Kanonier Reichmann

MG. You don't want the TNT to do ****. You want it to clear ****. Mind you, using TNT may not be the recommended method according to the Master Plumbers Association. Regards Jim R.

Battle of the Baltic Sea Soviets have a company of Marines vs the Germans company of disbanded naval troops. Each side is equipped with enough assault boats to carry all the troops. They start at their respective ends on a 1 k.m. by 1 k.m. map with the major objective in the middle. Only catch is the entire map is water. Regards Jim R.

Bumping so that we can get John "Rocketman" Kettlers AAR's in the right thread. Regards Jim R.

Bumping so that we can get John "Rocketman" Kettlers AAR's in the right thread. Regards Jim R.

Bumping so that we can get John "Rocketman" Kettlers AAR's in the right thread. Regards Jim R.

The other thing to bear in mind Tigrii is that the 10 shot limit is an abstraction with each "shot" that you hear being fired actually representing a number of individual shots. That's why a sharpshooter (usually if at least veteran) can sometimes kill two guys in a squad with one "shot" due to this abstraction. Regards Jim R.

The other thing to bear in mind Tigrii is that the 10 shot limit is an abstraction with each "shot" that you hear being fired actually representing a number of individual shots. That's why a sharpshooter (usually if at least veteran) can sometimes kill two guys in a squad with one "shot" due to this abstraction. Regards Jim R.

Mikko H. wrote One word for Assault Gun Battalion? Jeez, I would hate to think what a Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion is called! Regards Jim R.

It's a dirty Commie conspiracy I tell ya! This on top of being the Allies 4 times in the Nordic Wannabee tournament as well. What have I ever done to you TB? BTW, I have received 2 initial PBEM files and have yet to start my one and only as the Germans as I like to "savour" the setup part, especially as it's the only time I'll get to play with a Sturmoser Tiger.....ohhhh.....WHOOPS! Regards Jim R.

Well I still have this theory C.C. that you're really Titan under a different name! It could explain many things. Whaddya reckon H? Am I onto something here or do we need to enlist the Illuminati? BTW, I'm probably not the fastest player around especially as I still have quite a few other CMBO PBEM's to finish off as well at the moment. As far as I'm concerned H, there's no rush. Regards Jim R.

It's a minor "bug" that also existed with CMBO from memory. The engine can't handle the crews that can abandon their weapon the same way it does MG crews that aren't able to abandon their weapon even when down to one man (unless surrendered of course). I'm sure the new engine in CM II will be different however. When you think about it though, imagine a 1 man crew manhandling a 105mm howitzer yet I bet it can theoretically be done in CMBB. Regards Jim R.

Jeez, I dunno. I saw the film and thought it was crap! Especially with one commander deciding the best use of his (expensive) resources is to charge a toothless AFV at its opposite number in the hope of blocking LOS when it gets destroyed. :eek: Couldn't agree more. It's a great read. No way! He threw away that poor Panzer II when ordering it rush out from behind the building into the teeth of a waiting KVI! BTW, it's good to see you back contributing to the board again Fionn. 'Tis a pity about no future AAR's but we'll learn to survive without them. Perhaps some information that may help you decide to reverse your decision. I haven't seen many posts from Jason C. lately so this could help sway you if you're wavering. Regards Jim R.

Methinks that Master Goodale's KV 1 is toast judging by how close that German squad is yet not spotted at this point. That leaves only one useful tank left for the Russians to perform miracles with. Somehow, I don't like its chances. Still, I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Regards Jim R.

I didn't think the 17 pders were available to the Poms in North Africa. 6 pders yes but not 17 pders from my understanding, they simply hadn't been developed and issued by late 1942/early 1943. Regards Jim R.

Very nice AAR's guys. Just one thing MG. In case you didn't know already, knocked out AFV's do not block LOS in the game. You may already know this and are simply putting it in your AAR for effect but I just thought I would clarify in case someone else thought that they might. Keep it up. Regards Jim R.

Posted by Panzer_cross This is a classic! It's almost up there with Please fix or do sumfink! By the way, shouldn't it be spelt Los Vaguest?....or sumfink. Regards Jim R.

Hmmm....somehow I doubt whether the Germans would be using the British Imperial measurement system of feet and inches. I'm guessing it may have been calibrated based on the metric system. Regards Jim R.

Serriously Lorrin. Is anyone going to argue with you when it comes to grog issues? I've always understood the 25 pounder was of 88mm calibre so 87.6mm is close enough for me. Regards Jim R.

Thank god! I've finally completed this monster AAR that has ended up being more like War & Peace than a standard post battle description. Perhaps I can act as a temporary substitute for Jason Cawley while he's otherwise engaged with other matters? .....THE SAGA CONTINUES..... Turn 15 Re-inforcements at last! Just in the nick of bleedin’ time I might add. Consisting of a platoon of regular Rifle 44 squads (one is a veteran) with a half useful platoon HQ who has single command and morale bonuses PLUS a Veteran JgPz IV and a Crack JgPz IV. Oh joy of joys! I proceed to rush the veteran JgPz IV to the south to take up a hull down position on the southern outskirts of the town with good views of the dirt road. The crack JgPz is ordered to manouevre into a position in a thin strip of scattered woods with a LOS down the main highway, to discourage the enemy infantry casually moving up the main road. I decide to deal with the 6 enemy tanks on the northern side of the main road later, when I manage to conjure up a cunning plan. Mind you, my 2 Stugs are now in position in the scattered trees in a hull down position close to the northern edge with restricted views of the main road and the large wheatfield. The infantry platoon is deployed with 2 squads moving into the ground floor of a large 2 storey building with views to the west once the enemy gets close enough. The 3rd (veteran) platoon is deployed to the south of town into a small stone building in an attempt to create some sort of crossfire when the inevitable hordes of American troops come rushing in from the vicinity of the dirt road. Unfortunately this turn, my HMG team by the small V.L. gets suppressed by tank and MG fire from a “Tank Destroyer” that has magically appeared in wheatfields to the south west while additional fire from 3 approaching squads soon convince them to bug out of their foxhole in a routed state. All the time I’m pounding the nearest enemy squad to my HMG with crossfire from my southern 20mm cannon plus 81 mm mortar rounds all to no effect it seems since the squad keeps on keeping on with no apparent loss of men judging by the 3 man state they retain. One minor problem I note during the turn, my so called Crack JgPz seems to be having great difficulty getting itself to face towards the enemy as instructed once reaching its position and proceeds to turn its flank to the west for no apparent reason. Thank god, I think at the time that nothing has LOS to it as it would surely have been Sherman fodder. Turn 16 I decide to hunt my veteran JgPz a bit further south in order to obtain a better hull down position with the hull angled up as much as possible. Unfortunately, the JgPz takes a particular dislike to the American squad that had previously taken a so called beating from my 81 mm mortar and 20 mm Flak the previous turn and proceeds to target it for virtually the entire time firing at least 5 HE rounds at it, for seemingly no effect as it still retains 3 figures throughout the turn. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with this target decision making apart from the fact my unit was being targeted in return by a “Tank Destroyer” roughly 525 metres away for at least half the turn and had weathered 3 shots fired at it from this threat which had luckily all missed their mark. Right at the end of the turn a 2nd enemy “Tank Destroyer?” appeared in the wheatfield to the south west and this time the JgPz did decide to switch targets with about 1 second left on the clock before the end of the turn. I’m thinking at the time if he really has so many tank destroyers, probably of the M18 variety then I’m in deep s#!t. At last, an enemy infantry platoon emerged from Bois Morel and moved towards the gap in the wall surrounding the wheatfield. My lmg team stoically held back its fire until being fired at then unleashed its full fury at the advancing squads. 2 bursts later it was pinned down in the scattered woods and down to one man but at least this time I did see that it caused at least 3 casualties to the enemy. A reasonable trade-off I tell myself in order to delay the enemy by half a turn perhaps. By the end of the turn I have lost the HMG team due to it being immobilised and about to be captured plus my southern flank 20 mm Flak gun to area fire from a third previously unseen “Tank Destroyer” that appeared in the wheatfield just slightly to the north of the dirt road. What is this… a bleedin’ Tank Destroyer convention or sumfink! At least my crack JgPz IV managed to sort itself out and face in a westerly direction by the end of the turn. Turn 17 I figured this would be a crucial turn as I had 2 “Tank Destroyers” in sight at around 500 metres range with my JgPz’s position being hull down but the enemy having two guns against one. My first shot from the veteran JgPz managed to find its mark and knock out the 1st T.D. while the return fire from the previously I.D.’d Tank Destroyer still couldn’t find the range. T.D. number 2 was lined up and on the second shot, the JgPz managed to achieve a gun hit while the third shot finished it off with a penetrating knock out blow. Strangely, no return fire was received after the initial shot from the enemy AFV as it must have lost sight of my JgPz at a crucial juncture. At the same time, hordes of American infantry swarmed across open ground to the south in an attempt to reach scattered woods near where my 20mm Flak gun had been knocked out. An HMG was positioned in the upper storey of a heavy building in town and managed to convince the leading squad to change direction towards a small patch of isolated scattered woods directly away from the source of the MG fire. My JgPz also managed to persuade a 2nd squad to give up on its headlong flight towards distant scattered woods with a nearby explosion convincing it to return to the relative safety of the wheatfield and wall behind it. Unfortunately, 3 apparently full strength squads were still rushing towards their destination by the end of the turn and I still had a Pak40 AT gun hidden in them thar woods. While this was going on my crack JgPz in town managed to draw a bead on a halftrack sitting stationery on the highway roughly 1,100 metres away. After carefully lining up the shot it missed by approx. 100 metres behind the target. No matter I thought, being a crack crew should ensure a hit the second time around but by now the halftrack was desperately moving the hell out of LOS as well as 2 other halftracks that had magically appeared out of nowhere in the general vicinity. 2nd shot missed to the right by about 5 metres so I felt certain a 3rd shot would hit from such a crack crew but alas, no such luck, with the 3rd shot missing by approx. 50 metres too short. There were no 4th or 5th shots as the halftracks had all scattered to both sides of the highway and contact was lost. While muttering under my breath I felt that at least the other JgPz had done his duty with distinction that turn. Turn 18 Time to reveal my cunning plan. I decide to rush my crack JgPz across the central highway to take up a position amongst small buildings just to the north of the church with restricted fields of fire so my Tank Destroyer will hopefully only ever have one on one duels with the opposing M4 and M4A3 Shermans which were by now advancing in open ground towards the large wheatfield. The plan appeared to be working because towards the end of the turn my hunting JgPz spotted an enemy M4A3 Sherman at about 850 metres distance which had been area firing onto the main highway with smoke to mask the advance of the American infantry. First shot against a stationary target- MISS, 2nd shot against a now moving target- MISS. By now I’m beginning to wonder whether this crack crew had somehow been misidentified and should have been described as crap. On the southern flank I had decided to unhide my 75mm AT gun as I felt it only a matter of time before enemy infantry start to swarm the area and spot it anyway. After 2 shots from it at some distant 60mm mortars in the open, every man and their dog knows of the guns whereabouts and starts to target it with small arms fire from a variety of directions. Luckily it’s all fairly distant stuff and being a crack crew, they shrug off the usual suppressive effects. A 2nd running American squad in the open is persuaded to turn and flee due to the effects of HMG fire from approx. 500 metres away and heads towards the same small patch of scattered trees the previous squad decided was its best option the previous turn. Luckily for me that previous squad had had enough and fled the battlefield off the southern edge leaving me one less infantry squad to have to worry about. The veteran JgPz did its best to stem the flood with HE shots at the running infantry it could spot but the 3rd Tank Destroyer on the southern flank had taken an interest in its presence and area targeted a spot in front of the JgPz with smoke, obscuring its vision for part of the turn. Turn 19 I could see that Spanish Bomb’s plan was to cover the highway with smoke from his Shermans on the northern side of the road in order to allow his platoon of infantry to move up the highway relatively unmolested. I saw this as an opportunity to move my central Pak40 gun back to its original foxhole position alongside the highway now that attempts to see down the road was obscured by smoke. I gave orders accordingly along the lines of a Picard “make it so" while continuing to hunt my crack JgPz west to try and draw a LOS on the enemy tank that had mysteriously disappeared from sight. Shortly into the turn my crack JgPz spots its target again and looses off a shot at around 870 metres only to see it fall short by a paltry 120 metres, then it loses sight of the now identified Sherman 76 again. I’m starting to think that the gunner is either using Toys-R-Us gunsights or carries a white cane with himself wherever he goes. Now the boot is on the other foot with the Sherman 76 firing back at my crack JgPz which can’t seem to spot the source of fire. Luckily, the opposing tank gunner seems to have caught the apparent glaucoma disease my guy is suffering from and also misses by a bulls roar. After hunting forward a tad more the crack JgPz spots its foe and fires a second time at 860 metres, this time only missing by around 120 metres to the rear and to the left. Third shot at the now moving Sherman 76 is right on line but unfortunately is long by a mere 200 metres or so. Oh, by the way… did I happen to mention this is a Crack crew manning the JgPz although its behaviour is more akin to a crew on Crack. Fourth shot at just a tad over 800 metres only misses this time by about 20 metres to the left so I’m starting to get my hopes up again but… you guessed it…the fifth and final shot that turn at a range of 785 metres is only just long by a smidgen, a smidgen measuring approx. 220 metres! So, to recap, this alleged crack JgPz has just fired 7 times at the same target over 2 turns starting at under 900 metres and finishing at under 800 metres for the grand return of no hits, bugger all, F.A., nada, zippo, not a sausage, zilch, zero, NUFINK! Once I had taken my Mogadon to soothe the nerves I decided to concentrate solely on viewing the left flank for any subsequent replays of the turn and ignore the right, lest I have a seizure. On this flank the news is a bit brighter with my Crack 75mm AT gun lining up a temporarily halted halftrack on the main highway at approx. 600 metres. This, did I mention that word again…crack gun crew under the command of a plus 2 firing bonus and plus 1 morale leader takes its first shot at the stationary target and misses, thereby allowing the infantry passenger to egress unmolested. The second shot at this still stationary halftrack misses, the 3rd shot at the now moving target actually hits but guess what… it’s an MG hit that has absolutely no effect as the halftrack continues to fire back with its solitary MG! The 4th shot at under 540 metres also misses but the halftrack has now had enough and starts to reverse and eventually with the 5th shot from the Pak40, is silenced for good. The bright spot for the turn was my MG fire from the second story building convincing a second 3 figure squad to bug out via the southern map edge so that was one less squad I had to worry about in terms of exit points. Unfortunately, one virtually full strength squad did manage to make the treeline with a 2nd 9 man squad slowly crawling its way there under MG fire and not far to go plus, what seemed to be the leader bringing up the rear at full tilt for the scattered trees. It was a case of too many targets for too few firers as another seemingly full strength squad and 2 single figure infantry units had also begun their hazardous journey across open ground to reach the distant trees. If only this were CMBB! Turn 20 A relatively uneventful turn this one with the north western corner of the Church being the target of smoke by area fire from one of the six Shermans just near the western edge of the large wheatfield, in order to block the view of my crack JgPz laying in ambush just to the north of the building. When will these bloody Shermans run out of smoke! Personally I wouldn’t have bothered since the JgPz can barely hit the side of the proverbial barn at 40 paces. I reposition my 2 Stugs to face west to cover any vehicles attempting to make their way across the large wheatfield and to ignore attempting to fire at a reduced platoon making its way along the southern edge of the highway since all shots seem to