Belisarius vs. Goblin

[Belisarius]

Me and the Green One are having a little bbq, forested area, summer of '42. ~6700 points. The area has a line of quite large hills running top-bottom on the map, where the VH's are. Around these hills it's clear ground, otherwise there's lots of wood. One round of blindly (?) lobbing shells is over, and now it's getting serious. Arty fire has so far been quite inconclusive.

Comrade Colonel Goblin has apparently drafted some platoons from the Mockba biker gangs, there are bikes everywhere. However they need to get their licenses checked - if you run into Flakvierlings, you yield!

Comrade 'G' also has at least one platoon of KV-1's trundling over a hill in the south towards the main VH area. Soon they will learn the taste of Krupp steel! I hope. :p

[Goblin]

As I explained to Belisarius, those slow KV-1's are easily avoided, and the least of his problems!

What you have to watch for is the fast stuff. That's what the former platoon of Panzergrenadiers on the north hilltop discovered! They thought it was wonderful fun picking on the People's motorcycle warriors. Until a wave of almost-as-fast T34's came over the hill. Not so much fun now! Except for the Soviet MC's, who swarmed out after to clean up the mess!

Now I see PzIV's, 88mmATG's, PzGren's, FlaKveirlings, PzIII's, Nebelwerfers, mortars, infantry, and the kitchen sink on a truck!

I would say this is gonna get bloody, but it already has!

Belisarius said he has little or no experience playing as the Soviets, so he may not realize his danger;) . Surrender now, and all will go well with you. The People just wish to ask a few friendly questions of you, thats all.

Goblin- A Goblin is like a locust

[Belisarius]

Well, I'll say...

Just as we need them most, the complete artillery called for a coffee break! I'm about to send an envoy down there to whip their shiny butts! I NEED THOSE TUBES.

Meanwhile the panzergrenadiers are milling around in confusion on the north hill, wondering what hit them. T-34's and those mosquitos..err.. motorcycles are all over the place.
Looks like Goblin opted for speed! Where's the infantry?
I'm down 1/2 platoon, an HT and a Vierling from the commies' steel avalanche, but we're bracing ourselves for the impact.

I see the Colonel's political emissaries has also recruited some of the local yeomanry. I knew I was going to regret not placing enough protection for the onboard artillery. When this is over we will flog every local bolshevik for supporting partisan activity! Pesky partisans!

And oh my Colonel you really were concerned about that truck, weren't you? So many shells on a soft-skin! And all for naught! :rolleyes:

[Goblin]

Where's the infantry?!? My starting line was ten hexes back from my own rear victory objective!

There is no more PzGrenadier platoon, so you can stop worrying about them. I try to help all the time!

Flog more locals, please! Seems to coincide with large enlistments!

It wasn't the truck shell I was after, I wanted to fry the 88mm egg inside!

Belisarius' PzIVF2's are giving me a major problem, with all three kills on my T34's. No more Mr Nice Commie now! You shall reap what you have sown!

Goblin- A Goblin rises up to fight:mad:

[Belisarius]

Death to the tracked devils from the Stalingrad tractor works!
The Panzer crews are holding up surprisingly well, but my Spec Ops squads decided to go daisy-picking on the far north hill. BOOM BOOM tally ho my oh my 2 more Tridsatchedverkas! The entire platoon huddled together in one hex and was promptly blasted to pieces, its remants spread in all directions. Hope I can get them to stop screaming for mommy and use those mines...

The centre and south flanks are deceptively quiet, except for Goblins massed arty pelting my poor 88! STOP IT! If you will give it up for just one turn, I promise I will relocate it to somewhere it'll hurt more.

Generally, the Soviet FO's and arty crews have done their homework and got their abacuses right, cuz the fire is quite accurate albeit resultless. :rolleyes:

My arty has come back from their coffee break (with red-striped bottoms), but to no avail as my FO's put their darkest sunglasses on. I fling shells blindly all over the place hoping to hit something other than trees and rabbits.

[Goblin]

Originally posted by Belisarius
Where's the infantry?

Does that airborne battalion in your northeast corner answer your question?

Goblin- A Goblin is raining buckets;)

[Belisarius]

Batallion? What batallion? All I see is my backyard filled with greenskins all over the place! For a Soviet commander, you got your hands on a helluvalot of motorized equipment. Did you treat your general to a special dinner at the Moscow Hilton? We'll see if he still approves after your failure and imminent dispatch to Gulag. Surrender now before it's too late.

We've already said our last prayers for the Nebelwerfer crews. That's an honest mistake - I never reflected upon buying onboard ones. :rolleyes:

It came to mind that Comrade Goblin must've stolen the blueprints for Bernie's Möbelwagen plant when planning his Motorcycle factory.... wonder if I can get to the Queen?

Meanwhile my PzIVs are showing why a Panzer should be feared, no matter the size. A few more of Josef's tractors are reduced to burning hulls! The entire platoon has now scored kills, something for their PzIII brothers to consider...

The Belisarius Kampfgruppe HQ is spinning like an ice dancer trying to decide wether to press on or deal with the peasants dropped in the back.

[M4Jess]

heehee:D

M4 Jess- a Jess is crack'n up!

[Belisarius]

Arrg... due to some f***-up in the .zip I sent to Goblin, we decided to replay my turn and hope for the new save to work better.

Turned out like before, with the difference that a Tractor commander can etch his first "IV" on the turret! Oh wait, my bad - Panzers hunt in packs, so his buddy got the perpetrator.

My Nebelwerfers, in a last desperate attempt, decided to turn a perfectly peaceful open area into a moon landscape :rolleyes:

Communique to all troops:
Valiant soliders of the Reich! You have performed with great honor and duty so far. I know expect every man to do even better and to push forward, so that every Ivan get the opportunity to taste your steel! Victory will soon be ours!

[Goblin]

Soviet paras are useless when they are actually employed as paras! I'm convinced they never jumped from an aircraft before! Down to the motor pool, find Yuri. "Hey Yuri, your an elite paratrooper now, congrats!"

"Do I get anything out of it?", asks Yuri.

"An extra swig of vodka!"

"I'm in!", answers Yuri.

Later in an actual airplane....

"I ain't jumpin out of this #%&@*(! airplane on no Kraut MG's!"

Yuri is shot as an example, and the rest of the 'elite paratroopers' jump, completely surpressed by the incident.

Ah well.

Goblin- A Goblin wants his 101st

[Belisarius]

Hey, quit whining - the Nebelwerfers are dead, aren't they?

We're not running away, we're...err... regrouping. The valiant PzIII platoon in the far north are having a fairly equal slug-out with the tractors, 2 for 2 from what I can see. Now, the sneaky greenskins have retreated 3 of their tracked atrocities, and I would very much like to know where they are. Where's Göring's flyboy arty spotters when you need them? A kingdom for a Storch!

The North is a flaming inferno, the fight in the south and middle are just beginning. Finally! Peasants! The local farm collective is running towards our positions backed up by some KV's. The latter seem to have forgot that they're not carrying too much of ammo, as they seem keen on knocking out HT's instead of tanks.
I'll have to wait for them - max pen. for my IV's at 18 hexes (that's how far away they are) is 107, front armor on a Klim is 110... :rolleyes:

The Colonel has some keen spotters, admittedly. They've seen a few Wehrmacht units climbing the southern hill, and promptly called in every mortar available to pound them. My boys hit the dirt and shrugged it off.

C'mon - put those ZiS peashooters away and fight it out maño à manõ! We'll show you!

[hellcat]

i read somewhere soviet paras by dropping out of low flying planes without parachutes or anything... really! apparantly it didn't work... and germans tried by putting people in boxes of hay... that didn't work either....

[Goblin]

How clever of Comrade Designer to give our wounderful ZiS paper armor! It will never rust that way!

I think that soon we will actually begin the attack. You have one last chance to surrender, and not be shot (well, immediately anyways;) ).

By the by, Belisarius is executing a beautiful attack, with well mixed battlegroups of Panzergrenadiers, covered by Flammpanzers, Pz IV's, Pz III's, and towed 88's. He picks wonderful fields of fire for those 88's too! Man thats a scary sound to be inching along, minding your own bees wax, and KRACK! BONK! Crap!

Goblin- A Goblin buttons the hatch:mad:

[Belisarius]

Heh, even an HT can take out a ZiS!

Goblin's forces are everywhere. I think we have rediscovered 'the lost platoon' from that Treadmill factory - they sneaked around and behind my flank in the north! I sort of anticipated that, but I had no resources (at the time) to divert to the new problem. Locust swarm alright! *sigh*

Meanwhile the main push is inching it's way forward. I'm about to send an official excuse for taunting the People's Artillery in the Hellcat thread - Goblin's 82 and 122 mm tubes are giving my troops blood-shot eyes and ringing ears. *boom boom boom boom* He actually covers most of my force with the barrages! Tip to my fellow Wehrmacht commanders - put those 88's well away from the other units, as they tend to draw shells from all around

I have also recommended all Büssing-NAG drivers for the
Driver's service badge, for their outstanding ability to get the 88's into positions despite having to drive in rough terrain under both mortar and tank fire.

The speed and depth of Goblin's attack has surprised me from Turn 2 onwards. Although he seems to have grounded to a brief halt, I have not yet engaged his regular infantry. I'm also a great deal worried about the tanks in my back yard - it seems like I'm about to get trapped in a micro-kessel. Well, we shall never surrender! Kampfgruppe Belisarius will fight valiantly to the bitter end! We will not retreat one meter to the bolshevik peasants! Heil et cetera ...

[Goblin]

It's pretty sad when you have to celebrate the death of one enemy tank, but I killed a PzIVF2(2)!!!!!:D

My KV ammo loadout is pretty good, they're KV-1's, not 2's, so don't you worry, got lotso lead for ya!

Belisarius is refering to my T34's, which have fought through the north flank, and linked up with my paratroopers.

Motorcycles and Flammpanzers don't mix well, because MC's burn too easily. Just found that out.

Goblin- A Goblin pushes on

[Belisarius]

Well, Goblin has this one pretty much in the bag.

Curse those mortars! And I still wonder how the hell you
managed to overrun the PzGr platoon in the centre?

I'm not able to knock out his tanks at a fast enough rate - they've got a too thick a skin, and he can afford to field quite a number of them. (I'm guessing at least a company of T-34 and a company of KV-1) I count six T-34 behind my lines.

This coming turn will be interesting - so far I've only lost a single IV, but now will be the real test between Elite crews and fine Zeiss optics vs. mass-produced bolted steel and determination.

Ah, such is life for a GE commander in this period. :rolleyes:

[Goblin]

That Krupp steel don't stand up too well to a crossfire!;) In the bag, eh? Bernie was saying that during our game, and, if you remember, I ended up surrendering to him !Time will tell!

Goblin- A Goblin checks his watch

[Belisarius]

Darn, I knew it was something wrong with that discount deal on the IV's... I will send a complaint to OKH immediately!

In the chaotic backyard, some of Josef's Paratroopers regretted carrying around that extra issued Vodka. Turns out it's highly flammable. :rolleyes: Too bad my Flammpanzer crew got a bit too excited about their hunt since they immediately got assaulted and cracked open like a coconut under a JSII.

Meanwhile, non of the guns bite on the KV-1's. None! Even scored a few nice hits with 88's. *KLONK* I now count more than a dozen of them, and I have nothing to counter with. This will be my undoing. That, and those **** tubes. Looks like the partisans infiltrated the arty battery park and started handing out free vodka, as the 150's keep falling short of target. I shall court-marshal their asses all the way back to Berlin!

Now, I'll have to get back into the frey and get the troops to stop crying for mom and start shooting back...

[Goblin]

Those KV's down south are the 1C's with armor of 110 FH and 132 FT, the others are only at 105 I believe. They are some bad boys, thats for sure! I have three companies (5 tanks in comp).
I had two 10-tank T34 companies too, but I gots less now.

Actually, the partisans are RUNNING the artillery park, and we are shooting really LONG!

My mortars got another tank! Don't like my 82's? I do!

My 50mm mortars are getting into the mess now also.

The giant hill in the south definately is Bel's; its loaded with tanks and infantry, and will be a Bear (intended!) to take. His 150mm rounds are pouring into the base of the hill, making life hard for attackers. I now own the north and east, and a little of the west, so you are in a pocket! Give it up schnapps boy!

Goblin- A Goblin is everywhere at once;)

[hellcat]

good work comrade goblin!