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The battle starts again.

German Turn 1 west

Something big is shooting at our troops, can't see it yet but probably in couple of turns. Also one of enemy's aa-guns immobilized a mortar-ht

Derc has the turn.

Btw.

Is it a feature or a bug that the Germans don't have any FO's ?

Originally posted by Kaakao
The battle starts again.
German Turn 1 west
Btw.
Is it a feature or a bug that the Germans don't have any FO's ?

hmmmm you do! look at unit CEO and CFO

The roar of panzer engines fills the air as the eastern front begins its long march towards the Kremlin. No doubt we will be facing some pretty fanatic defenders. The first minutes of the advance are quiet, not a sight of the Russians.

Welcome to Fortress Moscow, invaders!!!

We start our defence by lobbing a few 152mm shells at the advancing enemy. This will make them think twice about sticking out their ugly heads.

Death awaits you!
:p

We've got 150s? Hot Dawg!

Dear Diary,

24 October, 1941.

It's raining again Raining so hard that visibility has dropped to 450 meters.

The Germans have completed one pontoon bridge across the Yauza River (Yowza!) Enemy troops have been sighted on our side. Several heros of the Motherland fell in the trenchs, stopping machinegun bullets and 75mm shells from penetrating what's left of our beautiful city.

I gave orders this morning to release all the prisoners from Lubyanka Prison and arm them with a satchel charge and any other weapons handy. I see soviet citizens, armed with only farm implements, marching alongside my troops towards the advancing Germans.

Runners just arrived and gave me the timetable for reinforcements. If the tanks can move through the pile of rubble that used to be Moscow, we might have a chance.

DerC, somewhere out there is a Soviet Rifle Squad with my name on it. Catch me if you can!

Why waste good material?

Unfortunately I can't use old posts for this turn. I lost couple of men. Shot the building to pieces were the shots were fired, no survivors there.

Again militia is running everytime I shoot them, works for me

Spotted where the 152mm shells are coming. It's one of those doomsday-houses (152mm + 45mm gun and couple of mg's)

But, the house can't move, my troops can, so it's gone after the next turn

It's another quiet turn in the east. Even though one Russian mortar is firing at the beach area near the pontoon bridge, it's very quiet. It's so quiet that we can hear the dozens of familiar impact sounds from Russian heavy mortars in the west. Still no enemies sighted.

Back to you.

The first line of defence is putting up one hell of a fight. The strongpoint put shell after shell into an advancing flamer team, destroying it and routing a nearby Pionier unit. Conscripts enter melee with an advancing Zugtrupp, and maim it thoroughly.

This lucky state of things cannot last long, though... but while it does:

:p :p

The uneasy quiet in the east is broken by the punctuation of a MG34 friring across the Yauza River. A soviet squad is mowed down in the rubble.

Reports of contact with German infantry several hundred yards north of the pontoon bridge. No german losses. Soviet losses were minimal.

The Germans are beginning to smoke the river in preparation for their assault. Firing 150 HE into river hexes is a tactic I'm unfamiliar with. It doesn't seem useful, but.. maybe they're just 'fishing'? There's certainly gonna be a lot of unconscious fish in the Moscow River after that. :p

Soviet artillery has been up all night preparing a greeting for our german tourists. I sure hope they appreciate it. Gonna be one h#!! of a show.

Sure wish we had some trucks. :rolleyes:

Those conscripts were taken care of. Replay bugged somehow and didn't show all the arty falling over my troops but the suppression figures tell the truth

An assault squad is setting up their inflatable boats at the beach. The Russian artillery is firing heavily at the bridgehead nearby. Suddenly one of the more experienced soldiers shouts out a warning: "Rockets!" The men hurry back to the houses at the beach, which luckily happen to be among the few houses still left standing in Moscow. Many take cover in the basements, but some are still caught in the deadly hail of rockets coming from above. There aren't many casualties, but it's nevertheless a delay.

