[Antony_nz]

This is my AAR for stalingrad CC5. Its a work in progress.

I am the Germans. I am fighting my brother. He injoys the game but is very new. He played a good game with me as the Germans in CC2 a bridge to far. And he did very well.

He tends to make risky attacks. In CC2 it worked for him. But i told him he is not fighting the Airborne troops any more!
We have our reason why hes playing as the Soviets and not me.

We have done 3 battles so far. And i will continue to update. Soon i will add in battle pictures. Not just Map photos.

Here is the link http://talesofclosecombat.blogspot.co.nz/

Any comments or constructive criticism will be appreciated. -Thanks

[Antony_nz]

                                             The battle of Stalingrad

I have finally started a social game of Close Combat with my brother Doug.  I wasn't sure if i was going to write a AAR (After action report) . But after getting some time off work i thought i might as well..
This AAR is not going to be a work of art, its just documenting what happened.

It is spring 1942. The Soviet army has been badly damaged and are in full retreat in many cases.
Finally Stalin makes the order Order No. 227.

This will suit Doug. as he is partial to making suicidal defense and attacks. It worked for him in CC2. But he is no longer fighting AB troops. Hes fighting the Wehrmacht!

[Antony_nz]

k, we have done 3 battles so far.













Ant vs Doug

We have done 3 battle so far. On the 1st battle i completely defeated him. Taking his BG off the map.




The first battle was Mechetka woods. And my army took it in the morning on the 1st day.


In the middle wear the green cross is was a Soviet AT gun. It managed to take out one of my tanks at the very start of the battle. That kind of scared me to begin with.

But i ended up calling in a off map artillery barrage. Conveniently i saw moving soldiers in the area as well.
The bombs killed some troops and took out the AT gun. Leaving my German tanks free too move across the battlefield.  
It was a walk over from there on...

See the dark red lines? They show how my tanks just surrounded the soviets completely unopposed.


The bridge was taken very early by the Germans. I sent them crawling in. Under the bridge. But that's wear i started coming under fire. The problem was later fixed when i had a German MG gun actually on the bridge.
It provided good cover for the rest of the game.



On the left of the picture you can see the green line. That's because Doug had some men hiding in the woods. Some of them had even built trenches. But he hadn't noticed for some reason.

They put up a resistance for quite a while. At one point i had a tank moving  up, and the doug called a airstrike. The explosion was massive!
But it failed to damage the tank.



I won. Interestingly Doug never intended to defend this map. He claims he tried to pull out on the strategic map. And it didn't work.

[Antony_nz]

These are the game stats.
I decided to turn off units act on initiative. I didn't want Doug leaving his soldiers idol by mistake. Then they end up walking out in the open and getting killed.

You will notice both sides are on recruit. That was actually an accident. I'm pissed off about that.
I wanted Germans on elite. To simulate that the Russians seemingly endless supply of troops.

The balance is in the favor of me, the Germans. I plan to quickly push the soviets to the middle of the city. Then to the banks of the Volga river.

[Antony_nz]

The 1st city battle. Red barricades settlement

The next battle was going to be interesting. It was the first urban battle of Stalingrad. Therefore very symbolic. It also showed the soviets commanders (Doug) recklessness and inexperience.





My deployment zone was very poor. I decided on only 1 tank and 1 amour vehicle.
The rest of my army was just troops.



In my view Doug was in a very good position to defend this map. My deployment was very poor. But the way he preformed was amazingly stupid. Despite my bad position i didn't need to attack. Because he attacked me!
The result was a unnecessary lost of his Soviet troops.

The battle started out with me spotting his AT gun.


It was a nice try, but i quickly killed the AT guns team with small arms fire. And a few mortar rounds for good measure.
I saw a few soviet soldiers launching a aggressive attack from that direction, but they were also gunned down.


