Tiresias

Turn 19 As more Americans emerge from the treeline, their forward teams stumble across more of 2 Plt's remaining force on the hill. For the second time in the battle, the fighting takes place at exceptionally close quarters and several of the GIs break and run as they encounter my men just a few feet away. But there are casualties on both sides and it shows just how brittle the men of 2 and 4 plts now are, fighting their second encounter of the game after their earlier retreat. A covering MG42 loses a man and the remaining survivor in the team is instantly rattled. These men are unlikely to hold out for long but hopefully they'll take a few more of the Americans with them. With the Sherman out of action on the left, I've allowed my Marder to take a breather for a minute and see if it can get LOS on the enemy to cause them further casualties. This proves to be a mistake, as mortar fire immediately starts to land around it. Fortunately the tank destroyer escapes unscathed. I've learned my lesson and will be keeping it mobile. Overall, the situation is becoming more difficult for us by the second, however. The below illustration shows just how few men I now have left on the board. With 3 plt pretty much obliterated on the left flank, the road junction will need to be defended by the Marder and a handful of survivors from 2 plt who managed to make their way down to the junction after the opening stages of the battle. On the hill, their commander and a few stragglers are clinging on with some MG42s. In the last few moments they've caught advancing American infantry by surprise but they won't be able to stand up to a larger force for long. My main strength is now back at the windmills themselves. 1 plt are at full strength and I've decided to pull them back from the buildings for a number of reasons. First, these structures have few openings from which we can fire on the Americans as they cross the open ground towards the windmills and therefore we will come under superior fire quickly. Second, the buildings are also exposed to any armour (the Priest, for instance) that may emerge on my right flank. However, the windmills are also right on the crest of the hill, which slopes sharply towards my side of the map thereafter. By pulling my men back from the buildings, I have them in a reverse slope position where the Americans can't see them until they reach the top. This means they will also be out of the way of any armour that my opponent decides to position on the right flank. Finally, entry to the windmills themselves is through doors which all lie on my side of the slope. If the Americans want to seize these buildings and the VL, they will have to come over the top of the hill, where about 35 of my men are waiting to meet them. If my forces down at the road junction can at least hold off the American advance, then the enemy infantry currently working its way up the hill through 2 plt's position should arrive tired and weakened at the windmills only to be met with a hail of gunfire from a fully rested, full-strength platoon. So, at least, goes the theory. I'd be surprised if any of 1 plt have even been spotted during the battle so far. They might not save the VL and the battle, but they will certainly be able to fight a bloody last stand.

Thanks; the vulnerability of the Marder means that I can't leave it in one place for very long. I got a lucky break catching the Sherman from a hull-down spot just as it was trying to reverse. Don't think the gunner's eye was really on the ball because they realised they'd advanced too far and left themselves exposed, so they were trying to pull back when I hit them. The timing is entirely my fault! Because I'm still learning the game I decided to give it the max time limit so that I could test and develop my skills as much as possible, without forcing my opponent into hasty advances and assaults because of the clock ticking down. I may well lose the battle as a result, but I think it has helped me to hone a few tactical skills and improve.

Turn 18 As my Marder starts to change its orientation to get a shot at the Sherman, the enemy tank begins to reverse up the hill. Amazingly, and to my total surprise, it's not quick enough to get out of the way. The tank destroyer is able to target an AP round and hit the Sherman before it is out of sight. Moments later I see some crew members leaping out of the vehicle. The immediate threat of armour on the left flank has been removed, but for most of 3 platoon it's too late. On the far left, my men are overwhelmed by the American advance. They start to crack under the pressure and as they break from cover they are slaughtered. There are few survivors and those who remain will have little chance of making it back to the relative safety of the road junction. Nevertheless, they have to try. With the Sherman out of the way and no visible mortar threat, I'm going to take the risk of leaving the Marder in its hull-down position for 60 seconds to see if I can keep the Americans pinned while I try to get 3 plt's survivors to safety. A few stragglers from 2 plt's earlier retreat are in a house at the road junction to hold the Americans up. In the centre of the map, 2 & 4 plts are now starting to engage the Americans from their fallback position. We seem to have caused a few casualties up on the hill and for the second time I can hear the shouts of GI's who appear to be rattled after their trials earlier in the engagement. Hopefully we'll be able to remove a few more from the board before their situation becomes untenable as well. 3 plt's dismissal on the left opens up the threat of a flanking move towards the road junction, but with a handful of men there and the Marder, I think we can still give them a fight. I'm keeping an eye open for that Priest, as well - it's the only other American armoured threat I've spotted during the battle but its impact could be devastating.

So far, and in agreement with LongLeftFlank above, I prefer CM:FI purely because of the extras in the refreshed engine. I really enjoy making maps so the overlay feature and snappable roads, walls and hedges is a huge bonus because it speeds the process up and increases the capacity of the game to render real-life landscapes. It's also nice to have a cover armour option back.

Thanks for the message - glad to hear it!

Turns 16 and 17 Mortar fire continues to pound the ATG and this time my men aren't so lucky. A couple are left hanging on in there, the others are casualties. On the left flank, the Americans are piling forward. What remains of my men in the central grove are now right at the rear in reverse slope positions where I hope they'll cause some trouble, but have yet to resume contact. But the remainder of 1st and 3rd squads, in the next grove across, find themselves in the thick of it again. I think they've managed to cause at least one casualty during this latest turn. I'm becoming increasingly doubtful that 3 platoon will be able to make it back to the junction. Although they've done the Americans quite a bit of damage overall, they're low on numbers, short of smoke and have too much open ground to cross. Back at the junction, I've got a surviving squad from 2 plt which I sent across quite a while back, plus the Marder. The latter winds its way into a nice hull-down position but is unable to get enough LOS on to the shed I was hoping to hit before it reverses. Frustrating, but there you go. In any case, it's going to need to focus on other matters. As the turn ends, a Sherman appears close to the groves. It's not quite within range of the Marder yet, but I decide to send the tank destroyer into a position where it will cover any move by the Sherman that might threaten my infantry. This decision proves to be the right one, but is poorly executed. Next turn, the Sherman moves into a firing position and gets a round off at the MG team providing my men in the left-most grove with a base of fire. Two of them are instantly killed and the others are left cowering. 3 platoon's withdrawal now seems less plausible than ever. As this is happening, my tank-destroyer, infuriatingly, is out of view trying to negotiate its way round some foliage. As the turn ends, it's just about reached a hull-down position but needs to rotate about 30 degrees to get a shot at the Sherman. Those could be crucial seconds which decide its fate. The Americans are now assaulting my positions in the grove from all directions. The teams on the far left suffer a couple of other casualties although they are still causing the enemy some grief as well. On the hill, a lone survivor from my MG42 team is still plugging away manfully but with limited results and is now coming under increased amounts of sustained firepower. The fate of the Marder is now utterly critical to my ability to defend the road junction. I don't think 3 plt will be able to hold for much more than another turn or so under this kind of pressure. Up on the hill, I've got my ATG crew's remaining men to bail out and join the survivors from 2 plt a few yards back. Down in the treeline, 4 plt's commander finally gives up the ghost after stubbornly resisting the Americans for several turns. From his position on a small plateau, I reckon he took three GI's with him as they came up over the slope. It bodes well for 2 plt's ability to further stave off an American attack on the hill: they have about 12 men and a couple of weakened MG42 teams and are in a similar position. Overall, however, this has been a tough minute of action for the Germans. My long-term capacity to hold the road junction now seems compromised and I don't know how my Marder will fare against the Sherman, given that it is still manoeuvring, albeit from a hull-down position. We'll find out soon enough.

I think that this is correct; I've had a similar experience on a couple of occasions in both CM:BN and FI and put it down to this. The critical thing, if your spotter is hiding and needs to poke his head above the parapet at the right moment to call the bombardment in, is to keep your eyes open for the first spotting rounds and also for the point at which the indicator on the arty menu changes to "spotting".

Turn 15 As I have been expecting for some turns, mortar rounds start to land all around the PaK40 on the hill. It's an intense bombardment but, with 60 seconds gone, only the team's leader has been incapacitated and the gun is still functioning. That's more than I might have hoped - we'll have to see how long it lasts. I'm slightly worried about 2 plt's HQ team which is close to the ATG, but the bombardment is so precisely targeted that so far they are unaffected. I'd rather not move them as they are in an optimal position to catch American infantry moving up the hill. Not that they are likely to need to do so yet. Further down the hill, 4 plt's commander continues to hold off GI's trying to make it out of the treeline. They looked like they were breaking last turn and have now managed to reassemble, but the nasty little skirmish that's developing on the lower slopes should keep the Americans busy for a little while longer yet. Across on the left flank, I see a second team dash across towards a shed just beyond the grove where 3 plt have a handful of men remaining. They are immediately caught in a crossfire from my MG42 on the hill, and the MG34 team that I moved into the vines to the rear of 3 plt's main position last turn. I see one soldier go down - another man the Americans won't be able to use in their final assault. At the very least 3 plt's advance has cost them some casualties that will weaken them later in the battle. The shed you can see in the centre of this image looks like an assembly spot that the Americans are using ahead of a concerted assault against the grove, which is occupied by 3plt's c/o and a handful of men from 3rd squad. I'm going to have the Marder fire a few rounds into it from its position back at the road junction, and see if I can cause them a little further anguish before we have to reconsider our position on this flank.

Turn 14 Things die down during the next minute or so, but it's unlikely they will stay that way for long. As my Marder pulls back out of view, American soldiers press forward towards the groves, effectively attempting to bisect the two areas currently occupied by the remains of 3 platoon. There's a smattering of gunfire in both directions - frustratingly I don't see any of the enemy getting hit while 1st squad loses another man. On the plus-side, however, most of my men are in good defensive positions. Here's an overview of what's happening on the left flank. The blue arrow shows the direction of the American movement this turn and you can see how that's splitting my grouping in two. On the right hand side, we have very few men left - 3 plt's HQ team plus some of 3rd squad - 2nd squad are now completely eliminated. On the left, 1st squad's remainder have assembled with the rest of 3rd squad and it will take some effort for them to be dislodged. To cope with this imbalance, I've moved an MG34 team into a nearby field of vines from which they can cover an American down-slope attack towards the HQ team's position. The dotted grey line illustrates this; the grey circle shows where they will race to next turn in order to provide this base of fire. I'm also going to have the Marder pop up for a few seconds next turn to try to get a couple of rounds off at the Americans again. It will then retreat from view straight away. I've had further unconfirmed signs that some American armour is moving closer to the left flank; nothing concrete as yet however, so it looks to be some way off. After several minutes' hiatus, there is finally movement in the centre of the map as well. My PaK40 fires a couple of HE rounds towards the distant position where I last saw an HQ unit moving around the map, in the hope of causing them some damage before an expected mortar bombardment. Meanwhile, 4 plt's HQ, which has remained in position since calling in our own bombardment some turns ago, successfully acts as a tripwire for an American approach through the treeline on the hill. As a few GI's poke their heads over the slope, they are met with gunfire from the unit's position and at least one of the enemy soldiers is taken out. Gratifyingly, we hear shouts from the Americans suggesting that these men are badly rattled. Hopefully they were shaken up by the mortar bombardment earlier on. Whatever the cause, this should signal to my opponent that we are still on the hill and able to mount some sort of resistance. If he wants to take it, he's going to have to do more than just walk up it.

Turn 13 With reference to last turn's wish for a bloody stalemate on the left flank, I guess you should be careful what you wish for. With men running into each other's positions all over the place, this turn sees a welter of casualties on both sides, though as ever it's difficult to tell if the Americans have fared as badly as us. When the dust settles, 3 platoon have had the remainder of their forward squad completely destroyed, with 1st squad (on the far left of the map) severely reduced. The extreme edge of the map remains relatively stable. 3rd squad have come across to the aid of 1st and, arriving in the nick of time, successfully repel an attempted American advance, visibly inflicting casualties. In the next grove over, however, platoon HQ and a few remaining men from 3rd squad are holding it together with continued support from the MG on the hill. I'm pulling them further down the slope again, to try to cause the Americans as much damage as possible and drain them of men as much as I can. 1st/3rd squads over on the left may yet have an escape route if things get difficult. Unfortunately the men in the other grove have got all the smoke and look more vulnerable as it stands. Meanwhile my Marder makes its first contribution to the battle, pulling into position and getting two shots off relatively unhindered. The second flies over everyone's heads and crashes into the ground somewhere to the rear of the map. The first, however, is blasted into a row of sheds close to the American position. No telling what damage it does but it looks perilously close to an American MG which has been kicking the proverbial out of my men - if nothing else it should force them to keep their heads down while I pull a few remaining guys in the rightward grove back into a better defensive position. Fearful of mortar fire, I've ordered the Marder to reverse into a position out of sight straight away. The aim is to cause damage and confusion to the Americans as much as possible, but if possible keep the tank destroyer out of harm's way and have it reappear in other positions. Space to the rear of the road junction means that it can effectively manoeuvre on a loop if necessary, popping up in different firing positions as required. It'll be interesting to see if the Americans send some of their armour up the road during the next turn to counteract this move.

Thanks! Once you read the remaining updates, you'll see that it's become pretty attritional. However I think that the main point about reducing the momentum of any subsequent assault - particularly on the hill - still stands. It's costing me a lot of casualties, however. I'm still very much a beginner at this stuff; it's been an interesting experiment in making the opening strategy flexible, if nothing else.

Great, glad it worked. Yes, it's getting pretty vicious over that side of the map. Thanks for your earlier thoughts on the Marder. I'm going to keep it as mobile as possible; there's room for it to loop round from its position. More about this in the next update.

Sorry for the delay, everyone; been away for a couple of days. Turn 12 As 3 platoon start to pull back deeper into the groves, the Americans appear to rush out to meet them. It's a bizarre minute of combat in which the fighting takes place at extremely close quarters. 2nd squad's forward MG team, which is covering the brief retreat of the others, is in the thick of things and finds itself just feet away from the nearest GI's. Casualties remain high. One of 2nd squad's teams are rattled enough to leap over the wall and run towards the hill. By the end of the turn they are back under control thanks to the close presence of their commanding officer, but they are horrendously exposed. Fortunately, it looks like those Americans who ill-advisedly broke cover during this turn are also running. In the grove to the left, I've pushed 1st squad up too far and they've lost a number of men. They've also pulled back, however, and have been reinforced by most of 3rd squad, which I was holding in reserve. If the Americans advance further they'll find themselves in the middle of an unpleasant firefight. My hope now is to try to effect a bloody stalemate for as long as possible from the two reverse slope positions that I am holding in these groves. On the hillside one of 4 platoon's MGs is still heroically firing away at the flank of the American assault on the groves, even though they are down to just two men. Back at the road junction, I'm going to bring my Marder briefly into view. There is no sign of any movement from that American armour my men thought that they saw advancing a few turns back. More Americans have now pushed up around my positions into the grove and I think there is a good chance that by getting my Marder into that hull-down position I identified last turn, I'll be able to fire off a couple of HE rounds unhindered and inflict some casualties. The tank destroyer is vulnerable to mortar fire, however, and I would expect the Americans to target it with their mortars as soon as it appears. So once it's had a couple of shots I'll pull it back and keep it moving, trying to bring it into firing positions in a fairly random and unexpected way. There's still very little action in the centre. I wonder if this means an artillery bombardment around 2 platoon's fallback position in the coming turns.

