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Would definitely prefer a Brigade, I'd like a low-key role.
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Feb 9, 2017 00:21
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If no-one else steps up to the plate, I can take Corps command. Would like to have a Chief of Staff attached in that case, though.
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Feb 9, 2017 15:15
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Okay! Here's the roster. Divisions have been handed out in roll20, but brigades are up for grabs in the thread. First come, first served. III Corps - Generalleutnant Tevery Best Chief of Staff: glynnenstein 19th Division - Steinrokkan 13th Brigade 14th Brigade 15th Brigade 16th Brigade and three cavalry companies, one cavalry machine-gun company, one battery of arse hortillery [sic], 12 batteries of 7.7cm field guns, 4 batteries of 10.5cm howitzers, and one engineer This division is, according to current plans (PRONE TO CHANGE), supposed to be our main holding force and anchor. It can expect a lot of action still, but the main push will be performed by the 43rd Division. Keep that in mind while signing up. 43rd Division - aphid_licker 76th Brigade 77th Brigade 78th Brigade 79th Brigade and three cavalry companies, one cavalry machine-gun company, one battery of arse hortillery [sic], 12 batteries of 7.7cm field guns, 4 batteries of 10.5cm howitzers, and one engineer This is the main strike force. Most likely will get the Jaegers and most of our heavy artillery in support. We need strong, brave men for these brigades, not afraid to throw away their lives for victory. In Corps Reserve we also have two engineers, 4 batteries of 15cm howitzers, and the 7th Jager Battalion, with two infantry companies, two MG companies, and two bicycle companies. Specific appointments of Corps assets will be announced later. The rough plan is up for discussion in Roll20, I will outline it here later.
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Feb 9, 2017 18:11
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The Sandman posted:Willing to take any position available. You're now the boss of the lucky 13th Brigade! aphid_licker posted:Now here's a goal properly worth dying for. Ve shall fight until our last, erm, breath leaves our bodies AFAIR engineers enable you to build bridges (no rivers, so irrelevant) and can build field works a lot faster than regular troopers. We're still in 1914, at the manoeuvre warfare stage of the war, so don't expect heavy trench lines the engineers could help you with.
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Feb 9, 2017 18:36
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Updated roster.Tevery Best posted:Okay! Here's the roster. Divisions have been handed out in roll20, but brigades are up for grabs in the thread. First come, first served.
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Feb 9, 2017 19:28
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Tias posted:Where's our private chat at? get provided my dude https://app.roll20.net/join/1997552/GbgsBw
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Feb 10, 2017 10:46
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I'll discuss that once I have some more time, so later today.
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Feb 10, 2017 12:05
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Okay. You've already seen Steinrokkan's proposed plan, here's mine, as well as some thoughts on stuff that's been popping up so far from me and the others. Bear in mind first and foremost that this is Corps deployment plan. I choose not to interfere with where brigades go or where your HQs go or where your cavalry goes outside of the broadest strokes. The map may seem busy at first and that's probably because I chose to stuff too many things onto it. But - to my mind, at least - it is more or less intelligible once you understand what do given symbols and colours mean. CYAN represents positions and movements of 43rd Division. BLUE represents positions and movements of 19th Division. RED represents potential positions and movements of the enemy. PURPLE represents artillery park sites (to be actually whether or not they're really feasible for what we want to do). YELLOW represents objectives. WHITE letters are labels I will use to discuss potential situations and contingencies in a later part of this post. Phase 1 FULL ARROWS AND LINES represent Phase 1 deployments. This stage is actually the one that we are so far 99% sure will happen roughly as depicted, as everyone agrees on it. The objective of Phase 1 is to secure Gooneville (hereafter OBJG). To make traffic bearable and manoeuvres swift, we approach along two roads, one per division. 