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OK So I took the non Carius apporach and kept my Tigers back and hence made it easier...

 

My approach was two Tigers far right along road as fast as possible to Overwatch road I expected reinforcements down

 

Carius and another Tiger over watch on right on high ground that could look down into village and also 2km range to road where relief Hvy Sovs come down

 

2 Tigers middle apporach slowly to town

 

2 Tigers far left swing round and cross bridge to get long LOS through road down middle of village...

 

In no way did I rush and I took it slow and easy....

 

I guess now I should play it like he did and see how I fair...

 

Really nice to have a sandbox to recreate a bit of history to see how it plays out....

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Who is Charlie?

Charlie Meconis - he's a good mate and helps with scenarios. TBH he's the real historian chap. He's dug up lot's of interesting stuff regarding scenarios we've done in the past.

 

The Peiper series and Panzer Graf stuff for CMBB. Panzer Graf so much so he was a key source for the book The Devil's General.

 

He also helps out with playtesting type stuff.

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OK So I took the non Carius apporach and kept my Tigers back and hence made it easier...

 

My approach was two Tigers far right along road as fast as possible to Overwatch road I expected reinforcements down

 

Carius and another Tiger over watch on right on high ground that could look down into village and also 2km range to road where relief Hvy Sovs come down

 

2 Tigers middle apporach slowly to town

 

2 Tigers far left swing round and cross bridge to get long LOS through road down middle of village...

 

In no way did I rush and I took it slow and easy....

 

I guess now I should play it like he did and see how I fair...

 

Really nice to have a sandbox to recreate a bit of history to see how it plays out....

Aye canny man :)

 

Yeah it's interesting to see this in action. Guess it begs the question why did he not do the same thing? I guess they'd no idea what else was arriving nor what direction it was coming from. Hence stay low fast in and out? That's one of the key attractions of CM for me - recreating these wee snippets of history. Sometimes it helps see why the protagonists took the approach they did. 

Edited by George MC
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Glad you took the time to create this scenario, George, and I'm definitely going to play it soon. I've been interested in this battle ever since I read about it a few years back in a WWII history magazine. In addition, I once wrote to Carius's address in Germany, as I had heard he was very accommodating of autograph requests. I wanted to get a friend of mine a unique gift for his birthday, and sure enough Carius sent back an autographed photo and a copy of his Knights' Cross citation, which of course detailed his actions at Malinova. 

 

So yeah, I'm highly curious to see how this one plays out. :) 

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Glad you took the time to create this scenario, George, and I'm definitely going to play it soon. I've been interested in this battle ever since I read about it a few years back in a WWII history magazine. In addition, I once wrote to Carius's address in Germany, as I had heard he was very accommodating of autograph requests. I wanted to get a friend of mine a unique gift for his birthday, and sure enough Carius sent back an autographed photo and a copy of his Knights' Cross citation, which of course detailed his actions at Malinova. 

 

So yeah, I'm highly curious to see how this one plays out. :)

Great story. I'd heard he was accommodating in that regard. It's great to a wee bit of history in your hand. It's surprising he survived the war given the actions he took part in. Oh and being seriously wounded. Some guys are lucky I guess.

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I've played it through once on elite and got a draw, in part because I CF when nothing happened for 10 minutes and I thought I had taken all the tanks out. But didn't know about the T34s not far from where the Stugs appear. I held them back not to get them destroyed. One did anyway. Had a hard time figuring out what to do with them to be honest. Mainly because the lack of objectives to claim.

 

My main plan was to fast move two Tigers up the right side on the road in the forest to intercept tanks on the far road. One tank was sent far left to cover the main road into the village. The rest hung back initially while Carius and his wing-mate hunted forward into town. The sentry T34s where quickly disposed of. I eventually lost both Tigers on the right, due to a couple of bad decisions, but they managed to put a big dent in the russian advance.

 

The map is, as always George, stunning. Would make a great infantry battle as well, or QB. Minor thing, I don't like when double/triple trees/bushes are placed on hedges, as it makes the textures twitch which breaks immersion for me. But it is minor as the rest is so life like. I will study the map for my own map making skills (or lack thereof ;)).

 

Thanks for making it. Look forward already to your next project.

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Hi Rocketman

Cheers for the AAR.

 

He! I must admit I run the Stugs out of their location as soon as I can. I have em run down some dead ground and hook up with the Tigers in the southern part of the village. Then they get to join in the fight.

