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Phantom Captain

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Posts posted by Phantom Captain

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Anthony P. said:

    Ogdelow is a great mission, I enjoyed it some years ago. I learnt that Panthers were preferable to King Tigers in going up against IS-2s, at least in that mission. The 75mm is about as good at penetrating IS armour as the 88 is, but it has a higher rate of fire, the tank is smaller and harder to spot, and the armour didn't play much of a role since most IS-2 shots seemed to hit the Tigers in the turret face plate.

    Panthers are always the way to go, in my opinion!  Tiger I runs a close second...

    0

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    3 hours ago, George MC said:

    Yeah the combat record of the 501st during this and subsequent actions in the Sandomierz bridgehead was generally unimpressive. Possibly due to the original battalion being all but destroyed attempting to hold back Soviet attacks during Operation Bagration. Such catastrophic events would mean few of the experienced crews would survive to help form the cadre for the new unit to be rebuilt around. 

    The 501st was reconstituted on the 14th July 1944 with the new Tiger IIs but this only gave the whole unit around a month to reform and train on the new vehicles, and as a combat unit, before being sent into action – perhaps therein lays the reasons for the lacklustre performance of the new tanks and their crews through August 1944?

    Oh and overconfidence in the new vehicle...

    Its worth noting that whilst this event figures highly in Soviet reports - due no doubt to meeting the Tiger II for the first time and giving the wunderwaffe weapon a kicking - German accounts are very scarce. there are reports from other units but nothing specific to this event from the unit involved - least as far as i could find in available English sources. The Soviet side has loads of versions based on the original Soviet reports (all of which repeat the incorrect date change so assume no-one repeating this has bothered to doubel check....).

    Why did they attack? Well at the tactical level it is an odd decision for sure - no recce prior so they drove straight into an ambush. Some infantry support but they seem to not figure at all in Soviet reports and would appear did not even engage in any patrol activity. Its an interesting event which poses more questions that it answers for sure :)
     

    That's how I'm seeing it right now, being in the middle of it.  Green crews and falling victim to their own propaganda.  Still, the King Tigers are very cool to play with and to see.  I haven't used them in any scenario in such a long time, I'm amazed at how fast the turret rotates!  I was expecting heavy and slow but that's not the case at all.  Maybe it's just really noticeable in this one because it's nice to have when you are pretty much blind.  Maybe it's a little advantage?  

    In respect to your last point, it is true that history is full of examples of leaders of certain units making horrible decisions, to not only their own detriment, but usually also leading to horrific casualties of their men who have to carry out those orders.  I can think of many.

    I like scenarios like this as you get to really be in the heads of those who were there and then have to determine what to do with the lousy circumstances.  Good times.

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    10 hours ago, danfrodo said:

    Yeah, that really adds insult to injury when you're taking expensive losses and can't locate the perpetrator.  good luck!  

    @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!

     

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    9 hours ago, danfrodo said:

    Great pics as usual.  The Great King Tiger2 emerging from the smoke.  I still love these beasts.  I remember when I was young & foolish and thought these things were nearly invincible.  Then I played CM.  Oh, turns out 60 tons of steel is a lot more fragile than one would think.  Also at some point read how mechanically unreliable they were.  Kinda wish I could go back to my starry-eyed ignorance and idolize these things like I used to.  

    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.

    1123.png

    2

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    On 11/19/2023 at 2:15 PM, PEB14 said:

    You may have played a different version of this scenario, because I'm 100% sure that the tanks I'm facing are T-34/85! I was more than surprised to see their incredible performance against my Panzer-wonders. Particularly because in the previous PBEM, I played T-34/76 against Panzer IV  — and the T-34 were no match at all! (this was in "Hill 621 Redux", which is as bad a scenario as "Angriff" is a good one — even though I might be the losing side in both cases in the end…).

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

    0

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Brille said:

     

    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. 

    2

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    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.

    931.png

    However, FlammewerferX's tank spots me at the same time.  Both tanks level their guns.

    930.png

    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!

    932.png

    Incredibly both Soviet and German tank round pass each other in flight.

    933.png

    Mutual destruction as both tanks destroy each other at the same time.

    934.png

    935.png

    936.png

    7

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    1 hour ago, Vacillator said:

    I've been there too Andreas, but I'd still rather have a Tiger than a Panzer IV 😉.

    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.

    2 hours ago, StieliAlpha said:

    I hate to say it, but my beloved Tiger often disappoints me in CM. Despite the frontal strength and fierce look.

    I.e., the video does not surprise me too much.

    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?

     

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    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!

     

    2

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, danfrodo said:

    Great pics, once again.  I do love the T34/85.  Yeah, it aint a panther but it works and there's lots of them and only weighs ~35 tons.  With a powerful gun, again, not as good as the german guns & optics, but cheap and plentiful and reasonably reliable relative to intended life.  I never play russians in modern or CW but I really enjoy playing them in WW2.  

    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.  

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