c3k

Last gasp of 43:00 to 42:00 And here's the last flurry of screenshots from that minute.

Turn 43:00 to 42:00 Beside the church... While Heverly is fighting and dying, just a few yards away, another halftrack is engaged in their own mission. (Grr...replace "them" with "they" and get back to the fight!) More...

Same turn... 43:00 to 42:00 Holy Heverly Losing control? Hah!... Let's watch Heverly some more. I'll re-man that halftrack. A .50 right there is a good thing. That Lynx is gonna be a tough nut. In this fight, its armor is a game changer...

43:00 to 42:00 A halftrack in a churchyard As we left my Company HQ, the men were piling out of the halftrack, and racing towards the village, using the church as cover. The halftrack, with .50 cal., was Area Targeting a sound contact. Here's how their minute unfolded... So far, so good. I like how the TacAI over-rode my command. Kind of. More...

Gah! You've called it: far too dry. In between posts, I'm trying to rebuild my main gaming rig. I've run into a brick wall. Something (expensive) is fried. Again. Grrrr. I need Baneman to post a turn so I can take out my frustration on his men. Or my men. Whichever works.

Thanks for the combo! As for military prowess being "interesting", well, that's kind of the point of these public AARs. I'll let my private pbem partners relate to you how they've been victorious over me. (Cue the chirping crickets.) In a serious vein, you are correct: this battle is no way to fight a REAL battle. It is, however, the perfect way to fight an AAR battle. I still use solid fundamentals: the terrain dictates the battle. Is there any doubt that I consider Lori's Mound to be the most important thing I can grab hold of? Next turn you'll see why. Terrain analysis: Lori's Mound is the key to the Village. (Village is the main obj. Well, that, and killing Baneman.) The Dell is the key to Lori's Mound. That's why I've deployed a full 1/3 of my infantry force and 1/2 of my Cav to screen/hold The Dell (as far as it relates to Lori's Mound.) I'm using economy of force to screen my left flank, and I've kept an unengaged reserve. Enemy course of action: well, this is a bit artificial. I know he wants the village and he wants to kill me. The terrain analysis complements the enemy analysis. With the above in mind, I have attempted a gamey flag-rush, but Baneman beat me to it. (Hah! the Village is closer to him: that's my excuse.) So, whereas this should be FUN, there are some fundamentals being shown, as well. (Also, some game stuff which may be of interest. Cross-loading halftracks keep part of the teams manning the halftrack mg's. If I split a squad into A, B, and C, and put them all into Halftrack 1, then they'd simply recombine. If I wanted to unload part of the squad and keep the mg's manned, I couldn't. So, I've put Squad 1A and 1B into halftrack Orange, and Squad 1C in halftrack Apple. Squad 2A and 2B join 1C in Apple, and 2C goes to Orange with 1A and 1B. Now, when Apple and Orange get to their destination, I unload 1A and 1B, and 2A and 2C. That allows me to keep 1C and 2C manning the guns. Perhaps I should show more of the 'inside ball'?) Ken

Turn 43:00 to 42:00 Death Visits: did he ever leave? I've just noticed that Baneman has a dozen more replies and a hundred more views than my thread. This cannot stand! I shall add more visuals and more teasers. My thread will surpass his; in count, in views, and in glory! As always, an overview, as we start the turn: This is how I view the battle, as it has evolved: And this, my friends, is what awaits us this turn: I shall focus upon several different events. However, they are not separated in time or space: they are all inter-related and affect one another. I've watched this turn repeatedly, sipping on a glass of red, decanted for me by my intern. She knows she erred, and is attempting to get back in my good graces. Regardless, the mellowness of the red was a nice contre-pointe to the frenzied action of this minute... She chose well.

Nothing speaks "class" like a black velvet painting over the mantle! Well, except for the singing bass on a plaque. Perhaps you could mount one of those over the painting? If I'd known it was going to grace your wall, I would've tried to remember which friggin' key combo gets rid of the white info at the top of the screen. Sorry 'bout that.

Turn 44:00 to 43:00 A focus at time 43:15 Ah, kind words. I shall reward them. (I find that the little people appreciate it when I grant them a boon. Consider this to be boonish.) Here, then, is a close up of a little vignette which played out in the last 15 seconds of the previous turn... Ahh, that was nice. I did not know that had happened. Baneman, like the guilty dog he is, couldn't help but let me know about it. I had been focused on my halftrack getting 20mm autocannoned into scrap metal. This was a nice balance... One thing I liked about this was the visible tunnel effect. Well, that, and the canister effect. Ken Edited: Gah. I used "center" twice in the same sentence. That's what I get for doing this on such short coffee.

Right! I've just gotten a chance to watch the turn. THIS is why CM is such a great game! There is mayhem! There is bravery! There is, alack, cowering! Bullets, shells, screaming, yells: all of it in one beautiful 60 second ballet. Baneman gets in some licks, but Lori's Mound is unsullied! My men create some death and destruction in the ranks of the grey-clads, as well. There is much more meat here than I expected. I'll have to carve this turn apart and use screenshots to show slices of action. It may take me a bit to digest all of this. I'll chew it over and have some screenies, anon... Ken

Thanks. So far, so good. We'll see how the next minute unfolds.

Ahh, where was I? Oh, yes... This wasn't too bad. He's pushing The Dell, has a foothold in the village at the close end to him, and has light forces near Big Field. We seem to've analyzed the terrain in a similar manner. Lori's Mound is what we both desire. I have it: he wants it. Jealous Hun... The Dell will be a grinder. I want to firebreak along the road in The Dell. I may try to press against his men. I'll swing between the village and The Dell, and backdoor him! Err, something like that. Bugger all, I said the wrong thing, didn't I? Funny: he seems to have a lot 'schreckmen. How gamey is that? I'd like to get my flamer into action. That'd be exciting to watch! They're going to keep the church between them and the shooter, and maybe they'll survive. If so, it'll be good to squirt some flame across the street. We'll see... Ken

Okay, one track bogged. No biggie. I'll get them unstuck. They're covered by smoke and near the village. Sweet. Hmmm. These men met their fate. They may not have wanted that fate, but that's the strand of the web they got. Thankfully, I was able to back trace where the fire came from. Now I know that Baneman has some autocannon somewhere in the fog. Good job, men! More...

Turn 44:00 to 43:00 Okay, here come some pix. more...

LOL...yeah, I saw it. My men felt it. It was far worse watching it than living it. Really. I'm envious of my men. (Pix in a few...)

What? First blood? Did Baneman kill some of his own men?

It's running on an R9 390 w/Crimson 16.1 driver.

Turn 45:00 to 44:00 Baneman is trying to get inside my ooda loop! His turn came back ridiculously soon! I shall investigate... Anyway, some pictures: Some bad news for me: Analysis: Baneman is smoking the end of the Big Field. That may mean he's moving to his right, as am I. That would result in a Hurricane of Death, a Vortex of Destruction, a Swirling Melee, or any other dizzying metaphor! Or, he's faking it. I'm just happy that I've grabbed Lori's Mound. There are no contacts yet. My jeep will peek behind the curtain. They'll be spotted, reverse, then die. But they'll die happy, knowing they've given me information. Plus, it'll make Baneman think I'm haunting the Black Forest. It will give him pause. Any attack which pauses is soon rebuffed. His smoke helps my gamey flag rush. I'm shoving harder into the village. Instead of unloading in the Pinegrove and moving on foot, I'm going to rush into the churchyard and unload there. Seconds count. On my right, Lori's Mound, I'll consolidate. After I've got sufficient forces there, I'll push to the edge of The Dale and overwatch the village. The immobilized M8 in the turnip field isn't great, but it does protect my left, somewhat. Gotta look on the bright side and not think about trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Of course, you CAN squeeze juice from a turnip...

I analyzed the battle the way Bil would. Then, I realized there's a problem with that. See, he likes to figure out possible enemy actions. Bah! My enemy will DIE!!! That is the only course of action open to him. Therefore, I thought I would offer a direct path to that option. My plan reflects that. I had to crossload a bit, acquire all those bazookas, Open Up all my vehicles (no cowering down for my men), and plot the movements. Here is what it is: Some details... My overall concept: Yes, I'm using the old "hammer and anvil" technique. In fact, I'm throwing hammers all over the place! Okay, hammers in eggshells. It will be a bloody first turn. Really bloody. The survivors will be more motivated to fight. There is a reason to my madness. This plan will disrupt my enemy. Chaos is a friend. Having created chaos, my men will prevail...because I will it. This is a gamey flag-rush coupled with a gamey edge-creep. How can it fail? If Baneman does NOT go for the village, I win. If he DOES go for the village, then there will be mayhem. That's just good fun for everyone, so I win again! If I can hold Lori's Mound, then that position and the Pinegrove will dominate my end of the village. I've got some forces screening the Black Forest, but that's just insurance. Also, I want him to Spot those moves to create some doubt in his mind. The 3rd Platoon, rushing the church/village, is just to gain a toehold. They all may die. Or not. Good commanders are willing to risk their men's lives. By that measure, I must be a great commander! Theirs is a high risk/high payoff mission. If they get it, they've opened the door for... 2nd Platoon, advancing up The Uncanny Valley is somewhat protected. If the village is not in enemy hands, they will be a good force in there to take it, and hold it. Protecting them is... Some of 3rd, some Cav, and some snipers will deploy in The Pinegrove. They've the support base for the two maneuvering village elements. The key, however, will be... 4th and Cav Troop are going all out for Lori's Mound. That's key terrain. If I can take it, then I can win. I'll have a decent position on both sides of the village. Reserves? Hah! I have one M8 hiding near the Farmhouse (by the Turnip Field). It's to keep the backdoor closed and provide one smidgeon of reserve. (Bil said I should always have a reserve.) I'm reversing an M15 into/near the Turnip Field. It should see something in the first turn. Bloody? Yes. Reckless? Yes. Bloody reckless? Hell yes! There will be no shortage of work for the medics after this first minute. If Baneman is cautious, I will root him out. If he is bold, then the clash will be violent and swift. This one may not go the full time.

The Rubicon is Cast! The Die is Crossed! My turn has been sent. I can guarantee there won't be much waiting for the first action. Oh, yes, it will be...ON!

Speaking of maps, here's what it looks like from my side... And the same, with terrain labeled so we can follow the action.. and... (Is there an image limit anymore?)

Those who surrender usually find themselves near some Area Target fire. To encourage the others... As for mass annihilation, there is NOTHING but victory! If all are lost in the pursuit, it will be my gain! Of course, you've reminded me I need a plan. Pretty similar to what Bil was telling me before the whole glove thing...

Hmm, that's EXACTLY what my intern said when I was asking about my drink. What's that smudge on your collar?

Here's an overview of my forces: I've got 3 platoons, an HQ in a halftrack, and a Cav troop. First, the HQ: it's got a flamethrower attached. Because it brings me joy to think of what that could do in the village. (I'll show pix of the map in a bit.) Each platoon is identical. Three squads, plus some reinforcement. I've stripped out the mortars, AND the machinegun teams. More on that in a bit. The reinforcements are that each platoon has two sniper teams and two EXTRA bazooka teams. (Every halftrack comes equipped with an M1A1 bazooka. That's 13 of 'em, total. (4 per platoon)). Every platoon will have 6 bazookas. Baneman wants halftracks, armored cars, and light tanks? I want burning hulks, fires, spreading smoke, and the smell of cooking hamburger. Yeah. The snipers are all crack or elite and are there to have some fun with any exposed machinegunners. Nothing makes my day better than seeing a red cross appear above an MG42. I don't want the MG squads because, well, I needed the points and I've got enough machineguns. Each platoon has 4 halftracks. (I subbed an M3A1 for one of the M3's. "A1" has the .50. No, that didn't count as "infantry" for out points. Only organic transport does. Since I subbed, I gotta pay...) Back to the halftracks... Each platoon has 4. 3 of them have dual .30 machineguns, one has a .50 and a .30. That's 7 .30 machineguns and a .50 for each of 3 platoons. Add in the the bazookas, and I think I can take on some German halftracks and troops. My Cavalry Troop is modified. I tossed out all but one of the .50 cal jeeps. Don't need 'em. I used M8(mid)s because they have the .50. M8 vanilla don't have the extra oomph. I like oomph. I stripped down the troop and added an M8 into each of two sections. That gives me 7 M8(mid)s. Then, I added some halftracks. What? Oh, not any halftracks. I added two M15A1s and two M16s. M15A1s have dual .50's and a 37mm autocannon. The M16s have quad .50. I like .50s. I like more .50s even more. My total force has.. 37mm: 9 tubes (2 are clip fed) .50 cal mg: 24 barrels (2 dual, 2 quad, 7 on M8's, 4 on halftracks, 1 on a jeep. He will be gloooooorious!) bazookas: 19 That should put some sort of dent into his armored cars, halftracks, and light tanks. Next, the map...

Baneman's email arrived the next day, which was sooner than my drink. He wanted a recon quickbattle with some sort of limits and ratios. Sigh. I had NO idea what he was talking about. Something about 50% infantry, no guns bigger than 50mm, nothing fully tracked, etc. He also said he usually plays Germans. He then clarified and said, "plays AS the Germans". Glad that was sorted. He, of course, let me pick the map and the sides. I demurred, knowing that his choice of map would give me an insight into his battle plans. He picked map 150. Ah, yes: map 150! It was obvious what he was going to do. By allowing him to pick that map, I'd already won! First blood, to me! The remaining question was which side to pick. Since Baneman had stated he "usually played as Germans", I knew it was a gambit. (In the World Championship for Rock-Paper-Scissors, (yes, it exists), the famous Eldridge opening has one saying "I dare you to start with paper." Ingenious...) Similarly, I knew Baneman was up to something. "Hmmm...", I thought to myself. "This is just like the poisoned chalice challenge. One glass is poisoned, but which one?" I knew he'd know that I'd recognize it as a gambit, and I'd take the Germans, but then maybe he thought that's what I'd do so he really wanted the US, and by giving him the Germans I'd put him at a disadvantage, unless he'd thought of that, and really wanted the Germans. This sub-game took us a week to resolve. I won. He got the Germans. The game would be 45 minutes long. Nothing bigger than 50mm. That limits the US to 37mm. The Germans get 20mm, 37mm, and 50mm. Since this was recon, I thought a Lynx or II would be good to see, so I told Baneman that the "no fullytracks" thing should be relaxed so the Germans can have some of those. He took it. I mean, I didn't MEAN it, I was just TESTING him! This was obviously going to be a blood match. So be it! I had to choose my force. I may not have picked the best, but given "no full tracks" and nothing bigger than 50mm, the only punch I had was M8 armored cars. So, I bought some. For the infantry, I chose Armored Infantry, for a bit more than 1/2 the full points. I stripped out the mortars. Why? Well, there wouldn't be time to call for help, and it's so unmanly to have to have someone else, like artillery, come in and help out in a fight. So, no arty, no mortars. Plus, Baneman had set fog out there, so visibility is limited to a few hundred meters. Pix of my force coming up... Ken