Webs

The crew hadn't been eliminated, as they fled like a Benny Hill conga line across the open terrain after the gun was hit. The gun was facing the halftrack, more or less - any damage would have had to have been caused either outside or through the gunshield - how thick was that? It was steel, if I recall correctly. I should point out that the range was obscenely low, like 50m. It's amazing what you can do with a halftrack after you completely demoralize your opponent's troops.

A very odd occurence in a game I played recently. I had the Germans routed and was surrounding a 75mm PaK 40 with Canadians and halftracks. A PIAT took a shot at the gun but landed short. This was immediately followed by a burst from a vanilla M3 halftrack - just a .30 and a .50 there. Well, wouldn;t you know it, but the halftrack knocked out the gun. Knocked it out. The gun wasn't abandoned, it was knocked out. Other than a one in a million shot that would pierce the barrel of the cannon with a .50-cal bullet, I'm at a loss to figure out how that happened. Any ideas? Has anyone else knocked out a big gun with machine gun fire?

A motor?

Len and I are on turn 12 or 13 of both scenarios.

My ISP is acting up this week and is slow on the receiving end. It may take me a bit longer to respond than expected. Just a FYI.

I use the MCM3 for Mac mods. Not the same, but sure as heck easier than doing everything manually.

It's gone. It was at http://www.speakeasy.org/~petersve/arty.htm HAHAHAH! I found it cached at Google: http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:Vk4YI931uKYC:www.speakeasy.org/~petersve/arty.htm [ February 03, 2003, 11:34 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

Instead of doing that all yourself, you might want to think about joining these folk instead: http://cmcampaign.com/welcome_to_the_combat_mission_on.htm And, yes, I am Canadian and as such am allowed to post to this thread. [ February 02, 2003, 01:50 AM: Message edited by: Webs ]

Salut, Alamo. Je ne peux pas répondre à ta question - mais je suis une tête-carée en NDG (Montréal). [ February 02, 2003, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

I'll buy that for a dollar.

Serves you right for taking 20mm as a ground weapon. There's a reason it's a flak gun. The 20mm will only really do damage to delicate machinery, like airplane wings or halftracks. There's not much blast and against infantry it's like a very slow HMG.

Spoiler also * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I had no problem with them. They're only MG nests. The tanks wipe them out eventually.

I also just played All or Nothing, but I've played Churchills before. They are also my favourites, and you gotta love the Crocodile. (P.S. Will the thing still throw flame if it has taken a casualty?)

Got smoke?

For CMBO, here, as near as I can figure out: [ December 28, 2002, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

I know the Wasp won't fir its flamethrower if it has taken a casualty, but is the same true for the Crocodile? I just played against the AI, and it was the first time I've had the Croc crew suffer just one casualty. It never flamed on, even in sight of enemy infantry

Strange how it turned out. I had more or less the same idea, but suffered a lot more losses very early and could never recover. Whereas Alsatian had control of the town avenues, I had no such luxury, and so I couldn't move up without expecting a hail of AT weapons. Here's my AAR for Troubling Times, which was more successful - except for the *^&%!^& Panzer's distracted attention paid to a distant machine gun. The only other regret I have is that while I moved the Marder, I didn't undig it. I should have. Now, somebody drop out so I can play as a reserve. Troubling Times Set Up Phase I will lead a German defense in fortifications in forest. The only intel I get is that a small American armoured recon force was spotted in the area. It is rainy and damp, so the Yank vehicles may try to stick to the roads. My force is extremely defensive. My set-up is diveded into forward and rear sections. First, the forward: I start with daisy chain AT mines, 14 anti-personnel minefields, and eight racks of barbed wire. On the northern, right side, I have a wooden MG bunker with a green crew that can’t be moved. It does have a good field of fire, however. I have a 75mm AT gun and a 75mm infantry gun with hollow shells that can penetrate up to 52mm of armour. The forward sector has infantry of three Rifle 44 platoons of regular and vet squads (with Pzfaust 60s), two HMG MG 42, and two Pzschrek teams. The rear sector has a dug-in Marder III with 75mm gun, a concrete pillbox with the same, a pillbox with MG 42s, D platoon with a Pzschrek, and company HQ. Reserves on the way include an arty spotter, an infantry platoon, and a Panzer IV. The map offers the Americans cover for the first 300 meters of their initial advance, but after that, they must cross open ground to reach the intersection, which has cover and a line of woods running to the SSE. Behind those woods and on both flanks, the terrain has wide, open expanses. A ridge running southward from the intersection can shelter the Americans, but mines on the reverse slope may make them rethink that. My immediate realization is that I have no artillery. I will need to make the Americans pay for every yard they gain. I have to hold on to the intersection as long as possible because once that goes, it will be extremely hard to retake. In order to do that, I need to keep my strengths active - and here, my strengths are bunkers and pill boxes. I have used the minefields like TRPs, in essence. I have mined likely points of concentration, like key areas of scattered trees and routes into the central woods. I have also mined the gardens of the house on the right. The bunker on the right has a good view of everything in front of it. On the left, there is the ridge. I have used the barbed wired at the south edge of the map to funnel infantry into the pillbox’s field of fire. More barbed wire sits a few dozens of meters west of the road on the north side. It doesn’t protect anything in specific, but seems ominous enough to funnel troops to either side. to the wire’s left are mined trees and the mined house. A small clear way is to its right, but that is protected by the bunker and numerous guns. With only three platoons and so much ground to cover, I do not have troops to waste on forward recon or advances. C platoon is on the left, in the woods running SSE with a Pzschrek. One squad has set up forward to get a view of the southwestern part of the battle field. B platoon and a AT team are south of the road and A platoon is north of the road, reinforced with a HMG. The other HMG sits by the guns as protection. D platoon, in the rear, has set up to locate foxholes then will rush forward to reinforce the rest of the infantry around the intersection. With such wide spaces, a mobile reserve is as likely as not to get caught in the open. All platoons have set up inside the treeline to give good ambush foxhole positions. The Marder III, dug in, sits 65 meters south of the MG pillbox. Turn 1 Plan: B and C platoons are staying put, hiding in their foxholes. The forward squad of A platoon is pulling back to the intersection foxhole and the squad there now is pulling back to the house. D platoon is rushing up the road to provide a quicker reserve once the enemy axis of attack is spotted. Company HQ is running up to take command of the two towed guns. All guns have short-range ambushes targeted, at least until I see the enemy. My rear is completely undefended except by guns and bunkers, but that’s OK for now. Results: D platoon and company HQ are about halfway through their move up. No enemy sighted, as expected. Turn 2 Plan: D platoon will consolidate and hold position. Ideally, they could rush up and occupy some forward woods, but I run into the same problem - one platoon is a third of my infantry at present, and using squads to do that is not effective. I am making some minor adjustements in positioning in the woods and moving up again from the house by the intersection. Results: No contact yet. Turn 3 Plan: E platoon HQ, the unit that has commanded the two gun carriages, is relieved now that company HQ has shown up. E platoon HQ is a small unit but is veteran and has two SMGs. Ideally, it would move south to occupy the mined house, but it wouldn't get there before the Yanks show up, I don't believe. Pulling it back would have no effect as it would do no good. I'll move it up where it can serve as a reserve HQ for the Panzerschreks and MG 42 teams. It is headed north to the east-west road, then will turn east to occupy the house by the intersection. D platoon has assembled as a reserve and awaits an axis of attack to move to. Results: Still no contact. All units in position. Turn 4 Plan: Sit tight, wait for contact. Results: Contact! Three American units are peeking out of the treelines. One is to the right, about 1/4 of the way southeast along the wooded hill in front of the machine-gun bunker and mined house. That unit peeked out and hid. Another unit did the same on the left, at the north end of the trees along the ridge on that flank. A final unit is in the middle edge of of that same ridge. Turn 5 Plan: Continue to sit still, and hope that the bunker doesn't open up early. Results: My forces have lost contact with the two units on the left - they have probably hidden in place. The unit on the right has moved up a bit. It is moving along paths of open ground and then taking cover in scattered trees. If that pattern holds, the Americans will hit my mines. Of most interest is two more units of American infantry moving in along the south side of the middle road in the scattered trees. The forwardmost has only a few scattered patches of trees between it and my hidden infantry. Turn 6 Plan: An 81mm mortar spotter has arrived along the road from the rear. I suspect a salvo launched into the woods along the western portion of the east-west road would hit some Americans, but with the limited artillery at my disposal, I want to save it for a higher percentage attack. The spotter will move up to take position in a foxhole abandoned by D platoon. F platoon is prepared to meet an American assault up the middle and has shifted to target an ambush point roughly 50m west along the road. If any American units come under fire and head for cover, the mines will begin to claim their first victims. All other forces stay hidden and alert. Results: American forward elements continue to cautiously advance on the left. A slow/sneaking unit has taken the lead and entered scattered trees west of the mines. A running unit lags behind further left. One of these units is one of the original scouts spotted on that flank. One unit advanced slowly along the road. I noticed no change on the right flank. Turn 7 Plan: D platoon is shifting left to secure the woods there against American advance. They are sneaking the whole way, so will be slow but stealthy. D platoon HQ has a double stealth bonus. The platoon will take up positions at the rear of the woods and will guard the hill west of them. The 81mm mortar spotter has called a barrage in on the woods on the left. It will take a few minutes (one minute indicated) so there's no harm in getting a jumpstart. Results: The Americans creep ever closer. On the left two units have occupied the last trees behind the crest. In the middle a squad(?) has moved into trees abreast of the Americans to the left - it sits a mere 100m from my front squads. In the fringes of the woods on the right, there are now three American units, also abreast, in positions just east of the last north-south path through that feature. D platoon is about halfway to its new assignment. A smoke barrage has blanketed a wide area centered on the 45-degree bend in the road, but it really has only isolated two rear rifle squads and, unfortunately, my MG 42. The rest of the infantry still have clear views to their respective ambush points. The placement of the barrage indicates to me that my bunkers and pillboxes have not yet been discovered. The smoke appears to be more beneficial to the defence at this point, as I can still watch his movements from the flanks, but any attacker forces can be isolated from overwatch support positions. Unfortunately, that smoke can become HE all too quickly. The ultra-cautious American advance has eaten up nearly a quarter of the alloted time already (7 of 30 turns). Time must now be on the American commander's mind. Turn 8 Plan: D platoon continues to move up. The mortar spotter has shifted to a new target on the right in LOS, but just barely. The target straddles the American line. All other forces continue to hide, but I suspect we'll get some shooting within a minute. Results: Smoke shells continue to blanket the intersection. On the left, a new infantry unit is running up to join the forward unit. The unit in the trees shifted position in a walk. I suspect it is a mortar. In the middle, three more infantry units are advancing slowly along the road. The two units on the right are also creeping forward. My mortar's spotting shell landed and the barrage is due in 16 seconds, but I should cancel it and shift to the middle, or wait for a better opportunity. Turn 9 Plan: The mortar will cancel the fire mission and shift to the middle. Maybe the spotting shell will make the Yanks even more tentative. Elsewhere, the status quo holds, but the third squad of F platoon is using the smoke cover to crawl back to its foxhole. D platoon has finally turned west for the woods. Results: On the left, a lone American unit has advanced to some scattered trees. It is hiding in a minefield and does not know it. I suspect it is a rifle team, split for recon, and does not have enough legs to have yet triggered any mines. D platoon has reached position. In the middle, eight Yank units are advancing and a Sherman (?) has appeared along the road. The infantry in front appears to be a full platoon. I'm not sure if the lagging units are support or a second platoon or both. The smoke has started to disappear - it lasts about two minutes, which means it is probably 105mm arty. That has six turns of fire, and nearly two have passed. On the left, there are five Yank units, one of which the heavy MG 42 by the infantry gun has loosed two bursts at. The mortar spotter is 31 seconds away from landing a salvo. Turn 10 Plan: The status quo remains. The mortar barrage should hit in a minute, but whether the Yanks will be under it is a crapshoot. I have shifted the fire order to the road, and to smoke, to block the Sherman's view when the coming firefight erupts. I don't think the Sherman will move up until the American infantry probes the woods holding my forces. I have tried to silence the MG 42, but it may shoot again anyway. I will wait to unleash my troops to fire as long as possible. I hope the American tread on some mines soon - it will distract them and incur further caution. Results: The smoke has completely stopped. One infantry unit on the left is running up to join the lead elements. For some reason I think it is a spotter. The unit in the minefield is hiding for now. Speaking of spotters, a barrage of what seems to be 105mm HE has begun to hit the woods. It has pinned the unit by the crossroads but has caused no casualties yet. A mortar barrage has joined in, targeting wide - so wide in fact, that one of the Yank units took a blast in the face that sent it into the dirt. The middle is revealed to be the main axis of American advance. To the left of the road is a lead squad, sitting in at the edge of the minefield there. Two boxes of trees behind are two more units, which advance slowly. On the right of the road, four units advance, all of which have run. Right along the road, is what looks like three squads, a HQ, and a fourth, slower unit - maybe a mortar or .50 - and these are hanging further back than the right and left road units. The first Sherman moved to the edge of the large woods and stopped while a second Sherman appeared on the road behind it. As long as the Shermans stay on the road, my AT weaponry can't reach them until the bend in the road. The left flank stays static. My mortar barrage will land in one second. Turn 11 Plans: This game is 1/3 over and the Americans are still only guessing where I am, as indicated by the widely dispersed barrages. I will continue to hold in place. As tempting as it is, I do not want to attack until the Americans discover the mines. The worst thing I can do is have them wear me down in a firefight before they discover the mines, and then clear them detour around them without the hazard of enemy fire. My big decision is what the mortar spotter should do. I can shift fire and delay the barrage by a half-minute or let the smoke land immediately. It is targeted directly on the front Sherman at present. Considering that the smoke lasts only a minute, I think I would be better served to delay. I will keep the barrage as smoke, although that is not an easy decision to make. The barrage has been moved east to a target abreast of the platoon straddling the road. Results: Action has finally been joined. F platoon has lost three soldiers to a barrage, although none of the squads with casualties are in action yet. The platoon HQ is under heavy fire and is pinned, but my smokescreen, which has begun to spring up, should let me withdraw. Only F platoon has been revealed so far. The Americans have three or four platoons by the road with at least one machine gun. The Sherman hasn't entered action yet although it does not seem to have been smoked out. On the left, there is no change. On the right, a squad or team has moved up to a mined section of woods. Turn 12 Plans: Most of my forces will keep hiding. F platoon HQ, which is being targeted by nine enemy units, will run deeper into the woods and try to escape the enemy fire. The mortar spotter will continue to call in smoke as is - although I'd prefer the smoke hit closer to my troops, I can't afford the half-minute delay that would occur. I hope the two American units hunkering down in my minefields realize where they are soon. A bold Yank rush for the woods in the centre would make my day. In a minute, the scenario will be 40% over and the enemy seems to have spotted but one unit, and advanced little. Results: My point squad was knocked down to two men and routed, and F platoon HQ has panicked, but lost no men and is presently safe from fire. The MG 42 supporting F platoon is down to three men and under fire from the lead Sherman. The rest of my troops remain hidden. An enemy platoon has moved up the right of the road and another platoon is on the left. One other squad is running along the barbed wire and I believe it tripped a mine. I have inflicted casualties on the Yanks and pinned, at least, a squad or two, but exact numbers are hard to read. There is an American concentration of three mortars and a machine gun in the woods by the tank. A third enemy vehicle has appeared on the road - my men think it might be a tank destroyer. The American advance in the middle has bunched up. It is time to call in HE. No enemy movement is visible on the right. On the left, an enemy unit is cresting the ridge, headed for the unmined copse of woods. Another, slower unit is advancing behind it - probably a mortar or .50. Turn 13 Plan: My infantry gun will open up on the advancing mortar on the left. It will be nice to do some damage without too much fear of reprisal. It may be early to uncover the gun, but if it makes the Americans hole up for a few turns or make a rash charge around the ends, it will be worth it. The mortar spotter has shifted fire a few dozen meters and switched to HE. The bunched up Americans may pay with a few men. The MG 42 will do some damage before it dies, I hope. Elsewhere, my troops will continue to hunker down and hide. I have some good shots at American units, but the piecemeal fire would only expose my soldiers to withering massed small arms and tank guns. Let me repeat my mantra: I hope some (more) mines go off soon. Results: I lost the MG 42. Another four men in the F platoon squad at the crossroads fell to an artillery shell. One man in F platoon HQ fell as did another man in the F platoon squad up by the woods. None of the other infantry received fire or shot. One man in the infantry gun fell to extremely long range rifle fire. Figures. My first mortar shell buttoned the Sherman. It is either without a commander or is a veteran, and has advanced along the road. Other mortar shells appeared to have rare effect - one American squad broke and ran. The left stayed quiet, other than two of my 75mm HE shells. The American unit on the ridge took out a member of my rear Panzerschrek team, which is now down to two rockets. A platoon plus one slow unit has moved up on the right. Another unit continues to lurk in the right's woods. Turn 14 Plan: Time is on my side. I have shifted the mortar barrage to halt its firing for a half-minute and save ammo. The forward squad of F platoon will try to crawl away from the enemy on the other side of the mines. F platoon HQ will try to retreat deeper into those same woods. I estimate that if the lead Sherman advances another 20 meters, my Panzerschrek will get a decent shot. The MG bunker on my extreme right will open up at the slowly moving American unit in the open on the right. That should occupy the American right while my infantry gun hammers the distant enemy unit on the left, possibly a machine gun. Results: This minute saw as much success as the preceding one had seen setbacks - moderate in both cases. The infantry gun took its revenge out on two enemy machine guns. The one on the left was