 

In saying that it's also good to ensure most if not all your tanks and assault guns stay alive in this one. The lack of objectives is intentional. The Germans here were fighting purely to blunt the Soviet advance. Hence both side are pretty much fighting to stay alive (no infantry took part in this action in RL - so having one side or other with terrain objectives could mean players using unhorsed tank crews to hide in buildings, The other side would have no real counter).

 

Not sure what you mean by the textures twitch? I've not noticed this, although I am running a pretty beefy graphics card - GYX 970 - which means I've encountered no graphics glitches e.g. tearing, shimmering etc since I installed it.

 

Glad you like the map :) Yeah I have thought about a possible infantry based action on this. Might have to wait till the 5th Panzer scenario is done though. If anyone wants to convert it to a QB map - be my guest.

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Not sure what you mean by the textures twitch? I've not noticed this, although I am running a pretty beefy graphics card - GYX 970 - which means I've encountered no graphics glitches e.g. tearing, shimmering etc since I installed it.

I might capture a video of it sometime. It is as if the 3D-model bends back and forth, even when not panning the view. I have quite a decent graphics card too and I have seen this a long time in all CM*2 titles. I learned in another thread that this is caused when more than one tree/bush is placed on the same hedge square in the editor. 

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I gave this scenario a run-through twice tonight. The first time I didn't play it so well (losing 3 StuGs in the process), so I loaded it up a second time. This time I sent the StuGs over more to the left into better firing positions, where they managed to survive, but man, their shooting was downright awful at times. 

 

The IS-2s came over the hill on my right, so I had to use my reserve force to attack them. I don't know what/why it was, but my Tigers had the absolute worst marksmanship over and over again against these tanks. They constantly overshot their targets, and as a result I lost 2 Tigers to these IS-2s (figures as much  :mellow:). I really wasn't expecting that from Veteran and Regular-rated crews. Anyways, Carius & his accompanying tank were doing very well, until an IS-2 got the drop on the latter and destroyed him. It was at that point I decided to ceasefire, for which I was given a Draw, which I think was fair, given there were still 3 T-34s and a couple of IS-2s still on the map. Total Russian tank losses were 10 or 11. 

 

Overall, it's a very good challenge, soured only in part by the AI's abysmal gunnery at times, which is no fault of yours, George. :) I'll probably run it again another time sometime in the future, as it's no doubt an excellent and challenging mission (that, and I want to see if I can keep both guys alive the whole time without using my reserve).   

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Hi Luke

Thanks for the playthrough and posting your thoughts.

 

It sounds like you'd a run of bad luck with the AI's targeting. The scoring is tight on the Germans (given the situation they just could not afford to lose AFVs) so the Germans do have to KO a lot of Soviet AFVs and keep their own casualties as low as. The lower they are the more likely you are to pull a major victory.

 

Poor AI gunnery aside I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge and wish you every success on any subsequent playthrough :)

 

There are multiple Soviet AI Plans so likelihood is you'll draw another plan. Anyroad thanks again for the playthrough and feedback - really appreciated ta.

 

Good luck! :)

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George MC,

  Another classic.  I enjoyed playing your CMBB battles and did a few AARs on them way back when.  I was not disappointed with this one either.

 

  I played Elite and managed a Major Victory.  It was a great fight.  The map was stunning - always a treat to play them.  The rises and falls were subtle though, so you had to get down in the dirt to see where you wanted to ease your tanks for line of sight.

 

Spoilers>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

 

  I put two tanks way off to the right flank, and pushed them well forward to try and interdict the IS-2s coming down the road.  I had Carius and Kerscher dash into the town on the left and Nienstedt eased forward with the remaining 4 Tigers.  I know, I know, Carius had told everyone to hang back, but the boys wanted in on the action so they kept easing forward a bit at a time.  Carius and Kerscher then took care of the sentry T-34s but Nienstedt and his group got good LOS on a large group of T-34s hanging towards the edge of the town, and they were dispatched quickly.  One of the Tigers took a gun hit and had to reverse away as they'd lost their gun.

 

  On the right flank, I'd pushed the two Tigers well forward but to the left of the long tree line.  Getting down in the weeds to check LOS paid of well.  The two Tigers had some really nice flank shots on the IS-2s as they lumbered past the small village in the distance.  Two went down fast with flank shots, and two swung around to try and find their tormentors, only to take killing hits through the turrets.  Several snuck by though, as the LOS was only a narrow window. 

