CASSINO 4x4 tiles

OPERATION DICKENS 1538 15/3/1944

The NZ attack has reached it's limit. There is not much chance of taking the castle and crossing 'spandau alley' will be costly and leave few troops to deal with the town hall and post office. Another 5 companies and squadron of tanks were sent in on the day - but there isn't much light left.

OPERATION DICKENS 1518 15/3/1944 - PROGRESS REPORT

It's a little fuzzy in the picture. The NZ are making progress, but the cost is high. The FJ still have strong forces in the castle - having sent in reinforcements. The town hall area is well defended but the rest of the town unmanned. All the remaining FJ are on the lower slopes of Monte Cassino and in the two hotels. The NZ have about 2 hours of light left. At some point (not really sure what time exactly) another NZ battalion becomes available and will probably be needed. Even then, doing better than the real men on the day seems unlikely.

OPERATION DICKENS 1500 15/3/1944

OPERATION DICKENS 1400 15/3/1944

OPERATION DICKENS 1344 15/3/1944

OPERATION DICKENS 1312 15/3/1944

OPERATION DICKENS 1300 15 MARCH 1944

I've made a few adjustments to the map and scenario. The NZ get 2 FOO parties - as I think would be normal, but only one battery to call on. 600+ guns were firing the bombardment after all. I decided not to roll for the German FO being killed in the bombing. It's too big a change on one dr. I've increased the amount of smoke in the barrage, but reduced it to one 12FP hit. Hazardous though. Here is the new map with the Germans under PINNED and CONCEALED markers.

OPERATION DICKENS 1424 15th March 1944

OPERATION DICKENS - 2nd TRY

F&M biggest map yet!

Although the CAMCOR CHEUX map was larger , I never used the full map in a game, since it is just more of the same.

This 12 tile map loads and scrolls at acceptable speeds. The FULL map for Cassino, with the station, Hangman's Hill and the Abbey would be 4x5=20 tiles, and I think it would be too big to handle.

CASSINO MAP BIGGER

CASSINO 12 TILES

CASSINO - 9 tiles

CASTLE HILL 1650 15/3/1944

The NZ troops are down to about 25 men. The FJs have only about 20. It's fairly even, but the Germans do have that killer stack with 4 heroes. A lucky hit could devastate them though. It could still go either way, but both sides will be nearly wiped out! Such is the way with determined troops.

CASTLE HILL 1606 15/3/1944

It is looking very close. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties and the 'winner' will only have a few survivors. Statistically, this is what is expected to happen. The advantage in FP and TEM gives the Germans about a 2:1 advantage, and the NZ have a 2:1 numerical superiority.

CASTLE HILL 1550 15/3/1944

The gutsy New Zealand attack is cresting the hill and running into devastating fire.  The Kiwis have created no less than 5 heroes and the Germans have one (which more than offsets the loss of their sniper). Plenty of Kiwis left, and it looks like they'll make it. We'll see!

CASTLE HILL NEW FJ COUNTERS

CASTLE HILL 1532 15th March 1944

After a few quick trials I've embarked on the first proper test of this scenario - which depicts D/24NZ Bn as they captured Castle Hill on 15th March 1944. It is quite a struggle to climb up the hill sides with all the rocks and 25m contours. Also, the Germans have good FP and resonable cover to fight from. 2" mortars are useful for HE and smoke to keep heads down or screen the attackers. But it's looking tough for the NZ troops.

CASSINO MAP - finished?

4 CASSINO TILES

CASTLE HILL - Monte Cassino

 

I've been working on this for a while, but only just managed to settle to it and tackle the rubble and rocks graphics which inevitably dominate. The exact positioning of the castle is still in question - depending how I solve the 'in the castle' or 'on the battlements' issue.

Though often not mentioned, small bushes covered the slopes, but were blasted and burned away. I am adding 'scrub' as a way to break up the swathes of open ground and because it is a big feature of Cassino today, and must have been present in 1944 albeit perhaps less prevalent. I've drawn a reduced size rock graphic to show the stony ground that must have been a hazard to the troops footing and added to the HE effects. 

