FitE LarryFulkerson vs Okimaw

[larryfulkerson]

Only one round this turn......most of the changes occured in the Leningrad area where the Axis gained a hex or two:
 

 
excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":
 
Spectre two four, an AC-130 gunship, one of five still airborne, is returning from five hours of hunting along the Ho Chi Minh trail in northern Laos. It's 03:10 hours, they are at 8,000 feet AGL, still east of the fence, headed southwest, at 152 knots. It's the rainy season and they didn't find much traffic due to cloud cover. The hardest part of the mission is over, and they are inbound to Ubon, Thailand.
 
Staff Sergeant Terrance Alva Fidler, one of five aerial gunners aboard, wastes his skills, sitting in the right scanner seat next to the number three engine, watching for triple A. The right scanner seat is the noisiest place to sit in a gunship since it's only three feet to the left of the number-three-engine propeller arc. No plexiglas window to look through, just a hole three foot wide and four foot high, with a wind baffle in front of it. Consequently, there is a loud, low-frequency hum that penetrates the best earplugs and helmet can do. The right scanner seat would be most unpopular were it not for the view.
 
Moonlight passing through the clouds dapples the landscape below; a strangely beautiful, largely insignificant pattern of blacks and grays. The most brilliant stars Fidler has ever seen are cloud gapping overhead, alternately winking and a staring at random. The propeller tips corkscrew vapor trails as they now pass through a cloud, to Fidler a wonderful, beautiful thing. Fidler never tires of seeing that phenomenon. He's been flying these interdiction missions for eleven months now, 24 years old, in good physical shape, a product of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and almost four years at Penn State University as a philosophy major. He fears he may be losing his mind.
 
He can tell when the Mekong river passes underneath the aircraft because he can see the reflection of the moon in the water. They are now, officially, west of the fence. Somebody has turned the interior overhead lights on to dim red.
 
Plugger, the other front gunner, appears at his side, grizzly bear gestures with his right arm.
 
"I'll sit there, so you can change."
 
Just before he unplugs his intercom he hears the flight engineer:
 
"Hey, you guys in the back, wake up the IO, we're gonna land soon."

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the minimap view of the moves for turns 20 thru Axis 25:



excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":

Soon they are turning off the active. The two outboard engines are shut down. Powered by only the two inboard engines, the plane turns onto the taxiway.

Everybody gets up, he flips the bench seat down flat, somebody turns the overhead lights from dim red to bright white. Strapped behind each of the two rear guns is a fire-engine-red, work weary, 55 gallon spent brass barrel. As all five gunners start unstrapping barrels, the IO lowers the cargo ramp. They wrestle the heavy barrels to the rear of the plane. He feels like he is standing in the noisiest, most expensive bus in the world, watching the blue taxiway lights pass on the left and right. The rear overhead interior light casts a large semi-circular arc on the moving concrete.

After the plane comes to a stop in front of the revetment, the remaining engines are shut down, and the whole world stops. A profound, quiet stillness is almost palpable.

Everybody in the back rounds up their parachutes and flight bags, and they jettison the plane by jumping off the cargo ramp. Nobody has much to say. They are moving slowly, tired as spent brass, to the sides of the revetment. Several lay down flat on their backs, spread eagle, their gear between their legs. Fidler sits down, removes his helmet, and scrubs his hair with the fingers on both hands. Five hours is a long time to wear a combat helmet, not be able to scratch an itch. He wipes his forehead with his sleeve, removes his ear plugs, stores them in the small clear plastic container in his upper right zipper pocket, and rolls his sleeves up above the elbow. It's warm and moist even at this time of night.

Fidler watches as a pickup truck comes into the revetment, drives behind the plane, and backs up next to the cargo ramp. Three guys were riding in the back. They and the driver dismount and board the plane. They dump both barrels into the truck bed. Spent brass spills out loudly. They strap the barrels behind the guns with large canvas straps, remount the truck and depart. A different ammo crew will soon be here to re-arm the plane with fresh ammo. This plane will be airborne again in about an hour with a different crew.

A yellow fuel truck pulls up in front of the plane. The driver starts to pull out a long, thick, black, rubber hose. Then the air-force-blue school bus pulls around the corner of the revetment and comes to a stop. They get to their feet and load up. When they find a seat they sprawl into it. Fidler goes all the way to the back. He ignores his surroundings, dismisses conversations, is unaware of the passage of time.

Plugger pulls on his sleeve until Fidler stirs, awake again. He stumbles into the armory, turns in his .38 special, his survival radios, and his parachute. He hangs up his parachute harness, combat vest and helmet. Throws his flight bag in his locker. Grabs his wallet, keys, pack of cigarettes, and patches. Locks his locker.

He finds himself outside, at the bus stop by the front gate, hardly knowing how he got there. He shows his ID to the guard at the gate and leaves Ubon airbase. He hires a pedicab to take him home. Fishing a joint out of the cigarette pack, he lights it, smokes it. The pedicab stops and he dismounts, pays the guy.

"Saw wah dee, cup. Thanks."

When he discovers himself standing in the quiet darkness, in his apartment he is almost surprised. Secure. Safe. Another day, another thirty dollars.

[Karri]

If you don't have any good places to attack in, the only thing you can do is to select a good point where to concentrate your best forces and then make the attack there. I remeber when I was playing against you, I always looked for any possible holes in the lines and then pushed onwards in there. And remember; Taking an undefended hex can force your enemy to sacrifice thousands of rifle squads to take it back.

[Okimaw]

There continues to be attacks going on along the front but the Red Army defences are holding. The fall mud season is almost upon us and there doesn't seem to be any major urban area in danger of being overrun or any point in the line that is particularily vulnerable. We continue to move units from throughout the USSR to areas that require reinforcement. The exception has been Melitopol was fell in the last turn although the area around it is still secure.
 
Here are the losses so far
 
()
 
Shot of the Karkhov district
 
()
 
Shot of the Orel district
 
()
 
Shot of the Melitopol district
 
()

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what happened in the first combat round of Axis turn 26 in the Leningrad area ( hint: I surrounded a bunch of the Soviet units ) :

[larryfulkerson]

In the approaches to Sevastapol, the Romanians gained a hex or two this turn:
 

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what the Axis air losses report says ( for the entire turn ) :
 

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the minimap view of turns 20 thru Axis 26:
 

[larryfulkerson]

I disbanded a RR gun by mistake:
 

[SMK-at-work]

Why do you put railway guns in Tactical Reserve??!![&:][&:]

[larryfulkerson]

The Axis forces finally captured Orel:
 

[larryfulkerson]

I eliminated some Soviet units and advanced a little bit in the Leningrad area:
 

[larryfulkerson]

I finally found a situation where I could use the FJ airborne division.  I dropped them so as to surround some Soviet units near the approaches to the Sevastopol area:
 

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the minimap view of the moves from turns 20 thru Axis 27:

[larryfulkerson]

Here's some of the Axis losses so far ( before combat in turn 28 ) :
 

[larryfulkerson]

Most of the moves took place in the Leningrad area:
 

[larryfulkerson]

The Axis only got one combat round this turn.  Here's the minimap view of the moves for turns 20 thru Axis 28:
 

[larryfulkerson]

In Axis turn 30 most of the movement changes took place north of Sevastopol:
 

[larryfulkerson]

For what it's worth, here's the minimap view of the moves for turns 25 thru Axis 30:
 

[larryfulkerson]

And, it's finally official....I've lost more heavy rifle squads than I have assigned: