KG Erwin battles Afrika Korp!! PBEM!!

[KG Erwin]

Col. Higginbotham pays a visit to the aid station, and offers words of encouragement to the lightly wounded. The more severe cases are transported offshore, but many are too grievously injured to risk moving. He whispers quietly to these men, maintaining his composure as best he can.

Afterwards, he takes a moment to conceal himself behind a wrecked LVT, and the tears come. He quickly dries his eyes, adopts the well-rehearsed "battle face", and goes back to work.

[Afrika Korps]

Col. Afrikamoto looked over the remainder of his men...so many gone...killed outright or driven back by the merciless onslaught of the Marines and their flamethrowers and tanks. Blood and sweat, mud and grime covered the surviving officers and noncoms of his command. He issued his final orders to each commander, bowing deeply to each in turn, until none remained.

Not much time left.

Bowing deeply towards home and the Emperor, he buckled on the last of his gear, and headed out of the door of his command post. Drawing his sword, he pointed towards the din of battle with the point of his honored blade. He and the last survivors of his command surged forward with him...

...towards their ultimate destiny.

[KG Erwin]

Beneath the outwardly calm demeanor, Higginbotham's blood begins to boil. Spontaneously, and to no one in particular, he blurts out, "Gimme a squad. I'm going down there and I'm gonna personally shoot that Japanese son of a b*tch." The staff is too stunned to say or do anything as he sprints down the hill.

[Goblin]

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

Beneath the outwardly calm demeanor, Higginbotham's blood begins to boil. Spontaneously, and to no one in particular, he blurts out, "Gimme a squad. I'm going down there and I'm gonna personally shoot that Japanese son of a b*tch." The staff is too stunned to say or do anything as he sprints down the hill.

[:D]

[KG Erwin]

Higginbotham pushes his men forwards, and shouts into the radio-- "Let's finish 'em off. Go! Go! Cover the advance! Tanks forward! Get those machineguns up! I want fire support , NOW! "

He hands the transmitter to his radio operator, and shouts into his ear, " Tell them to crawl it forward!"

He picks up a Thompson SMG, and moves towards the front. He sees a gyrene cowering in a shellhole. Higginbotham shakes him and shouts, "G*ddamnit, Marine, the battle is up front. You got a weapon?" Miracle of miracles, an intact BAR is lying nearby, beside the remains of its original carrier. " Pick it up, son, and follow me." And so it goes, as the battalion commander gathers up various rear-area crewmen. "Grab a weapon! Every man is a rifleman! Move! "

[Goblin]

Saga Senichi continued to try and stand up, but failed again and again. His breath wheezed in and out, causing blood to bubble out of the wounds in his torso. He could not even remember how the wounds had got there. Bayonet? Machinegun? Shrapnel? It seemed immensely important to him to know for some reason. He realized it was irrelevant now, but that did not change the fact that he yearned for that last bit of knowledge.

Around him, scattered through the jungle undergrowth and the boulders of The Junkyard, lay the bodies of his comrades. Here and there lay an enemy soldier also, for this most recent charge had made it into their ranks. It had been bayonets, swords, and rifle butts near the end. The pain was immeasurable, but he refused to cry out, refused to show it. He would die like the Samurai of old, showing his bravery and keeping his honor.

He heard voices, and the occasional shot, move closer. Marines. He would not be taken prisoner and tortured like some dog! He struggled to find a grenade on his gear, but remembered killing the American machinegun crew with his last one during the charge. The voices were getting closer now. He looked around desperately, and saw his Type 99 rifle laying nearby. With the last of his fading strength, he crawled the few feet to the weapon, and worked the bolt. Empty. The Marines were nearly on him now. He unclipped the bayonet and lay back against a tree, gasping with the effort. He put the bloodied blade of the bayonet against his throat as the first Marine came out of the swirling smoke, his Tommygun at the ready. With a last monumental effort, he summoned everything he had and pushed the blade hard.


Goblin

[PimpYourAFV]

Bring on the slaughter.

[KG Erwin]

As Colonel Higginbotham moved forward with his makeshift squad, a profusely sweating runner approached him from behind, and almost shouted "Sir! Message from the commanding General-- he says it's urgent!"

The Colonel stopped, turned around, and took the folded message. As he read it, his eyes widened and a look of shock and dismay spread across his face. He spat in disgust, and read it again.

"You are ordered to immediately halt your advance. You will hold your positions until relieved by 3rd Battalion, which will land tonight. Your battalion will be pulled off the island for rest and refit.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Rupertus"


Higginbotham's look of shock changed to anger as he dropped the paper. "We've been told to stop. I don't believe it. We were about to achieve a complete victory, and it's been taken away from us."

He sat down, fumbled around in his pockets, and pulled out a cigar. "Corporal! Get back to battalion HQ on the double and tell the staff to issue the halt orders."

The Colonel lit the cigar, and looked around at the detritus of the battlefield. He slung the Thompson over his shoulder and started back to his command post.

And just like that, the battle was over.

[Afrika Korps]

Col. Afrikamoto could not believe his eyes...the Marine tanks were backing away from the base of the hill, back into the smoke from which the metal monsters had emerged, belching forth fire and death, like the dragons of old.

He had been prepared to die, as were all his men, in one last thrust at the heart of the enemy. But now they were backing off...perhaps not willing to risk a frontal attack. Col. Afrikamoto suspected they would be denied a glorious death and that the Americans would probably shell them from their ships until the hill they occupied was reduced to an anthill.

Lt. Nakamura!

Yes, Colonel!

You have new orders! Have the men salvage whatever equipment they can and prepare to withdraw further into the jungle.

A brief smile crossed Nakamura's face as he bowed deeply and ran off into the smoke and shattered jungle, barking orders as he ran...

So, my friend, Afrikamoto thought, looking out towards the now unseen enemy, it would seem we will meet another day...

Bowing towards his enemy, he sheathed his sword, turned and disappeared into the jungle with the remainder of his men.

[Riun T]

Don't tell me this is u guys poetic climactic way of explaining a DRAW??, more details please!![X(] RT

[Cyanide]

Oh, I hate that too. A hard grinding battle, one side finally breaks through, and just as you're about to finish them off . . .

DRAW

[Goblin]

I find that most guys know who won in a PBEM, regardless of the 'score' results, which say Draw most of the damn time. For PBEM, it really should just give the higher point player the win, or call it a tie if it is within 500-1000 points or so.



Goblin

[Cyanide]

So that means KG Erwin won?

[KG Erwin]

When I get home from work, I'll play out the last turn and compare scores. AK and I mutually agreed to end it, as this was a first-time thing for both of us. Also, we were testing Goblin's scenario for a later public release.

[Afrika Korps]

I have not seen the score, but Gunny pretty much destroyed me. I am not too sure how costly it was though, but probably something similar to a RL battle on some god-cursed pacific hell hole. [:D]

I will have more to say on this battle later, but Gunny is a great player, Goblin made a great scenario, and I had a hellava good time playing it.

[chief]

And I, for one, enjoyed the reporting from the battle zone. Thanks guys.

[JEB Davis]

3 cheers to you all, that was fun!

[KG Erwin]

Here's the scoreboard -- note that I got a point bonus for surrendering the Japanese, so this isn't the true score. In comparing casualties, AK didn't do bad at all.

[KG Erwin]

Here's my positions in the northern sector, when I received the "halt" order:

[KG Erwin]

The central area (note that my HQ was heading almost straight towards the unseen Japanese HQ--interesting coincidence):