Not Another AAR?! Tux Vs Mylgas 2: Double Or Quits

[Tux]

Well I was trying to stay optimistic... lol.

In all seriousness I can't disagree with what you're saying, Jason. I think an awful lot hinges on how much Mylgas correctly guesses about my plans in the next couple of minutes. If he susses how empty my left flank is he can, if he wants, sweep around and cause me even more serious problems with at least one Tiger and a Grenadier platoon.

My infantry weakness was, as I believe I stated at the time, one of the first things I regretted about my force selection. If I remember correctly my force selection was slightly weighted towards a more open fight, but that is no real excuse.

I suppose I can concede that the game is Mylgas' for the taking but, in light of how uncertain it is whether Mylgas himself realises this, I am willing to continue to the best of my ability.

One mistake I think I made was to attempt a fully-fledged flanking attack through the map centre. It has taken a long time to get that far, even allowing for the interruptions encountered, and I have yet to get to a stage where TFA is ready to settle down and fight. In the meantime TFB has been discovered, engaged, sounded-out and destroyed by Mylgas' foremost forces, and he still has time to reposition and face TFA.

This is a difficult game. I think I'm slowly realising just how much I abhor wet, foggy conditions apart from anything!

[Joachim]

The problem with quick battles is that you can very much guestimate the enemy force as you know the allowed points. this takes much of the uncertainty about your force. So just as you can calculate what his points allow him besides his Tigers, he can do with yours.

[Vark]

Would it be possible/viable to use a third person to design a scenario whose force composition could be chosen by the two players and then selected by the third party designer. Given the random map generation tool it would not be too onerous for the third party, with an added bonus that reinforcements could be included, the two players would then play the downloaded scenario, just created.

A mini campaign, comprising several of these surrogate scenarios, could then be crudely constructed so that objectives could be realistic. Perhaps the taking and holding of an objective, with the timetable of deployment, reserves etc affected by written orders from the players, communicated to the third player designer by email. It would in effect be a mini, bastardised wargame/CM Campaigns hybrid! No more, oh he has 800 points so if he must have, second guessing and it might also kill the invincible flank syndrome, though playing 1000 points on a huge map can help, although the placement of objective flags could be unrealistically linear.

[Heinrich505]

Tux,

Things were just heating up, and now the looooong wait. Will run out of nails soon. Let us know.

Heinrich505

[Tux]

Hi. Sorry, I've been very busy for the last couple of weeks and so I haven't had the time to write up a couple of turns which have been played. I need to try and get that done asap so that I can start sending turns to Mylgas again (I've stopped at the moment to avoid running up a huge backlog of AARs to write).

[Heinrich505]

No problem. We'll just have to wait, and let the suspense build, heh heh.

Heinrich505

[Tux]

Turn 18

TFA's Sherman performs well, spraying a nearby HMG with machine gun fire. It takes time out to knock out a fleeing mortar, and then gets back to the more urgent threat:

In the centre, my IS-2 is buttoned by a burst of MG42 from the position highlighted below:

Unfortunately, Mylgas has a second mortar somewhere, and smoke rounds are landing on the road. In the next minute they will become active and provide perfect cover for any forces he tries to get across the road. Bugger...

TFB's Sherman is all but out of LOS now, and his smoke rounds are active in precisely the right area to cover him from Mylgas' second Tiger, should it advance in his direction.

Unfortunately, Mylgas' tactical insight remains spot on as he advances a Grenadier section towards my remaining three riflemen. The advance is a dangerous move and the reversing Sherman gets off a healthy dose of hull-mounted MG fire at them, but they are determined to clear that tiny patch of trees, and so they do. My riflemen haven't even spotted the grenadiers by the time they setlle in cover and open fire, and are quickly routed.

In my orders for Turn 19 I have ordered TFB's Sherman to area fire at a building on the extreme left edge of the map which is currently housing an HMG 42. It will, of course, continue reversing in the mean time.

TFA's Sherman is going to attack the nearby HMG 42 with HE; an option it seems remarkably reluctant to choose on its own.

My central tank pairing will continue moving into position, since there is a small area of the road which will be visible to them both, and they may therefore be able to hinder any attempted crossing by Mylgas' just a little bit. The HQ Sherman is also going to area fire at the MG which buttoned my IS-2 in Turn 18.

All of my infantry are continuing to either set up in their zone opposite the centre of the map or to engage Mylgas' left flank forces.

[Tux]

Turn 19

TFA's Sherman does exactly as I asked it for an entire minute, levelling the nearby HMG's building, but the li'l b******s are hardy enough that they don't let up firing at my troops. Thankfully, they have yet to cause a casualty.

In the centre my HQ Sherman is buttoned by the same HMG it is supposed to be suppressing. Until it has finished rotating though its turret is not going to be able to keep up for long enough to fire accurately or at the gun.

On my left Mylgas has a nice little surprise for me. My Sherman is almost out of LOS when a sinister shape is seen emerging through the smoke:

This was just beginning to look like it might go horribly wrong for my Sherman when the Tiger grinds to a halt agonisingly short of gaining LOS through the fog. After a few seconds its status changes - it has bogged! If my stars are in a good mood it will immobilise in this spot and be rendered impotent for the rest of the fight! At the very least it should be unable to advance any further through the smoke before my Sherman has reversed into dead ground and escaped.

[Tux]

If a moderator could alter the link for the final image in my Turn 18 post from 'Turn18a.jpg' to 'Turn18d.jpg' I'd be much obliged.

[Der Alte Fritz]

All the images have disappeared! This is getting exciting - I am waiting to hear what the IS-2 gets up to.

cheers

[Heinrich505]

Tux,

Oh yeah, "when a sinister shape is seen emerging through the smoke:" I figured Mylgas would push the Tiger forward. Don't hope for the bog result though. This might be the one that struggles free from the mud.

Waiting to see if the IS-2 becomes a factor. Perhaps a "Clash of the Titans?"

Waiting to see what happens.

Heinrich505

[Tux]

I will use the IS if I can, obviously, but I have to take into consideration that all AFV movement is slow and awkward in this weather. When I use armour I usually like waiting for an opportunity and then manoeuvring it quickly and decisively to gain an advantageous shot before my opponent can react. It's very difficult to do that in these conditions. Also, Tigers quite regularly penetrate IS-2 turret fronts at these sorts of combat ranges and so I really wouldn't be happy putting my tank toe-to-toe with a Tiger in a head-on fight; It's odds-on that, if it missed its first shot, my tank would die before it got off a second.

Have all the pictures appeared ok by the way? I can see them on my monitor, although I did post the wrong picture link at the end of my second-last post, as previously noted.

[Mies]

The pictures appear fine fo me. Thanks for the update again!

[costard]

Great stuff Tux - appreciate the effort. Thanks.

[Paul AU]

Good fun, keep it up (and yes, images fine here too).

[Tux]

Turn 20

Things quieten down briefly for this turn. TFA's flanking force and their Sherman take 30s or so to wipe out their atagonist; the MG 42 which refuses to die.

My IS-2 sees the most activity by far; after 20 seconds or so a nearby Grenadier squad briefly opens fire on a moving Maxim of mine. The IS crew immediately catch sight of them and rotate the turret to engage. Unfortunately their gunner is horribly off target:

I don't think this bodes well for my heavy tank if it should ever have to take on a Tiger... Anyway, a few seconds later some cheeky b*stard-type Grenadiers try and sprint across the road directly ahead of my tanks. Luckily for them my IS has yet to reload, and has to make do with a long burst of hull-mounted MG fire in their direction.

TFB's Sherman is basically safe by the end of the minute:

It is now in defilade, and will spend the next few minutes moving around to join the assault from a more useful (and less dangerous) position.

