Defending a Town?

BeatGuy83 · 10-09-2007, 08:57 AM,

Well, I think I got myself in a bit of a pickle. I'm going to be facing an opponent in the CMAK operation "Team DeSobry". I'm playing the Americans, and will be defending a town through six battles. I have a rather rag-tag force; little infantry, some arty (81 and 105 spotters, I think) and two platoons of Shermans. From the briefing, I can expect some pretty heavy armor coming my way; waves of Pz IV's with some Panthers and a few Tigers thrown in for good measure.

So, great sages of CM; how might you defend this town? I am just looking for general tips, as I have rarely played "defense" with the Americans. How might I use my Shermans to their advantage? Should I defend inside of the town itself, or in front of it? Perhaps behind it? Any tips would be appreciated!

PoorOldSpike · (This post was last modified: 10-09-2007, 11:16 AM by PoorOldSpike.)

I've never played that Op or seen the map or forces but some general rules of war should serve as a basic framework -

1 - Pack your infantry into buildings near the main flags on short arcs.
2 - Deploy MG's slightly behind the inf, give them short arcs too
3 - Site your arty spotters anywhere with a view of the enemy approach route but don't order barrages yet.
4 - Put all your tanks out of view behind buildings

The course of the battle -
Phase One - Do NOTHING, just quietly watch until you see his main force.
Phase Two - drop your artillery on his infantry to chew them up.
Phase Three - Remove your MG arcs and let them open up on any infantry that get through the barrage.
Phase Four - Most of his inf will be pinned or dead by now, forcing him to continue the advance with his armour.
DON'T wheel your armour out into view of his whole tank force or it'll blow you away, so lurk behind buildings and pick off his lead tanks from around corners of buildings as they come into view as if on a conveyor belt.
Phase 5 - With any luck your infantry will have been sitting snug and warm all this time on short arcs completely invisible.
ONLY order them to fire when the enemy gets pointblank (about 20 metres) and blow away any enemy inf thats got close, and order them to throw grenades and stuff at tanks that get within about 40 metres.
Piece o' cake..:)

Ratzki · 10-09-2007, 04:02 PM,

If possible, don't defend the town. Leave a skeleton defence inside the town to keep the flag yours and to give your enemy something to shoot at. Your main defence shoud be covering his lines of approach with the ability to get good side shots at his armour, far enough away from possible infantry interference. You have limited mobile defence, but they are mobile and I would try to use them that way, position them so they can shoot and get outa Dodge City before they are forced to duke it out toe to toe. Your 81mm FO will be good to delay only, the 105mm will be the bread and butter. I like to try to drop arty close to my guys, even if I break a squad now and then, if you can get in close with your arty and still be shooting away with infantry at close range, it gets real ugly real fast for the bad guys. Remember the covered arcs, you don't want to give away your position too early, MGs should be set at around 250m, they will be a real threat at that range yet out of infantry range.

Koen · 10-10-2007, 01:42 AM,

well...since I'm blind I would like to see what you're talking about...send me your set-up or file or whatever and I'll have a look and give you my thoughts...

send it to ME

K:stir:

herroberst · 10-12-2007, 04:09 AM,

Mostly good advice I think. My two cents:

- Might want to avoid crowding into the buildings initially unless that is your only choice (I disagree with POS on this). Germans with lots of armor might spell lots of rubbling of buildings to destroy your infantry. Occupying the rubble is what you want to do or even rubbling the city yourself so you can get set in the rubble before the Germans arrive. :)

- If you can amass a task force on each flank to wait and see if the Germans go down the middle might be useful as you can then take them in flank, or leave stay behind forces as you withdraw to emerge in later phases and take Germans in rear or shoot up reinforcements.

- Probably important not to get decisively engaged early in the battle, i.e. avoid losses, conserve strength while trying to attrite Germans. A fighting slow withdrawal if the terrain allows is challenging but fun.

- Set AT guns and tanks to fire to the flank or through narrow apertures (keyhole shots) to avoid losing these to preponderant German armor. If you take them straight on their numbers will prevail.

- Look for opportunities to cause mass casualties with artillery if he masses his infantry or open top HTs and such. I sometimes lay a one turn barrage just to unorganize the opponent and then do it again later rather than a sustained barrage... drives them crazy.

10-12-2007, 05:36 AM,

herroberst Wrote:Mostly good advice I think. My two cents:

- Might want to avoid crowding into the buildings initially unless that is your only choice (I disagree with POS on this). Germans with lots of armor might spell lots of rubbling of buildings to destroy your infantry. Occupying the rubble is what you want to do or even rubbling the city yourself so you can get set in the rubble before the Germans arrive. :)

I agree.

The best way to take a town, is to hope that your opponent will drive into it quickly, occupy it, and then allow himself to be flanked, surrounded and reduced through constant shelling from direct and indirect fire. Ye olde kesselschlat.

In other words, the best way to take a town, is to flatten it first... sorry civilians!

Cheers!

Leto

Soldier · 10-13-2007, 01:27 AM,

I agree with "herroberst!"
Not that most of what the other gentlemen posted isn't great advice as well.. :-)

10-13-2007, 07:45 AM,

If you are defending in an ME, or scenario, how do you defend a town?

Use foxholes in woods where possible and stay out of all small buildings, even heavy ones. Small heavy buildings blow up as fast as large light buildings.

Make sure that you have eyes on the flanks of the town, as you do not want to be defending on both sides. Usually keep any guns you have on these flanks... tanks entering town can be dealt with by infantry much better.

If you can force the enemy into the middle of the town with roadblocks or wire/mines. But make sure those fortifications are defended.

As in all defenses, you try not to reveal your troops until you can do a lot of damage in close, so covered arcs reign supreme. Do not hide troops, as therfore they cannot see. Be aware of foxhole or trench spotting distances in different terrains and when your enemy may see them (and shell them) even without revealing your position.

Tank hunter platoons and snipers are really good first contact units. If you have AFV's keep em out of the fight for as long as you can. These will be used to plug holes and counterattack (unless you have a prime keyhole position).

Although guns are ok if you have em, make sure you don't rely on them, as they are limited in short spaces, especially in towns. Take mortars if you can. Arty should be 105 or larger.

That's about it. All meat and potatoes stuff really.

Cheers!

Leto