Phantom Captain

My scouts are killed before they can even do their jobs. The scenario should be called "The Fog at Ogledow".

@George MC I will say this, the map is amazing! That being said, the ground is horrible!! The fog makes it even worse! George, why in the 9 hells would the Germans attack blind, over this ground, in the fog!!! Arrggghhh!! What a cool historic scenario to recreate. It's super fun so far, @FlammenwerferX jumped me at about, ohhhh, 200 meters or so? It was a nice little ambush. We traded one King Tiger for one T-34. I'd say that's gonna work out super well for the enemy if this continues... Now I'm all super jumpy as the other spotted T-34 just rammed it into reverse and disappeared into the fog. It's like a freaking horror movie!

Confirmed spot of two T-34/85s.

I wish I knew! The fog is playing havoc with EVERYTHING. I'm guessing IS-2 though. I'm getting contacts in the fog but no spots. @FlammenwerferX was just lying in wait for that one.

Thanks, I know excatly what you mean! Ladies and Gentlemen, the "invincible" King Tiger. Just like you said Dan, the reality sets in pretty quick.

What new sorcery is this? @FlammenwerferX and I have engaged at Ogledow.

Suffered a weird time jump again... A US Marine and Ma Deuce. Out for a stroll in the country.

Saving this one for later use as wallpaper! Haha!

Another reason I REALLY like the T-34/85! Because yes, the 85mm gun can make short work of those big cats.

Cat and Mouse... Masked and waiting for @FlammenwerferX and his stalking Panthers. Displace!

Oh yes! Very leisurely with many opportunities to shake hands with the friendly Russians.

A glimpse of @Mr.X's upcoming Tiger Trail campaign. Here, close to the Nieman River, the glow of burning enemy vehicles illuminate my men as they pass in the falling darkness.

Tiger Trail... Night falls on the Nieman river and the glow from burning vehicles illuminates my troops as they advance.

Awesome! It looked like that Panther was in a perfect hull down ambush spot! Very cool video. In one of my battles with @FlammenwerferX he had a JS-2 in a hull down spot just like that but further back on a ridge and I stupidly moved a Tiger and a Panther directly across his line of fire with my sides utterly exposed, one after the other, and both ended up burning wrecks at the end of the turn.

A VERY BRIEF encounter. I know @FlammenwerferX has a PzIV on overwatch in a field beyond a woodlot and across a lake and he's been throwing HE into my SMG troops in the woodlot (who have their hands full with the German soldiers they have encountered in the woods) and causing me some pain. Earlier one of my T-34/85s got hit and one of the crew killed but the survivors dismounted, went and took a lie down and then got brave and hopped back into their machine. I immediately tasked them with trying to take care of this problem. Racing across a field behind the woodlot, my tank spots the "thorn in my side" PzIV. However, FlammewerferX's tank spots me at the same time. Both tanks level their guns. My crew fires! And you may not notice but if you look closely you can see the puff of smoke around the PzIV as both tanks fire at each simultaneously! Incredibly both Soviet and German tank round pass each other in flight. Mutual destruction as both tanks destroy each other at the same time.

Ha! Honestly, for battle, I probably would too. However, it still doesn't change my affection for the PzIV. If I had my choice, I'd take a Panther even before the Tiger, I think. Yep. Truly though, ALL WWII tanks are pretty blind so none of it surprises me. Buttoned up, I honestly don't rely on any of them to get get spots. That's what radios, binoculars, and a commander's hatch are for! Someone posted on one of the modern threads a video of a Ukrainian and Russian tank going right past each other and then not being able to spot the other, or subsequently losing track of the other in the heat and confusion of battle, and these are modern tanks. That all being said, I don't really have any arguments about armor spotting in CM anymore. I just put it all down to adrenaline, nerves, smoke, death, fire, blood and confusion on the battlefield. @George MC's video even reinforces it a bit. I mean it was the Soviet tanks that had intel and a contact and the Tiger didn't have a clue they were where they were. I meant to ask you George, did you have firing arcs on the T-34s or was it the AI itself slinging those turrets backwards?

Indeed! That's me for sure!

Honestly, I like all iterations of the T-34 too, with both the 76mm gun for the points mentioned above and because, of course, the T-34/85 was just excellent when used properly as we also mentioned above. It really is one of my favs. I mean, everyone does love the Tigers and Panthers, etc. and I do too but I think my favorite German tanks were the PzIV and honestly, the PzIII with the 50mm gun. I think I really have a think for light and medium tanks more than the big heavies. Don't get me wrong, the Tiger and Panther are fun and really good at what they do but they do have their vulnerabilities. Nothing I love more than knocking out a Panther with a side shot from a 75mm Sherman!! And again, at the end of the war, regardless of who had better optics etc. the Germans lost ALL their tanks. So that argument is kinda moot in my opinion. And hey now! Let's not be harsh or talk down about the most EXCELLENT Sherman tank in all of its special iterations as well! The Brit tanks are interesting but I'll take good ole Shermans any day of the week. I honestly love them and it is probably my #1 favorite tank of the war. But then, I'm one of those guys who absolutely loves the Stuart tank too. I mean, for a light infantry support/recon tank its just fantastic. I love the Stuart for all the machineguns it carries and its very decent 37mm gun. And I love the 75mm Sherman for it's anti-infantry punch and firepower as well. The up-gunned 76mm Shermans are just icing on the cake if you happen to run into enemy armor!

Exactly! One of my favorite tanks of the war. It's just excellent all around! I honestly really like playing the Soviets in WWII as well! Use them as a hammer, not a scalpel.

The first photos come trickling in from our brave and intrepid embedded photographer to document the heroics of our boys as the beat back the fascist invaders.

Reporting from the front. Hostilities have reignited as @FlammenwerferX and I have just started "The Passage". This time I am the Soviets. Intel will be updated as the situation develops...

Yes!

So is Tiger Trail! @Mr.X Last message from you received and I will do so! Agree with you Vacillator, Frank's stuff is REALLY REALLY good! Can't wait until others get to see the completed versions of these and how amazingly different some of the interspersed missions in these campaigns are! I need to get back to posting sneak peek pics from the campaign. Shhhh, right now my guys have to attempt a river crossing in the dark! And not just some 10 meter wide stream or creek or anything, we're talking The Niemen River, a nice 200 or so meters across. IN THE DARK. Ha!

Thanks!! I really thought a few of those did come out pretty good! Ok then, any of you now want a go at a PBEM? @Vacillator @danfrodo @FlammenwerferX @chuckdyke?? Ha! The gauntlet has been thrown. And remember this thread is all encompassing so it can be any theater. I mean, me and @Fizou always have 3 different battles going at any time (currently CMBN, CMRT, CMFB), I'm playtesting a campaign for Mr. X and always starting campaigns or saves or new solo battles against the AI so why not take on another??

Thank you thank you! A Muddy Affair was a really good battle but I played as the Americans! CMFB was the last one I bought and I put it off for a long time for some reason. Once I got it though, it's SO GOOD! It jumped right up to top 3. Although, honestly they are all really hard to rank. My regular PBEM opponent @Fizou and I just finished The Battle for Chaumont in CMFB and it was absolutely disgustingly brutal. We fought to a complete Draw with horrendous losses all around. I had remarked that I felt it was one of our most violent, stubborn, fight to death battles we have ever played. It felt as if we were paying in blood for every...single...meter. I could probably write a 100 page essay just on everything that occurred in the battle and how it unfolded. Those Falschirmjagers fight like demons. Now, we are just about to start The Battle for Chaumont Pt. 2. The German counterattack! I am the Americans, he is the Germans. For both battles... Just take a look at this madness... I'll have nightmares about his hidden ATGs taking out my Shermans left and right for the rest of my life... Most of these men were KIA and WIA. I always feel horrid when I get my pixeltruppen slaughtered.