bracketed with four near misses and when last seen was eating dirt. It has probably lost two or more men. The gun then turned on the slow unit on the right, which seems to be a machine gun. The first shot sent the Americans sprawling and the second sent the team into a panic. Some light mortars are falling in front of the infantry gun, but nothing has come close. The MG 42 in the bunker on the right drew the attention but not the fire of the American platoon on that side. With any luck, the green soldiers in the bunker will cut down the fleeing American machine-gunners. The American infantry scout on the left ridge is staying put, obviously surveying for my reserves. I could take him out, but he is no threat - in fact, knowledge of my reserves may even unnerve the American commander. As always, most of the action occurred in the middle. F platoon withdrew successfully, but lost three men to small arms and another barrage of heavy arty. The HQ is down to two men, and both functional squads have but eight men in total. A squad of two men lies routed behind the troops on the left. The Americans have a full platoon and a supporting weapon by the mines on the right. At least two of its squads are down to two-thirds men, mostly through hitting the mines (yay!) and lucky mortar fire. Two unidentified units, probably both support weapons, are moving up to the rear of these Yanks. To the left of the road, the Americans have clumped a full platoon plus one unit in the woods. One of the infantry squads has turned to head for the rear, but I don't know why. In the woods behind the infantry sit three mortars and a machine gun. There are two "gatekeeper" squads just to the left of the barbed wire. Behind them, strung out along the road, are four apparent support weapons and a panicked rifle squad. The lead 75W Sherman, of regular quality, did not budge last minute, but three other Shermans bunched up behind it. Second in line is a veteran 75W, which buttoned when a mortar shell came close. I suspect the vet buttoned due to experience. The mortar spotter burned through 24 rounds and has 68 more. Turn 15 Plan: Reinforcements have arrived, consisting of a Pz IV Ausf J and G rifle platoon (reg, reg, green quality). The Panzer is roughly comparable to the Shermans - it has less ground pressure, but is slower. The Panzer has a better AT gun, but any Sherman has enough power to take out the Panzer anywhere on the map. The Panzer will head for the right side of the intersection. From there, it can shoot along the road and pound the bunched American troopers with impunity. The Shermans will either have to advance along the road or circumnavigate the woods to get at my tank. If they advance along the road, they will first become vulnerable to the Panzerschrek then, at the bend in the road, to the AT pillbox as well as the Panzer itself. If the Shermans risk cross-country travel in these damp conditions and head to either side, some combination of the pillbox, the Panzer, the Marder, and the 75mm AT gun by the infantry gun will get a crack. I wonder if I can expect more than four American tanks. G platoon will run up the road to a point just before the trees end. No sense giving away infantry strength to the enemy. One tank will trigger any reaction I will get. The tank may scare off that enemy spy on the ridge with some fire, and if not, the MG pillbox by the Marder can do that in a minute. On the right, the MG bunker will harrass the enemy machine gun and the infantry gun will start in on the nearest American squad. It is time to wear down American morale. The mortar spotter has shifted fire to the left side of the road. One lucky hit will hurt that concentration of heavy weapons. Other than that, I wait for the Americans to move. Results: The Panzer moved up roughly two-thirds of the way but did not harrass the American scouts. My infantry cannon made short work of the American squad, reducing it to about one-third strength with several direct hits. The gun has shifted to reacquire the machine gun on the left, which apparently enjoys the taste of HE. The enemy machine gun on the right is in retreat from my bunker MG 42. In the middle, a full American squad has moved up to the left of the road, triggering the ambush from C platoon's forward squad - which in turn came under fire from what seemed like the entire US Third Army, lost six of its nine men and was routed. The advancing American squad has lost three of its nine men, some to a mine. A six-man team of Yank regulars from the platoon on the right rushed the middle woods and ran into the four veteran soldiers there. I lost one soldier, but the American team was forced to run north for the woods rather than advance west. The mortar provided what looked like effective fire and hit an American machine gun team directly. I cannot estimate casualties directly, but I assume there are now fewer Americans. Turn 16 Plan: The MG 42 bunker on the right has no targets in LOS, but I will not hide it in case it wants to take potshots of opportunity. The infantry gun will have free reign as well, and is currently targeting the enemy machine gun on the left. The MG 42 with the infantry gun will pepper the frontmost and shot-up American squad on the right. So will the advancing Panzer, although with machine gun fire only. Those few Americans should break. On the left, the MG pillbox will let loose at the American scout on the ridge. It's time to block his recon as my infantry reserve moves up. That reserve, G platoon, will head up along the road in the Panzer's path. My right looks weak, although a considerable number of barrels support it from the rear. The mortar will continue to fire as is. Two of my rifle squads have lost men and panicked. I will try to crawl the forward squad of B platoon back into the woods so that it may avoid the same fate. Results: The enemy has leaked around the mined middle woods to the right of the road, but at great cost. The infantry gun took six shots at the distant machine gun on the left before landing a hit that sent it into the dirt. Meanwhile, 60mm mortar fire is landing haphazardly around that gun, to no effect yet. Of the sixteen bombs, two close hits were probably deflected by the crew shield. Those same mortars have shook up the nearby MG 42, although it has suffered no casualties. A slow American unit walked out of the woods on the right. It may be a mortar and I'll have the infantry gun give it a once over shortly. That MG, and the tank, made sure the American unit stayed down. It made no effort to rise and is probably down to a panicky man or three, although they haven't run yet. The tank arrived as planned and has planted one of its two HE shells into the groin of an American squad to the left of the road. The Americans to that side of the road are hurting. The woods with the three mortars has only two left, and a knocked out tube sits with them. I must have done that last minute. One of the two remaining mortar teams there hit the dirt with the barrage. In front of them is a platoon plus a machine gun plus another unit. The platoon that found the minefield is prone and not moving in any direction. All American units on the left side of the road are either in the dirt or ineffective. To the right of the road, the Yanks have taken another step forward. In addition to the team in the woods, a bazooka and another team(?) have moved into the scattered trees. I have lost two more men, but so have the Americans, at least. The infantry does not worry me, but I will need an infantry screen in the woods to block the bazooka's access to a firing position on my Panzer. One slow unit has moved straight ahead and is treading through the minefield to the right of the barbed wire. I have lost LOS to the Shermans, but that is more good than bad at this point. The third Sherman is a 105mm Sherman with HVSS. If a Sherman is going to go cross-country, it is this one. The HQ and a squad of the platoon by the Shermans has crossed to the right side of the road and started to move forward. Most worrisome, at least one of the so-called gatekeeper squads seems to be an engineer unit - I have lost the minefield on the road to a satchel charge (I think - an explosion, no crater). If I am to lose a minefield in the middle, that's the one to lose. C platoon's panicked squad came to its sense right by C platoon HQ. It has three men left. The retreating B platoon squad lost two men to 60mm mortar fire but is now out of sight of the American infantry and in operative condition. In the rear, G platoon moved up out of sight of the American scout, which was sent scurrying quite a distance by the MG pillbox. My main concern now is building a makeshift infantry defence to screen my Panzer. I would love to counterattack the Yank infantry from the left now, but the Shermans are too powerful to confront. Turn 17 Plan: The Panzer is taying put, hammering targets of opportunity. The infantry gun and the MG 42 bunker on the right are both going to hit the new, slow unit that just emerged from the wooded hill on the right. To set up an ad hoc defensive line, F platoon HQ (two men) and the sole functioning rifleman of the forard squad will pull back into the woods. The four-man squad - SMG heavy - from the intersection foxhole will run into the woods to help, as will the platoon HQ from the stone house by the crossroads. One squad of C platoon is sneaking forward to get a better field of fire at the straight-in American axis of attack. The MG 42 by the infantry gun has become an asset rather than a defensive measure used to protect the guns. It will abandon its position and head for the road, then walk up and try to take up a position in the stone house. From there, it will protect the tank and get some good fire along the road at the Americans, so long as they don't smoke that lane of fire. The AT pillbox will remain silent, although I had contemplated unleashing its gun at the American team infiltrating the trees to the right of the road. The MG pillbox will spray area fire at the American unit hiding in the mined trees on the left ridge. In the rear, G platoon will keep moving up the road. The Panzerschrek will move up to a more western foxhole. The mortar spotter, with no more rounds to call in, will run into the deep woods at the eastern end of the road. I wonder if I should pull D platoon off the left flank and into the furnace in the middle. I have decided not to, and to use it as a counterattack if it does not act by the time the Shermans have been dealt with. Just as an aside, it occurs to me that the American force is composed of engineers and rifle teams, with support. There are probably halftracks and trucks and jeeps hidden behind woods and ridges in the far rear side of the map. I could send my Panzer to the far right, around the hill. I bet I'd score some quick points. I wouldn't want the tank to bog in the damp, however, so I'll not try it. Result: The American assault has begun and so far neither side has accomplished much. B platoon bore the brunt of the attack. The HQ unit lost three of its four men, one squad lost three men, and the Panzerschrek has been eliminated - but not before taking and completely missing a 65-meter shot at the lead Sherman. Other than the loss of the lone rifleman in F platoon, that is all I lost. The American infantry squad taking the brunt of the Panzer's HE ran forward to a foxhole. It is down to two-thirds manpower. That makes two squads past the mines on the left side of the road. Three more trooper squads in the woods it just left hug the dirt and the machine gun has pulled back to trees with the 60mm mortars. Along the road, a platoon has pulled up to barbed wire. The lead Sherman and an infantry squad are past the wire. The Sherman smoked the road in front of the Panzer. To the left of the road, more Americans tried to pour into the woods. Two rifle squads got caught in the minefield on the right. One is down to two-thirds strength and the other is holding in the minefield. Only the four-man team sits in the woods proper. The bunch of scattered trees to the right contains a bazooka team, two two-thirds strength squads (including one from the minefield), and a unit that ran down from the right-side ridge. Opposing them, I have platoon HQs of two and four men and a four-man squad from F platoon. I nearly lost the Panzer. An enemy bazooka ran down from the ridge on the right and hit the Panzer in the upper side hull, but did no damage. The bazooka team was eliminated by the 75mm infantry gun. Enemy mortars continue to rain, mixed with stray Sherman HE shells. I estimate that four to five dozen 60mm shells landed last minute, and I lost one man from the 75mm AT gun. The ridge to the right shelters three American units that I've seen. All are severely crippled. The unit targeted by the MG 42 bunker broke and ran, then was hit with a deadly accurate 75mm HE shell. On the left ridge, the area fire didn't affect the unit in the minefield. G platoon has reached a line equal to the gun carriages. The MG 42 , cautioned by mortar fire, returned to its foxhole rather than run for the house. A fifth Sherman (?) has appeared along the road. Now, I'm wishing I hadn't dug in the Marder. Turn 18: Plan: The Panzer will stay put. as it still has a view down the road. The right-side MG bunker and the left-side MG pillbox will wait for targets of opportunity. The AT pillbox has finally been ordered to attack, sort of. It, and the Panzer, are targeting an ambush point a few meters ahead of the lead Sherman. If it advances, it will come under fire from both guns. I figure the Panzer's machine guns are adequate to keep the American infantry pinned. B platoon is pulling back into the woods. The enemy infantry may advance, but it will do so under fire from the Panzer and the pillbox. B platoon will be bolstered by D platoon, which is pulling off the left flank and heading for the middle. G platoon will head for the woods to the right of the road, running behind the Panzer. The Panzerschrek in the rear will head for C platoon. I'm worried that the AT pillbox will not catch a tank attempting to circle around on the right if it is ambushing the middle, so I have ordered the 75mm AT gun carriage to ambush the hill on the right in case that happens. The 75mm infantry gun will swing left to hit the machine gun again. Results: Results were surprisingly mixed, thanks to the Yank artillery. On the right, the nearby depleted American infantry squad finally ran away and came under fire from the MG 42 in the bunker. A slow unit that had been hiding came forward. The AT pillbox targeted it with two HE shells and sent it running fast for cover. I need to look in the area to see if I can spot a knocked-out mortar. The Yank machine gun on the left came under withering fire but is plucky and still firing back, albeit ineffectively. An understrength rifle squad(?) in the same trees is firing at the advancing MG 42, and another unit is also up and alert in some trees to the east. In the middle, the American advance has stalled somewhat. To the left of the road, a 2/3 strength squad and an unidentified unit fled west to the trees with the American mortars. The lead Sherman moved up and was knocked out by the Panzer. A second American squad has moved ahead of the barbed wire. To the right of the road, I have identified a veteran American rifle squad which started with six of 12 men, but was reduced to four soldiers. Another American squad was dropped to one-third strength as well. The squad from the minefield moved up and headed for the woodline, where it took cover. On this front, the Americans have squads of strength of (right to left) one-third (visible), two-thirds, and bazooka team in the trees. In the woods, in a line roughly front to back, they have a four-man veteran squad, a four-man team, and a full squad. Unfortunately, I lost valuable men. A squad of the advancing D platoon took a heavy artillery hit and lost three of nine men. The Sherman's smoke dissipated quickly, and the two trailing squads of G platoon took fire from Shermans and enemy infantry. They lost only a man apiece, but the regulars have panicked and the greens have routed. Both are hiding in the building at the crossroads. G platoon and the other squad of regulars made it to the woods. Platoon HQ took a casualty in the firefight there, as did E platoon HQ (originally the gun commander). C platoon retreated with mixed results. The HQ is safe, but one squad was knocked from six to two men and broke. It is out of the line of fire now, however. 60mm mortar (one spotting round?) and heavier arty shells continue to fall. Turn 19 Plan: The Panzer will hold position, which is almost perfect - all it lacks is a hull down option. The 75mm infantry gun will smoke the near side of the road in the woods to hopefully give the panicked squads in the house a chance to recover without blocking the Panzer's line of sight. G platoon HQ will pull back a bit to get those squads in command. The infantry gun gets no order - it can fire at targets of opportunity. The AT pillbox on the hill to the rear gets the same option. The MG 42 in transit will no longer head for the building as that has proven a vulnerable location. it will follow D platoon into the left-hand woods, although it will hang back so that it can watch and protect the Panzer's rear. All other infantry hold position. Results: What a damned stupid Panzer. It rotated to shoot at the enemy machine gun 216m away rather than stay focused on where the Shermans were emerging. It took two shots at the machine gun before the second Sherman brewed it up. I guess it serves me right for not forcing it to lay an ambush, but still.... The infantry gun chose not to smoke the road, but continued to pound the machine gun on the left. That enemy team pulled back a bit, but was still hammered. The AT pillbox launched a couple of HE shells at the two Yank infantry units east of the machine gun on the left, but only maybe hit with one. Two enemy 60mm mortars sent area fire at the Panzer, to little purpose other than wasting ammo. My infantry movements succeeded without casualties, although the two squads in the house broke and ran to the gun carriages. One of them lost two men. All enemy arty and mortars shifted to the road intersection, presumably aiming for the Panzer. The enemy infantry has cleared the daisy chain mines, to little surprise. Turn 20 Plan: The infantry gun has been ordered to ambush the trees between the enemy engineers and the woods to the right of the road. The AT pillbox is ambushing a point just on my side of the bend in the road, thanks to an ambush target set by G platoon HQ, which will run back to the shelter of the woods rather than chase after the routed infantry squads. The MG pillbox will aim area fire at an unidentified enemy unit on the right because I need to use the ammo for something. Other than some minor shifting of D and B platoons, that is all that I need to plan. Results: All quiet on the western front, so to speak. The Americans rained down 60mm mortar fire in the woods containing B and D platoons, but too far forward to do any damage. Heavy arty also started falling, which hurt one man in D platoon HQ but may have done as much damage to an American squad. The four-man American squad has left the woods and headed into the scattered trees. The American engineers have moved up into the woods, followed behind by what must be their platoon HQ. Another full American squad moved into the trees to the left of the knocked out Sherman. The second Sherman has muscled that Sherman hulk out of the way and has entered the trees. The AT pillbox targeted it four seconds ago and should kill it in a few seconds. Turn 21 Plan: The Americans must be desperate by now, tantalizingly close to an objective, but still unaware of the distribution of my forces. My infantry will hold, although D platoon HQ will head for the shelter of a crater. The MG 42 bunker will cease area fire as it didn't flush the Americans out. The AT pillbox will try to hit the new lead Sherman. The gun carriages continue to target ambushes. I think I can expect an American assault in the woods to the right of the road, but my gun barrels will rip any American success to shreds. Results: I was right. The Americans tried a push to the right of the road. Unfortunately, the AT pillbox did not fire at the Sherman in sight and was subsequently smoked in. In the right woods, F-2 squad lost a man and panicked. G-1 squad lost two men but the seven remaining are still fighting. The four-man Yank squad lost two men. The American team of four lost one. Two other squads, one of one-third strength and one from the minefield of two-thirds strength are sniping from behind. Four more American squads, three of them engineers I bet, are approaching from the road. All seem full strength except for one that lost a third of its men to the infantry gun. The leftmost of these squads is firing at B-3 squad on the left, as is a small but fast American unit that ran into a foxhole. B-3 squad has lost two men. The American artillery has ceased raining down in the woods and is helping to smoke in my AT pillbox. Turn 22 Plan: The AT pillbox is completely smoked in. The AT guncarriage will continue to hide and ambush while the infantry gun will target the engineers. The troops on the right will consolidate further right, away from the fresh Americans and the tanks while the exposed squad of B platoon pulls back. C platoon will continue to sit in ambush and protect B platoon's rear and left. A lone Panzerschrek trooper will try to run to join D platoon, but I don't have high hopes for success. In about two minutes, the recovering squad of G platoon will start for the front. All else waits. Time is on my side now. Results: Right of the road is crumbling. I am down to 10 effective men from 15. The American distribution is as follows, right to left: a 1/3 strength squad, a one-man squad, a two-man team (pinned), two 2/3 strength squads, a 2/3 strength engineer(?) squad, a full strength engineer squad, a 2/3 strength engineer squad (hidden), and a full strength squad. Three Shermans are on the road and will be susceptible to AT fire from the pillbox if and when the smoke runs out - but area smoke continues to rain down around the pillbox. The infantry gun is down to six HE shells. To the left of the road are three Yank squads - one full strength, one of nine men, and one of 2/3 strength - along with what is probably the platoon HQ (pinned) in the foxhole. B3 squad escaped, losing two more men, down to three. The American 2/3 strength squad in the minefield has popped up and the MG pillbox will be able to target it. At some point, the Yank machine gun on the left hill was eliminated. Turn 23 Plan: G2 squad is functioning again and it will run up to occupy the stone building by the crossroads. F platoon HQ will try to run wide right, to the base of the hill. and the protection of the MG bunker. G platoon HQ and a G platoon squad will run back to the stone building if they can. They may get blasted by tanks as they cross the road. The AT gun is ambushing a point just west of the intersection. Hopefully, that's far enough from enemy infantry to keep the GIs from triggering it. The Panzerschreks will move right some more, although I doubt any will have worth. Results: Another trade-off, but with time running down, it is to my advantage. To the right of the road, my troops have been entirely killed or routed. The G platoon squad made it to the stone building, but lost a man. The Americans lost a man from the identified infantry team, at least. They have moved up another 2/3 strength squad. The infantry gun started smoking in the American infantry, but the AT gun brewed up the lead Sherman. the remaining three Shermans are between the woods on the road. To the left of the road, the enemy unit in the foxhole remains pinned. The American unit of nine soldiers moved up a few meters into the woods. Turn 24 Plan: Six minutes to go. The Panzerschrek by the road will move to the rear of the woods so that it gets out of the line of small arms fire. The green squad of G platoon will move up from where it is cowering to protect the gun carriages rather than the crossroads. The infantry gun will fire smoke to help the G platoon squad in the building escape tank fire. The bunkers, pillboxes, and the AT gun are free to hit targets of opportunity - although that strategy has cost me my Panzer in the past. Unfortunately, the objective flag at the crossroads is now up for grabs. Results: The Americans are trying to push through the woods to the left of the road. Perhaps on the right side of the road as well, but I cannot see them there. I have lost three men in the woods on the left. The Americans have a unit of 10 (down one), a full-strength squad, a two-thirds-strength squad, and a unit of eight. It is probably about 36 men. I have 39 men plus a heavy MG 42 in total in the woods. It would seem a ripe time to smash into the American flank with C platoon, especially since the unit in the foxhole has been revealed to be a four-man crew. My troops have heard a sixth tank up the road, but it is essentially irrelevant, as the three tanks I know of are hamstrung by the AT pillbox. The Shermans destroyed the stone building and routed the G platoon squad before the smokescreen went up, but now that they have done that, they can be of no further use unless they move into sight of my guns, and my AT pillbox is completely clear of smoke. The AT gun carriage, with its view of the Americans by the tanks blocked by smoke, has targeted the machine gun far to the right rear, but that seems a waste. A blast of this gun did button the middle of the three known Shermans. Two mortars and another slow, small infantry unit are moving up behind the left-hand rifle squads and tanks. Turn 25 Plan: With five minutes to go, I will leave C platoon in place until I am sure no Americans can capture that wood. Moving C platoon will allow an American unit to walk right in unopposed, if they take the right path and avoid the MG pillbox. I'm also wary of that sixth tank and need to protect the Panzerschrek. My infantry will hold position for the most part. One squad is inching forward to get a decent shot at the ten-man Yank squad on the right of the line. My leftmost squad, down to two men and under fire from three squads, is going to try to move in tighter to the other troops. The two AT guns have targeted ambush points as close to the first road branch as possible. That means just in front of the Shermans for the pillbox and at the edge of the woods beyond the rubble for the carriage. Results: Another tit-for-tat turn has dropped the remaining time to four minutes. The two men in the pinned squad left of the road went down, but I discovered that there is another 2/3-strength squad of Yanks in that portion of the woods. They walked towards the American rear, then took up watch facing the rear. I'm not sure what to make of that. The American squad of ten was dropped to seven soldiers, none with SMGs, at which point they crawled out in retreat. Two slow moving unidentified infantry moved into the woods after they crossed the road. On the right side of the road, there are four American infantry squads of six to eight men in strength and a HQ unit (I suspect). These have caused one casualty to the D platoon squad, but have come under fire from that squad, the MG 42, and the AT gun carriage, to unknown result. The third US tank smoked in the AT pillbox again, unfortunately, and American heavy arty HE began to land around my gun carriages, to no effect. On the far left, the American squad under fire from the MG pillbox finally fled in retreat, triggering a mine in the process. The retreat of that unit frees up an entire platoon to move to the middle. I just have to watch out for that phantom sixth tank. Turn 26 Plan: Aside from some minor adjustments to get the best fire laid down from the left of the road across to the right, little is being done. I has a plan to charge C platoon foward: to the foxhole with the crew on the left flank scattered trees with a squad of three men and then two full squads and the platoon HQ to the adjacent east edge of the woods. The problem is that such a move would leave my rear completely exposed. I would certainly get rid of the American crew and some rear support weapons, but if the Americans ran forward, I'd have nothing but guns low on HE ammo to stop them. At this stage of the battle, it's a high-risk/high-reward gamble I don't need to take, so I won't. I will however, snipe at the crew from where I sit and shift a squad from expecting an attack from the south to face northwest, where the battle is taking place. The Panzerschrek with C platoon will sneak into the more forward, just abandoned foxhole and hide. Results: I have lost the AT gun carriage to the heavy artillery, but not before it took out the 105mm Sherman. It was down to three HE shells, which takes some of the pain away. I have lost 11 men left of the road, far too many. There are five American squads on the left, all at two-thirds strength or less. Two have seven men, one has six (and started with at least nine), and two more have four to eight. That's roughly 32. The American crew unit in the foxhole lost a man as well. On the right side of the road, one unit of two-thirds strength seems to be panicking, as is the crew of the 105mm Sherman. Another unit , exchanging fire with the MG 42, has been knocked from 2/3 to 1/3 strength. Other than that, there are two functioning units of 2/3 strength and two of 1/3 strength. Turn 27 Plan: It is time to swing C platoon into the American flank. The three-man squad will head for the scattered trees northeast of the American crew. The two full squads of C platoon and the platoon HQ will head for the same trees then hang a right into the woods and the teeth of the American infantry. The left half of C and D platoons will provide covering fire. the right half of that knot of units will target best weight of fire on the right side of the woods. The infantry gun will help, I hope. With any luck, the smoke will dissipate around my AT pillbox. Three minutes to go.... Oh, wait, I mean four. Results: The crew of the 105mm Sherman has "broken through" my front line. It has sought cover in some trees between my gun carriages and the MG 42 bunker. I do not view it as a threat. The infantry squad that was panicking, or so I thought, tried to cross the road by the burning Panzer, but was cut down to 1/3 strength and ran for cover by the dead bazooka team. The 1/3 strength unit on the left end is active and apparently the most dangerous, but the next unit to the right, of 2/3 strength, acts pinned at times. Moving right, a 1/3 strength squad spent nearly the entire turn in the dirt but rose to fire at my MG 42 with a few seconds to go. The 2/3 strength squad closest to the tanks was dropped to 1/3 strength and pinned by my infantry gun, which now has only hollow-charge ammo. The next Sherman in lead fired a HE shell at the AT pillbox at the end of the turn, which fell just short. If the tank has smoke and didn't use it, that was a mistake. I expect the gun in the pillbox to take out the tank within a few seconds. The smoke dissipated about 30 seconds into the turn and the pillbox gun fired one shell at the formerly panicked American machine gun now moving up and another at one of the American squads hanging back on the left. Most action occurred on the left. C platoon moved up to the scattered trees but halted there instead of sneaking into the woods. They lost one man, from the squad of three. They intercepted two 1/3-strength infantry units and pinned a mortar, all moving up. B and D platoons lost four men, plus a man from the MG 42 team, which is pinned. In return, the Americans on the left fared as follows, right to left: Lost three men, from seven to four. Lost two men, from six to four. Unknown losses, but has been pinned for nearly a minute at 2/3 strength. Unknown losses but at 2/3 strength; pinned and uncertain where to face, possibly panicking. Lost three men, from seven to four, pinned, uncertain where to face. The battle in these woods looks won. The Americans seem to have lost the will to fight. C platoon may have broken their back. Turn 28 Plan: C platoon will try to edge up into the woods, but otherwise, my troops are staying put. The weak squad of C platoon - two rifles - will keep the enemy crew's heads down while the HQ and two full squads will hammer the unit in front of the mortar. Eight men in two squads are firing at the rightmost American unit on the left. Two squads are concentrating on the lead-most American unit on the right while the infantry gun and the MG 42 handle the other visible squads on that side. The AT pillbox is aiming at the Sherman, while the other bunkers and the Marder ait unhidden for targets of opportunity. Three minutes to go. Results: The Americans are crumbling! My AT pillbox lost sight of the Shermans and targeted the American infantry on the far left slope. In the left woods, I lost six soldiers from C platoon - two from the full squad of regulars, two from platoon HQ, and the two of the reduced squad, which was taken out by unseen adversaries. The American squad fates are as follows, right to left: Down to three men from four. Down to three men from four. Pinned unit of 2/3 strength panics and is eliminated. Panicked unit of 2/3 strength runs away along the road. Pinned unit of four panics and is eliminated Unit of 1/3 strength eliminated - this turns out to be a platoon HQ. Mortar reduced to one man from three(?) and immobilized. In addition, four more units showed up: a flamethrower that got a shot off but missed and was cut down; another mortar, now suppressed; and two effective 1/3-strength units by the road. American effective losses appear to be around two dozen men on the left alone. On the right side of the road, the foremost American unit was pinned after ten seconds of fire. A 1/3 strength unit that appeared in front of it was eliminated. One effective American unit, of 1/3 strength, traded fire with the MG 42 and brought the machine gun team down to one man. The unit under fire from the infantry broke and ran, and was eliminated by small arms. One hidden unit of 2/3 strength appeared, but was pinned the entire time. There is only one functioning unit on the American right. Among B and D platoons, I lost two members of the MG 42 team, and no one else. American heavy arty poured in rather precisely near my infantry gun, but caused no casualties. There is a sixth tank out there, somewhere. My troops hear it, and suspect it is near the barbed wire. Turn 29 Plan: B and D platoons are shifting a bit so that maximum fire can be brought to bear on functional enemy units. A two-man squad with a Panzerfaust is going to try to crawl through the woods to the nearest Sherman. At the very least, I hope to draw the Sherman into firing at it, thus unhiding the tank for the AT pillbox. C platoon is shifting a little closer to B and D platoons, to get out of the line of fire of whatever knocked off the reduced squad. Company HQ is moving up to the AT gun carriage's old foxhole to add weight of fire. Results: My right flank in the woods suffered one casualty. C platoon on the left lost two men. In the left woods, the Americans lost the mortar tube (the unit is down to a crew of one) and a three-man squad. The other three man squad is down to one man. There is still one pinned mortar and four 1/3-strength infantry units by the road, and the crew in the foxhole is fighting back. A Sherman has moved up into the trees but does not seem to be doing much. The Sherman that was in the road fired smoke and retreated from my AT pillbox. In the right woods, the 1/3-strength squad stayed pinned, as did the 2/3 strength squad, although the latter ended the turn running toward the objective. The lead American unit broke and was eliminated. The enemy arty finally proved its worth, and took out the infantry gun as well as three men of the last G platoon squad, which then panicked. One minute to go. Turn 30 Plan: My big decision is whether to hold and win or to charge a Sherman with Panzerfausts and try for a slightly bigger win. My infantry with Panzerfausts will close somewhat with the tank in the trees, but on the whole I am holding position. C platoon is staying where they are, within 30m of that tank. My back-up Panzerschrek team will fire at the crew in the foxhole, because, well, why not? Company HQ will run up to the rubble by the intersection. My pillboxes and bunker have no targets. Results: I lost about a dozen men, and the Americans lost about half as many - mostly in an attempt to gain the intersection with a 2/3 strength unit that was eliminated when caught on the road. Unfortunately, my attempt at the tanks has cost me partial control of the objective, and the rear objective for some reason is not awarded to me. That has cost me dearly in terms of points, and I only manage a 54-32 minor victory. [ December 11, 2002, 11:35 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

