Gen. Winter

YGM.

Very nicely done, Eichenbaum. Thanks for all of your hard work and ambition. I finished the 1st battle and I have to say that I haven’t had that much fun in a solo battle in a very long time. The size is daunting but reflective of the Eastern Front. It’s easy to get lost or sidetracked when you have that much map out in front of you. I got some good breaks in the first battle and made some good decisions…destroyed two bunkers, three light tanks, two ACs, a couple of light guns, lots of Russian squads and the first objective almost captured. My losses seemed light…an AC disabled on a mine and my FJ beaten up a due to my mishandling them against dug in Russian’s on a ridge and my FO dropping ordinance on their heads when I was preparing to rush the Russian ridge. ************SPOILER********** My first day successes lead to second day disaster. In retrospect, I screwed up. I should have done more recon and less fighting. I made good progress to the second objective-just past the AC ambush. I saw a few minefields in the gully near the objective but I didn’t spot any pillboxes or fortifications from this forward point-probably because it was raining. I didn’t take any fire other than from the AC. I used this point to form up a flying column for the second day’s battle. I put an AC at the front, my Stug IIIs next for Russian armor, my short barrel Stugs next and my ACs off the road to mix in as necessary. I set up a platoon in “I” formation on either side of the road to flush out ambushes. I put my pioneers in the pocket in reserve. I saddled up my MGs on the Stugs to bring in some extra firepower for the soft targets (this worked well on day one) and my FOs for the hard targets. After my painstakingly slow setup (got to get it right), I hit “go.” The rain had lifted and in the light of day, I saw for the first time about 5-6 concrete pillboxes on the highest crest line. ****. I wish I had seen these in the first battle. I knew my infantry was in trouble. On the bright side, my FO for the 240mm battery had a sightline on the pillboxes and I called in fire with a one second delay. I ordered my infantry to “run.” And then the worst turn I have ever witnessed in CMBB played itself out in the next thirty seconds. I have never seen ordinance like what hit me. It destroyed damn near everything in my column. 76mm rounds from the pillboxes polished off the survivors. Everything broken or dead. ACs abandoned from the blast. All FOs dead. MGs dead. Infantry mostly dead-the rest running away. One Stug with a broken gun left. Damn. On a Bell Curve, I am betting that my results were about the worst you could possibly get. With nothing left that could conceivably crack “the beast” ahead, I walked away from the game. Time to pout and then reflect further. How embarrassing. The AI kicked my butt… :mad: