Tux

Here we go folks – yet another opportunity for you to follow along as I lose horribly and humiliatingly in public. Meh. The fight is versus JoMc67, as he is known on these boards, and uses my CM:ETO installation. The map is a slightly modified version of ‘Grand Boulevard ME’, which comes with the game. It is July 1944. The house rules mostly pertain to cover arcs,etc., but the most important ones are that we are allowed 50% max. of our 1000 points to spend on armour/ vehicles, and Jo must field two ‘lesser’ Panzers for every Cat he wishes to bring. I like that second one, lol.

I've just sent the orders for Turn 19. I'm quite confident the second gun should be dead by now, and so I'm switching my mortar halftrack onto a distant rubbled building which has been housing a pesky ATR and MG for some time now. My impotent tank is going to perform another fake shoot 'n' scoot manoeuvre to keep the SU distracted, and my fully-capable tank is going to race up the hill and try to gain a point-blank flank shot with which to kill the thing. That's it really. Things are definitely winding down now...

Turn 17 The ploy is working. Whilst the rest of the fight is beginning to die down, my unarmed Panzer IV performas a faux-'shoot n scoot' movement, made with a fast waypoint followed by a reverse back into cover. As he drives around the corner of his sheltering building he spots the SU-122 which has driven still further towards him in an attempt to remove the 'threat' he poses to Mylgas' flank. Even as the SU lowers his gun prior to firing however, my Panzer reverses smartly back into cover. Elsewhere my fully-capable tank has made it to the road and is preparing to assail the SU from its rear quarter. After 13 seconds of Turn 18 he is going to set off and, unless the SU has changed its focus, he should be able to kill the offending SPG before the minute is out.

Well, between the two of them they have so far succeeded in immobilising and (eventually) killing a single Panzer IV along with an ATR team consisting of two men. I think it is arguable that their greatest contribution to Mylgas' effort thus far has been to distract elements of my armour into trying to kill them, rather than just sitting and pummelling his infantry positions.

Turn 16 Well, so much for the blue cover arcs! My TC-less tank immediately ignores its orders and instead fires an HE shell at a fleeing Soviet infantry section. The result is the destruction of the final hilltop building: Fortunately this insubordinate act doesn't unduly imperil any of my forces, because the SU has other things on its mind. It has been distracted by my neutered flanking panzer, and as the minute draws to a close it is seen attempting to gain LOS. Hopefully, with a little juggling, I'll be able to manufacture a flank shot on the SU with one of my other tanks as long as I can stop Mylgas from guessing the state of the 'distracting' vehicle. With this in mind I have buttoned the latter in order to provide an excuse for its not firing at nearby routed infantry... I have also given my last fully-equipped tank an order to move out into the main road leading towards Mylgas' hilltop. From there it can quickly drive up to the hilltop and try for a close-range flank shot at the SU, should the opportunity present itself:

Ah, Heinrich, my friend. How do you do it? Turn 15 As Mr H so eloquently put it, Mylgas still had an SU 'lurking' previous to this turn. I had assumed that a) It would not be able to relocate to anywhere dangerous without being spotted en route, and once it was relocated I would find it relatively easy to kill by using Panzer IVs from multiple angles. Alas, I was wrong, crucially, on the first assumption. In the opening seconds of the minute Mylgas' second SU-122 is spotted cresting the hilltop from which he has attempted to launch a frontal attack on my forces. Unfortunately only two Panzers have LOS to its position and one of them had his TC killed by a mortar round a few minutes ago. The other is my immobile Panzer IV, and Mylgas' relentless pinging with a distant ATR team has ensured that this tank, too, fails to catch sight of the SU in time. Even as my TC-less Panzer IV swings its gun to bear, the SU has done its work and retreats to a reverse-slope position. That's the only major development. Elsewhere my mortar halftrack is contentedly hurling shells towards Mylgas' second gun, a few of my troops are going to make small relocation movements in the next minute to gain LOS to more useful positions and my infantry HMGs are still happily mowing down Mylgas' troops wherever they show themselves. The latter situation may not last however, if the SU manages to make itself felt and gets off a few 122mm rounds at some of my occupied buildings. I have therefore stopped both of my remaining armed tanks from bombarding his infantry, and have them covering the hilltop with blue cover arcs instead. I think the death of that SU is the final prerequisite required if I am to achieve a major victory. One further factor to consider is that I have one Pz IV threatening to gain LOS to its flank... Yes, the unarmed tank that I have conducting a 'threatening recon' movement on my far right flank may well prove crucial in distracting Mylgas' forces, assuming he hasn't guessed that it is unarmed yet. Sorry for the lack of turns recently by the way - I have been very busy trying to find employment having recently completed my degree. CM may be fun and intellectually stimulating, but unfortunately it don't pay the bills!

