Setup

Priest went with British forces. I have never played him before so am unsure of what to expect from him or what his style is. However, I am anticipating up to a battalion of infantry, up to twenty or more AFVs comprised of fast Cromwells and Fireflys/Challengers, and a lot of 3"/4.2" FOs. In the end, an armour heavy force overall to reflect his armour focus. With that in mind, I have decided to go with a hypothetical, though plausible, SS force as follows:

• 3 x 250/9 HTs (20mm)
• 3 x 251/9 HTs (75 mm)
• 4 x Tigers (Late)
• 6 x PzIV Hs

• 4 x JgPzIVs

• 5 x 120mm FOs

• 4 x Shrecks (Veteran)

• 3 x Sharpshooters (Elite)

• 1 x SS Pz Gren Armoured Platoon (Veteran infantry)

• 1 x SS Pz Gren Motorized Company (Veteran) -less the Hvy Weapons Platoon

• 1 x SS Pz Gren Motorized Battalion -less the Flak Platoon and Hvy Weapons Platoons (keeping 5 x HMGs)

 

I have broken down my force as follows after studying the map:

Priest's stated SOP is to win the armour war by forcing and compromising his opponent at the time and place of his choosing. With this information, I am anticipating the majority of his forces to remain hidden and passive, while a light-medium screen probes forward aggressively looking for weak spots before a course of action is committed to. I may or may not be outnumbered in infantry and arty support, but for sure I am expecting to be outnumbered in AFVs.

My tentative plan:

Group A will cover the left flank by setting up defensive positions before Hill 1. If little or no contact is made they will proceed on to Hill 1.

Group B will move into position around the large VF to the left of Hill 2. A HMG and HQ will race forward to setup on the VF itself to act as 'bait' while the two Platoons ‘hang’ in the wings.

Group C will setup a blocking position to cover the right flank and occupy the small VF there. They will remain in place defending until the battle has developed more. I have no other plans for them as I think this is where Priest may try a flanking maneuver.

Group D will move into position around the large VF to the right of Hill 2. Like Group B, a HT, HMG and HQ will race forward to act as bait.

The Reserve force will move into position behind Hill 2 and wait for events. Armour Groups 1 and 2 are positioned to cover the flanks and support the other advancing Groups if necessary; they will advance themselves only when sizeable British forces have revealed themselves or circumstances demand.

My "plan" is simple - destroy the British force. I do not want to commit to a full-scale attack until I see a concentration of Priest's forces and I will do what I can to encourage that concentration. Leading up to the *main* battle there will be many small battles and the key is to winning will be to come out sufficiently ahead in those.

Initially, I want to push forward small forces, supported by the HTs, across the map to 'appear' aggressive in the first clashes. All the while attempting to keep the bulk of my force undetected for as long as possible. I gather Priest will plan his actions based on what his recce learns and I want to see how he acts on this information before acting myself. In addition we have decided on a 55 turn battle, so I want to maintain a *fresh* force with enough firepower to be a factor later in the game.

I am thinking Priest will seek a weak point on the flank first and push there to get me to (over) react before attacking in force with his primary group elsewhere. He has total concealment behind Hills 1, 3 and 4 to assemble his forces and can attack from those directions. On my part I envision and want him to concentrate in the center valley before Hill 2 at some point. At that stage my Reserve and Armour Groups can envelop him from the flanks and center and hopefully destroy him there. I will keep my Armour Groups concentrated and deploy them in a concentrated and coordinated manner to achieve armour superiority.

Next