My Sword Point AAR Set Up Phase This will be the largest battle I have ever commanded. I have a reinforced company of British airborne troops and I must hold a bridge. I have so much, and so much on the way, that the Germans must have waves and waves of troops and vehicles to send against me. I am not sure where the Germans begin. The map seems to favour a German approach from the east, but they may have troops on Point d'Epée aready. I don't know. I will move out and occupy positions of strength regardless of the map. I will find the enemy soon enough. The battle will take place in a town among woods. The only open areas are three grainfields on the enemy’s siade of the map. Buildings, woods, and trees cover almost the entire rest of the map. Roads are numerous. Spots of respite I will have from enemy armour are the plazas within three of the city blocks, which are completely encircled by buildings - oases of calm if I can keep enemy infantry out. I have three set-up zones. Forward, occupying the northwest two blocks, I have C and D platoons (SMG-heavy airborne), four PIATs, two Vickers, and company HQ. Behind them to the west, I have two more zones, side by side north and south. The south zone has an immobile 6-pdr, a jeep, two PIATs, a 2" mortar, a Vickers, and B platoon (airborne). North of that, there is another immobile 6-pdr, a jeep, two 2" mortars, and E platoon (glider). Reserves consist of four Fireflies and 12 Shermans (!) and a motorized infantry company with four Vickerses and a 4.2" mortar spotter. With the composition of my force, it seems that close combat is the preferred infantry tactic. I have little artillery, and the mortars I do have are best employed as direct fire weapons anyway. Fortunately, the PIATs can be used from buildings. To protect the bridge, I must hold the town, and if I hold the town, I will control access to Point d'Epée. I'm not concerned with the Point now as I am sure that any Germans who do make it there will be more or less easily uprooted in a counterattack. My eastern infantry must rush forward to grab buildings further east. the sooner I can disrupt the Germans, the better. On this map, strike and fall back is an excellent tactic. My main concern is the AT guns. They are in lousy positions and must be moved. Fortunately, the jeeps can do that, but will it be in time? I want to group them for mutual support. A good location is in the woods at the west end of the main road. The guns will have three good keyhole lanes of fire, in every cardinal direction save west, and since it's on the road, the jeeps will get them there more quickly. But can they do it in time? C platoon with company HQ and two PIATs will head southeast to take up station in the block at that corner of town. C platoon HQ, with its stealth bonuses, will command the AT guns. D platoon, also with two PIATs, will also head east, but will take up initial postions in the detached homes in the northeast. The forward Vickers will for now sit in the eastern corners of the western blocks. E platoon will move east into the city to protect the northern approaches to the AT guns. B platoon will sit in the buildings south of the guns. I have allocated two mortars to guard the road in front of the guns' destination. Two PIATs will sit and make foxholes where the guns will go, then join B platoon. A Vickers will occupy the area between the AT guns and B platoon, as a reserve. Turn 1 Plan: In a somewhat unexpected development right off the bat, a German halftrack (?) has been spotted in the southwest corner of town. It has LOS to only one of my units, C platoon HQ by the guns' destination. Most disturbingly, I may not be able to move my guns if the German forces are upon me already. Regardless, they are limbering up to start. E platoon on the northwest is melting back into the woods. It will swing south towards the Point with a PIAT and a mortar. First stop is the woods by the light building near the bridgehead. One mortar is staying put as smoke support for the moving AT guns. So are the PIATs by the road, which will get a chance at the halftrack if it advances. B platoon will sneak south to enter the row of apartment buildings that runs south to the road to the Point. C platoon will cross the street to the east and enter the southwest corner of the southern C-shaped apartment block with two PIATs. I am wondering what to do with D platoon, however. I had planned to send it east as well, but if the germans lie primarily south, all that would happen is that I would at best maybe hold up German reinforcements. Because I don't know where the Germans are, however, sitting in place is not helpful either, and smacks too much of reaction rather than action, as would a move south. D platoon will move southeast and take up observer postions in the southwest corner of the building in front of it. A half-squad or two may eventually work their way east inside the complex to recon. Results: It didn't take long to lose this game. (I swear I wrote that at the time.) The Germans have moved into town overnight. On the south, my B platoon immediately spotted a squad of militia in the building a mere 35m away, exactly where the PIAT team was headed. Under fire, the German squad retreated to the next row of buildings east and the PIAT made it in. The halftrack retreated as well. Unfortunately, a light gun due south of B platoon has opened up as well. I lost three men from the Vickers team and three men from B platoon proper. In return, I incapacitated two militia. The platoon detects infantry sound contacts coming from the south. C and D platoons ran headlong into more militia - at least eight units' worth and probably a whole company. The green Germans slaughtered my airborne. After a minute of fighting, the Germans have lost five infantrymen (known) and a Panzerschreck team. I have lost 18 vets (including all of D platoon HQ), five regulars, a mortar, and three PIAT teams. The northern Vickers is dueling with a German light gun in woods 45m away. Turn 2 Plan: The southern jeep will try to pull its gun to the planned position under mortar smoke from both mortars. It may or may not work with the militia down the road. C platoon HQ is running to attack that militia to prevent it from shooting at the jeep. B platoon is running en masse into the building to clear a path to the German gun at the far end. A cautious advance should be more fruitful against the militia. E platoon will consolidate by the light building, then move out slowly. C and D platoons have no choice but to regroup and concentrate in place, and they will try. Results: The Vickers on the forward left continues to trade apparently ineffectual fire with the light gun a mere 44 meters away. Elsewhere on that front, I am down to 20 soldiers, a PIAT team, and two routed soldiers. Fortunately, nearly all are safe for now. The right Vickers is taking fire from an unseen gun of some sort. Things are better in the west. C platoon HQ has dropped the enemy militia to a single ineffective man. The gun did not take the jeep but is moving via manpower. The halftrack is hidden behind a light smokescreen. B platoon made it into the building without further casualties. A PIAT team accompanies them. This force has encountered an enemy AT team(?) already. E platoon, the glider troops, are in place and ready to act. Turn 3 Plan: The Vickers under fire from the invisible gun is withdrawing deeper into the building. C platoon will try to eliminate the adjacent enemy company HQ. The other Vickers will continue to trade fire with the enemy gun. A mortar crew will use the smokescreen to cross the road and get to a point where it can take out the gun. B platoon will push south through the row of buildings. The nearby Vickers will keep the enemy infantry under cover while the mortar crew from the road pulls back to the 6-pdr's foxhole to get into position to attack the south gun. E platoon will head for the riverbank and use it as cover to push south there. C platoon HQ will sneak forward and try to eliminate the lone militiaman. Results: All moves were successful except that it seems the infantry in CM cannot go through a wall to get to an adjacent building - blowing halls in such walls is SOP in urban warfare and was at the time. The battle in the city has died down - both sides lost one man from effective infantry units. The Vickers opposing the gun has lost a man, but I have identified that gun as a low, rapid-fire type - I would guess 20mm. The other Vickers is under attack from a halftrack - either a mortar carrier or a gun platform, I suspect. That too was a stand-off until the Vickers crawled out of sight. In the south, I eliminated the enemy Panzerschrek team and advanced another building under fire. The Vickers there lost another man to long-range small-arms fire. The gun there appears to have no HE ability. E squad moves up without contact. The mortars have shifted successfully and both 6-pdrs have unlimbered. Turn 4 Plan: B platoon consolidates and prepares to building hop further south throug hthe buildings there. C platoon in town sits tight. E platoon continues forward on the riverbank. The two mortars try to sneak into sight of the guns. I anxiously wonder if the two halftracks will advance into AT weapon sight. They are already in range. Results: E platoon continues apparently undetected. B platoon detected another gun, by the two-storey building on Pointe Epee. The closer halftrack has been identified as a 20mm FlAK carrier The two mortars remain unattacked. The Vickers has lost the battle with the light gun and although it has lost only two of four men, it has panicked. All other stand-offs remain in place, other than losing another soldier in the city. Turn 5 Plan: E platoon will rest and gather its breath while the PIAT and mortar catch up. The jeeps have nearly made it to that road. The two other mortars are sneaking up on the enemy, the southern unit firing smoke to start and the other not. B platoon will sit tight for now. Results: The Germans continue to rip my troops apart. The Vickers opposing the light gun in the north broke and ran, although the mortar team moved up unsighted so far. Also in town, the brave remaining soldier from an airborne squad threw a stachel charge at the enemy company HQ attacking it and reduced the German unit to one man. These troops have heard a third halftrack out there somewhere. In the south, a one-shot-wonder Panzerschrek took out the southermost 6-pdr from the second storey across the road. By E platoon, a single shell - gun or mortar, I'm not sure - took out half the mortar team and a jeep. The mortar by B platoon is now in a show down with hte light gun it is opposing. I am lucky the Germans have not attacked. I am down to two platoons and one gun, with ineffective support. Turn 6 Plan: Although the northern gun is out of LOS of the mortar unit, it has LOS to the area and will drop bombs on the gun's location. The southern mortar will drop bombs on the gun there, and the halved mortar will sit and bomb a patch of woods that probably harbours something else, although I have detected nothing there. B platoon will try to move up a building and E platoon will send two squads ahead along the riverbank. Results: Somehow, I still have men. The mortar attacking the gun by B platoon didn't even get off on shell before being knocked out. The northern mortar got off several shells, but now faces an armoured car. Two squads of German troops have crossed the road there. C platoon appears to continue to inflict damage on teh Germans, but it's hard to be sure. At least they will tie up some of the German infantry in the rear when my reserves show up. The enemy is moving five halftrack/armoured car/light tank vehicles to shore up his flanks. Fortunately, these vehicles are not moving to the bridge, as I only have one PIAT and a 6-pdr to stop them. B platoon de a successful move forward, although it lost one trooper to the big gun on the Pointe. The idiotic PIAT attached to this platoon decided to leave the heavy building on its own, and quickly lost one man and four of its six AT rockets. The other idiot will perish soon as well, no doubt. E platoon continues to advance and the enemy is rushing halftracks to meet it. I suspect he has few infantrymen on the Point itself. Small consolation. Ordering the lone mortarman to attack the empty woods proved shrewd - there's a gun there - probably the one that attacked him in the first place. Turn 7 Plan: E platoon will continue to sneak along the river bank to look for enemy guns. All others will hunker down and wait for reinforcements, although I am worried that the big gun facing B platoon from the Pointe will take down the building it occupies. Results: Not much is going on. B platoon suffered more casualties from heavy guns early, but the cannon fell silent as the platoon hid. E platoon has still not made contact with the enemy. There are light AFVs running around this town like rats. Turn 8 Plan: E platoon will continue to creep along the river. All others hold except the PIAT in town, which will try to climb upstairs in anticipation of nailing the armoured car in the street. Results: The armoured car, a 20mm-armed PSW 234/1, has almost eliminated my Vickers in town. The large Pointe gun has all but demolished the building holding B platoon. E platoon is still virgin. Morale is extremely low, 56%. I can't afford to keep taking losses. Turn 9 Plan: I need my reserves. B platoon must escape the building it is in, but the unit delays (13-23 sec) may prove fatal. The platoon will try to brave halftrack fire and cross the street on a diagonal so that the gun will not be able to start to dismantle the destination one the original location collapses. C platoon HQ will at the same time charge the Panzerschrek and single green trooper one building south. The PIAT by the road will inch forward to get a shot at the halftrack if possible. E platoon will continue to sneak along the river. All others hold. Results: What a fiasco. B platoon chose not to run across the street and instead huddled while the building collapsed around them. 13 men are left to function. C platoon HQ did make it to the next building, but the Volssturm trooper ran away. There is a Panzerschrek team on the second floor, however. My northern mortar, my last tube, was found out by an enemy unit. It put up a brave fight, but is has lost one of its two men. C platoon lost the last man of one squad and the last man of the supporting Vickers. E platoon and the PIAT are still more or less undetected in the south. Turn 10 Plan: The gun in front of the southern PIAT is tantalizingly just out of LOS. The PIAT team can do nothing to overcome that. I have to choose to leave the PIAT or move it elsewhere. I have chosen to let it sit and wait for an enemy vehicle to pass between it and the row of houses, at least for now. It can't see the road. B platoon will try to cross the street again. The PIAT behind them will try to take out the 20mm halftrack guarding the road. Results: Somehow, two squads of B platoon and its HQ got into cover while only losing two more men. Equally astonishing, one squad did not move and sits in the rubble exposed to fire, losing no more casualties. E platoon continues its slow trek along the point. It has detected a light armour sound contact on the south slope of the promonotory. C platoon HQ, a veteran unit, ran upstairs and attacked the green Panzerschrek. The Germans hit the deck, but both men are still functioning. The PIAT in the road is another useless veteran unit, unable to come close to the halftrack. In the north, the battle is over. My mortar is eliminated and the lone unhurt Vickers crewman surrendered. Facing them was an armoured car, a one-man (of two) regular Volkssturm team, and a five-man (of seven) green Volkssturm squad. Turn 11 Plan: Where are my tanks? I have to resort to using pistol-armed crews as infantry. At least the two crews by the AT gun have mediocre ammo supply (15). They will have to ward off the two green militia men and the Panzerschrek approaching the AT gun. E platoon will finish the west side of the Pointe; C platoon HQ should finish the Panzerschrek 5m away, and B platoon should be able to make it across the road at last. The PIAT in the road is crawling back in shame to its foxhole. Results: The last B platoon squad made it across the street. C platoon HQ took out the Panzerschrek. E platoon encountered an enemy infantry unit on the top floor of the building on the Pointe, as well as a light tank on the road. It has lost one man. Turn 12 Plan: There's not much I can do with this bull**** scenario. I have three wounded platoons and one gun against seven vehicles and at least three guns. I don't expect reserves for almost 20 minutes. But I try.... E platoon, now spotted, will try to take out the light tank and shift position to avoid small arms from the building. C platoon HQ will cross the street to command the Vickers and PIAT. B platoon will enter the town square and try to move one more building south. The PIAT in the woods will try to inch up to get LOS. The crews are going to try to run up to the closest city building. Why not? Not much else to do, is there? Results: I lost one man from E platoon HQ, but the light tank retreated. The platoon is under fire from another infantry unit in the building - my troops think it is a crew, but there should be no enemy crew units yet. B platoon made a successful leap to the next building, but is under fire from the now-buttoned halftrack. The armoured car that was near C platoon has driven south to a point where it can hit B platoon. My two crews now in town met an enemy squad and are pinned, although they have suffered no injuries. The 6-pdr scared a Volkssturm team but didn't fire at it. There is nothing else to report. Turn 13 Plan: E platoon is running forward along the river. I have no better option, except to run back and that accomplishes little better. B platoon is going to leap across the street again, to the building penultimate from the end. It should get a decent shot at the gun from there, or be able to leap to the last structure. If the big gun opens up, my PIAT will have a shot at it now. My last 6-pdr is free to fire at targets of opportunity. That is all. Results: B platoon lost another man and is down to nine, but they are very close to the gun. E platoon lost two men, but have made it to the south slope of the Pointe. The 6-pdr took out a Lynx in the road, but enemy infantry is awfully close. My crews have lost three men but eliminated a Volkssturm team and another two men from a Volkssturm squad of seven. Turn 14 Plan: THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!!!! Twelve Sherman V and four Fireflies have entered the map along the road to the west. My non-panicked crew in town will run west and perhaps survive. the 6-pdr will hit targets of opportunity, which seems to mean infantry for now. The regular lead Sherman (15) will brave the damp ground and try to get to E platoon's rescue. From the road on the west river bank, it should be able to take care of any enemy on the top floor of the building on the Pointe, and eventually the building itself. Shermans 13 and 14, veterans, will race forward to join the 6-pdr, one on each side of the road. Vet Shermans 10 and 11 will follow behind by 50-100m. Fireflies 7 and 12 will hang back at the bend in the western stretch of the road as overwatch for the forward Shermans. The last thing I need is a traffic jam. the rest of the tanks will move up behind the two lead Fireflies and will come forward as needed. From the rear position, they will be able to dismantle the town's buildings. B platoon will rush the nearby gun and gain the cover of the woods and nearby buildings, which should keep them out of the line of fire of nearly all the Germans, save the nearby halftrack. The PIAT in the woods will try a shot at a Lynx that has strayed within 80m. E platoon will try to run south. C platoon, in town, will stay put and guard the intersection it occupies. For the first time since the dawn, I have hope. I strongly believe a force of Panzers is going to meet me, but I have to rush the tanks forward to ward off the German troopers. At the very least, the German armoured cars and Lynxes are now worthless. Results: Poor. The Shermans are moving up, but the infantry is taking a beating. the 6-pdr was taken out by a mortar and the armoured car to its left. The PIAT in the woods got two shots off before it was cut down by a variety of fire. B platoon cut the crew of the 20mm gun it rushed down to one man from three, but lost three men in the process. Turn 15 