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ParaBellum

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Posts posted by ParaBellum

    Volksgrenadier availability

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Hi Ichadwick, the reason I thought you confused Volkssurm and Volksgrenadier was that you stated Bormann was responsible for the Volksgrenadier units and that the announcement to create them was made on Oct 18th 1944.

    AFAIK Bormann was never responsible for Volksgrenadier units, since theye were part of the Heer. But he was, at least for formation and training, responsible for the Volkssturm.

    And the date you give is the exact date when Hitler anounced in a radio broadcast the creation of the Volkssturm.

    Since this site shows the first Volksgrenadier Divisions were created as early as August '44 I think the date you cite is wrong and matches far better for the Volkssturm.

    [ January 12, 2003, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

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    Mountain Fighting

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

    Hitler also got mad when those troops climbed the Elbrus, IIRC. He thought it was a stupid and pointless thing to do.

    Compared to ... I don't know ... starting World War Two, it doesn't seem so stupid.

    Lol, yeah! I've heard that story too but always wondered why he got mad when hearing about it? I guess it was a pretty nice story for the Wochenschau newsreel. But maybe he didn't like all that propaganda stuff...
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    Master Goodale vs ParaBellum AAR

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    And the next part:

    Turn 26:

    While the captured russian HMG crew is marched to the rear two of Lt.Becker's infantry squads take positions in the tall building.

    The rest of the platoon is following them, with this force I should be able to secure the NW part and the centre of the village. There are another two there, both are under heavy fire from my infantry.

    Two enemy infantry units are running towards a small wooden house in the centre of the village. One of them, a platoon HQ, gets cut down by accurate bursts of MG fire from Wittman's PzII, the other reaches the house.

    Another russian squad dashes forward but again Wittman's PzII forces them to take cover.

    In the woods to the east my men have recovered a bit. There are now 26 combat-ready men, commanded by Lt. Kinkel and Lt. Braunstein. Together with Schmidt's SPW 251/10 and Wittman's PzII I should be able to hold that position.

    South of the village Obg.Pfeiffer is in a desperate fight with russian infantry. One is running towards the gully, under heavy fire from Pfeiffer's HMG 34. Suddenly another squad breaks out from the woods less than 60m away and charges towards Pfeiffer's position.

    Their "Urrraaaaah!" battlecries soon cease as the MG salvos tear through them. Pfeiffer and his men are all veterans, having already participated in the campaigns in Poland and France, they won't be easily overcome by a single russian squad.

    Meanwhile Lt. Schulmeister's PzII and Obg Probst's SPW 251/1 have almost reached Pfeiffer's position. With their arrival the russian advance there will be stopped cold.

    aar_13.jpg

    Turn 27:

    Lt.Becker's men in the tall building spot a russian crew north of their position and immediatly open fire on them. I really should tell MG that it is VERY costly to sacrifice valuable, trained men in such a manner.

    In the center of the village I had ordered Unt. Günther's infantry squad to move to the tall building there, to support Obg. Hampel's PzJäger team already in position there.

    As it turns out, they enter the building seconds before a russian squad breaks into the building from the north. Furious hand-to-hand fighting breaks out, the surprised Russians quickly suffering casualties.

    Wittman's PzII routs the russian squad he spotted last turn. He's in a good position in the centre of the village to stop all major russian advances.

    In the woods east of them a russian squad charges forward into my defensive line and within seconds kill the remaining five men of Unt. Fitzemeyer's squad without suffering even a single casualty! Even worse, next to them Lt.Braunstein's platoon HQ, already down to one man, gets killed by an unseen foe. The situation in this woods is very serious. From the 20 men I put into a devensive line only 9 are still alive one minute later... I can only hope Wittman's PzII and the SPW 251/10 can force the Russians back, my infantry surely won't.

    To the south the Russians close to less than 20m of Obg. Pfeiffer's position despite suffering heavy casualties. Finally the Soviets panic and run for safety to the nearby cornfield only to be cut down by Pfeiffer's HMG34.

    Lt.Schulmeister's PzII from hill 230 has arrived next to him and quickly engages enemy infantry advancing in the gully. There's a T-26 moving down the hill east of the village.

    Schulmeister will take care of him next turn...

    Turn 28:

    Lt.Becker and two of his squads are still pinned down NE of hill 230 trying to get into the village. In a small building in the centre of the village is a russian HMG and an infantry squad, with another HMG outside in a small patch of light trees.

    My men don't suffer many casualties, but they are exhausted and the constant incoming fire slows their advance down to a crawl.

    In the large building in the centre of the village my men wipe out the russian squad without suffering a single casualty, good!

    Now I can engage the Russians in the small building from two sides, and just in time my last SPW arrives to support them. The situation in the centre of the village seems quite favourable so far.

