internet between two (or more) guys that don't know each other, have different ideas as to what should/could happen, aren't communicating face to face (or even in real time), etc...

I've got to figure out what the rules are; with no rules whatsoever I end up saying "I'm not attacking that hill" and you saying "I'm not coming off this hill."  In real life I wouldn't attack the hill, I'd go around it and force you to either leave the hill (attack me or withdraw) or capitulate.  Now, you're not likely to come off the hill to attack me because my armored spearheads are pushing on but my infantry have caught up and have you encircled (since you didn't withdraw), and they'd mow you down if you came charging down the hill at this point.  So, you're left to starve on the hill and I'm left to watch.  Not the most exciting game on the tabletop 

So I need to figure out how to set *acceptable* limits on what each side is allowed to do, provide enough information to both players for them to make sound tactical decisions, and frame the results of those decisions in ways that *easily* translate to the tabletop (I will get bored with it if it takes too much time/paperwork; this is a hobby, not homework!). 

So, this is the first step and you've been very helpful in allowing me to 1) figure out the process and 2) play some games!  Thanks a bunch, and take care.

V/R,
Jack

[paulr]

Let us know how the games go.

I'm assuming you have all the input you need, if not I am happy to put together a different version of the 4 German forces for you.

Regards,
Paul

[bigjackmac]

Paul,

Please do submit a plan, I'd greatly appreciate it!  For all the discussion, I still only have two plans (one here and one on another forum).

I will play the fights out over the next couple weeks (hopefully the first one tomorrow morning), then post them here on this message board.  You can trust me, I've posted lots of batreps here already! 

V/R,
Jack

[Ithoriel]

If I were German commander and looking to win I'd put one infantry platoon on each map - because you have to - then everything else on table 1.

Should, hopefully, let the Germans overwhelm whatever is on Tables 1 and 4 while minimising casualties on Tables 2 & 3.

Need to defeat the invasion on the beaches

[bigjackmac]

Ithoriel,

If you put everything on table one they'll be packed in like sardines and I'll use all eight fire missions on them.  So, you could do that, but probably not the best plan 

V/R,
Jack

[ronan]

Hello Jack,
I'm glad you found some players to wrote german plans ( I don't have much time today)

(...) decisions in ways that *easily* translate to the tabletop (I will get bored with it if it takes too much time/paperwork; this is a hobby, not homework!).  (...)

yes, K.I.S.S.  "Keep It Simple Stupid"   

I hope we'll see the first batrep soon 

[Ithoriel]

Ithoriel,

If you put everything on table one they'll be packed in like sardines and I'll use all eight fire missions on them.  So, you could do that, but probably not the best plan 

V/R,
Jack

Ah, I'm used to a table where that size of force would vanish into the undergrowth rather than being packed wheel to wheel. Makes a difference right enough.