WAFFEN-SS; DAS REICH, TRAINING THREAD #1

[∬: Rafael Z. Wolfram]

WAFFEN-SS “DAS REICH!” - TRAINING THREAD #1!
DO NOT, Enter if you're not apart of the Das Reich Division!

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Scenario:[/b]

You’ve been assigned to taking a town in “Ile De France”, deep within enemy lines. Your prime mission is to capture a fuel dump to the south of the town, but due to it’s high guard and lack of intelligence upon relative numbers of enemies, it’s also advisable to sabotage this fuel dump if necessary. Either way, your prime goal is to slow enemy armour moving through the north east of France, so targeting this fuel dump is crucial to achieving our goal for the Führer and our fatherland’s advancements!

There is an Enemy convoy ‘predicted’ to pass through Point A around 1800hrs. This convoy is heading to the fuel dump for refuelling, it consists of a few transport trucks - it is highly recommended you seize this convoy. Whether you destroy it or use it, you will make the decision.

Intelligence has also pointed out this town has a backbone, the Allies have dug in here and don’t seem to be giving any impression to moving anytime soon. Your second objective is to get them out! Recon shows they have a prime location for their filthy habits, this is their field barracks. It’s a run-down manor house, but a sturdy building none the less. It’s advisable to seize this building for true dominance over the town. I’m sure they’ll run like cowards when they hear the superior German boots running their way!

There is also am outpost to the north, acting like a blood clot between the main road and the dirt tracks leading deeper into Normandy, France. This is optional, but capturing this position will endeavour faster transport routes for our ground units into Normandy. The dirt roads are said to lead to Paris themselves! It is not highly guarded, but even getting close to this outpost could prove difficult… The woodland surrounding it is thin and they have plenty of gunners and snipers guarding their precious little buildings.

So that is your mission brief, take the town, lock it down and wait for reinforcements to arrive. We need this prime location, it will slow the Allied Advancement of armour and digging ourselves in behind enemy lines, will disrupt their tactical planning and force them to pull back on many of their frontlines to avoid this same issue happening else where -- good luck and seig heil in the name of Germany! Make us proud!

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Rules:[/b]

If you wish to take part in this training exercise, you must fill out the following questions in regard to the mission brief above you have been assigned - all the hints/tips have been given to you, with a very detailed map on how to achieve this. I will answer no questions regarding on what players must do, it has been supplied, but I will answer any questions regarding a lack of understanding to objects on the map and so forth…

The following questions must be answered, within a PM to me! Do not post this in a reply to the thread! As other’s will copy your planning/strategy; Keep this secret, PM me your answers!

Questions:

Enemy Convoy is approaching your location (A), you have men on either side of the woodlands hiding in the dense forest. You also have panzershrecks, the right tools to destroying this convoy… There are ‘Four’ transport trucks and 2 tanks, one at the front and one at the rear. What do you do?
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Once you’ve dealt with the Convoy, how do you infiltrate the fuel dump? (Descriptive please)
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The Enemy barracks; How do you deal with them?
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How about the Outpost? Do you even bother to dislodge their presence?
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Locking down the Town, you have to hold it for at least a few days, edit the map with blockades and numbers of men (assuming you have any left) upon main roads/buildings you have to guard to secure the town from enemy retaliation.
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Prize:[/b]
- 15 NPC units
- Word of Promotion
(I think you all deserve a promotion, but I’ll try and get the winner a true blessed promotion if they Ace this)
- Maybe a training medal if PuNk let’s me issue it? (Have the image, Etc)

- Raf

[∬: Rafael Z. Wolfram]

Submitted Applicants:

• Lt. Schnider (Complete)
  
• Cpt. Hartwig (Complete)
  
• Sgt. Crimm (Complete)
  
• Lt. Battista (Not Submitted)
  
• Sgt, Major. Golodkowski (Unable to Enter - Due to POW situation)
  
• Friedrich (Complete)
  
• -
  

Please remember guys, I'm supplying the prizes entirely out of my own funding and etc; Plus, I will take a small amount of time to quietly read and mark every single one. So be patient and if you're yet to submit, do not worry, there is plenty of time left.

I'll allow you up to a week to submit, if you haven't submitted within a week (roughly) or notified me of you wanting to take part. Then all remaining entries will be closed. Those incomplete after the rough week estimate, will be given a further 24hrs to complete their application - Otherwise, I will accept the incomplete application as it is.

The winning Entry will be posted here, WITH a detailed mod mark of my own, describing how well you performed on each area and what you could've possibly done better. I'm also boosting the prize from 10 NPC Units to 15 NPC Units. A true leader deserves a true detail of men.