Plan: Two of the Shermans are smoking the road some 700m ahead just in case there are any nasty surprises in the woods at the head of the road. The other Shermans do not have enemy targets in LOS yet. There's not much to do until they cross the bridge. E platoon is safely out of LOS of all enemy forces and will sit as a thorn inthe enemy's rear. B platoon will take shelter in the building and try to drop the remaining crewman of the 20mm FlAK. C platoon will also continue to sit. Results: There may be an unseen gun up the road. My lead Sherman (14) was nailed in the front turret by an unseen adversary - or by a Panzerschrek team in the building. Another Sherman (8), a regular, was knocked out by the larger gun on the point. A third Sherman was hit in the tracks to no effect, by a Lynx I suspect. In return, the Shermans dished out major hurt. A big gun on the point has been silenced, as were a 50mm Puma armoured car and a Lynx. B platoon finished off the 20mm FlAK gun in return for one casualty. A 20mm halftrack has fleed from the Shermans and is attacking B platoon. E platoon remains out of sight, and a Lynx waits on the road. The Sherman across the river should get a shot at it soon. The German vehicle complement now consists of two 20mm halftracks and a 20mm armoured car by B platoon; a Lynx by E platoon; and an unidentified armoured car left of the Shermans, along with a light gun. One gun remains on the point, but it can easily be smoked before the rest of the Shermans cross the bridge. Turn 16 Plan: Shermans 10 and 13, both veteran quality, will area target the closest building left of the road, where the Panzerschrek and another unit is hiding. Veteran Sherman 11 will hang a hard right and try to follow the paths through the woods as a shortcut to the point. Sherman 9 has buttoned and will smoke in the gun on the point. The tanks that haven't crossed the bridge yet won't until the smokescreen is in place. The vulnerable bits of B platoon will pull back into the interior of the building. One squad will aim long-range fire at the guncarriage on the Pointe. Results: Stasis, but not bad stasis. Across the river from the point, Sherman 15 took 7 direct hits of 20mm fire from the Lynx, to no effect. The Sherman smoked the infantry in the building for some reason, and has yet to actually fire at the Lynx, although it has targeted it. The smokescreen is in place in front of the gun, although the smoke up the road is starting to clear. Smoke lasts roughly a minute plus. Sherman 11 is making its way through the trees and woods successfully so far and should start hammering halftracks within the minute. B platoon lost two more men, but is now safely inside the building. The Shermans hammering the building in town poured 15 shells into it. The one-man green Volkssturm squad and a Panzerschrek team were seen to enter the building in front of the PIAT. That sounds like a job for C platoon HQ. C platoon has heard a light armour sound contact in the small dwellings to the east of town. Turn 17 Plan: C platoon HQ will run across the street and clear out the AT team and the green militiaman while being covered by the Vickers. The two lead Shermans, now 10 and 13, will aim at the infantry squad inside the building instead of the building itself, which is now 75% damaged. Sherman 4 is ordered to lay more smoke up the road. and the last four Shermans on the river's west bank are charging across the bridge. The four Fireflies are hanging back on the west side of the bridge until either the Shermans clear out the enemy infantry threat or I can identify a threat that the Shermans cannot handle. Do I smell Tigers? The Lynx will perish in a few seconds. My infantry sits tight. Results: The Lynx on the point survived nine more seconds. In town, the building came down and the enemy squad was eliminated, but the Panzerschrek seems to still be there. In a possibly related matter, I lost Sherman 6 to an unseen adversary. I suspect it is enemy infantry that may have snuck up in the woods to the left, maybe even that same Panzerschrek. It doesn't seem likely, as the Sherman was hit in the upper front hull. The shot probably came from the buildings ahead. Another Panzerschrek team is in woods further to the left. Many more German are showing up. There is a 251/1 halftrack in the church square that's buttoned up and possibly shocked by C platoon. I have four more sound contacts to that side of town - three of light armour and a tank. It's time to bring the Fireflies up, but I need to do something about whatever took out my Sherman. I may just have to explode out of there and take my chances, but it's not a move I relish. Turn 18 Plan: The easiest decisions are on the point. Sherman 15 by the river will take down the tall building on the point brick by brick. One squad of E platoon will advance to kill or capture the Lynx crew. C platoon will try to cross the road southward, in the direction of the incoming enemy vehicles. It's a risk, but worth taking. C platoon HQ will climb the stairs and try to take out first the enemy trooper, then the AT team. The Vickers is set to ambush the Panzerschrek if it moves to get a view of the road. B platoon's three men are hunkered down out of sight. Sherman 5 has ambush-targeted the Panzerschrek team some 160m to the left. Firefly 12 is targeting that unit from across the bridge. Sherman 6 will toss more smoke at the gun on the point. Sherman 11 will follow the path through the trees after Sherman 10, which is about to break out into the brush/open. The rest of the Sherman and Fireflies are taking down the next buildings on either side of the road. Once that is done, a good dose of smoke will let my tanks move up a little more safely. Three of the Fireflies will get a delayed order to cross the bridge. I want to be sure the gun is smoked in before they move. Firefly 17 will stay back, because it can cover the road north from the current location. Results: The Sherman in the south by the Vickers lost a man to a Panzerschrek penetration from the building west of the dead FlAK, but a single HE shell put the AT team out of business. The Shermans in the road demolished two more buildings and the Firefly scared off the AT team to the left. C platoon HQ killed off the Volkssturmer and has dropped one of the two Panzerschrekers. The halftrack up the road from C platoon, which I suspect is shocked, did not fire this turn. Now for the bad news. C platoon lost six men and both infantry squads are panicked. However, the PIAT and the company HQ escaped unscathed. They detected a force of enemy armour at the east end of the road. There are four light armor, three halftracks loaded with infantry, and a Panzer IV(?). By B platoon, there is a standard tank, a light tank, and three halftracks, one with troops. Two Panzerschrek teams I need to watch for: one two buildings down from C platoon HQ and another somewhere to the right of the mass of Shermans. Turn 19 Plan: Sherman 13, in the lead, will hunt forward along the right side of the road and try to get a shot at the armoured car on the left. My crews have checked out the woods to the left and they seem clear. Two crew units will start clearing trees along the ridge to the left. I am hoping I can break out a few tanks to that side. The Shermans have aimed area fire at the two buildings out from the corner on the right side of the intersection ahead. A Firefly is kicking in from the rear, so that three guns will hit each targeted building. Three Fireflies will cross the bridge and the two not firing at a building are going to cover the other tanks, as will the one remaining on the west bank. My master plan isn't as solid as I'd like. The obvious plan is to break out of the Sherman log jam, but that jam is not vulnerable to enemy AT fire, since they will hit anything that appears. It is vulnerable to enemy infantry, but if the German commander continues to hesitate, my infantry will arrive in time. The two Shermans sprung to the right will do no effective good if they push that way and will probably succumb to German combined arms - and that forces me to ask what they are doing there at all? Protecting the three men of B platoon? I am going to withdraw those tanks before they get swarmed with mechanized infantry, but on the other hand, I need something to set up an anti-personnel picket on the right, and tanks in woods do little good at that. My only infantry are either panicked in town or out on the point. I will hunt them in the path to the north of the PIAT. They may die, but with any luck, they will take out the Panzer and then go to town on the light armour. It is not a tactical victory I seek with this move, but one of morale. The German infantry will come, one way or the other, but I prefer they be quick to run. Other startegies I have thought of include taking down the building by the Vickers and heading along the river road to join E platoon. I will send tanks down the road to E platoon, but that can wait. Speaking of E platoon, I am at a loss as to what I should do with them. I will wipe out the enemy crew this turn, but what should I do after that? I think it best to sit put and spy on enemy movements rather than waste the men in a premature assault. The Sherman across the river will continue to attack the large building on the point and the jeep that has been hiding on the road for the last 15 minutes or so will speed down the road to make sure there are no land mines to worry about. C platoon HQ will try to eliminate the AT man in front of it while the Vickers will watch and cover the Sherman's fall back. Results: No buildings fell, but the Sherman 10 in the woods brewed up the shocked enemy halftrack, C platoon HQ finished off the Panzerschrek, and E platoon took out the last Lynx crewman. Sherman 11 withdrew successfully, and the three Fireflies are across the bridge. E platoon also eliminated a small infantry unit on the top of the large building on the point. The jeep bumped intp the burning Lynx, but has made it so far. In return, the two squads of C platoon took light tank fire and lost another man. The building sheltering B platoon is taking area fire from two tank sound contacts. My lead Sherman has taken numerous hits from 20mm fire, non of which have done damage. These shells are not coming from the armoured car are the light gun I know about, but regardless of the source, they are not a concern to my Shermans. A light armour sound contact has appeared by the armoured car on the left. The Panzer IV beyond C platoon has turned to the left as well. Four of the halftracks from that cluster have headed into the church square. Turn 20 Plan: Sherman 13, the lead, will make a run for the left side, around the woods and behind the woods lining the road. Sherman 9 will turn into the right-hand woods and head for the road along the riverbank. The other Shermans will hunt up a few meters. Shermans 10 and 11 will approach the tree line and guard that lane of approach while C platoon HQ runs through the next building south to the one beyond that, which appears to harbour another Panzerschrek team. To the east, C platoon will cower while company HQ checks out the courtyard and the PIAT gets into a building from where it can face west - the enemy's rear. Sherman 15, on the west bank, is shifting fire from the heavy building to the large light building further east. The heavy building has a squad in it, but the light building has three infantry units. B platoon is staying put, at least until the building shows damage. Results: Enemy infantry vacated the tall heavy building on the point entirely and have begun running scared from the tall light building as well. Sherman 13 came around the woods successfully and ran into a veteran Panther. The Panther got first shot, missed, then the Sherman bounced a round off the German's front upper hull before succumbing to the Panther's second shot. There is NO way I can get by that Panther other than smoke and run. Shermans 10 and 11 did not get to fire at any enemy halftracks before they made the lee of the row of buildings lining the church square. One squad of C platoon has perished in its panic. The rest of my troops are OK. Other than the Panther, there are two more tank contacts. One sound contact is by B platoon and one is by the southeast corner of town. The one tactic I may be able to do is if the enemy tanks press too far, two Shermans in the town square will wreak havoc on the halftracks and light armour. Turn 21 Plan: I can't turn the corner to face the Panther, unless I send my Fireflies on a suicidal gang attack. On the other hand I ultimately don't have to knock out the Panther. If the Panther stays put, it is not a threat, although it is an obstacle. If it moves forward to contact, it will get hit by the Firefly on the west bank. Meanwhile, my jeep has cleared the road. There are no AT mines. I can start moving Shermans to the point. Sherman 9 is already on the way, and Sherman 4 will follow up. The main body of Shermans will continue to knock down buildings, with two east Fireflies in overwatch. I am extremely nervous about Shermans 10 and 11. They have good position, but they are only 35m away from uncleared buildings. They have to move, but do they pull back into thetrees and head for the point or do they charge forward in hopes of partaking in an orgy of halftrack destruction? I think I will pull back. I can't risk the assets at this point, regardless of the potential reward. As long as they are pulling back, C platoon HQ will pull back as well. There's no need to hunt Panzerschrek teams if I have no tanks nearby to protect. The glider platoon can stay put, hunt for opportunities, or take control of the heavy building on the point. With tanks moving to the road, it is time to take the building that commands passage along it. E platoon will run back along the river and approach the building from the west. Sherman 15 will keep pummeling the large light building, Results: Panthers are coming out of the ground... and maybe Tigers, too. A Panther appeared at the far end of the road from the gathered Shermans and knocked one of my tanks out before the rest got smoke up. The Fireflies did nothing, although one Sherman bounced a round of the Panther's hull. To the left, an armoured car is circling around the woods to the grass. On the right, a Tiger(?) knocked out the wounded Sherman 11. Sherman 10 escaped and even bounced a shell off the German tank's hull. It is at least a Panther. In addition to the three known Panthers, my infantry hear another four tanks out there. Two tanks are coming through the dirt road in the bocage and one is in the road north of C platoon and east of my PIAT. On top of that, there are 19 sound and known contacts with light tanks/halftracks/armoured cars. On the bright side, Sherman 15 took down the light building and the remaining C platoon squad has come to its senses. E platoon has advanced safely, as well. B platoon continues to hide. C platoon HQ is down to one man with a pistol. Turn 22 Plan: The Firflies will maneuver to get a shot at the distant Panther. I don't have much choice. The vanilla Shermans will hide behind the smoke on the left side of the road while the Fireflies shift right. Sherman 15 will hold position and overwatch E platoon's approach to the building. The Shermans in the woods will continue heading to the road. C squad will sneak up to get a look at the German disposition in the church square. Results: Very little happened. The Panther up the road is hidden. My Shermans broke a two-man Volkssturm squad. A small fast unit has rushed into the building by E platoon. My PIAT with company HQ has spotted an enemy gun behind the gate in the bocage. A Panther is advancing on my PIAT in the woods, oblivious to it. Another Panzerschrek team has entered the building across from that PIAT. More enemy armor is coming from the dirt road to the southeast. One tank sound contact appears to have taken up position on the road leading to the jeep. Turn 23 Plan: Reinforcements have arrived! In nine trucks, four halftracks, and five carriers, I have a 4.2" mortar spotter, three rifle platoons (F, G, and H), three PIAT teams, two 2" mortars, and three Vickers teams. Sherman 9 on the river road and Sherman 6 east of the bridge will smoke in the enemy gun in preparation for a bridge crossing en masse. The Fireflies will watch for the Panther. E platoon will head for the top floor of the heavy building, to forestall German infantry from taking out trucks with small arms. The two full squads are running in, then sneaking to the north side second floor. The wounded squad and the HQ are following 30 seconds later and will remain on the ground floor. Sherman 15 will stay in overwatch. The reserves are rushing up to line up behind the Firefly at the bridge. I doubt they will get hit by fire, as any enemy who appears up the road will target and get hit by Fireflies. Once the smoke is in place, I can cross the bridge and spread out the infantry. One exception id the mortar spotter, who is jumping out and running up to some woods, followed by a Carrier. I want to bring down a mortar strike as quickly as possible on the conentrated enemy in the church square, to eliminate as many halftracks as I can. I only have 80 barrages, so I need to use them as well as possible. My PIAT near C platoon HQ has a 46% chance to hit the Panther a mere 58m away, but no chance to kill it. I hope it will shoot on its own initiative if it gets a chance. The PIAT in town will try to knock out the enemy gun from 66m away. There's not much else to do at the moment. Results: The jeep was taken out, but not before it reported sound contacts of three tanks and an additional light AFV. E platoon took the point building and eliminated a veteran crew in the process, without losses. The platoon is leaving the building on its own initiative, however. In town, my PIAT took out the enemy gun, a 37mm FlAK. The Vickers in the woods lost a man and the Panther is inching closer to the PIAT, which still hasn't fired. The Panther down the street from the bridge hunted forward and took a shot at a Sherman but missed. The Fireflies do not see it. The transports on the road are still safe and the 4.2" mortar spotter is out of his truck and ready to call in a strike. C platoon's last squad sees all the neatly parked halftracks in the church square now, as well as a crack Panther and assorted lighter AFVs. Turn 24 Plan: I need to do two things: entrench around the flag I own and move forces to the flag on the point. In order to secure the bridge, I need to get troops into the woods on the left and extend a line ot troops along an east-west axis on the right, to keep tanks and infantry AT resources from hitting the Shermans on the road. If possible, I can send some PIATs to the left to disable or scare away the Panther there. If the Panther is gone, my Shermans can handle the armoured cars. On the right, I need PIATs along the road and infantry in the woods and along the road. I could use another platoon to support E platoon. Before anything, I need to get my infantry across the river. The Panther up the road from the bridge is beyond the sight of the Fireflies, but only by single digit meters. A Sherman will smoke the ground directly in front of it to let the infantry cross the bridge. If the Panther moves up, the Fireflies should hit it. E platoon seems eaager to leave the building, so I'll concur. They will take up positions just outside its westerm wall, where it can spy southeast along the dirt road. Shermans 9 and 10 will speed by the German AT gun's firing lane, then hunt up along the road in tandem. Sherman 4 is also on the way, but is still in the woods. It will stop by the path leading from the dirt road through the woods to the barbed wire in front of the German gun. Sherman 15 remains in overwatch on the left bank, but it is heading to the crest by the road where it should be able to get a good hull down position yet be able to see over the woods to the dirt road. F platoon is great at combat and command and good at stealth, and has one regular and two vet squads. That calls for a move right, which is the more active front. G platoon has one vet and two regular squads and platoon HQ is great at stealth and morale, and good at command. H platoon HQ is great at combat and good at command, and has three vet squads. Company HQ is good at morale, stealth, and command. I'll set up two Vickers in the woods to cover the left, and take the company HQ and two PIATs north along the river bank, so that they can come up on the armored car there. Once that's accomplished, it will be easy to outflank the Panther on that side, unless there is an enemy infantry presence backing up the Panther's rear. I have no sign that there is, except the Panzerschrek I spooked earlier. F and G platoons will head right - F platoon as a screen and G platoon to join E platoon. H platoon will stay close to the bridge as a reserve. Two 2" mortars will go with F platoon and one will go with E platoon. A PIAT will go with F platoon. Two Vickers will stay with H platoon in reserve. Results: As innocuous as my plans were, I suffered as bad a result as could be expected, The smoke shells aimed at the Panther up the road missed the target and the Panther could take shots at my trucks while my Firflies stood idly by. By the Fireflies, I lost a truck, had another shocked, and had a Sherman shocked. Company HQ lost two men and a squad of H platoon lost two men. The Tiger(?) moved postion and started firing at the bridge crossing, causing a massive traffic jam. A squad from G platoon jumped out of its truck and has started running across the bridge. It lost three men. A PIAT is also running. Meanwhile, there is a huge snarl of trucks and halftracks that the Tiger can slaughter. C company HQ and the nearby Vickers were wiped out by Panther fire and two enemy infantry squads in the buildings across the street. All else is quiet. I need a traffic cop. Turn 25 Plan: Let's try this again. All vehicles on the bridge are withdrawing, hopefully under cover of tank smoke. I will let the mortar spotter call down a barrage on the halftrack park, then shift to a smoke barrage of the point, at which poit I will attempt another crossing. There's no apparent rush.... Results: E platoon lost three men to the squads in the building. One squad got a little too close. It discovered that the knocked out gun (see turn 15) on the Pointe is an 88. B platoon and the PIAT have been eliminated. The Tiger(?) is a Panther, and it and the gun on the point are smoked in. A second tank has joined the Panther. I lost a truck on the east side of the bridge and two on the west side. The G platoon squad lost three more men and hit the east side. I lost a man from each of two PIAT teams on the west side, as well as a soldier from F platoon. Turn 26 Plan: This really sucks, but I need to try to get across the bridge again.... Results: I lost two men from E platoon, but it has retreated safely. The first wave has crossed the bridge suffering only non-damaging hits to one halftrack - non-damaging to the halftrack and its crew, but lethal to half the men of the two Vickers inside.... Mortar rounds have started falling around the enemy parking lot, to no effect yet. Turn 27: Plan: XXXXXXXXXXXXX Results: A full squad of regulars, and two lone PIAT men are all that remain to cross. The squad, from G platoon, was broken by tank fire and ran back to the Firefly on the east bank. I lost a halftrack to the western Panther and practical use of two Vickers (each down to one immobile man in the middle of the road, but other than that, all infantry is advancing. On the point, E platoon heard a tank rumbling up the road but my tank ambushes haven't seen it yet. On the flanks, the German vehicles are inching closer. The two armoured cars on the left moved up - the one on the road is being targeted by the eastern Firefly. A halftrack zoomed by the intersection and survived, but was knocked immobile and glided to a stop out of harm's way. Worringly, German infantry is also advancing. A squad is hiding in the central woods, near my hidden crew. On the right, there are two Panthers and a handful of armoured cars and halftracks, including a 81mm mortar halftrack. Infantry in the building on the northwest corner of the churchyard took potshots at Sherman 16, which replied with HE fire after smoking in the eastern Panther. My mortar barrage has taken out two halftracks. I should shift it to a more useful position. My infantry disposition at the bridge is as follows: H platoon: 28 men and HQ in the woods on the southwest corner of the intersection. Two full Vickers teams and a 2in mortar team advancing from rear. F platoon: 18 men, HQ, and PIAT in woods southwest of H platoon. One full squad aboard halftrack on road. G platoon: 14 men by F platoon; HQ still aboard carrier on road; one squad broken across river. In addition to the two immobile Vickerses, I have two full 2in mortars in the road. Turn 28: Plan: The PIAT from F platoon is heading north to join the company HQ in the woods there. One Firefly is shifting to the north side of the road. My mortar spotter is calling down a new barrage centered on the northwest corner of the churchyard. Other than that, I am sitting tight and waiting for the inevitable German assault. May it come piecemeal.... Results: Huzzah! The Panther on the far end of the road has been eliminated - although at the cost of a Firefly that tried to cross the road. On the left, the armoured car on the road retreated after the west-bank Firefly missed a shot. In the woods to that side, a Panzerschrek team and an infantry squad are crawling toward the immobilized - and now abandoned - halftrack. The Panther on the road has moved up a bit as well. To the right, a crack Panther is inching up with two vanilla haltracks and a mortar halftrack. Enemy troops in sight consist of a squad of infantry in a building in the northwest corner of the church square (north side of the street) and some infantry in the open - a squad, a Panzerschrek team, and what I suspect is another Panzerschrek. The mortar barrage will arrive in about 80 seconds. On the point, the enemy tank on the road comes closer, but my forces still only hear it. Turn 29 Plan: Sherman 15, across the river from E platoon, will reverse behind the hill. It will only get a frontal shot at any tank showing up on the road and if it is a Panther, it will do no good. Better to pull back and stay a reserve to ge a side or rear shot if that disastrous consequence happens. The mass of metal is trying to organize somewhat to maximize fields of fire now that the Panther is no longer hampering operations. A Carrier is going to pick up the Vickers by H platoon and drive it across the road. G platoon is taking a half-minute breather, then running across the road to the north side, to ward off the Panzerschrek threat. The stronger F platoon will have to anchor that flank with the Vickers, a Sherman, and a halftrack. Results: Both sides seem to be shifting positions and doing little else. The German mortar halftrack has started shelling the woods in front of H platoon and has caused two casualties. In return, the Sherman on the bridge road used but one HE shell to set fire to the building with the German squad. After running downstairs, that unit has fled into the street in a run. It may or may not be panicking. Two more German squads, a one-man Panzerschrek, and what I assume is a platoon HQ have headed into the building east of the one on fire. The infantry squad in the woods to my left has discovered and eliminated the crew there. My 2" mortar is in place on the left treeline. The Panzer from the northwest corner of the church square has pulled back and is heading north along the road leading away from the square's northeast corner. A few vanilla halftracks accompany it. Others have headed further east. All else remains essentially static. Turn 30 Plan: H platoon is withdrawing and redeploying further south, where it can cover the scattered trees. One platoon is staying by the bridge road. F platoon is also shifting south. The two Shermans in the bridge command are targeting the building two north of the one on fire as that seems a likely destination for the German infantry. My mortar spotter is shifting fire slightly towards the mortar halftrack. The barrage should hit in 30 seconds. One bridge Firefly has an ambush targeting the intesection the Panther is heading for. All else waits for the Germans to move up. Results: The flanks were quiet, and the German infantry moved where I expected them too. The squad in the street crossed and moved into the trees, but was cut down from a fullish squad to three men. Three squads appeared in the buildings, two in the southern building and one in the northern. The two squads on the bottom floors are unidentified squads of full strength and the squad on the top floor of the southern building is a five-man (of a full seven) squad of Volkssturm regulars. H platoon has suffered four casualties. My barrage has forced the enemy to button up, but hasn't knocked out any halftracks yet. The Panzer up the road skirted the ambush spots as if he knew where they were, but has taken up a position from which it can't shoot at my forces. Turn 31 Plan: My forces are shifting slightly. The Vickers will cross the street in th Carrier, then move to a position where it can cover the reverse slope of the field on the far side of the woods on the bridge road's north side. G platoon is just moving into position there. Sherman 4, the rear tank on the point road, which had been covering the path through the woods, is reversing and moving to support F platoon. A halftrack is moving up alongside Sherman 6 in the trees. Sherman 6 and Sherman 16 on the bridge road will continue to try to demolish the buildings holding the Germans, but I suspect Sherman 6 will revert to slaying the three-man German squad in the trees. Two squads from F platoon will move south into the pines to watch for enemy AT teams out to get Sherman 4. The 2" mortar attached to H platoon will try to land area fire near the vanilla halftrack that is firing at H platoon. The squad under fire will pull back deeper into the woods. My mortar barrage will continue to fire for one more turn. The armour ambushes emain in place. Results: Very little happened. The two German squads that shared the building next to the one on fire retreated. The lone squad north also tried to retreat but is pinned in a building about to collapse. The squad from the trees ran back across the road. H platoon HQ is down to one man and needs to pull back to safety. My mortar fire was ineffective, except for brewing up a vanilla halftrack. I have only 16 volleys left. The Panthers on either side of the bridge road edged up a smidgen. On the point, a severely weakened German squad moved from a building west to the rubble. Turn 32 Plan: A PIAT is heading out through the pines on top of the cliff on the left flank. It will join company HQ and sneak forward to try to kill the armoured car there, if it is still there. Third squad of G platoon will run across the bridge and try to join the rest of the platoon. This may work, it may not - the risk is worth it. The mortar spotter will halt the barrage, saving the last few shells for a more crucial juncture. No changes other than that. Results: The Shermans took down the building and with additional fire reduced the squad there to three men or less. The mortar halftrack and an armoured car pulled back south, and other German light armour adjusted position slightly. The Panther up the bridge road advanced right onto the ambush target and was brewed up with no survivors with the first and only shot. E platoon no longer hears that nearby tank. 3 Squad, G Platoon is pinned on the bridge by innaccurate enemy tank fire, but has suffered no casualties. All my other forces remain unmolested. Turn 33 Plans: Sherman 4 seems to be having trouble moving along the path through the woods and I've had to re-order it. The rifle squad on the bridge is pinned and won't act for 75 seconds. The bridge road Sherman will try to smoke it in. The squad is only under fire from a green Panzer IV - it may escape serious injury. A Carrier is moving up the road to a point near the knocked out 6-pdr. The Vickers near G platoon has a superb field of fire and is ready. The PIAT is about halfway to company HQ near the enemy armoured car. Results: A mortar halftrack has started blindly shelling E platoon, and managed to cause two casualties. The advancing Carrier advanced too far and was blown to bits by the Panther on the left. The rifle squad on the bridge has been halved and routed. On the other hand, the PIAT has joined company HQ near the armoured car and should get a shot in a minute. Turn 34 Plan: E platoon will crawl back out of mortar range. Sherman 15, across the river, will peek out at the road in a move and move back. My other infantry will stay put. The mortar spotter is taking a carrier back to the road, for its better field of view and a direct line of sight, if needed. Results: The armoured on the eft flank pulled back. My troops heard a tank traveling north on the west side of the buildings where B platoon played. Enemy mortar shells took out another two men from E platoon. Unfortunately Sherman 4 has decided to go the wrong way.... Turn 35 Plan: Not much to do except chastise Sherman 4 if the Germans don't advance. But if they do.... Sherman 9, by E platoon, will move up the road to a point due west of the building. Maybe it will prompt some action. Results: My PIAT on the left missed with its two shots at what turns out to by a Lynx. The halftrack covering the church square has retreated to join the Panther to the right of the main intersection. The mortar haltrack caused another casualty, unfortunately. E platoon is essentially a squad now. The light gun that wiped out my Vickers has moved up on the left. It is a 20mm FlAK. A five-man Volkssturm squad has appeared in the rubble on the northeast corner of the intersection. Sherman 4 is finally in place. Turn 36 Plan: The 2" mortar with G platoon will smoke the road in front of the Panther on the left. Hopefully, it will move up and get blasted by the west-bank Firefly. The empty PIAT and the company HQ on the left wing will beat a hasty retreat back to the woods. There's no point in waiting for a German assault. Sherman 15 is pulling out and heading for the west end of the bridge to join the Firefly. With four minutes left, I ought to do something with the mortar spotter's last 16 rounds, but I don't know what. I have targeted the buildings by the right-side Panther, where enemy infantry seems to be massing. The PIAT with H platoon will crawl up a few meters to see if it can gain a shot at the vehicles to the right. Results: A halftrack started retreating from the dirt road that leads beyond the large building on the point. It has reached the intersection with the main road. there is probably still a tank there somewhere on the road, however. E platoon is no longer under barrage. On the left, the retreating PIATman was shot by an enemy squad, but company HQ got out. The Lynx advanced, then retreated back into a pocket of open ground among the woods. The 2" mortar placed its smoke perfectly. The Panther has no LOS towards the intersection unless it advances into the ambush. H platoon came under mortar fire from a mortar halftrack, but the bombs succeeded only in taking out a crewman of the nearby halftrack, unfortunately. Another infantry unit marched into the two buildings east of the burning one. A German infanbtry rush is to be exepcted, and my last mortar rounds will greet them. An enemy machine gun fired somewhere near the base of the point at 56 seconds of the last turn, but I can't detect the source or see the tracers. Turn 37 Plan: H platoon is pulling away from the southern edge of the woods it occupies and heading for the northern edge, away from mortar barrages, The PIAT is staying at the south edge, as it has a perfect view of the road. The mortared halftrack will move up to a position from which it can lay more accurate machine gun fire on the building facing the street. Sherman 6 is pulling out of the treed area and heading for a forward position on the bridge road. A Vickers guns and a halftrack are sending bullets into the next building up the bridge road on the south side of the street. The Vickers team in the woods north of the road is sending area fire towards the last known location of the enemy Panzerschrek team. The lone man squad of E platoon is going to recon the road ahead. If there are no enemy tanks, my Shermans can move up. There is an enemy infantry unit in the woods along the road on the far side of where the woods narroes to an isthmus of a skinny row of trees. G platoon is pulling out and heading to join H platoon. I need all the "zone of control influence" I can muster to keep this intersection. The 2" mortar attached to this platoon will try to move next to the PIAT south of H platoon. The last squad of C platoon has been useful in keeping an eye on the church square, but that task is no longer necessary. It will charge the green enemy crew to the west. No sense in leaving them alone when every point may help. The accompanying company HQ will charge along the road, which may reveal a potential target for the PIAT. Results: Disaster. The Panther on the left did move up out of the smoke, right into the ambush, but my Firefly missed with shot one and the Panther didn't. The Panther proceeded to harras the mortar team that had lain the smoke, but my troops escaped injury. The 20mm and the Lynx have inched forward. In town, the squad form C platoon ran into two squads of Germans and broke. The company HQ decided to stroll across the street and was eliminated by the halftrack at the road's east end. On the point a 20mm halftrack has moved into position to duel with my halftrack at the end of the bridge. I will lose that. The scout from E platoon hears a tank on the road there, but does not see it yet. Hey, at least the mortar fire has stopped. Turn 38 Plan: Hold the fort, boys.... The dueling halftrack is going to try to rush forward and a Sherman will reverse and hopefully pot the enemy. All area fire has stopped. Maybe it gave the Germans pause.... Results: As expected, I lost the halftrack, but the Sherman drove the enemy halftrack back away from the objective. Nothing else happened. Turn 39 Plan: Half of F platoon will cross the road and hide on the north side of the road. the other half will back up H platoon. The mortar with G platoon, in sight of the left Panther, will retreat and join F platoon. The mortar with F platoon will launch smoke into the road north of he intersection, to confuse the Panther there. In the south woods, the halftrack will pull out and head for the road. Sherman 4 will take up a position similar to the halftracks, but deeper in the scattered trees. The mortar there will pop a smoke bomb to protect H platoon from the mortar carrier, then sneak to the northeast and perhaps draw fire from a vehicle, and give the PIAT a chance to attack. Sherman 6 and Firefly 18 will move up a bit in the bridge road. Sherman 16 will stay keeping watch over the point from its station on the bridge. On the point, E platoon and the rear Sherman will clump more near the objective. In town, the PIAT shares a room with an enemy squad. My men will vainly try to take out the halftrack in the street.... Results: The mortar carrier attacked H platoon again and inflicted two casualties. More importantly, it set the woods next to H platoon on fire and now has no line of sight to my forces. An enemy attack will be channeled, as well. G platoon suffered on casualty as it crossed the road, perhaps to a halftrack down the bridge road that was forced to retreat. Sherman 15 on the west side of the bridged nailed the left Panther with a shell, which ricocheted off the German's front turret. My mortar barrage came in too scattered to do much damage and is spent. The last shell did manage to knock my last remaining PIAT team down a man, however. On the point, my troops have detected a second enemy tank up the dirt road, but it is also not in sight. Turn 40 Plan: Stay put, keep heads down, and barrels up. One Firefly will try to take down one more building, on the north side of the road - more for kicks than any effective combat tactic. The Sherman on the west side of the bridge will try to fall back then reach a hull down position on a hunt forward. Given my luck, I expect it will be holed in one by the Panther. The German vehicles may rush, or they may not. It's out of my hands. Results: I lost another two Shermans in Panther duels after yet another turret ricochet, and the two southern "squads" of E platoon to a german infantry squad and support vehicles. The two tank sound contacts turn out to be two more Panzer IVs, but they did not advance to a pont where my Shermans could hit them. The PIAT took out a halftrack before being eliminated. I appear to have retained the bridge objective, but it is not a sure thing. I think the loss of two more Shermans has put me over the edge to a worse defeat than I could withstand. (Considering the final score, it looks like it did....)

(Sorry - wrong thread.) [ December 07, 2002, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

No idea, but are the Keller I know from WB?

I think this is a just a conequence of the game that we have to live with. Both sides can do it, so I live with it. It doesn't bother me. So, which units would have radios in CMBO and CMBB? Just HQs? Would mortar teams? I don't know the logistics of who would and wouldn't have a radio in this time frame. I assume no one has a cell phone.

Nothing like gaming to turn friends into back-biting paranoid idiots. Ever play Diplomacy? :eek: [ November 06, 2002, 07:25 PM: Message edited by: Webs ]

Zart - It's spelled "wind shear". Remember, you can't spell "grognards" without grog, dong, and nads, but not at the same time. Also: Your dad beats you with aggression, while playing CM, or - considering the mention of boobs - with the help of some Astroglide? (Mmmmmmm, Astroglide....) Now, the rest of you - He has a point, you know. besides, you punters don't hold a candle to the WarBirds accuracy police.

Sgt. Schultz and I finished Troubling and are still in the middle of Sword. Sword is slow because I had to take some real-life travel days and his computer is on the fritz and in the shop. I won Troubling, but I don't remember the exact score - something like 54-38. I have it at home (I'm away until Sunday). Aside from my occasional whining about the Sword Point scenario (from the Allied point of view), we're having fun.

Schultz and I just finished Troubling Times and we're on turn 24 or so of Sword Point. I won Troubling Times as Germans, but for some reason, the game did not ward me my rear objective flag. I had no troops camping there, but it was clearly within my control. I think that cost me 15 points or so. Oh, well.