At the start of the battle i tried to take this lvl 2 building. But my German troops were quickly wiped out. I thought this would serve as an example to Doug that defending would be a better strategy. But after that he launched his suicidal attacks.




From there on then he just continued to attack. His stupidity can only be justified by presuming his army was a penal company.
Doug must learn the hard way, he is not fighting simple Airborne troops any more. And this is not Medieval total war. This is CLOSE COMBAT!




As a result he lost many troops. While i lost very few.
I gained the valuable apartments to the north. And more importantly the prized administration building in the center.

In his defense (what defense)  you could argue that by wasting all his troops he ended the battle quicker. And potentially saving the map from further German advance.
But i find that hard to swallow. My position was so bad. It felt impossible for the Germans to make a safe advance. And now im in a far better position. ^^^^^^^

On the other hand i still had Armor.
And that may of made a difference. I tend to keep my Armor hidden until im lunching an attack.
Now during the next battle Doug has the chance to to hide AT guns between buildings.

Will Doug recover,learn or capitalize from his defeat?
I think Stalin wants a proper defense of the Red barricades settlement..

Keep reading to see what happens.

Next battle he does a bit better.

:)

[Antony_nz]

Hill 107.


This does not look like a easy map for either sides.
The obvious land mark is the school in the middle. Out of the 3 battles so far, dougs troops were the worst.

Take a look.

You can see all the German troops are strong Veterans. That always makes a huge deference in Close Combat. Just like it makes a huge difference in real life.

The soviet troops here are far less experienced. In means they are a not as good at shooting.Not as good at taking cover. More likely to cower or break while under fire. And over all just not as an effective fighting force.


                                                            Surprisingly Doug did quite well.

My deployment zone was tough. My first goal was to move though the village. Then launch an attack from there to the School in the middle.
And use my tanks for support , moping up the outside Victory locations (VCs)



Doug did very well.I used classic squad based movements,cover fire and smoke to move into the town.
But it was not with out loses.  A huge deciding factor was dougs AT teams at the top left of the map.
                                                   
                                                    (See the green T)


The end result is what you see here.




The battle ended because German force morale got to low. THAT'S RIGHT! Doug managed to get my force moral to low!  I took the VC to the north. But the loss of moral means the VC was given back.

The biggest blow was the fact that he took out 3 tanks from the northern AT gun.
I finaly had all my German troops crammed at the edge of the town. They were getting ready for a final and dramatic attack on the school.

But they had to wait for my last tank to move forward.
It finally got into position firing freely at the school. But thats when time ran out.

I'm glad i didn't/couldn't launch a attack on the school. It would of been a failure.

The next time we battle for this map will be interesting. What will the attack on the school be like?


Coming up, in the gully. We have the 1st Soviet tank unit!

[Antony_nz]

Hello.
                                                               Welcome comrades.








                                                                           Its it now time for the 1st tank battle of Stalingrad
                                                                         Followed by the attack on the airfield and aircraft hangers.


     The evil planer in Berlin has made it very clear that the airfield is to be taken without delay
Its all part of a grand plan to push the Bolsheviks towards the city. I plan to take advantage of the open terrain, and seize the supply depot on top of the hill Mamayev Kurgan.                              

All of this can been seen on my incredibly elaborate and detailed map below.    



^^^ when we take the hill we will have full view of the city.

Taking the airfield is also a huge strategic importance.



The 2 battles are done and dusted, its now just a matter of posting them.
Thank you and good night.

[Antony_nz]

[Antony_nz]

The 1st tank battle of Stalingrad.
Doug did very well in this battle. And i underestimated the power of his tanks.
particularly the T-34 .


This is an example of the soviets BG ^^^

In response i had my Stug III tank. But unfortunately i am learning that they are better for defense than attack..



Again i am treated to good Veteran troops. Well needed if im going to be attacking. Lets just hope i don't spend them all by the time i get to Stalingrad city center.





