Andreas

John "I rather do enjoy minor twiddly campaigns and odd forces" D. Salt hath spoken. And there was great confusion, wailing, and gnashing of teeth at the HQ of the multinational BFC Corporation. Their staff had that to say: Martin Turewicz: "Camels? We did not get horses in last time and he wants camels. He can have modded camel-dung." Matt Faller: "He can have a King's African Rifle up his ****" Steve Grammont: "I'll get the Weasel, does anyone have the directions to Sevenoaks, Kent?" "The Brain": "Camels - now there's a challenge..." Dan Olding: "Hmmm... Green Berets..."

Well, Mr Blue has re-appeared, and we had a rather pointless shootout between one Valentine (still mine) and two of his Naziscumselfpropelledgameygunsofwagneriandoomwithlongnames. His infantry is still suffering. Since we have had enough war-porn in the form of firing friggin tanks, I hereby submit my IwillmakehimweepbylettinghimknowhowmuchIknowabouthiseverymove graphic below. So, blue arrows are Mr. Blue's force movements (well - d'uh!). His northern approach is an infantry only move in strength. I don't know what he wants there, but I am sure I'll find out someday. He has another 10 turns or so to waste bimbling about, after all. His central approach is the one that has his Stormtroopers eating dust at the hands of my Ewokemulating superiorly spirited young Pinko bastiches. So he brought up two SPGs that could not hit a barndoor if it was leaning against their Mündungsbremse. The red lines are infantry positions I believe he knows about, and the red dots are tanks he knows about. There are more of either. Oh yes, guess WHOISONTHEVLSWAITING? Hint, they don't wear Feldgrau and jodel. Because of his frustration he is now committing environmental warcrimes by dropping small amounts of HE onto THE LARCH (see above post, some pages back). Greenpeace is disgusted, and a whale will drop from a big height onto his forces (forces in waiting, more like it), just when it is developing a sense of being. Now, it is Friday night and I have not been drinking. You should be scared. Edit: to add that the two blue dots are his SPGs. What they do where they are baffles me. If there are points awarded for baffling your opponent, I am in trouble deep in the tourney. [ April 04, 2003, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Andreas ]

Who cares, as long as it features the luminiscent Reindeer dancing the Tango that Soddball was talking about. That would be so cool.

There'll be Stukas over the vale of Tebourba tomorrow when I have my tea there'll be Spitfires over 10 minutes later when they're of no bloody use to me Sung to the tune of 'Cliffs of Dover', or sumfink. (with apologies for no doubt getting the exact text wrong) To get you in the mood (and stop me croaking): From History of the Irish Guards in World War 2: TUESDAY, 17 AUGUST, 1943 War Office, 17th August, 1943. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS to:- No. 2722925 Lance-Corporal John Patrick Kenneally, Irish Guards (Tipton, Staffs.). The Bou feature dominates all ground East and West between Medjez El Bab and Tebourba. It was essential to the final assault on Tunis that this feature should be captured and held. A Guards Brigade assaulted and captured a portion of the Bou on the 27th April, 1943. The Irish Guards held on to points 212 and 214 on the Western end of the feature, which points the Germans frequently counter-attacked. while a further attack to capture the complete feature was being prepared, it was essential for the Irish Guards to hold on. They did so. On the 28th April, 1943, the positions held by one Company of the Irish Guards on the ridge between points 212 and 214 were about to be subjected to an attack by the enemy. Approximately one Company of the enemy were seen forming up preparatory to attack and Lance-Corporal Kenneally decided that this was the right moment to attack them himself. Single-handed he charged down the bare forward slope straight at the main enemy body firing his Bren gun from the hip as he did so. This outstanding act of gallantry and the dash with which it was executed completely unbalanced the enemy Company which broke up in disorder. Lance-Corporal Kenneally then returned to the crest further to harass their retreat. Lance-Corporal Kenneally repeated this remarkable exploit on the morning of the 30th April, 1943, when, accompanied by a Sergeant of the Reconnaissance Corps, he again charged the enemy forming up for an assault. This time he so harassed the enemy, inflicting many casualties, that this projected attack was frustrated: the enemy’s strength was again about one Company. It was only when he was noticed hopping from one fire position to another further to the left, in order to support another Company, carrying his gun in one hand and supporting himself on a Guardsman with the other, that it was discovered he had been wounded. He refused to give up his Bren gun, claiming that he was the only one who understood that gun, and continued to fight all through that day with great courage, devotion to duty and disregard for his own safety. The magnificent gallantry of this N.C.O. on these two occasions, under heavy fire, his unfailing vigilance, and remarkable accuracy were responsible for saving many valuable lives during the days and nights in the forward positions. His actions also played a considerable part in holding these positions and this influenced the whole course of the battle. His rapid appreciation of the situation, his initiative and his extraordinary gallantry in attacking single-handed a massed body of the enemy and breaking up an attack on two occasions, was an achievement that can seldom have been equalled. His courage in fighting all day when wounded was an inspiration to all ranks. [ April 04, 2003, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Andreas ]

Same place - I and John will be there from 4 (pm, not am)

Alla Kefeek or sumfink

London drinks, Sunday 6th, 1700, The Chandos Be there or be a liberal peacemongering whimp. Or sumfink.

BTW Rex: late 43 sounds good. There will be SU-85s, and there will be Tungsten for the 76mm guns. I think Kip believes this to be one of the most balanced periods in terms of armour technology. I think we can leave random casualties, but I would do away with random troop fitness. Random quality can stay, as far as I am concerned.

Haven't heard anything from Mr. Blue the last few days. Wondering if that means my Valentine won over his SPG in the duel. Wondering if that means he is leaving the prime real estate we fought over to the rightful owner - i.e. me.

It would be helpful to have a full sentence. You could say 'eine (bunt) zusammengewuerfelte Kampfgruppe' in a narrative (e.g. 'doch der Angriff wurde von einer bunt zusammengewuerfelten Kampfgruppe der 3. Armee abgewehrt'), but an official reference would always be by name of commander, or designation of the staff on which the Kampfgruppe is based (e.g. KG Schneider or KG II./IR347).

Ah yes. I will provide some screenshots for entertainment tonight. I hope by then my Valentine will have dispatched his SPG to the place where naughty things on tracks roll when they have been punctured repeatedly. His infantry started a valiant assault on my perimeter. They looked very impressed with the return fire from that attempt, and are now busy licking their wounds, errr, regrouping. Mr. Blue is still coming over the crest of that hill. Well, trying to anyway. The assembly of soldiers and proletarians of my unit would personally like to thank the wise Comrade Stalin for giving us all those neato tanks.

The use of outdated equipment in the training and home formations was very common in the German army. There are documented instances of Stug IIID (shor 75 howitzer) being used in combat in 1945, when they were no longer in the line formations, for about 2-3 years. www.lexikonderwehrmacht.de has info on weapon stocks in 1945 (usually last avilable data) - unfortunately it is in German.

My God - page three, and no boobs wiggling. Up up with you In other news - Mr.Blue has started shooting at my troops. He has really upset one of my [CENSORED], and the Kommissar has decided to conduct a Meeting to extol the virtue of not being upset to the unit, and celebrate the liberation of another vast swathe of Rodina soil. Therefore, this is a unique opportunity for Mr. Blue. None of my men are watching his, they have all turned their backs, and are away from their weapons. In accordance with Order No. 342 'On the Preservation of Fuel', all tank engines have been turned off. My gun crews are taking exercise and parade ground drill. Will Mr.Blue display steely-eyed and protruding jaw like determination and fall on my hapless men? Watch this space!

Interestingly, some Russian cities like Rshev and Belyi seem to have the city centre on a grid layout. Oh, and you only have a train station in the city if you paid enough bribes to someone

John Salt told us a nice story in the pub on Saturday, about some Pommy gunners using a 5.5" medium piece to blow a Panzer III to smithereens in the desert, to the great upset of a tank-hunting detachment stalking it.

Small rider. I would think that especially the densities you give are more relevant in the west. Not in the east.

As Redwolf said, in WW2: Artillery = DF and indirect fire. Nowhere in your links does it say anything about indirect fire. If the Sturmartillerie's newfangled role of fire support for the infantry in the attack was such a revolution, then I would be interested in what ordinary gunners were supposed to do.

While they may have been used for this in indirect fire then and now, they were designed for and predominantly used in DF mode. That is the whole point of having a fully armoured gun. The AARs confirm it, the website you have linked to confirms it. The book 'The history of Stug Brigade 276 confirms it. I'd be interested in seeing some confirmation of this 'wide-spread' use of Stugs and Su122/152 assault guns in indirect fire. So far we have, well, nothing.

Err, Trommelfeuer, all your examples quite clearly talk about direct fire use of the assault gun. The reason they were introduced (and why they were so heavily armoured) was because a DF asset that was well protected and highly mobile was needed. That role was filled by the Stugs and SUs. While they could fire indirectly, that was neither their primary design purpose, nor their main use. The Soviets loved to use their artillery in DF anyway. Also, shooting indirectly on the hoof is not so easy, but takes some preparation and materials. While the crews may or may not have been able to do it, it would not have been an effective use of the asset.

What everybody wanted to know: Which bush is Mr.Blue behind? His belly-wiggling Lederhosenwearers are now subject to a bit of TLC from my artillery. I predict he won't be happy, and he told me as much. Other than that, I am digging in on the objective.

Bit of a pointless example that really does not tell you anything. Try this one: Germans tanks as you described Soviets 16 76.2 divisional guns 8 45mm guns 25 trenches Some snipers Some Tank hunter teams Germans attack

That's just a dedicated party member to you. All in a day's historic struggle to overthrow the Bourgeoisie.

Did not know that playing the Germans would rub off so badly. Ver ist der zvei Peanuts, eh Iain? Soon to come - another lesson for the losing, err, German side of this tournament - Lord knows Mr.Blue could use it

Ah - that's alright then. So that leaves only weak engines, suspension, bridges and the need to develop a pipeline trailing behind it as it goes as problems. Nothing German engineers can not overcome

Actually, I believe it is in the game and you get it thrown in for free every time you buy a conscript Volkssturm battalion. Of course, it will never show up on the map, because it bogs and gets immobilised on the way. Or there is a bridge. Or a non-tarmacced road. Or a railway crossing.