Turn 11 The fierce fighting on my left flank continues this turn and it's starting to get a bit too difficult for comfort. 3 Platoon's 1st squad in particular feel the heat, losing a couple of men as they try to advance on the extreme left of the map. The front team think better of it and run back into the cover of the trees. They're under control but will break if I try to keep this up. Elements of 3rd squad have crossed from the other grove to help out. As I mentioned last turn, however, the two groves of trees across which 3 Platoon is spread slope downwards, back towards the open ground that lies between them and the road junction. It seems a natural defensive position and a good place to keep the Americans on the left tied up, preventing them from using these troops to take the hill. I'm going to pull 3 plt's teams back a little, deeper into the trees and try to hold that position for as long as I can. Hopefully the Americans will lose more people from this reverse slope position before they even get a look-in at the VL. There is no movement in the centre, so either the enemy are advancing slowly or awaiting a bombardment. I wonder if 2 plt's fallback position, higher up the hill, has been spotted. My men are reasonably well spread out in this area should mortar fire have been called in, and any spotter with LOS to their location is likely to have been seen, given our elevated position. There may be rounds falling in 2 plt's area in the coming turns, but I don't think it's going to stop them from being able to put up some resistance later in the battle. Perhaps the enemy are targeting the PaK 40 after it fired last turn. More worrying is the movement of an unconfirmed contact which looks to be armour. My men have spotted two vehicles so far - a Sherman and a Priest - but both have been obscured from view since we abandoned our position on the lower slopes. This turn, a vehicle of some sort appears to be moving in a position where it could threaten 3 plt on the left flank. It's difficult to establish whether this is indeed happening and how close it is. I spend a long time as a result working out where a tank might be most sensibly deployed on the left. If the Americans are planning on pushing through the groves, or suppressing my current positions (unaware that my men are about to fall back), it would have to get pretty close before it got LOS on 3 platoon because they are on a slope. That limits any potential approaches, and by moving my Marder a little at the road junction, I discover that I can cover most of them pretty well from a partial hull-down placement. However, without being sure about the approach of armour, I'd prefer to keep my own tank destroyer hidden for now if I can. I opt to move the Marder a little closer to the hull-down spot, while keeping it concealed behind the buildings at the junction. This picture shows what's going on. The grey circle indicates the position from which the Marder could cover an attack on the groves supported by armour. The grey arrow points to where American armour would have to be to threaten 3 platoon as they pull back deeper into the grove. The blue arrow shows the whereabouts of the current contact. No telling if it's a Priest, Sherman, or something else yet. I'm worried about moving the Marder at this stage - it's quite vulnerable to mortar fire among other things. But if a tank does appear at the junction, we'll need it to swing into action pretty quickly. Hopefully this manoeuvre will give it the flexibility to cover 3 plt if needed, but pull back to cover approaches to the road junction if not.

Turn 10 A quiet turn in the centre of the map is matched by increased ferocity on the left. Despite my efforts to train an MG 42 on the Americans, they manage to bring considerable firepower to bear on 3 platoon's 2nd squad, who are holding the forward-most position in the grove and have now lost two men. The MG itself opens up on the Americans' flank from the hill. It doesn't appear to hit anything but within a few seconds they are running anyway. It looks more like they've been pulled back, but I can't imagine why. Seconds later, the MG itself suffers a hit, which I think may have come from one of those field guns I spotted earlier. There's no contact to accord with this though, so I can't be sure. 2nd squad will hold for the time being; they are in a decent position behind a wall with ground sloping towards them slightly, making it hard for the Americans to get a shot in. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the American position too. This small group of men will carry on plugging away at each other next turn as well. Meanwhile, 1st squad to the left of this position are getting bogged down having run into more of the enemy than I had initially thought. Looks like I may not have caught them by surprise too much after all. I'll be sending across a few more guys as reinforcements next turn but the fighting is all over the place at the moment, with clusters of men on both sides running into each other in unexpected places. 1st squad also lose a couple of men this turn, making it a heavy death toll for the Germans during this particular round. I can't speak for the Americans but I see at least another man go down. Hopefully we're giving as good as we get. In the centre of the map I spot a few more men running towards the hillside. There's still no fighting, though, and this is useful recovery time for the men of 2 platoon after their retreat a few turns back. Meanwhile, my PaK40 gets a shot off at that HQ squad we saw bounding across the far side of the map last turn. It clearly takes out the man at the back as the others scramble for cover; seconds later they are lost from view. The conflict on the left flank is ultimately going to be a sideshow, and for the time being I'm happy to let it run its course because in spite of casualties among 3 platoon, I am aware that it has cost the Americans more men and that continues to weaken their prospects of being able to take the hill. But I am concerned about the fact that they are gaining fire superiority around the grove, even though a few of them appear to be moving back. I think that the impact of this will be relatively slow given the limited LOS options that exist unless they commit to a full-on assault against my position in the trees. That would be inadvisable as a second squad and my PHQ from 3 plt. are deeper into the grove in a reverse slope position, ready to hit the Americans as they appear at the grove's edge. There is another enticing prospect, too: This turn I calculate a couple of potential moves that my Marder could make if I feel so inclined. The Marder is still back at the road junction, and could circumvent the buildings to two interesting positions where it would have limited cover and a line of retreat. One offers a direct LOS to some American positions around 3rd platoon's 1st squad; the second covers the road at the edge of the grove should the Americans send in armour of their own. Both are hull-down. There is no sign of US armour yet and the Marder might add some interesting firepower to the mix in the battle on my left flank. I'll be considering this further next turn.

