Fizou

The attack is relentless. The Germans know we are withdrawing and will do all they can to inflict as serious casualties as possible. I still feel confident that they wont be able to block my escape even though they are motorized and my force is on foot. Once more they push up a Kubelwagen to the house anchoring my third line of defense. It quickly draws fire and is forced to reverse out of harms way. Another occupant taken out by SMG fire. The attack comes straight on, both by the main road to the bridge.. Grenadiers supported by Grille SPA closing in on my third line. And over the field running up along the road. The Germans are bound to run into my ambush in the field, but they have the numerical superiority. Lieutenant Blum, now alone in the stone house, is taking massive fire from small arms as well as Grille and Inf guns. A MG34 team in position to put suppressive fire on the stone house occupied by Lt Blum. A 75 mm shell impacts the upper floor. Overview after 58 minutes: The Grenadiers are charging my third line, they also seem to flank the position form their right. Red arrows indicating their advance.

I'm guessing its something along the line that one buys v 3.0 with RT or v 2.0 with FI for that matter (all features included in base game). Then doesn't want to pay for upgrading CMBN to reach v 2.0 or v 3.0 as this was already payed for buying FI or RT. Twisted logic as the upgrading of BN costs resources and is not done automatically..

Cant wait to learn more! Really excited!!

So BF has got it wrong for all these years? Will there be a fix in 3.0?

Great news ND! Thanks

Yes, but you don't need to use the z in the folder name if you are certain that you have no other mod of the same files in the Data/Z folder. The Z or even multiple zeds are just there to make sure that the content of the given folder is loaded last/with priority.

Anywhere in the Z folder will do. Only way it wont work is if you already have another mod of British voices in there that has a folder name with a name/letter further down the alphabetic order. A folder named Zvoices will have priority loading over a folder named voices. Zzvoices over Zvoices etc. To be 100% sure to have it work, in your Z folder, Put a folder named Z dh british voices and you should definitely be fine.

The Kubel reversing to safety on the right has served its purpose and the sharpshooter in the building by the main road is discovered. A Grille dispatches him seconds later. The troops held up around this house (my third line) seems to be caught in a fight to the death. The German advance is speeding up and they are now all over my old positions where my second line was held up. The Grenadiers make good use of a Grille crater as they move up to assault my third line. A man from the second line decides he has had enough. He is soon captured by the Germans. The first POW for the Allies in this campaign. Overview after 56 minutes: My third line, as well as the remnant of second line and first screen are trapped between the German main effort (big red bulge) and the blue bulge of my forth defensive line. The forth line is on a hill. On my right the forces are moving in an orderly fashion towards safety. In the bottom right a lone survivor from the Bazooka team that tried to brew up a Grille earlier is trapped.

@Chudacabra and @Frankster65, Thanks! Glad you enjoy it! --------- The withdrawal is continuing according to plan on my right side, where the majority of my force is located. It is also here that my men has the best cover and concealment moving back. On my left things are not going as well as I had hoped. The Germans have been able to close and my decisions about moving back has not been timed very well. Combined with German suppression fire a portion of my force is all but locked in place. Where to draw the line and start to pull out.. what units to forsake and which to try and save. Though decisions. The units closest to the Germans are moving in bounds, short distances between cover and/or concealment before turning to the enemy to try and slow their attack. A Para with his Garand at work. The Germans are attacking up the main road, with a small flanking attack on my far left. Moving behind and over the hill there, that the Paras used as a good vantage point in the first part of the battle. The lead man is shot down as the Grenadiers continue their relentless assault. The brave Paras take fire from several locations and casualties are mounting quickly. The efforts to save them (remnants of my first screen and second line) are looking grim. I have kept my third line in place in an attempt to cover and save these units. This might be a mistake and could also lead to the third line being lost. The Germans are close now and the third line have to move up a hill to safety (and under enemy fire this will be very difficult to say the least). Heavy fire drowns the last men of 2nd Platoon. A Para drops dead after a shot to the head. In the center by the main road, the Germans push up a Kubel to recon and draw fire. They stop mere meters from my third defensive line as they start to receive fire from all kinds of small arms carried by the Paras. A particularity bold Germans starts to return fire with his Luger. He is killed seconds later and the Kubel reverses back to safety, a miracle that its still rolling after all the bullets it catches before LOS is broken.

