Doug Williams

Bil sent me the next file late last night, and I just now had a chance to review it. Looks like my most forward Panther had to fire several more shots in order to finish off Bil's Sherman. Another Sherman showed itself in the same area this turn! Those Shermans breed like rabbits. That leaves two combat ready Shermans that I know of, neither of which is visible to either of my Panthers. Fortune smiled on me this turn! Bil's M10 showed itself again and tagged my other Panther with several hits, all of which bounced. The Panther returned fire and took out the M10 with one shot, as is confirmed by the column of black smoke. :-) This is good news indeed for me as I can now move that Panther forward to help engage Bil's Sherms. In further good news, my two HMG teams on the high ground of my extreme right flank seem to be very effective in suppressing and causing casualties to the mortar teams that Bil is trying to deploy on the hilltop to the right of his VL. My HMG teams sure are taking a long time to deploy, however. They have had at least two full turns with no movement orders and are still only "semi-deployed" (yes, they were given the deploy command). All in all, a fine turn......a fine turn indeed! :-) Edit: Now that I am getting my next turn ready for Bil, I note that it was actually one of Bil's 57mm AT guns firing on my rear Panther, not his M10. No wonder all those hits bounced. My Panther got lucky and KO'd the M10 before it even fired a shot.

Wouldn't that be a peach of a party?

Which brings to mind a quote from Ronnie Coleman (8 time Mr. Olympia): Or to translate into these forums.....everybody wants to say they beat Bil, but don't nobody want to challenge him. ;-) Edit: With some exceptions. :-)

No worries, my friend. I took no offence. Just trying to have some fun at your (and Bil's) expense. Hey! I'm a poet! So, what are you guys going to do if I win? Crown me champion? Or have a Thunderdome style free-for-all? Joking aside, I'm just glad to still be in the game. This map doesn't really allow Bil to show his prowess. It's pretty much a slugfest, which allows me to have a better chance to win than if this was actually a game that showcased skill.

-Book of Battlefront Realizations 3:18

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. -Revelation 6:8 Lots of death this turn, for both our forces. So Bil's mortars are pounding the **** out of me, and he hasn't even deployed the ones that he has up on the hill on his right flank yet. Fortunately, I have two HMG squads on high ground on my extreme right flank that are having a field day on those mortar teams, so it's possible that he may never get them deployed. I was debating whether or not to put them there, whew! Edit: I now see that he did manage to get one deployed. Bil sent another Sherman forward on his right flank to support his big push to capture the VL on my left. One of my Panthers saw it and scored two penetrating hits. The second hit was right before the turn ended, so I don't know if that's a KO or not, but I wager it is. The first shot actually killed one of Bil's troops before it hit the tank, passed through the tank, then killed another troop on the other side of the tank. In other news, the LMG team I moved up on the hill to the left of my starting location managed to take out another of Bil's trucks while performing buddy aid on the KIA/WIA HMG team that got wiped out by one of Bil's mortar teams earlier. On my right flank, not as much action. My troops (other than the HMG teams) took a few random casualties from small arms fire. Those Garands are far superior to the German bolt actions. The German squad MGs sort of make up for that, but not really. I used to own a Garand. Great rifle. I very much regret selling it and plan to get another one sometime. All in all, attrition wise, I would say we were about even that turn, as far as infantry casualties go. I estimate we each took around ten to twelve casualties. Bil probably lost a Sherm and also the truck. He still has his M10 up on the hill, and the other Sherm that neither of my Panthers can see yet. I suppose I'll move my other Panther forward a bit now. @Holien Nah, I don't think it was brave. In hindsight, it was a foolish waste of a shreck team.

While I await Billy's next file, let's have some more music. :-) 4th of July....FREEDOM!!

Move the Panthers forward in such a way that they can see that Sherm and let them shoot it full of holes. In the meantime, hope the M10 doesn't KO one or both of them.

Got the latest file from Bil and things are starting to heat up. Here is the video with all trees removed for clarity. Bil has moved one of his Shermans forward. Several of my infantry units can see it, but my most forward Panther cannot. I moved an LMG team to the high terrain to the left of my starting zone (where my HMG team got wiped out by one of Bil's mortars) and it spotted an M10 right at the end of the turn up on the crest of the hill near Bil's starting zone. So, Bil is going to keep that M10 up there (wise, IMO). I took an unfortunate mortar round to a schreck team I was moving forward, which took a casualty (which, of course, was the soldier carrying the schreck). I'll backtrack the other troop and hopefully he can buddy aid and recover the weapon. Bill has a hell of a lot of mortar teams. I have a feeling I'm going to be hating them over the next few turns. Attrition wise, I came out the loser this turn. I only counted about three casualties caused to Bil's forces, while I probably took twice that many. I'm getting two HMG teams deployed on the high terrain to the right of the VL on my right flank. I'm probably going to keep my most forward Panther right where it is next turn. Debating whether or not to move the other one forward some. Edit: After further consideration, I really don't like where either of the Panthers are positioned right now and will be moving them both. Sent Bil the file.

@Holien Yes, I think I'm going to halt the forward Panther right there, for now. Yep, I got lucky with that HMG team. Bil seems to have a lot of on board mortars. :-( No, I have not seen a need to make any use of target arcs so far. That may change soon.

@Holien Thanks for taking an interest in this. This is my first AAR so I'm trying to find the balance of the right amounts of posts and trying to keep it amusing. ;-) Ask me anything you want, but the truth is that I'm a seat of my pants player and, while I do try to look at the big picture, my plans are subject to change from turn to turn. Obviously the key to victory is going to be taking and holding on to the two central VLs. If either one of us winds up trying to defend their starting VL, I expect a CF or a surrender. When I got home from work today, Bil had sent me his latest file... I *just* managed to move that left HMG team out of the way before Bil's mortar started the FFE. It's a good thing I moved them or they would all now be KIA/WIA. As it is, they only took one casualty and one lightly wounded. They aren't in a position to provide any fire now, so I'll need to move them again next turn. I took a couple of other random infantry casualties, and I think I counted three casualties given to Bil's troops, so pretty much a zero sum turn, attrition wise. I now count three armor sound contacts in the woods on Bil's half of the map on my left flank. It seems that may be where Bil is going to make his first big push, and that just makes sense really. His troops are much more exposed to enemy fire on my right flank, though he is making a token advance there. I wager he plans to take my left VL first, then concentrate on the other. I also noticed a brief armor contact icon visible on the crest of the hill near Bil's starting position. This is, IMO, almost certainly the M10. So, if I had to guess, I would say Bil is going to soon make a heavy attack on my left VL using a lot of infantry and all his tanks, and at the same time pop the M10 over the crest. Also, I hear a lot of mortar tubes firing on Bil's side of the map. My troops may have to shift positions often and I will have to be very vigilant of spotting rounds.

Interesting questions. Almost sounds like a job interview. ;-) I'm not a soothsayer or a prophet, but I'll make a few guesses. Bil has been hiding his armor from me for several minutes. He is probably going to try something sneaky. I have two armor sound contacts on my left flank, so I'm moving one Panther forward a bit. If Bil is trying to pull some sneaky **** on my left flank, well.....let's see what happens. :-) IMO, he may have given up a big height advantage by not moving all his armor and M10s up over the hill in an attempt to overwhelm my Panthers. On my right flank....I'm not too worried at this point. I have infantry assets in place and they are already causing casualties on Bil's premature advances. ;-) Overconfidence? You decide. I've never won a CM battle by being timid. My understanding is that Bil is an expert tactician, and I am honored that he saw fit to accept my challenge. Let's see what tricks he has up his sleeve. ;-) As for what is my key aim?

Blah, blah. I'm ready for some action.

Thanks.

Can precision artillery strikes be used with both onboard and offboard tubes?

@agusto That worked. Thanks. :-)

@womble That's a good point. Both icons may be for the same vehicle. @c3k I'll do a couple more videos of that turn for ya. One for each flank, a bit closer in. Yes, I did indeed give that HMG team orders to quicktime out of that spot, but I fear that having to undeploy (is that a word?) the HMG will cost them precious seconds and that death from above will reach them before they manage to move. We'll see next turn. BTW, in case anyone is wondering, I'm using a program called FRAPS to record the videos, then I run them through a great little freeware program called Handbrake, which compresses the AVI file down to MP4 format, making it much smaller and drastically reducing the time it takes to upload to YouTube. Even with all that, it still takes me around 20 minutes to record and upload each video, so most turns I'm just going to upload one video. I'm off today, however (well, I'm "off" every day, but I don't have to work today).

This turn had more action. Bil is making a move toward the VL on my right. Fortunately for me, I have a strong infantry presence there, and Bil is losing troops for what seems to me like little gain. To be fair, he has a very difficult approach to this VL. I admire his bravado for even trying it at this point. I ordered one Panther to briefly fire at one of Bil's units on the crest of the hill. It had binoculars, so hey, good target, right? Unfortunately, the trees intercepted all shots. Bil tried to back a truck out of the battle and a Panther took it out, blocking the road. On my left flank, I can now see two armor (partial contact, movement, or whatever they are called) icons, on the hillside of Bil's territory. So that is where he is moving at least two of his armor. Not what I would have done in his place, but hey, that's why playing PBEM is so much better than the AI. Also noted are a couple of mortar rounds landing close to the HMG team on my left flank, behind the VL. Damn. I love the placement of that team, but prudence dictates that I better get them the hell out of there ASAP. I seem to have made a mistake with the mortar team on my right flank. It seems that I have given it orders to move to a location that it apparently can't get to, costing me at least two turns. ****. I'll try to make it move to somewhere useful. Here is the video for this turn (all trees removed): [

@agusto Would you please repost the picture of the force pick? Won't load.

So, if I buy a UAV, will it be enough if the UAV can see the target, or do I need to have an FO with eyes directly on the target?

Wow, thanks guys! I'm going to have to look most of those vehicles up. No, I haven't read the manual, lol. In past games, Stagler has taken out tanks and AVFs with very precise, very short duration arty strikes. What do I need to purchase in order to do that? A UAV? I confess I've never bought one before....

@JonS I have a great grandfather who fought in the Union army. I have at least two uncles who fought in WW2, one in the 101st Airborne. I have a father who is career U.S Air Force. I myself did some small service in a MASH unit in the 1980s. The church I attend said the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag today. During my short time on this earth, I have embraced the fact that all men are created equal, under God. I really don't need you to try to give me some sort of lesson in history or morality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xbjmGxhBcs

I'm mainly a WW2 guy, so all this modern stuff is new to me. Stagler and I have played a few CMBS PBEMs and I believe we are 50/50. I have usually picked the Yanks, except for one time we had a Russian (me) Vs Ukraine battle. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know WTF I'm doing in Modern. Stagler wants the Yanks in our latest game (small meeting engagement), which starts today. I'm Ivan. This is the map: Any advice on force pick and/or strategy? Like I said, I'm a modern noob. All I know is that the Abrams and Javelin are good.

Sorry about all the movie videos guys. I tend to get carried away with those sometimes (just ask anyone in WeBoB). I'll try to just stick to the AAR from now on. @Holien Yes, most of the mortar team is still alive. Unfortunately, the mortar itself is knocked out. Not a great deal happened that turn. I continued to move infantry forward. One Panther took a shot at some infantry. Looks like one of my LMG teams took a casualty. I feel like I'm starting to get my infantry into decent positions, given the limitations of the terrain. I'm trying to keep them spread out, because I fear Bil's mortar team(s). I continue to be concerned about what Bil is doing with his armor.