Plain and simple - Belisarius vs. DerC

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 12:35 am

Date is.. uh... summer? '44, I play UK while DerC plays the Germans.
6700 points, and an awful BIG-A$$ map! Mostly plains of grass and rough, with four low hills stretching north to south in the middle.

This will be an experience, as I'm extremely unfamiliar with the UK troops. We are spread thin like butter on a toast, and have to concentrate our efforts on building "islands" of defense in suitable locations. From there we'll hopefully be able to mount a coordinated attack. Unfortunately, those locations are a good distance towards the German lines! Most units will have to leg it about 500 yards, as quick as possible!

Enemy artillery is light, mainly erratic rounds of 82mm mortar. No casualties to mention, but our nimble scouts have reported advancing StuH's and Jagdpanzers in the south!

A quick eyeballing of the Force roster reveals that we have very little that will stand up against them!

The kingdom for a horse! Or better yet - a regiment of 17-pounders! :p

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 1:09 am

I'm going to make this as hard for him as possible

Even if I don't have as much experience in pbem as he does, those Jagdpanthers are hopefully going to inflict some serious damage

I'm hoping my mechnized force will be able to surround and destroy those 'islands of defense'. Do I see a replay of France '40 here? :rolleyes:
The map sure is wide open, however there's a small forested area around the central VHs.

Turn one I occupied the central and northern VHs. The scouts don't see any enemy activity so far. Now on to turn 2

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 4:46 pm

Ahh... reports say that the enemy is a mechanized company. Good! It means it'll be less of them around!

We're still running for our positions. The enemy has spotted at least two of our 17pdrs, and are concentrating mortar fire on them. A couple of platoons got caught in the open by artillery and was decimated.

We have made brief contact with SS squads in the center, and spotted a Tiger moving up north. The armor attack in the southern sector is surprisingly slow. We've been able to make good ground.

Oh yeah, we're apparently playing with REDUCED squads!

The units are battle-weary before even entering this field!

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 9:55 pm

The reduced squads was my bad - forgot to check everything

Back on the battlefield my scouts stumble upon a Firefly tank in the northern forest. Sadly, they walk right into a sniper

A fierce gunfight results in the death of the two-man scout team.

Down south I engage my Jagdpanther against a lone Churchill tank near the central hill and miss twice. A StuH too knocks on the Churchill's hatch, but apparently no one is home.

A 17 pounder gets a taste of 150mm - a Brummbaer appears on the central hill and fires off two rounds at it. They will hopefully be taking a long tea-break from their duties at the gun :rolleyes:

Some 155mm artillery rounds throw dirt on my precious panzers near the southern VHs. Otherwise it's still pretty quiet...

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 11:23 pm

A medal to that sniper!

A Tiger up north has cleared out a group of snipers trying to get by it. A brave recce squad witnessed their undoing, and tried to sneak around the Tiger's flank. However, they were spotted by an ATG crew on the next hill and had to fall back, losing a man.

The Firefly crews must be fresh out of tank school! One put its' snout right in front of a second Tiger and went Kaboom the next instant!

Those are dear to me.

Down south, we continue to make progress, despite the Jagdpanthers and StuH's in the immediate vicinity. Brave lads!

Our main problem is the low morale of the force. They are tired and weary, and will not rally to return to battle. This cost them even more dead. (exp and morale are at a whooping 65!)

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 12:11 am

Ouch. His artillery is really starting to lay some hurt on my troops. Luckily my Jagdpanthers aren't scared of that - but they are of AP shells

A Churchill VII hit one of the cats that was getting too nosy and BOOM - no more Jagdpanther

Some British commando infiltrators were eliminated in the immediate vicinity of the northern VHs. Though they did get one SS squad with them.

Besides getting rid of some scouts and gun crewmen not much happened.

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 4:08 pm

That commando squad was about the only one that made it through...not much it could do by itself except go out in a blaze of glory. :p

We have cleared out a few scout troops, but otherwise the progress is non-existent. The problem is that about 2/3 of my force won't move! Things are looking very grim...

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 6:13 pm

I fear my spec ops may get the same treatment as your commandos - they spotted a herd of AUX Fireflys heading for the front. No luck in the assaults though

Time to get hurt it seems

In the north Tigers and SS are getting up close and personal with Shermans, resulting in a smoking wrecks of one Sherman and one M16 MGMC.

Could it be that the british have left their southern flank open? An unsuspecting Sherman there gets a 75mm greeting from my friendly panzer crews

In the central sector a Tiger scares the crew off one M16. They won't be back - my artillery barrage dispersed them only moments later.

Overall I'm very optimistic about this one. The SS isn't running away too much and I believe I got my revenge for that one Jagdpanther. I also suspect his infantry losses are greater than mine.

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 6:42 pm

Originally posted by DerC
... I also suspect his infantry losses are greater than mine.

Artillery tends to do that.

Send me the file!

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 7:09 pm

Originally posted by Belisarius

Artillery tends to do that.

Send me the file!

Hmm, I think I already did but will send it again just in case

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 9:59 pm

To think I almost regretted putting those M16 MGMC's in my back area to fend off Spec Ops! The men - 3 squads and 2 snipers - were immediately ripped to shreds by autocannon, the few survivors dispersed like the wind. 5 kills!

