Aachen - West Wall Battle

[Jason Petho]

We spent the first half hour going over the first couple day results of the survey that was posted over on cslegion.com If you haven't filed it out, I highly recommend doing so, as we do take the answers into account as we design the games! After that we returned to Aachen for some intense city fighting and fighting on the southern portion of the map, for a couple turns. In most cases the German artillery was off, but damn, in the south - it was atrocious. On the bright side, progress is being made in the city.

https://youtu.be/R5MBdyrnPeY

[Jason Petho]

It was an intense session, with some good progress on both the flanks. The city fighting is grinding down though, as we didn't make a lot of progress into Aachen this turn. Block by block we're scrapping in the city, but I have reinforcements coming on the outskirts, hopefully that will turn the tide. Panthers have been spotted advancing to the front in the south, so that is a whole new ball of wax I will have to deal with. It will be interesting to see how well the Jackson's can do against the tanks, even though some Panzer IV's nailed a few this turn. Ugh. Positive vibes!

https://youtu.be/FfxYnFJqDOU

[Jason Petho]

We went over some news for the latest Campaign Series games and offered a reminder about the Cold War survey. Please take a moment to fill it out if you're interested, we really want to make the game for you! We dove back into Aachen with some intense city fighting, making progress in some sectors and being held back in other. What a pain in the rear. We engaged some Panthers for the first time with some relative success and continued to clean out the Aachen Municipal Forest. Once we do that, it will release a bunch of troops to send to the south of Aachen and fill in the gap where German reinforcements appear to be coming from. Onward!

https://youtu.be/dew5t1anH1w

[Jason Petho]

The Campaign Series Vietnam 2.00 UPDATE has been officially released! I explained a few things about it to help those that haven't installed it yet. Also a quick reminder about the Cold War Survey before we dove back into the Aachen scenario. This time it was mostly about city fighting and I went through a number of techniques of making a good go of it. We are up to 60% of Aachen captured and have been able to consolidate some forces. We were also quite fortunate in the south and managed the destruction of some Panthers and Panzer IV's that was threatening our advance. Only 29 more turns to go... Onward!

https://youtu.be/MWwurNf7XOI

[Jason Petho]

Success! There was excellent progress in the Aachen Municipal Forest and it has finally been cleared of Germans. This will give the southern flank a fairly substantial boost in artillery and infantry to help push along the corridor and break through the Schill Line in the south. The city fighting in Aachen proper left a lot to be desired this turn, but with the fall of a few kew positions in the city last turn, I am able to maneuver some infantry towards where it is needed. There is still progress in the north and center, with a potential breech of the Schill Line coming soon, but the advances have slowed to a snails pace as I clean up some stubborn German pockets. I'm grateful this is only against the AI. HA!

https://youtu.be/bIYCCZccbUo

[Jason Petho]

We went over the latest news about the Campaign Series Vietnam and Middle East Updates and then returned to Aachen. Well, I cursed a lot during this turn, so prepare yourself for that. The fighting in Aachen is going well, quite well even, as I'm making good progress to clear the city. I would venture to guess around 65% has been captured. To the north, well, I ran into Tigers and Panthers and all my direct fire had decided to glance off the armour. Otherwise the Germans were getting some amazing shots, making me cringe and wince often. It's a fight, a good one, but a nasty one!

https://youtu.be/JmwoqdCLnF4

[Jason Petho]

We went over the latest Campaign Series news and went over a quick run down of what is going on behind the scenes. Then we dove back into Aachen and all the violence associated to that. The German artillery was BRUTAL this turn, I winced a lot and cursed even more. On the bright side, Aachen has nearly fallen which will provide an excellent jumping off point for advances in the south. In the north, well, I have run into Tigers and Panthers and they are going to cost me in some pretty nasty fighting. It's close range at the moment, until I run out of tanks in that sector. There are minor breakthroughs in the middle though, which offers encouragement until I run into the hidden anti-tank guns. Exciting times!

https://youtu.be/5l4-GTzU0RM

[Jason Petho]

Another session of intense combat all over the map, including running into some nasty ambushes. The battlefield is slowly becoming littered with burning American tanks. On the bright side, we're getting a few swipes of our own! Aachen is 98% secured and we're about the flank the southern positions. I'm hoping I find some of the blasted artillery that's been a thorn in our rears. I did spend the first bit going over the expectations and future plans. Feel free to chime in your thoughts, I would love to hear!


https://youtu.be/Dxx6PGctVxk

[Jason Petho]