 

  The action in town was picking up, as Carius and Kerscher moved through, slipping up on the last few T-34s in that area.  About that time the StuGs showed up, giving me info about more T-34s further up the road.  I had the StuGs try to open up from the upper hill area while I moved Kerscher up the road, hunting for more T-34s.  The StuGs were still pretty rattled, I suppose, as they didn't fire.  I then rushed them quickly down the left flank, saying out of sight as much as possible.

 

  Then the StuG HQ section arrived.  I hadn't expected that.  They took up the same positions as the rest of the unit, and once more had LOS on T-34s in the village.  The HQ boys had no trouble opening up and they scored a hit on one and a kill on another.  Kerscher was still moving up deeply into the village and dispatched yet another T-34.  One was still out there though, and no one knew where.  I pulled up the HQ StuGs and had them rush after the rest of their unit, down the left flank towards safety. 

 

  Now I was getting sightings of IS-2s coming up over the hill on the right flank.  I had one Tiger easing forwards in that general direction, slowly working for hull-down, and the other Tiger was pushing forwards to try and catch another IS-2 that turned directly away from the village where all the others were burning and was coming for the Tigers.  I eased the forward Tiger just over the ridge and they had a good sighting.  They fired three times, one penetrating hit and two ricochets, but the IS-2 got off one high shot and one right into the gun armor.  Now that was two Tigers down with gun hits.  I backed that tank away fast. 

 

While Kerscher was still looking for the elusive T-34 deep in the village, Carius was rushing to the sound of the guns.  He swung right and moved up the hill, looking for flank shots on the IS-2s that were pressing forward up over the rise.  I ease Carius up into a perfect flank shot on one of the IS-2s while my remaining Tiger on the flat of the right flank is dueling with two aggressively advancing IS-2s. 

 

  Carius lines up for the easy shot...maybe 800 meters or so...and...OH, NOOOO, the ace fires high.  Missed the broad side of the freaking barn on that shot.  The IS-2 was turning and they get off their shot, BLAMMO, right into the frontal armor of the gun.  No casualties but another 8.8 cm gun out of action.  Carius has his driver reverse fast, back into cover and that is the end of his action.  I rush his tank back to where the rest of the Tigers are holding station.

 

  Ah, but what of Kerscher?  He has now turned hard right and is easing through the woods, still looking for the T-34.  And, through a gap in the trees he sees...the rear end of the IS-2 that just knocked out Carius's cannon.  Well, this is just too good to be true.  Kerscher halts, has his gunner line up, and they fire...high.  But, the IS-2 commander has no idea where the shot came from.  He freezes.  Kerscher's next shot is dead on, tearing up the engine and setting the IS-2 ablaze. 

 

  The tank commander jumps from his flaming tank and runs 20 meters or so away from it, at which point the IS-2 goes up in a huge secondary explosion.  The commander will have to answer for losing his very expensive and highly prized IS-2.  And the crew…meh, you can always get more crewmen but you can’t always get another IS-2.  He is already formulating his explanation as he trudges up the hill away from his flaming tank.

 

  The Tiger on the right flank gets a penetrating hit on one of the IS-2s that is rushing his position.  The tank stops but isn't knocked out.  The other one is still coming on fast though, so that is the more immediate threat.  The Tiger commander quickly changes targets and with two shots sets the rushing IS-2 ablaze.  Then he re-targets the first one that appears stunned and hasn’t moved.  In a single shot he sets that one on fire too.

 

  The AI surrendered then.  There was only 1 IS-2 still crewed but with one crewman dead or injured and optics blown.  The T-34 that Kerscher was trying to find is last seen fleeing up the main road with front turret damage and no coax.  There is also a large number of Soviet tank crewmen heading back up the hill too, walking dejectedly up the hill and helping their wounded. 

 

  Carius had 2 T-34s to his credit, Kerscher had 6 T-34s, and the Tiger up on the right flank had 6 IS-2s to his credit.  His partner with the damaged gun had 2 IS-2s.  Even with heavy gun strikes on the Tigers, there were no casualties.  Those Tigers are beasts.  All the StuGs made it to safety but they didn't really participate much in the battle.

 

  While I did put more Tigers in harm’s way than Carius had expected, they couldn't be held back, wanting to impress their commander.  Your scenario is very well done and I enjoyed it immensely.  I especially like the historical ones that you do.

 

  Thanks, as always, for your hard work.  It is always great to play your scenarios.

