Bil Hardenberger

Erwin, I only brought them to mark mines and clear obstacles.. hopefully they won't be needed. Pioneers should not lead the way.. they are too valuable as support units to be wasted in that fashion.

The local commander, a veteran of many battles, has thrown the rule book out the window. The tanks will be unbuttoned as much as possible.

I wanted to address this one... it is taking so long to traverse this map that I have decided to do just that. I want my forces in position to act quickly... I can't do that if I scout out the optimal routes only then deciding how to move. By the time I would be able to act any opportunity might be lost. So what I am going to do is the following.. I am not going up Axis Red.. the open nature of that side of the map makes me nervous.. I could lose my entire tank force and never see the shooter. I want any armor he has in close and personal, to take away its stand-off advantage. I am going to aggressively scout both of the Blue AOAs to keep Elvis's forces interested and spread out... I don't want him concentrating on my main effort, which is going to be Axis Yellow. My OT-34 will participate in this and hopefully draw away some defenders from the KT5 - KT6 route. I plan on using 4th Company to fulfill the scouting role as they currently are doing... then 5th Company will follow up through KT2 then KT5 and ultimately through KT6. My Tank riders with 5 of my 6 tanks will take a central position so they can react in case of emergency, but the intent is for them to be the spearhead for any breakthrough opportunity. I do not intend to take them into the town... clearing that hamlet will be costly if its defended. Point is I want to make a demonstration down Blue-1 and Blue-2. Then I intend on pushing with as much as I can muster through KT5 and then through KT6 towards Obj. Yellow (Gelb). I have three mortars on the line currently supporting my recon effort, they will continue that role.. 3 HMGs are following them, and moving very slowly... their speed,or lack of it, is a problem. My trucks loaded with Pioneers (two squads) and half of my support weapons (3 HMGs and 3 mortars) will follow the tank riders and support any action as required.

Miquel, he had spilled the beans on force ratios in the AAR game, it was intelligence that I should not have seen.

Sorry guys its taking a long time to maneuver on this map... I've burned through a couple turns with little progress from my last report. I have a toe hold in KT3 and KT2... KT1 will be totally secure next turn. ... one thing of interest.. the visibility in the woods is horrible.. so I am going to keep to my original plan and skirt along the edges of the woods and try to get some sound contacts. Hopefully I will start to see/hear the enemy in the next turn or so.

KT1 appears to be clear, 3rd Sq/2 Platoon will be taking a left and clearing the left end of KT1 while 3rd Squad 1 Platoon will be entering KT2.. it is highly likely that I will encounter enemy units in KT2 so before I get too far into it I want to bring up the rest of 1st Platoon so I have support close at hand. 2nd Squad/2 Platoon continues to advance towards KT3... the SMG team should reach the trees there next turn. I plan on bringing the final Platoon from 4th Company on line inside KT1 so they can react either right or left depending on how the situation develops.

Miquel, in this case with the makeup of the squad I want to emphasize the strengths of each team... which means I want the Lead Team forward with its SMGs, and also because it contains the Squad Leader.. if I am going to run into an enemy unit I want my best unit forward so it will have (hopefully) some staying power. With the other two teams I am worried that if they are out front and have to go toe to toe with an enemy unit ahead of the other teams, that they will have morale problems that could be costly. I am moving almost all fast on this particular movement because the movement is masked from any enemy observation except directly to the front (up to where the Hunt order starts).. and that area is covered by my LMG team (and rifle team a little closer). I am alternating fast and hunt with my teams in the open.

I'm going to have a platoon (two squads) scouting KT3 and eventually another platoon (two squads) scouting KT2. Both from 4th Company. What they discover will determine which AOA I eventually concentrate on. The third squad from each of those platoons will follow up and be ready to participate in a platoon attack drill if the opportunity presents itself.

Ken, the last waypoint is a Hunt order.

Still moving forward.. KT1 has not been reached yet. I sure hope Elvis doesn't have an artillery barrage plotted in these woods... This image shows how I plan my advances with the Russian squads... I will keep the team with the LMG furthest back, with the best visibility into and around the area I am moving into... the second team (rifles) will advance with the lead team and stop short to cover the final push by the lead team (SMGs) to the final destination. All movement will be through cover, and covered terrain as much as possible. I will attempt to use these tactics whenever feasible while I scout.. the squads will scout split, but together.

Guys, please be careful... this is an open thread.

I use Photoshop for my arrows and other overlays.

sf, we will be updating as new BETAs are released... until something breaks at least.

Not yet.. but then they haven't run into any opposition. When that happens I'm sure they will rapidly deteriorate. I will track that and report back if and when it happens.

HL, they are part of my forward company. I don't have any formation scattered across the map.

Yep, the lead two squads that are performing recon are both split. The lead team from each are moving towards KT1 with the rest of the squad in overwatch.

First a little tank porn: At the end of turn 2 my lead team has reached the stream, which they will cross next turn. Note that I am sending two teams over to explore KT1. I thought I would also share with you my intial recon plan. I am thinking that Elvis will expect me to move through the heart of the woods in KT3 and possibly KT2 and will have them defended with something, so I am initially going to bypass the center of at least KT3 and recon with a squad in each direction along the fringe... hopefully this will turn up some sound contacts and I can get a picture of what is in the interior as well as uncover any surprises he has covering the Axis Red route on the edge of the woods.

This is all you get for now

Okay no images this turn report.. still moving up, no action. Going to take a few turns to really get rolling.

Yes, don't forget this is still in BETA... I believe the command lines are still a work in progress. Oh and yes, that was a bayonet... I can't get too much closer to it for you because it is as yet untextured.

First turn sent to Elvis. My initial orders were mainly to probe KT1 and KT2 for any enemy troops. I don't know if my lead troops will make it to those spots by the end of the first turn. I also have a platoon that is going to move into KT3, but I want to have a good look at KT1 and KT2 first.

Well I figured I had enough AT support.. and I would rather have the HMGs than the AT rifles... I know what use the HMGs will be, the AT rifles could end up being wasted points. I am not worried about whether there might be Arm cars or not somewhere... I'll sniff them out if they are there and deal with them then. Thanks for the question.

I wanted to take a minute to highlight the Rifle Platoon. This formation contains a lot of bodies (34) and a lot of firepower.. they will be great in the woods where the German long range firepower will be negated. Also these squads can split (all squads can now split), however the split teams will come at a high cost to morale if they are separated from the Squad leader team. Plt HQ/1st Squad: 2nd Squad: 3rd Squad:

I will get into my scheme of maneuver later.. but rest assured I do plan on scouting on all routes to test the defense. My normal plan of attack entails spreading my attack as wide as possible to make the defender have to stretch and thus thin out his line, making a penetration more likely in the spot I intend to concentrate.

Nope. Note: when I got onto the map with my force I noticed I had forgotten to make the mortars on-map, so I had to re-do my purchases.. I still spent 3500 points exactly, had fewer rarity points spent and had to adjust some of my infantry values down to account for the extra points the on-map mortars cost me. Also, the unit's may or may not be in the same hierarchy as listed in my screenshot above (i.e. 3rd Rifle Bn is now 2nd Rifle Bn). Made one minor change, the last truck that had the Weapons ammo I changed to MG ammo as it was carrying 50mm mortar rounds and AT rifle rounds, neither of which I need. Bil