"Devil's Descent" CM:BN AAR - Now with 100% more community participation! -

[Dowly]

Hai,

First of all, if you haven't played this campaign and might want to give it a try
at some point, do note that this AAR will contain SPOILERS!

As for the campaign, it is a story-driven campaign with choices to make
between the missions that affect the future missions. Casualties and ammo (IIRC)
are also tracked, so if I lose a guy in a mission, that squad will start it's next
mission one man short.

YOU will be making the choices for me (may God have mercy on my soul).
Whenever there is a choice to make, I'll post it here and give it 24 hours
and pick the choice that has gotten more votes. If you've played the campaign
before, please don't spoil anything.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Campaign Briefing

Situation

2100 5 June 1944, RAF FOLKINGHAM

The 82nd Airborne Division will take off in 90 minutes; if all goes according
to plan, your battalion will be on French soil by 0220 on 6 June.
Your orders follow.


Mission

Your assignment is to support 1/508 in it's primary mission: the seizure of
the western approaches to Sainte-Mére-Église.

Ideally, 1/508 will drop tightly and be able to coordinate its actions with its
constituent companies. However, there are no guarantees. In the event of
an inaccurate drop, your company should be focused on the divisional objective
of seizing Sainte-Mére-Église. If you end up in the city at the end of D-Day,
you've done your job.

Upon landing, link up with other elements of 1/508. Make judgments on the
spot as to how and where to proceed next. Stay aggressive and do what you
can to secure the beachhead.


Friendly Forces

Your command consists of Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th PIR, 82nd AB.
You have three platoons of infantry, each with a command element, two rifle
squads (each with a .30-caliber MG, one with an M1903 sniper rifle and the
other with a bazooka), and a 60mm mortar section.


Enemy Forces

It is difficult to determine the specific units we will be encountering, but if
the deception operations succeeded we will be encountering mostly infantry
divisions of variable quality. The 508th will drop into one of the deepest
inland DZs, so is more likely to encounter a regular-quality division rather
than one of the coastal defense divisions.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Characters

PERSONNEL OF 1st BATTALION, 508th PIR

C COMPANY HQ

CAPTAIN Evans: CO, Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th PIR. Hails from Virginia.

1st LIEUTENANT Bautz: XO, Company C, 1/508 PIR. A quiet, bespectacled
young man from Boston, many doubted that he had the mental fortitude
to become a paratrooper. He surprised everyone with his determination,
but he still rarely talks and looks like he belongs more in a library than
jumping with the Red Devils.

PFC Blaes: Radioman, Company C, 1/508 PIR. PFC Blaes worked in an
electronics plant in California until he enlisted in 1942. A shy, devout Catholic,
he is generally regarded as the most technically proficient radioman in the 82nd.

C COMPANY COMBAT ELEMENTS

2nd LIEUTENANT Spurgin: CO, 1st Platoon, C/1/508 PIR. A tall, lanky Texan,
Lt. Spurgin is a very calm and collected at all times. Spurgin is generally
regarded as the best all-around platoon commander in the comapy, and
Evans frequently assigns his platoon to independent operations when they're
necessary.

2nd LIEUTENANT Ford: CO, 2nd Platoon, C/1/508 PIR. Lt. Ford, who hails
from California, is known in the battalion for always being cheerful and creative.
The youngest platoon commander in the battalion, his creativity sometimes
gets the best of him; he needs the occasional reminder that the doctrine
is there for a reason.

2nd LIEUTENANT Johnson: CO, 3rd Platoon, C/1/508 PIR. A former collegiate
wrestler from Minnesota, Lt. Johnson is stoic and stubborn. While he is a
very orthodox-minded officer, he is know for his bull-like obstinacy and
determination in the face of the enemy.

[Dowly]

"The Devils Have Landed"

0220 6 June 1944, C/1/508 PIR DZ

Captain Evans felt a sharp jerk as his parachute opened. He scanned the skies
above him, trying to assess how well the drop was going. He noticed that his
chalk was in good formation, and thought, "Good. It should be pretty easy to
assemble once we're on the ground." The cloudy air made it difficult to see
much further than his own chalk. The moon was also mostly obscured by the clouds,
so most of the lighting was provided by the German anti-aircraft guns and
searchlights-a terrifying, if beautiful scene.

Captain Evans was torn away from his reverie by the realization that he was
approaching the ground "****," he mumbled, as he realized he was headed for a
treeline. He couldn't aim his descent, though, so he had no recourse other
than to brace for the inevitable impact. With a tremendous cracking and rustling,
his body plowed through the upper branches of the tree, and he found his body
hanging just above the ground, suspended only by his parachute cords.
With difficulty, he grabbed his knife and set about cutting himself free.

Evans fell awkwardly to the ground, but after gingerly testing his legs and arms,
he realized he hadn't sustained any serious injury from his landing in the tree.
His equipment lay only fifteen feet away in the middle of a sunken lane.

As he picked up his M1 Garand and gathered the rest of his equipment, he saw
PFC Blaes off to his right. "Wow," Evans thought. "My stick's landing was
really tight." He walked over to the radioman, who was on his knees fiddling
with his radio. "Are you good to go, Blaes?"

The radioman replied, "Uh, not sure. Sir, I don't think you're going to like this."

"What is it?"

"I think the radio's busted, sir."

"Well, ****," said Evans, although he then noted that a broken radio was a
small price to pay for such a tight grouping of his paratroopers' landings.
"All right, Blaes, saddle up. We need to find more of our guys and get moving."
The radioman nodded his assent, and the pair began moving along the sunken lane.

Only thirty feet down the sunken lane, theur lane intersected with another at
an angle. Evans heard movement, dropped to his knees, readied his rifle, and
challenged with a whisper, "Flash."

"Thunder," came the familiar-sounding reply.

"Welcome; who's there?"

"Glad we found you so fast, sir," whispered Lieutenant Johnson, stepping into
view. "Our sticks dropped pretty tight. I've got all of my platoon HQ and the
whole squad that jumped in our bird. Sergeant Mulligan is looking," he paused,
and peered down the road he had emerged from, "yeah, he found a bunch of guys
that jumped with you, sir." Among the paratroopers hustling down the road towards
the intersection was Lieutenant Bautz.

"Good to see you, sir," whispered Evans' XO. "Looks like we've got one squad
here, and there's another coming down the road. Let's move out and see if we
can find some more."

"Good idea, Bautz," said Evans. The paratroopers all began moving along the
road in the opposite direction from that which Lieutenant Bautz had come.

Upon approaching the hedgerow on the other side of the road, they heard a
rustling noise that abruptly stopped. The soldiers all dropped to their knees
and aimed their rifles at the bocage. With a hand signal, Johnson and two of
his soldiers began moving closer. "Flash," he whispered.

"Noch mal?" came the response.

Johnson raised his voice slightly. "All right, Fritz, hold it right there or
you're a dead man," he said as he identified the shape of the German sentry
on the other side of the hedgerow and pointed his Garand at it.

The German sentry's eyes widened, and instinct took over as he tore away
from the hedgerow towards a small building about a hundred feet down the
hedge line, screaming "AMIS!" as he went. Johnson's Garand barked, and his
screams ceased.

"****," said Johnson as he shrank back into the earthen part of the hedgerow.

"What is it, sir?" asked one of his wide-eyed paratroopers.

Johnson looked at the man and was about to say something, but stopped.
Then, all of the paratroopers began to hear the sound of doors opening in
the farm complex in the fields beyond the hedgerow, and panicked shouting in
German. Johnson lackadaisically thrust his thumb in the direction of the farm.
"That's what, Private."

Lieutenant Bautz began evaluating the surrounding terrain. "Sir, we're going
to need to take that farm complex if more waves are coming in after us. If the
Krauts are still in there when dawn breaks, they'll **** us up."

"Agreed," replied Evans, and he began to issue his orders.

[Hottentot]

Ooo, we are having lots of AARs these days. Looking forward to this!

(Gets You-Know-Whose phone number ready.)

[Dowly]

"The Devils have Landed"

Mission

Seize and occupy the central part of the farm compound and clear the farmhouse
of Germans (although you do not need to occupy the farmhouse).

Desired endstate: Farm complex no longer a threat to any paratroopers or gliders
continuing to land in DZ N. 508 PIR elements combat effective and capable of
resuming operations to take Sainte-Mére-Église.


Friendly Forces

Captain Evans, Lieutnant Johnson, and two rifle squads are available at present
in the sunken road. There's no way of knowing if we will receive any additional
troops, but once the firing starts in earnest, we can expect any nearby paratroopers
to march to the sound of the guns.