Baraque de Fraiture 1638 and 1644 23/12/1944 - Sunset

Baraque de Fraiture 1610, 1618 and 1630 23/12/1944

Baraque de Fraiture 1538, 1550 and 1600 23/12/1944

This sequence if screenshots shows the US defence crumbling. They now have only one M4 left and it is manned by just 2 men. Trying to reverse out of its position is tricky - they lost another M4 trying this just a few minutes ago.

Baraque de Fraiture 2 - 1518 23/12/1944

Baraque de Fraiture - 23rd Dec 2nd go!

 

This second attempt is going much better for the US. They didn't lose so many on the pregame NMCs. The bombardment had very minor impact [I remembered to add a +2 AIFT drm for the deep snow]. And now the German attack has suffered some coordination problems as the tanks are delayed due to not activating their orders! This has allowed the US tanks to recover from their pinged and sometimes breaking off status and they are ready and waiting! Hmmmn. A much closer fight is in prospect. Pity it's late and I'm too tired to do much more tonight. TIAD.

Baraque de Fraiture 1614 23/12/1944

 

The bitter end for the US. All US tanks are on fire. Only one 105 is manned and it has no HEAT left. The southern flank has collapsed. A PzIV has broken into the middle of the US position and has an immobilized M16 at its mercy. The Glider Infantry company has achieved little - suffering heavily in the bombardment and are now struggling to send out some troops to counter the German advance from the East. I forgot to bring on the othe Germans who are due at 1600 hours from the North! but they are not needed anyway. I think it's all over.

Some errors I made that would help the US if not repeated.

• Germans entering at 1500 hours cannot use the road bonus or the NIC bonus but must add +1 for Deep Snow. This means they need a DR <= 8 to enter. OK easy -  but if they fail then the US have a turn to recover. Entering in 3 groups there is a good chance one will fail (70%x70%x70% = 35%)
• I should put all the US M4s on the EASTERN edge or able to move there at the first initiative. The wide flanking attack by the 2 M4A1s was really effective, but the Germans just had too many PzIVs on the map by then.
• Foxholes under orchards suffer airbursts which is nasty. They do gain for direct fire, but it is moot.
• Using the historical deployment is interesting, but spreading F/325thGIR around in smaller groups would bolster the 106th and maybe make the bazookas more useful.

The US are outnumbered and outmatched and have to win the armour battle to win the game. Even one or two PzIVs or StuGs left will run riot and kill off all the light armour, leaving the infantry easy prey to the PzGr... 

Baraque de Fraiture 1600 23/12/1944

Baraque de Fraiture 1538 23/12/1944

 

After some heavy losses the Germans have finished off the US M4s and 105mm covering the eastern edge of BdF. 7 US tanks are in flames and 3 Panzer IVs. Another 4 PzIVs are KO'd and we might expect one to return to action.

In the South, a StuGIIIG was KO's by a 105mm HEAT round and all the crew have 'been recalled'. The Germans have only an hour of daylight to go - can the US hold on?

Baraque de Fraiture 1510 23/12/1944

Baraque de Fraiture - 1500 23rd December 1944

 

The defence deployed for my 'The Alamo in the Snow' scenario. This is the last attempt to hold back the 2nd SS at Baraque de Fraiture. Losses prior to this were quite moderate, and some powerful forces have joined the US - including 9 tanks and the Glider Infantry. I've put them roughly were they were deployed at the time. They are about to suffer a 24FP attack to simulate the German bombardment. Then heaps of PzIVs will trundle into view, followed by Panzergrenadiers. The armour battle will decide the scenario as far as I can foretell. If the Germans cannot emiminate the M4s and then the 'Meatchoppers' then their infantry cannot survive long in the treelines let alone in the pastures.

Baraque de Fraiture balance issues

This game went heavily in the favour of the Volksgrenadiers. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the US were rather unlucky with their FTC DRs. The aaHTs achieved very little and wasted a lot of ammo. I put some vehicles too far forward and these drew fire from the mortars and the 75mm l.IGs.

I don't think the Germans are too strong. But they do have the option to be far more aggressive than they were in reality. That is up to the player. 560th VG division was inexperienced. Made up of Luftwaffe personell and not well trained at all. I have them as ML7 Confident and Cohesion 4. This follows my principles. I don't have any reasons to deviate from this. I gave them 2 full companies plus support from 2 sMG42 Gruppen, This makes about 16 squads. On average they will lose a squad due to the pregame NMCs. So I think they are about right.

The US tend to be very passive - playing a sit and shoot game. They do have options to counterattack though. Sending the M8s out to disrupt the German plans is one idea. They are vulnerable to the 75mm if they are at the woods edge - but also via indirect fire. The Germans don't have much firepower to spare to protect their mortars and l.IGs. They certainly shouldn't leave any infantry at the woods edge - all the infantry platoons need to move as far as and as fast as possible. They only have 2 1/2 hours of light to play with.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1746 20/12/1944

 

It looks like a German win. They have about a platoon in BdF south of the main road. The US are down to about 20 men with only one M16 able to fire and it low on ammo. The 105 is deadly and would cause any Germans coming down the road some trouble. Furthermore, we know from the history that the US got reinforced by TF Kane soon after this - and a company of a GIR arrived later. So - while the Germans have done very well, it is still not decisive.

Map shading

My combined night and mist/LV shading comes out a very murky grey. Very atmospheric but not attractive. When playing in VASSAL, hovering over a stack lifts it up over the shading and enlarges it - so the shading doesn't make play too difficult, and does remind me to apply the NIGHT and LV DRMs.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1718 20/12/1944

It's fully dark now. NVR of 6 (150m) but with the mist it will be very hard to engage targets that are not very close. The Germans might use this as an opportunity to finish off the Americans. It's the best chance they'll get. TF Kane are due to arrive in an hour or two - according to some sources. The German squad in the foxholes were getting killed off by the 105, so set off to take on the US hero - but now only the leader is left.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1638 20/12/1944 - Sundown

Sunset at 1638 - as best I can tell. The extra +1 ATC drm will further calm things down. The Germans have some useful forces in the buildings south of the main road. And more in the foxholes. Another 3 or so squads are in the treeline. The VG battalion is reduced to a total of 7 squads including the sMG Gruppe but not counting the infantry guns and mortars. That's about 25%.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1628 20/12/1944

The US turned it around. A 105 was swivelled round and demolished half of the stone building wiping out about 20 Volksgrenadiers in one shot. Major Parker has been firing the other 105 at the Germans in the treeline, and has also killed almost all of them. The South flank is the only threat remaining. The M16 cannot seem to keep its crew alive and the remaining M8 has only a driver left.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1600 20/12/1944 - the end?

 

It's looking grim for the Americans. Only 33 men left including AFV crews. Very little firepower. Major Parker is struggling to fire a 105 surrounded by dead bodies. Germans are just 50m from the main stone building which is defended only by 2 leaders, one wounded. The next 5-10 minutes should be enough.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1540 20/12/1944

 

The US are under enormous pressure. It looks like a determined rush could finish it! But it could easily spell disaster for the VGs.

Baraque de Fraiture -1500, 1510 and 1520 20/12/1944

Comments

Comments are most welcome. I notice many people stopping by - but no-one takes the time to offer any input or pose any questions.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1444 20/12/1944

The Germans have the upper hand. Heavy pressure on the south flank has the US breaking off and the M16 under recall - though it at least should rally and has a heroic gunner. This is in fact a much more dangerous attack than the Germans could muster at this point in the actual battle. Two slightly battered companies of VG plus mortars and infantry guns is quite powerful.

Baraque de Fraiture - 1430 20/12/1944

Parker's men under pressure. The mortars and infantry guns are ranging in and causing casualties. Volksgrenadiers have almost encircled the Americans.