    To the east the situation in the woods gets only slightly better as the russian squad is pushed back and withdraws after bloody fighting. Lt.Kinkel desperately tries to rally his men, only 12 men still able to hold a weapon in these cursed woods.

    South of the village Lt.Schulmeister quickly destroys the T-26 with his last AP rounds and moves forward towards the gully. I suspect there might be even more russian infantry...

    Turn 29:

    Under a hail of fire from Lt. Becker's platoon, Obg. Bernhoff's HMG34 on hill 230, Unt. Günther's squad and the SPW 251/1 the enemy in the small building in the centre of the village seems to have been pinned down. Both HMG crews are hugging the ground and the infantry squad is killed. With the rest of Lt.Becker's platoon continuing their advance I will destroy them within the next turns.

    With this I should have pretty much secured the NW and center part of the village. Maybe I can switch some forces towards the woods in the eastern part of the village.

    Under constant fire from Unt.Wittman's PzII another HMG crew surrenders. Looks like the Russian's globale morale is pretty low by now. At the end of the turn an enemy infantry squad again advances in the woods towards my men.

    I can only guess that Master Goodale's lossed were very serious, too, otherwise I can't explain this un-coordinated attacks by single squads.

    Just as Lt.Schulmeister's PzII reaches the gully south of the village they spot a russian squad advancing towards the church. Since the church and the VL is held only by some crews and a PzJäger team I have to stop the enemy before they get there.

    With MG's vehicles all destroyed (at least I hope so) I can now use my remaining four vehicles as higly mobile reserve without the risk of getting them knocked out by enemy tanks. Since the russian squad's Molotov cocktails are not too useful there's not too much they can do if my vehicles stay at a safe range from them, usually 30m+.

    aar_14.jpg

    Turn 30:

    In the centre of the village one of the russian HMG's breaks and withdraws to the rear, under constant fire from the SPW 20m away.

    I doubt they'll make it...

    In the woods to th east Lt. Kinkel falls as he withdraws to the rear. Only the SPW 251/10 firing long MG bursts into the woods prevent the Russians from overrunning what's left of my positions there.

    As Unt.Wittman orders his PzII as close as possible to the edge of the woods one of the soviet squads withdraws to the rear.

    With the fire support from the two vehicles I think I'll be able to hold the woods but I've lost nearly 40 men there, including all officers...

    South of the village Lt.Schulmeister from the cupola of his PzII gives orders to engage the soviet infantry that advances in the gully, as a bullet hits him in the right shoulder. With a cry of pain he slumps back into his seat! "Don't worry, it's only a flesh wound! There, enemy infantry right in front! Open fire!" Again the PzII's coaxial MG fires, first pinning down an enemy platoon HQ then switching fire to a russian infantry squad nearby.

    From the gully another russian squad crawls out, having almost reached the church! I gotta act fast there, the few men that hold it will not survive a tough fight with enemy infantry for long. Hopefully Schulmeister's PzII will drive them back next turn.

    ...to be continued.

    [ January 10, 2003, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

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    Mountain Fighting

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

    ...

    Or did such fighting simply not happen on the Eastern Front?

    Sure it did, especially in the caucasian mountains during the summer/autumn 1942. There was heavy fighting for some of the important passes, up to 4000m high during Operation Edelweiß. On 21st August '42 soldiers from 1st and 4th Gebirgsjägerdivision actually climbed the Elbrus, the highest mountain in the caucasus region (5642m) to raise the battle flag of the Reich.

    In a book I have a nice coulour photo of a german gun position at 4200m.

    So I guess there is quite some stuff for creating a scenario or two... ;)

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    Master Goodale vs ParaBellum AAR

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by AndrewTF:

    So... who do we talk to about purchasing the movie rights? :D

    I'm currently in negotiation with several big Hollywood companies.

    One of the scripts sent to me is indeed very good. Of course the plot will be a bit 'straightened' for the masses, but it sounds totally sweet so far.

    There's this young US pilot who falls in love with his best friend's fiancée as his friend is reported missing from hauling spam to Russia on a lend-lease mission.

    He decides to look for his friend but gets lost and arrives in Rome just in time to rescue a female partisan from the SS. They then decide to fly to Russia together to recover a secret artefact that could change the outcome of the war.

    During their Adventure our hero finds the artefact (a rather phallic statue modelled after the Führer), his lost friend, destroys the 6th army in Stalingrad and manages to smuggle the secret plans for the death star back to his superiors.

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    cmbb is dangerous

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by Sgtgoody:

    This game is giving me a taste for cold food. Cook time 1 minute, stand time 3 hours just doesn't seem to work. :D

    Para

    Where do you get those Graemlins?! :confused:

    Right-click on them, click on 'properties' and copy the address. I have a small .txt file on my HD with the links to several interesting ones. Simply post the addresses as 'image' when creating a new post.
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    America Sucks

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by KingPin:

    ...And I have decided that what The Americans and their **** tanks did in WW2 was overrated and it was the Russians that won the war for the allies.

    stupid.gif

    Not much to add to such an accurate, well-founded conclusion surely based on countless hours of diligent study and research.

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    Please explain "motorized infantry"

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

    ...Membership in the Hitler Youth and other youth groups was never mandatory IIRC but was certainly widely encouraged.

    The Gesetz über die Hitlerjugend from 1.12.1936 made the membership mandatory in the same way as service in RAD and Wehrmacht.

    Edit: Although this law was seen by many already as a sign for the mandatory nature of the HJ, on 25.4.1939 another law was passed, finally fixing the mandatory service of all young persons from 10 to 18 years in either HJ (boys) or BDM (girls).

    [ January 09, 2003, 03:16 AM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

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    Master Goodale vs ParaBellum AAR

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Very nice, Master Goodale! :D

    And here's my next part:

    Turn 21:

    On hill 230 Lt.Becker's platoon continues its advance, using leap-frogging tactics to provide covering fire.

    The russian HMG in the tall building is pinned down by accurate salvos from Bernhoff's HMG 34, unable to continue firing at my troops.

    In the village Unt. Günther grabs a grenade bundle and with a quick jump puts it between the tracks of the KV I.

    As he jumps back to his men taking cover, the grenade detonates, tearing apart the tracks and destroying some of the running wheels.

    Seconds later Obg. Hampel's Panzerjäger team closes in from the other side and, while still running towards the now-immobilized soviet tank, throw a Panzerwurfmine!

    The AT mine flies towards the KV I in a high arc, landing directly on the engine deck! Another loud detonation, and just as the smoke clears a bit, a seconds mine hits the heavy tank!

    This is too much for the soviet tank crew, a hatch opens and four men abandon the tank, running madly away from their destroyed tank

    "Stoj! Stoj! Ruki werch!" Unt. Günther calls out, but they continue to flee, unable to bear the stress of battle any longer.

    Obg. Müller fires a long burst from his MG34, moving the russians down as they desperately try to cross the street...

    One KV I less to worry about! Now, where's the other one...

    aar_10.jpg

    To the east of them the situation gets very serious. Hpt. Reuter is hit by a salvo from a russian LMG, killing him instantly.

    The russian Maxim MG less than 50m north of them is pinned down, the crew unable to fire their weapon under a constant hail of bullets.

    But the lone russian infantry squad fights like lions! I can't push them back. Worse, another rusian squad appears next to them!

    With the loss of their commanding officer morale starts to waver. "Sani! Saniii!" desperate screams for medics resound through the woods.

    A fresh squad appears and immediatly suffers casualties!

    This patch of wood is a meatgrinder for my troops! I have underestimated MG's strength here, my men will have to pay the price...

    And what's that? Infantry contacts to my rear? Immediatly the HMG 34 team south of the village engages them at less than 200m.

    Time to move my last SPW 251/1 to counter this new threat.

    If Master Goodale has no armour to support this attack, his men will get a bloody nose there against two SPWs and a HMG 34.

    If the situation gets really serious I'll move Lt.Schulmeister's PzII from hill 230 there, too.

    Turn 22:

    Lt. Becker's platoon slowly advances towards the NW part of the village. Their orders are to secure the tall building with the VL. Unfortunately another enemy infantry unit appears there next to the russian HMG. The advance through the rocky ground quickly tires the men, and still enemy fire hits them, I need more suppressive fire! Lt. Schulmeister's PzII starts to fire at the tall building, forcing the soviet soldiers to take cover.

    What's that? Two crews from knocked-out vehicles charge up hill 230? That's a VERY costly way to distract my attention. Obg. Bernhoff and his HMG 34 will deal with them next turn...

    With the other KV I moving towards the tall building in the NW corner of the village I order Hampel's Panzerjäger team to advance to the large building north of his current position. If Master Goodale moves his KV heavy tank along the street to engage Lt. Becker's platoon coming down from hill 230 they're in a good position to launch another close-assault at the soviet tank.

    In the woods at the eastern part of the village Lt. Braunstein runs forward to take command of Reuter's men. I've lead my men into a death-trap here! Another russian infantry squad appears at the right flank and the men start to panic! Lt. Braunstein's arrival can't change much anymore. I have to pull them back to reorganize them. If the russians follow them with a sharp counter-attack they're doomed.

    I order the SPW251/10 at the southern end of the village to move into a position from where it can provide covering fire for the retreating men.

    Unt. Wittman's Pz.II continues his flanking move. I hope he arrives in time so that he can forestall a russian counter-attack.