After going over what was new and what I was working on the past few days for Cold War, we dove back into Aachen. It didn't start off that well as I lost 15 or so tanks during the German turn. What a mess. On the other hand, Aachen has been cleared and we're pushing through into the rear. I took the opportunity before I started tonight to do some of the tedious moving, so most of the session is talking about the action or conducting action. Some battles were in my favour, but others were not. One good thing is it seems I have some an armoured task for as reinforcements precisely where I needed it for a break through. I hope anyway, ha!

https://youtu.be/TwDvyyaCYso

[Jason Petho]

We did a quick overview of what the team has been working on and then returned our attention to Aachen. In the north, my attack has stalled due to the presence of the big cats. I am making progress up there, but the fighting is rough. The center is seeing a breakthrough and I decided to be overly aggressive in one sector, we shall see if it pans out or I leave a bunch of burning hulks. Aachen has fallen completely and we are pushing east towards the Schill line in that sector. The most interesting part was I think I found a hole in the southeast to dive into the rear of the Germans. Unfortunately, our adventure into the Hurtgen was short lived and now I need to screen that very vulnerable flank.

https://youtu.be/8TEzVvM-j8Q

[Jason Petho]

We did a quick overview of what the team has been working on and then returned our attention to Aachen. Well my plans in the south are shot, as I had run into some well armed Germans in the Hurtgen. This looks like I'll have to move some troops to screen that flank and keep the Germans pinned in the forests. I blitzed into a town east of Aachen to find it unoccupied, save the victory point location and the western approaches. As we head north there are more tanks, Panthers and Tigers being found which are extremely effective at killing my Shermans at long ranges. I will have to adapt in these locations or the fields of western Germany are going to lit with Ronson's.

https://youtu.be/eNzjCi9nvUU

[Jason Petho]

We went over the latest news and a reminder about the BETA UPDATES for both Campaign Series Middle East and Vietnam, I shared some potential good news about the summer updates and showed the progress on the graphics assigning for the Warsaw Pact units. Then we dove into Aachen and we're making some excellent progress. On the other hand, I'm running into a lot of more armoured vehicles in the rear, which doesn't bode well for my vanguard troops. Most of these are very small task forces that can be easily swept aside. There are large advances though and nearly some good pocket locations created. Two objectives fell this turn, leaving 9 more. Onward!

https://youtu.be/PK0omNcD-3E

[Jason Petho]

A quick chat about what's been going on behind the scenes before we dove back into the Aachen scenario. There is some serious progress on most of the entire front, although I keep running into ambushes. I called in some airstrikes this turn, which were about as effective as tomatoes. My artillery seems to be far more effective, especially since I've moved most of the batteries close to the Schill Line. I'm using a lot of the German bunkers and pillboxes to protect them against counter-battery fire. A lesson learned from the disaster when the Luftwaffe showed up a while back. That said, progress is feeling good, especially as we come into the last 20 turns.

https://youtu.be/vx8FFMdg1Us

[Jason Petho]

I showed off some new vehicles for Cold War and explained a few things before we dove into the Aachen scenario. We managed to get through two German phases this time although I skipped some behind the scenes movement for Turn 51 to get things rolling. German artillery is honing in on some of the locations as my advance pushes. The most exciting part of the session was the revelation of a wackload of Panzers in the rear that I'll have to deal with. The advance is generally solid, with a few hiccups. The first being the mass of armour in the center, the second being an attack developing from the Hurtgen Forest in the south and third is that the time is clipping by pretty quickly so I need to prioritize the attacks. This is still a lot of fun though!


https://youtu.be/7r99ii7WO8c

[Jason Petho]

We took a moment to go over the passing of John. Following that a brief overview about the next UPDATES and what I've been working on in regards to the WARSAW PACT. Then we dove back into Aachen. Time is getting tighter now, we are down to the last 17 turns. There is still a lot of ground to cover and some pockets to clean up. There are massive tank units in the last two towns and Panthers have been spotted in the Hurtgen. The general overrun just became more difficult, especially since my airstrikes are pretty useless! C'est la guerre.

https://youtu.be/tk59uI0epCw

[Jason Petho]

We went over the latest news about the Campaign Series and showed off some new BMP-1's that will be used in Cold War. After that we dove into Aachen and continues our advances on all of the fronts. It was a pretty successful turn as we were able to capture two outlying Victory Locations and cleared an important highway for one of the last German bastions in this sector of the front. In the north we also managed to destroy the two Tiger platoons that were causing us grief and starting to regain some momentum. We also have a new plan for the southern German counter-attack. It will be fun to see if it works.

https://youtu.be/yp1g32OjtX8