TANKS AT PLATAMON

[john connor]

Thought I would do something VERY small, where I could easily track the detail.
This is a scenario where you command only a Bn, as Allies. Another heroic stand, this time by New Zealanders of the 21st Inf Bn, who were surprised by a strong, armoured axis attack down the coast at Platamon. Their task was to hold the Axis advance for around 2 days, then exit towards the sth as intact as they could manage. It turned out to be an almost impossible task. Again, the Axis arrives with a vast superiority in men and materiel. The 21st Inf Bn has nothing but Boys AT rifles - already obsolete by April 1941 - to hold up the German tanks.

The Commander of 21 Bn is LtCol Macky. Here is the starting position and his briefing:

 

[john connor]

Here are the objectives:


the Axis will attack from the north (top of map), along the coast.

 

[john connor]

Using Google Earth to give you an idea of the terrain:

 

[john connor]

Looking north.


Obviously, the main way the battlefield has changed since 1941 is that there are more urban areas now.

 

[john connor]

 

[john connor]

What forces do I have?
I have a reinforced Bn. That's it. No reinforcements.

That is, an HQ, 4 line Coys (A,B,C and D), a mortar platoon, a base and 2 attached support units - (i) A troop of the 27 Field Battery of the 5th Field Regiment RNZA (4 x 25 pounders) and (ii) 19th Army Troops Coy, New Zealand Engineers.

The Engineers have already prepped the Platamon rail tunnel, which represents a highway for the Axis armour, but isn't, by any means, the only way south.

In all, then, I have 1,831 men, though over 800 of these man the base. Including the Engineers, there are 773 front line combat troops. No AFVs at all. No AT assets except the fairly useless Boys At rifles in the line companies.

 

[john connor]

This is what the line companies look like:


D Coy is in a reserve position, the other 3 are strung out to try to cover the ridge line that runs from the coast (and the Tunnel) up into the mountains proper. That's the only obvious natural barrier to the impending Axis attack. The Engineers hold the Tunnel entrance and I trust are ready to blow the roof out of it.

There's zero orders delay for a little while at start of scenario, so I could tamper with the placements, but I would lose their entrenched status then. I will have to think about it.

It's rare in CO to get historical names of company commanders, but we have them here. Fantastic.

 

[john connor]

This is what the HQ and support units look like:

 

[john connor]

Street view from the B Coy positions:

 

[john connor]

Street view from the road up to the ridge that the Axis will contest;

 

[john connor]

What do I know of the enemy?

 

[john connor]

First Orders. I might run alternatives from saves, I think, to see the different effects. Starting with this:


That's about as simple as it gets. By the way, I'm playing with realistic delay, historical settings and stock command load. The on-map boss - Macky - has 8 units under him, a command load max of '10' and this order gives him a present load of '7'. Like this (just one order) the delay, at the moment, to communicate orders to the entire force is 9 minutes.

 

[Daz]

Some great images from Google Earth.
I knew the terrain was rough from looking at the map, but I had no idea exactly how rough until I saw them pics!

 

[john connor]

11 minutes in.....
Tanks have already appeared less than 2km away! The intel on them is current but still poor (check out the terrain in the street view photos above). present estimate is 7 Pz IIIs and 2 Pz IIs.

The order I gave has got through to all units and they're all defending in situ. They have 'Defend' boxes showing, not 'Deny Crossing' icons. I can't recall whether there are Deny Crossing icons for the orders boxes on the counters, or whether that order shows up on the counters as a simple Defend icon. If there are Deny Crossing counter icons, and they're not showing, then something has gone wrong and the units will not be preparing to blow the crossings. I'll let it run and see, maybe....

 

[CapHillRat]

John this is really great. Love the use of Google Maps. The street view gives some great perspective to the game maps.

 

[Daz]

If you don't mind me asking, why is your username John on this forum Peter?
Should we call you John or Peter?

 

[john connor]

Yeah, sorry, Daz. I have the two emails/names as the name I write under is John Connor (as in this link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Vanishing-John-Connor/dp/1409136140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415387142&sr=8-1&keywords=the+vanishing+john+connor for example) but my name is Peter Winship. But I don't mind - whichever - I've got used to John over the years....I also got used to 'Phoenix' (name of first book John Connor got published..http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-New-Blood-John-Connor-ebook/dp/B004TSKKJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415387303&sr=8-1&keywords=Phoenix+john+connor) which I used over in the Matrix forums. But my real name is Peter.

Thanks, Caphillrat. Glad you like the google stuff. It's an amazing tool, for sure. Helps bring it alive for me.

 

[luigi]

Good work Peter! The pics from google maps are amazing!

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

Peter who??

Great work Peter. Way to go. BTW I don't care if you call yourself jack the ripper you will always be Peter to me mate!

 

[john connor]

Many thanks, Davide!!!

And Luigi!

Glad someone is looking at them. It's all a very detailed at the moment - pic every ten minutes, but I doubt I'll continue at that rate. it's nice to watch in detail for a change though.