19th should exercise more caution while on the march, as in this phase it will be closer to the enemy - what this specifically entails is left to its commander. Our entire Corps converges onto Gooneville and secures it with artillery support from Pasteur Ridge (purple box). This must be done quickly, but fortunately there is little reason to expect enemy to be there in force (see Appendix A: Assumptions), and in fact there is a chance there will be no enemy there at all. In any case, there is little subtlety here: take the town with the bulk of our force while dispersing some units (cavalry, jaegers) to recon as far and as fast as possible. The 19th should feel the responsibility to take the lead in this phase, should any such disputes arise; the 43rd will need to conserve its forces. Phase 2 DASHED ARROWS AND LINES represent Phase 2 deployments and positions. In this phase, 19th Division spreads out to secure Gooneville, hold our eastern flank, and try to maintain control of the situation to its south. If everything goes well, they won't have to move far from this phase line. The 43rd Division, meanwhile, pivots around the westernmost edge of 19th Division's line, securing La Sanglant Femme and moving into Brioche and Gooneville Woods to serve as jump-off positions for Phase 3. There should be little need to rush things at this stage. Our deployments will be hard to conceal from the enemy on the bulk of our line. It is up to the division commander how far exactly he wants to advance at this stage, but keeping as many men as possible in cover is important. Phase 3 DOTTED ARROWS AND LINES represent Phase 3 deployments and positions. At this stage, 43rd Division, supported by the bulk of our artillery (including the guns of 19th Division if possible), advances across the road and into Dejeuner Ridge, expecting heavy resistance of a significant part of the enemy force. This is the critical phase of the plan and the one where the most things can go wrong. If we succeed here, we've pretty much won. Dejeuner is a powerful position and getting some guns onto it would deny Quatrepourts (hereafter OBJQ) to the French, allowing us to seize it at our leisure. * * * The DOTTED AND DASHED ARROWS AND LINES represent hypotheticals, assumptions and contingencies. I shall go over them in order. A: The enemy may attempt to move units from the southernmost ridge (referred to in German staff documents as Roadblock Ridge) to bolster the defences of Dejeuner Ridge or outright attempt to roll up the flank of the attacking force. In such a case, it is the 19th Division's responsibility to react appropriately in order to deny that movement to the enemy. B: The enemy may, either during Phase 2 or Phase 3 (far less likely at Phase 1, see Appendix A) attempt a move along the western edge of the AO to flank our forces or deny us La Sanglant Femme or other valuable positions. This should be absolutely dealt with before advancing towards Dejeuner. The good news here is that if the enemy attempts that movement after we've begun our advance, they will have lost any decent timing; they would rush into our prepared offensive while denied the defensive benefits of their formidable position. C: The enemy may at any point attempt a probing or flanking movement towards Baguende. This would be a threat to the flank of 19th Division. However, with proper recon it should be impossible for the enemy to surprise us in this way and it is up to the division commander to decide on appropriate precautions and response if necessary. D: The enemy may try to attack 19th Division's positions at a variety of times and for a variety of reasons. The division commander must be on his guard and ready to respond to such developments. Securing Bois de Baguette may prove a good early warning and defensive position both (as well as potentially induce the enemy to expect an attack there), but be costly in lives; yet again, this is the division commander's decision to make. * * * PURPLE DOUBLE DOTTED AND DASHED BOXES represent potential artillery park deployments, but from what I hear are already obsolete due to a lack of range for the most part. Still, artillery at least temporarily kept in Gooneville Woods and at Bois de Haut may be a good insurance policy. * * * Compared to steinrokkan's plan, I think this has several advantages. One, we strike directly at the one position that gives us near-immediate control of the objective. This, on one hand, means we will not spend men attacking auxiliary positions with strong natural defences; it also lets us save time we would otherwise have to dedicate to a potentially protracted fight over Roadblock Ridge. This time savings can be "cashed in" as the time we spend setting up our artillery park, reconnoitering enemy deployments, and taking up jump-off positions before the main push. All these factors should help ensure we do not go into the battle piecemeal or without necessary fire support. Furthermore, while his plan suggests putting more forces to bear against the first likely point of resistance, it does commit us to fighting the entirety of the enemy force over the course of the battle. My plan only has us in combat against the specific forces that bar our progress along the crucial position we need to take either way. The risk, however, is that most of 43rd Division's main movement will be done in the open. We are going to be desperate for effective artillery or else this may well turn into Pickett's Charge Redux. Questions? Appendix A: The Assumptions I Am Making So Far Obviously the plan above makes a ton of assumptions - just like any plan we will put forward; this is inevitable: the only way to make a plan without any assumptions is to make no plans at all. Below I have outlined those I find the most important and - spoken or unspoken - prevalent throughout my thinking and the thinking of the rest of our side. 1. The enemy will come in from the SW corner of the map. This assumption stems from what we do know: scouts report the enemy is to the south of us. Starting them out in the SE corner would mean a real possibility that we can push to our objectives without ever seriously seeing them contested. Starting on Roadblock Ridge would keep them off the road in the early turns, which could represent a significant handicap. Starting on any non-southern map edge would mean Trin lied to us, which, while it would add "realism", is inconceivable. Having the enemy start in the SW corner is likely because it puts them right smack on our objective and it is the worst case scenario, which is why I choose to operate on it. Better situations, while possible, can be reacted to if they happen. The worst case scenario has to be planned for from the start. Now, there are two caveats here. The enemy may start on the road south of Graisse, which would let them get to Gooneville way ahead of us. That is possible, but it will just mean that the fight to take Gooneville will be that much fiercer, and we're already preparing for it. They may also start with some or all of their forces already deployed on the map - in which case they would probably naturally gravitate towards the main two ridge positions or push towards Gooneville (if they do not start with at least a token force in it already), so the plan should mutatis mutandis still be able to proceed. I'd gamble that this is less likely, as it's 1914 and thus the only good opportunity for a real meeting engagement of the whole war. 2. The enemy objectives are roughly opposite to ours. We expect the enemy have been given a set of objectives that will put them in conflict with us by having them push on to OBJG and defend OBJQ. But potentially they may have their objectives limited to bleeding us out, their real objective may be to turn our flank, or perhaps their objective is to attack us and secure, say, Bouclecourt or Nainville. I feel like my plan, which does pay some attention to flank security, prevents any of those hypotheticals from blowing up in our face. But should the enemy act on them, our plans will have to be adapted, rather than scrapped outright. 3. The enemy is not appreciably stronger than we are. We expect to be the attacking side in this scenario or to play it out as a meeting engagement between two forces at near-parity. This is certainly what it sounds like based on the time period and the orders we have gotten from the HQ. The enemy could be weaker than we are, as they would be counterbalanced by being on the defence in favourable terrain (if so, it is more likely they would have worse troop quality than that they would only have a single division; in the latter case their manoeuvre options would be extremely limited and thus unfun). They may also be at our strength, if they intend to meet us in a campaign of manoeuvre. However, there is at least a theoretical possibility that we are about to walk into the Marne and HQ orders are just bluster supposed to lull us into the false sense of security before we are hit by a force of three divisions or greater. But that's setup speculation and we should not let us drive our decision-making until we suddenly notice there are far more Frenchmen on the map than there should be. 4. The enemy will be somewhat reactive, rather than proactive. As a consequence of the above, we expect the enemy to let us come to them. While not unreasonable, we must appreciate that there are a number of positions (particularly on the western side of the map) that the enemy should be able to reach before we do, and they may go for it to throw a massive spanner in our works (or die out of position. Both may happen.). This is the one preconception I feel can and should be avoided, and why I stress scouting and flank security so much. In fact, having the 19th be something of a holding/reserve force is also, I feel, partially motivated by my distrust of this assumption. * * * So, there you have it. We have two competing plans and I need to hear from you on which one you feel is more feasible and what potential obstacles you see to either.
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Feb 11, 2017 00:41
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Another matter: the spotter plane. There are two ways we can deploy it: 1) as soon as the morning mist breaks we send it over the southern ridges to try and find out what the enemy's general deployments are. 2) we send it an hour or so before the rough estimate of when we may begin the main push in order to lean the enemy's specific deployments in the area we are about to attack. Any opinions? 2) seems more useful, but also calling for more delicate timing, while 1) has the added benefit of immediately verifying a bunch of our assumptions at a point where it is definitely early enough to change our plans.