Enemy Forces

Given the appearance of the sentry and the way the rest of the enemy has reacted,
it seems likely that the enemy consists of at least partially of infantry.
It would be difficult to say anything else about them in the gloom, though.


I don't start with much, but at least the terrain favors me.


First on my list is to get rid of those sissies hiding inside the building next
to the road.


*sneak sneak sneak*


SURPRISE!!


This gets the attention of the other sissies hiding in the farm complex and so
they open fire on the squad. My other squads answer with a hail of fire which
quickly forces the Germans to start hiding again.


I use this downtime to start moving some of my troops along the left side of the
map to flank the farm complex.


Lieutenant Ford decides to join the fight from the right edge of the map, so I'll
send him and a rifle squad to flank the complex from the right.


The Germans decided to try that whole shooting thing again, but this time it wasn't
just bullets they got in return, they also received a few mortar rounds which again
made them go back into hiding.


I use the suppression to my advantage and start my attack from both left and from the right.


Sorry, the "1 Finn equals 10 Russians" only applies to Finns.


Run away!


Ready... Aim... Fire!


I keep the momentum up and assault the central complex.


Which quickly surrenders, most likely because they figured it was no use to try and fight
an enemy who is so determined as to attack under heavy mortar barrage from his own mortars.
(my mortars pumped 50+ rounds on top of my attacking troops.. thanks. )


Could've started better.

[Dowly]

Decision time! But first, a wall of text por favor.


"Waiting for Spurgin"

0250 6 June 1944, SW of C CO. DZ

"Good to see you, Lieutenant," said Evans, turning to Ford, whose 2nd platoon
had arrived during the fight.

"Good to see you too, sir," said Ford.

"Well, looks like we have some semblance of combat power now," said Lt. Bautz
drily, as he surveyed the paratroopers gathered around the now-cleared farm complex.

"Real stroke of luck, our platoons dropping together with so little scatter," said Ford.

"Yeah, but... I've just got a bad feeling about something," said Johnson.

Evans moved to reassure his platoon commanders. "It's just the strain of combat,
Lieutenant. Don't worry too much."

Johnson stared blankly out into the blackness of the night. "Yeah," he replied eventually.

Evans moved on. "Anyone seen any sign of 1st Platoon?"

Everyone shook their heads. Lt. Bautz replied, "It seems odd that we haven't, given that
everyone else dropped so close together."

"Well, no use worrying about it. If we find Spurgin's boys, so much better. Whether or
not we do, we've got to focus on Sainte-Mére-Église."

"Sure," said Ford. "But where is Sainte-Mére-Église?"

Johnson checked his compass. "If we dropped in the right place, it should be
east-northeast of here."

"IF we dropped in the right place, yes," said Ford drily.

"Our drop was pretty tight. It looks like things are going well so far," said Bautz.

"Cut it out; the scouts are back," said Evans. "What did you boys find?"

The corporal leading the scouting elements replied, "Sir: there's a decently large
town just down that road a bit. Can't tell if there are any Krauts in it."

"Right. Why don't you go back and find out for sure?"

The corporal saluted, assented, and returned down the road he came from. Evans
turned to his lieutenants. "All right. Until we get our bearings, we can't be sure
where we are. I say we clear that town and try to find out where we are exactly.
Hopefully we'll link up with more of our boys in or around the town."

"Why risk it?" asked Ford. "The town's to the southwest."

As Evans was about to answer, a paratrooper threw open one of the top-story
farmhouse windows. "Hey sir, come up here and take a look. I think you'll want to see this."

The private handed Evans his binoculars. "Look, sir. Take a look over there."

Evans strained to see anything through the binoculars, and gave up after a few
seconds. "It's pitch black. I can't see a goddamn thing."

"I know, sir, but do you see that burning plane? Look towards the wreck."

Evans sighed and put the binoculars up to his eyes yet again. "Ah, now I see it."
He handed his binoculars to Bautz. "Take a look."

"Holy ****, sir. If there's an artillery spotter in that tower, the glider
landings are ****ed."

Evans nodded grimly. "Yeah. We'd better take that town before it gets too bright out."

"Ok, boys, listen up. That town down the road has a church on a hillock. If the
Krauts have an artillery spotter or a sniper up there, ****'s going to get really
messy once it gets bright out. Let's get in closer and take a look."
Evans' platoon commanders nodded assent and began issuing the necessary orders.

