Macisle

Yeah, I was really expecting to lose both Shermans, and thus the game, to PFs and schrecks before they could tackle the Panthers. Now, I've got to decide whether or not to risk the last Sherman to save the ATGs or sacrifice them and perhaps ping the last Panther later from a position safe from infantry. I'll probably send in the Sherman, as it will be my best opportunity for a rear shot, if I can find a way to get it to target reasonably safely. If I lose it, I still might lose the game, despite the previous successful thunder run. The Germans have a ton of infantry left, I'm sure. My regular GIs likely won't be able to hold back that much SS infantry without some kind of heavier support.

He-he. Yeah, I'm a proud father of that purty little Sherman. It was a classic sudden decision point. For setup, I had two hidden Shermans (my only armor) on the enemy's right and my armored infantry co.'s ATGs on their left. Early on, a lead Panther had explored forward and traded shots with one unhidden ATG. It won the gun duel and knocked out the ATG, but then got spooked and backed into death from the Sherman side. Then, the turn before the picture was taken, the remaining four Panthers pulled up together, supported by a large group of infantry. Suddenly, it was a win or lose decision point. If I held back the Shermans, the ATGs would be wiped out and the German force would get across the bridge en masse. But, with all the German infantry around, the Shermans would likely never make it far enough to get a shot off. I decided to roll the dice and send in the Shermans to knife fight, supported by a few GIs on the ground for an attempt at the most thin of infantry screens (all I had in range). One Sherman got knocked out en route by enemy infantry AT as expected, but the second made it and proceeded to knock out three Panthers and slice up some enemy infantry in a glorious run -- the results of which are shown in the picture. After that, I popped smoke and backed out the Sherman to a safer place. I was surprised he made it out, as there is something like a company+ of SS infantry in that area. I guess I had enough area fire pouring on (various MGs, harrassing mortars and ATGs) to keep the German infantry distracted. Now, the last Panther (prolly HQ) has charged forward and is bearing on the ATGs. Another decision point for the Sherman...

AT guns to the left of me, Shermans to the right, here I am...

For early war German infantry, I use Sicher units and give each platoon 3 MG34s. Like you said, still can't get rid of the PFs, though. The Soviets are harder, since the only way to get rid of the high mid/late war SMG count is to go with 43 divisional recon, add LMGs as needed and use more of them to make up for the 6-man squads. I'd sure LOVE to see a 2-man vanilla rifle team unit added to the specialist team menu for each faction. Then, you could fill in the riflemen where you need them.

Kings in Retirement and A Delaying Action were among the first scenarios I played when CM:BN was fresh out of the oven. I recall really enjoying both.

Here's hoping that includes a paid upgrade. And, here's hopedy-hoping it might follow along not too long after Fire and Rubble hits the virtual shelves.

Thanks for the bones. And for the closer peek at that gorgeous Berlin map! Also, that first pic of the rural area is beautiful. Very natural. Looking forward to what 2020 will bring!

He-he. Maybe. That would certainly do it. This particular squad has been looking for a reason to surrender all day. Their nickname in the battalion is "Band of Brittles."

Enemy FT man takes no chit, but does, thankfully, take prisoners.

He's bravely shooting at enemy infantry while the remnants of the squad displace - having lost fire superiority. I think his officer just forgot to tell him to bug out. That would be me!

Thanks! Here's one more: The last man - just before his last breath.

LMG duel across no-man's land.

Trading fire at close quarters.

Yep. Heavy rockets make for great dynamic tank dugouts. I love parking my afvs in them.

Advance!

Here's how the next few seconds played out: The Tiger edges forward to clear the shellhole and lets off an angry burst of MG fire as it noses up. The AT crew holds steady and aims at the Tiger. Just then, a random mortar round lands beside the ATG and kills everyone except the gunner. As debris flies all around and and his comrades' lifeless bodies hit the ground, the gunner puts a round right into the Tiger's face. Alas, it only knocks off a whisker or two and the gunner decides to boogie. As he ditches the gun and heads for cover, the turn ends. Kitty done had his prey stolen. The crew was mine. They earned their pay earlier tearing up Germans crossing the street. One shot of HE took out five guys.

That moment when you realize you brought an airsoft to a black powder party...

I put that in Google Translate and the answer I got was "hype hype hype hype hype." However, yes, a status update is long overdo. -Am on one of my many breaks right now, but here's a summary: Primary building of master map is complete. All doors and windows are done, unless I decide to redo something. I do have a couple of funky experimental church constructions that I need to work the clay on more, though. I also need to do a final round of fine-tuning the elevations. It's probably okay now, but I'd like to smooth things out a bit more in some areas. Balancing the sprawling connected building sections with some of the elevation changes, as expected, was a biatch. However, fighting through it yielded some neat stuff. As stated many times in this thread, the project won't come out until after the CMRT module is released. I need elements from the module to finish things. The current path to completion is: 1. Finish what can be done on map/scenarios/campaign/QB maps without new module. 2. Get new module, integrate new units, and create custom graphics pack using some elements from module. Also, winterize. 3. Complete the map/scenarios/campaign/QB map work. I'm doing what I can in terms of "pre-working" scenario ideas. However, I want to avoid duplicating work wherever possible. That means I need to wait so that I have to do things like unit setup as few times as possible (for example, if I change the master map, I have to redo unit setups for any slices, each of which takes at least an hour). Anyway, that means the project is still a number of months away. But, it will be released in 2020 for sure. And, there may be a SP campaign. Maybe.

I grok many of the footsteps of your long, long journey, senpai. The only way to really understand what kind of work and devotion goes into making the kind of wonderful content you are creating is to stick your hands in the clay and try it yourself. Can't wait to dive into your magic. Both to play and to learn.

Very nice. Looking forward to getting my hands on the goodies!

The Enemy Takes Revenge! As 1st Company assumes overwatch and 3rd Company masses for crossing a main avenue, German heavy artillery comes out of nowhere to pound key Soviet positions. 3rd Company's inexperienced infantry break and run. It is as if the enemy howitzers can read the minds of the fleeing troops. Stray rounds land in exactly the right places. Men fall everywhere. It is hell on earth. Soviet forward observers hug the ground for dear life as their building shakes again and again. Throughout the structure, large numbers of soldiers do the same. If building sections begin to collapse, the battalion could lose many key units very quickly. From their hiding places, Germans can observe the loss of a Soviet assault gun that thought it was safe enough to turn and help mop up the last defenders in a desired overwatch and jumping off position across the street. The commander of 3rd Company is killed and even 2nd Company in reserve at a distance takes casualties from stray rounds. It is a dark stretch of minutes that may have decided the battle. Is this the end of the line?

Other than the veteran team being a bit early and the insurance AT team being a bit late, it went textbook good. I great minute indeed. However, a lot of off camera prep work went into the shown assault. The platoon of Panthers is in a E-W line facing S, one per block. Each block has infantry, but I don't know where. Most likely, the AI has set them up to guard each Panther pretty well. My battalion was advancing two-up with 1st Co. on the left and 2nd on the right. After locating the Panthers and judging the terrain (my first time testing this area of my map), 2nd Co. decided to hold just out of contact and let 1st Co. push on the far left. With the help of a platoon of T-34s, MGs and medium mortars, 1st Platoon was able to clear out infantry and an AT gun on the extreme left to gain rear access to buildings on the 3 o'clock of the westernmost Panther. However, that area didn't offer a vehicle exit for flanking the Panther. Meanwhile, 2nd Platoon was able to fight its way to get access to the Panther's 9. Then, I attempted an infantry pincer with a single T-34 charging up the street, hoping to catch the Panther while it was focused on the infantry. However, the Panther's infantry screen was deeper than I thought and the assault failed. The veterans in my right infantry pincer had trouble organizing themselves on their destination action spot and that gave the Panther time to get off a shot at them and drive them off. Then, a new PS team popped up and nailed my tank as soon as it rounded the curve. Along with that, my two AT teams in the left pincer got intercepted by more surprise infantry. Finally, the Panther turned its attention to my overwatch infantry team in a building and wiped them out with a single round. After that, I regrouped and spent time clearing out the additional German infantry around both sides of the Panther. Eventually, I was able to bag it with another infantry pincer (no tank the second time). Killling that first Panther gave me access to a vehicle entry point into the inner block area that would give me a chance to flank the second Panther. In order to do that, I had to take the factory talked about in my pic series as a first bridgehead. The defenders there put up a good fight ("No ground given lightly" pic). That fight also confirmed the Panther had a solid infantry screen in the building on its 9. The "intel" pic was of them taking out my tank supporting the factory assault with a PS throug the alley. Then, I called in an extended barrage on the Panther hoping to eliminate it and its infantry screen without a fight. While that went on, I used scout, bleed and whack-a-mole to ID and deal with various inner-block defenders denying me a path to the 3 and 6 of the Panther. Eventually, I eliminated or drove them into the out-of-LOS areas of the perimeter buildings of the inner block. The N perimeter buildings are still injun country. All scouts sent in there have died immediately. However, I was able to get them off my back as far as setup for the Panther assault was concerned. At a certain point, I decided it was time to call off the arty and scout the status of the Panther and infantry screen. That's when the story of Ranbo and Pointy came into being. That takes things up to the assault and results. The terrain goal is a number of blocks to the N. This is just the first leg to get me past the first (yes, the first) line of Panthers. The perimeter buildings to the N of the current block border on a wide avenue I need to cross to get to the next leg. The "sniper" MG team is in one of the tall buildings on the other side of that avenue covering the same road as the first Panther. As things stand, 1st Co. is badly mauled. I'm shifting 2nd Co. W to relieve them and push on a single company front, rather than 2-wide as I began. 3rd company and my combat engineer platoon are still in reserve. Alas, 3rd Company is not my best and also took some casualties from stray German heavy rockets in the opening minutes (along with THREE of my AFVs and an AC ). It might be better to advance with 3rd Co. now and hold 2nd in final reserve. Anyhoo, it's going to be a long battle and my force may not be enough to get all the way through. I need to be very careful where I spend resources and try to be as smart as possible. If I don't need to take a block, I should bypass it. And, there will be a triggered counterattack at some point, but I honestly can't remember where the trigger is. Dem be Tigers.. I have my battalion ATGs with trucks to help with flank defense. Not sure if I'll post more pics. I don't what to give too much of the map away. That's why things are staying at eye level, with limited views of the map area.