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Feb 11, 2017 12:09
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aphid_licker posted:I think I now prefer the option with the second stage assault going towards Clemenceau led by the Nainville road division. It seems like it minimizes walking distances. And that Clemenceau ground is good to threaten the objective and possible reinforcements. Walking distances are only relevant as far as they cost us time (as far as I know this game does not simulate fatigue), and we will spend a lot more time fighting for Clemenceau than walking to Dejeuner. Clemenceau is also not good for directly threatening the objective. The sightlines from there are partially obscured by woods and a town (and should we choose to advance from there we will have to fight through the woods and the town, BTW) and Q or even most positions on Dejeuner are out of artillery range from there. The only thing it seems to be really good for is denying movement north of Conjunction Junction, and by the time we've taken Clemenceau, the French are not going to be moving there. Remember the road south of Conjunction is partially covered by the woods and town and partially out of artillery range unless we position as far to the SW of Roadblock Ridge as we can, and it is not guaranteed (or even in my opinion likely) that any French reinforcements would come in from that road rather than the two roads in the SW corner.
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Feb 11, 2017 15:01
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aphid_licker posted:Time is important. Troops that are marching somewhere out of sight rather than attacking are effectively neutralized while they do so. All the time we are doing this movement we will definitely be getting pounded in the center by all those other troops that have noone to fight because our counterparts to them are out of sight somewhere. We can be in Bois de Baguette getting eyes on Clemenceau at the same time we arrive at St Croissant. Fighting just for the purpose of fighting is in the end simply wasting our men far more permanently than temporarily neutralizing them by a long march. The French are unlikely to have enough strength to attack 19th Division's line with overwhelming force while at the same time maintaining any sort of coherent defence at Dejeuner - and if they do, then any offensive plans go straight to the dustbin either way. If we choose this route, anything on Breakfast will not necessarily have to redeploy. They will be faced with a choice of either being a factor now or being a factor later, because we cannot secure Q with French guns on Dejeuner, period. This only works the other way: forces that stay on Roadblock while we have Dejeuner will be a non-factor because we will not at any point have to concern ourselves with them.
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Feb 11, 2017 15:48
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I have started to pen a reply. How's that sound to you guys this is importantquote:Hello? Yes, hello? Is this the French field telephone? How splendid! Would you kindly get me the corps commander? Yes? (again: not for sending just yet, this is an early draft)
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Feb 12, 2017 01:21
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All right, meine Herren! Here is the current deployment plan: We expect the enemy can come from the south in force and attempt an attack on OBJG (Gooneville). Therefore, the Corps shall first focus on securing that vital position and establishing a line around it in order to regroup and present a cohesive force before our further moves south. Whether or not we will follow Case Scrambled Eggs or Case Clemency is to be seen. The 19th Division will secure St. Croissant in cooperation with 43rd Division and then ensure the safety of the eastern prong of our advance. Specific width of the deployment is at division commander's discretion. The 43rd Division will secure St. Croissant in cooperation with 19th Division and then take positions in Gooneville Woods and towards the Anschluss Knob road. Specific size of the deployment is at division commander's discretion. Both Division Commanders should safeguard our flanks by deploying cavalry in scouting role. I stress the importance of this. At least part of the artillery should be deployed on Pasteur Ridge to aid in potential operations against Gooneville. quote:III Corps - Generalleutnant Tevery Best The spotter plane will be sent to recon just west of WC Farm at 0800, exact deployment will be posted later. Tevery Best fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Feb 12, 2017 |
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Feb 12, 2017 20:31
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quote:Hello? Yes, hello? Is this the French field telephone? How splendid! Would you kindly get me the corps commander? Yes? Someone tell me if this is humorous before I approve it for dispatch
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Feb 12, 2017 21:35
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quote:Hello? Yes, hello? Is this the French field telephone? How splendid! Would you kindly get me the corps commander? Yes? Send it to the French, Trin. We've tardied on it long enough
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Feb 13, 2017 13:35
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Trin Tragula posted:e; f, doublepost Hello? Yes, hello? Is this the French field telephone? How splendid! Would you kindly get me the corps commander? Yes? Hello? This is Ze Germans. We are calling to confirm the receipt of leaflets and we wanted to say gently caress you very much. We could have answered in kind, but there is this awkward fact that you lot can't read. You are also ugly. We are informed that your collective wives are of a Cricetinaeid persuasion, no doubt causing problems for your prospective offspring down the line. We also hear you personally, kind Sir, broadcast olfactory sensations of sambucus, but this we shall verify when the day is done and you're safe as our guest. If you would kindly switch us to your field 2600 baud fax, that would be wonderful, we have an image to send. One moment...  Good night and die in a fire. glynnenstein posted:FYI, I am a big fan of paint.net for LP arrowing needs. Truth. If you do not have a tool for making prettier and more complex arrows, then just download paint.net. It's almost as easy to use as MS Paint and, most importantly, GETS THE JOB DONE. If there is one thing I will insist in this unit it is that we will have neat and orderly arrows on our maps, by Jove. Trin, a number of questions: Trin Tragula posted:All three types of company must remain stationary on Defend stance. Does this mean the "adjustments" rule is no longer in effect? What, specifically, are Division HQs allowed to decide and order without intervention from Corps HQ? What decisions are they not allowed to make? I know we are not supposed to know the nitty-gritty of the fighting engine, but on the sliding scale below: Trench mortar -> 7.7 FK -> 10.5 FK -> 15 cm FH where does arse hortillery lie as regards firepower? More provocatively, are there any differences in fire/bayonet power of French and German infantry companies? What about infantry vs cavalry?
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Feb 13, 2017 17:15
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  PLANE DESTINATION (flight plan: be there at eight o'clock sharp)
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Feb 13, 2017 18:50
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You gotta draw an arrow though. Arrows are non-negotiable, Trin said.
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Feb 13, 2017 23:09
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Okay, guys. REMINDER THAT DEADLINE IS THURDSAY GMT TIME. I have bolded the names of people who have not said anything regarding their plans so far in either here or Roll20. If anyone with their name in bold does not post in this thread within the next 24 hours (even just to confirm they are not MIA), they will be replaced by first name off the reserves list to ask for their post. Names in italics have so far been fairly inactive and are also asked to speak up and post orders with arrows fellas , but not under pain of replacement. If you're in italics, it's a prod to get in here and/or roll20 to start hashing things out.A gentle reminder: it is not enough to just say "yeah I'll do that thing my div general told me to", you have to post specifics and draw arrows for pete's sake I can't stress this enough III Corps - Generalleutnant Tevery Best Chief of Staff: glynnenstein 19th Division - Steinrokkan 13th Brigade - The Sandman 14th Brigade - NastyToes 15th Brigade - Ikasuhito 16th Brigade - Covski 43rd Division - aphid_licker 76th Brigade - Crazycryodude 77th Brigade - HEY GAIL 78th Brigade - Perestroika 79th Brigade - Comrade Cheggorsky 7th Jaeger Battalion - Tias
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Feb 14, 2017 00:14
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As for scale, here's a brigade in Roll20 positioned just north of that wood.
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Feb 14, 2017 01:11
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HEY GAIL posted:Oops, my hand shook. MGs that are in base contact with an infantry unit can fire as if they stood where that infantry unit does, but remain protected from enemy fire by the presence of said infantry. I would heartily recommend you keep the MGs behind the footsloggers, not the other way around.
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Feb 14, 2017 10:26
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Currently there is no variant that would call for us to immediately move onto Breakfast. Moreover, it will probably take some time for the final decision to reach you. Dig in and wait for the Runner to arrive.
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Feb 14, 2017 16:19
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pre:Checklist for Corps commanders: Have I assigned the Corps assets to divisions? YES Have I ordered the spotter plane? YES Have I collected everyone's orders (including attachments) into one place? The invaluable Glynnenstein is maintaining them HERE.
