7th Panzer 97 battle long campaign AAR

[ComradeP]

There really seems to be something funny going on with air strike targeting. It seems that 2-3 Rifle squads in a single location automatically override the order as described in the manual, which is odd as 2-3 Rifle squads are a minimal threat.

In my latest attempt at battle 6, a Stuka air strike first hit a group of Rifle squads that was being attacked by my tanks at close range, resulting in 2 knocked out tanks and in another try at the scenario targeted a Rifle squad in the yellow circle, whilst 3 Matilda's were moving in the red circles, on the map's only landmark and thus clearly visible.

Air support is pretty close to being essentially useless or even dangerous to my own troops even for a non-friendly fire strike currently. I have yet to see a Stuka hit a tank (well, an enemy one, they seem to be experts at hitting my own tanks), or otherwise valuable target. I have strong suspicions that the Stuka air strike that hit 2 50mm mortar squads and a 122mm gun in the first battle hit them because they were gathered at the same location, not because the 122mm gun was a good target.

[ComradeP]

Some screenshots:



Brewed up T-26 M33 facing the woods where my tanks are hiding.



Destroyed BA's, the last one has just been hit and is brewing up on the left.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
This is where the extremely slow speed of the Matilda's is a disadvantage to me instead of them, as I have a 27 turn "time limit", so I could capture the objectives and wait in ambush, but it's going to take them a long time to drive down that hill. The hill is crawling with Rifle squads, so the AI can always spot my forces if I try to flank the Matilda's on the hill.

That usually means that a turn bonus is applied to the defender after that time, rather than a hard limit, but yes that and the presence of lots of AI Soviet Infantry does complicate things.

Their position at the edge of the map and my lack of smoke ammunition means I can't really outflank them. If it were a meeting engagement, I could move around them and attack them from more than one direction, but as they're mostly stationary I can't do that here.

Some artillery reinforcements would certainly have been handy for this battle.

If I had the time to set up an elaborate trap, it could work, but the time limit is a problem. Capturing the objectives gets me to barely 50% in points. Making the random campaign objectives worth more, as some suggested, would help as now they're worth something like 100 points combined, sometimes less.

I hear you on that.

By the way, how does the 45 sighting points mechanic of aircraft work, do they scan the entire battlefield with 45 sighting points? It seems as if they take a quick look from their entry position and bomb something, as I have yet to see them bomb anything else than mobs of Rifle squads near their entry point, or perhaps a gun if it's close. I haven't seen either Stuka 1 or Stuka 2 try to hit the Matilda's, even though those should have priority according to the manual and they are (I believe) not in cover.

They are positioned above the battlefield, off the map near their entry point. They spot from there as would another unit, with some additional modifiers and they definitely prefer to spot and target vehicles. If you played Novy Rizadey, you'd see their preference for targeting the Jagdpanzers there. However, if they don't spot vehicles it is possible for them to spot infantry, especially if it's in the open.

Also, for the first patch, you could possibly check on the likeliness of infantry firing at unbuttoned tanks, because currently those Rifle units are rather reluctant to fire at my exposed tank commander, even though they could easily kill him. I can generally have my tanks drive around with the crew unbuttoned, as only MG's or infantry at 50 meters or so will fire at it. It's one of the reasons why I don't really need to use the recon vehicles. Of course, most enemy infantry squads quickly become suppressed or pinned, but I haven't had anyone hit my exposed tank commanders in any battles thus far.

Will do.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
There really seems to be something funny going on with air strike targeting. It seems that 2-3 Rifle squads in a single location automatically override the order as described in the manual, which is odd as 2-3 Rifle squads are a minimal threat.

I've seen the air strike targeting working logically in the release version, so I'm not sure why they are fixated on the rifle squads in this battle, but we'll investigate. Moving tanks in the open should be their priority. Is it possible they are targeting the tanks but missing them and hitting the infantry?

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

If you played Novy Rizadey, you'd see their preference for targeting the Jagdpanzers there.

