John Kettler

I hereby confirm that Fuerte is using stealth technology. The display shows the TD on the move, then a symbol, following which nothing is seen or heard until the 250/9 explodes. The veteran 250/9 sits there like a bump on a log until it's smashed with a single shot. Am starting to suspect Fuerte of certain supernatural deals with the nether regions. Fuerte has brought up another halftrack, has infantry in one of the VL huts, and has popped up with infantry to the woods on the right as well. MickOZ and I are on hiatus. I hold much of the town, but he's moving in troops to contest, killed a Hetzer with a TD lucky to escape a mortaring, and has brought out armor on the left while smoking my right rear. Regards, John Kettler

I fully intend to submit my remaining AAR, but my poor brain simply hasn't been equal to a task requiring a level of concentration that goes way beyond cycling turns. This AAR deserves my best, but right now that's not good enough by any means. Regards, John Kettler

MickOZ and I continue to duel in the Punchbowl of Death. He smote my veteran 250/9, but in reply a Hetzer of mine K-killed his Sherman, while my fire support creamed an M-8 HMC and scared an apparent Stuart into retreat. Artillery fire and mortars are causing misery to both parties, particularly the doggedly advancing infantry. Fuerte is apparently playing the Stoic, for he has grossly understated the hell I unleashed upon him in the turn he described. I threw not only the kitchen sink, but the kitchen and the house. The entire middle of his position exploded in a deluge of fire consisting of multiple calibers and types, both indirect and direct. This fire destroyed one halftrack, buttoned other armor (no word on crew casualties), smashed down on his forward positions, plus blasted the nearby defiles, treelines and assembly areas to his close and middle rear and flanks. Heaven help any troops in the trees! No own goals were scored. Fuerte may simply have been too busy to respond quickly, but I suspect substantial shock underlies the long delay in his responding to that shattering turn. Clearly, he's using humor in his description of the explosive deluge I dropped on him. Regards, John Kettler

redeker, Thanks for confirming my somewhat fuzzy memory and slightly off acronym. I hope Steve noticed this and that appropriate coding measures are instituted to properly model this military oddment. The thread is quite a read, though a bit deep and heated in places. No word yet on the Russian ankle biter wire obstacles either. Regards, John Kettler

I just sent off my long AAR to Treeburst155 and cced Peter same. I think I sent the right attachment, but if not, Peter and Treeburst155 both have the correct one on hand. Treeburst155, if I did screw up, please use the correct one when you send out my AAR to Wild Bill and the other, er, victims. With the completion of this AAR, I have only to complete the very long one on my finger gnawing meatgrinder of a battle against Tom before my Section II responsibilities end. Regards, John Kettler [ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: John Kettler ]</p>

Peter sent me an excellent AAR, and mine on the same fight is well begun, though it probably won't reach his level of detail. The experience was so chaotic, overwhelming and incredibly frustrating that I have no desire to wade through the military muck again so intimately, nor do I need to in order to adequately cover what needs to be addressed. I think I'll finish this one before attempting any further AAR work on the battle against Tom. Wild Bill, I've tried not to take all this grotesque and humiliating military abuse personally, but I do feel that I got practically every short end of the stick in terms of side played in the murderous scenarios you so cleverly and fiendishly concocted. As noted earlier, I can but hope that others in my place performed worse while in my boots in aggregate than I did. Spot reports suggest that this may not be true. This has certainly been a learning experience, and it has borne out my contention earlier that I would do better in general in a realistic tactical environment than I did in min/max run amok. My thanks to you, Treeburst155, WineCape, SuperTed and all the other troops involved in making this searing, wrenching gaming experience possible. Regards, John Kettler

Steve, I think it's great that FTs will apparently have improved mobility in CMBB. I feel they've needed work in that area for some time. What I'd like to know, though, is whether the Russians will get some benefit from their FT which was specifically designed to be hard to spot, being disguised as a service rifle and backpack? I believe the designation was ROK-1, but I'm working from feeble memory, not references here. Also, will the Russian static FTs be modeled? They could make attacking fortifications really exciting. While I'm at it, will engineers and the like be given the means to breach barbed wire, and will the Russian low wire obstacles be depicted? From what I've read, these were nasty surprises and very hard to spot. Regards, John Kettler

Battle has been joined with Fuerte, largely in his favor, I regret to say. My infantry on the left engaged his in the center of what looks like Bavaria (hilly, lots of trees, objectives in the center high up), putting an apparent mortar squad to flight and forcing others into the treeline. I also harried his men on my left with mortar fire ordered earlier. The next turns brought pain in quantity. Light armor hunting forward to deal with a pesky HT got smoked by an apparent Sherman. Worse, a regular TD K-killed one of my pieces of veteran armor, even though it was screened by the woods, and didn't die in return. The HT survived a hail of close HE bursts still mobile, too. Fuerte is very lucky so far. Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155, I hope you're still behind on your AAR reading. If not, my apologies. Brain function the last few days has been grossly inadequate for detailed tactical dissections of complex engagements. I say this based on several attempts recently. Regards, John Kettler

Fuerte's turn arrived intact and has been responded to already. I also managed to shake the cobwebs and battle fatigue from my brain and send MickOZ my setup as the Germans. My Rumblings Section II battles are finished, but I still owe two major AARs before I'm really done. Regards, John Kettler

