Post 2 - Turn 0 - Plans
So, what am I trying to achieve in this scenario?
While 75 points will be a major defeat, I need 125 pts for a minor victory and 200 for a major. So, even with no losses, taking the top three (1x West and 2x Eastern) Victory points at 50pts each is not enough for a major victory. If I lose even 2 vehicles in the process (15pts each?), it's not enough for a minor victory. But that Southern Victory point is 250pts.
Key point- I need to take the southernmost victory point, the one in front of the Fallschirmjagers.
And as always in this game, be careful about casualties. Points gained by taking victory points can be quickly offset by losses.
How do I take that point? If the FJ's are my main effort, then the responsibility of my Center and North forces (Volksgrenadiers and Panzer Lehr, KG Querner and Gralla, respectively) have to be diverting the American's precious resources, especially their tanks. They do this by attacking, conservatively. If they can penetrate into the adversary's rear, they can exploit the poor visibility to cause the Americans to divert forces to finding them or protecting each of the other Victory Points.
Ok, so, let's put that into concrete orders. We'll start with the main effort-- the Southern Group -- then talk Central Group, and finally North Group.
Concept for Group South (Kampfgruppe Hoeffner)
In front of Maj Hoeffner's Battalion of FJ's, I expect two lines of resistance. I see a roadblock, there at the top-right tip of the righthand green line, and I expect that the American's will have at least a platoon covering it along the slope. However, the main line of resistance (likely about a company in strength), would have to be farther up by the objective, giving the Americans time to whittle down my force as I continued the assault through the woods directly toward them.
Instead, I'm going to try and catch them in the flank. I'll use 3rd Company, under Hauptman Meyer, to suppress the roadblock defensive line so that the StuGs and heavy weapons company can set up. If conditions materialize for an assault, awesome, but it's not a requirement. Instead, 1st and 2nd companies (Hauptman Lissa and Hauptman Rhein) will penetrate along the river (farthest from likely defenses) and move swiftly to the point on the likely enemy's flank. From there, they will attack in a short, concentrated front... but that's farther down the road. For now, let's just get past that first defensive line. The slower this force goes, the more time the enemy has to be distracted by central and north groups.
Concept for Group Central (Kampfgruppe Querner)
In the center is 3rd Company of the Fusiliers under Hauptman Querner. Their position suffers greatly from the fact that the river is impassable-- they can only go north. Their role here is to keep forces tied to the 2 eastern-most victory points. If the American defending forces are a company or less, they'll aim to assault. This is the course of action depicted by the red, white, and blue lines. If the Americans have more than a company in defense, Kampfgruppe Querner will fix and suppress. This will be most exemplified by the MG-42 and StuG in support. My hope is to affix them in an impregnable position on the friendly side of the river, taking pot-shots and preventing any allied tanks or infantry from maneuvering against groups South and North.
Concept for Group North (Kampfgruppe Gralla)
In the north, the force that currently looks like a heavily reinforced Fusiliers company but will evolve into a full Panzer Lehr Battalion over the next hour will fulfill its task of drawing resources in a big way-- attacking, and exploiting.
Denoted in yellow, one platoon of Hauptman Reichensperger's Fusiliers company will move along the road to support group center/ Kampfgruppe Querner's attack on the Eastern Victory points. In the picture it denotes "1st co", and I apologize but it is indeed 3rd co Fusiliers in the center.
The rest of the force - Hptm Reichenspergers' co supported by StuGs, Pz IVs, inf guns, and reinforced every 5 min by another Panzer Lehr company- will attack up the closest hill (blue line), where I am assuming enemy resistance will be the lightest. Once this force takes the hill, it will reorganize, and the remains will attack to the SW. It's not depicted on the map, but to the SW is the Western-most victory point.
The purpose of this force is not to take victory points, per se, but as said above- they are trying to draw units off from fighting our Southern Group/ KG Hoeffner.
Final note - I realized after taking/editing screenshots that it's tough to get oriented to the map as a whole. I'll make an effort as this goes forward to capture the jump map to show where the screenshot actually sits within the map.
Next - We'll see how forces unfold and make contact. And we'll see how this whole plan inevitably falls apart.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." - Mike Tyson