Yes, the Il-2's did target a Jagdpanzer IV there constantly, but it was also the only one of my units the Soviets could see as the other Jagdpanzer IV was hidden in the woods and the infantry units were in buildings.

I've seen the air strike targeting working logically in the release version, so I'm not sure why they are fixated on the rifle squads in this battle, but we'll investigate. Moving tanks in the open should be their priority. Is it possible they are targeting the tanks but missing them and hitting the infantry?

The targets they hit are generally on the other side of the map, close to the point where they arrive on-map.

In the first battle, where I also had Stuka support, they didn't attack the remaining vehicles (BA's) either, but went for targets in an orchard.

Thus far, the Luftwaffe's tank destruction score after about 15 air strikes stands at 4 Panzer 38(t)E's.

[Erik Rutins]

Ok. One more suggestion - have you tried it on "Easy" yet?

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

I will not yield to the Matilda's! [;)]

By the way, it seems I completely forgot to mention it, but I'm playing on normal with most options that have an effect on gameplay (fatigue, breakdowns) enabled aside from SOP.

Also: is it possible that support assets like artillery and air strikes might not be working properly for battles played at 10x speed? I played the first handful of turns at 10x speed and didn't see any Soviet artillery strikes or Stuka air strikes, whilst previously the Soviet artillery started to fall at about turn 2-3 and the first air strike also appeared around that time (although that's more random, obviously).

[Erik Rutins]

I can't imagine a way that the speed setting could make a difference. The results are calculated the same way, the speed is just the display speed for the player after the results are calculated.

What seems more likely is that you managed to avoid being seen on Turn 1, which meant that they couldn't call in the planned barrage. After that, the Soviets have a very low chance of being in contact with their artillery and if none of their units that could see you were in contact, it could take their artillery out of the battle. Air support has a great potential for randomness, so I would not be concerned if it's quite different in each replay of the battle.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

My setup positions were the same as last time, which is why it surprised me that I wasn't being hit by the usual "all good things come in threes" 203mm, 120mm and 82mm barrage.

[Erik Rutins]

Hm, odd. Not sure why that would have changed then, but I can't imagine the speed having anything to do with it.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

OK, I've encountered another classical typical wargaming comedy moment in battle 6.

Near the end of the battle, when my tanks were desperately trying to destroy the Matilda's, the second Stuka appeared and started a bomb run...clearly aimed at the Rifle squads next to one of the Matilda's. The Stuka dropped its bomb, blowing most of the riflemen away and also knocking out the Matilda.

The moment was so silly that I had great difficulty with controlling my laughter, it was really enjoyable.

Score one for the Luftwaffe though. Their first enemy tank kill of the campaign!

-

The first comical moment was when my tanks managed to survive the opening Soviet barrage...only to have a Stuka appear which dropped a bomb right on top of the leading tank.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
The first comical moment was when my tanks managed to survive the opening Soviet barrage...only to have a Stuka appear which dropped a bomb right on top of the leading tank.

LOL - the Luftwaffe really showed its stuff in that battle. [:D]

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

Battle 6 was quite intense. I got a "saved by the bell" ending as my tanks were out of APCR ammo and would probably have been destroyed by the two remaining Matilda's (one completely functional, one immobilized and damaged). The battle ended on turn 22 (the "time limit" was 27 turns).



Turn 7. HQ Panzer 38(t)E's to the first flag, holding the center against infantry coming down the hill. Panzer II's to the right to mop up the infantry there. Other Panzer 38(t)E's to the second flag and ambush positions for the inevitable battle with the Matilda's.



A real "balls to the walls" situation for my Panzer crews, but they made it. One tank suffered track damage, but that was all. Whether they would've made it without the battle magically ending is less certain. They were in cover and the Matilda's had problems with hitting them, but still. That horde of infantry is an awesome sight.

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze).
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze), Close Combat Bar (Bronze).
/3: nothing.

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver.
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung /1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Bronze), killed 1 Maxim crew and 1 Rifle squad.

