General Jack Ripper

It seems my armor problems have gotten much better, but also much worse. I got a sound contact of a tank crossing the Rail Bridge.

I think they will both appear at the same time.

He definitely has at least one more Firefly roaming around. I had spotted it earlier up on the hill behind the Hotel, but I don't know where it is now. Either way, my attack on the Road Bridge is going forward, so if I get a spot on it I'll try hunting it down.

Who here remembers the PIAT team that was my very first enemy contact? My Sniper Team certainly remembered: TAKE THAT! You Spring-Loaded [BLEEP]! Resistance at the Road Bridge is definitely slackening, Ithikial's troops are withdrawing into the woods, and he's re-deploying his tanks on a line in the rear. I could almost call my "Deny the Road Bridge to the Enemy" objective complete. My Jpz is withdrawing to a new position, and the Bridge Platoon is pulling out of their useless position. I now have freedom to maneuver at the Road Bridge, and I'm going to take full advantage of it. Meanwhile, Ithikial is pouring troops over the Rail Bridge. He seems very determined to dig a foothold into the Town, while I am equally as determined to stop him. You can tell by these tracers, his attack over the Rail Bridge wasn't entirely bloodless. The only thing that's really got me nervous, is the sheer numbers involved here. Unless Ithikial has split all of his squads into teams, the number of contacts looks more like a Battalion than a company. I'm almost certain this is a ruse though. I'll post another big video on the next turn, until then, stay frosty.

Oh I was there! I really enjoy that World War Two, one day at a time project you're working on.

Okay, I've found a good map, now just let me plan some fireworks displays...

Ninja'd my follow up post!

A short, sharp tank action results in the loss of my StuG, and one of Ithikial's Fireflies. Pound for pound it's a fair trade, but it still hurts a bit. I can now make out what looks like a full company moving for the Rail Bridge, looks like we're going to have some major infantry action starting up soon. It looks bad at the moment, but I'm confident my Panzergrenadiers will win the CQB fight. So far, everything is still moving forward as planned, I simply can't get my men to move any faster. Oh yes, nothing is more boring than an easy walkover. There was one spotting round from the mortar, but those things are crazy accurate. They're a lot like the M203 Grenade Launcher, very handy and quick to use. I would imagine the way Ithikial's men are going toe-to-toe with my own he's commanding veterans. About 15 minutes. At the Road Bridge I'd say no, Ithikial has a bit of an advantage if he chooses to use it. He controls high ground that could easily keep me from advancing across the bridge, then push the rest of his troops towards the Rail Bridge. So far, he seems determined to fight for both bridges, but the pressure on the Road Bridge has definitely slacked off over this last turn. At the Rail Bridge, the terrain definitely favors me, but only if I can keep Ithikial from expanding his bridgehead any further. If he gets dug into the woods or the town it'll be the devil's own job digging him back out again.

I wanted to talk to you about that actually, I'll PM you over at FGM.

Is there an undamaged version of the map, I'm kind of planning some fireworks already.

What do you guys think is the best looking village or town map? Size doesn't matter. I just passed 50 Subscribers on YouTube, and once upon a time that was a big deal, so I'm planning something special, but I need a good map first. Now is your chance to see something incredible, and all you have to do is write a suggestion below. Easy.

Well, you can't hope to stop such a large attack with Javelins alone, so he's got to have something floating around...

It seems I forgot the lessons of fighting Commonwealth Forces during my battle with Raptorx7. Ithikial manages to get a 2pdr Mortar into firing position, and hits my LMG Team that was firing on his troops. One hit causes 4 casualties, 2 Wounded, and 2 Incapacitated. I've ordered as much suppression fire into the mortar team as I can manage, but the truth is my infantry is getting the worst of every engagement I've entered so far. I really need to clear out Ithikial's tanks so I can push up my armor, I'm contemplating re-deploying my Panther to a new position. So far, the fighting at the Road Bridge is completely stalemated. Meanwhile, my focus has shifted towards the Rail Bridge: My mortar fire didn't have much effect, and Ithikial has expanded his bridgehead. Thankfully my previous redeployment of my HMG teams has proven to be a stroke of good luck. My guns will deploy in firing positions this turn, and follow-on forces will be arriving continuously. I'm hoping I can push Ithikial back across the river, and exploit the situation for a counterattack. Meanwhile, my Opel Blitz proved unable to negotiate the terrain, and has become immobilized. I'll use him as a static ammo dump. Meanwhile, my Anti-Tank Gun has actually finished packing up! Now that they're not stuck in their useless position, I will make an effort to re-deploy them before more artillery arrives.

