dinga

LOL, you haven't seen the one from my last game....I had to post that under a separate topic Maybe I should get an award for the person who can write the most s--t.

AAR for “Race for Hogartin” Once again, sorry about the length...I find it difficult to make them any shorter and cover everything in enough detail. The map consisted of a town in the middle with a large flag, and surrounded by fairly heavy treed areas. At each end of the map a river runs across the board and a single bridge crosses it. There is a single road into the town from each end of the map in the middle. At the bridge on each end of the map is a small flag. A single road ran parallel with the back of the map at each end of the map and joined, at a “T” intersection, the single road running into the town. The terrain from the north and south ends of the map were heavily treed and impassable for vehicles. This made the road the only means of entering the town. There were a couple of small crossings through which infantry could move though. My initial impressions were a ‘meeting engagement’ where it was a race for the town and the big flag. (How wrong I was) Turn 1 Began with forces on the right rear of the map near the road in a tired condition. I immediately plotted for them to run along the road to the town. Initial forces consisted of 2 platoons of rifle infantry and their associated paits/mortars, and one sharpshooter. Turn 2 and 3 My men continued to move along the road towards the town nearing the “T” intersection to the road that would take them into the town. It was at the end of this turn that I thought to myself, “Gosh, its going to be a while before we make contact, I wonder why we started so far back?” At the beginning of turn 3 I received a rifle platoon on the left side of the map near the road in a tired condition. I began marching them along the road towards the town also. Turn 4 Well my questions were answered almost immediately this turn began. Coming along the road from the left side of the map (same end of the map) are 2 platoons of German infantry and we meet for a casual “chat” at the “T” intersection. The initial “chat” goes very well for me with VH loosing virtually 1 platoon and me taking only a couple of losses. From that point on lady luck decides to pay me back for the last game, and VH’s forces begin to overpower mine. At the end of the turn I have lost over half my infantry with the remainder in exposed positions. Another 2 of the squads were in a panicked state. From what I could tell VH still had almost 1 platoon full of infantry. One possible reason for my losses in this skirmish was possibly due to most of my men being in a ‘weary’ condition due to me initially running them. Added to this was the early loss of my company and platoon HQs. Once my men came under fire and became pinned, they never really recovered until they eventually ran from the conflict with heavy losses. At the beginning of this turn I also received another rifle platoon in a tired condition on the right side of the map near the middle. I began marching them toward the town. Turn 5 The rest of my men panicked soon after this turn began except for the remnants of one crack squad who where eliminated during the move. At the end of this turn what was left of my 2 platoons was torn, tattered and panicked. The recently arrived platoon on the rear left of the map I continued to move along the road towards where the engagement had just occurred. I wanted to put some pressure on VH in this area and not give him control of that small flag so soon. My sharpshooter, which I had fortunately diverted earlier, moved to a small group of trees overlooking the bridge near where all the fighting had occurred. I wanted him to give me information about what VH was doing with his men in that area and whether he was moving any of these forces into the town. The platoon that had arrived near the middle of the map continued to move towards the town. I wanted to try and get control of that flag if it was possible. This game I felt would rest on control of the big flag. I guessed that VH was probably receiving the same sort of reinforcements at around the same time and in a corresponding position. I therefore worked on the assumption that VH would be doing much the same thing. I felt that if I could get my men in position in the town then later I may be able to sneak some men towards the far small flag. Turn 6 This turn saw VH wisely moving his infantry around and mopping up my forces that had become broken. There was some resistance put up, but VH managed to inflict more damage. The rest of my troop continued to move to their predetermined positions. I had now become very cautious after the little surprise and was not so keen to rush men into positions where I didn’t know what VH was doing. My main aims were now to get intelligence on where VH’s men were and to try and get a defence set up in the town if I could get there first. The problem was going to be that I didn’t feel I had enough men in the single platoon to hold the town from an attack, but maybe I could inflict some heavy casualties and even things up again. Turn 7 At the beginning of this turn I received more reinforcements on the rear right of the map. These consisted of 3 platoons of infantry, however each platoon consisted of only 2 squads of infantry and their commanders. Also received 3 trucks towing 105mm howitzers, 1 vickers machine gun, 1 flamethrower and a HQ commander. I immediately began moving these troops along the road towards where the initial fighting had been occurring. I assumed at this point that VH would have received exactly the same reinforcements as me, but at the opposite side of the map. Because of this I sent out an advance party to recon for any traps. My reinforcements that I had received on the left I continued to move towards the small flag. I assume that VH would have a similar force as I moving towards these men from the left side of the map. The forces towards the middle of the map I continued to move towards the middle large flag. There were a number of heavy buildings in that area that I hoped to gain control of before VH who I assumed had received a similar force in this area also. At the intersection near the small flag VH continued to mop up my men and at the end I had 4 men in a routed condition but away from VH’s men. I also had an unaffected 2” mortar crew in the area. VH had a definite advantage at this section of the map. Turn 8 VH moved a commander unit consisting of 2 men to attack my mortar crew. Much to my amazement this command unit was quickly eliminated by the mortar crew in hand to hand combat…never seen that before. VH also moved over a squad of infantry to attack the mortar crew and they came under mortar fire from the said crew. No casualties were taken by the crew. By the end of this turn one of the decimated squads consisting of 3 men were in an OK condition and I moved them back towards the intersection. The other units continued to move to their respective positions with me thinking….”how the hell can I get these howitzers into the town where they can do some good.” I had contemplated rushing them along the road but they would be easy to knock out with rifle fire so decided against it. Turn 9 The first reserve platoon I received moved towards the intersection and made contact with VH’s men. An exchange took place and I lost around 6 men in total and inflicted roughly the same on VH. I was now in a position where VH was a platoon stronger than me and had control of the area around the small flag. Also during this move VH ran his squad that was engaging my 2” mortar back to attack my platoon, which I felt was a wise decision on his behalf. Gave him a stronger defence in that area. All my other units moved with no contact. Turn 10 Around the small flag the exchange continued and I lost the remnants of a squad that had suffered losses during the previous move. I was now down to 2 squads for these reinforcements and didn’t appear to be doing any noticeable damage to VH’s men. The advance unit of the reinforcements I received on the rear right made contact with one of VH’s reinforcement squads on the right towards the end of the turn and a brief exchange occurred with no losses by me. The reinforcements at the middle of the map ran into the small town and gained control of a large building on the right side of the flag. Turn 11 At the middle flag I ran the other 2 squads and their commander to the 2 small heavy buildings at the flag, still with no contact from VH. Around the small flag the exchange continued and I lost a further 7 men but VH lost almost a squad also, so we were roughly even this turn. On the right I made contact with more of VH’s reserves and the exchange continued with me suffering 1 casualty. I think VH may have suffered 3 or 4 during this turn. I decided to move one of the platoons through the trees towards the small bridge on the far side. I figured that if I could get control of that side of the bridge then I may be able to put the flag into a question mark. The problem was that this side of the map was a bit exposed and would be difficult to hold. Turn 12 At the rear left of the map I spotted some of VH’s other reserves moving along the road with my hidden pait, which confirmed my earlier assumption about VH receiving the same reinforcements as me. Around the intersection the fighting continued with VH moving his infantry towards the bridge and away from the engagement during the move. My sharpshooter that was hidden near the bridge spotted one of VH’s anti tank teams and took one shot and eliminated it. At the rear right I moved my infantry forward to get more into contact with VH’s reserve platoon and a small exchange took place before VH’s men moved towards the intersection and out of contact again. I had the impression that VH was doing a fighting retreat with these men in an effort to slow down my progress and inflict casualties. I then decided to begin running my men after his so as to disrupt this tactic and hopefully catch him while he was still moving. Around the middle flag my men moved into a number of buildings and took up defensive positions. On the right side of the map in the middle I received more reinforcements, which consisted of 2 platoons of infantry, 2 M5 halftracks (with 2 x 2” mortars, 1 x 3” mortar and a Vickers HMG mounted on them), a 3” art spotter, and a crack badger flamethrower tank. I immediately rushed the M5’s to the village where my other men were to set up my mortars and the HMG. I began moving 1 platoon of infantry to the village and the second to the far bridge with the 2nd small flag. I assumed that VH would have received similar forces on the left side of the map near the middle and would be moving to the town. My intentions were to now try and control the middle large flag and the small flag at the far end of the map. At worst if I could control the far small flag, and have the middle flag as a question mark then the score would be reasonably close, which was all I need to advance to the finals. Turn 13 Near the intersection VH’s reserves from the left made contact with my men in the area and I inflicted a number of casualties as well as took a few. I was attempting to slow VH down in this area at least until I could get my men on the right closer to the intersection. During this turn I also saw a howitzer type gun on the road from where VH’s men had approached. I assumed that he would have 3 the same as me and I was concerned about him getting them across the river and in a position near the large flag to use them against my infantry. For this reason I need to get my men near the bridge and the road approaching it. Two squads of my reinforcements on the right made contact again with VH’s men and suffered 7 casualties in total. I now needed to get the rest of my infantry into contact with these men to reduce the casualty toll on me. Every man I lost in this encounter was one less to use against VH near the bridge/intersection where the small flag was. At the large flag I ran one of my squads to the second large building towards where I felt VH would be approaching the town. During this turn 2 full squads and one split squad arrived and an exchange took place with me losing my pait and 1 man from a squad. VH’s infantry took up positions in 2 light buildings and some trees. I was a bit unhappy about losing my pait as I felt it was my only defence against what I guessed would be a Flamepanzer, which I was certain VH would have received this turn. I now needed to get my other paits into town. I felt I could use the Badger against the Flamepanzer as it would have a greater range with it’s flamer (75 metres vs 50 metres) however I was concerned about losing it to an anti tank team so didn’t want to rush it into an exposed position. Turn 14 Near the intersections the exchange continued with VH’s reserves from the left and he managed to bring about 4 squads into contact with one of my squads. I failed to move these men back and consequently suffered heavy casualties. On the right I moved some more men forward and VH again retreated his men out of contact with minimal losses on both sides. At the middle flag my M5 halftracks made it into town and one of them offloaded the mortars in a small group of trees. The other infantry had some brief exchanges with VH’s men but with no apparent losses. My other men in this area continued to move to the town and far bridge/small flag. Turn 15 Near the intersection I retreated my men from VH’s, but not after losing the remainder of one squad. I now had 1 depleted squad, their commander and a 2” mortar in this area while VH had quite a significant force. Near the bridge a split squad of VH’s men ran to next to where my sharpshooter was hiding. I was hoping that he would remain undetected, but didn’t hold out any great hopes. My infantry on the right ran forward but didn’t make contact with VH’s infantry. At the end of this turn some heavy art began to fall in the area where my trucks and howitzers were located and resulted in one truck being knocked out. Fortunately for me I had dismounted the Vickers, flamethrower and the HQ commander a few turns beforehand and they were out of danger. At the large flag no infantry exchanges took place, but halfway through the turn a crack Flammpanzer arrived and moved to within 35 metres of the large building on the left side of the town. This was what I had feared and was becoming desperate for more paits to arrive in the town from the right. The Flammpanzer alone had the ability to destroy my defences in the area and I felt it was a high priority that I try and knock it out. My second M5 unloaded the Vickers HMG, which moved into a small heavy building near the flag, and the 3” mortar, which moved to the same small group of trees that had 3 x 2” mortars in it. I also saw on the ridgeline an infantry icon moving to a position towards the small flag where all the fighting was occurring. Turn 16 At the intersection I moved my remnants to a position where they could hopefully catch VH’s men moving from the right in a crossfire as they moved towards the intersection. My men moving from the right made contact with VH’s men again and I managed to bring 4 squads into contact but only inflicted 1 casualty, whilst receiving 1. Meanwhile VH’s art continued to fall and knocked out the second truck but didn’t destroy the howitzers. I began to push these towards the intersection but didn’t feel they would be of much use. I was disappointed that I didn’t have control of the intersection and bridge, as I would have rushed these howitzers into the town. I was surprised that VH hadn’t attempted to get his across the bridge and use them against my men in the town. At the bridge the sharpshooter was spotted and quickly eliminate by VH’s half squad. I began running 2 squads and their commander to this area in a hope to get a foothold. I was now trying to slow VH down in this area. I felt I couldn’t win this flag, but wanted to put enough pressure on him to prevent him from sending reinforcements to the middle flag. At the middle flag the Flammpanzer had a shot at the large building before reversing out of sight. Fortunately this building failed to burn. My infantry in this area continued to exchange fire with VH’s with no losses being suffered by me. One platoon of reserves from the right of the map moved into the town, while the second continued to move to the second bridge with the small flag. I also now saw 5 infantry icons moving along the ridgeline and felt these may have been mortars (but was only guessing). I plotted my 3” art for the area I felt they were moving to in the hope of catching them unaware. Turn 17 At the beginning of this turn VH again attempted to run his men away from mine at the right of the map. One squad managed to move away but the second became pinned and was eliminated. My men at the intersection made contact towards the end of the move with the 3rd squad of these men and their commander and pinned the squad (I think). Close behind these infantry of mine were VH’s men, which had moved from the left side. I was certain he would move them into contact next move and I would lose these men, but there was not much I could do about it. I plotted my men from the right to run towards the intersection and the inevitable battle. The split squad that had eliminated my sharpshooter was engaged by my 2 squads in the area and inflicted 2 casualties before VH’s men ran out of sight. At the large flag VH moved his Flammpanzer into a gully near the large and small buildings, which had my men in them. Next turn I was certain he was going to flame the small building so I plotted my men to run out of it. I also plotted my Badger to move forward and hopefully get a shot at it, but I was concerned about the gully and whether I would have a LOS. I had a pait with a LOS to the Flammpanzer with an 11% chance of hitting but with no chance of knocking it out due to it’s sloped armour. The next turn I ran this team forward to some scattered trees in the hope of getting a better shot. My infantry in this area continued to exchange fire with VH’s men and again I didn’t suffer any casualties. I also moved a squad of infantry to a group of trees near where VH’s men were moving along the ridgeline in case he decided to push through that area. One squad of the infantry that were moving toward the second bridge with the small flag made it with no contact. I felt that VH wasn’t pushing for this flag so diverted the one squad and their commander toward the town. Turn 18 At the intersection, the men on the right ran forward and engaged VH’s men with both of us losing a number of infantry. My infantry, that I previously thought would be eliminated, were by the forces that VH pushed forward. Next turn I was going to push the majority of my men into this conflict in an attempt to gain a superiority in numbers in that area. My flamethrower and Vickers were in this area and next turn would be able to engage VH’s forces also. Near the bridge my 2 platoons engaged some of VH’s depleted squads, from the beginning of the game, and inflicted a bit of damage. At the middle flag the infantry on the ridge turned out to be a platoon of infantry and some mortars. One platoon of infantry and his mortars engaged my troops and I suffered a couple of losses. My 3” art was now in position and showing 26 seconds until it began firing in this area. Hopefully that would do a bit of damage to his forces. His Flammpanzer moved forward again and flamed the small heavy building containing 1 infantry squad and their commander. The commander ran out the back of the building, but the infantry squad ran out the front and became BBQ’d. I moved my Badger forward to within about 40 metres of the Flammpanzer but because of the crest was unable to get a LOS. Next turn I would have to take a chance and move it forward to within LOS, though I felt that VH would be expecting this move. Other infantry in this area had exchanges with minimal losses by me. Between the large flag and the small flag at the far end of the map a platoon of VH’s infantry ran through some trees, and at the end of the turn one of my squads and its commander were beginning to shoot at them. VH’s men were in scattered trees so I hoped they would take some casualties next turn. At the beginning of this turn I also received an infantry platoon on the right side of the map near the middle and I immediately began running them towards the village. My main aim now was to try and eliminate the Flammpanzer. If VH didn’t have that, I felt I could hold the large flag. If I couldn’t get rid of it, then I felt I would find it very hard to win the game. Turn 19 Near the intersection a stand and deliver fight continued between a platoon of VH’s men and roughly a platoon of my men. During this exchange we lost about the same amount of men, including my flamethrower before he could fire a shot. At the bridge in the same area my squads and their commander exchanged fire with some remnants of VH’s squads and a full strength squad. I lost 2 men and VH lost about the same. All counted we came out about even during this exchange. In the town I rushed my Badger forward then immediately reversed it to get a shot at the Flammpanzer. As it moved forward the Flammpanzer took a shot but missed, my Badger then took a shot and missed also, before reversing back. The Flammpanzer took a second shot as the Badger was reversing, but missed also. VH’s platoon that was moving along the ridgeline began to attack the large building, which had a squad in it and a second squad in some heavy trees nearby. The squad in the heavy trees panicked very early and lost a number of men before running away Broken! The squad in the building became pinned due to the heavy amount of fire. My 3” art began to fall around VH’s platoon but did little damage from what I could tell. On the left side of the town I ran some men forward to some trees and eliminated a half squad of infantry that was pushing to the town there. Firing continued from this side from the other squads. The platoon at the rear of the town pushed towards the town to some heavy trees in that area and engaged the single squad and their commander. I lost 6 men in this exchange and decided to retreat these men closer to town near where my recently arrived reserves were located. At this point in the game I felt VH was mounting a good attack on the town and I was only just holding on. Turn 20 At the intersection, I ran over what reinforcements I had in the area, which included the HQ commander and any other commanders I had in the area. Also my Vickers got a LOS on one of the squads and began to fire on them. At the end of this turn I had lost a vast majority of my forces in this area, but VH’s forces were virtually eliminated. Unfortunately for me I saw 2 full squads of infantry near my other squads near the bridge and felt that I didn’t have enough forces in this area to win the bridge. The forces near the bridge continued to exchange with VH’s forces in this area and took 4 casualties while inflicting roughly the same amount. I knew I was only delaying the inevitable in this area and it was only a matter of time before these men were eliminated once VH ran over the 2 squads mentioned above. In the town I again moved my Badger forward then reversed it in an attempt to destroy the Flammpanzer. The Badger fired one shot, which missed, and the Flammpanzer again fired a shot which also missed as the Badger was reversing. The exchanges continued between the infantry with me taking a couple of casualties. My art continued to fall but with no visible results. At the end of this turn I retargeted an area of trees to the left of the town that had some of VH’s infantry in it. At the rear of the town the single squad and their commander ran back to some trees closer to the town, but the commander was eliminated by VH’s men during the retreat. At the end of this move I decided I needed to do something different to upset VH’s attack or else I would be in big trouble. I decided to take a chance and move my Badger to the rear of the town in an attempt to break up this attack. I knew I was leaving my men vulnerable to VH’s Flammpanzer but felt my 2 paits in the area may provide some defence against it. Turn 21 At the intersection VH retreated his men and I ran a majority of mine forward and thus was able to eliminate all there except for 4 men in a single platoon. At the bridge VH ran across his 2 full strength squads and engaged my forces and inflicted a lot of casualties. Next turn I was sure to lose the rest of these men. In the town all hell was beginning to break lose. VH ran 2 infantry squads into the large building which had my pinned squad in it. They made it with no casualties that I could tell and by the end of the turn had virtually eliminated my squad in there. I decided to run a full squad of men and a pait to the large clump of trees on the left of the town, which had my HQ commander and a squad of men in it. VH decided to run 2 squads into the same clump at the same time with the result being my loss of the full squad and VH losing about 7 men all up. At the end of this turn I decided to retreat back my remaining men and retargeted my art for this group of trees. A Panzerschreck from the men attacking the rear of the town fired a single shot at my halftrack, which missed. He was quickly targeted by my infantry in the area and eliminated. This halftrack and the Badger moved toward the rear of the town and the Badger began to flame one of VH’s squads that had run forward. At the end of the turn they were either pinned or panicked. The next turn I decided to move the halftrack and the Badger back to the middle of the town to support my infantry there. Turn 22 At the intersection I ran forward my men and inflicted 2 more casualties on VH’s squad. The remaining 2 men ran off in a Panicked or Broken condition. Since there were only 4 turns remaining I felt that would be the last I saw of them. At the bridge VH moved forward his infantry and eliminated all but one of my men, who ran off in a broken! State. I was not prepared to push any more men at this bridge and decided to set up a defensive position in case VH moved his men towards mine. I guessed that he would be setting up a defensive position around the bridge. I didn’t have the manpower to mount a proper attack in this area. In the town the infantry continued to exchange fire with VH pushing more men towards the area of the large building on the left of the town. My men in the group of trees on the left of the town ran back to safety with only one loss. My art showed 21 seconds remaining before it began to fall in this area. My Badger fired one more shot at the infantry, which panicked and ran away, before moving back towards where the Flammpanzer was still in the same position. I was very surprised that VH hadn’t used his Flammpanzer during the last turn while my Badger was at the back of the town. Perhaps the Paits were providing a nice incentive for him not to move forward. At the back of the town I ran towards the above infantry 1.5 squads of infantry that I had positioned at the bridge to put some pressure on his attack. I also ran 1 squad over to where his men had been flamed. Next turn I was going to try and run these men into the trees and try and inflict heavier casualties. Next turn I wanted to use my Badger to flame the large building that VH had gained control of. My only concern was what VH would be doing with his Flammpanzer. Only time would tell. This was turning into a real game of cat and mouse, trying to second guess what the other person would do and make moves accordingly. I felt if VH got my Badger then the game would be over, however, the longer I prevented his Flammpanzer from doing anything the better for me. I felt I had almost stopped VH’s attack from the rear and I had art about to come down on his attack from the left. If I could put some pressure on his attack from the front and keep the large flag as a question mark, then I may get close to a draw in the game. Turn 23 (71) At the intersection and the bridge there was no fighting. I set my men up in defensive positions and saw no sign of VH. At the town my I moved my Badger towards the large building that VH had just gained control of. While this was happening VH moved his Flammpanzer forward to within 24 metres of where my Vickers was in a small heavy building, flamed that and then began reversing back. Two of my paits had shots with only one shot hitting but doing no damage. At the same time my Badger got a LOS on the Flammpanzer and fired as it was reversing. This shot hit and destroyed the Flammpanzer (YIPPEEE). That was one great relief for me to see the end of that vehicle. VH had used and positioned it superbly, and had given me a considerable loss of sleep. Meanwhile VH pushed men around to the front of the town with a view to eliminating a broken squad I had near some heavy trees. During this turn I ran over 1 full squad to the heavy trees to support these men and moved a second squad to the light building from where they had come. The result being that VH’s assault met with some stiff resistance and one of his squads was virtually eliminated with no losses to me. Some of VH’s art began to fall in this area also but did no damage. On the left of the town where my art was to fall VH move his men towards the rear of the town to support the men that had just retreated from my Badger, or to prepare for an assault on the small flag/bridge at the rear of the map. Which one I wasn’t sure. Consequently my art fell where there were no men. Next turn I managed to retarget to where his men were with only a 16 second delay. At the rear of the town VH’s men retreated away and I ran over around 1 platoon to the area. My half squad that was in one set of trees was eliminated but VH lost almost a squad of men in this area. His men that were panicked from the Badger came under fire and retreated away again. Since there were now only 3 turns left I didn’t feel they would be a threat any more. I felt at this stage that I had successfully repelled this attack. At the rear bridge my other half squad spotted an infantry icon moving through the brush towards the bridge. I targeted these men and they immediately retreated back to some heavy trees some distance away. I was not concerned about this attack as they had a large distance to cover through little cover. My main concern now was that VH would try and push his men, that had just move from the left side, at the bridge. Next turn I plotted for one squad of men to run back to the rear bridge to help secure it. I also plotted for the Badger to flame the large heavy building in which VH now had 2 squads of infantry and a Panzerschreck. I guessed that VH would be plotting these men to run out anyway. My main concern now was to prevent losing my Badger to the Panzerschreck that VH had in the area. He had one positioned with a LOS over about 160 metres so there was a chance he could still knock out the Badger. If he did then the game could fall back into VH’s favour. Turn 24 My Badger that had targeted the building immediately retargeted the two squads in the building at soon as they moved, but didn’t fire as he quickly lost sight of them. As a result the Badger didn’t flame the building as I had initially wanted him to. Shortly after this VH’s Panzerschreck that was in that building fired one shot and destroyed the Badger. Exchanges of fire continued in this area with VH retreating another squad from a building at the front of the town in the area of the Badger. I still had control of the big flag but now needed to get some men in position around the flag in the scattered trees to prevent VH’s rush at the end. At the rear of the town I ran one squad back to the small bridge and they took one casualty. I now had one and a half squads to hold it. The men that VH had moved from the left side of town to the back moved along the ridge in some heavy trees towards the bridge. It was now obvious that VH was going to make a push towards the rear bridge with these men. Consequently my art, once again, fell on empty ground. Next turn I retargeted it to near the bridge through the area I felt VH would move. I also plotted for another squad to run back to this area to strengthen it. I was concerned about the Panzerschreck that was in the large building as it had a good LOS to my halftrack. Because of this I plotted for the halftrack to move behind the small burning building. During this turn my two paits had been firing at a halftrack that was around 190 metres away, however, all the shots missed. At this time I felt the pressure was off on the left side of the town and the rear. My main concerns were from the infantry in the large building and the infantry pushing for the rear bridge and its small flag. Turn 25 I ran one squad of men to the scattered trees near the large building and big flag, where my Vickers was now positioned. By the end of the turn these men had taken four casualties and were under heavy fire from the men that VH moved forward in the large building again. I also repositioned other men from the rear and front to cover the large building. My halftrack moved behind the burning small building safely and continued to fire at various units. My second halftrack had not fired a shot since early in these engagements due to losing a crew member. At the start of this turn my pait in the church fired a shot and destroyed VH’s halftrack. At the rear of the town the other infantry squad I ran back to the small bridge made it but suffered 5 casualties on the way. VH pushed 2 weakened and 1 full squad of infantry at the bridge and an exchange took place between these men with VH suffering a number of casualties. At the end of this turn my art was showing 14 seconds till firing in roughly this area. I felt I could hold this bridge as my men were all in heavy trees and VH was in scattered trees. He also had to push through my men to get to the bridge and I didn’t feel he had enough forces to do this. At the large flag I had a fairly strong defence set up in this area. I hoped I could hold off the final turn attack, but if I couldn’t I thought I had enough men in the area to make this flag a question mark. I knew that VH needed a large victory to give him enough points to get into the final so all I needed to do was push for a draw or a minor victory to him. In saying that though, I was also pushing for a victory to me to put into the final without any doubt. Turn 27 (Final Turn) VH rushed a squad from the large building to the cover of a stone fence. These infantry came under heavy fire and soon retreated back into the building. Another squad ran from the left side of the map to the gully where the Flammpanzer was and come under fire also. My Vickers machine gun was wiped out towards the end of the turn and the other squad in these trees suffered another 3 casualties but continued to fight all turn. At the rear bridge VH ran another 2 squads of men to the area where his other men were and exchanges continued, but my men held and inflicted a number of casualties. The end result with flags being 1 small flag to VH and 1 small flag to me, I was uncertain about the large flag but feel it may have become a question mark. During the final turn it was shown as being mine, but VH may have gotten his forces close enough to make it a question mark. Final score was (voidhawk) Axis 49 to Allies 40 (Dinga) - Draw Axis 222 Casualties (45 KIA) Allies 281 Casualties (89 KIA) 5 mortars destroyed 2 vehicles knocked out 3 vehicles knocked out 144 men OK 128 men OK In conclusion, would have liked to get control of the bridge at the front of the map as I could have then moved my howitzers across and control one side and into the town. VH played a great game and came away with a good points victory. He made some good attacks and put me under a great deal of pressure, despite me having first control of the town. I felt if I hadn’t been able to destroy VH’s Flammpanzer with my Badger then I would have been in a lot of trouble, since paits have problems penetrating their armour. I guess that is balanced by the Badger having the slightly longer range on its flame attack. Thanks VH for both the games and commiserations on not getting through to the finals. I have really enjoyed playing against you. Once again, many thanks to Chris Walker for getting the comp going again and providing two enjoyable and challenging scenarios, with some nice little twists in them. Now to the final…….

So as to not clutter up this topic, I have posted my AAR under a new topic called "Superted's Tournament Revived - Dinga's AAR". This is purely due to the lenght of the AAR. I would like to publically express my appreciation to Chris Walker for resurrecting the tournament. You have done a fantastic job. :cool:

This is an AAR for the Semi Final tournament game "Opportunity Knocks" against voidhawk. I have chosen to put it as a separate title due to the length of the AAR (about 25 x A4 pages in length) so as to not clutter up Walker's topic. AAR for Semi final Opportunity Knocks – voidhawk (Allies) vs Dinga (Axis) Forces Start 6 Lynx (Pz IIL) 5 vet, 1 reg 3 Puma – 2 crack, 1 vet 13 SPW 251/1 halftracks – 1 vet, 12 reg 1 Company Sturmgruuppe – 2 vet, 1 crack (platoons) 5 Panzerschreck teams – 1 crack, 4 vet 4 MG42 – 3 vet, 1 crack 3 flamethrower teams – vet 3 sharpshooter – 1 crack, 2 vet 2 x 81mm art – 1 vet, 1 reg 2 Kubelwagons – reg 1 vet Battalion HQ 2 Motorised infantry platoon – vet Turn 7 2 SPW/1 halftracks – reg 3 Panzerschreck teams 2 vet, 1 crack 1 company Sicherung (security) – 2 vet, 1 crack (platoons) 2 MG42 – 1 vet, 1 reg 2 x 81mm mortars – reg Turn 8 1 Panzerschreck team – vet 1 x 120mm offmap mortar – reg 1 company motorised infantry Turn 20 1 Platoon Sicherung (security) – reg 2 Sturmgeschutz IV – 1 reg, 1 vet 3 Panzer IVG – 1 reg, 2 vet 1 Marder II - vet When I received my initial forces and looked at the map I thought “Oh my god, this is huge”. Then I had a good look at the map and the forces and felt that I liked the look of the map and the forces involved. Plenty of cover and a good selection of forces with which to use I believed the airfield and the four small flags in the middle would not be where most of the battle would occur due to the openness of the area around it. I also felt that it would be essential to try and establish a couple of strongholds and have some recon probing for viodhawks (VH) forces. Since the majority of my forces were mobilised I felt that I would need to keep a small force in reserve in their vehicles ready to respond to where the majority of VH’s forces were. Turn 1 No real idea of where I wanted to be. I sent a platoon of Sturmgruppe and supporting infantry (HMG, zook, sharpshooter) to a large group of trees, on my left around the centre of the map, in their vehicles. My intention was to have them dismount in that area, then depending upon contact with VH’s forces, probe forward in an attempt to determine exactly where the opposing forces were and what they consisted off. A platoon of Motorised infantry were moving down that same side on foot as a reserve force. Ready to react to any contact made by my Sturmgruppe platoon. I sent a second platoon of Sturmgruppe in their vehicles to the middle of the map. One squad to a large building near the airfield, the remaining to a group of trees to the right side of the airfield. On my right I had a motorised platoon begin to push along the right edge of the map on foot. My intention was to use this force to probe into the right side or rear of VH’s forces. At a later stage in the game I felt I could use these forces to possibly surprise VH or to mount an attack from a different angle. Turn 1 came and went with my forces moving into position and no contacts. Turn 2 Forces moving into their pre determined positions. At the conclusion to this turn I decided that since I had no enemy contact to push further forward to groups of trees parallel with VH’s flags. Turn 3 This turn came and went with no contact. At the end of this turn I had a single sound of light armour on the road on my far left. A few of my Puma’s and Lynx’s were in a position covering parts of the airfield and a couple of approaches to it. I decided to have a Lynx cover a rise in the far left road under the hope that VH would push over it with some half tracks or light armour. I knew the quick rate of fire of the Lynx would be an advantage in that situation. By the end of this turn a couple of my squads on the left had dismounted from their half tracks and were running to their positions. In the middle a squad of Sturmgruppe were running to the large building on the right of the airfield. A HMG was moving there in a halftrack. I had an 81mm art driving in a Kublelwagon to the other large building on the left side of the airfield. One squad of Sturmgruppe had dismounted and run into a group of trees on the right side of the airfield and I decided to push these further forward to another large group of trees. The 3rd Sturmgruppe squad was still mounted so I decided to have the halftrack they were in drive to that group of trees also. My motorised platoon was still pushing forward on the far right with no contacts. Turn 4 On my far left side I saw 4 light armour sound contacts. My Sturmgruppe had dismounted from their vehicles and were running into position to two clumps of trees near the edge of the left side of the map. My veteran sharpshooter had run into the clump of trees at the edge of the map, which was around the rise in the road, which my Lynx had moved into position to cover. In the middle, 1 squad of Sturmgruppe ran into the large right building at the airfield and hid. The crack HMG travelling in the halftrack had moved onto the top floor of this building also. I had 3 light armour sounds heading towards the airfield from middle left of the map. On the right side of the airfield one squad of Sturmgruppe had run forward to another large clump of trees. I figured that if I could hold this group of trees then I could cut of any approach from that angle towards the airfield. The halftrack that was driving the second squad of Sturmgruppe and a crack sharpshooter to the same group of trees was hit by what was identified as an armoured car. The crack sharpshooter and 8/13 men from the Sturmgruppe squad survived and managed to run to the clump of trees where I had initially wanted them to go. One of my Lynx was moving around the same area but further back was targeted by what was identified as a Stuart but luckily couldn’t fire quickly enough before it went behind trees. The Lynx then went into a hull down position with a perfect LOS to the armoured car that had destroyed the halftrack. My Motorised platoon on the right had continued to move forward but with nil contacts. Turn 5 On my extreme left one squad of Sturmgruppe ran to a position where I had LOS to the road where the crest was. I identified 1 halftrack, 1 light armour (on the crest) and an armoured car, which began to shoot at the squad. My sharpshooter fired a single shot at the light armour on the crest and shortly after that 2 squads of American infantry appeared nearby (within 5 – 10 meters) but didn’t target the sharpshooter. I can only assume they did not see it or it was merely a sound contact. Toward the middle of the map in this area, a veteran HMG had dismounted and was moving to a position to cover the far end of the airfield. The Lynx, which I moved into position to cover the crest, had a LOS to the light armoured? Vehicle but couldn’t fire until the next turn. In the middle the light armoured sounds turned into 2 half tracks rushing towards VH’s end of the airfield to the flag and small building on his right side. One of the crack puma’s I had covering that section of the airfield managed to fire 1 shot at each of the halftracks, but both missed. A number of infantry dismounted and ran behind the hedge near the flag. By this time my 81mm art had reached the large building on the left side of the map and I targeted the area at the flag to which VH’s men had just run. There were no other areas to which they could move without being exposed to direct fire and I was prepared to drop the entire 200 rounds on that area if they stayed where they were. I also hoped the half tracks wouldn’t move and also risk being hit by the art. On the right side of the airfield the Lynx destroyed what was eventually identified as an M8 Greyhound with its second shot. The infantry on the right of the airfield were in position and had a good covering LOS to a large approach from the right side of the map. At the end of this turn I saw 1 light armour sound near the right edge of the map. My motorised platoon on the far right had moved forward to another heavy clump of trees and stopped. However my zook was still a fair way behind. Turn 6 On my extreme left the Lynx destroyed the light armour? with it’s first shot. The infantry near my sharpshooter turned from 2 icons into 3 and moved to within, what I could only describe as touching distance, before my sharpshooter ran away from them and back to the relative safety of a distant clump of trees. All this happened without him being targeted. In that same area the 3 previous armour icons (including the destroyed one) became 3 armour icons plus 2 more light armour sounds. 3 of these icons however began moving away again towards VH’s end of the map. I now guessed that I faced possibly 1 platoon of infantry, 1 armoured car and possibly 1 light armoured vehicle on this side of the map. As such I was not overly concerned as I had 2 platoons of infantry, 1 Lynx and a Puma in the vicinity. In the middle my HMG located in the large building had an exchange of fire with one of the halftrack that was furthest away from the airport with no losses. My 81mm art man had moved into position and by the end of the turn was showing 51 second remaining before it began firing. I had run a zook to the large clump of trees at the right side of the airfield where my Sturmgruppe were situated. This whole area was of a bit of concern for me as I had minimal infantry there and didn’t believe I could stop a strong push. At the end of this turn I decided to bring my reserve infantry up to fill some gaps and strengthen this side of the map. On the extreme right my platoon of Motorised infantry were moving in the clump of trees and towards the end of the turn a M5 Stuart? appeared directly in front along with another light armour sound contact. At the end of this turn I immediately hid the platoon but I believe they may have been spotted as the Stuart began to reverse backwards. At the end of this turn I began to run my zook forward with the hope of getting it into a firing position. I also began moving a Lynx tank held in reserve to a position, which could cover areas of this side of the map that was presently not covered. At the end of this turn I received 3 Security platoons at the rear of the map and immediately plotted all of my vacant halftracks to move to the back of the map at high speed to ferry them forward. Since all the infantry wouldnt fit in the halftracks I began running one platoon forward down the right side of the map. Turn 7 On my left a crack Glider platoon began moving from the clump of trees near the crest across to where 2 squads of crack Sturmgruppe were waiting. As the glider squads got near my Sturmgruppe opened up and inflicted a few casualties, but also took a couple. Close hand to hand fighting took place for most of this turn and ended with VH taking some heavy losses. I also took some losses but not as many. I decided to run my reserve Motorised platoon over to assist and to give me superior firepower should I need it. I also decided to move my Lynx tank forward to get some shots at any armoured vehicles in the area, and had the Puma cover the crest of the road on the left side of the map. I was also beginning to understand the problems of “gridlock” on the roads with tanks and halftracks causing traffic chaos. At one point about 4 halftracks and a light tank were exposed due to a traffic jam in an open section near the airfield. Fortunately for me VH had placed smoke on his end of the map to mask his approaching force and was unable to capitalise on this. In the middle my 81mm art began falling in the area where VH had earlier unloaded troops, and the 2 halftracks still remained in the area. The large building on the right side of the airfield was targeted by one of VH’s tanks, which set the building on fire. The HMG and Sturmgruppe squad both ran out of the building with no losses. On the right most of my infantry were moving into positions in various groups of trees with no further contacts. I began moving a second Lynx tank over to the right side of the map near the first Lynx which had initially destroyed the M8 Greyhound. This was to cover the armour moving around on the right side of the map. A third Lynx, which I had held in reserve, moved to a position at the rear of the right side of the map to cover a small section. Turn 8 At the beginning of this turn I received reinforcements on the left side of the map. These consisted of 3 motorised platoons, which I immediately began running forward. The hand to hand fighting continued on the left side of the map between our infantry which ended in VH losing the entire platoon, 1 flamethrower, and a machine gun crew coming under heavy fire. The motorised platoon had run over to the fighting but it was virtually finished by the time they arrived. The third nearby squad of Sturmgruppe came under art or heavy mortar fire during this turn. At the end of the turn my platoon of Sturmgruppe and motorised platoon were very closely grouped together in the trees and vulnerable to mortar or art fire. During the next plot phase I decided to run the motorised platoon to where VH’s paratroopers had come from as I felt I could then force his armour in this area to move and give me a better view of what was happening on that side of the map. A squad of US infantry appeared further forward and began firing at my third squad of Sturmgruppe. I assumed there would be another platoon of infantry in this group of trees. At the end of this turn the Lynx on the left had a LOS with a halftrack with a high probability of hitting. At VH’s right flag my 81mm art was falling in a concentrated area and I could see a number of casualties. This achieved the desired result of forcing VH to move one of his halftracks across the airfield into the sights of on of my Lynx tanks covering the airfield, which promptly disposed of it. By the end of this turn 2 infantry icons were eliminated in this area due to the art. I assumed one was a machine gun as it was walking and the other I was not sure of. On the right of the airfield I decided to run my crack sharpshooter forward to a clump of trees, but he was eliminated by a halftrack moving away. The traffic chaos continued in the open section but once again I was fortunate and nothing was targeted due to the smoke. By the end of the turn the motorised infantry in the halftracks were moving again towards the rights side of the airfield. All the other empty halftracks laboriously continued moving to the rear of the map to collect the recently arrived reinforcements. I was beginning to wonder as to whether I had made a mistake waiting for the transport. Only time would tell. I had run an 81mm art spotter across to a position overlooking the right side of the map and hid him. I ran one squad of motorised infantry on the far right forward to a clump of trees to make sure it was empty of enemy infantry. My intention was to run the rest forward next turn, however at the end of this turn more light armour sound contacts came up near where the main platoon was on the right edge of the map, so I decided to leave them where they were. Turn 9 Well this turn had action aplenty. On the left my guess that VH would art where the infantry were grouped proved to be correct and luckily only suffered 1 casualty. If they had remained I’m sure my losses would have been greater. The Lynx on the left lost it’s LOS with the halftrack before it could fire a shot and so recommenced it’s hunt mode forward. Not for very long though, as it was quickly destroyed by unknown armour/AT team. The Puma on the left side that was covering the crest in the road was moved forward to near the infantry. Meanwhile in the middle near the end of the airfield VH’s second halftrack began reversing out of the art area and was targeted by one of my Puma’s situated at the other end of the airfield. It was destroyed by what I initially thought was the Puma but, upon closer inspection of the move, showed it was a direct hit by the 81mm art. At the same time another M8 Greyhound moved to the end of the airfield and was destroyed on the second shot by the Lynx tank covering the that area. At the group of trees to the right of the airfield, VH moved 4 halftracks with a platoon of crack paratroopers, 1 HMG and an AT team to very near where 1 full squad, ¾ strength squad and their commander were hidden. The full strength squad managed to destroy 1 of the halftracks with a faust, eliminated the AT team, and inflicted heavy casualties on the squad that the halftrack was carrying. The remaining paratroopers were still in their halftracks. VH also moved a Stuart into this area to cover. In this same area the Sturmgruppe reinforcements I had previously sent forward had dismounted from their halftracks and were running towards a group of trees to the rear right of the above area. At the end of this turn I diverted this platoon to that fight. On my right the light armour sounds turned out to be 2 M8 Greyhounds moving into the middle right of that side of the map. My Lynx had a LOS with one of the M8’s but was unable to fire before it was lost due to the crest that the Lynx was behind. These 2 vehicles had me concerned as there was a possibility they could move over the rise and have a reasonable LOS with my armour from the side. The next turn I had both of my Lynx’s on the right turn to face the crest in preparation for that eventuality. The infantry squad that I ran forward on the right pushed to the forward edge of the trees it was in and made contact with infantry on the right of the map in some scattered trees. I believed that the treed area was safe so next turn I began running the remainder of the platoon forward. I realised in doing this that I was potentially leaving my extreme right flank exposed, but I had a Security platoon moving on foot to that area. At the end of this turn I felt as if I was beginning to gain an upper hand on the left side of the map. My intentions were to try and push forward to what I considered to be a controlling group of trees on that side which was presently occupied by some enemy infantry. I had my 81 mm art in the middle section cease firing where it was and retargeted it for this group of trees. I felt I was exposed in the group of trees near the right of the airfield where the infantry fighting was happening and knew that I would lose most of that ¾ strength platoon the next turn. I felt that it was essential to sacrifice this platoon so as to inflict as much damage and also to allow the reinforcements to make it to the group of trees without being ambushed. I was beginning to gain a number of what I believed to be key positions that hopefully would later allow me to control the flags or to funnel VH into the middle where I could use art and armour. I also believed that if I could knock out a majority of his armour and halftracks, I would then have a mobility advantage Turn 10 On the left my infantry pushed forward in their respective treed areas with 1 US AT team on the far left and the remainder of the US HMG team being eliminated. VH continued to art this area but with no casualties. Virtually all my infantry was out of the area except 1 squad of Sturmgruppe and an AT team. The M8 Greyhound (reversing) and the halftrack retreated back away from this area and my Puma pushed forward near my infantry. In the middle at the airport, a Lynx which had advance to behind the burning building, hunted to a position (still behind the building) where there was a gap in the surrounding bocage. It had an excellent LOS to the Stuart and 3 of the halftracks. The Lynx fired a large number of shots at the Stuart during the turn of which 10 deflected without damage. The Stuart hit the Lynx 3 times, which caused internal flaking but didn’t destroy it. I wondered at the end of this turn whether VH’s Stuarts had been given any AT ammunition, as they should have easily penetrated the Lynx’s armour. At the end of this turn I decided to reverse the Lynx back behind the building, but still in a position where I had LOS to the halftracks and retargeted it to them. The Lynx was showing a nil chance of destroying the Stuart On the right side of the airfield VH’s remaining infantry had dismounted from their halftracks and proceeded to eliminate all of the Sturmgruppe platoon in the trees except for 3 men, which were in a panicked state. VH had also suffered some casualties in this exchange and had the total of about half his platoon remaining. The advantage to me was that this turn allowed the reserve Sturmgruppe platoon to run to the edge of the trees without being targeted. The next turn I ran these men forward to contact with VH’s men. The two M8 Greyhounds that were pushing into my right side decided to do a “U” turn and move back towards VH’s end of the map. I can only assume that VH felt they were exposed. The remainder of the far right platoon of motorised infantry began to run forward to another group of trees where its first squad was. Meanwhile at the rear 4 of my halftracks had moved into a position where a Security platoon began to mount up. I think I had finally figured out how to move vehicles around a map in a more organised fashion. Turn 11 Well turn 11 turned out to be better for me that turn 10. On my left nothing happened except to move my men forward to the edge of their respective tree lines. The decision I now face was what was in the tree line in front of me and how many men should I run over to it. My fear is that if I push all of the men in the area across (about 1.5 platoons) then I may be running into an ambush. The other side of the coin is that if I don’t then I will be loosing some of the initiative. I think I will run over the 3 remaining men from on of the squads of Sturmgruppe. If they make it across without loss then I can push them forward and bring the rest over. This will then give me control of most of the left edge of the map and give me a good position from which to push into the centre of the map towards the flags at VH’s end. I had the 81mm art target this group of trees earlier when I first saw the US icons. In the middle the lynx tank performed admirably. The first halftrack it targeted was destroyed with its first shot. It then retargeted the Stuart but reversed back soon afterwards. When it lost LOS with the Stuart it immediately targeted a second halftrack and destroyed it. The third (and last) halftrack was targeted by one of my HMG’s as it drove away and KO’d it with one shot. I have never seen a German HMG KO a vehicle before and was quite surprised. The reserve Sturmgruppe platoon that had run to the trees on the right of the airfield advanced forward and engaged VH’s troops there. A stand and deliver fight continued