Heinrich505

The scene seems to erupt in slow motion for Max. His magnification is better than his commander's binoculars. As the horror erupts below, he sees the HE explosion from his shell going off in the midst of the enemy crew. The crew is ripped to bits in the fiery blast.

A Max fires, a blinding flash begins to erupt from the stricken enemy tank. The ammo is going off in a tremendous fireball.

"Four out," Max calls on the intercom. He doesn't know why he did that. Perhaps he wanted his commander to know for situational awareness. He can see the enemy rolling in the snow to put out the flames on their uniforms. He imagines the terror they must be... "HE out," calls the loader. Max is stunned for a moment. How did he miss that? Hauptmann Lohmeyer ordered HE instead of armor piercing. Was he daydreaming? thinks Max, alarmed at the possibility. "Shoot," calls Loymeyer. Instinctively Max pulls off the shot, having dropped the elevation a fraction without consciously realizing he'd done that. The commander means to shoot the crew too.

Unconsciously Max is counting - one, two, three - almost willing the men to escape.

Even after these many years of combat, the possibility of burning in a tank still horrifies Max. It is probably a universal terror shared by all fighting men who venture out in steel beasts. Max sees the tank commander pulling himself out of the flames that rush from the interior out the top hatch like a fireplace flue gone mad. The loader is already ramming home another shell as Max keeps the target reticule on the enemy tank.

The push is on to rescue fellow comrades in the Cherkassy pocket. Max is watching the carnage as it unfolds before his Tiger. His view is from the gunner's reticule. Hauptmann Lohmeyer has his head out the top hatch as usual. He calls out "T-34 12 'o clock, dead ahead." His voice rarely changes from calmly conversational, even when in the heat of battle or chastising the crew for some wrongdoing. Max has already seen it and made the corrections. This is a sharp crew and Max is the sharpest. He has to be - this is a Tiger. He pulls the trigger without command from Lohmeyer, such is the trust his Hauptmann has in his abilities. Max seems to visually walk the shell to the target - TREFFER, a hit. He saw the impact to the enemy turret moments before the flames.

Dragonwynn, Yeah, I figured it was incredibly pricey by now. I got it for a "steal" at $175.00 when it first came out. Had to do a lot of groveling for the fiscal department (the wife ) to pull that one off. I played off on the "investment" angle. Looks like I was right for a change. Heinrich505

Onwards to glory!! Heinrich505

Bud, I see the tension is ratcheting up. Who gets to be the lucky "tube guy" this time around? Will they be able to stalk the Sturmtiger and flank it? So many questions. Looking forward - as always - to the next submission. Your screenshots are great. Heinrich505

Ah yes, Bloody Streets. A. Stephen Hamilton's masterpiece. Probably one of the best and most detailed accounts of the Battle of Berlin that I've ever seen. Heinrich505

Nice one. He ripped off a full 30 round clip and had to reload. That's probably what did him in. Heinrich505

Thanks guys. Appreciate the comments, as always. The pixeltruppen deserve some recognition. They work very hard trying to follow our orders. Heinrich505

The rabbits in their flame-scorched uniforms flee into the woods. He only counts three so not everyone escaped the flaming coffin. Schreiner takes a few half-hearted shots with his pistol, knowing he has no chance to hit them. Fear ripples down the trench as more purple flares are seen on the right flank. More enemy tanks. He shudders and holsters his pistol. Then he starts to run towards the new threat, sick with the knowledge that Rolf must be dead. Heinrich505

"Er Brennt" cries his loader. Yes, he can see the flames. The hatches are thrown open and the enemy crew bails out, smoldering from the hungry flames. Schreiner imagines he can see the crazed look of fear on the smoke blackened faces of the enemy tankers. Someone shouts that the tankers have weapons. Schreiner claws for his handgun. The danger is not over...

Schreiner knows that if he doesn't get a hit, the large backblast of smoke will give his position away. He'll be dead. The shot is away. He hopes the angels are riding on his shoulder... ...TREFFER!!! It is a hit. He stares in amazement for a moment, mesmerized as time stands still. Is it a kill shot? He tears himself away from the sight and goes through the motions of reloading.

The Russians have overwhelmed the trench system. Schreiner and his partner have been running down the trench as fast as they can, having heard the desperate warnings that a Russian tank has broken through. Schreiner knows his friend Rolf is on this side of the trenches. Rolf was leading a panzerschreck team to protect this flank. Schreiner knows something bad has happened to his friend if enemy panzers are rolling up their left flank. Schreiner comes barreling around the bend of the trench and sees his worst nightmare. A Soviet T-34 has rolled up their flank. He only has time for a snap shot, which, with this damn stovepipe he has been lugging around, is almost certainly a miss the first time. Schreiner drops to a knee and lines up his shot. He remembers to breathe slowly so as not to make the tube rise and fall too much, and he pulls the trigger as the sights line up on the enemy tank...

Barbaric, Really nice effect with the snow. Is that adjusted rain to look like snow? How do you get that effect in game? Heinrich505

Bil, Wow, one shot one kill. The commander and gunner are right on spot so far. Nice one. Thanks for the seat belt warning...got mine on just in time. Heinrich505

Ah, screen shot #2 should read, "he is lightning..." Ugh, in too much of a hurry. I need a proofreader. Heinrich505

There was at least one other Facist cowering behind the one who was trying to surrender. This one now has his hands up too, having seen his comrade incinerated. Fedoseev shoulders his flamethrower and draws down on the enemy with his handgun. His partner, eyes wide, whispers to him, "Fedoseev, that was cold..." Fedoseev shrugs his shoulders. Kill or be killed. He figures this one was hiding behind the surrendering comrade and trying to get a bead on him. If he hadn't torched the trench line, then his partner or he might have been shot. Better not to think these things through, he tells himself. One less beast to kill. The battle is just beginning... Heinrich505

Horrifying screams come from the surrendering Facist beast as Fedoseev pans liquid death across the trench line, just like he was trained to do. The flames cannot distinguish between threats and non-threats. War is Hell.

Fedoseev is acting out of pure survival instinct and draws the trigger back on his flamethrower. The gout of deadly flame reaches out, a stream of gold-colored hell. This will not end well...

The rabbit is cut down by Fedoseev's partner, who is lighting with his PPSH. Fedoseev has no time to see if his partner has dropped the enemy for sure.

Just a small vignette from one of the scenarios using the CMRT Winter Mod. Fedoseev and his partner spot some Fascists in the trench they are clearing. One prudently puts his hands up, sensing the end is near. Another rabbits.

BarbaricCo, Are these screen shots from battles that are playable with the Mod? I checked at the Scenario Depot but didn't see them. Heinrich505