The battle against Peter is finished. I got to see the outcome first, then sent the outcome onward to Peter. Treeburst155 may or may not have it yet. This completes all my open games in Section II. I do owe AARs for both the Tom and Peter battles. Lots of work ahead! Regards, John Kettler

Von Fauster, And the answer is... 7.5 cm leIG 18, early pattern with spoked wooden wheels for horse traction. According to Gander and Chamberlain in WEAPONS OF THE THIRD REICH, p. 283, this version began to be replaced in 1937 by a later one with metal disc wheels and pneumatic tires. The principal ID feature for this gun is that wavy piece of armor which moves in elevation with the gun, itself distinctive in its wavy shield outline intended to make the gun blend with the ground and the stubby protrusion of the barrel from its apparent armored housing. Page 284 of that reference has a nice shots of both the early and later versions of the gun in action. GERMAN INFANTRY WEAPONS, Vol. 1, edited by Donald McClean and published by Normount Armament Company in multiple editions from 1966-70 has an entire section (pp.136-149) devoted to the gun, including tech specs, photos and firing procedures. The early version of the gun is shown under horse traction, in action, and being dragged. You'll find the photos of the latter to be remarkably similar to the ones Andreas sent me. Hope this helps. Regards, John Kettler

Von Fauster, If you'd care to E-mail me a scan of the photo (kettler@relaypoint.net), I'd be happy to ID it for you. I have a first class reference here covering all German artillery: WEAPONS OF THE THIRD REICH, by Terry Gander and Peter Chamberlain. I faithfully promise no secondary distribution if that is your desire. Besides, I'm so Internet clueless I don't know how to post a photo. Regards, John Kettler

KwazyDog, I just passed the word to my model club in Atlanta, Georgia, of which I am a Member at Large out here in California. It operates through The War Room, the largest and best equipped model shop in the Southeast. You might want to pass the word to Brookhurst Hobbies in California, too. The shop has some impressive pieces in the display case. My club's got some national caliber talent, but I'm not it. Regards, John Kettler

The battle against Tom is over. True to form lately, the AI has again come up with some strange interpretations of effective combat power and its positioning relative to certain objectives. The battle itself was a fine demonstration of turning good troops into blutwurst and hamburger and will be the subject of a detailed AAR in the next few days. Peter sent me a turn, and I've issued my penultimate battle orders in reply. His is the only remaining Section II game I have. Five are complete including detailed AARs; one just ended and lacks the AAR, though Treeburst155 has been sent the end of game screen and map for my fight against Tom. Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155 and Kingfish, The zipped version Treeburst155 sent me directly worked. The terrain is not at all what I expected, but that may prove to be a good thing. The battle's on at last! Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155 and Kingfish, The most recent attempt was still devoid of terrain. If you think zipping will help, by all means try it. Ben, Thanks for the missing Fuerte update. Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155 and Kingfish, I tried the relayed file but am still seeing the battlefield in 2-D. Did we somehow drop a step from earlier procedures? Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155, I believe the usual drill has been to relay it to me via Kingfish. For reasons unknown, this seems to solve the problem. We have had one instance in the past where the problem was traced to the wrong file having been sent to me in the first place. I have no idea what we're up against now, but I'm positive I don't want to go to war on a billiard table. It could drastically affect my combat survivability, there being no protective terrain whatsoever. Does anyone know where Fuerte is? For someone who was so avid to fight me earlier, he's scarcely been heard from at all. I believe there was one post from him over the holidays. Regards, John Kettler

I've sent my final turn to Tom and am awaiting the last movie and associated screens. I continue to apply pressure on his right and am intimately mixed with his units in the center. Several positions seem up in the air at present, but I've taken measures to stabilize them. Peter is back in the States, and we are but two full turns away from completing a battle that makes the others look like glee club by comparison. I can only hope that my counterparts have an even worse time with it militarily than I am having. I could be wrong, of course, but I have real doubts that I'll score high enough to take the Section win. It's been an intensely wild and destructive ride for me on the Wild Bill Scenario Express. A few years of intensive therapy, though, and I'll be good to go. Regards, John Kettler

Have been informed that I'm Germans and that there are no troop restrictions in effect, other than those previously agreed upon. Am now beginning to chose my troops. Regards, John Kettler

No joy, Treeburst155! I just sent you my AAR for my battle vs. MickOZ. I think it covers the major aspects, but it is in no way an attempt to provide blow by blow coverage. That would take a fully functioning brain. Right now, mine's attempting to reproduce by splitting in two! Works to your benefit, though. Nothing from Peter or Tom. Guess I'll start my troop buy for the Invitational against the redoubtable and crafty MickOZ. Regards, John Kettler

Treeburst155 has just been sent the agreed upon terms for the MickOZ vs. JK battle. We await side notification, following which we will buy troops and fight on a blind map. Given the havoc we inflicted on each other in Rumblings, I expect profuse bloodshed. Regards, John Kettler

MickOZ and I have finished hammering each other into tactically structured oblivion in Rumblings. We now turn to finishing arrangements for less structured slaughter in the Invitational. He doesn't like the Jarmo rules, so has been given a counterproposal. Fuerte must be on vacation or has been abducted by aliens. No turn from him. To the rest of you I've yet to fight, be of good cheer. My last two games in Rumblings are but a few turns from completion. This will clear my decks to blast your pojies shortly. Regards, John Kettler

Younger than the mountains; older than some trees. I'll be 47 on January 15th, but for now am still 46. Regards, John Kettler