with the majority of VH’s platoon being eliminated with a loss of 7 men to me. At the end of this turn I saw what was possibly a half squad of infantry running over to these trees. I guess that VH has decided that these trees were important for control of the right side of the map also and was committing more troops. I felt that the Sturmgruppe platoon had the ability at present to hold these trees, and I had my motorised platoon nearby now if they were needed as reserves. Also, in the middle of these two platoons was one of VH’s M8’s that had moved back and turned around. The second one continued towards VH’s end of the map and took up a position at the top of a small rise in some scattered trees. One of my Lynx’s was moving forward to a rise overlooking where these two tanks were and I planned to hunt it over the rise with the hope of only engaging the rear M8. One mistake I think that VH has made so far is to not protect his armour and in particular his halftracks. They have been extremely vulnerable to the Lynx tanks, which shows by the fact that 4 of the 6 destroyed so far were by them. However, in saying this, the Lynx’s high rate of fire gave it a definite advantage in any exchange. I felt I was now gaining the advantage of mobility, which I definitely need since I had pushed so much further forward. My plan was to now try and destroy as much armour as possible and set up some defensive positions on my right until more infantry came forward for support. This was only turn 11 of a 28 turn battle and I wouldn’t be surprised if more infantry and armour (possibly heavy armour) arrived in the near future. I felt I also needed to have some zooks positioned in some strategic positions to support my infantry against any possible armour. Turn 12 Things quietened down this turn. On my left I decided to run only on 3 man squad forward to see if there was an ambush waiting. They made it across safely and saw one of the 2 US squads moving toward the back of the trees, however they disappeared before any shots were exchanged. I moved the single 3rd Sturmgruppe squad forward into some scattered trees towards where I had seen a single infantry icon. Contact was made with this squad and shots exchanged for most of the move. I ended up losing 3 men in this turn. The next turn I plotted for this squad to retreat and attempt to move around into these trees from another side. Overall I thought I was against a single platoon in this area now. I felt I could win any skirmish that we would have, however I felt I would also take a lot of casualties. On my far left where my motorised platoon were, VH began dropping some heavy art. This caused 6 casualties during that turn and was enough to cause me some serious concern. I felt that I had to move them out as quickly as possible else they would suffer heavy casualties. I was hoping to run the gauntlet of the art next turn and run them forward to the other group of trees to get them away from the art. At my end of the airfield my 120mm art had moved to a position that had LOS to a small group of trees at VH’s end of the airfield that had a HMG, AT team in it as well as 2 halftracks behind it out of my LOS. I targeted this area with the hope of destroying the 2 halftracks as I felt they would be vulnerable to heavy art. Nothing further happened around the middle In the trees to the right of the airport my fresh Sturmgruppe platoon moved forward. VH began running the surviving paratrooper platoon away and the surviving paratrooper squad was eliminated. Their platoon commander managed to run to safety. VH also began to move his HMG back however I think it panicked toward the end of this turn and began moving back to the trees where my Sturmgruppe platoon where. The other infantry squad that VH ran forward during the previous turn did a “U” turn and began running back to where it had come from. This squad took some casualties but it was unknown how many. Some US mortars, that I think was situated on the right, began to target this platoon, however I moved them forward and the rounds fell on empty ground. This platoon was also targeted by one of the M8 Greyhounds, but with minimal damage. The Lynx tank that I hunted forward on the middle right of the map made brief contact with the middle Stuart, which had moved positions, but neither were destroyed. At the end of this move I had LOS to the area where VH’s second M8 was situated on the crest in some trees but couldn’t get actually target it. I decided to reverse back down the hill and move to a position a slightly to the left and hunt back over the hill. I didn’t want to be exchanging fire with the Stuart when I was targeted by the M8 if it moved forward. I knew the M8 could easily destroy my Lynx, however I felt the higher rate of fire would give the Lynx the advantage if the M8 missed. I also didn’t want to confront both the M8’s at the same time. I moved my third Lynx to a position on my far right on a crest where I had visibility of the right edge of the map. I had also seen another light armour sound contact on the right so was a bit concerned about exposing the Lynx. I wanted to use my Lynx’s to engage his M8’s and halftracks, and I wanted to use my Puma’s to engage his Stuarts. In general I felt I had the upper hand as VH was beginning to fall back on both sides. I was certain I had inflicted heavy casualties on him and felt that at present he didn’t have a lot of infantry on either side. However, I did feel he would have reserves very close. Another concern on my left was that my reserves were still moving forward and were in a weary state. For this reason I had to be careful not to push too far forward or become involved in any heavy exchanges as I would then not have any infantry to back them up with. I felt I needed another 2 turns before I could have my reserves in a position from where they could support my forward platoons. My initial prediction that the middle would not be where most of the fighting occurred was coming true. However, I had to be careful not to focus too heavily on the flanks, especially toward the end of the game since the flags mean more points. If I could put pressure on the middle through control of the flanks then I could easily move my men forward using the hedges as cover near the end of the game. Turn 13 On my far left I ran the second Sturmgruppe squad and their commander forward to the trees where VH’s 2 squads were. I also ran the motorised platoon forward to this same group of trees away from the art, which was now falling where they previously were. This platoon took 4 casualties during this run but if they had stayed where they were I’m certain they would have suffered more. At the same time these platoons were running across VH turned the 2 US squads around and began moving them back toward the middle of the trees. Both my platoons engaged these 2 squads and inflicted reasonable damage. My Sturmgruppe squad took some heavy losses also during this exchange. Effectively I had about 1 platoon in total strength in these trees now. I advance my Puma forward and it was engaged by one of VH’s bazooka’s. They exchanged shots from 182m with no results. At the beginning of the next turn I reversed my Puma out of LOS with the bazooka. My 3rd Sturmgruppe squad I retreated and ran around to the other side of the next group of trees. They were engaged by the HMG where my 120mm art was falling and took a number of casualties. VH also moved the US squad in these trees towards where my squad were running too. I also had my 81mm art from the middle targeting this area but since he was unsighted the rounds fell wide and didn’t do any damage. The 120mm art began firing and fired a total of 17 rounds. This destroyed both the halftracks behind the trees and the AT team. At the end of this turn I thought that only the HMG remained in these trees and I stopped the art from falling in this area. On my right near the airport I spread my Sturmgruppe platoon out in the trees they were in and they were engaged by the M8 that was furthest back in the trees. I felt slightly vulnerable to a counter attack in this area and began moving another Security platoon forward from the rear that was now mounted in halftracks. To their right my Lynx reversed back down the crest and moved to another part of the crest slightly to its left. It hunted back over the hill and immediately obtained a LOS with the exposed M8 in the middle of the clearing, which it destroyed with its first shot. The furthest back M8 still did not have LOS. On my extreme right the Security platoon that was on foot had moved to the group of trees from where my motorised platoon had come. However, they were in a weary condition. This did not concern me as they were now in a position from where they could respond to any attack. I also moved the 3rd Lynx to a position on the extreme right covering this edge of the map. I hoped that VH wouldn’t realise it was there and make the mistake of moving some armour into the area. During this turn I saw 2 more light armour sound contacts in the middle and right side of the map. I was beginning to wonder if VH had an endless supply of these vehicles as I calculated I had destroyed 4 M8’s and 8 halftracks, yet their seemed to still be lots of armour moving around and shooting at me. Of the reserves I had received I had one Security platoon near the battle at the front, another mounting vehicles at the rear, and the third in their vehicles and moving to the middle right of the map. I had a motorised platoon hiding in the middle near my end of the airfield, another on the left side awaiting halftracks and the third moving to where the fighting was happening on the left side of the map, but in a weary condition. I felt vulnerable on the left side of the map, as VH could easily have pushed down the middle of this area, which would have caused me problems. I was also concerned that on the left where my 2 platoons were engaging VH’s 2 squads, I would have been in trouble had he run over another platoon or 2 as I had no reserves in the area to back them up. This would have given back control of this area to VH and made it more difficult on this side. I decided that I would maintain my positions on the left until reserves arrived, then try and push further towards the middle. If I could begin exerting pressure in the middle then it would make it very hard for VH to win. The main advantage I felt I had at present was a mobilised force. My intention at this point was to keep one platoon in their halftracks and advance them up the airfield at the end of the game in an attempt to gain control of VH’s flags. To do this however, I would need to have armour superiority at the end of the game. I was attempting to force VH to move his armour back by moving my infantry closer to his end of the map. Turn 14 On the left, where my infantry was engaging the 2 US squads, it appeared that VH decided to retreat these men. As a result VH took heavy casualties with one squad being eliminated and the second reduced to two men. I now felt I had control of this section of trees which gave me a significant advantage. Next move I decided to move my men to the edge of the trees to try and slow any counter attack that VH may decide to do. I was also expecting some heavy artillery to come into this area within the next turn or two. That didn’t bother me too much as I was hoping that VH would use it all up before/if I gained control of the middle of the map. On the left one platoon of reinforcements were almost at a point from where they could prevent VH from taking complete control of the left side, but they were still not in a position to assist my forward units. As well as this they were in a tired condition. My main aim was to move them into a position from which they could quickly respond to any attack by VH on the left side. On the road on the extreme left I had advanced a Lynx to the other side of the crest in the road, to a point where it had a hull down position covering a section of the left side of the map. During this turn the M8 Greyhound on that side advanced forward and into LOS of the Lynx. The Lynx fired one shot without hitting it, before the M8 reversed back out of sight. The single Sturmgruppe squad nearer the centre of the map that I had run around some trees came under fire from a HMG, halftrack and the US platoon it was trying to flank. As a result of this it suffered heavy casualties (1 man remaining) and was routed by the end of the turn. I was disappointed at myself for wasting such a strong squad on such a silly manoeuvre, while also leaving it out of command control. This turn also revealed another squad of US infantry in the trees where VH’s HMG was that I had previously targeted with my 120mm art to knock out the 2 half tracks. It also showed 2 infantry icons moving away from this area. Because of this I retargeted these trees with the 81mm art in an attempt to inflict further casualties. These trees were an ideal controlling point for the left end of the airfield. I decided if I could control these then it would be extremely difficult for VH to advance down that side of the map to the flags. At the end of the turn I decided to run one of my new motorised platoon reserves, in the centre at my end of the airfield, forward to some trees from where I could begin putting pressure on this area. Hopefully by the time my art had fallen for a turn in these trees I could then mount an assault to gain control of them. In the centre right at the airfield I ran forward the single Sturmgruppe squad to a small building next to the right flag at VH’s end. They had run to near the building at the end of the turn with no casualties. I felt I was better to move them now than later in the game when it may have been more difficult getting them forward. On the near right of the airfield I began moving forward a HMG to a position in a small group of trees where I had previously run a zook. The HMG came under fire during this turn from a US MG ahead but suffered no casualties. I decided to get the HMG to try and divert out of it’s LOS behind some trees, then continue forward. On the right near the airfield I ran forward 2 squads of Sturmgruppe to a small group of trees to try and clean up the men that had retreated. They took a number of casualties (4 in each squad) but made it to the trees and eliminated the men. At the end of the turn they were under fire from an M8 and a nearby Stuart. Even though I was not happy with the losses they were now putting the Stuart under some pressure to move due to their closeness. I was now seeing another 3 light armour icons at the middle and right of the map and felt that VH was moving more forces into these areas. On my right I ran forward across a large grassed area one of my motorised squads that had 7 men in it. The trees that they ran into had a US platoon in it and my men subsequently