At the end of the pontoon bridge officers are shouting orders to the squads still on the bridge. It's a dangerous area and needs to be cleared quickly. Around 500 meters ahead there are soviet rifle squads lurking about and trying to reach a group of houses. Artillery from both sides is firing intensely here as well.

My pioneers have completed a direct telephone line to the western sector, a major improvement in communications since the weather seems to remain cloudy, rainy and unpredictable. Luckily we reached Moscow before the winter really started... :rolleyes: The news from west are promising: some progress is made despite heavy mortar fire and fanatic defenders trying to ambush our troops.

Back to Scharf.

The enemy forces trying to sneak through in the far west were stopped cold by a concentrated mortar barrage, and, far more deadly, our strongpoints 152mm main gun. Blasting into the smoke and fire, the monster cannon is a real bane for the german infantry trying to make way through the woods. This is just glorious! :p

A little further to the river, the house-to-house fight rages on. For the moment, my conscript militiamen hold. This is their hometurf, and they´ll defend it brick for brick!:mad:

Radio reports from the river's edge prompted orders for a concealed 76.2mm AA to open fire on a pair of heavily armed halftracks freshly disembarked nearby. One was destroyed but the AA unit's fire drew heavy machinegun opportunity fire from across the river.

Soviet Rifles exchanged shots with Scheutzen squads in the rubble fields near the Yauza river. The Germans were driven back.

Heavy mortar fire plastered the western and eastern german approachs. Indications are that the enemy has been damaged and taken some casualties from the spotting barrage.

Orders have been given to open up with the full Fire-For-Effect. This oughta slow them down.

I promise that if I ever got to see your mortars I'll burn every one of them, I won't shoot, just burn them
Not too much to do, 99% of my force won't move or do anything. If this goes on for 10 turns or so I won't have anything more to fight with

Also, still having problems unloading barges to the water

Ouch!
The Russians must have psychic FOs. The mortars are hitting right on target everywhere.
I destroyed one AA gun and almost got one of my boats killed by another. Need to be more careful...

Also, I'm having problems again getting the infantry to board their rafts. They have full movement points but can't get to the rafts.

Your turn!

The enemy has finally flanked our strongpoint, but will find it difficult to get close in the mortar barrage...:p

Close to the fortification, we destroy and enemy SPAA SdKfz, while our brave conscripts damage and drive the crew from another near the river. More mortar grenades are headed there.

The enemy advance is sluggish, and unsupported by AFVs. What is going on? A beachhead in the making elsewhere??

Originally posted by Scharfschütze

The enemy advance is sluggish, and unsupported by AFVs. What is going on? A beachhead in the making elsewhere??

Try moving units if all of them have 99 supression. I still think that arty is unbalanced in this scen. Just way too many mortar shells.

Originally posted by DerC
... Also, I'm having problems again getting the infantry to board their rafts. They have full movement points but can't get to the rafts.

Maybe this is that max unit limit again. Perhaps you two should alternate your river crossings. Or you could sit under that incredible barrage until we eliminate a few of your squads. We would be happy to oblige, comrade.

Nothing much happening here. Some squads exchange inconclusive fire in the easternmost rowhouses.

The AA that opened fire was finally dispatched by a HMG concealed in a house on the far side of the river. Mortars are prosecuting same. It's fruitless, but perhaps there's something assembling nearby that'll score for the attempt.

A Riverboat ! ! was spotted cruising along the Moscow River!!! A Riverboat?? (A trade-off for airstrikes, perhaps?)

You think this arty is bad now? Wait'll we get it together and can actually contact our batteries. Capt. Pixel has been making some special artillery modifications that ought to treble our effective fire power. They're just now in place and firing. Better get your little grey helmets down in the rubble. BOHICA!

Offboard artillery has been behaving oddly. And it's certainly not been to the Soviet's advantage. :rolleyes:

Back to you, kaakao.