Deployment was interesting, In the picture above i hide a AT gun in the trees. It has great LOS (line of sight) looking through the vally.






The trees and slopes provide good cover for my troops and tanks.












Doug did well. I only managed to move forward and attempt to take 2 Victory Locations, The battle was domernated by two failed Infantry dashes and "long ranged tank pot shots" so to speak.
Below i try to take advantage of the end dirt road. But i end up losing my tank.





Force morale is low on both sides. The battle is coming to a end.
Lets take a look at the attack on the north. It started early with troops moving in but getting killed by a unit of Russian platoon leaders.

Russian tank were nicely hidden here.

Taking out the medium Russian tank tricked me into a false sense of security

[Antony_nz]

The result




Basic stuff here, but im having a huge thrill doing this!
Its the 1st half of the morning. And next we have the attack on the airfield.

[Pete]

Interesting read Antony. Seems your brother is learning fast.

[Pzt_Kanov]

It's always nice to read AAR's, specially ones that have plenty of combat footage.

Do you play next to each other in LAN or are you in different places?

Keep going!

[Antony_nz]

Thank you guys Yes my brother is learning fast. I haven't taken a map since the 1st 1.
I want my AAR to be clear and easy to understand. Possibly to some one who who is new to Close Combat.

Yes i love AAR. I kept thinking we need more of them.

We play on LAN when we get the chance. Me up stairs, him down stairs. Usually with plenty of breaks with beers  

I always give him verbal training. Hits and tips ect. I will post more sooon, My blog get updated 1st. But then ill post here on CCS. I prefer posting here because its easier to read, because the story just goes straight downwards.
Theres a million other AAR that i want to do. Okinawa,Africa,karelia,Battle of Berlin,Ortona. And a AAR the focuses entirely on the 6th of June 1944 as a day. Possibly with a longest day (movie) theme.

If i complete this GC. Then it would be a shame not to continue onto Der-kessel. Then operation Circle.

Just a few questions.
1. Whats the primary difference between Kessel and circle? Aren't they both about the Encirclement?
I know circle is about Operation Uranus. Is Kessel just simply based around general winter fighting behind that?    
...Mayb i need better research.

2. How well does the 1st Stalingrad correspond with the 2nd it terms of maps? i know that's a hard question. But i have found no other  discussions to enlighten me.
hill Mamayev Kurgan for example. Is that the maps that the Germans get surrounded into in circle?
Are the Air bases the same in Stalingrad than they are in Stalingrad Kessel and Circle? (as in supposed to be the same place)

What im trying to say is can you show maps such as Mechetka woods but in the snow?
I know there are allot of bridges in Kessel and Circle. But what one is Mechetka woods. If you told/showed me it would really help me get my bearings.


Does Kessel cover the same area as the Original Stalingrad? More? Less? I keep studying the map to try and get to grips with it.
I was considering starting winter with house rules. Historical believable GC is all ways better.

[Antony_nz]

Good morning. Time to take the Airfield.
As the tank battle is being stalled in the ridge it is time for us to take the airfield!

This is a prized objective for the morning.







            This structure is naturally a good defense line.





The battle starts.
Slowly the the rate of fire increases.Heavy rifle and MG gun fire is directed to the hanger and soviet gun pit positions.

^ Soviet mortar rounds go off killing the German AT teams crew. ^



Time to get cracking! Soviet morale is low. Lets move out and take this airfield!


Hey whats that in the middle! A soviet group leader! I didn't no he was there! The bastards were hiding
You can also see there is a attack to the North and south of the map.
Is 1 tank and 1 infantry unit enough for an attack?


AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH
My troops were russian towards them. And they were never stalin.
I had a tank there but they never managed to hitler-it..

Yes. True heroes leave the safety of the wall once there ammo is out and charge the communist position to the north of the map.

Mean while in the south...


after a long firefight around the deployment zone have i left it to late?