took heavy casualties. At the end of the turn they were in a shaken condition and out of command control. I fully expected to lose them next turn. This did however reveal the location of the platoon and next turn I targeted this area with my second 81mm art. I was not happy with my infantry losses on both sides of the map this turn. I felt that I had pushed too hard forward and was becoming a bit “cocky”. I was wasting valuable troops on meaningless tasks. I decided that I would now try and consolidate my positions and get my reinforcements into the positions that I wanted them. I now need to begin setting up for the end of the game and prepare for the inevitable assault that would come from VH for the flags. At the back of the map the 2 security platoons had mounted into halftracks and begun moving forward. The first platoon I began moving to a position on the right where they could act as reinforcements and be in a position from where they could react. The second platoon I moved to a holding position in the middle of the back near the rear. I was beginning to have a few problems with traffic jams again but was still happy that I had mounted the troops. I now know why we have traffic lights. My second platoon of motorised reinforcements on the left were in a position near a road awaiting halftracks to come to them so they could mount up. My intended use was to have them near the front but in a position from which they could react quickly on the left. I still felt vulnerable on the left but thought that in another 2 turns then I would be in a much stronger position. I now held a position on the map where the main line of resistance was level with the flags at VH’s end of the airfield. This gave me the advantage in that I could now concentrate on defending more and trying to gain control of the middle. I was also in a position where VH had to fight to try and gain control of his own flags, whereas I had control of mine. The major disadvantage with it was the time it took time for my reinforcements to move to positions where they could be of assistance to the front line troops. This was my main vulnerability, which up until this point VH had failed to exploit. However, in VH’s defence, he probably wouldn’t have known when I received my reinforcements, where they were or the number of my forces. Turn 15 On my left side the platoons managed to eliminate the final remnants of VH’s infantry in the bushes. During this turn some light and heavy art began falling on this area with me sustaining a number of casualties. I moved the men in these trees to the edge to cover any advance by VH’s men. Further forward of this position the other platoon of infantry appeared in some trees and one was engaged by my Lynx but with no visible result. The 120mm art that I had targeting this area began to fall but was scattered. The reinforcements that I had positioned at my end of the airfield ran forward and sighted some reinforcements running towards the left side of the map along the road. At the end of this turn I repositioned my 81mm art to try and target the area they ran to. On the right near the airfield the Stuart reversed away due to the men I ran forward the previous turn. The motorised squad I ran forward on the far right was eliminated by VH’s platoon. At the end of this turn the 81mm art that had targeted the area showed 44 seconds remaining. My reserves continued to move into position. Apart from a few exchanges of fire nothing much else happened. I was beginning to think towards attacking the middle left near where the two halftracks were previously knocked out by my art. If I could hold this it would mean that VH would have to advance across a lot of open ground to gain control of the flags at his end of the map. Turn 16 On the left VH’s art continued to fall on my men causing some heavy casualties. My hold on this group of trees was tenuous and I felt that if VH rushed them that I would have no chance of holding them. I decided to leave the depleted platoon in the trees as I didn’t want to just give it back to VH. I wanted him to concentrate on this area as it was taking his attention away from the middle, which was now my goal. My 120mm art fell on VH’s platoon that had recently arrived but since it didn’t have a LOS was extremely spread out and did little or no damage. I decided at the end of this turn that I was wasting the round and stopped it. Also on this side VH ran forward another platoon of infantry to where his single squad was toward the middle. My reinforcements were still moving forward and were in a weary/tired condition. My hold over this side of the map was still tenuous and my 81mm art continued to fall. I didn’t have a very good LOS with the area but decided to keep it falling because of the fresh platoon that had just run into the area. On the right near the airfield the remnants of the 2 Sturmgruppe squads and their commander that I ran forward were eliminated by a paratrooper platoon that VH rushed to these trees. VH suffered a few casualties, but easily took the trees back. This whole manoeuvre by me had been undone by VH. I felt that I had just wasted another platoon of infantry because I had pushed too hard. By this stage my HMG’s on the right had moved into good positions and began targeting various enemy units as they came into sight. My 81mm art, which had begun firing on the infantry on the far right, I immediately retargeted to the platoon that had just retaken where my infantry were. My main reasons for this were this platoon were in a small group of trees and hence would probably suffer greater casualties. The security platoon that had just arrived I immediately diverted to the trees on the right of the airfield due to my tenuous hold there. On my far right my sharpshooter spotted a squad of infantry on the edge of the map and fired a number of shots at them. The only place I was now interested in trying to take and hold was the middle section of trees near VH’s left flag. If I could take and hold that then I would be in a good position for the closing part of the game. All in all, I was still not happy with some of the moves that I had been making recently or with my losses. I decided that VH could still win if I continued to be stupid with my infantry. Turn 17 On my right I decided to move a zook forward in a Kublewagon and also a HMG to a position to support my infantry. My reserves finally reached a position to support the other infantry and much to my surprise, VH didn’t run his men forward and retake the group of trees. The art had stopped in this area and a single shot fell in the area where one of my reserve platoons was running. I was sure that next turn some art would come down on them, but I didn’t really have anywhere else they could move to due to their tired state. I had begun running forward my 120mm art to a position where he could get a better LOS for that side of the map. I had him retarget the middle group of trees near the end of the airfield and moved my motorised platoon that were in halftracks forward behind some trees. My intention at this point was to put one turn of 120mm art on the trees then rush forward the halftracks in an attempt to take them. I would hopefully have around 20 rounds of 120mm art remaining after that to try and use on the left side. At the airfield I moved forward a halftrack to the right flag near where my Sturmgruppe squad were position in the small house. I saw one infantry icon run to some small trees in the area and wasn’t sure if it was a bazooka or infantry. On my right my Security platoon reached the trees and took up their positions. My Lynx tank hunted back up the crest and targeted the armoured car? that was on the far right of the map. It hit it a number of times and all the shots ricocheted. I assumed at this point that it was another Stuart. At the end of this turn I reversed the Lynx and diverted a Puma that I was now moving over to this side of the map to the same spot the Lynx was to try and take a shot. The 81mm art that I had retargeted showed 26 seconds before it began to fall and had an excellent LOS to the trees. The Lynx on the far right edge of the map I reversed back as it was not really doing much and possibly vulnerable to a bazooka. My second reserve security platoon that was mounted on halftracks I decided to move to my end of the airfield out of sight in preparation for them to rush forward to VH’s end of the airfield. I decided I would do this if I managed to take the group of trees at VH’s end of the map that I was now targeting with the 120mm art. Turn 18 On my far left VH advanced forward his armoured car, which fired one shot and destroyed my Lynx tank. My zook ran forward from where the destroyed Lynx was but immediately came under fire and lost one man. It then hid in some bushes. VH still didn’t run his infantry forward to retake the trees on the left and my men were virtually down to their last man. I was certain that next turn VH would run his men forward. The Motorised infantry reserves that ran forward came under heavy art fire but to my complete amazement only suffered 1 casualty. I was now gambling that this art would run out of rounds soon and decided not to move them. My 120mm art showed 22 seconds before it began to fall and all going well would use about 10 – 15 rounds after which I would then rush forward the halftrack mounted infantry to the area. I was then planning on running the 120mm art to another position from which it could finish its rounds on VH’s fresh reserves. On the right my Lynx fired another couple of rounds at what I now believed was a Stuart which ricocheted then reversed back out of sight. Towards the end of the turn my Puma (crack) hunted over the hill and fired a number of shots at some infantry. It then targeted the same Stuart and fired one shot, which destroyed it. At the end of this turn I decided to reverse back the Puma. The other armoured car on the right had moved into an open position so next turn I decided to move my Lynx to a slightly different position then hunt it over the hill to try and destroy this tank. I was quickly discovering that this position was an ideal crest from which to control that side of the map with my armour. My 81mm art began to fall on VHs platoon and I think it inflicted a few casualties. On the right side of the map another infantry squad appeared in the same group of trees that VH already had another platoon. I was happy to see this as I felt I could stop any rush forward by these infantry. I was also going to see how my 81mm art went against the infantry it was targeting and if it did enough damage before it was finished I would use it to retarget to this area. On my right I now had 3 full platoons to cover that area, on my left I had 2 full platoons plus one that was mounted in halftracks. I also had another platoon of infantry in halftracks, which I was going to use for the middle. I had a definite armour superiority and almost all of my halftracks. Turn 19 On the left an exchange of fire continued with VH moving his forces around in the trees and only a couple of casualties being inflicted on my men. My zook took a shot at VH’s armoured car on the far left but missed. VH didn’t rush forward despite me now seeing 2 platoons in the group of trees to their front. I was now seriously considering running one of my reinforcements forward to hold those trees. The art that VH was dropping on my reinforcements stopped and I hoped he had run out of rounds. However in the same area he began dropping smoke. I also moved forward one of my Pumas to behind the trees they were in as I felt he was vulnerable in the open. My 120mm art fell and I was unable to determine if much damage was done. At the end of the turn he had 13 rounds remaining, which I decided to save and move him to a different location as previously planned. Next turn I would rush my troops in their halftracks forward and try and take these trees. I felt the smoke that VH was dropping in this area would help to conceal my approach, but I had to be careful as I now didn’t know what VH was doing or indeed if he was planning an assault of his own. On my right near the airfield VH began dropping smoke also so I assumed it was in preparation for an assault. I wasn’t too concerned as I had a full strength platoon, flamethrower, plus various other infantry in the trees. My 81mm art continued to fall but I was unable to determine the damage. I also saw VH moving some infantry towards the right edge of the map, which made me happy as I was now beginning to focus on the middle. The halftrack that I advanced forward in the middle near my lone Sturmgruppe squad at the flag fired a few shots but was knocked out by a 50cal machine gun. I had completely forgotten about that contingent but it served as a nice reminder. Turn 20 On my left since VH still hadn’t pushed forward I decided to run over my reinforcements. They made it with no losses and took up positions to repel any attack. I had moved my two 81mm mortars over to this side in a halftrack and they also took up a position to cover parts of this side of the map. Unfortunately by the time they were set up VH had moved or hidden his men. My 120mm art ran over to the same area in which the two 81mm mortars were and was targeting the area where VH had two platoons of infantry. It was showing 1 minute till firing. Hopefully by me moving over my infantry it would encourage VH to leave his infantry there. My mounted motorised infantry began to move fast toward the trees in the middle left and were almost there at the end of the turn. They came under some machine gun fire from an MG at the target area but I don’t think it was a 50 cal so wasn’t too concerned about it. The lead halftrack was slowed down by one of my destroyed Lynx on the road and I didn’t make it in one turn, which was my intention. Therefore the element of surprise was lost but I don’t think it will affect the outcome greatly. The other motorised reserve on the left, near the airfield, I ran one squad to a small treed area and they came under fire from the remnants of a squad that was near the left flag from the beginning of the game. They opened up on my squad and inflicted 3 casualties, but were immediately targeted by a number of units. By the end of the turn there were 6 US men left which were taking cover or pinned. On the right there was little exchange between infantry. My 81mm art continued to fall in the same area but did little or no damage. VH continued to lay down a heavy sheet of smoke in the area. I noticed infantry movement on the extreme right of the map but I had plenty of units in the area to counter any push. In the middle of the map I noticed there were two infantry units in a scattered group of trees. These units were obviously preparing for an assault on the right flag. At the end of last turn I received reinforcements of 3 panzer IV’s, 