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Feb 15, 2017 11:14
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Brigadiers, we have less than twenty four hours until deadline! So far, the following have not posted any orders in graphic form, even working ones: Tias The Sandman (but I am informed he is going to post them today and have no reason to doubt it, considering his exemplary activity in Roll20) Ikasuhito NastyToes has posted working orders, but they are not yet final. Inasmuch as they probably could work in a pinch, he is implored to develop them into a final form ASAP.
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Feb 15, 2017 16:37
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1. How do you feel the planning for this battle has gone, in general? 2. How confident are you in the plans and orders that you personally have laid for this battle?  3. How confident are you in fulfilling the various objectives set by the Army Commander?  4. Is there any one aspect of the battle that seems to you will be most critical, on which success or failure is most likely to turn?  5. Thinking optimistically, what do you think the likely result of the battle will be?  6. Thinking pessimistically, what do you think the likely result of the battle will be?  All right though, for real. You're probably interested in my point of view quite a lot, since I'm at the top of the food chain and a bunch of memes just won't cut it, right? Here it goes. 1. I feel we wasted plenty of time discussing things that turned out to be of no consequence. On the flip side, everyone has managed to post their orders on time, we have two alternative plans we can use to press our advantage based on actual French deployments, and I have confident and skilful division commanders to help turn them into reality. 2. In the short term, very confident. Phase 1 I think should be little more than a formality, our approaches to St Croissant are far more advantageous than anything the French may throw at us. In the longer term, I have overthought this way too much to not see how many places there are that you could fit a spanner in perfectly well. I just know how many things can go wrong and how little have to go wrong to derail our plans, so I must worry. That's my job. 3. I feel confident in our flank security and the capture of St Croissant. I am fairly certain we should be able to preserve our forces fairly well. I think taking Quatrepourts will require a great deal of effort and some luck, but is not impossible. 4. The French deployments, especially around the ridges. If we strike at the wrong place, we will be hard-pressed to carry on with our advance. But if they deploy poorly, we'll be ready for any mistakes they can make, and will strive to punish those. 5. Optimistically, the French will waste a significant part of their force on an ill-advised offensive somewhere (likely Gooneville or Baguette) while we then press on to the ridges and evict their now-weakened force. Alternatively, they deploy poorly in their defence of Dejeuner Ridge, letting a determined offensive take the hill and thus a commanding overwatch onto the objective. We may then be able to seize Q, but holding it against supposed French reinforcements and reaction will definitely be a challenge. 6. Both sides get stuck in a bloody impasse around St Croissant. We misplace some brigades, who then get chopped down by French artillery, leaving us in no position to continue the assault as the battle shifts into a stalemate. Over time, if we are unlucky, the French may cause enough attrition to us to trigger our defeat.
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Feb 16, 2017 11:30
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What about Sandman's cavalry, then?
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Feb 17, 2017 13:12
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Trin Tragula posted:The cavalry is a semi-autonomous asset executing orders according entirely to plan. If that were core elements of the brigade... Okay. Will the information percolate to the brigade core once it gets close enough?
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Feb 17, 2017 13:27
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I'm afraid we will have to ask for them, then. If they have a spare division lying around, I'd gladly borrow it for a few hours.
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Feb 17, 2017 21:57
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aphid_licker posted:NONFINAL ORDERS, feedback welcome oh god please give me some feedback Good plan. Less because of 19th's guns - they're probably a lost cause - but we need some room to breathe. The important part is to sort out the marching order brigades ASAP - the guns must be unlimbered pronto!
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Feb 17, 2017 22:16
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Yeah, my instinct is to either send them in around Paradise to shore up the line there and maintain our lines of communication, or one around there and one at the northern edge of the railroad.