All three of my tanks are in a line, just waiting for any of Ithikial's tanks to make a move, provided we can see them through the fog that is...

It would have been fine, but the crew refused to pack up the gun when I ordered them to. Otherwise they would have been redeployed to a new position by now. I'm calling it a bug, because there's no other reason for it. Ithikial messaged me on FGM Forum that he's wrestling with some kind of bug as well preventing him from advancing. So we're both having a few hiccups here. I had every intention of fighting like a gentleman, but you're right. I'll blast down that house to get at his tanks, just as soon as the Panther's smoke has cleared and I can see again.

Fixed that for ya! That's exactly what's happening. Well, the suspense is over, Ithikial's Firefly was able to pop smoke and reverse into cover before my intrepid StuG crew got another round off. I'm now considering destroying the building Ithikial's tanks are hiding behind. That would be a bit of a d*ck move! After about six minutes of slithering around, I'm finally able to get one back on Ithikial's troops by the riverbank. My LMG42's fired in beautiful crisscross patterns all turn long. While there's no evidence of casualties, they have suppressed two of Ithikial's teams. I'm now working on getting more of the Bridge Platoon into the line. The more guns, the merrier. So here's the situation at the 49th Minute starting from right - to - left: The White square and arrow show my lead squad from the Bridge Platoon. They had gotten shot up a bit earlier, and I'm attempting to medic casualties and extract the squad. The Green box and arrow shows my Tank Support Platoon, and a planned attack towards the Road Bridge. Resistance in this area is less than I expected, even with the tanks being present, so I have decided to probe the bridge and see what happens. The Red line on the map shows Ithikial's tanks shooting up an empty building. Now this behavior is confusing me, aside from my Attack Company running behind the building, there hasn't been any indication anything is in the building. Even if I did have a spotter in it, the only thing they would spot is the tanks I've already seen. Could this pre-stage an attack across the Road Bridge, or is Ithikial just venting some frustration? The big Blue circle shows the two platoons of Attack Company. They have become badly strung out, and are dealing with fatigue issues, but they will keep advancing to the edge of the town ASAP. The Yellow circles show my HMG Section, their job is to close off the Ford and prevent further advances from Ithikial's infantry. My lack of LOS coverage of the Rail Bridge has bitten me in the *ss here. The Black circle and line shows my Mortar teams, who after exhausting their 81mm rounds will advance and be magically transformed into infantry troops. Also, the drama about my Anti-Tank Gun will soon be over. Ithikial hit it with a quick arty barrage this turn, and I'm sure follow up rounds are already in the air. I hope he plasters that lazy bleeping-bleep gun crew into the dirt. Someone remind me: Never take an Anti-Tank Gun to a QB ever again!

I'll post a wide angle screenshot on my next update. The tree was simply a happy coincidence, oh I mean I totally planned that out! Yes, absolutely! He's not knocked out yet, not with a single Partial Penetration. I'm just hoping I can land a couple more shots before he inevitably reverses out of view range. If the Panther had hit him instead of the StuG, he might have been knocked out with a single shot... This fog is driving me nuts!

Yes, that's a hit on one Firefly. StuG will continue to fire while the Panther and Jpz inch forward to try and get a spot. That's not the biggest news of the turn however: Ithikial has crossed the ford next to the Rail Bridge. My mortars are retargeting this area and will fire until they're empty. Once all of the mortar rounds are gone they will advance to join these guys: This is a Platoon HQ and HMG Section, already advancing towards the Rail Bridge. The second HMG Section is mounting up in my Opel Blitz, and will be driven here as well. The Attack Company is having a slight fatigue problem, and will advance ASAP. I really need to occupy some buildings in the town before Ithikial sends more troops across the river, or I will have quite a job digging them all out.

It was his own dumb fault for not buttoning up when machinegun bullets smacked into the turret front and top.

Yeah, it's over an hour long. Sue me.

I know exactly what you mean. If you'd had flamethrowers those would be some crispy fried fritzes. That's something I learned during my Road to Montebourg series, mortar teams make excellent ad-hoc CQB troops. Five or six guys with M1 Carbines can throw a lot of lead in a short time. Yeah, who needs the weapons platoon when you've got tanks anyway?! You really had the red mist descending on you right at the end, eh? Looks like you were up against a wall near the end of that battle, when it seemed enemy resistance was slacking off actually seemed to be a planned withdrawal. Or Emory always intended to keep the meat of his manpower in the big town in the first place. It would be nice to hear some thoughts from him regarding his setup and defense plan.