2 StuG IV’s, a Marder II and a platoon of Security infantry. I immediately mounted the infantry onto the Panzers/StuG and began moving them forward to the end of the airfield. The Marder II I sent to the end of the airfield to cover that against any heavier armour that I assumed VH must have also received. I had seen a tank sound icon during this move on the left of the map. My intention was to use these infantry to advance along the airfield toward the right flag. The second StuG I began moving to the left of the map. Due to receiving these reinforcements I decided to move the Security platoon I had mounted in halftracks at my end of the airfield to the left flag. They began moving and hopefully VH wasn’t aware of their movement yet. By the end of next turn they should be at the front left flag, all going to plan. The main difficulty with this map was the openness around the flags and the approaches to them. My idea from the beginning was to gain control of the sides of the airfield then take the middle. From these positions I could hopefully prevent any assault on the flags at the end, or at least inflict heavy damage if a sustained assault took place. Turn 21 This turn things began to get very hectic again. On the left edge there was minimal exchange of fire. However, where the 4 halftracks went it was anything but. The halftracks and their crews made it safely and the infantry dismounted and immediately engaged an elite Glider platoon commander and half a squad of infantry as well as a 50 cal machine gun (which I thought was a normal machine gun-lucky). My troops quickly eliminated all of these however I lost my commander for these men due to a demo charge. The halftracks were then targeted by a Stuart with the result of 1 being destroyed and another shocked. I was not too concerned about losing the halftracks as they had done the main job I wanted, namely get the troops where I wanted them uninjured. My main concern now was that these men would come under some considerable fire but not have a commander. Fortunately I had a Company commander in the halftracks that were rushing down the left side of the airfield and decided to run him across as soon as he arrived. Of these halftracks, 2 decided to become tangled up in each other at my end of the map. The ending result wasn’t a nice smooth run down the left side of the airfield but 2 at the far end, the other 2 at my end with one moving down the centre of the airfield. Hopefully next turn I would be able to sort them out. VH’s lone squad near the middle flag came under heavy fire and panicked or broke. It ran off and had 1 man remaining. On the left side of the map the tank sound became a Churchill? I doubted that it was a Churchill VIII as my armour would not be able to penetrate from front on so I began assuming it was possibly a Churchill VII or VI. On the right near the airfield I ran forward the reserve Security Platoon to the edge of the trees in anticipation of a rush by VH because of the heavy smoke he was laying down. This rush happened from the infantry that were under 81mm art fire and consisted of 2 squads and their commander. These infantry were eliminated in the space of about 10 seconds and only made in half way across the open ground with no losses to me. There was some infantry movement on my right edge of the map as well as an armoured car and halftrack (sound). I was not overly concerned about this as I had plenty of infantry in the area however I decided to try and move a Lynx over to that side next turn to possibly get a shot at whatever was there. I also decided at the end of this turn to begin moving my security squad that was on the far right side of the map towards the centre. I felt that it was unlikely VH would push down the right edge. Overall I was very happy with this turn as I took one of the objectives that I had set myself while taking minimal casualties. I had also decimated another assault with no casualties. The only negative aspects were the loss of my commander and the halftracks getting tangled up in the middle. Next turn I was going to try and bolster my defence. I was now in a position where VH had to assault me in most positions possibly with inferior numbers of infantry. My main concern were what tanks VH had received and their locations. Turn 22 On the left my 120mm art fired its last 12 rounds and from what I could tell did some considerable damage to 2 squads that I could see. There may have been other squads in the area but I couldn’t tell. I now wished I hadn’t used the art unsighted earlier in the game as it would have been much more effective now. My 81mm mortars began firing in this same area also. VH’s tank began targeting an area where my reinforcements were, however I had decided to move them in the previous plot phase to get them away from the tank. I decided to hunt my crack Puma forward in the middle left area and it was engaged by an M8 and another Chruchill VI, which VH had moved forward. The Puma destroyed the M8 with its first shot and was fired at twice by the Churchill, both of which missed. My Puma targeted the Churchill and hit it with the second shot which ricocheted off, but I was certain I killed its commander. The Puma then fired two more shots, which the first ricocheted and the second destroyed it. This exchange took place over a distance of 277 metres. Of my 3 halftracks left in the middle, one was destroyed by 50 cal, the second was destroyed by a bazooka and the third was still in a shocked condition. The infantry in this area exchanged fire and suffered 1 casualty. They ended the turn with one squad panicked and the other 2 pinned. I felt it was urgent I get a commander over to that area. I moved the halftracks, which had moved my reserves to the left flag, to positions to try and provide supporting fire and hopefully take the pressure off the infantry until the commander arrived. Two of the Security infantry squad that came to the left flag engaged an almost full strength crack glider squad hidden in the small building and an exchange took place. I suffered 3 casualties and when the US glider squad was down to 6 men they surrendered. One of the halftracks which moved these men forward was destroyed from what I assumed was an AT gun from the US glider squad. The remaining 3 halftracks were moved to supporting positions as previously stated at the end of the turn. On the far right the US squad that I saw earlier emerged in some scattered trees near my 2/3rds strength motorised squad with an armoured car? and they exchanged fire. These squads took a total of 4 casualties and next turn I decided to run the Security platoon, that I had just moved into the area from the far right, to assist this platoon. The disadvantage that VH had was his men were in scattered trees and were more exposed than my men. Meanwhile my Lynx tank was moving to the far right side of the map where it would hopefully have a side on shot at the armoured car? next turn. Toward the middle right flag I saw some British infantry moving in that area and felt there may be a rush from there towards the end of the game. I assumed these were the last of VH’s infantry. The tanks I began moving to various parts of the map to try and support my infantry. The reserve Security infantry that had just arrived were in a position at the end of the airfield and their halftracks had arrived. My intention was to rush them to the right flag at the far end of the airfield to secure it. Since I was a halftrack short the 3rd platoon was on the back of one of the Panzers, which was to carry them forward. I decided to do a radical move this turn and rush one of my Lynx tanks on the middle right of the map into VH’s rear to try and get some shots at VH’s remaining halftracks and Stuarts. The main risk was VH’s heavy armour that may be in the area. I felt that if it worked it may put VH off balance for a turn or two. This turn I was unhappy about losing the halftracks, but happy (and lucky) that my Puma had taken out the 2 tanks, and the 120mm art that had possibly disrupted VH’s infantry on the left. Turn 23 Not a lot happened this turn except for exchanges of fire and my newly arrived armour moving forward into positions. The Motorised platoon that I had previously moved forward on the left middle came under continued fire and the panicked squad became routed and ran back to a small group of trees. The HQ commander that had moved forward in the halftrack was running across to the 2 remaining motorised squads and at the end of the turn had them in command radius, but was still running and under fire from a halftrack. 2 of the halftracks at the left flag engaged some infantry and were in a fairly safe position from enemy armour due to bocage and trees. Hopefully they would help take the pressure off the infantry above. I felt VH was in a position here where if he attacked this new position he would leave himself exposed on the left far from my platoon there. On the right near the flag the infantry came under some light art towards the end of the move and I suffered 2 casualties. I decided to spread these men out in the area next turn to try and minimise any damage. They also came under fire from some infantry and I decided to run my 81mm art to this area and use up the remaining 30 rounds against these infantry. On the far right I ran my reinforcements forward but VH retreated his men out of the scattered trees and over a small crest. My Lynx tank that had move to a position on the extreme right targeted one squad towards the end of the turn. At the end of the turn the Lynx had a LOS with the armoured car and showed a 51% chance of hitting. My latest squad of reserves mounted up on the 3 halftracks I had moved back and next turn I plotted for them to move to the right flag along with a Panzer, which had the 3rd squad on it. The HMG and flamethrower I had behind the flaming large building in the middle of the airfield mounted up on the halftrack (that was still there since the beginning) and I plotted it to move forward to the right flag next turn. I now had to set my infantry up in positions where they could target any assault at the end of the game and inflict as many casualties as possible. I knew the assaults would be aimed at the two flags at VH’s end of the airfield. I had control of the 2 small flags at my end of the map and felt that they were safe (famous last words). Turn 24 On the left exchanges continued between the various infantry with a few losses here and there. One of VH’s M3 halftracks reversed into an area exposed to my infantry on the far left. I rushed forward a Puma, which destroyed it with the second shot. In the middle my HQ commander made it forward without any losses and bought the 2 infantry squads there under control. My reserve infantry at my end of the airfield began to move towards the right flag along the airfield using the bocage for cover. My Panzer IV carrying the 3rd infantry unit made it to the middle burning building and the infantry dismounted and began to run forward. At the trees on the right of the airfield VH’s art continued to fall and I spread my men out. This resulted in only 3 losses of infantry. On the extreme right my Lynx lost LOS with the armoured car and didn’t fire. It then fired a couple of shots at the infantry and they ran back into LOS with my infantry on that side. Soon afterwards the armoured car got LOS with my Lynx and fired about 5 or 6 shots none of which hit. My Lynx return fire with 2 shots both of which missed before it began to reverse back out of sight. The Lynx tank that I had decided to rush to the rear of VH’s line was quickly dispatched by one of VH’s bazooka’s before it got past the MLR. So much for that manoeuvre. In hindsight I feel this tank would have been quickly destroyed by VH’s armour even if it had made it past VH’s MLR as during the next couple of turns heavy armour appeared on that side of the map. Turn 25 On the far left of the map I decided to run across one of my depleted motorised squads in an attempt to see where VH’s forces were on this side of the map. The infantry that VH had on this side had not been moved and my infantry were eliminated before they reached the trees with a loss of 2 men. At the end of this turn a tank destroyer? with a squad of British infantry mounted on it arrived at the back of the left side of the map. This left 2 tanks on this side as well as a number of infantry platoons. I felt however that the 120mm art that I had earlier dropped in the area had done some damage to his infantry and my forces were strong enough to resist any type of assault. In the middle on the left side of the airfield exchanges continued between our infantry and I moved my halftracks into different positions in an attempt to get LOS with VH’s infantry whilst keeping them away from enemy tanks & 50cal MG’s. I also moved forward one of my Panzer IV’s near this flag and had a second further back covering the area where VH had previously lost his 2 tanks to my Puma. My aim now was to try and keep VH’s armour from advancing by covering approaches to the airfield. At the right flag my halftracks had made it to the flag and next move the infantry were to dismount. I moved another Panzer IV forward to assist covering these infantry. On the far right my motorised platoon continued to fire at the singe US infantry squad which took some casualties. On this side in general continued exchanges occurred with no losses to me. I decided to move my Security platoon that had been on the far right toward the middle to prevent any end game rush, which VH may be planning. I wanted to be in a position that if VH rushed during the final move and made any of the flags question marks, then he would pay heavily for them with these forces. I now had most of my infantry in defensive positions (except for one platoon), which were reasonably well covered by my tanks, HMG’s and zooks. It was now up to VH to make his move. Turn 26 A fairly quiet turn by this games standards. Continued exchanges between infantry around the map with minor losses here and there. At the middle right flag my infantry dismounted from the halftracks and ran to positions. I ran one squad forward into a rocky area to prevent VH from rushing to the opposite side of the bocage and making the flag a question mark. My other armour moved to various other covering positions in preparation for any advances. On the far right VH began moving what was still identified as an armoured car? along this edge of the map. I quickly repositioned my Lynx and Puma for any move towards my right flag. The security infantry squad in this area continued to run toward the middle right of the map. Also on the extreme right some light art began to fall but was scattered and did no damage. Turn 27 This turn was much the same as last turn with continued exchanges occurring. I had moved my halftracks at the right flag into better positions and they began to fire on an infantry squad. On the far left I had crept forward a zook and targeted a tank destroyer? but he was quickly eliminated before he could fire. My Puma near the left flag was targeted by a Stuart, which VH had moved forward in the middle and they exchanged 2 shots each. One of VH’s hit my Puma’s gun but didn’t do any damage. Just forward of the right flag one of VH’s squads that was hiding in a small group of trees was sighted and targeted by numerous amounts of my infantry. From what I could tell it suffered a couple of casualties. Meanwhile the Security platoon that I was running to the middle made it with no losses to a group of trees where my HMG and other infantry were already located. They were in a good position to cover any advance toward the right flag. On the far right the armoured car? which VH had moved along the edge of the map emerged on a crest at the end of the turn. My Lynx immediately targeted it and fired one shot, which ricocheted. I then assumed it was another Stuart. All my forces were in good covering positions for the final move and awaited any possible assault. Turn 28 (final turn) The expected assault didn’t eventuate. I can only assume that VH didn’t have the forces with which to mount one. Infantry exchanges took place over the map and I lost about 2 or 3 men in this final move. My Lynx on the far right fired 2 more shots, the first ricocheted and the second destroyed the armoured car? All in all a great game which climaxed in the middle and gradually became quieter towards the end of the game as set positions were made and neither of us were prepared to attack each other. VH was very unlucky with his armour as he had a lot of shots miss. Many thanks to VH for the game and to Chris Walker for resurrecting the tournament and organising such a great map. Final Score: 64 to 36 - Axis tactical victory Axis Allies 225 Casualties (47 KIA) 317 Casualties (70 KIA) 6 Captured 9 vehicles knocked out 17 vehicles knocked out 403 men OK 349 men OK Score: 64 Score: 36

AAR for final against Darknight Canuka Scenario – Low Ground Setup 3 Platoons of SS Rifle 44 each consisting squads of 1. 1 grn, 1 reg, 1 vet 2. 1 reg, 2 vet 3. 2 reg, 1 vet 1 reg, 1 vet mortar 1 reg, 1 vet HMG 1 vet HQ 1 reg 81 mm art. Turn 3 Reinforcements 1. 2 vet, 1 grn 2. 1 vet, 2 reg 3. 1vet, 1 reg, 1 grn 1 vet, 1 grn mortar 1 vet, 1 reg HMG 1 vet 81mm art. Well let me begin by congratulating Ted on a wonderful tournament. I have played some great games and this has certainly got me hooked on CM. Now to the game against Darknight Canuka. For those not familiar with the map, it has a road which goes diagonally straight from one corner of the map to the other and has 4 small victory flags situated evenly along it. The Germans begin in one corner furthest from the road, and I assumed the Allies did the same. The road runs along a small valley with steep rise on either side up to a flatter plateau. It is a mirror map with sparse trees and raining conditions. My initial reaction when I first saw the map was that we would have similar forces. This proved to be a fairly accurate assumption from what I could tell by half way through the game. My initial objective was to move a majority of my forces to the middle and left of my side of the road. I ran a platoon to the far right side of the map still on my side of the road to watch over that side and slow any attempted crossing. Once I reached the road I could not see any opposing forces so I ran a platoon to the base of the hills on the far side of the road (left side of the map)(essentially on Darknights side of the map). At this point a platoon of Darknights ran to a similar spot on my side of the road. During this turn there was an exchange of gunfire with a few casualties taken by my platoon. I then pushed this platoon up the embankment into some sparse cover on Darknight’s side of the map and straight into a majority of his forces. This platoon fought valiantly but was overwhelmed by numbers, surprise and the fact they were isolated. By the end of the next turn I had 3 men remaining in a routed! condition back on my side of the map from the entire platoon. Over the next couple of turns there was an exchange across the road between mortars, machine guns, light artillery and squads with some casualties being taken. Around turn 5 or 6, three panzer IVH’s turned up on the right side of the map on the road for me and three Sherman V’s turned up on the road on the left side of the map for Darknight. Darknight immediately spread his three tanks around the road on the left side of the map while I advanced my three tanks along the road towards the middle of the map. Eventually my three tanks were positioned ¾ along the road stopped at one of the flags together and Darknight had his still positioned at the left side of the map out of LOS of my tanks. 2 of the Sherman’s were icons only and I had visibility of the 3rd Sherman. My intention was to increase my kill odds should any of his tanks present themselves. Even though I was exposed I figured 3 tanks against 1 would give me a better chance of hitting (3 shots to 1). During this time I advanced 1 platoon across the road at my far right side to Darknights side of the map with the intention of securing it. Also I had moved a second platoon to the base of the embankment near the middle right of the map shortly afterwards and hide them. This was with the intention of attempting to give myself a buffer so I could secure the 2 flags on the right near the end of the game. The platoon on the right encountered one platoon and some machine gun fire and a protracted exchange began. I had no desire to advance any further and decided at this point to attempt to hold that side of the road. One of the squads from this platoon was slightly isolated but was near the second platoon. Darknight had a second platoon charge this isolated platoon but luckily it held as it was still in command control for that turn. From what I could tell Darknights platoon suffered some casualties during this advance due to fire when advancing and a demo charge upon arrival. The next turn I ran the hidden platoon to behind Darknights second platoon and managed to wipe most of them out. I also pulled one of the Panzers back to this position to support the infantry. At this time I still believed all three tanks were at the left edge of the map. Darknight then pulled a magnificent move that caught me totally by surprise. One of the Sherman’s that I THOUGHT was at the far side of the map arrived at the top of the embankment with a perfect side on shot to my 2 Panzers situated on the road at a distance of about 85m. At almost the same time his other 2 Sherman’s began moving forward (but still had not engaged the Panzers). Both these Panzers engaged the single Sherman at the same time it engaged them. His first shot with the single Sherman knocked out my Green Panzer, with my shot from the Reg Panzer missing. At the beginning of the next turn I thought to myself, this not looking good at all. I was looking at a situation of 1 Panzer against 3 Sherman’s and knowing that his single Sherman would be getting of the first shot. It fired and hit, BUT ricochet off. I couldn’t believe it. Then my Panzer fired and MISSED AGAIN…..(aaahhhhhhh, lots of hair pulling out). Darknights next shot with the single Sherman also missed, but the Panzer got it next turn. This was most fortunate for me as I was not looking forward to my last Panzer against 3 Sherman’s. My Panzer had re buttoned itself and it was at this point that the other 2 Sherman’s began targeting the it. The Panzer managed to get off one more shot at the other 2 Sherman’s before it too erupted into flames. This was all at the end of turn 17 of 22. Now I had to last 4 turns, try not to lose my last Panzer and try and inflict as many casualties as possible. I was staring down the barrel of a defeat as the indicator was showing 30% victory for me and 55% for Darknight. Also on my right I had lost a squad and a half out of the initial platoon that pushed across to Darknights side of the map. The next two moves saw a standing battle between the opposing platoons on the right side of the map with me having that platoon gradually worn down until I had 1 squad eliminated. I had begun to move the 3rd squad over closer to the commander to try and reinforce that edge of the map. At the same time Darknight advanced his platoon closer to my platoon and was continuing to wear them down. The next move Darknight advanced the platoon at the remaining squad with 2 of his squads attacking it directly and the 3rd squad moving to the edge of the map with their commander. During this attack my squad threw a demo charge which shook up the two squads. Also, I had moved the second platoon, on Darknights side of the map, over to the right to help stop his push. I knew that if he broke through, I would then have to fight my way to the flag through him, which was not an ideal situation. This platoon also targeted Darknights 2 squads and helped to wear them down. Near the end of the turn one of the squad panicked and was quickly eliminated and the other was destroyed early in the next turn. It was during this turn that I decided to run another platoon across the middle of the map onto Darknights side of the map. At the same time he was moving a Sherman along the base of the ridgeline. This Sherman had targeted the spot where one squad had been so for the entire turn was shooting at nothing. Consequently the platoon got to the other side of the road and, as luck would have it, almost next to the Sherman without being fired upon. One of the squads had a faust 60 so the next turn, I ran this squad toward the Sherman about 25 yards and it fired, destroying the Sherman. The next turn, which was turn 21, I moved the 2nd platoon (on the right side of the map) further to the right in an attempt to target the remaining squad and commander, however, forgot it was turn 21 and I was a long way from the flag with no one around it. Darknight hadn’t forgotten and began to run his remaining squad and commander down the right edge of the map to the flag. He had also run a platoon at the flag on the far left of the map which had the 3rd Sherman immobile nearby. A third platoon rushed toward the flag near where the recently destroyed Sherman was and was quickly fired upon. During this engagement I took 2 casualties and Darknight had one squad panic and run into near cover. Turn 22 (Final turn). On my left side flag I decided that the best I could do was to try and inflict as many casualties as possible since most of his men were exposed and in the open. I ran a few stragglers at the flag near the end of the turn in an attempt to make it a question mark. I knew I couldn’t win that flag. The result was 1 commander and a HQ nearby to the flag with 3 casualties. I think Darknight took some heavy losses in this area as he ran a squad at my defending men on the ridgeline which was wiped out. The middle left flag I ran 2 squads and a commander at that in an attempt to make it a question mark. Darknight ran 1 depleted squad, I think, at the flag with the result begin a question mark. Darknights platoon that was rushing the middle right flag had one squad eliminated and didn’t make it to the flag. I managed to get one squad near the flag and consequently had control of it. The right flag was rushed at by all the squads on that side. Darknights remaining squad made it to the flag however took some casualties in the process. I managed to get a number of men in the vicinity and consequently the flag became a question mark. The final score was Germans 47/Allies 39. 1 flag Allies 1 flag German 2 flags ? The significant parts of the game were in my opinion. Luck – especially by me with the deflection from the Sherman which allowed me to destroy one of them. Luck – the meeting of the second Sherman and my infantry with a faust. Me pushing across to Darknights right side of the map and forcing him to attack through my forces to get to the flag. Having exposed forces on the left side for one turn which enabled me to inflict casualties which all count in the end. I was aware that Airborne troops are significantly stronger in close combat. I attempted to keep some distance between my forces and Darknights. Only close in advantage that I had were demo charges. These proved to be quite effective as they either caused a number of squads to become pinned or panic enabling me to inflict further damage without being fired upon. On my right I attempted to set up a buffer zone between Darknights forces and the flag in order to force him to come to me. This would enable me to inflict casualties as they were running towards my positions. The MG’s were effective, however my squads were constantly kept in command radius which prevented them from becoming pinned. Once I had a foothold I could see other forces pushing over in an attempt to isolate them. I needed to provide further support for them and to prevent me from losing the foothold that I had established so pushed the second squad over. I had the 3rd platoon in the middle but held off sending them over with the hope that its Commander would recover from being routed. This never happened and, I could see that I had an advantage on the far side of the road and needed to push that advantage. I ran the platoon over with the HQ (which only had 2 members remaining due to the art.). Fortunately for me they ran over while the Sherman was targeting where one squad was. One squad had a faust so I ran that squad at the Sherman. Luckily for me the faust hit, else I would have probably suffered a large number of losses as during that turn as Darknight ran a platoon towards where they were. This squad was able to inflict some casualties once it had dealt with the Sherman and its crew. My initial intention was to probe Darknights defences and attempt to find a weakness. I managed to get a foothold on my rights side and pushed more troops there in an attempt to get some type of control or buffer between Darknight and the VL flags. Darknights mortars and art were effective in the middle causing one commander to become routed. This platoon was taken over by the HQ and eventually KO’d the second Sherman. The art and mortars destroyed 2 of my mortars before they could use many rounds and also caused casualties in my HMG’s but my HQ managed to keep them under command and prevent them from becoming panicked (though they were pinned for quite a while). In the end it was the overall casualties which made the difference and I attribute that to being able to set up a defensive position which Darknight had to try and push through. I feel I had some luck in this match and Darknights tactics with his armour definitely caught me off guard. Thanks for the game and also thanks Ted for organising such a great comp. Dinga