be going either way long or hitting the northern side of the embankment for no effect. My southern Pak40 takes a couple of pot shots at a rushing infantry squad which seems to have no effect on the unit as it continues its charge to the extreme southern edge of the treeline. Then it targets a halftrack that attempted to charge up that narrow strip of open ground to the extreme south but misses with both shots at around 520 to 550 metres. Did I happen to mention before this was a crack crew under the command of a plus 2 firepower bonus leader? My veteran JgPz takes up a hull down position slightly further west in order to shoot at an enemy squad that has hunkered down in my former HMG’s foxhole by the small easternmost dirt road V.L. They take a pounding from HE shells, once again to no apparent effect. It appears that 2 almost full strength squads will make the treeline, plus a shot up squad (8 men), an HQ unit, 2 single figure infantry units which could either be HQ’s or possibly a Bazooka team and a 60mm mortar team that steadily made its way up the extreme southern flank towards the trees. They will all be victory points to Spanish Bombs if he chooses to exit them rather than attempt a flanking move into Emilville or to close assault my Pak40 gun. Somehow I think he wont be able to resist the temptation to extract revenge against my poor old Pak40 that had hardly hurt a fly, well except for a halftrack that is plus any number of unknown infantry casualties. Turn 21 I decide this turn to withdraw my veteran JgPz from the southern outskirts of the town and bring it more into the southern “suburbs” to help my defending Rifle ’44 platoon eject the oncoming invaders who were beginning to swarm in from the dirt road and southern side of the highway area. There appeared to be 1 platoon coming from the dirt road (2 squads reduced to 2 figures) and a 2 squad platoon (with accompanying HQ’s) rushing in from the highway via scattered trees to the west of town. The Americans reached the western outskirts of the town in various small buildings sustaining some fire from 2 of my rifle squads placed in heavy buildings. My southern Pak40 decided to do its tweedle dum/tweedle dee impersonation by variously decided to shoot first at a rushing American squad heading towards the town but then cahnging its mind right at the last minute to swing back to another squad by the dirt road V.L. then changing its mind again to target a 60 mm mortar firing at it from about 500 metres away behind a wall near the thin southern strip of open ground. It managed to loose off 2 shots at the mortar by the end of the turn. My 2 Stugs guearding the northern wheatfield spotted 2 enemy infantry units and blasted them with HE, convincing both units to turn and flee although a third 11 man squad was also spotted right at the end of the turn firing back at one of my Stugs from about 350 metres range. The final act was to reposition my crack JgPz just north of the church to a new position further north by reversing and then hunting back between various small buildings in an attempt to gain limited LOS to the enemy tanks to the east but far enough away from the recently laid smoke-screen. I prayed the unit would not get lost in the process of giving the movement commands and noted right at the end of the turn it spotted its old nemesis, Mr Sherman 76, the one he had already fired 7 shots at previously with the range this time being only a smidgen over 600 metres. Surely it can’t miss this time. Turn 22 My crack JgPz fired. The shot looked perfectly in line. I began prematurely popping the champagne corks in my mind. Then I noticed the shot kept travelling past the Sherman and behind it missing this time by a mere 270 metres or so behind it, but then what’s a few hundred metres between friends, right? I desperately grabbed for my jar of Mogadons before emitting a blood curdling scream. There is no 2nd shot as the target was furiously reversing by now and managed to find a dip in the ground to break visual contact. So, my crack JgPz continued hunting westerly as ordered to find more targets it can attempt to scare and stumbled across a Sherman 75 this time but at an even closer range of only 550 metres. I watched with trepidation. 1st shot, was dead in line but fell short by about 5 metres. LOS was temporarily lost while the Sherman entered the southern outskirts of the large wheatfield but then spotted again by the crack JgPz at only 505 metres this time, fired at it and missed to the left. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Third shot, ahhhh, I see back to our old habits again with the shot being dead in line but impacting some 200 metres behind the enemy tank. There is no 4th shot as the Sherman realises its peril and pops smoke directly in front of it to break LOS. I make a mental note at the time that to date, this so called crack JgPz has managed to fire 13 times at enemy AFV’s for not a single hit and begin to wonder whether its remaining supply of 22 AP shots will be enough to hold out. On the bright side, my southern Pak40 lined up the pesky halftrack skulking on the extreme southern flank and nailed it with its first shot that then turned its attention towards the 60 mm mortar nearby and caused the crew to abandon with its second salvo. My veteran JgPz fired 3 HE shots into a wooden building containing a 2 figure enemy squad only 80 metres away but then stopped firing for the remainder of the turn for some inexplicable reason. Conserving ammo perhaps? I had to rearrange my Stugs as one was down to only 3 HE shells so I withdrew it to a hull down position facing west for any enemy AFV’s that might appear within the wheatfiled while my other Stug with 12 HE shells still took up a raised position to be able to fire freely at the enemy infantry in the wheat. Some damage was done with the previously 11 man squad reduced to 7 men by the end of the turn and it fleeing back in a south westerly direction. The situation as I looked at by the end of the turn showed one enemy “Tank Destroyer” somewhere in the southern wheatfield just north of the dirt road but me having no idea where the hell it was plus 6 Shermans of various description making their way either in or towards the large northern wheatfield, although 2 of these Shermans had at least been dissuaded from venturing further east while my crack JgPz continued to play hide and seek amongst the buildings in town as a mobile scarecrow. I also knew a Greyhound and an M20 were somewhere in the vicinity of the northern wheatfield but I hadn’t spotted them yet either. There were 5 American squads of various strength in the western suburbs of town that were being pinned down to a degree by my 2 rifle squads and the Veteran JgPz while my southern Pak40 was still alive and kicking. The central Pak40 had by now, repositioned itself back to where it started in its initial foxhole, looking down the length of the highway while I still had an ace in the hole being my northern Pak40 that hadn’t fired a shot and was still hidden in scattered trees. Turn 23 This turn sees the re-appearance of the mysterious solitary “Tank Destroyer” that had last been seen in wheatfields south of the highway but north of the dirt road. For some inexplicable reason that I could never fathom why, Spanish Bombs decided to parade it heading east up the dirt road knowing full well my southern Pak40 was still very much alive and kicking. At a range varying between 430 metres to 400 metres in the end, my crack Pak40 under the guidance of a plus 2 firepower leader managed to miss with its first 3 shots but finally achieved a frontal turret penetration with the 4th shot and then delivered the coup de grace with the 5th shot through the upper hull. The infantry battle in town was starting to hot up with an 8 man squad rushing the remaining 2 storey light building south of the church but copping a casualty for its trouble from the lmg in the church. At the same time a 3 figure infantry unit was working its way north via small buildings in what appeared to be a flanking attempt to gain access to the town proper. I repositioned my crack JgPz to a point further north of the town and barely within its outskirts in order to gain LOS to the wheatfield lying to the nort west in anattempt to create a cross fire situation into the wheatfield in conjunction with my Stugs. I only hoped that the JgPz crew wouldn’t get lost in the town with the complicated set of orders I gave it to reverse and hunt in a north westerly direction with a small building to its left to provide some sort of protection to its vulnerable flank. Towards the end of the turn a Sherman 75 appeared in the large wheatfield on the extreme northern flank and began to shell Unteroffizier Kinkel in his hull-down Stug at a range of 325 metres. Both units exchanged shots for no result while Kinkel’s partner barely 5 metres away finally woke up to what was going on and commenced rotating his Stug to be able to assist his threatened comrade. Turn 24 Unt. Kinkel’s day took a turn for the worst when the Sherman managed to outdraw him and fired the knockout shot within 1 second of the turn commencing. Unteroffizier Hemper meanwhile was taking a month of Sundays to rotate his Stug on target and hadn’t even fired a return shot before the enemy had already retargeted and fired. Luckily the Sherman’s shot missed, so did Hempers, I started to bite my fingernails, the Sherman’s second shot also missed (possibly a crack crew?) and then Hemper found his mark with the second firing causing a catastrophic explosion with no survivors. While this duel was unfolding I had hunted my crack JgPz forward a touch to get a better view into the wheatfield and soon spotted a 75 mm Sherman at around 460 metres. The Sherman managed the 1st shot which ricocheted off the hull but buttoned the JgPz while the JgPz in return fired its shot to see it sail harmlessly overhead of the target by about 150 metres. I think at the time, old habits die hard I see. Then a veteran Greyhound appears virtually in the middle of the wheatfield but its shot ricochets off the front hull while my crack crew wonder what the hell to do, possibly debating whether to bother firing back since they are wasting precious ammo which could be better utilised by a Volksturm unit. Then suddenly, almost poetically, the JgPz explodes in a ball of fire for no apparent reason. My natural assumption was that one of the crewmen had lit a match while tinkering with the fuel lines but it became apparent that an M4A3 Sherman (76) had decided the serial pest had to go from its vantage point in the middle of the wheatfield, achieving its kill with a front upper hull penetration from around 450 metres. Thankfully there were no survivors as this saved any thought for the need to convene a court martial trial at the end of the battle. So, to summarise. This marvel of German training and hard fought experience that had earned the right to call itself crack had managed to miss with all 14 of its AP shots at various enemy AFV’s throughout the battle. Not one bleedin’ hit. Nil, zilch, nada, F.A…..well, you know the drill. To round out the good news for this turn, my southern Pak40 was on the receiving end of a charge by an American platoon HQ and accompanying 3 figure squad from the south which, despite desperately trying to rotate to fire back at the enemy, the gun was almost certainly going to succumb by next turn. At least my nearby platoon HQ had managed to cause a casualty to its opposite number which appeared to be pinned by the end of the turn. At least the infantry battle in town appeared to be going well with the enemy 7 man squad reduced to 3 over the course of the turn, mainly by fire from my Coy. HQ located on the upper level of its large 2 storey building and less than 20 metres away from the enemy. A 2nd 3 figure squad also rushed into the heavy building my Coy. HQ was located in to lend assistance to its comrade but soon came under murderous crossfire from my third previously unrevealed Rifle squad to the east plus its accompanying platoon HQ. However, by any assessment this had not been a good turn for me with the loss of two of my precious AFV’s (sorry, make that one and a third), plus a Pak40 AT gun in exchange for 1 vanilla Sherman plus some enemy infantry losses. Still lurking in the northern wheatfield were 5 Shermans, an M20, M8 Greyhound plus assorted infantry opposed to my hidden Pak40, Flak gun (with 11 HE shells left), veteran Stug, veteran platoon HQ and let’s not forget… a mighty lmg team with its devastating firepower. Turn 25 As expected, my southern AT gun succumbed to close combat fighting within 15 seconds but a steady stream of shots from my platoon HQ approx. 40 metres away eventually saw the demise of the enemy HQ unit, which I knew couldn’t be good for the morale of the American 8 man squad nearby. Out of desperation perhaps, I decided that the best form of defence was attack so I charged my remaining JgPz out of town through the southern suburbs and across open ground, heading towards the nearest small V.L. situated at the eastern end of the dirt road. Despite coming under fire from 2 American tanks on the northern side of the battlefield, it managed to reach lower elevation terrain by the end of turn and out of sight from the enemy AFV’s to the north. Back in downtown Emilville, the tourists were clearly not enjoying the welcome they were receiving with the second enemy squad to venture in deciding it had had enough and retired to the west just as 2 more of its countrymen decided to rush in from the opposite direction, no doubt to admire the exquisite stained windows in the church. While repositioning my remaining Stug north into a hulldown position facing west overlooking the wheatfield, it spotted the veteran Greyhound attempting to outflank it and soon ended its existence with a first shot kill at around 180 metres. The final action for the turn was when my central Pak40 spotted an M20 A.C. attempting to charge up the highway in order to exit. At 575 metres the 75 mm round slammed into the upper hull of the armoured car yet it continued to reverse away from the threat and out of sight on the northern bank of the highway. Apparently a high velocity 75mm AP round is not sufficiently powerful enough to obliterate such a thick skinned beast as an M20 armoured car??! Turn 26 Unt. Hemper in his Stug decides to fire off his 3 remaining HE rounds at an infantry units that has appeared by the wall surrounding the eastern side of the large wheatfield, causing some casualties judging by the former 2 figure unit becoming a single figure. Then an M4A3 vanilla Sherman is spotted about to exit the wheatfield near the highway, no doubt to deal with my charging JgPz on the other side of the embankment to the south. 2 shots each are exchanged at roughly 535 metres but on Hempers 3rd shot right at the end of the turn, manages a Gun Hit which should declaw this threat. Because my central Pak40 had been the subject of some 60mm bombardment at the end of the previous turn from a now out of sight mortar located right at the far western end of the highway, I ordered the gun to fire some smoke down the road to obscure the mortar’s sight. Two smoke rounds were fired before a marauding M3 halftrack was spotted charging down the highway at about 480 metres distance. Despite being under mortar bombardment I was reasonably confidant that my nearby platton HQ with double firepower and single morale bonuses would see the veteran gun crew prevail in adversity. HA! First shot from the AT gun misses the halftrack at 380 metres, the second shot misses the target at 155 metres! Then at 70 metres distance the veteran crew decides it’s had enough and abandons ship despite being in a foxhole and under the command of Crack platoon HQ while only receiving fire by then from a 30 calibre MG. No medal for you guys at the end of this! Naturally the M3 exits after its solo run down virtually the entire length of highway. Things in town are still under relative control with the newly arrive American re-inforcements soon taken under fire while I decide to charge my Coy. HQ into the 2 storey wooden building where his opposite platoon HQ is firing from. By the end of the turn the American squad in nearby rubble is reduced to 4 men while their platoon HQ is down to 3 and under close assault by my Coy. HQ of 5 men. The 8 man American squad that assaulted the Pak40 begins to break under fire from my platoon HQ and a distant veteran Rifle squad still in the southern outskirts of Emilville and firing at it from behind. It too decides it’s had enough and hightails it for the woods to the south while taking 2 more casualties for their trouble. I decide to become adventurous with my JgPz by sailing past the small V.L. and continuing down the dirt road to then swing right and towards the central major V.L. on the highway. Hopefully such a move will at least turn the V.L. neutral and discourage further gauntlet running by various odds and sods still milling around at the western end of the highway, providing the tank destroyer survives of course. Turn 27 The turn unfolds with my Flak gun being ordered to target an M20 A.C. that reached the wall bounding the large northern wheatfield at the end of the last turn. Two bursts later and the Armoured Car explodes in a ball of flame with no survivors. Unfortunately the TacAI decides the next best use of the precious few remaining rounds is to target the Sherman 75 that had already lost the use of its main gun and proceeds to fire off all but 2 of the HE rounds left at a target it never had any hope of penetrating. I was planning on using those few rounds against any light armour that attempted to charge down the highway but that option had just been removed through AI stupidity. I also revealed my northern lmg team lurking in scattered woods to attempt to pin an American squad that had reached the wall bounding the wheatfield. It fired 2 bursts at the enemy then switched targets to a 1 person squad approaching my Stug at full tilt. By this time the brave men came under direct HE fire from 2 Sherman 76’s closing in from the west and soon became pinned, reduced to 1 man then broken from the return fire. My veteran Stug loses sight of its wounded prey from the previous turn then inexplicably starts firing at an American squad by the wheatfield stone wall some 280 metres away with its remaining AP rounds! The previously unidentified single man squad that had been fired on by my lmg turns out to be a Bazooka team (Doh!) and its first shot hits the Stug at 117 metres but luckily, only causes internal flaking. The annoying thing about all this is that I had specifically ordered at the commencement of the turn for the Stug to rotate and face west to be in a position to face the oncoming enemy tanks in the wheatfield yet the TacAI thinks it’s a better idea to countermand the order and fire AP at infantry 280 metres away to the southwest! Speaking of wasted opportunities, my JgPz hunted north up the dirt road that connects to the highway near the major V.L. then decides to use up all its remaining 6 bursts of MG ammo on an enemy 3 man crew that’s cowering in scattered trees less than a hundred metres away. Not only is it totally ineffective at doing any damage, I’ve just lost the best chance to knock out enemy trucks if they decide to run the gauntlet at speed. However, in keeping with my premise that attack is the best form of defence, I ordered my veteran HQ that had been shooting up the American squad in scattered trees to the south to now charge out of the treeline towards the nearest small V.L. on the dirt road that had been turned neutral by my passing JgPz in the previous turn. The firefight in town continued to go well with a nearby American squad forced to retire and then being gunned down in the process while the accompanying platoon HQ was no match for the combined fires of a full strength Rifle squad and close assaulting Coy. HQ. I also commence a left hook move with my veteran Rifle squad that was still on the southern outskirts of town, with a view to capture the nearby small V.L. located on the dirt road intersection immediately west of Emilville. To round out the turn I relocated the HMG that had been on