Disaster in the Loshiem Gap

[MikeJ19]

Pocket not closed

[budd]

nice AAR, enjoying it, thanks for taking the time.

[MikeJ19]

Budd, I'm glad you like it.

My Tigers had some trouble with an US Arty Bn. There is a thread on this on the Comd Ops opening page...

[MikeJ19]

Mistakes....

I think that I should have held here and solidified my position in Auw and reset my forces....

[MikeJ19]

Day 3 Morning

Failed to hold Auw at 0530 - so lost the victory points.

I've been pushed off the crossing at Schonberg! See more US forces closing up on the Our. Things are not good.

[MikeJ19]

Decision Time

Cut my losses
take the loss and try again?

Regroup and push for victory?
Never give up….

I’m going to accept defeat and try again!


What went well – not much

Attack by 190 Regt went well

The drive towards Schonberg went very well, it pushed the US Arty to move
Grouping the 244 Assault Gun Bde with an Inf Bn to take Auw was a good idea, but it I should have done this earlier

Things to Improve - lots

I got sidetracked from my plan

I started chasing things, rather than sticking to the plan
This links to the next point.
I needed to look back to the plan and check to see if the situation had changed enough to force me to change the plan...

Focus on securing Objectives
I should have made sure that I had really captured objectives – game and personal ones - before moving on to the next stage
This is hard for me, I want to seize what I think are opportunities, but I need to hold off

Tracking of the enemy
I need to do a better job of finding the enemy before hatching my plans
I ordered Bns to move forward to seize places without really knowing what they would face.

What to do when forces get bogged down
I lost lots of time with 4 Bns doing nothing on Day 1
They just sat there.
I need to figure out when to step in and force the issues. In this case I waited too long.

I need to be more careful in sending units piecemeal into situations
The Tigers near Andler
Moving arty units forward on routes that were not cleared of enemy

[MikeJ19]

As I move forward a couple of additional thoughts...

Notes/adjustments
Tried this once and accepted defeat at D3 0700

So, what did I learn:
Stick to the plan - Capture Auw and Radschied early

Try different moves for the Bns in 293rd Regt so that maybe they do not get bogged down

Track enemy and attack, mainly CB their Arty.

Lack of arty ammo - Therefore attack key targets such as HQ, Arty and armour

[dazkaz15]

Thanks for posting this Mike.
I particularly like your de briefing at the end.
I failed this scenario first run through as well.
Its quite a tough one.
Good job on the AAR

[Phoenix100]

Great AAR, Mike. Many thanks. I haven't played this scenario for years, to be honest. Your conclusions are very helpful. I think doing the AARs really brings the scenarios to life in a way - the telling of the battle as a story. Curious - what program do you use to take the screenshots and do the graphics etc?

[MikeJ19]

Daz,

Thanks. I hope my second attempt will go better - it has started better with a different route planned for the 293rd Regt.

Phoenix,

I'm glad you enjoyed the AAR. I have used the print screen and then pasted the image into Powerpoint. I use Powerpoint to capture my thoughts as a plan and fight the battle. From there, I save the slides as images (JPEGs) to move them into the AAR. I like the images that Daz does better, but I'm comfortable with Powerpoint and it works well.

Happy Easter!

[budd]

where were your reinforcements coming in at? Can we see the final map with all the units showing and the VP's circled.

Bad habit of mine also...chasing to many rabbits, thats why i write down my primary and secondary objectives on paper.

[MikeJ19]

Good day Budd,

The only reinforcements that I had left is the FB Brigade. It was due to arrive on D4 between 0530 and 2030
3 Bns (panzer, mech and mototized) and a StuG Bde. The reinforcements come in from the North East corner.

Here is the final map - I did not surrender as I did not want to see where the US forces were, as it might influence me too much as I play the second attempt.

[budd]

Thank you sir.