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12,000 pts... Wild Bill's Prokorovka map... Orzel v Hellcat - Showdown! Watch this space....

'Mother!' are the only words that come out of my mouth as zero hour finally comes and I see our force arrayed to meet the Facsist pigs! The colonel is in high spirits, seeing as we know, to the letter, the details of this German operation... I blink and blink again, disbelieving at the glorious sight of our great patriotic army!

After our victory to the northeast of Orel we have been ordered to move north...to an area south of a massive salient that the Russians established during their winter offensive.
Here we rest and refit...and are joined by several other units. Our tried and beloved "Anneliesa" has been replaced by a new panzer...a Panther.
Michael likes the way it drives...fast and agile. However, we have experienced a large number of engine and teething problems...a draw back to any new weapon when it is introduced to the field.
Karl is impressed by the gun...a much improved version of the 75mm our PzIV was armed with. In gunnery trials and training it was able to pierce even sloped armor at a very respectable range....which will allow us to take on those Ivan T-34's and KV-1 on somewhat better terms.
Herr Oberst has been planning how best to excute the orders he has been issued. While he has shared some mis-givings about the coming offensive...he has been very aggressive and positive when talking with the troops.
Even after being bloodied at Stalingrad...and retreating across the vastness of the southern Ukraine...our valliant Wehrmacht has regrouped and regained its composure. A thought that six months ago would have seem laughable is now a reality....the German Army is ready to resume the offensive here on the Ost Front!

as we advance across the whole front the glinting metal of the facist pig tanks can be seen on the hill tops... and there are many of them. One Tiger makes a long range mondo shot a blows a SU152!

To the north is a state farm with a collection of buildings and surrounded by fields... the south is dominated by an enormous hill. The town of Prokhorovka lies in my rear N. E. sector and it is thought unlikely the battle will be fought there...

we can see the enemy armor but most of it is too far off to engage just yet...

We begin to roll out heading for our first objective...the large hill that dominates the center of our field of battle. While holding it will not win any battle on its own...it will allow us a good field of fire and give us a better idea of where Ivan may be.
As we move along we hear Hauptman Keller report in...he has spotted a monster tank moving along. It is a huge armored box with a tremendously large gun protruding from it's superstructure. Surely it is one of those ISU 152's we have been informed about...a massive assault gun. Hauptman Keller decides to test his new Tigers 88mm gun. From across the hilltop the silence of this fine summer is shattered as Keller lets loose a shot at the enemy monster. The round strikes home and the Ivan panzer rolls to a shuddering stop and begins to belch flames and smoke. A Kill! Not a bad way to start the engagement!
All along the line the cheers go up...and the radio is filled with congratulations for Hauptman Keller. Herr Oberst smiles but then calls for radio silence...there is much yet to be done.
We continue to push forward....and before long there are other reports of enemy panzers. T-34's to the north, in the center and to the south...Russian infantry moving ahead of the armor...popping smoke to mask their advance. Several units make the request to open fire at targets of opportunity...and after a moment of debate, Herr Oberst agrees.
Several of our panzers open fire...and within minutes three T-34's go up in smoke, as does a KV-85. There is some return fire, but none of it does any damage.
So far things have gone well...but we know it is only a matter of time before Ivan brings in his massive artillery batteries and that will change the field of battle as it will cut the visibility and our advantages of our better guns.

we are bleeding tanks at an alarming rate , there are Tigers everywhere as well as this new Panther monster... Fighting and shooting is going on all across the map now...

Micheal guns our new panzer over the rough terrain near the main hill...she excelerates beautifully. Her broad tracks chew up the tall grass and topsoil...and spit it out behind the panzer in a cloud of fine dust and debris.
We get into a firing position and wait...sure enough, a squad of Russian infantry appear out from behind a grove of trees. Rudy, our machine gunner, opens fire and drops several of them in their tracks...the rest scatter back behind the trees.
All along the front our units are reporting running into a wave of Russian infantry. They pop smoke to mask their positions...but we know they are there. A few more Russian panzers are spotted again...but these thick skinned monsters survive the rounds sent their way.
It would seem that Ivan and ourselves have collided head on...and a fierce firefight has broken out along the entire front. The carnage is terrible and already the landscape is becoming fogged by the smoke of battle.
If we are to be successful, then we will have to break this tide of Red Infantrymen and their supporting armor! And that will prove to be no easy task.

tanks on both sides have clashed in close proximity... Around the state farm in the North and also towards the centre... We have even spotted Ferdinands - giant monsters trundling along behind their main armored line... We have scored a few kills here and there but the bulk of both sides armor is yet to engage fully...

'MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!!' says The Nightcrawler Herald

The Green Tribune says 'Oh, Ohhhh, OHHHHHHHHH!!!!'

The Goblin Chronicle calls this 'One exciting ride!'

Cave Dweller Weekly raves 'You can smell the diesel!'

Goblin- A Goblin enjoys the thread:D

"Es gibt Infanterie überall!" Karl yells out as he swings the turret toward a treeline where Russian infantry have taken cover...their small arms fire pinging off our good Krupp armor.
"Ich werde mehr Munition benötigen." Rudy yells out as he continues to swivel his machine gun about...firing bursts at any sight he can attain of Russian soldiers. The pouch on his gun is nearly filled...and a few casings have already fell to the floor of the panzer, their hollow "tinging" fills the compartment.
"Herr Oberst, benötigen wir Infanterieunterstützung." I yell out as I ram a HE round into the breech of our main gun and lock it.
"Anruf für ihn." Herr Oberst replies, yelling above the din of battle that fills the tank. He then returns to peering out the commanders vision slits...calling out targets for Karl to obtain.
As I turn to make the call on the radio Karl pulls the trigger and the whole tank rocks with the recoil of the main gun. A mere second later we hear the explosion of our shell...which tears into a group of trees less than a 100 meters away. This is how close the enemy is!
All along the front there is close in fighting between Ivan and ourselves. His infantry is thick, like a host of ants swarming about the steppe. Perhaps 200 or more have fallen already...but still they fight and in some cases try to advance.
The Russian armor seems to have pulled away into the clumps of trees that dot the landscape. They willl hide and snipe until they find a place to rush us no doubt.
Already we have destroyed about a dozen Russian panzers. One Tiger and one Stug of Hauptman Kellers unit are hit and put out of battle on the central hill...but so far those are our only losses.
To the north, along the fringe of the State Farm complex Hauptman Kleinamen has scored three kills already. Two T-34's try to rush his flank for side shots...both are set ablaze. These new Panthers are a vast improvement over our tried and true PzIVg's...better armor and a gun that really packs a punch! Ivan will learn to respect these panzers really quick!
The amount of smoke and haze rolling over the battle field is immense....although over half of it has been "generated" by the Russian infantry as they attempt to mask their movements and those of their supporting armor. Range...our best ally is beginning to fall...Major Kappel has already suggested falling back to regain the advantage...but herr Oberst rejects the suggestion out of hand.
No, the fight will be here!

fighting everywhere! We kill many fascist tanks and also some infantry - engineers and machine guns... We destroy a Tiger at the state farm but these ferdinands will be difficult... We kill one of these new panther machines elsewhere. We will be victorious. The enemy advance has stopped it seems. Our infantry surge forward all across the line. We even opened up the lunatic asylums and the prisons to find this much infantry! Unfortunately we have a problem with all our mortars...

All along the front the machine guns of our panzers chatter away almost none stop. Everywhere there are swarms of Russian Infantry...they blacken the landscape like a scourge form Hell itself!
To the North smoke obscures everything. Hardly anything can be spotted at all.
The center is also a mass of smoke...Again there is more infantry than armor it seems. While the conscripts break fairly easy, the engineers are tougher and fight gallantly...and their weapons can mean instant death to any panzer that blunders too close.
To the south a melee has broken out...as our panzers tangle with even more Russian infantry! For every squad we destroy or send fleeing off, there seems to be four more to take their places.
As we fight on Karl yells out that he ventures that half the Soviet Army is in the area....we can almost find reasons to believe its true.