Completely agree with this idea. Was going to suggest it myself but felt too new and inexperienced compared with all you seasoned CM vets. As the author of one such thread I also worry that my recurrent updates might also be bumping other CM threads down-page too quickly on the relevant game fora to the irritation of people who aren't interested in reading about my tactical bumblings. Plus, as Mord says, it works the other way too and, for those who do want to read them, the updates themselves can get buried pretty quickly.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've been looking long and hard at the Marder for the next turn and I think I've found two positions it can move to, both relatively hull down, where it might be able to lay down supporting fire for 3 platoon with its HE rounds, and cover a potential approach by either or both of the American vehicles I've spotted so far. More to follow on this in my next report. I'm not sure the PaK40 will survive long enough to take on US armour as American infantry advances up the hill. It was always a bit of a necessary risk sticking it on the rightward slope, but it has caused a bit of damage which, again, I'll fill you in on shortly.

I strongly suspect I'll get burned too. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the comments, I was particularly pleased that I was able to pin the Americans down long enough to get that second bombardment in. The issue with the Priest is not so much how well it'll go up as what to hit it with. All I have is my Marder and the PaK40, which is unlikely to get the chance to take on much armour as the Americans seize the hill. This was always going to be the problem, but if I can keep on weakening the infantry, I may neutralise their capacity to mount an effective final assault on at least the higher VL. Although yes, it would be nice to see the Priest go boom. And the Sherman, for that matter.

Turn 9 The next minute of combat proves far less intense as the bombardment dies down. There's still no telling what kind of damage I have inflicted on the Americans who were positioned in front of the hill, because with 2 platoon having drawn back from their original position my intel regarding what's down there is a lot weaker than it was. Towards the end of the turn, I spot a couple of GI's coming our way along the slope to the right of 2 plt's fallback position. They are some way off yet and will run into a rifle team when they get a bit closer. Far off in the distance, we also spot an HQ team of some description running across our line of sight. I would imagine that they are moving into a spotting position in an effort to call in an artillery strike on whatever I have on the hill. This is the first time that a unit has moved into the region covered by my as-yet redundant PaK40. It may be time to use it as it has some HE rounds available and does not look set to play a major role in the battle. I expect it to be overrun within a few turns anyway, as the Americans make their way up the hill. So far it's had an armour-only cover arc set, but I'm switching that to a general cover arc in the hope it will cause the enemy a little further anguish before it gives up the ghost. On the left flank, a fascinating skirmish is developing with both sides trying to outmanoeuvre the other. 3rd platoon suffers its first casualty at the edge of the grove, as Americans assemble on two sides of the forward-most position and start to lay down some firepower. As luck would have it, however, a surviving MG 42 team on the hill have LOS to some of the Americans and should be able to provide a decent base of fire to protect 3 platoon's right flank. I'm scoring some hits as well, as 1st squad continue their move on the left. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, a couple of men from one team succeed in wandering off back towards the road junction, which is rather irritating, but I've redirected them and should resolve this next turn. They don't seem to have wandered into any of the Americans' line of fire. More positively, 1st squad successfully sneak up on some Americans whose attention is focused on the grove in which 3rd platoon first arrived and I see a couple go down before they appear to break and run. Here's the overview of the left flank at the turn's end. You can see that we're moving up on the left, but the US strength is on either side of that line of sheds, with the group of men to the right potentially threatening to outflank us. This group, however, is also covered by that MG 42 I mentioned, which has been ordered to fire on them as soon as possible. I'm expecting more Americans to arrive in this area over the next turn or so as the battle develops, and it's difficult to see how it will turn out in the long term. Again, however, my main aim is to cause them some damage, and leave them seriously weakened before they are in a position to threaten the windmills up on the hill. So far I seem to be having some success. I'll try to keep 3 platoon relatively mobile and spread out, to avoid mortar fire, in the turns to come.