    South of the village a light mortar is creeping along the gully, but just as Obg. Pfeiffer has them in the sights of his HMG34 the weapon jams! Cursing he desperately tries to get his weapon ready again.

    Turn 23

    On hill 230 the russian crews get mowed down by the HMG34 as they run back towards their lines. A needless and costly effort to draw my attention. The foremost of Lt.Becker's squad is already in grenade-throwing range and starts using hand-grenades to flush out the russian defenders from their objective, the tall building in front of them. The rest of the platoon is slowly following, crawling over rocky ground and jumping over fences.

    20mm rounds from Lt.Schulmeister's PzII tear through the facade of the building, forcing the Soviets to keep their heads down.

    As I have expected the KV I moves along the street to engage them. But meanwhile Obg.Hampel has taken position inside the large building east of the road. As the KV I is rolling towards them, Hampel and Berger ready their remaining two Panzerwurfminen. Distance: 30m. "Let him come a little closer." Hampel whispers as he puts his MP40 on his back, preparing to throw the mine...

    In the woods to the east the withdrawal becomes a rout. The SPW 251/10 arrives and hopefully will help stopping the russian counter-attack. From more than 40 men sent into these woods only 15 are left ready for battle after this fierce fight.

    I have now little more than 30 men left in the eastern part of the village to stop the russians. I can only hope they suffered heavy casualties, too.

    Unt.Wittman's PzII crossed the gully and is now in position to cover the road seperating my men from the russians with the fire from his 20mm gun and his machinegun. So far I suspect only two enemy infantry squads in 'my' part of the wood.

    Turn 24

    Lt.Becker's men continue to run towards their objective, hurling grenades through the windows of the tall building as they advance. Two squads have almost reached the building, they'll assault it within the next two turns.

    "Jetzt!!" Obg. Hampel shouts as he tosses his Panzerwurfmine at the soviet KV I, the mine again hitting the thin armour on top of the steel monster just as its turret slowly turned to engage my SPW251/10 on the other side of the village! Another loud explosion and muffled cries from within are heard. Seconds later the sole surviving crew member crawls out, taking cover next to the road.

    In the middle of the village a russian HMG team and an infantry squad advance towards a small building, I'll deal with them next turn. With the threat of the heavy tanks gone I can now use my light armour to push the enemy infantry back.

    East of them Lt.Kinkel and Lt.Braunstein are trying to reorganize the remnants of KG Reuter into some defensive line.

    aar_12.jpg

    Unt.Wittman's PzII buys them some time as he catches a charging russian squad from the rear, the MG salvos forcing them to hug the ground. Then he engages the Maxim MG covering the bridge NE of the village. After several well-aimed salvos the last surviving member of the MG crew abandons his weapon, surrendering.

    South of the village Obg. Pfeiffer furiously works to get his HMG34 unjammed. Looks like dud round jammed the breech. "Pfeiffer, mach schnell!" his assistant loader yells as russian infantry appears less than 100m away. Suddenly a T-26 appears on the hill east of them and starts to fire his MG at Pfeiffer's position.

    Finally Pfeiffer manages to get the distorted round removed from the breech, opening fire immediatly at the advancing enemy.

    But after several bursts the weapon jams again! The Russians have already closed to about 50m!

    Turn 25

    Lt.Becker's men take their objective! Unt.Stein leads his squad as they break into the tall building, throwing grenades and firing on the move. In one of the rooms they find a russian company HQ, the officer desperately yelling into his radio set. As he grabs for his Tokarev a salvo from Stein's MP40 throws him to the floor. Seeing this the single survivor of the Maxim MG crew surrenders.

    Good. Becker's men achieved their objective with acceptable losses, 7 out of 44. Now they have to secure the NW part of the village.

    The surviving crew member of the KV I tries desperately to get back to his comrades but he doesn't get far...

    Unt. Wittman's PzII is ordered to move to centre of the village to deal with the Russians that have taken position north of Hampel's PzJäger team.

    Meanwhile Lt. Kinkel and Lt. Braunstein are desperately trying to organize a defense in the woods east of them. A russian squad is beaten back but already the ammunition is getting short. Unt.Schmid's SPW251/10 is firing his MG into the woods in front of their positions, forcing the enemy infantry down. I can only hope Master Goodale can't mount an effective counter-attack in platoon strentgh here.

    Again Pfeiffer has to remove a distorted round from the breech of his MG34. In Russia it seems the dust and dirt puts a far greater strain on the german equipment. This time he only needs half a minute to get his weapon ready again. He counts at least 9 Russians crawling closer as he opens fire on them again. He has to hold out for some more time until Lt.Schulmeister's PzII arrives from hill 230 to support him.

    ...to be continued.

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