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Feb 18, 2017 11:48
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Call in two inf brigades, assign them to 43rd Division command
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Feb 18, 2017 14:47
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All right, guys. We have two plans for what to do with our two spare reserve brigades (once we get one more commander, that is). Plan A: act conservatively. Put them on the fast track to Pasteur Ridge to protect our northern flank, cover the withdrawal of aphid_licker's hq, and deny the French entry onto the ridge. This strategy is purely defensive and relies on the hope that we can defend against a French push effectively around STC, where we are the most concentrated. The drawback is that it's not a sure thing and it relies on the enemy blundering face first into us. It also does nothing to really pull 19th out of the fire. Plan B: put them around Nainville and get them to attack the French brigades there. This would allow steinrokkan to issue orders - the runners would probably be able to pass around the French unscathed as the enemy infantry would target our troops first. Possibly we could also hope that the French continue to push on and get caught in the crossfire. If this works ideally, we will be able to salvage some of 19th Division's brigades, potentially extricate steinrokkan's HQ from the mess it's in, but probably lose the two brigades fairly soon (they are veterans, so there's a fair chance they will fight to the last rather than break - on the other hand, they have no artillery other than a trench mortar). Give me your thoughts. Now.
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Feb 18, 2017 18:17
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steinrokkan posted:So, Teveryy, would you rather that I stay at Nainville, or retreat? Paradise looks like it can be salvageable. Definitely retreat as soon as you can safely hide among the new brigades. They'll draw the enemy fire off and let you just run like hell towards Paradise. Also I'd at least try to dispatch at least one runner - you'll need a couple turns to get back in communications and issue new orders.
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Feb 18, 2017 18:40
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Guys, I need your opinions on a new plan. Let me preface it with my observations about the situation at hand. Our forces in the eastern part of the map - understood as the area east of St Croissant - are overmatched, but should be capable of stopping even a fairly dedicated push. We now have MGs and artillery set up, while the French will need a while to recommit their guns forward and they never had that many machine guns to begin with. Their lead brigades must be quite out of Div HQ range, so we have the initiative right now. Plenty of their foremost brigades are battered, bruised, and bloodied, and not that far from breaking or no longer being an effective force. If they fail any more morale checks, or command checks, and they end up attacking piecemeal, we should be good in the area in the short term. The situation in the western side of the map is still in flux. We see the French moving towards Quatrepourts with at least one brigade, probably two. But most of their forces are parking on Clemenceau or attacking our eastern flank. This means if we act quickly and decisively, we may obtain local short-term superiority in the SW corner of the map. If we succeed at that, we may be able to secure objective Q, or at least prevent the French from getting there by controlling Dejeuner Ridge. From that point, we may be able to refocus our advance on maintaining interdiction of further French aid for Q long enough for us to hopefully win. This logic leads me to assert that in the long term the east may be tenable or not, but it is not worth it in any case, and we should reorient our line on a south-north line running from Q through G to the north of Pasteur Ridge.  The colours correspond to specific brigades or brigade groupings and are mostly for you to more clearly orient yourself in what your brigade is going to be doing as its part in the plan. The exceptions are blue and pink, which correspond to the intended long-term positions of 19th Division and 43rd Division, respectively. The lines turn to dashes to dots to indicate increasing levels of factual and temporal remoteness. So here's what it's about : The Jagers are, so far, the only group that everyone seems to agree on a mission for. Their job is to run like hell to Q, staying out of French artillery range. At the very least, they should secure or contest Dejeuner. If possible, and there are no French in Q because ???? (presumably we were superfast or something and they goofed and reoriented and I don't know), they can even take the place and camp it. If they see anyone in there from Dej, they should wait for the main advance force to arrive. 