Nice Ambush by the soviets. My tank is trying desperately to kill the Russian soldiers in the trench.  My Schutzen units thought it was safe to move into the woods. But fell into a ambush.

Above you can see the 3 soldiers who were shot. The group leader is safe behind the bank. While the forth soldiers is crawling next to his dying buddy. What a helpless situation. Very brutal. . .



The German spent to much time with there heads down in the rubble and not enough time attacking the air plane hangers.
High command is not happy!

NO EXCUSES!


I dont think the 1st few battles were recored becuase of a problem with the save, so thats a fuck up.
In close combat your soldiers act like real men. Unlike other games, your troops feel like real people.  

One of the beauties in Close Combat is to follow 1 particular unit or soldier. Pretend they are real and watch them go through the hell of war.
Whats the point of doing this in Stalingrad when the life expectancy of a recruit was 1 day in some cases?
well,
I didnt set out to pick a German soldier. A Russian soldier found me.


His name is Antonov. With such a awesome name i think hes worth keeping.
He also made 4 kills. Hes from Siberia. All he wants to do is survive and win the war.
We will be keeping an eye on him from now on. [b]

[Pzt_Kanov]

I like that you are choosing a soldier to focus on. But shouldn't you choose someone on your side? you know, to be aware where he is and what he does all the time.

[Antony_nz]

Cheers.
I had to pick this guy. HIS NAME IS ANTANOV! Its perfect. Doug will keep a Close eye on him.
But its very hard with the lack of time. And taking pictures of Close Combat is very difficult for some strange and obscure reason. I have spent way more hours trying in vain to take photos that actually playing Close combat.
I finally found a program called BSR Screen Recorder 6. But every 2nd photo i take it minimizes the game. Wasting valuable attack time. Its just mind F*ing. I dont no how any of you take photos. ITS Ridiculous

However i will pick a German soon.. Maybe even multiple Germans. Douglas proposed the idea of making a AAR entirely based around 1 soldier. Thats a very unique idea. Hes a very prolific writer and i think he can pull it off in the future.

[Antony_nz]

Its not all about taking on Soviet tanks and airfields. Now below the hill is Tsaritsa Woods. Its before the map West Stalingrad. So its just as important. As a stepping stone for the attack into the city.



Where ever we go there are plenty of soviet troops to greet us. This time i have the Panzer IV tanks.

It looks like a peaceful little forest. But the forest serves as cover for the waiting Soviet troops.
A sniper manages to kill a German group leader. And its not long before German troops start taking loses while trying to move under the blanket of the trees.
At some points they even walk right into Soviet troops leading to close combat fire fights and grenade exchanges.
I am quick to get my tanks into position for fire support.

Above you can see my troops moving forward under the trees.
South of the map you can see my Panzer IV and my half-track moving across the field too capture the southern forest. This is particularly dangerous for my Half-track as there is a KV-1 Russian tank in the middle of the hill. Surprisingly it failed to destroy any of my tanks.  



And soon i was able to knock it out  from a distance.        

When my Half-track made it too the Soviet trench it came under grenade fire.
After that it was all a mad rush to try and take the Soviet trench line in the middle.
All my tanks quickly moved out from the roads and trees and were in full throttle across the open plains.





With Russian morale low i was surprised to see a decent crop of defenders in the trenches. German troops from the top north forest were quick to get to the banks. There they opened fire on the Russians.
My German tanks followed. By then Soviet Morale was shattered and were forced to regroup.

I will have to wait until the afternoon till next battle.
Force morale on and the 15 mins timer is a huge set back for me.
But at least im being held off.



Some lucky Russian survivors.


A German Panzer IV team.

[Tejszd]

Thanks for posting! Really like historical photos you are including....

[dgfred]

Thanks Antony... keep us updated   .

[Pete]

Hey Antony, UOSO is a decent screenshot utility : http://www.closecombatseries.net/CCS/modules.php?name=Downloads&op=getit&lid=3325  .