Each to their own I guess even though you made it . Now how about "my" west front KTs?

Weren't the Finns the most powerful force in CMBB (and rightfully so)? Tigers and IS are no match for their pine cones so Hungarians wouldn't stand much of a chance either

@Frankster65, That would have been something, but Id make due with a couple trucks or even jeeps! ----- I made a slight miscalculation. The high crops that hide the Bazooka team in combination with the stone wall one the side of the bridge make it impossible for them to fire from a prone position. A minute pass and the Grille struggle to move past the destroyed kubelwagen. I have to order the men to stand so they can get a shot off, at the same time exposing them to enemy small arms. 3rd Platoon A Coys Bazooka team gets a second chance. Third times the charm counting the round that missed in the Rangers engagement a couple hours earlier. A 100 meters out now and a slow moving target. An easier shot but still a challenge. The second rocket falls short as well and before my men can reload the Grille is able to move off the bridge and out of their LOS. Damn! Hiding closer to the bridge might have been an option but that would have increased the chance of being spotted before taking a shot and also limited the possibility to shell the bridge with artillery and mortars. My misfortune is the enemies luck. The Grille can soon take up position on my side of the river and start to shell my positions from close range, greatly increasing its accuracy and effectiveness. A 150 mm shell explodes among the trees. No kills this time but a few wounded and massive suppression. On the right, a flanking attack. In the center the enemy is starting to pinpoint my second defensive line. Quick reflexes. A Grenadier takes aim with this scoped Kar98 and kills a para with a well placed round before the american can get a shot off. Overview after 48 minutes: My left side is taking the blunt of the enemy advance. I will have to try and hold them for as long as possible so that the troops on my right can get out.

A small team with a bazooka are hiding close to the bridge. They have been biding their time, waiting for a Grille to move in to close. They let lose a rocket at 120 meters out. A moving target 120 meters away is a hard shot even for a veteran. Earlier this day the Rangers of 3rd Bn had a very close miss as a bazooka round hit a bush in front of a Grille. There wont be any celebrations this time either as the rockets falls short. A hit will make quick work of the Grilles thin 15 mm side armor. The Bazooka being able to penetrate 119 mm under optimal conditions. Some good results at least as a MG shreds a kubel as it drives on to the bridge. Its soon rendered useless and its occupants throw them selves out to cover. This will make a nice obstacle on the bridge and will make it harder for other vehicles to pass. Im sure my bazooka team will get a second shot.. In the front seat an officer with top hat.. is this the Bn commander or even Gen-Maj Kuderian leading from the front!? Reacting just a second later would have him taking a .30 cal to the head. Further from the bridge the Grenadiers keep their advance going, until the run into my second line. With short arcs they have been waiting for the advancing enemy. A small reverse slope defense awaits the advancing Germans and they soon take casualties. This Germans final resting place, a crater from a Grille HE round. Another German goes down in quick succession. Accurate Garand fire ends his life and the round impacts the bushes behind him after it pass through his body.

The Germans throw reinforcement over the bridge and know we are on the run. I try to slow them down with the few MGs I still have operational. Grille SPA as well as Grenadiers both on foot and in vehicles race over the bridge. Piece by piece my forward line is dismantled by the advancing Germans. Brave paras of 2nd Platoon A Coy fight until the end. The forward positions on my left was long supported by 2nd Platoons MG team but now its taken out by a combination of light artillery and HMG fire. A important asset neutralized. With the MG gone a few men are all that covers my far left flank. They do what the can to give covering fire to the forward line trying to pull back. The platoon sharpshooter gives the most effective covering fire. No confirmed kills but on several occasion he forces the krauts to hug the ground for cover. Overview after 43 minutes: Blue arrows indicates my planed routes of withdrawal.