Here's that location in real life :

The plan: The bulk of 3rd Platoon (minus 3rd Squad: the Alleys), reinforced by an MG team will rush Pointy's building to put fire on Ranbo and engage any other infantry screen remnants that pop up. One AT team split off from 2nd Squad will run down the alley and stop at the right rear of the Panther for close assault. Additionally, a veteran team of consisting of the last four men from 1st Plt, 2nd Squad will quickly funnel through the building right next to the Panther to close assault from the same spot that the AT team is heading for. Various delays are added to hopefully help the infantry get into position with good timing. In support, 1st Plt, 2nd Tank will wait 30 sec for the infantry to clear out Ranbo and then move forward E from his spot just N of Pointy's building, turret facing S, to engage the Panther. After 15 secs in that position, he'll edge S a few meters and free up his turret facing. Lastly, a SU-76 south of the block will wait 30 seconds and then move up N on the Panther. By then, the Panther's turret will hopefully be facing somewhere else. The results of the Action: The terrifying prospect of a friendly artillery round landing right on my assault units thankfully fails to materialize. Friendly infantry elements move forward into position. First contact is made when the veterans of 1st Plt, 2nd Squad and Ranbo spot each other. Ranbo raises his MP40 to fire, but the LMG gunner across the street is a hair faster and drops him with his first burst. That's a downpayment for Pointy. The team heads out the door to take up their close assault position, squad leader first. As soon as he clears the door, a rifle shot rings out from Ranbo's building. The bullet grazes the leader's arm. He was the last unwounded man in the team. Now, all four men are fighting with injuries. In a reversed replay of the last duel between Ranbo and Pointy, the German rifleman gets off some shots, but the Soviet team's SMG man returns fire and nails the rifleman. With the Panther's bodyguards successfully dispatched, it's time for the hunters to focus on the main prize. The veteran team tosses a grenade while 2nd tank and the SU-76 start their run. As the grenade knocks on the Panther's door, it turns to engage the thrower. However, 2nd Tank is in position and lands a solid rear shot on the beast. It's a kill shot and the surviving crew members bail, while the veteran team decides to take cover back in the building. The German tank commander is immediately cut down by MG fire from 2nd Tank. In a fitting tribute to Pointy, the T-34 sprays a canister round into the remaining three Panther crew members, while the veteran team squad leader empties his magazine into them as well before joining his team in the building. 2nd Tank edges up as the overwatch MG and infantry spray area fire into the building areas that housed the German infantry screen. The Panther is dead. Ranbo is dead. Pointy is avenged! No men lost. Now that was a good turn!

Next post on the way!