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black) and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 18 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 7 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 BA-10M's, 2 DShK 39 crews, 1 BT-5 and 1 T-26S M39.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), Wound Badge (Silver) and Panzer Ace, killed 16 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 2 50mm mortar teams, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 BT-7's, 1 BT-5, 1 122mm gun, 2 45mm AT guns, 2 Flamethrower squads and 1 BA-6.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, Wound Badge (Black) and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 14 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 50mm mortar crew, 2 T-26 M33's and 1 truck.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class and War Merit Cross 1st Class, killed 22 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 5 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 T-26 M33's, 2 DShK 39 crews and 1 50mm mortar team.
/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 17 Rifle squads, 3 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 3 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M, 2 DShK crews, 1 BA-3, 1 KV-2 M41, 1 AT Rifle squad and 1 Sniper team.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Wound Badge (Silver), Veteran Driver and Panzer Ace, killed 1 T-26 M39, 18 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 3 Maxim crews, 1 AT Rifle squad, 3 45mm AT gun crews, 1 T-26 M33, 4 DShK crews, 1 BT-7M, 1 F-22, 1 BA-10M and 1 50mm mortar team.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Iron Cross 1st Class and Veteran Driver, killed 20 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad, 4 Maxim crews, 1 BA-3, 1 BT-7M and 1 T-26 M33.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 14 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 10 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 11 Rifle squad and 2 Maxim crews.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 10 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams and 1 BA-10.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Iron Cross 1st Class, killed 11 Rifle squads, 1 Sniper team and 3 50mm mortar teams.

Non-core:

3/1-37 Aufklaerung /1: nothing.
/2: Veteran Driver.

Ju 87 /1 Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 1 Rifle squad and 1 Matilda Mk II Lend-Lease.
/2: Killed 1 DShK crew.

[ComradeP]

LOL - the Luftwaffe really showed its stuff in that battle.

To the point where I almost started humming the Benny Hill theme whenever I got the "air strike in progress" message.

Strikes against concentrations of infantry, strikes against my own tanks, a strike against a concentration of enemy infantry that knocked out two of my own tanks, but finally the Luftwaffe redeemed its honour by destroying a tank.

I have the feeling the pilot was reprimanded on returning to his air strip: "Fool! What did I tell you? Hit the infantry! And what do you do, Hans? You have to go and hit a tank, and not a Panzer 38(t)E like Gerhard or Karl, who managed to hit TWO, but noooo, you have to go and hit a Soviet tank!"

[oldspec4]

Thanks for doing this AAR...its a great read.

[ComradeP]

The last week of July seems to be full of battles for 7th Panzer. Battle 6 was on the 27th, battle 7 was on the 28th, battle 8 will be on the 29th.

Compared to the previous battle, battle 7 was easy. In battle 6, the enemy had 50 Rifle platoons, some only composed of 1 squad. In battle 7, the enemy had 14. The battle did require two restarts/loading of a previous orders phase earlier in the battle as the opening barrage of 6 Katyusha's killed a crewmember, which wasn't acceptable, and it turned out there was one more BT-7M than I thought, which destroyed a Panzer 38(t)E, also not acceptable.

My infantry only arrived on the last turn, they were off-map as reinforcements throughout the battle.

Legendary victory. 1 tank was immobilized through 2 track hits and recovered, 2 tanks that suffered track damage were also recovered. The first German Cross (Gold) and Knights Cross to the Iron Cross 1st Class were awarded. No new Panzer Aces, so I still have 2 (I got one after battle 6 too).



The plan:

-The 5 Panzer 38(t)E's will duel with the 2 T-26 M33's on the hill and move up the hill, capturing both flags. As soon as all AT defenses are gone, the two Sd.Kfz 222's will move up as well. The slope of the hill will provide protection against AT fire coming from near the flags until the tanks are on top of the hill.

-The two HQ tanks will slowly move to the flag in the woods after destroying the two visible BT-7M's.