78th Brigade shall withdraw from its positions west of G and move into the gap between G and Pasteur Ridge. That way they will get their heavy guns back and will be able to position both themselves and the cannon to stop any French pushes in that direction, as well as anchoring the flank of 4th and 5th Brigades. Don't worry, as you can see, we will have troops moving in to cover west of G. 4th and 5th Brigades will form a coherent line together to protect our flank. That is, however, only temporary, their positions are too far forward as it is and the situation is well enough in hand that we can dare to try and fix that overextension. They will be conducting a fighting retreat to the west, where they will be shifted to 19th Division's command as soon as it arrives in Paradise. Our brigade in Baguette Woods (you know who you are) should just Break Off pronto and RUN like hell. Try to save as many of your men as you can, they're no use to us dying in that wood. You have a good shot of coming out of that with a brigade command and even those few companies and guns will be invaluable in the fight to come. Jaguars! has little to do, but plenty at stake. He must hold G at all costs. Fortunately, this should not be hard. Once you swat away those French leftovers, just clear the outskirts so that you can't get shot at with artillery. Can someone send him an engineer to entrench him? The red group - 76th and 77th Brigades - will proceed with all due haste to occupy 78th's current position and form along the road to the west. From there, if no new enemies arrive to engage them, they will cross on to Dejeuner Ridge, firing at any random Frenchmen along their way, but not engaging, secure the ridge, deploy their artillery over Q, and - if they encounter one or two enemy brigades - will engage them with artillery support while the Jagers either assist or help artillery cover the rear. While this final stages are happening, the rest of our force will be shifting westwards, compacting our line, allowing the artillery to better cover as much of the area as possible, and putting Div HQs in safer areas. 43rd's HQ shall fall back to Brioche when feasible, while 19th's should either take shelter in G or further north in Veine. Questions, comments, suggestions? ___________________ Remember, men. We are here on the field to fight the greatest war of Europe's history, and we shall fight like our dignity and humanity compels us to. We shall fight with the bravery of the warriors of old, and the civility of the soldiers of the new. Remember our enemies are human, too, and men of great dignity and valour themselves, I believe. Remember to give them the honour of fighting and dying in a fair battle, on their home soil, in defence of their fatherland and rights, as we may as well. For at the end of they day, when the guns are silent and the battle is won or lost, when the decisions we make today are only fodder for histories, we will stand eye to eye with our enemies, and we will say, and we shall say it proud: "gg no re"
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Feb 20, 2017 20:49
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ALSO, if you are not in Roll20, or do not visit it too frequently, here's something useful: current fields of fire of French artillery batteries. Try to stay out of those! (the dashed area is just horse artillery, which is far less effective and only numbers a few very mobile batteries, so it might not even be there in a moment.)
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Feb 20, 2017 21:14
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I wanted to grab it instead, but it's Perestroika's brigade, which has all the heavy guns attached to it. They're already on the edge of the command radius and I think we need them more on the defence here than on the attack - if the French are only moving with infantry brigades, they are unlikely to have any guns at all to contest us until they move off Clemenceau.
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Feb 20, 2017 21:58
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Believe me, I'd rather, but it seems there's no better time than now. The map in this thread shows this a lot worse than the one in Roll20, but this is the eye of the storm, where calm reigns. The French south of G are chopped up and scattered, Ikasuhito's path of retreat is nearly clear, and the closest force the French have to those guns is 14 inches away (from Ikasuhito's 10cm guns, 28 inches from guns on the STC-PAR road) and either shot up, engaged, withdrawing, or a gun line that will need to limber up to move. If we wait, the French may engage the fresh brigades and by then it will be too late. Particularly considering the delay in issuing orders. E: also 78th [PERESTROIKA] will not move until Turn 11 at the earliest. They will still have time to gently caress the French up before packing up to get the hell out of dodge.
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Feb 20, 2017 22:10
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Also a reminder: We have a brigade in need of a commander! The three guys we had that were without a command so far have not yet reported, which is why (unless Trin objects) I am willing to give the unit over to one of the Brigadiers who's lost his unit. If any of you are looking for a second chance, speak up!
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Feb 20, 2017 22:31
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Like I said, I'd like to do that as soon as he's in Paradise.
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Feb 21, 2017 00:05
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:39 |
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Here's a question for everyone advocating we immediately stop pursuing the objective and entrench in the middle of nowhere where even French to kill are starting to run thin: What if the French have the same Battle End trigger on taking Q that we do and there is already a runner headed straight for his Div HQ to tell Corps they can send in reinforcements and it's all clear and they win?
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Feb 22, 2017 13:09
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