the southern side of the large 2 storey building to a position on the northern side upper floor so it could fire at any enemy units that attempted to exit the field of battle via the highway. My hunch was right as by the end of the turn I had spotted a Truck, an M3 and a M3A1 halftrack motoring at full tilt along the road with the truck and M3 reaching a point alongside the major V.L. before running into a bottleneck caused by previously knocked out halftracks and armoured cars while the M3A1 was not far behind this temporary traffic jam. Turn 28 The situation confronting me now has my Stug under fire from a Bazooka team in the wheatfield some 115 metres away with no H.E. to fire back and fast approaching 76mm and 75mm Shermans (one of each) in the wheatfield ready to gang tackle poor ol’ Unt. Hemper. Another 76mm Sherman has emerged from the wheatfield close to the main highway but on the northern side about to apparently head into town with the intent of shooting up my squads within. I have lost sight of a 4th Sherman (76mm armed) which was last spotted somewhere in the middle of the large wheatfield and could be anywhere while a fifth gun damaged Sherman has just moved up onto the highway near the major V.L. to no doubt charge down the road to attempt to exit. Time to reveal my ace in the hole. I issue orders for my remaining Pak40 to fire at the 76mm Sherman to the south east that is moving steadily towards Emilville hoping that it can quickly dispatch this threat at approx. 350 metres then rotate roughly 90 degrees to the right in time to tackle the fast approaching Shermans in the wheatfield. My JgPz had managed to draw a bead on the toothless Sherman right at the end of the last turn so I hoped it would nail him at a range of only 65 metres while hunting further north up the dirt road to see what I could spot in the wheatfield across the other side of the highway. My Flak gun (with 2 HE rounds) is targeted at the M3 halftrack temporarily held up in the traffic jam by the main V.L. while my Stug is ordered to reverse east as quickly as possible into the scattered trees in an attempt to widen the range between it and the Bazooka team. Where’s the damn withdraw order for armoured vehicles! Well, 7 seconds in and my Stug is toast from a Bazooka hit but at least my Flak gun nailed the M3 Halftrack at about the same time with its first shot while the crippled Sherman on the highway was not much longer of this world when a 75mm AP round from my JgPz went through the rear of its turret. Then I’m watching… and watching… and watching… as my so called “ace in the hole” turns out be more like the Queen of (faint) Hearts as it lines up its shot on the approaching 76mm Sherman but doesn’t seem to want to fire while its intended victim continues to move. Then the Sherman stops moving 27 seconds in and I think to myself it wont take long now as my Pak40 lines up the shot from only 280 metres away at a stationary target. Ten seconds go by… my waiting Pak40 is still sitting there with the target line drawn towards its victim but still no action. Fifteen seconds go by… still no freakin’ indication of the gun crew doing anything other than staring down their barrel at this enemy Sherman that has now begun to move again but directly towards my gun! Twenty seconds elapse… still no sign of life from the gun crew under the command of a plus 1 morale and firepower leader. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON!!! Is this gun crew checking their theodolite, testing the wind direction and waiting on a meteorological report first before firing? After 25 seconds have elapsed the Pak40 finally decides everything is how they like it including Mars being aligned with Pluto before finally loosing off their first shot which, thank God, hit its mark on the upper hull but didn’t knock out the tank! Don’t tell me they used HE after all that freakin’ time lining up the shot. Thankfully the second shot right on the 60th second penetrated the side of the turret for a brew up but by now there were two Shermans less than 300 metres away at a roughly 90 degree tangent to my AT gun where they surely couldn’t have failed to spot the source of the firing. While this was going on my JgPz had been distracted by an M20 A.C. that had charged past it at great speed on the dirt road having initially come from the direction of the highway, missing each other by the thickness of a coat of Zimmerit paste and causing my tactically limited tank destroyer to have to slew around to the east in a pathetic attempt to draw a bead on the rapidly departing armoured car. I also spotted the elusive 5th Sherman appearing from within the wheatfield but making a beeline south towards the main highway V.L., no doubt to deal with my nearby JgPz. The turn ends with a speeding M3A1 halftrack with 2 passengers on board appear at the western outskirts of town on the main highway and only a brief few seconds away from charging through the exit zone. Turn 29 I give strict orders to my JgPz to hunt north up the dirt road to the verge of the highway and to ignore the M20 which was no threat and fast disappearing towards the minor dirt road V.L. that my former southern Pak40 platoon HQ was sprinting towards. My remaining Pak40 with its perfectionist type crew was ordered to take on the Sherman 75 that was less than 210 metres away and just past the wall bounding the northern wheatfield. With the one HE round remaining round in my Flak gun I also ordered it to fire at the Sherman to button the crew and hopefully blind them for long enough to give my AT gun a chance. This they achieved. At the 12 second mark an enemy squad by the wheatfield wall finally spotted my AT gun and commenced firing but at an ineffectual range of over 200 metres but with Borg spotting I knew my AT gun didn’t have much time and it was still barely swung half way round to line up the nearby Sherman. Just as my gun reached the spot to line up a shot at the 24 second mark the Sherman realised the danger and started swinging its turret back at its protagonist. My perfectionist crew decided it was best to fire a shot on the fly rather than waiting for the sun to reach the equinox, especially as a 75mm barrel was pointing straight back at them and managed a first shot kill. By this time every man and their dog knew where the threat lay with a rapidly approaching 76mm Sherman further to the north taking an instant dislike to my gun and firing HE back at my furiously rotating Pak40. The first shot landed about 6 metres away to bring my crew to Alerted status (funnily enough) while the second shot was bang on target killing 2 of the crewmen but not before the plucky crew managed to squeeze off a shot before hitting the dirt in a Pinned status. At 202 metres