 

 

Heinrich505 

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Hi Luke

Thanks for the playthrough and posting your thoughts.

 

It sounds like you'd a run of bad luck with the AI's targeting. The scoring is tight on the Germans (given the situation they just could not afford to lose AFVs) so the Germans do have to KO a lot of Soviet AFVs and keep their own casualties as low as. The lower they are the more likely you are to pull a major victory.

 

Poor AI gunnery aside I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge and wish you every success on any subsequent playthrough :)

 

There are multiple Soviet AI Plans so likelihood is you'll draw another plan. Anyroad thanks again for the playthrough and feedback - really appreciated ta.

 

Good luck! :)

 

Sure thing! I did give it another playthrough and did a bit better this time, although I did lose Carius's tank early on to a gun hit, and Kerscher was knocked out by a flank hit from an IS-2. I managed to keep all the StuGs alive this time, though, by massing them together in one of the dry stream beds. In essence, the StuGs were like a swarm of gnats to the IS-2s - not a lot of damage done, but just enough to disconcert and to irritate them. :D I cease-fired after I lost my third Tiger and managed to score a minor victory which, again given the AI's poor targeting I'll take. 

 

Even still, I'll play this one again! I have some more ideas about to approach this one. That's something I really like about this scenario - with the size of the map, the multiple AI plans, and the forces available to the player, there are multiple ways to approach this one. 

 

And yes, like you say, luck really did play a big part in the real mission's success, there's no doubt about that. This mission really, really shows that. The player can end up being anything from either the slayer of Russian armor or toothless and in retreat. I like that. :)

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Played through. Was fortunate caught (7) IS-2 advancing (flanks exposed) to (4-5?) experienced Tiger crews at ~1200m. Russian crews never got off a shot in their direction. The carnage.

 

Russians tank crews recognition was always slow and ended with a very uneven battle in kills. Had not one of the Elite Tigers lost LOS it would have been 20-0.

 

German - 19kills

Russian - 1

 

Fantastic map and interesting scenario as I play very few long ranged battles. Thanks for the map.

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Hi Heinrich

Thanks for the playthrough and AAR. Great stuff - entertaining as always. I enjoyed your AARs with the CMBB stuff, so it's great to see you still about and playing CMRT.

 

Tigers Vs JS-II is an interesting fight. Some of the JS-II crews are 'veteran' and there are even a few 'crack' in there. The JS-II does appear to be pretty poor at spotting, although it's slow ROF is an issue especially at short range fights. The Tiger get's the drop on them then. for every shot a JS-II get's off the Tiger can get of two to three shots (assuming it ain't KO'd with the first shot!). The JS-II 122mm gun though will make a mess of Tigers if it get's hit's on the right spot.

 

Thanks again for the playthrough and the entertaining AAR :)

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Sure thing! I did give it another playthrough and did a bit better this time, although I did lose Carius's tank early on to a gun hit, and Kerscher was knocked out by a flank hit from an IS-2. I managed to keep all the StuGs alive this time, though, by massing them together in one of the dry stream beds. In essence, the StuGs were like a swarm of gnats to the IS-2s - not a lot of damage done, but just enough to disconcert and to irritate them. :D I cease-fired after I lost my third Tiger and managed to score a minor victory which, again given the AI's poor targeting I'll take. 

 

Even still, I'll play this one again! I have some more ideas about to approach this one. That's something I really like about this scenario - with the size of the map, the multiple AI plans, and the forces available to the player, there are multiple ways to approach this one. 

 

And yes, like you say, luck really did play a big part in the real mission's success, there's no doubt about that. This mission really, really shows that. The player can end up being anything from either the slayer of Russian armor or toothless and in retreat. I like that. :)

It's worth considering going into the editor and 'switching off' the other AI Plans. That way you'll know which ones you've played. Just don't peek at the set-up's ;) Also the other wee variable is the triggers I use. Depending on what the German player does you can provoke different responses from the AI.

 

Aye Stugs Vs JS-IIs is a mismatch. best they can hope for is to irritate the hell out of the JS-IIs. If they get hit by that 122mm shell though... Good night Marie!

 

Yeah luck is a big part. In playtests testers and myself found this whole action could easily go horribly wrong for the German player - especially if you get overconfident (which is a wee habit of mine - get carried away and forget to move cautiously only to find my Tigers are blazing hulks...).

 

Cheery!