Save the text file in your C:/Program Files/Combat Mission 2/PBEM folder. Then start the game up, click 'Join Multiplayer', 'Load E-Mail', and then select the file in the window that pops up.

No such luck I'm afraid. Turn 14 The hilltop on the right flank is now mine, occupied by a reduced platoon of men and my commander-less Panzer IV. With a little luck the Panzer will be able to spot and duel the second SU-122 next turn. Mylgas' mortars did, however, manage to break one of my squads, which is mildly annoying. You can also see here that a Mechanised SMG squad of Mylgas' has been routed and are running for their lives. They'll be lucky to make it to cover. On the main hilltop the Soviet forces are, predictably, pushed back by concentrated tank, small arms and MG fire. At the end of the minute the hilltop presents a strangely serene picture, shrouded in smoke and dust from demolished buildings. My Halftrack and HQ are also finally in position to begin the bombardment of Mylgas' second gun, although I have a suspicion my Area Firing tank may have killed it already. In Turn 15 I am ordering the destruction of the last building on the main hilltop, since I think it is probably harbouring several panicked Reds. Apart from that my mortar will be the only unit in action, expending its last 40 HE rounds on Mylgas' gun.

Heh, that's a far more articulate response than mine, but it basically reflects the idea I was trying to convey. The last sentence in the above post is the perfect summary of the concept, I think. Thanks Jason - very well written.

If they ever get beyond the houses... Turn 13 I am inclined to think this is the 'firework finale' - Mylgas seems intent on going out with a bang. Infantry units duly make themselves known all over the hilltop and its approaches, and advance on the buildings which provide the only available cover. They are engaged decisively by my own units, and they will not make it off that hilltop. Before the minute is out units are seen crawling for cover and fleeing in terror from various points on the hill. Next turn I will order the demolition of another of those buildings by my Panzers (if they have LOS) and let my small arms and MGs take care of any men who show their faces. Over on my right flank a single infantry squad comes out of hiding in amongst some rubble and inflicts a casualty on my nearest squad: A single infantry unit also makes a dash for the main flag. Both of these units will be destroyed in the next couple of minutes by tanks and squad fire. I'm not sure there are going to be many more turns left to play in this game, folks.

Ok, well I'll give my two penneth: It sounds like very little equipment with which to ward off more than a company of infantry + 5 tanks, but you have the AI's god-awful attacking sense on your side. If possible, I would collect all of my units into a small 'fortress' area around maybe two of the flags, and preferably with one flank covered by the edge of the map. How large the area was would depend on available cover. You have to be invisible to overwatch fire, and so I would say good cover is essential. You want your Schrecks firing from as close as possible to the tanks, preferably from a keyholed position so the tanks can be picked off one by one. Use them like short-ranged guns. Your MGs fire from good cover into open ground. Infantry take on any man that approaches within 200m. Difficult to add anything else without a specific map to refer to. I'd basically try and seal off a 'Kessel' area and stand my ground within its borders.

Sounds tough. Could you perhaps post a screenshot of the map?

Fair point, I forgot you were playing a set scenario. Turn 12 Turn 12 sees my 'neutered' flanking Panzer drive safely into the bowl and out of LOS of any guns or SUs. In so doing he can confirm once and for all that Mylgas has no further assets hidden down there to be committed in the future. Mylgas also has a nice, shiny new Lost Contact Marker to fret about. The major development during this turn is an assault by Soviet infantry on my forward positions at the foot of the small hilltop. They use the smoke I fired, plus some extra from Mylgas' mortars, as cover, but only for the first few metres. By the end of the minute they have advanced all of 10m, and are in serious trouble: All of the Soviet soldiers are covered by smoke for another ~2m of forward movement. In my orders for Turn 13 I am going to give a few units some minor adjustment orders of 1-2m each in order to gain a nice, clear LOS to the attackers when they're out of the smoke. The attack must then surely fail in the face of two HMGs, more than a platoon of infantry and two Panzer IVs.

I find them very useful as quick, cheap scouts. Better than LMG teams, since they button AFVs and kill ACs when required. I certainly can't think of a better way to spend an odd dozen-or-so points at the end of force selection. As for stealthily combating halftracks, two or three 12.7mm 'Dushkas' work very well for me. They need a little range to remain hidden, but they readily mess up anything lighter than a full Panzer and much quicker than an ATR in my experience. Turn 12 to be posted tomorrow.

Very interesting. I love the fact that these 'theoretically possible' events do actually happen in CM - it adds a lot to the immersion. Turn 11 Relatively little to report from this turn, I'm afraid. I'm beginning to think I may have broken the spine of Mylgas' forces since he doesn't appear to be pushing me any more to take any of the flags. The flanking Panzer IV of mine that can still hurt things has kept firing at Mylgas' second gun, scoring several near misses. I'll call him off the case next turn, replace him with my halftrack asap and save his remaining HE rounds for any infantry who might show themselves. One of Mylgas' mortars (the one I assume still has HE rounds remaining) had another crack at my two tanks, but only succeeded in persuading my gun-damaged tank's commander to button up. Towards the end of the minute the latter tank begins it's wide manoeuvre to the far right, and is the target of a single 122mm shot. Fortunately Mylgas' second SU crew are still terrible shots, and it hits the ground ~100m short. Having said they're terrible shots, the above picture gives away the fact that they did, eventually, land a 122 shell through the front window of my heroic ATR team's light building cover. The building went up in smoke and, unfortunately, so did my ATR. Poor little guys... My immobile tank has spent this turn firing smoke shells at the area shown in the screenshot below (you can also see that he has been buttoned by a distant ATR eventually landing a hit half way through the turn). With perfect Prussian diligence and efficiency he has promptly smoked the **** out of that one 4 square metre area, rather than spreading it about to left and right a little as I'd have preferred. I suppose there was no way of me telling him that was how I wanted it, so all credit to him for hitting the bullseye with every shot! In any case, the intention was to blind the infantry units that I observed moving into the hilltop buildings a few turns ago. I would then use the cover to move my reduced platoon into the buildings they were meant to occupy in the opening minutes of the game. I'll still give this a shot next turn, since I can support them with two full AFVs (albeit only one of them mobile) and several HMGs.

Cheers Heinrich. Turn 10 Turn 10 goes very well for me. My flanking Panzer plants several HE shells very nearby Mylgas' second gun's last known position. Since my halftrack and spotting-HQ are still moving into position to take over gun-killing duties, I am going to let my tank hammer away at him for another minute, just to keep the pressure on. One event that makes the decision to keep my Panzer tied up on Area Fire all the easier to make is the fate of Mylgas' second (and, I hope, last) T-34. My ATR 'scout' has done a very good job so far this game. It has drawn fire wherever it has gone, forcing Mylgas' units to reveal themselves, and has yet to take a casualty. This minute is no different; my ATR team, holed up in building A below, are remorselessly bombarded by the SU-122, Mylgas' two mortars and, crucially, his T-34 (which therefore leaves my exposed squad free to reach safety). The latter tank is oblivious to my Panzer IV finally gaining LOS and carefully lining up a shot. The gunner is ruthlessly accurate, and the T-34's turret takes a full penetration. A split second after the crew abandon the tank, a second round finishes the job: The Su-122 misses the building at A with both shots that it gets off, but Mylgas' mortars still manage to panic my veteran ATR team before running out of HE. I can tell they've run out because, as the minute draws to a close, whisps of smoke begin to emerge from the ground around Building A - HE ammo is gone and has given way to S. I am very tempted, after this turn, to declare the situation 'stabilised'. Unfortunately this is war. Not only that, but it's CM-war. That means it ain't over 'til it's over and I have to keep on my toes. Part of that task involves making sure Mylgas keeps on his own toes, and so in my orders for next turn I am moving my gun-damaged tank out wide on my right flank. He's only going to do some minor recon work, but any info he can glean will be useful, and I will welcome the opportunity to lure Mylgas into 'countering' his movements. From here, once I've killed Mylgas' guns and made sure his Su-122 can't spring any more nasty surprises, it should be plain sailing. The only doubt I have in mind is that Mylgas has been feeding his units (especially his armour) into the fight in a very piecemeal fashion so far. It's therefore going to take a few more minutes before I'm convinced he hasn't got any more dangerous assets to commit.

Turn 9 Turn 9 is a definite improvement over Turn 8, although that's not saying much, I know. My green tank completes the demolition of Mylgas' distant cover and an MG42 of mine continues harassing the escaping units. At the same time Mylgas' second SU-122 is relocated when it fires at my moving ATR team. Unfortunately, Mylgas' second T-34 escapes yet again, reversing into cover even as my Panzer lines up a shot. It then proceeds to take a clear shot at some of my advancing infantry, and I cringe as I see the familiar shrapnel shower of cannister shot arch towards my men. Fortunately, despite being in open ground a mere 150m away, they escape unharmed, and quickly make it to safety! I expect the orders phase back some time later tonight. I plan to Area fire at Mylgas' second gun, now that my flanking Panzer has recovered from shock. I'll keep the two of those tanks together for now as well, and hope that Mylgas doesn't pick up on how vulnerable they are.

Thanks for clarifying, Joachim. Turn 8 An exceptionally frustrating turn, as turns go. A Maxim MG has set up in the distant hilltop building which I was, until recently, bombarding with a view to preventing such an occurence. It is now harassing my infantry, though so far without appreciable effect. In my orders for Turn 9 I have reassigned my green tank to complete the demolition of this building, thus hopefully silencing the MG until all of my foot units are in good cover. Early in the minute Mylgas' second T-34 advances again. As it does so my infantry button its commander, as intended, and my Pz IV then begins hunting forward, as expected. Unfortunately a slight lapse in judgement on my part means my Panzer halts painfully short of gaining LOS to the tank: The situation will be corrected after 10 seconds of Turn 9, and I hope that means the end of this T-34 once and for all. In any case, this shortcoming was the first major frustration I underwent during Turn 8, and was basically down to my poor judgement in issuing movement orders. Elsewhere, my judgement was perfect in the orders I issued to my two flanking tanks. They carefully hunt forwards during the turn and stop with LOS to a position 3m to one side of Mylgas' second gun. After approximately 50 seconds what I am still convinced can only be the two mortars that I noted early in the game open fire on my Panzers. Both tanks quite casually return fire, but only get one shot off before the minute ends. On 58 seconds one mortar shell lands way past my Panzers (the spread is going to be quite large at this range), and the game is held in limbo beyond 60 seconds as we wait for its counterpart from the second mortar to land. At this point I am already thinking through my orders for next turn... CRUMP I am stunned. Two 82mm mortars get off a shot or two each at my Panzer IVs from 800m away, and one of them is a direct hit! That's not the worst of it though; that one bloody shell, impacting after 60 seconds, killed the gunner of the tank it landed 'underneath' and damaged the ****ing gun of the one next to it! I call that a phenomenal return from a mortar, and an insanely frustrating thing to happen, from my point of view. So, during the orders phase for Turn 9 I can't order the tank on the left (in the screenshot above) to Area Fire at the gun because the gunner is dead and it is in a state of shock. Nor can I order the tank on the right to do anything useful, because CM models 'gun damaged' as meaning that the blast from a medium mortar round landing nearby has rendered all three of the bloody thing's weapons utterly useless. Main gun, co-ax, hull MG, you name it. Quite a shot, that, Mr. Mortar Man. It's hard to express politely how p***ed off I am right now.