-The 5 Panzer IIB's will move to the flag in the woods as well, from a protected position on the right flank of the two HQ tanks.



A BT-7M that suffered from an ammunition explosion or something strong enough to blow the turret off. You can see the grass behind the BT-7M through the gap between the turret and the hull.



One brewed up T-26 M33, with an abandoned one in the background in the top left. I like how the flames removed the paint on the hull of the T-26 in the foreground.



Turn 8. Tanks slowly moving towards the flag in the woods, one Panzer 38(t) already has a damaged track.



The BA-10 crew will only be alive for 2 more seconds.



Panzer 38(t)E in an overwatch position at the third flag.



Red circle: 1 45mm AT gun.
Green circle: BA-10.
Yellow circle: 5 BT-7M's.
Purple circle: 2 T-26 M33's.

The circles on the field are unclear, I've added some arrows.

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze).
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze), Close Combat Bar (Bronze).
/3: Close Combat Bar (Bronze).

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver.
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung /1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Bronze), killed 1 Maxim crew, 1 Rifle squad and 1 50mm mortar team.

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Panzer Assault Badge (Silver) and Wound Badge (Silver), killed 18 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 7 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 BA-10M's, 2 DShK 39 crews, 1 BT-5 and 1 T-26S M39.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), Wound Badge (Silver), Panzer Ace, Veteran Driver and Wound Badge (Gold), killed 17 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 2 50mm mortar teams, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 BT-7's, 1 BT-5, 1 122mm gun, 2 45mm AT guns, 2 Flamethrower squads, 1 BA-6 and 3 BT-7M's.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, Wound Badge (Black), Panzer Assault Badge (Silver) and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 15 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 50mm mortar crew, 2 T-26 M33's, 1 truck and 1 Maxim crew.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class and German Cross (Gold), killed 24 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 6 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 T-26 M33's, 2 DShK 39 crews and 2 50mm mortar teams.
/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 18 Rifle squads, 3 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 3 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M, 2 DShK crews, 1 BA-3, 1 KV-2 M41, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 Sniper team and 1 T-26 M33.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Wound Badge (Silver), Veteran Driver and Panzer Ace, killed 1 T-26 M39, 21 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 4 Maxim crews, 1 AT Rifle squad, 4 45mm AT gun crews, 1 T-26 M33, 4 DShK crews, 1 BT-7M, 1 F-22, 1 BA-10M, 1 50mm mortar team, 1 BA-10 and 1 T-26 M33.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Iron Cross 1st Class and Veteran Driver, killed 21 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad, 4 Maxim crews, 1 BA-3, 2 BT-7M's, 1 T-26 M33 and 2 AT Rifle squads.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 16 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 11 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 13 Rifle squad and 2 Maxim crews.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 13 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams, 1 BA-10, 1 Maxim crew and 1 BT-7M.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, Knights Cross to the Iron Cross 1st Class and Wound Badge (BLack), killed 14 Rifle squads, 1 Sniper team, 3 50mm mortar teams and 1 Maxim crew.

[Erik Rutins]

Great job. Late July would be the battles around Smolensk, which were difficult for the historical forces as well. I'm glad the campaign is keeping you challenged. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

Another easy battle, mostly due to the lack of Soviet units. There were only 6 Rifle platoons in the scenario. Thus far, the campaign's a nice mix of challenging and less difficult scenarios.

I did restart the battle after the Katyusha barrage killed a crewmember of one of my tanks again. The barrage was "danger close" to Soviet forces, but in Soviet Russia, you're always close to danger.

This is the kind of map where, if the Soviets have T-34's or any heavy tank, I'm essentially screwed as there's not really anywhere to hide.

Legendary victory, track damage to one tank, which was recovered.



Turn 2. The Panzer 38(t)E's are engaging the BT-5's and a BA-6. They'll move to the second flag through the central part of the map whilst my Panzer IIB's will secure the first one after I've made sure that there are no AT guns in the area.