@Erwin, Thanks! @sburk, yeah what a rookie mistake! ----- As we are approaching 40 minutes a new smoke screen is deployed. I suspect a lot of it is by hand held smoke grenades. Another thick smoke screen. A few 75 mm shells are still falling and exploding around the bridge. My plan of a fighting withdrawal. It will be conducted in three stages. My first action is to withdraw all heavy weapons from the rear to the exit as they are moving slow and are already out of ammo. Second is to start the withdrawal of the units in the blue areas toward the orange and or purple areas. I will try to use smoke, both mine and the Germans to conceal this movement. The enemy HMG are making any movement really difficult. A few men might keep hiding to ambush the Germans once more as they try to catch up with my escaping force. When the units in the blue areas have reached their destination the same procedure will be repeated for the orange areas and finally for the units in the purple areas. I will try to move in the direction of the purple arrows. Using defilade whenever possible and the vegetation in the area. I will never move all units at once, there will always be a rear guard that face the German advance. ----- Once more the Germans make for the bridge. The Germans are not facing much long range opposition at this time but the crossing is not without peril. Rangers and Paras making their way towards safety. Making their way to safety, hopefully fighting again later this day. Overview after 40 minutes: Things are going as planed in the opening stages but the Germans are dangerously close to my forward left. This will complicate the extraction of the troops there and a few brave souls might have to make the ultimate sacrifice as their buddies make it to safety.

Another Grille round going long.. I know they don't carry to much ammunition and every miss is good news for the paras. The SPA have a hard time with their accuracy over long ranges. Not sure if this is due to the weapon system itself (low velocity) or due to green German crews. Just by the bridge things are starting to go south for the paras making up the first defensive screen. In most cases my ambushes has worked beautifully taking down a lot of Grenadiers as they make their way through the fields. In this particular case the para was to cool and waited for a better shot when he in turn was taken down by a Grenadier (too short cover arc). In the background an advancing German. Its never good to lose the SMG in close quarters, his buddy quickly brakes for better cover with his Garand now that the Krauts know of his location. Same German as in above pic dashing towards cover and concealment with MG fire from two directions closing in on him. Note the tracers and his fallen kamerad just to the right. Hot lead passing just inches from the advancing Grenadier. Their resolve under heavy fire has to be admired! Being filled with joy and thoughts of ultimate victory just minutes ago soon start to change as I make some disheartening discoveries. First, my 75 mm pack howitzers (battery of 4 guns) are delivering shells as planed. But after the two failed missions by the FO I decided to change the mission from harass to light. This means the rounds are coming in a bit to quick and they wont hold the Germans back for as long as I intended. Only five minutes of fire returns. Redirecting the mission will take to long. Bad news.. Lieutenant Spencer directs the pack howitzer fire on the bridge and its surroundings. Even worse.. as I do a ammo check for my MMGs I discover that three have run out and that the others are down to a couple 100 rounds each. The new MG code being a god send but man your MGs will dry up fast if you use to much area fire. This puts thing in a whole new light. I feel really jealous of the enemy trucks.. he is able to resupply his MGs all day long. Its obviously my MGs in the best positions that are running out of ammo the fastest as they have been able to open fire more often on good targets of opportunity as well as on areas that the Krauts have to cross. With the long distances involved the Germans will be able to cross the bridge and close with my forces if I run out of MG ammo. The Garands just cant reach out like the MGs. Private Harper is out of ammo for his MMG (his location some 600 meters from the bridge). Its time to withdraw. With the situation changed I have to alter back to my initial plan. I need to disengage and get out quick. My men will have to cover between 600 and 1300 meters to get out. In many cases within range and LOS of the Grille and HMG of the PzGren. A fighting withdrawal is really tricky to pull of and things have to be timed perfectly. I have gained a lot of experience during this campaign as my Paras and Rangers have had to fight through such withdrawals at several occasions. On the down side the German commander really excels at closing the distance quickly. I only have 5 minutes of artillery bombardment left falling on the bridge.. I have to get moving and not waste another second if this is to succeed. What for a few brief minutes looked like a stunning victory and end to this campaign for the Para and Rangers is quickly changing and this could end really badly for the Allies.

@c3k, Thanks Ken! @AlexUK, Thanks! Not sure what setup you are referring to. I play on best/best with vsync on. Lots of mods, mainly from Aris/Fuser. I play on a i7 Asus laptop with 16gb ram and a GTX 780m. The faded colors are caused by FRAPS, and are not the true colors I see in game. -- The enemy has used two big smoke screens. Supplied by a couple mortars and the Grille SPA Im not sure what more he can muster. So far both screens have dissipated with only a few Grenadiers being able to pass the bridge. The ones that have crossed are stuck on my first infantry screen. The Germans are getting nowhere.. Just one of several MMGs with great overwatch/LOS of the bridge and great concealment. The Germans are paying a heavy price for getting a few men over the bridge. I imagine the Germans are starting to give this bridge nicknames, showing of its heavy tool on anyone that tries to cross. Bridge of death. Crossing without smoke is all but impossible. And as if things where not bad enough for the Germans.. my 75 mm pack howitzer support is finally starting to hit home with their spotting rounds. 75 mm shells score direct hits on the bridge.. deterring the Germans even further. Several hundred meters away from the bridge I can see several trucks moving about, redeploying German support weapons. Not a big concern when you have 5 Grille bombarding you already. A 75 mm le.IG destined for a new position to shell my defending paras. Overview after 30 minutes. A few Germans have been able to cross, but shot up and cut off from their main body this depleted platoon wont be able to cause any problems. My initial plan to hold of the attacker for as long as possible, punching his nose bloody before withdrawing are starting to change. I think I can hold him here. So far he has not been able to mount anything successful and with his smoke running out, and Grille SPA wasting their few precious rounds it looks like the Verdura river bridge might just be a bridge to far for the Germans (and in this scenario its supposed to be the Allies that are struggling with the bridges). As a side note, this scenario heavily favors the Allies so my results are far from stunning. But being able to hold of the German counterattack (15th PzGren Div) without the regular infantry (3rd Marne Inf Regt) and tank support (2nd Armored Div) would truly be a feat for the Paras (504th PIR, 82nd Div) and Rangers (3rd Bn).

Im on win 8, had the same thing for win 7. Playing Germans in RT at the moment with Allied background and US in FI with German backgrounds. Sure I have seen "correct" results as well. Nice splash umlaut!

@Frankster65, Thanks! ---- The heavy fire from MG and mortars around the bridge seems to have stopped the assaulting platoons of grenadiers. They have now taken up positions behind the small stone wall on top of the hill. Grenadiers taking heavy fire from MG's and start to take casualties. Retaliation to known and probable positions are swift from the Grille SPAs. Its a game of hide and seek. Its really important to keep heads down when the big rounds come traveling your way. I try to foresee where they will shoot next and hide, and unhide units to fit this pattern. The SPA do their best to suppress and kill off the defenders. Hugging the ground saves a lot of lives and the Grille are not as effective as I first feared. They do take their tool but it takes time to route the stubborn paras. This must really frustrate the attackers! Keeping their cool and heads down. But will have to relocate a bit further back to avoid tree bursts. Overview after 24 minutes. From atop the hill, the majority of Grenadiers start to relocate after taking a beating from the US MGs. Relocating or moving round for another attempt to rush over the bridge? They must be running out of smoke soon. If they are not over when its depleted.. things will get very deadly.

Screens are chosen by random and not affected by the side you play. True for all titels. Was surprised myself when I learned this. Wish it was controled by the side you play..

Awesome umlaut!! I was hoping youd make one of these for RT as your previous work is stellar.

Very nice kohlenklau!

Both sides are putting out a lot of MG fire. I'm taking casualties from the MGs and from the Grille SPA. Trying to stay low these men soon take casualties when a HMG starts to put fire on their location. The man to the bottom left just took a bullet. They need to relocate if they are to survive for long. The longer my MGs fire the sooner they get spotted. The MG furthest to my left, closest to the river has attracted to much attention as it has been firing non stop for several minutes. A Grille SPA obliterates this MG team. But its not only the krauts that dish out the hurt. Close to the bridge, the Germans try to make their way further inland and towards good cover. They run into another ambush. These Thompson SMG equipped paras make short work of the approaching Germans. A Green landser goes for cover as he hits the dirt but he is outside the concealment of the field making him easy pickings for the paras. Another dead landser. The paras are giving at least as good as they are taking it from the enemy. Overview after 20 minutes: Heavy fire sees to it that the reminder of the German force still are on the opposing bank of the river. I intend to keep it that way. One major problem is that I cant seem to get good LOS to the bridge with my FO. And the Germans are hammering his position. I decide to redirect the pack howitzers with another officers, closer to the bridge. I really count on the howitzers to hold the Germans back.

As the new thick smoke screen starts to cut of much of my LOS I see at least a platoon or two dash for the bridge. Im losing and gaining LOS back and forth as the terrain is covered with shrubs and bushes. I will have to area fire with all MGs to try and halt this advance! The Grenaiders running towards the bridge. Overview at the 14th minute: A cluster of contacts are closing in on the bridge. Luckely a few of my MGs can still see the area they have to cover up to the bridge. 2nd Platoon C Coy, commander, Lieutenant Blum has taken up position in the farm house overlooking the bridge. From here he is watching the enemy movement and picking targets for the Platoon sniper, Private Lewis. They soon draw the attention of a Grille commander. The ensuing explosion is massive as the shell impacts with the stone house. XO and radio operator meet a violent end. Blum does what he can for the two men while Lewis cowers on the upper floor. Meanwhile.. the Germans seem to get a foothold on my side of the bridge. My 75 mm pack howitzer battery is still spotting, and all the smoke doesn't help. As soon as it starts I hope the situation will be easier to control. I will have to be careful what MGs I use and for how long. To stay undetected for as long as possible. Over the bridge, but what now?! MG fire keep raining down on the landsers that has made it across. And close by more deadly ambushes are waiting.

The German HMGs are starting to get effect. Firing blind or on know locations they suppress my teams in the field just next to the bridge or my MGs that are located further back. On the left, in line with the road you can see the arcing fire of this MG42. Seconds later they start to receive 60 mm mortar bombs. I'm happy that I ordered these missions a couple minutes ago as those HMGs really suppress quickly. I also have two of my 60 mm mortars in direct lay of the bridge, they react really quickly and that speed is a godsend. The high quality of the airborne make sure they put most rounds on target. Id be surprised if the HMG here will fire any more after this barrage. Bombs hitting on both sides of the wall as well as in the tree directly above the HMG. I can start to feel a slight frustration from the enemy. They are starting to understand that this will be one really hard fought battle. The Axis commander has decided to call in his Grille closer to the action. To get better accuracy I'm sure. A few long shots have fallen short of the mark. Four Grille move up, just a couple 100 meters from the bridge. The last one is located on my left side, up on a hill with great overwatch. Thats all of them accounted for. Overview after 12 minutes of combat. The lone Grille fires down range without any effect. Note the new massive smoke screen deployed on my right side of the bridge. LOS down the tube of the Grille on the hill. The explosion and earth hurled to the air by the 150 mm shell is massive.