For Turn 21 I order TFA's flanking bunch to advance on the erstwhile positions of Mylgas' flanking force, with their Sherman in support. In the centre, I will move a squad forwards, towards the flag, to take shelter in a small house midway. Everyone else's orders remain 'as is' including my ATG, which is '1 minute' away from finishing setting up to help cover the main road.

[Tux]

Turn 21

After 14 seconds this is the view from my centre:

A picture says a thousand words, as they say, but I will try to explain what everything here means: Mylgas' first Tiger has reappeared and is driving directly towards TFA's position. My HQ Sherman is committed to area firing at the HMG on my mid-right flank, as you can see, and my IS-2 has yet to gain LOS. You can also just see my advancing section's legs below the Sherman's muzzle blast. The most nerve-wracking thing is that my 57mm ATG has full LOS to the advancing heavy tank, but is 9 seconds away from completing setup!

Over the coming second the Tiger advances at an ever-increasing rate as he hits tarmac and grinds through the gears. He clearly intends to take his chances against my IS, knowing how much havoc he can cause if he comes out on top of that one duel.

Just as my ATG finishes setup and twists to engage, my IS-2 gains LOS and does likewise. All of a sudden the Tiger's fate is sealed. The IS-2s gunner has had a b*llocking from his commander after his last effort, and he beats the gun crew to a first shot:

The result is so clearly catastrophic that my veteran gun crew commander immediately orders his men to hold fire. There is no need for them to expose their position and nature still further by firing upon a dead tank:

Little else happens this turn. As the Tiger's crew abandon their wrecked vehicle and crawl for cover TFA's Sherman and the flanking force have moved forwards unopposed, and shall take another 'step' next turn. In the centre my advanceing section and the MG Carrier which I pushed up with it (to help trigger any Panzerschreck ambushes) have done likewise.

The only other event of note is the re-emergence of Mylgas' second Tiger on my far left flank. It has evidently managed to unbog itself, but is currently driving itself further and further from the sanctuary of a proper, metalled road surface by chasing TFB's Sherman. If it advances much further I may look into the feasibility of gaining a quick and easy flank shot with my IS-2 along the general axis denoted by the red arrow below:

As you can also see in the above picture (near the end of the red arrow) two men from the green Pioneer team which was routed a couple of minutes ago by Mylgas' 'sweeping up' infantry survived their ordeal and are currently hiding within LOS of his forces in order to act as a 'listening post'. I think Mylgas knows they're alive though, and may be looking to correct the situation in the coming minutes.

[Heinrich505]

Tux,

Looks like I got my request after all - Clash of the Titans, Two Tanks Enter...One Tank Leaves Thunderdome. With an IS-2, a Sherman, and a 57mm AT gun, I was pretty sure some harm would come the way of the Tiger. There was too much stacked up against him. Still, the IS-2 gunner had to get it right, because if he missed....

Good pictures. We are in the thick of the action now.

Heinrich505

[Tux]

Yeah, that's why I said the Tiger's fate was sealed when my ATG finished setting up in time to engage. Even if the IS-2 had missed the veteran 57mm was immediately ready to engage and destroy the Tiger. I'm sure Mylgas knew the gun was there or thereabouts, so he must have assumed it was a bog-standard ZIS-3 - not an unreasonable assumption when facing any late war Soviet force.

[Tux]

I've just sent back the orders for Turn 22 and made the following note: This is the LOS line from my IS-2.

As you can see it should allow me to engage Mylgas' second Tiger from the flank if he tries to push it too far forwards. I haven't given the IS a rotate or cover-arc order along the LOS line yet though, because I don't want to warn Mylgas that I've noticed the line and I think it will take the Tiger more than one minute to cover the necessary distance. I have however given my ATG a cover arc along the line seen above. It has the same LOS as the IS, as does its HQ which has a double combat bonus. As long as Mylgas tries to move that second Tiger around my left flank, it should be dead within two-three minutes.

My other orders have been to get the whole of TFA and all three Shermans arrayed against Mylgas' centre in preparation for an assault on the flag area in the next ten minutes.

[Flying Column]

After whats happened to Tiger 1, he surely going to try to bring Tiger 2 back towards the flag, isn't he?

[John Kettler]

Tux,

Very exciting turn--accompanied with a spectacular screenshot of an IS-2's firing!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Tux]

Flying Column, yes I should think so. I'll look into it further in the next minute or two but I would be surprised if he pursues TFB's Sherman any further now. One thing Mylgas has to think about is that if he orders his Tiger to about-turn and move back then he will be exposing his rear to TFB's Sherman (whether or not I have left it in position to take advantage). Unless Mylgas guesses that TFB's Sherman is engaged in a full-scale withdrawl and redeployment then he may not wish to take that chance, which will considerably slow the amount of time it takes him to retreat. That doesn't matter much unless I launch a full-scale assault on the flag in the next minute or two. That is unlikely, but Mylgas doesn't know that.

Finally, I'm not sure where he can reposition his Tiger for it to be of much use defending the approaches to the flag. He can either continue along his current path and take flank shots from an IS-2 and HQ-assisted AT gun or he can double-back and cross the main road, taking flank shots from an IS-2 and HQ-assisted AT gun. Broadly speaking he appears to be caught between a rock and... the same rock!

[Tux]

Turn 22

Mylgas is still pushing the Tiger onwards - he really wants that Sherman dead! After 30 seconds my heart skips a beat as the bla$ted thing opens fire at my tank!

There's no target line or anything, so as the shot plows into the earth 50m short of my unit it acts as a potent reminder that I shouldn't get complacent about the safety of my tank, especially when it's hidden in such a shallow depression.

Mylgas is also, more predictably, pushing his Grenadiers ridiculously far forwards in puruit of my two routed green riflemen. By the end of the minute they have opened fire with small arms and grenades, but one of my overwatching Maxims has forced them to hit the dirt in open ground:

My orders for Turn 23 focus on moving TFA and their three accompanying tanks into their final positions from which to launch an assault.

I have also given my IS-2 a blue cover arc towards the open ground which Mylgas' Tiger must surely cross in the next minute. With a little luck the Grenadiers will get marooned in open ground under machine gun suppression, and I'll be able to destroy them with HE next turn.

Finally, TFB's Sherman has had its orders to join TFA cancelled and it is reversing back behind a patch of woods and loosing off its final two smoke rounds in order to try break LOS to the enemy tank one last time before the Tiger (hopefully) meets its fate. It may then also be able to rejoin the fight on my left flank, thus helping to crush Mylgas' troops out of the vicinity of the flag from two directions.

If Mylgas has LOS from his Tiger to my Sherman (as I have vice-versa) then he may well order the Tiger to take the shot which it has not yet taken of its own accord, in which case I have to pray that TFB's Sherman survives that one shot. I don't expect the Tiger to have time for more than one before LOS is broken. Roll on Turn 23!

[Tux]

Turn 23

In the opening seconds the Tiger stops and both tanks take aim at each other. One has an 88mm AP shell chambered and the other, more optimistic one has a smoke round ready to go. In perfect unison they both let fly, and their respective ordnance rends the air between them:

I cringe, waiting for the clash of torn metal that denotes a critical hit on my Sherman, but it never comes - the Tiger has missed! It is already too late for it to take another shot, because my Sherman is reversing quickly into cover, and has broken LOS before the 15 second mark.

Most frustratingly, Mylgas has his Tiger reversing as well! The formidable array of AT weaponry which I have focussed on the spot 10m ahead of it isn't going to get to 'play' unfortunately, because Mylgas has other plans for his unit. He doesn't have it all his own way though, because it doesn't get far before it's mud-clogged wheels sink deep into the earth, and the tank comes to a sliding, sucking halt. Let's hope it's for good this time!

The only other significant development is that Mylgas' advanced Grenadiers have been persuaded to turn back and crawl for cover by my distant Maxim. By the time the minute is out a man is down and the rest of the section are in a state of panic: