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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 · Edited by Phantom Captain

    3 hours ago, Vacillator said:

    😂 of course.

    And back to the 'serious' stuff, Five Bridges is going well, so far... 👍

    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!

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    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    2 hours ago, danfrodo said:

    Wow, you've outdone yourself with this pics, thanks for sharing.  

    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??  

    0

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    3 hours ago, Vacillator said:

    That reminds me of some absolutely bad-*** panzergrenadiers I had in CMFB 'A Muddy Affair'.  They had some mighty kahoonas...

    Anyway great pictures as always, even if they take forever to appear even on a 700 Mbps download.

    And congratulations!

    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... 

    910.png

    Most of these men were KIA and WIA.  I always feel horrid when I get my pixeltruppen slaughtered.

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    2

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    Victory!  My battle with @FlammenwerferX is over.  After much struggle and brutal fighting my troops have won the victory taking all but one final VP location!  My opponent put up a fierce defense as usual but my armor and mechanized troops proved to be the difference.

    Final photos from the frontlines...

    I just love the battle damaged building on this one.  

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    The panzergrenadiers were integral to my victory.

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    My armor and recon sit atop the last VP I was able to seize.

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    My infantry rests after taking a farm overlooking the stream crossing and bridge.

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    6

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    6 hours ago, Vacillator said:

    Just to prove how anally retentive some people are - that's not a Puma 😉.  The 20mm gun and open turret suggests it's a Sd. Kfz. 234/1, whereas the Puma was a Sd. Kfz. 234/2.

    Unless my eyes are playing up 😵‍💫.

    Some more retentive than me say Puma was not an official designation or even a nickname, but I quite like it.

     

    Haha!  Thanks!  I knew, as soon as I posted it, that someone would call me out for that.  You are right, of course, it's an Sd. Kfz. 234/1 with the 20mm cannon. 

    But, let's just say that to me, all 8 wheeled German ACs with turrets are Pumas!

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    We are now in the waning moments, with under 10 minutes left in our battle.  Time has now become my enemy as I don't think I will be able to make it to the final VP, however, I have captured all but two and another is still within my grasp.

    Here my Puma advances to the heavy bridge VP location and clears out the remaining Soviet infantry guarding the bridge.  The two T-34s were previously knocked out by my advancing Panthers.

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    Advance, advance, advance!

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    In the final 30 minutes, I used my Panzergrenadiers on their halftracks to conduct two quick infantry assault and grabs to secure two of the required VPs.  @George MC, you would appreciate these assaults.  Under cover of armor and as much suppressing fire as possible I rushed two platoons right up onto the Soviet VPs with MGs manned and blazing.  My troops dismounted and immediately started advancing and putting more fire on the defenders who succumbed to the incredible and sudden pressure of my assault!  My casualties were far lower than if I had tried to advance on the position through my enemies clear fields of fire.

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    Success!  The enemy dead and wounded mark their defensive positions and once we closed on them from multiple angles with the halftracks speed and armor support, they fell brutally quick.

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    4

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    On 10/25/2023 at 4:40 PM, George MC said:

    I like it when a plan comes together! 
    I was rather chuffed that this close assault by my SPW mounted panzer grenadiers worked.
    Took some previous suppression fire and ensuring I'd KO'd any enemy AT guns, then drive at full speed onto the position, all guns on board blazing.
    It does not often go quite to plan like this...

     

    Good stuff.  I love it when the mounted MG is manned and then guys start standing up and shooting over the sides of the halftrack as it charges in.  It's worked pretty well for me many times, as long as I'm not taking too much incoming...

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    On 10/22/2023 at 4:17 PM, danfrodo said:

    My epic rampage through the soviet rear areas went rather poorly.  I ran into three ZSUs and a T72 over the crest to my front, while also getting hit by T72s that were hidden along a tree line to my left.  Of my 5 M60s, two destroyed, two immobilized, with only one ZSU to their credit.   Disaster, as seen here from soviet view.

    WvsXtY9.png

    So now we make the best of a tough situation.  I head onto track in the woods w a squad, an M113 and the remaining M60 a couple minutes behind.  After a small arms firefight I approach the hilltop (an objective) and soviets respond with ZSUs and various HQ elements, all of which are smashed.

    ZkN5CY4.png

    Meanwhile, on my side of the valley there's a zerg rush on the hill at my center.  The M60s you see are knocked out.  I'm engaging from the left with small arms and from the other side of the valley with M60 & M113-50cal fire.  Goal is to pin the soviets long enough for my 107mm mortars to come crashing in. 

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    Success!  Say hello to my big mortars, commies!

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     Now need to deal with the 4 T72s & a couple BMPs that are hidden the tree line.  I use some M60 smoke to approach, looking to get into a close range fight with my 5 M60s vs a couple T72s at a time.  The smoke fades and I get two of the T72s right away.  Charge of the M60s!

    VLc5yeS.png

    After losing two M60s, I finally clear the final T72.  Nasty close in fight.  I had engineers closing in from woods on the enemy right but didn't quite time it right.  I was hoping to have the infantry engage while the T72s were busy with my M60s.  But ended well overall.  All enemy armor destroyed and I can advance with armor & infantry.

    QCbDJOJ.png

    And a Total Tictory!  Each side lost 21 tanks but soviets lost more AFVs.  My losses in personnel were terrible, though.  What a fight.  I'd love to do the same battle with M1s instead of M60s.  Quite a challenge when half my tank & most of my TOW hits fail to penetrate.

     

     

    Ahhh!  Now I remember...  I played this one H2H against my regular PBEM opponent and I was the Soviets.  It was an absolute bloody mess at the end as I tried to assault a couple of his positions and I got smoked.  I do remember though, one of my T-64s (or was it a 72?) literally had about 19-20 rounds just bounce right off his front armor.  Crew deserted the tank after about shot 15, and still even empty, another 5-8 rounds came in and bounced off the beast!

    0

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    10 hours ago, George MC said:

    Yeah TBh I was tad surprised as more often than not I lose guys to the lone hold out... If you look closely you'll see the LH SPW MG gunner nearly gets nailed by an ATR round. The assault group on the far LHS flank was not fairing as well though. You can see the guys in that position are up and firing back (near end of the vid when it pans to the left).

    Still, that was a great assault!  Like @danfrodo says, usually in my attempts it never goes that easy!  I like seeing the enemy ditching out of their holes before you were even on top of them!  I love watching other's videos of these maneuvers, thanks and keep em coming!  

     

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    2 hours ago, danfrodo said:

    I can't believe you did a cliffhanger here!  That's cruel!  What happened????

    Haha!  The grenade in the air bounced too far and went off behind them.  Both teams start reloading and hugging the ground as tight as they can.  One of my soldiers gets his K98 loaded, takes one shot and drops one of the Soviets right as my other soldier throws another potato masher, taking out the second Soviet and this time putting an end to that brief and terrifying 40 seconds or so.

    Mars has smiled on these two this day.

    1

    Combat photography: Photos from the front..

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    An idyllic country scene, if it wasn't for all the bullets flying around...

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    There is nothing like CM.  The micro battles within the battles are absolutely riveting and at times even more memorable than battle itself.  Here, our last turn ended with two hardened enemies, facing off at almost touching distance, neither team intimidated by the bullets flying past, and the grenade is in the air...

    Every meter I take, every new ridgeline or clump of trees, every direction I turn another group of these guys pop up to ambush and harass our attack.

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    4

    Annual look at the year to come - 2023

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Vacillator said:

    That's a very good point, he is and it looks great (and what little I've tested is indeed great):

    In his case of course he and his BP are totally independent from BFC at this point in time, so I imagine the BP will be a download from Bootie's repository rather than a purchase from BFC.  I wish him the very best for such a great effort!

    EDIT:  Frank has just made the above a little out of date:

     

    I've been testing Tiger Trail for at least 9 months now?  I think it's been even longer in that I tested some scenarios for one of his other corresponding campaigns also?  I can whole-heartedly tell you all that...IT'S GOOD.  I'm appreciative that @Mr.X has not put a lot of pressure on me and that I think we both want to make sure that these scenarios work, and are FUN!  I'm hurrying along as fast as I can.

    I am thoroughly in the camp of you all WILL NOT be disappointed.  

    1

    How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

    in Combat Mission Black Sea

    Posted · Edited by Phantom Captain

    9 hours ago, LongLeftFlank said:

    If you Galeeeeev / they put a man on the moon (man on the moon)

    (btw for my money, THE best song lyric of all time, utterly Joycean)

    https://nitter.net/kamilkazani/status/1708491834253615405#m

    Oct 1

    1. There is a high chance of the US getting into a military conflict with China

    2. Likely resulting in a drastic collapse in the living standards

    3. The only plausible scenario for the conflict *not* to happen is China thinking it can’t win

    4. Improve your military efficiency

    Improve your military efficiency = improve your production capacities

    You will pay dearly unless you learn to produce a lot, quickly, and at a low cost

    (I think there was something similar once, written in Latin)

    ...Or alternatively, be able (*and* ready) to enforce your will on your globalised supply chain (said enforcement can be 'carrot' as well as 'stick', btw, which it always was in truly successful and long-lived empires).

    ****

    P.S. This is 95% OT, but anyone here play these boardgames?

    https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/692317/war-too-serious-matter-entrust-military-men-and-wa

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    Primitive accumulation (and top hats), ftw!

     

    Haven't played that one but, on top of my CM addiction, I do love a bunch of the new and modern tabletop wargames and there are some really excellent ones out there.  If you haven't heard of or tried any of the GMT Games COIN (Counter Insurgency) series you are really missing out. Fire in the Lake, the Insurgency in Vietnam is beyond excellent!

    Sorry for the brief OT post!

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