Turn 10. There's still infantry in the church so the Panzer IIB's stay behind whilst the Panzer 38(t)E's move on to the second objective.



Turn 13. The only appearance those BT-5's will ever make again after this is in the Russian equivalent of Scrapheap Challenge.

The spearhead is about to encounter a 45mm AT gun in the treeline next to the second objective. The AT gun's crew starts taking casualties and the survivors quickly abandon the gun.



Turn 16. 2 BT-7's that were disabled.



Panzer 38(t)E's machinegun kills an infantry squad.



A brave, already depleted, Rifle squad comes charging out of the church and is greeted by a HE burst of a Panzer IIB, killing the last men in the squad. This scene is slightly less brutal than a scene a few battles ago where some survivors charged a Panzer IVD and were essentially shotgunned at close range by a 75mm shell.



Turn 24. The end.

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze).
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze), Close Combat Bar (Bronze).
/3: Close Combat Bar (Bronze).

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver.
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung /1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Bronze), killed 1 Maxim crew, 1 Rifle squad and 1 50mm mortar team.

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Wound Badge (Silver) and Iron Cross 1st Class, killed 19 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 7 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 BA-10M's, 2 DShK 39 crews, 2 BT-5's, 1 T-26S M39 and 1 BA-6.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), Wound Badge (Silver), Panzer Ace, Veteran Driver, Wound Badge (Gold) and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 21 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 2 50mm mortar teams, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 3 BT-7's, 3 BT-5's, 1 122mm gun, 2 45mm AT guns, 2 Flamethrower squads, 1 BA-6 and 3 BT-7M's.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, Wound Badge (Black), Panzer Assault Badge (Silver) and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 15 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 50mm mortar crew, 2 T-26 M33's, 1 truck, 1 Maxim crew and 1 AT Rifle squad.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class and German Cross (Gold), killed 24 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 6 Maxim crews, 2 BT-7's, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 2 AT Rifle squads, 1 BA-10M, 2 T-26 M33's, 2 DShK 39 crews and 2 50mm mortar teams.
/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 18 Rifle squads, 3 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 4 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M, 2 DShK crews, 1 BA-3, 1 KV-2 M41, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 Sniper team and 1 T-26 M33.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Wound Badge (Silver), Veteran Driver and Panzer Ace, killed 1 T-26 M39, 21 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 4 Maxim crews, 2 AT Rifle squads, 4 45mm AT gun crews, 1 T-26 M33, 4 DShK crews, 1 BT-7M, 1 F-22, 1 BA-10M, 1 50mm mortar team, 1 BA-10, 1 T-26 M33, 2 BT-5's.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), Iron Cross 1st Class, Veteran Driver, Wound Badge (Silver) and Panzer Ace, killed 21 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad, 4 Maxim crews, 1 BA-3, 2 BT-7M's, 1 T-26 M33 and 2 AT Rifle squads.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 17 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 11 Rifle squads, 1 50mm mortar crew and 1 Maxim crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 13 Rifle squad and 2 Maxim crews.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 13 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams, 1 BA-10, 1 Maxim crew and 1 BT-7M.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, Knights Cross to the Iron Cross 1st Class, Wound Badge (BLack) and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 16 Rifle squads, 1 Sniper team, 3 50mm mortar teams and 1 Maxim crew.

The next battle takes place on August 14th and is my first defensive action of the war. I'm told to expect a "devastating" enemy presence. The units that I can see are mostly T-26 M33's and Rifle squads, so nothing too scary is visible at the start.

[junk2drive]

The last shot in post 56 I believe is a 2k map. What did you think of the extra territory?

[Erik Rutins]

The 7th Panzer is really kicking butt, well done. Are you interested in an early war PBEM game at some point?

The first part of Barbarossa is definitely a great way to get in practice for the Fall and Winter. I look forward to seeing the AI try to counter-attack against your Elite Panzers. I don't think they stand much of a chance at this point with the equipment and experience they are likely to have.

Regards,

- Erik