Evans moved as silently as he could down the country road, only twenty yards behind
his company's scouts. After what seemed to Evans as a half a mile or so,
the scouts in quick succession, motioned for the column to stop. Evans repeated
the signal, and little by little, the entire company peeled off the road and
settled into cover by the hedgerows.

One of the scouts ran up to Evans. "Looks like a Jerry road-block up there, sir.
I'm going to take Thomas and check it out."

"Go agead," replied Evans.

The company waited in a silence only broken by distant gunfire and the sound
of aircraft engines. At this point, everyone could see the dim outline of the
church that they needed to control. After what seemed like an interminable wait,
the company heard a low thump anda brief flash of light coming from the road
up ahead.

"Parker!" whispered Evans. "Go find out what the **** just happened!"

The corporal started off, and then stopped after a few paces. "No need, sir;
they're coming back." He pointed to two figures, slowly coming into focus,
running at full tilt towards Evans.

The scout hurled himself into the ground next to Evans and took a moment to
slow his extremely rapid breathing. Still panting, he said, "Definitely a road-block.
Five or six Jerries behind a sandbah wall. Gave 'em a grenade, I think it killed
them all."

"Were you seen by anyone else?" asked Evans.

The scout took a few more deep breaths. "Don't think so, sir. But Jesus, that
was scary, just running into those bastards like that."

Evans turned to his lieutenants, who had been gathering around him while the
scout related his story. "All right. Town's definitely occupied. Thoughts?"

Ford piped up. "I say we hit the ****ers right now. Don't give them any time to react."

Johnson responded, "I don't know. It's awfully dark still, and now they know
we're here, they can probably stay hidden long enough to blow US up instead."

Bautz added, "Furthermore, if we wait for a few hours, we might be able to get
some more guys together. Maybe find Spurgin's platoon."

"All right," said Evans, "Here's what we'll do..."

---------------------------------------------------

1) Wait for an hour or two for reinforcements to arrive

2) Attack the town now

[Oberon]

2) Attack now. If any other platoons have landed in the area and hear the fighting they may gravitate towards it and join in. Strategic surprise is still in your favour even if tactical surprise is not.
Oh, and find Dick Winters.

[CCIP]

Go boldly forth

I played this campaign not too long ago. Good stuff indeed!

I'll be curious to see how differently yours ends up from mine. I did well in the end, but there was at least one mission where I was like this about a decision I'd earlier made - it sure cost me.

[Narko]

Attack the town!

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I played this campaign not too long ago. Good stuff indeed!

Oh yea, really liking the narrative.

----

I'll be making this first decision a bit earlier as it was around 11-12PM when
I posted it. Just so I can play at least two more missions before I head off for the
weekend.

So, 5 hours or so to cast yer vote.

[Dowly]

"The Bells are Calling" (Part 1/2)

"We can't wait for anything. Let's hit them now before they have a chance to react."


Mission

There are four priorities here:
1. Clear and hold the south entrance to the town
2. Clear and hold the west entrance to the town
3. Destroy German forces in the town
4. Clear the church of enemy forces


Friendly Forces

We have the company command group and 2nd and 3rd Platoons available for
the assault on the town.


Enemy Forces

The scouts' report indicated that the Germans they killed were infantry from
the 91st Airlanding Division, the same as the unit we previously fought at
the farm. The division does not have a lot of vehicles; they're likely to be
mostly infantry, possibly with some crew-served weapons. Hopefully, if we attack
now, the enemy will be caught off-guard.


I plan to secure the east approach first and push to the church from there.
Lieutenant Johnson's 3rd platoon will move along the left flank, while
Lieutenant Ford's 2nd platoon moves along the road eventually linking up
with Lt. Johnson's platoon.


3rd platoon gets to the buildings without opposition. I'll send 2 scouts from
2nd squad to check out the other side of the street.


Goddamn it! MG42 has been set-up to guard the east approach. Should've probably
seen that coming.


I'll move the rest of the 2nd squad to the top floor of a nearby building to
piss on the MG42.


Victory!


2nd squad also spots another MG42 on the west approach and a command team
inside the church.


I move 1st squad forward who get into a firefight with a small german
team right across the street.


The Germans give up quickly and run away.


2/2 heads over to 3rd platoon to offer assistance.


The 2 Germans left of the closest MG42 undo their decision to surrender
and pick up their weapons, bad move given they are surrounded.


2/2 is ordered to swing over to the southeast side.


1/2 blasts through the hedgerow which scares a small squad of Germans occupying
the building.


They try to run away but Jenkins' boys gun them down.

[Dowly]

"The Bells are Calling" (Part 2/2)


1/2 & 1/3 dash across a field to seize the west approach


Some resistance is met,


but nothing superior firepower can't fix.


The building complex is secured. Both German teams seen in the shot retreated after a short firefight.


With the church now empty, I order 1/3 to climb up to the tower as they have both .30-cal
and a sniper rifle.


On the southern flank, 2/2 & 2/3 slowly make their way towards the south approach.


Not much opposition here either. Few Germans are holed up inside the building across
the street, so while 2/2 provides covering fire, 2/3 assaults and finishes off the last Germans.


This would be much easier if my silly mortars hadn't wasted all their grenades in the first mission.

---------------------------------------------------

Decision time!

-------

"No Platoon Left Behind"

0345 6 June 1944, Village S of C CO. DZ

Evans stared down the main street, his ears still ringing from the sounds of
gunfire. Finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived as Lt. Ford emerged
from a house at the end of the road and walked calmly back to Evans' position.

"All clear, sir. We searched everywhere, and there're no Krauts left 'cept for
dead ones."

Evans allowed himself to relax a little. "Good work. Let's go to the church and
see how Johnson's getting on."

The three officers and their headquarters elements walked wordlessly up the
small hill to the village church. As they were about to enter the church,
Lt. Johnson came out to meet them.

"Well, we needn't have worried," said the stocky Minnesotan. "Church isn't in
good shape; the stairs up to the bell tower are broken. No way anyone's getting
up there."

"What about a ladder?" mused Bautz. "Is there anything nearby anyone could use?"

Johnson shook his head. "No, sir, there were no Krauts up there. If there were,
we'd have known by now."

"No, I think Ben's talking about anything we could use," said Evans.
"Think we could get someone up there?"

Johnson thought for a bit. "I'll get some guys on it, sir." It would provide an
awfully good vantage point."

"Right, get to work," said Evans. Evans, and Ford began to walk back down the
small hill to the main street, when one of Ford's paratroopers approached the pair.

"Captain, sir," said the soldier. "There's a street sign a bit down the road.
Says Sainte-Mére-Èglise is down the road that way. Also, 1st Platoon managed
to find us."

Lieutenant Spurgin emerged from one of the houses. "Good to see you, sir. Thanks
for providin' all that gunfire. Made for one hell of a beacon."

"Glad you could make it, Lieutenant," said Evans, clasping the tall Texan's hand.

Ford, looking at the road sign, shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. This says
Sainte-Mére-Église is to the west."

Evans groaned. "****. I knew this was too good to be true. Looks like we landed
between the 505th and 101st."

Bautz demurred. "I don't know, sir. If we landed between them, I would expect to
have seen more of their guys. We haven't seen anyone except ourselves and the Krauts."

"I know, Lieutenant, but it's the only thing that makes sense. We've got to get
to Sainte-Mére-Èglise before the 505th gets their asses kicked."

"Agreed, sir. Let's go."

"Hold on, sir," said Spurgin. "Are we going to leave anyone in the village?"

"I don't see why we should," said Ford. "Keep our combat power at maximum."

"And if we're wrong about where we are, we'll have nowhere we can come back to.
What if the Germans take it back when we leave, and we've got nowhere safe to hole up?"

Evans thought about it for a moment, and came to a conclusion.

---------------------------------------------------

1) Leave a platoon in the village
2) Take your whole company westward

[Narko]

Leave a platoon in the village. Better be safe than sorry!

[Arclight]

I dunno, you're surrounded to begin with right? If you get pushed out of Ste. Mere-Eglise, it's either back to the beach or be left behind in enemy territory.

I'd say move on with the company, link up with friendly forces in Ste. Mere-Eglise and hold it untill reinforcements arrive. Think you'll need full strength to hold it anyway.

Not sure a lone platoon can do much to hold a town to begin with. The element of surprise is gone; they will be pushing back soon enough.

[Raptor1]

Take the entire company westwards. A single platoon isn't going to be able to hold the entire village against any determined assault, and if the enemy is there in enough strength to force you to retreat back even with a full company then it's also nearly certainly going to have the capability to cut you off from your detached platoon and defeat you in detail.

[CCIP]

Nicely done! You've really done a good job cleaning up here.

I say leave the platoon.