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Played through. Was fortunate caught (7) IS-2 advancing (flanks exposed) to (4-5?) experienced Tiger crews at ~1200m. Russian crews never got off a shot in their direction. The carnage.

 

Russians tank crews recognition was always slow and ended with a very uneven battle in kills. Had not one of the Elite Tigers lost LOS it would have been 20-0.

 

German - 19kills

Russian - 1

 

Fantastic map and interesting scenario as I play very few long ranged battles. Thanks for the map.

Hi Bradley

Thanks for the feedback mate :)

 

Glad you enjoyed it. The map is based on the RL location which helps get a handle on the actual action fought there. And why the two sides were doing what they did.

 

The two Soviet units backgrounds are interesting. The T34s unit in town were very 'green' in RL. Many of the crews only had hours of training before they found themselves facing one of the more experienced panzer units on the front at that time. Although to be fair these inexperienced young lads in their T34s did successfully shoot up a German assault gun unit only half hour before (this is why I dialled right down the Stug unit morale and command bonuses. I thought these guys would be very cautious after being so badly mauled only half hour before).

 

Good move on flanking the JS-IIs. This happened in the RL action - you can see the KOd JS_IIs in the wee map in the PDF which discusses the actual action. In RL the JS-IIs came over the hill seeking to help their mates being shot up in the village. their approach took them across the path of the Tigers in overwatch he got side shots on 4-5 Js_Iis knocking them out. the other then pulled back.

 

Mind there are other AI Plans if you are considering another playthrough. One AI Plan recreates the Soviet reaction - that makes the action a bit easier. However the other two AI plans have the Soviets being a bit cannier...

 

Thanks again for taking the time to play it and for your feedback. Pleased you enjoyed the scenario and the map.

 

Cheery!

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Hello...

 

 

Aye Stugs Vs JS-IIs is a mismatch. best they can hope for is to irritate the hell out of the JS-IIs. If they get hit by that 122mm shell though... Good night Marie!

 

 

 

Loosing 3 Tigers in this scenario  might have been a bit to much but my StuGs sure did put up a good show ! :)

 

 

----- SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER !!! -----

 

I decided to move them into the village at full speed as soon as possible. My plan with these guys was that if they should have any chans at all against the JS-IIs it would have to be at very close range from good ambush possitions.

 

They all made it to the village without being shot at and i deployed them there to be able to ambush any ruskies trying to get through....

 

Sure enough....As the battle moved along i got indications that the JS-IIs where heading into the village... B)

 

The battle amongst the building turned into a nice armour struggle...

 

My StuGs KO:ed two of the enemy Heavy tanks !

 

 

This one i managed to sneak up on and hit right in the ass... :D

 

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-23%2011-25-

 

And this one face 3 StuGs at the same time...It had been hit 13 times ! when i watched the AAR screen...

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-23%2011-26-

 

Well done, StuGs !! no losses to those guys...

Edited by RepsolCBR
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He! Brave man taking these IS-IIs on at close range with your Stugs. good skills though :)

 

I like the sneaking up shooting that IS_II in it's arse!

 

I take back my comment about Stugs and qualify it - unless you tackle the IS-IIs at point blank range and have truly Ninja tank commander skills! :)

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hey George MC!
i think i'll release this Tiger 217 for your great Malinova scenario but it's still beta and still many missmatch texture in some place but here they're, i've been busy to finish my hetzer and other projects also i'll make another tiger as well  ...so guys here it's! enjoy with this great carius at Malinova !

DOWNLOAD LINK : http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5549/details

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-25%2020-50-

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-25%2020-53-

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-25%2020-35-

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-25%2020-40-

CM%20Red%20Thunder%202015-06-25%2020-34-

 

Edited by --WOKI--
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hey George MC!

i think i'll release this Tiger 217 for your great Malinova scenario but it's still beta and still many missmatch texture in some place but here they're, i've been busy to finish my hetzer and other projects also i'll make another tiger as well  ...so guys here it's! enjoy with this great carius at Malinova !

DOWNLOAD LINK : http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5549/details

Hi WOKI

Excellent work mate :) Thanks for doing this. I'll need to work out how to tag scenarios for mods!

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Excellent work, I read the book again only recently so definitely look forward to this battle.many thanks, oh and great work on Ottos modded tank to add to the realism.

Hope you enjoy it. Worth checking out the wee PDF (also attached to this thread) which outlines some of the historical background which is a bit at odds with Mr Carius' account of the fighting at Malinova.

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