the return shot didn’t miss and a third Sherman could be added to list of kills on the gun barrel. In Emilville my left hook towards the minor V.L. on the western outskirts had the veteran Rifle squad reach a small heavy building near to the flag while I sent moral support to the same area in the form of the Coy. HQ to ensure unit cohesion is maintained. The speeding M3A1 halftrack gets fired on by my 2nd level HMG and regular 9 man Rifle squad from distances of less than 53 and 48 metres respectively plus a platoon HQ on the ground floor pitching in, for no apparent damage. It then has to get past my ambushing Panzerschreck team (part of the previous re-inforcements) that has its ambush spot marked right in the middle of the highway, triggers it for me to see the hollow charge shot achieve a side upper hull penetration at 20 metres only for this to also be shrugged off as if just another minor inconvenience. The halftrack escapes to safety east of Emilville with whatever passengers it had on board no doubt checking to see if they had all their limbs and major organs still intact from passing through that hail of fire. My southern platoon HQ reached the foxhole by the dirt road V.L. just as the M20 A.C. arrived at virtually the same spot. It was clear that the armoured car was out of ammo (no doubt the one that single handed blown away 2 full squads of Escort squads earlier) as it just sat there seemingly waiting for Godot until dissuaded from persisiting with a hand grenade or two from my HQ. As it backed away a 4 man Sherman crew appeared from the west to join the party but it clearly hadn’t brought the right sort of grog as the entrenched host began firing at them at close range in disgust. By the end of the turn I have a pinned Pak40 crew that has now drawn the attention of the one remaining Sherman on the battlefield which has appeared just 10 metres north of the small stone building alongside the major highway V.L. Remnants of 3 squads are also making a sprint for the exit zone just north of Emilville, having emerged from the large northern wheatfield during that turn. Finally, a last ditch effort to drive another vehicle through Emilville appears in the form of a truck that is speeding down the highway and finishes the turn just entering the western outskirts of the town. Turn 30 I don’t hold out much hope for my beleaguered Pak40 but I order it to attempt to fire back at the enemy Sherman some 560 metres away while I figure this is my best (and only) chance to bag the last American Sherman by hunting my JgPz up onto the highway to hopefully catch the Sherman 76 in the flank or rear as it fires back at my AT gun. I also plan a very hot reception for the approaching truck with an upper storey HMG, platoon HQ and 9 man infantry squad ordered to shoot it up at very close range as it passes through the town. It appears that I will claim control of the eastern dirt road V.L. due to my platoon HQ being the only able bodied unit with ammo in the vicinity while the 2 small V.L.’s on the western outskirts of town should also be under my control with nearby full strength squads in position. The truck managed to sustain a burst of HMG fire from 70 metres and continued on its merry way while my nearby full strength squad didn’t fire at all for some unknown reason as it sped past its position less than 30 metres away. A quick burst from my platoon HQ at 35 metres had a similar non detrimental effect and to top it off, my ambushing Panzerschreck team became spooked by the sound of an oncoming truck of nastiness and hit the dirt! Fortunately for me, Spanish Bombs must have hoped that I didn’t have any unit guarding the major V.L. at the rear of town since the truck stopped alongside it. This gave my previously unused platoon HQ that was formerly in command of the central Pak40 something to do and it did it with extreme prejudice by shooting up the truck from less than 20 metres away. By midway through the final turn my Pak40 crew had decided that enough was enough and abandoned their position after copping 3 HE shells on their foxhole. Slowly my JgPz hunted up the southern embankment to the highway but not before the 76mm Sherman had disengaged from shooting up the AT gun and was itself moving towards the nearby northern wall of the small stone building. At the 30 second mark my tank hunter spotted its prey at less than 50 metres distance but then both units lost sight of each other as the Sherman reached a point right up behind the northern wall of the stone building. My JgPz continued its northward course to this time spot the enemy at 32 metres distance facing roughly south east. Desperately the Sherman tried to turn its fast turret to the west but being right alongside the building impeded the normally lighting fast rotation to a relative crawl while my JgPz slowly roatated its hull towards the enemy. At the 55 second mark the knockout blow was delivered with a side upper hull penetration to the Sherman and all the enemy tanks finally accounted for just before the end of the battle. End result: Axis 80 to Allies 17 AXIS: 59 casualties (15 KIA) 1 captured 4 guns destroyed 3 vehicles knocked out Men OK 94 ALLIES: 132 casualties (39 KIA) 1 mortar destroyed 27 vehicles knocked out Men OK 208 As you can probably tell by the labour of love I put into this AAR, I thought this was an brilliant scenario with a real toing and froing style of gameplay that usually distinguishes an excellent design from a mediocre one. Although Spanish Bombs may disagree, the Allies certainly have a good chance to win this scenario provided they concentrate their forces and not allow them to be picked off in a piecemeal fashion. I heartily congratulate Wyatt Barnett for this great piece of work and look forward to playing more of his creations in the future.

Thanks John for the info. I look forward to hear your thoughts on the scenario when finished. Regards Jim R.

He's nothing if not faithful to the original intent of the ROW series. You have to give him his due. Regards Jim R.

A crack crew that can shoot, a crack crew that can shoot....my kingdom for a crack crew that can shoot! The 2nd part of my AAR will be completed tonight. Regards Jim R.

Everybody loves him... Regards Jim R.

Mind you, come up against veteran, fit Volksturm and they'll cause plenty of headaches with all those automatic weapons. Somehow it doesn't seem right you can purchase these guys as veterans. I mean, how the hell did they reach veteran status unless it's referring to WW I experience! Regards Jim R.

May I ask John, which side are you playing in North of Epron? I think it's safe to disclose this piece of information as FOW shouldn't be an issue anymore with most combatants having completed that battle. Regards Jim R.