I would be interested in an answer to that as well, Bert. Leperechaun, yes I am aware of that trick, but it's one of the 'gamey' features of CM that I actually restrict myself from using for realism's sake. I haven't clicked on the gun's lost contact marker once since it appeared, and I don't intend to in future. It makes knowing when to stop shelling the git a bit awkward, yes, but I suppose that's just the way things were in real life? If I shell that one gun, in wooded terrain, for another whole minute I'll feel quite unlucky if it's still alive.

I'm fairly confident that Mylgas does have some suprises left, but I've lost MEs in the past by being too cautious and waiting too long before I move because I want to know everything about the opposing force before I commit my units. On the other hand, I've also come very close to losing MEs when I've been too rash and overconfident. In particular, I think I can be far too aggressive with armour sometimes; I just like to keep my opponent on their toes. John Kettler and Joachim, you both make good points. I used an HMG to maintain the initial pin that my tanks and mortar obtained on the first gun when I had to reposition the 'sighting' HQ, but it was at long range and so the effect was probably only moderate at best. The way I see things is that, as Joachim suggested, all of my current efforts are biased towards freeing up my armour. I am foregoing medium-range shots at advancing infantry in order to stalk Mylgas' remaining tank/s, shoo his second SU-122 off that distant hilltop and get-the-bloody-hell-rid of his two dangerously positioned AT guns. If and when I achieve this I can then bring all assets to bear on his infantry and I shall win the fight. Combine all this with the fact that his infantry aren't massively vulnerable to mortars at the moment, aren't likely to be in the future, and that I have 50 HE rounds left in my halftrack and you can see why I am happy to keep going at the guns with that particular asset. Mortar HT kills guns to free up tanks, which kill Mylgas' tanks to free up infantry, which combine with remaining mortars and tanks to kill Mylgas.

That's part of the idea. During my orders for Turn 8 I've ordered both Panzers forwards a few metres. I'm trying to get them to a point from which they can't quite see either gun, nor vice-versa obviously. At the same time, towards the end of this minute, my halftrack is going to reposition to a point within command of a lone, stealthy HQ who I am advancing towards a hilltop building near my Panzers, and who I hope will have LOS to both guns from there. Hopefully the HT will keep firing from its current position until it starts moving? I'm also using my flanking Panzers' movement and combining it with a short 'hunt' order to my foremost regular Panzer in order to try and tighten the net on Mylgas' second T-34. The tank should then only be able to move within a circle of radius ~10m without being shot at by my tanks. If I'm lucky this is Mylgas' last tank - he'll have bought a platoon of the things but had one knocked out by the casualty settings... Lastly my infantry are exploiting the T-34s enforced lack of mobility to redeploy to more effectively cover my left and centre. I've decided now that I think Mylgas moved only some of his amrour and a few scouts to my right - I don't think he plans a serious attack from that direction now that I've knocked the weight out of those tanks. I await Turn 8 eagerly. It's time to start making some real progress in the next couple of turns, providing I haven't horribly misjudged any movements this time around. That's by no means certain: I don't feel 'on form' in this game and I consider myself lucky to have done so well so far, considering the circumstances under which I have 'discovered' all of Mylgas' big-hitters...

Before I start this post I'd like to apologise to Mylgas in advance (for when he reads this thread) for only just having realised that his name is Mylgas, not Myglas. Sorry mate - I didn't look properly. Turn 7 Mylgas' forces are proving much harder to contain than expected. Both my flanking tanks spy and engage the distant SU-122 at the same time, and the three AFVs exchange a few shots without hitting each other. I'm quite happy for this to go on. Barring a gun, flank or track hit the SU is unlikely to harm either of my tanks, whilst being critically vulnerable itself. After a couple of seconds though a third, familiar sound sends a chill down my spine. I only just notice it above the shattering roar that follows each 122mm round downrange, but it's definitely there - a dull but heavy thud every 4-5 seconds. Before I've heard it three or four times my tanks spot it and, as the drivers crash their suddenly fragile steeds into gear the gunners open fire on a new target. Another bloody gun. Ye Gods! I hate AT guns! Thankfully, my tank crews are no dopes, and as the minute draws to a close they have each raced to shelter in the lee of a nearby building. I'm going to have to consider carefully how best to deal with this new obstacle. Elsewhere Red infantrymen have been spotted occupying the third flag atop a nearby hilltop. Apart from claiming a few points for Mylgas these units pose no immediate threat, and, once he's finished demolishing the more distant hilltop building and combined with several nearby infantry squads and MGs, my green tank should be ideally positioned to hold these units back indefinitely. Finally, my SPW 251/2 has been hammering away at Mylgas' first gun. Unfortunately, bitter experience has taught me that a good two minutes of 81mm fire - especially from this range - is often required in order to kill a gun. That's fine by me - it'll give me time to arrange a position from which I can bombard the second gun, should it prove necessary.

Thanks, although my green tank has only taken out the SU. The T-34 was taken out by another, regular Panzer IV just the other side of the large building. Turn 6 Well I suppose I've given it away now, but yes, my green tank successfully finished of the SU in the opening seconds of Turn 6. At the same time, a second T-34 appeared inches to the side of the one I've just killed. It was apparently following a S&S order, because it stayed in position until my Panzer IV is just moving to gain LOS for a shot, and then it reversed back into cover. One thing to note is that this T-34's commander is unbuttoned when he advances. Was the other one force to button by something I didn't notice? Was he afraid of snipers? Or is this Myglas learning a handy lesson the hard way? Seconds after all of this, an enormous report rings out across the map and a 122mm shell lands a few metres from my advanced scout, hiding in the brush: At least now I know where the other SU is, and what it can hit from its current position (namely not much of any use). Finally, my forces spot further Russian infantry units advancing towards the building at A and moving away from the building at B: I'm not worried for now, since I have a couple of squads and an HMG covering my left flank, but I'm aware of the possibility that Myglas intends to advance on my left flank, having distracted me with armour on my right. In the orders phase I set my green Panzer to blow apart the building at A that Myglas' units are using for cover. I wish I could avoid the dust afterwards, but once the dust has settled that hilltop will be wide open for me to watch. My mortar halftrack is going to resume its bombardment of Myglas' gun's last known position. I am also ordering my two Panzers on my far right straight into a flanking strike on Myglas' armour. The first leg uses 'Fast' in order to avoid prolonged LOS with Myglas' gun, should it still be alive. The second leg is 'Hunt'. Considering my tanks' long range optics advantage and the high muzzle velocity of their guns, this should allow the two tanks to kill the distant SU-122 (if it hasn't moved by the time they get a shot) before it does too much more damage and, if they achieve that quickly enough, gain a flank or rear shot on at least one T-34 which I know the whereabouts of. It's not entirely without risk though - I don't know what else Myglas has in the bowl on my right flank and I'm only hoping, really, that he couldn't afford any more dangerous AFVs. Ah well, he who dares wins... Here we go then! Nice an' easy, Trig, know what I mean? Nice an' easy...

Agreed. My green tank is still going to put another round or two into that SU though, just to make sure.

Yup, the HQ has been ordered to relocate asap. There aren't too many positions from which Myglas can unleash a heavy HE barrage at my green tank's immediate vicinity unless he has it in an arty module. I am guessing that the second SU-122 that I've spotted in the distance is the only other of the type that he has. Either way I'd obviously have preferred my tank not to get immobilised at all, but I think there are worse positions in which it could have happened.