Are you referring to the fact that you can set a waypoint, select it and then use the "Target" command to check LOS from that prospective position? If so, then the answer is that this works in both games. Hope that helps.

I'm not sure how it'll turn out either. My natural disposition is really to find strong defensive positions and wait for the enemy to come to me. But this situation really seemed to call for something more aggressive. And it's good to be flexible!

No they don't! Their job really is to see if they can harass the Americans while they are still responding to the advance (hence 1st squad's flanking move), and then try to hold a position drawing guys away from the hill. They've got a decent spot in those trees to defend from at the moment. Really I'm trying to fight an attritional battle across the board now. However, if they do need to move back to the road junction we'll try to pop smoke to cover the retreat; most of them should be able to move it back across that stretch of open in a single move if managed well.

Turn 8 Last turn an American squad appeared to make an exploratory dash ahead of an expected frontal attack on the hillside. With most of 2 platoon pulling back, we weren't able to lay down much fire on them and I expect they made it across. Presumably buoyed by this success, I see more Americans leaping over the wall and heading towards our remaining handful of positions on the lower slopes. But they might have moved too late. Within seconds, the movement is obscured by a series of mortar explosions and the resulting smoke. The long-awaited bombardment is finally underway, and to my huge relief it's falling exactly where we had planned. The spotter, 4 plt's commanding officer, has been calling the fire in through his radio operator despite a barrage of suppressing fire all around him and he's done a superb job. It's impossible to say how many Americans have been hit or whether we have severely blunted their advance, but my guess is that the bombardment will have at least taken out a few of the enemy. Unfortunately, that's all the artillery we are going to muster. My 81mm off-map mortars are just about empty. I can only hope the two bombardments have caused the Americans some significant damage and weakened their ability to send men up the hill in the large numbers they might have hoped. 2 and 4 platoons have made a heroic stand on the hillside, suppressing the Americans below for as long as they could and buying us valuable minutes so that we could call the bombardment in. But it's come at a heavy price. The bodies of dead or seriously wounded Germans litter the lower slopes. The battle is now entering a distinct second phase. Our defence of the lower slopes is essentially now over and most of my men have pulled back. On the left, 3 platoon pick up more contacts beyond the grove, but there are good signs indicating that the Americans are again trying to attack there head-on, allowing 1st squad to move around the left flank. This battle will intensify during the coming minutes and although more German lives will be lost, it has, crucially, drawn some Americans away from the hillside. As the turn ends, here is how things look. The blue arrows show where the Americans are now moving. We have seen infantry crossing the open directly in front of the hillside from two positions, ahead and to the left. The blue circle shows where my mortars are falling. The grey circle illustrates the fallback position where surviving elements of 2/4 platoons are now concentrating and getting their breath back to await the American advance up the hill. On the left, you can see parts of 3 platoon's 1st squad moving to the extreme edge of the map in an effort to outflank the enemy. So far they have suffered no casualties. And up among the windmills, 1 platoon are still rested and waiting for the last stand. That should still be some time off, and I hope that by that stage I will have inflicted enough casualties on the Americans to prevent them from seizing that vital last position. The critical issues over the next few turns will be, first, whether 3 platoon can keep the Americans busy on the left and cause them some damage, and second, whether those survivors from 2 platoon are sufficiently well-placed to pick off a few more GI's as they work their way up the hill in the searing heat.

Turn 7 With the Americans still pounding away at the hillside, 2 platoon are now pulling back with a few surviving elements of 4. However, a few MGs are still stationed around their original position to hold down any American advance a few moments longer. It should be all I need for those mortar rounds finally to arrive - the clock now says less than one minute until they start falling in earnest. Spotting rounds have been landing in roughly the right part of the map. I'll find out next turn if the formal bombardment is going to hit home where I need it to. Meanwhile my decision to keep a few men lower down the slopes proves well-founded, as we see the first handful of US soldiers racing across the open towards the foot of the hill. It's only a matter of time before my men on the lower slopes are overrun, but those GI's are still in the artillery kill zone for now. Further up the hill, 2 platoon's men are racing back to my fallback location on the plateau as American mortar rounds explode all around them. A few are already up there and I've checked LOS and assigned cover arcs. I think it will be very hard for the Americans approaching those positions to spot them until they are almost upon them. That way I might be able to eke out more effective attrition; the intent being to weaken the American advance as much as possible before they reach the windmills and the (as yet fully intact) 1 platoon. The latter have a natural reverse slope to defend from, so that will hopefully prove a bloody last stand. Things could ultimately turn out that way for 3 platoon as well over on the left, but for now they've clearly caught the Americans on the hop. Forward elements of the platoon encounter a smattering of enemy infantry this turn from the edge of the grove. I hope that this might divert any supporting troops the Americans are pulling across towards the grove itself. To the rear, 1st squad have already begun to get their breath back and are now instructed to break left, out of view just below the summit, and towards that XO team we spotted before. I'm pretty sure that a field gun is lurking there but, if the Americans are heading for the grove, we might be able to outflank them on the extreme edge of the map. My 3rd squad are deeper in the grove, waiting for more contacts so that I can bring them in as a supporting reserve. I've one last disturbing thought - what if that Sherman or the Priest, currently hovering towards the rear of the American position, come for 3rd platoon? I may have to look at repositioning my Marder next turn to cope with such an advance, but there's no sign of definitive movement from either just yet.

Turn 6 This is probably the toughest turn the Germans have had so far, as the Americans noticeably up the intensity of their bombardment of the hill with mortars, supported by suppressing fire from their MGs. My decision to pull some of 2 platoon in particular out of there couldn't have come sooner, and next turn all but a handful of MG teams will be reassembling in the fallback position I have already identified. Meanwhile, an MG positioned on an outcrop just in front of the windmills takes the rash decision to open up on a field gun it spots somewhere to the rear of the American right flank. It proves to be a very bad call. For the first time I can sense that the advantage is turning towards the Americans, which further endorses my decision to pull back on the hillside. Spotting rounds now begin to land around the area I have targeted, and I hope that the spotter is calling them in accurately and that they will arrive in time to have a substantial effect on the men intended for any forthcoming American push up the hill. As one falls near the Sherman, however, a chilling revelation takes place: There's a second American vehicle down there and it's a Priest - self-propelled artillery. I expect that this is intended to cover any final push on the windmills. Hopefully it will stray into the region covered by my anti-tank gun on the hillside. If not, I'll have to leave the Marder to handle it later. 3 platoon's advance on the left has been a casualty-free encounter so far. Most of my guys are now in the grove and are slowly moving forwards towards where we think the nearest American contacts are. In the meantime, a covering MG back at the road junction successfully blasts away at that pesky XO team who picked up the movement last turn. I've been fortunate in getting them all across the open safely and now they can slow down in the assembly area. Next turn we should be in a position to have them move to where they can threaten the US right flank and hopefully draw some of the attention away from the hillside.