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03 July, 08; Update feed!

All the current applicants submitting their forms are VERY much on the right track, but surprisingly, everyone's used different tactics. No one's wrong in my eyes, but in my head, I have a very fixed scheme on what you should use and how you should do it, to conquer this town and it's inhabitants.

Sure, I'm no Military expert, but I have supplied you with the tools and "Average" number of men to perform this job. So you have to be more mindful of your actions, rather than brute force. Tactical in other words.

Like I said, I won't be able to mark every single applicant's form and provide you feedback, but I will be taking mental and physical notes from each and every applicant's form and the winner's applicant will be posted here - with feedback and alterations that could've been made. So you can see the answers.

In other words meaning, it doesn't mean I have to go marking each and every one's form with the answers. Saves my brain a lot of trouble. Please remember also, I have PAGES of reading to do from all of the applicants and as it stands, I can say in my heart of hearts, this is going to be a difficult decision already...

Best of luck everyone, you still have plenty of time.
- Raf

[William Luther]

Raf, are we ever going to find out who the winner of this was?

[∬: Rafael Z. Wolfram]

Winner is; Erik Schneider![/b][/color]


Half Correct!
Instead of setting up a cross fire, that could get your men killed, you could have set up one assault unit on one side of the woodlands to infiltrate the convoy and on the opposite side, have a corresponding unit further back in the woodlands, awaiting for any soldiers to be pushed their way from the one dominating and pressuring opposite flank.

This would have prevented friendly fire and hence forth, allowed you to ambush any fleeing soldiers through the woodlands. It also may act as a support and backbone, if things went wrong. Rather than dedicating all of your units to the ambush on the convoy.

You have also successfully stated the urgent need in keeping the convoy trucks. Well spotted.

Enemy Convoy is approaching your location (A), you have men on either side of the woodlands hiding in the dense forest. You also have panzershrecks, the right tools to destroying this convoy… There are ‘Four’ transport trucks and 2 tanks, one at the front and one at the rear. What do you do?

Well the smartest thing to do is pretty clear. I have 5 Panzerchreks so I'd set up 3 on one side and 2 on the other. Each Panzerchrek will be assigned to one of the two tanks. On the side with only 2 of them, they split and 1 goes to the front, the other to the rear. One the side with 3 of them 2 go to the front, 1 to the rear. Then we set up a cross fire on the tanks, just to make sure they're nothing but ashes. At the same time everyone, except the extra one(who would only fire if one the tanks lived somehow), fires at the tanks. Doing so would trap all four of the trucks in between, offering them no where to run to. Then with my men split on either side, they will create a crossfire killing any enemy soldiers inside the trucks without harming the trucks too badly themselves.

P.S.

I was thinking this could be different if I had a group of men able to driving a tank, which would most likely not be the case. But if so, the panzerchreks would again set up in the same positions. The ones at the rear would bombard the back tank into pieces, and the ones at the front would be for emergency use only. If there were the men to drive the tank, my men would again lay down a crossfire on the trucks and a squad of men would charge the tank and open the hatch and kill anyone inside before the tank would have the time to turn its turret ( which I would assume would be hard if there were so many trees its turret got stuck on one). And then the tank crew would be able to take over the tank in order to help infiltrate the fuel dump. But yeah its very doubtful I'd had those men, but I just wanted to throw that idea at you for some strange reason .


Correct!
Yes you would infiltrate the dump with the convoy trucks. To cover up any bullet holes, you could have mentioned dirtying the trucks with wet mud and dirt along the body. They have been travelling for a while across terrain, it would not be uncommon for the trucks to become dirty in the process.

Once infiltrated, these men would deal with the lower inhabitants of the stronghold on the ground level, whilst you would use the height of the cliff-face (northern to the fuel dump) to snipe out and provide sufficient firing. Your infiltration platoon of men would suffer casualties, but with a worm in the belly, it would not prove hard to filter in more men, considering the main gate would be compromised by your infiltration.

You’ve proven to be a little headstrong, with a full assault, but none the less, I feel that you have achieved this area well enough. Sure, the containers could have exploded, but they’re not that fragile they couldn’t take a couple of hits… [/I]

Once you’ve dealt with the Convoy, how do you infiltrate the fuel dump?

With the manpower of 75 men? First off, I'd put out the flames off the tanks, so I wouldn't alert any of the men in the village and/or fuel dump. Next with 75 men I assume I could push the tank off the side of the road, with the help of the horsepower of a truck even? Or at least push the tank far enough that the trucks could maneuver past it. Hell this may allow time to pass enough so that it was 1900 hours when the sound will begin to set and give the German infiltrators some cover. Then cramming about 30 or so men in the backs of the trucks. (2 up front, 5-6 in the back). These trucks would arrive in the fuel dump, disguised with the American's uniforms. I'm not aware to how many uniforms there would be, and if there weren't enough, only the main 8 drivers would disguise themselves. If the transport trucks were holding supplies and not men, I would get rid of the supplies or even better use them to hep my soldiers.) My number 1 best English speaker to my number 8 best English speaker would be the drivers. 1-2 being in the front truck as they would probably actaully be the only ones who would need to speak to any guards to get into the dump 3-4 in the second as they wouldn't be need to talk English as much, but just in case, and then etc until 7-8.

I would have the left over men, which would be about 45, but I may have taken some casualties taking the convoy, and have them surround the dump. About 15 on the left side, 15 on the back side, and 15 on the right side ( the ones on the right would go around the back in order not to cross the street to the front and alert the Americans of our presence. These men would try their best to move unseen and stay unseen in the smaller, sparser forest. Around 1930 or 2000 hours my men would infiltrate into the dump via trucks with 2 panzerchreks in case the mission didn't go as planned and the needed to make one last effort in order to sabotage the fuel dump. The other 3 on the outside could be used similarly or used to penetrate any fences or obstacles that would need to be blown up.

The 45 men on the outside would open fire first, their main target being any heavy machine guns, guard towers, or snipers. If needed, a panzerchrek could destroy any guard towers. When the Amercans were effectively distracted, the 30 men inside the trucks will come out from behind and destroy the fuel dumps defenses. If plans do not go accordingly, about 10 men (including the 2 panzerchreks) will stay behind to sabotage the dump, while the others will make an attempt to pull out and save any of their wounded.

Correct - Good enough…
You’ve successfully spotted the importance of surrounding them, by taking the buildings around them. This indeed would strangle and suppress them, with your panzershrecks, you could even hold them down inside the compound to blast holes into - till they either surrendered or died fighting.

The Enemy barracks; How do you deal with them?

Well I definitely can't just walk right through the roads in order to attack the barracks. I'm going to have to take the houses in the neighboring area, one by one with pure manpower, blitzkrieg. Either the enemy is going to be completely devastated and taken by surprise, or already be cautious and trying to set up defenses/ a counterattack. Why wait for them to prepare themselves? I need to strike them hard and fast before the enemy garrison can be alerted to help defend or counter attack. Along the way if any tanks are spotted, panzerchreks will definitely take them out. Any salvaged weapons/ vehicles from the fuel dump will be used as well. If at least 2 of the 4 trucks survive the raid of the fuel dump they will be used later on.

When I take the buildings in front of the fuel dump/ behind the enemy garrison I will set up about 20 men in the long building behind the enemy garrison to fire down upon the enemy. If there are at least 2 trucks left, with 10 men in each I will deploy them. One will make a right from the exit of the fuel dump and follow that road all the way down until it merges into the other street (not that first turn) and those men will take that whistle-like shaped building in order to give some fire to the front of the enemy garrison and any other enemies in the area (and to also cover some of my men who will be moving in the forest behind them). The second truck will make a left out of the fuel dump and follow it all the way down to the intersection and capture those 2 buildings there and help out firing upon the enemy garrison. (If the trucks are actually or destroyed or so, these men will move there on foot.)

Around this time it might be like 2100 or 2130, which will be dark. The remainder of men, which should hopefully be about 20, will move through the woods at the South-Eastern corner of the map, and will then flank any enemies in the remainder of the houses and destroy the enemy there and then circle around the enemy garrison, which should most likely destroy it. Hopefully this plan doesn't go wrong and we don't lose a lot of men. Panzerchreks will be used to if needed to deliver a brutal beating to the enemy garrison.

Incorrect!
You should have deployed a unit to deal with the outpost, as you entered the town. This question was placed below the other objectives, to render you thinking. They are not in order of what you must achieve first!

The unit deployed to nail the outpost should have been from a single spared convoy or simply a group of men, dressed in the blooded tunics of the dead American soldiers - slumbering their way to the outpost. Again this would have been an infiltration tactic, as they had snipers and heavy gunnery that would have caused you significant casualties, as the area surrounding it is open terrain.

So as a convoy heads to the fuel dump, another disguised band of men should have made their way here, to swiftly take out the eyes and ears, that would open the dirt road for a better infiltration route into the town! Towards the barracks… Objective #2.

How about the Outpost? Do you even bother to dislodge their presence?

Of course I dislodge their presence! It would be foolish to allow them to just sit there and allow reinforcements to swarm into my new captured town. And if I take it reinforcements of my side will be swarming into this town and others towns to counterattack the Allied invasion. Just after taking the town, I will send men to capture the outpost. If things have gone well I should have around 40-50 men left or even more! So what I would do would be to keep around 25 or so men in the town and sent the other 25 out to capture the outpost. 1-2 panzerchreks will be brought along if there is heavy enemy resistance...tanks...vehicles....etc.

A squad of about 10 men will go up the road near Point A and cross onto the dirt path to hit the outpost from the left. Another squad of about 10 men will follow the road around Point C onto the dirt path and hit the outpost from the right. The rest of about 10 or less men will push through the forest and hit the enemy from the front...or back? It is more then likely they heard the gunfight in the town. They would probably be fearful seeing as they are now all alone out in the forest, without any chance of reinforcements if the allies have been defeated. So once again I will hit them from different sides to confuse and kill them in a crossfire, our main priority would be taking out any MG teams or Snipers or guardposts. The panzerchrek or panzerchreks will be used to destory any guard posts or even any MG positions. This should be enough to drop their morale and then hit them hard, and if reinforcements are needed from the town, so be it.

Incorrect!
Although you have supplied some blockades - sort off on the right track, you have failed this miserably, dedicating all of your men to be on a continuous duty of lookout around the entire town! This would be hard to achieve, if at all…

The answer would have been to set up a blockade near the woodlands (where the convoy would be ambushed at the start), outside of the town - entry point (as you have stated), use the outpost buildings to monitor the dirt roads and optional, but set up another blockade or post on the dirt track leading into the town. Any units using this road would be spotted by the outpost to the north, so it’s optional.

Also, instead of dedicating all of your unit to a continuous guard duty. You would set up patrols. A bulk of your men would guard the fuel dump, use the barracks for any remaining comforts (beds, fresh water, rations left from the enemy) and work on a timed schedule with the guards at the blockades/outposts and the patrols patrolling the streets and town on regular intervals. [/i]

Locking down the Town, you have to hold it for at least a few days, edit the map with blockades and numbers of men (assuming you have any left) upon main roads/buildings you have to guard to secure the town from enemy retaliation.

Well here's my map for the training exercise. The rest of my answers will remain the same and are in my other message. And now I'll explain my blockades and were I placed my troops.

Alright so I made a rough estimate that I would at least have 50 men left, maybe less maybe more? Idk. It really depends on if my men were flawless and captured the town efficiently. The blockades are obviously the grey blobs. The numbers in the buildings is how many men there are in there. And the blue lines are which way each man is looking/ready to fire upon. The most Southern 3 were placed there so if someone came from the South they couldn't take the road up further North in town and would be cut down if they headed near the fuel dump, the houses, or the forests because there were a lot of men watching the South. The other 4 are doing basically the same, denying entrance of enemy vehicles from roads by point d and a. My men at the Outpost will act as a first line of defense if anyone comes from the Northern forest. The men further back a 2nd line of defense. The road how my men entered will be heavily watched by the 2nd line of defense, as we will not allow such a similar attack as ours.



SIDE-NOTE:

Overall, a good performance. You have much to learn and must reframe from using all of your detail in every single objective you get given. Think out of the box! Split the men up, assign them different jobs and be multifunctional with your men - an obvious commander, is one who repeats his actions. In all of your objectives, you have either used every single man or a bulk of the unit. Particularly the last objective.

So you must reframe from being head strong, in battle, this would cause you to lose many men and irrational mistakes such as these, are fatal blows. So remember, keep reserves, attack with strength and always use your environment to aid you.

Also, Captain Kriegheld came VERYYYY close to winning this.
The only reason he did not win this, was the fuel dump question and outpost question. I would go into detail, but the winner has been declared and I can simply not mark everyone’s applications submitted, as this would break my eyes and brain.

So great work guys, everyone!
The prize/s will be announced in the Das Reich thread tomorrow, so please be patient.
- Raf

[∬: Erik Schneider]

Hoorah! Yes I understand I still have much to learn, as we all do. This was about a month or two ago, and I feel as if I have learned some. So in the future, I will take your advice. Hope fully, If I can pull it off right I will be able to dominate the field. And alas, I was fooled by the placement of the outpost and the barricade, I knew I should have placed them at what was your correct answer. I just felt it would leave the town like a ghost town and could be an incorrect answer.

And well done to all that participated, and Krieghield, good job at nearly beating me. I was a bit anxious as I opened the thread. I had a feeling you might win. But good job to all, I'm sure we all did well.