I don’t know how it’s possible in the timeframe except by attacking with a full battalion north of the canal through the first night in 100m visibility, not a practice that the game encourages. It would then be a struggle to hold the town and secure lines of supply (but it occurred to me that in a battle as short in duration as this, supply is not absolutely crucial to combat effectiveness). I will try it as soon as I feel like more punishment.
You need to clear Colonie during the first few hours of the operation. If you cross Joe's bridge and clear the northern perimeter (incl. La Colonie), you'll have enough time to prepare proper defenses. Basically, you use the last daylight of the first day to bring your armor (2nd Bn Irish Guards) across the bridge and push to Colonie. I just replayed this in the original HTTR, and I reached (and cleared the immediate perimeter around) Colonie by 9 p.m.
You also need to send the bulk of the 3rd Bn Irish Guards across the bridge, once the tanks start forcing the enemy to retreat on the northern bank.
It's essential that you use medium or even low aggro settings, as you want to get close to the enemy as quickly as possible.
Your arty unit (and your mortar unit) are key elements here, tank shells, MG rounds and an arty barrage will boot the German defenders quickly.
Once the southern defenders are pushed back or wiped out, your tanks will fire accross the river. In the original HTTR and the COTA game, attacking across bridges seems more like moving where even tank units appear to be pretty weak/vulnerable during the movement across the bridge, I can't remember if its the same in CO2. It used to be a weak point in earlier installments, at least. If it's still like that, then it's wise to place the attack marker just slightly north of the northern end of the bridge and to place a new attack task on Colonie once the tank HQ has crossed the river.
You need to use your mortars and the arty pieces to suppress the enemy on the northern bank - this will give your tanks the opportunity to cross the river with low or even zero casualties.
Once you have placed the new attack order on Colonie, the tank Bn HQ will then order lagging units to get across as well and form up on the northern bank. The unit will then attack Colonie with all attached units. Again, it's essential that you use medium/low aggro, as you need to gain ground quickly.
The household cav is a perfect tool to push resisting enemy coys into the polders and away from Colonie. Max aggro and rapid fire will do the job here. This will give you the opportunity to redirect and commit the tanks at spots with more serious resistance/threats.
Once you have pushed back the enemy and captured Colonie, you set up a classic bridgehead defense, means you defend/occupy all approaches.
For instance, it's a good idea to send 1 coy to the woods just west of the polders between Colonie and the bridge. You should also have some troops at/in Colonie, maybe covered by one of your AT troops. The industrial area east of the
zinc factory is a
key point, you should send an inf coy, the other AT troop and one 1 tank coy to cover the (zinc factory) road leading to the bridge, let them pick spots in the industrial area and on the factory grounds. Click on the Groote objective marker to check the size of the objective circle. The inf unit and the tank unit should be placed outside the circle, this will be a key element towards the end of the battle, as you need to keep the enemy from getting inside the circle.
The AT troop should be placed behind your tanks/troops, it will be a last measure unit covering the eastern approach, in case enemy tanks manage to break through, you also don't want to expose it to the enemy para units expected to attack from the east or south.
The industrial strip west of the Groote Barrier objective has to be covered as well, I use to place the base unit and the Div HQ unit there, and an AT element (if I can afford to place it there), along with my mortar unit behind it (at a safe distance). That is a neat combo, as the Div HQ has some tanks (iirc), and your inf coy and the AT troop can handle incoming infantry/armor, once they're dug in.
The woods right at the river (just north of the Groote industrial site) may be occupied by remnants of the enemy bridge defense detail, so you need to scout that area once it's dark. Sending 1 inf coy + 1 tank coy to the bridge north of Lommel (Weyrken Road Bridge objective) will keep the enemy from flanking you. These 2 units should be sufficient to cross the bridge and clear the northern bank.
That bridge is not an objective, but reducing the enemy's (flanking) options will be key here.
If you send 1 tank coy to Neerpelt at the start of the mission, then you'll have the opportunity to shoot across the river, where then you'll be able to fire at (and decimate) the regiment forming up in Broeseind. Early action here may seriously delay their attempt to reroute and move to Colonie.
On Day 2, you need to collect your tank units and commit the entire 2nd Bn whereever the enemy paras (and the enemy armor) appear.
My units lost ~ 236 men, most of them tankers and AT troops, one tank unit lost all of its Firefly Shermans, but the enemy lost ~1,650 men.
I played without order delay, you just need to think ahead and issue commands earlier, if you're on order delay. If you feel that the order delay is messing up your timetable, you should use the move order whereever possible, which means that you place multiple waypoints (where you can adjust approaches/routes) with your attack order, so that your units don't waste time with enemy units/remnants that are irrelevant for the mission (but which have potential to seriously delay your units).
See if this approach works.
