Bil Hardenberger

Would have smelled like desperation, but would indeed have been fun.

End of Game So.. it seems that GaJ has called 'er quits... Too bad really.. I thought with his force he could have made the end game very painful for me.. but I totally understand . Losing that second Pz-IV really meant the end was near. Casualty counts: Me: 42 infantry (dead and wounded); 1 tank GaJ: 82 infantry (dead and wounded); 2 tanks Here are the final positions.. I have not analyzed this yet.. hopefully later today but thought you guys can use this information to tell us where our faults lie. Now I'll spend some time reading GaJ's thread the peanut gallery (really looking forward to that one) Thanks for a great game GaJ.. if you had gone hunting my center Sherman with your two Pz-IVs then this could have ended far differently.

Orders for turn 31: LEFT SIDE On the left I am pushing most of my infantry into the valley to get under his light mortars.. I would like to get close enough to deal with them Sten style. The Sherman is redeploying to get away from the smoke and away from the faust team that is slowly climbing he hill. Not that I'm worried about him but one never knows. The Stuart on my left is proceeding a little deeper into the valley to get a better angle. In the center one of my reserve platoons is starting the slow climb to the ridge overlooking the bowl on the backside of those twin mountains GaJ is set up on (I want this entire platoon to crest at the same time)... my scouts are easing forward to get a peek into the bowl to see what they can see... RIGHT SIDE My forward teams are working deeper into the valley (far right of the hill) pursuing his retreating teams... the Stuart is rushing to the ridge on the map edge, both to keep far from any schrecks and also to get a view into where I think his mass must be located. My teams on the far left of the right side hill are swinging around his rear like a door to close any escape route (followed by the center Sherman) and to take out the light mortar that is slightly to his rear on this flank and very close to my troops. My reserve platoon on this side is climbing the hill in order to pop over the top as soon as I know what I am faced with. ____________________ The truck mounted platoon is driving towards the center.. I will be using them as my mounted reserve and deploy them where they wind up being needed most. So basically I am putting the pressure on both forces at once. It will take a few turns (maybe several) for the left side attack to develop, the right side attack is starting now.

Thanks Fuser.. but the final stage of a battle can be very dangerous. Especially with the firepower he still wields, those light mortars are murder. I have come up with a sure technique against them though... don't let them see you! Seriously.. I have to be careful now as he must be feeling like a cornered dog at this point.. I am thankful that there is around 500 meters between his two forces which means the likelihood of him breaking out on one flank and joining his two forces is very slim. The key is going to be to maintain the pressure and don't give him anytime to think, or any event to celebrate, I want him feeling down and depressed and unsure of which way to turn.

The Thirtieth Minute On my right he is now withdrawing his forward teams (and losing several men in the process)... on my left he is trying to sneak a Faust team up on my Sherman... but that's all boring, let's get to the meat! Panzer Death Ride I don't think he ever spotted my Stuart... My Stuart put three rounds into the Pz-IV, two of which penetrated.. it was him standing his ground and putting round after round into the enemy tank that I believe forced it to reverse onto the hill behind... ...as the panzer reversed to get away from the Stuart's pin pricks, he ran right into the sights of my center Sherman. In this image you can just make out the panzer on the hill in the background silhouetted against the sky. The first round killed it. I'm afraid my units kind of picked on that tank and crew for the rest of the turn... but it is very dead now.

Thought I owed you guys an overview of the map at this stage of the battle... note how his forces have been isolated. I am holding the nose of each of these forces and maneuvering behind them. If you can spot them, there are a total of three full platoons in reserve waiting for orders. Also note the faded contact in the top left corner.. I haven't been able to investigate that yet (that entire back ridge is under the view of his forces on my left)... but hope to soon. I suspect its one or two medium mortar teams.

The Twenty-Ninth Minute The remaining Pz-IV on my right was hit and penetrated by my Sherman... ...however it is leading a charmed life and reversed out of danger.. not shocked obviously as it proceeded to take one of my teams under fire (no casualties).. then it drove into the field of fire of my Stuart.. one hit form the Stuart did nothing, the second penetrated.. no effect.... uh oh... he spots my Stuart right at the end of the turn... Next turn will see three of my units attempting to finally kill this beast.. the Stuart, a PIAT team and the Sherman I have on my far left... my center Sherman is also maneuvering to get a spot as well. I won't mind losing the Stuart if something else can take the Pz-IV out... Here is the situation on my right at turn start and turn end... showing movements. The Pz-IV reversed this turn. The 6th Co. HQ that I reported as killed a few turns ago still had one man alive at the start of this turn.. but not anymore. On my left this is how things played out.. GaJ started an artillery barrage.. but luckily it hit behind my troops.. if that had landed on the ridgeline I think I would have lost this Platoon... looks to me like his advance here has stalled. 5th Platoon HQ was killed by the Sherman this turn... many other casualties.. including the gunner from the PzSchreck team seen in these images and two light mortar teams spotted now.

Just sent the turn to GaJ.. my Sherman is unbuttoned with a spot on his Pz-IV.. he is buttoned (thanks to my PIAT rounds) and I don't think his tank can spot mine (based on his turret positioning).. I am holding my ground and taking a shot.. I expect GaJ to try to move his tank... which would play right into my hands. Stay tuned.

No $hit.. I'm pressing hard from here on out.. and keeping in mind that he has a Pzschreck team just on the other side of the hill.. so I'll press with my PIATs primarily... although.. just doing my turn, and my Sherman has a spot on his remaining Pz-IV and it doesn't look like he has a spot on me.. so fingers crossed. Actually no.. I was watching at first from near his tanks and initially thought it was a PIAT that got him..

Sorry, I thought the phrase "One to go" was enough.. yep dead, knocked out, crew running for the hills...

The Twenty-Eighth Minute My Sherman hunted forward, spotted one of the Pz-IV's and opened fire at 194 meters... yes Virginia, it actually fired. The result? Well... The German tank never spotted mine and was reversing when it was hit, mine was on hunt orders and stopped immediately to fire when it got the German tank in its sights. That should give GaJ some nervous moments. One to go. Speaking of the other panzer.. it too was sighted, but by a PIAT team.. unfortunately it was firing at close to maximum range and missed both shots.. it doesn't look like it was spotted either. I will have two more PIAT teams in range next turn.. but I expect GaJ will drive this tank deeper into the gully where his Infantry are advancing... that would be okay too.. I have another PIAT in an ambush position there should he drive too deep. On my left... this sight must fill him with dread.. many of the units he is pushing down the slope are visible to my Sherman who just drove straight through the smoke screen GaJ started to lay down last turn, and added to this turn. it costs him several casualties from his forward teams. Note in the background that his two company HQs are sitting very close together on the slope.. calling in artillery again? Both of them? Next turn one of my Stuarts will join the fun on the left... after I defeat this little push by GaJ I will orient my follow-on forces to attack his two companies from the rear. Whew.. breathing easier now.

I agree 100% and they are aware of the situation. Until the text is made more generic (if that ever happens) then I will continue to take advantage of the intelligence gathered from it. Bil

I looked into it.. they carry a base of 32 HE rounds and 4 smoke rounds. That will keep them active for a long time.. especially seeing as one round is sufficient to take out an entire team (as happened to me earlier). I should have done this a long time ago.. but it was only recently that I confirmed the force he was fielding: FJ assets: ....5 Rifle Company ....6 Rifle Company ....8 Weapons Company Order of Battle for an FJ Rifle Company (of which GaJ has two): ..Rifle Company HQ ....Panzerschreck Team x6 rounds ....FJ Platoon (x3) ........Panzerschreck Team x6 rounds ........Light Mortar Team x32 HE, x4 smoke ........FJ Rifle Squad (x3) - 10 men armed with: ............x2 LMG ............x2 MP40 ............x1 G43 ............x5 Kar 98, 2 of which have rifle grenades (4 total grenades), 1 may have a scope ............x1 to x2 Panzerfaust ............x2 Demo Charge Order of Battle for an FJ Weapons Company (of which GaJ has one): ..Weapons Company HQ ....Machinegun Platoon (x2) ........Heavy Machinegun Team (x4) ....Medium Mortar Platoon .........x2 81mm Mortar x64 HE, x12 smoke .........x2 Mortar Ammo Bearer .....Recoilless Gun Platoon ..........x2 75mm Recoilless Gun x37 HE, x8 HEAT, x12 AP ..........x2 Recoilless Ammo Bearer - with an LMG That is a powerful force on its own... interestingly I have not seen hide nor hair of the Recoilless Gun Platoon... however I have seen at least one mortar ammo bearer.. which means he is fielding at least one medium mortar.

Gerry.. I am most definitely splitting squads, especially where enemy forces are near... but when in the rear or when maneuvering, as with the platoon that is re-deploying (shown in the image).. no they are not split. I always split squads when they might be coming into enemy contact.. this gives the enemy more targets to engage, spreads out my forces so I can't lose an entire squad with one mortar round, etc.

The Twenty-Seventh Minute I have set up a few little ambush spots on the right side to impede any advance GaJ might want to make.. he does seem keen to move down that little gully... this turn his 6th Co. HQ team runs into one of my reverse slope teams... I am consciously trying to avoid letting my teams fall under the fire of his light mortars.. so these teams will attack, do what damage they can and then reposition. From his perspective.. this little action was over in about 30 seconds and his entire HQ team was wiped out. I figure I can slow down his advance with these tactics.. though probably not stop it.. we'll see what he does in response. I find it curious that he is throwing the Company HQ teams out there like he is... Note that his teams are mainly equipped with rifles while mine mainly have Stens... quite a difference in firepower in these short range shootouts.. and the squad marksman is deadly with his scoped rifle. So he appears to be moving his tanks into the gully as well now.. that is indeed curious. They are moving very slow however... so are obviously letting the infantry take the lead. How is his rear security do you think? One of my platoons rushes through the destroyed buildings in the center and move towards the sound of the guns.. which they can plainly hear on my left. GaJ sent several units, including a PzSchreck, which did get off a round which luckily missed... but then he lost that team.. sad really. he did a really good job in blinding my Sherman towards the end of this turn. that's okay.. I think I might just drive over the edge and see what I can see with it. I spotted another light mortar team (the team that was laying down the smoke) and my HMG and tank chased the other off the saddle.. I couldn't tell if I did any damage, but it didn't look like it. He laid a lot of mortar HE around my tank.. aside from forcing him to button nothing happened thankfully.. I'm happy those rounds were not aimed at my infantry. How many rounds do these carry? I need to look into that. I need to shuffle units around some now.. I expect my infantry positions will get some HE lovin' very soon now that many of them have opened fire.

See my turn report a few posts above... is this sufficient for now?

Thanks John, I'm past that now... its been reported as a possible bug now it's up to Charles to determine what happened. Bil

The Twenty-Sixth Minute On my left it appears like something is moving into the valley... It is being overwatched by a light mortar team... my re-positioned Sherman, re-positioned HMG and also a Bren team will all be taking this mortar under fire next turn. The majority of my casualties have come from these mortars.. I would like to silence them. This is the team I spotted moving into that little saddle last turn.. I set up my forces to counter it as its destination seemed obvious. The HMG is firing direct while the Sherman and Bren are area firing. Another light mortar team was spotted on the backside of this mountain... my center Sherman will fire a round or two at it before it moves out on a new mission. On the right my forces continue to shift and reorient.. one platoon is out of the valley and should load on their trucks next turn (or the one after)... the other is starting to stream through the destroyed buildings in the center. Meanwhile GaJ maneuvered his Panzers a bit.. they moved forward and then reversed back close to their starting positions (at least the one I actually had eyes on did). Looks like he is trying to tempt me to bring my Sherman out to play. I need to make something happen with regard to these tanks or they are always going to continue to be a thorn in my side.. I am moving three PIAT teams and the center Sherman (he has a team trying to sneak up my Sherman anyway so its time to move it) into firing positions along the ridge that separates his forces from mine. Circles indicate PIAT firing positions and the square is where the Sherman will position itself. Hopefully this will be timed well.. if I can catch his tanks while they are moving then that would be best.

No cupola ... seems fishy to me... the gunner says spotting, aiming-firing ... here are the timestamps for each activity: --01:07:40 - in position and halted --01:07:33 - Pz-IVH first spotted --01:07:33 - Gunner switches from spotting to Aiming --01:07:28 - Gunner switches to firing --01:07:26 - Gunner switches to spotting and then immediately to Aiming --01:07:21 - Gunner switches to firing --01:07:19 - Gunner switches to spotting and then immediately to Aiming --01:07:15 - Gunner switches to firing --01:07:13 - Gunner switches to spotting and then immediately to Aiming --01:07:09 - Gunner switches to firing --01:07:06 - Gunner switches to spotting and then immediately to Aiming --01:07:02 - Gunner switches to firing From the German tank: --01:07:06 - Sherman first spotted --01:07:00 - Pz-IV fires

The Twenty-Fifth Minute My Sherman in the center spotted and fired on two squads GaJ is reorienting them from my left towards the center. After the minute was up his two squads seemed in disarray and several casualties were seen.. exact count is not known. Right at the end of the turn one of those damned light mortars hits one of my forward teams on the back side of this position... one round takes out the entire team. I expect his losses were still higher than mine (or equivalent).. at the very least one of his two squads is probably panicked. Also noticed was another light mortar team moving back to my left... so he is not abandoning the mountain in order to attack my center.. but intends to defend. I'm sure this team is looking to get a better angle on my HMG.. but I have repositioned that team as it had been there for several turns and I expected it to become a target. All of this movement makes makes me draw the following conclusions... GaJ is leaving a skeletal force across from my force.. I expect one full squad, at least one MG team, and now the light mortar team referenced above. He is attempting to reorient in order to attack my weak center... my Sherman will have something to say about that and he might be surprised how "weak" the center actually is. On my right my two platoons have started their movement... my HMG team fired on his 6 Co. HQ unit (no casualties noticed)... and a spotting round hit in the middle of his troops.. I expect that fire mission to hit my HMG on the far right.. I will be packing them up and moving them out of harms way.. I only hope they can un-ass the area before the rounds impact.

Sorry Michael, I forgot to add.. the Sherman was Veteran.

Correct... his tank didn't spot mine until there was about 5 seconds left in the turn... my tank was hull down.. my tank was at a higher elevation... they were not expected to be there (i.e. he did not seem to have a covered arc set up on the position I moved into)... my tank had the time to get off three aimed shots before he even spotted me. Some kind of bug affected my tank... but this is a BETA, so that is known to happen. I just have to make the best of a bad situation and continue. Steve, I can send you the turn if you want to check it out.

Me too usually... but I also refuse to stick with a plan when I see a major change to what I feel the odds of success are. Well I do not feel like I have freedom to maneuver on my right... I also do not feel like I can gain a firepower advantage like I was planning.. originally I had a three pronged attack planned, one from the front (holding attack), one from the flank over the hill, and one around the backside of the hill and from the rear... now two of those, the rear and flank have been taken away because of the positions of the panzers. That was my main reason for switching focus. Me too... he is only weaker on my left because it doesn't look like he has armor there.. and if he is forced to maneuver his two panzers to my left to counter a stroke, then I can set up PIAT and Sherman ambushes to welcome them... he has the positional advantage on the right, looks like he wants to keep it, so I'm giving it to him and seize it on the left. He also seems concerned with my Sherman on the center ridge-line... hopefully that threat will keep him from doing too much drastic maneuvering with his tanks... if he does.. I can pop that Sherman up for a shoot and scoot mission and try to bag one. The battlefield is beautifully cut into three zones.. the center zone I think (as I said at the beginning) is the key.. I should have stuck to that from the beginning (instead of getting sucked into a right side attack that was taking way too long to develop)... and fortified the center... because from there I can attack either right or left..as the situation presents itself.

You are killing me Ken. Trying to attack is how I ended up with a Sherman burning on the field. ___________________________________________________________________________ Maybe I'm overthinking this battle (yes Ken I'm wearing my size 10 helmet).. but this is what I know: Facts: -- GaJ has one Rifle Company plus two tanks on my right... ---- What this has done is shift the balance of power on this flank. I am not in a position to counter the power they wield right now. -- There does not appear to be any enemy armor on my left. -- GaJ has two companies, one Rifle and one Weapons company on my left. ---- I believe that this is now the enemy force that is the most fragile. I know this is going to look like I can't make up my mind, but I am going to evacuate the right in stages.. reasoning? Well with the two Pz-IVs sitting on that side and right now no way for me to mass against him without too much risk and with the fear that his company HQ team is calling for artillery on my infantry this flank no longer feels as secure as it once did. I am beginning with pulling out two platoons, one with an HMG team will withdraw and load back up on the trucks. The other will go through the gap where the destroyed buildings sit and into the center valley. With them I will also be pulling a Stuart into the center valley. I believe I can get angles on the force on my left and interdict it with long range tank fire.. I am bringing my infantry to defend the center and keep it trapped in the bowl it is sitting in. If he attempts to bring his tanks to their support he will have to come over the ridges into my fields of fire... I should have some warning that he is making this move.

The Twenty-Fourth Minute Alright let's get this over with.. but I do not want to dwell on it.. the fact that I had a superior position with a spotted enemy tank in my sights for over 30 seconds and this tank never got a shot off was already a bitter pill for me... I have nothing but disgust for this result... 'nuff said: On my left GaJ appears to be shifting his troops.. perhaps to attack my center? On my left he is also hunting forward with at least one squad... also spotted was this Company HQ element.. I believe he might be planning on dropping some artillery onto my forces on this side of the map... I identified the second tank.. another Pz-IVH... it was moving in reverse up the slope when I lost sight of it.. obviously covering the movement of my Sherman in the center. So I know now what I am up against: - 5 Rifle Company and 8 Weapons Company - on my left - 6 Rifle Company on my right - At least two Pz-IV-Hs.... from what I have seen or heard, I don't think he has any other tanks or vehicles. Very interesting. I have not given orders yet.. I need to think on it a bit.