So far British Commandos lead the score 1-0. :p

We're avoiding contact with the cats. Our scouts (the ones still alive and not running at full speed westwards, that is :rolleyes: )
have reported Panther G's in at least platoon strength, supported by Jagdpanthers. Bigger cats in the north, and we try to avoid them...we know when we're outgunned.

Fiercest fighting in the north and central VH area. Artillery put a hurt on both sides.

Southern flank? Flank? I told ya, we're not near many enough to put up a flank.

And..uhm...never mind that smoke in your back area - i accidentaly pushed the wrong button, and couldn't cancel the assignment

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 11:33 pm

...

The very same Churchill got a Panther G this time

Another one destroyed a halftrack.

British artillery is pounding the central hill hard. At least 2-3 batteries firing there.

Besides blowing a M16 to pieces south no success

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 3:06 pm

I HATE THE BRITS!!

All they want to do is drink their blasted tea, and I can't get them to stop! Nobody moves an inch!

Well, except backwards that is, they're sending units at full speed to pick up a second helping...

I lost TWO fireflys to sheer stupidty - one in a stupid move (I knew I was stepping into enemy LOS), and one to a lucky hit from a leFH18.

A 17pdr claimed a Panther G in the south, but it had three buddies with it. Artillery is, as always, inaccurate. Shells scatter all over the 6x6 area around the target. Some casualties, but not the big ones.
I also, as vs. Goblin, forgot to assign priority targets! Silly me! :rolleyes:

Full rout all across the field. This won't last long...

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 9:11 pm

It seems those Churchill VIIs can actually be destroyed! SS spotted one north and just a while later a Tiger rolled in and took a few shots at it through the smoke. They never knew what hit them

On the central hill the smoke clears up and a Panther has clear LOS on one of the mammoths. On such a short range the Panther was sure to hit and the shot breaches the side hull of the Churchill.
A Tiger moving around a bit north of the central hill gets shot by a Firefly. The Tiger turns around and fires. Miss! The Firefly crew attempts to fire back, but they miss too. The Tiger however doesn't miss the second shot and there's one burning wreck more.

I'll have to regroup my panzer attack south after a 17pdr starts firing at the Panthers from a concealed position

Artillery fire is intensifying on the southern and central hills. As long as those Brits won't move I should have nothing to be afraid off.

PS. I also forgot to set the arty priority targets :rolleyes:

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Sat Jun 08, 2002 3:11 pm

It seems the end is drawing near...

Can you guarantee that we will be given tea in the Stalags and Oflags? That case, we will hand in the surrender note immediately.

My turns are played really quick - rally what can't be rallied, don't move anything (since nothing will move

), plot the odd tubes that are available for strikes, see them scatter everywhere and end turn, see own troops mangled by enemy arty.

I really hate the Brits. They have the crappiest morale around. I would even prefer the French. :p

The map is a dream for motorized forces - which I don't have.

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Sun Jun 09, 2002 4:52 pm

Well, I just found a commando squad in a house, just a few hexes away from my precious panzers!

However, the SS acted quickly and removed this threat

Otherwise things aren't going really well. I killed some infantry, but a Firefly with a 17pdr destroyed one of my Panthers

I tried hitting a Churchill near the central hill, but the armor just seems too thick.

I'm not so sure if the Brits are beat yet!

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Sun Jun 09, 2002 7:04 pm

The poor commandos did have time to radio back to HQ before being killed. Now we know what lurk beyond the hill crest, and actions have been taken to deal with it! Forecast says: rain!

More commandos infiltrate in the north and spot a mortar battery and a PaK.

Fritz's artillery keep murdering us in the center. Another dozen dead, and a few more from our own shells falling a bit short.

Lines are temporarily stabilizing! We know that Tigers are closing in the north, but they haven't reached us just yet!

Our MGMC's are TOTALLY making themselves worth the money!
Most recent kills:

1x SS rifle squad
1x 75mm PaK 40
1x Recon patrol
1x Panther crew
1x sniper
2x SS rifle squads suffering >50% casualties!

Multiple-barrel machine guns are the best long-range infantry killers around! Even a 5% hit chance will almost always kill in the first shot.

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Sun Jun 09, 2002 7:39 pm

Those M16s really are a pain :p

I think I destroyed one as revenge, but it's not much.. I also finished off the commando squad attacking the mortars and some infantry around the field.
Otherwise quiet.

Belisarius · Post by **Belisarius** » Sun Jun 09, 2002 11:57 pm

Amazingly, an M16 took a hit in the front from a Tiger, and *bonk*

Small highlights in a dark dark world.. this won't last long. We are making some progress, but there's not nearly enough troops left to achieve anything conclusive. The rest lie dead on the plains behind, trying to get here.

StuH's have taken up beautiful positions overlooking our "advance". We take 105's in the chest on a regular basis. Ouch.

Our own artillery has called for yet another tea break! One (1)battery available, when we need all 15 or so of them IMMEDIATELY!

DerC · Post by **DerC** » Mon Jun 10, 2002 1:44 am

That M16 is no more. Two more Churchills and at least one Sherman go up in flames. The Brits seem to be throwing all they have at us! No losses to mention.

A few 17-pounders hit a Jagdpanther several times. Seems like the optics were damaged, the to hit percentages for that tank are somewhere around ten

I'm ordering the artillery to keep shelling your positions