mjkerner

Hi all, I can't remember how to do this. I thought it was some combo of ALT/CTRL/TAB/SHIFT, and I've tried them all, but no dice. Anyone know?

No, thankfully you're not stuck, Colonel, you rotate them by using a second one placed near the first. you have to experiment, but they will re-orient depending on where you place the second (and subsequesnt ones) in proximity to the first one.

Yeah, Baby! Er... Minute 39/1121 We're gonna take this nice and slow, savoring it like a fine wine, or better yet, a beautiful women in a red silk dress... First, the preliminaries. More pummeling at the Bridge: Then, the armor engages in a dance of death: First honors: "Gentlemen of Britain, fire first!" From his view: Sweat breaking on Kramer's brow, he bellows "Feuer!" It looks good... ...but over the top by inches, cutting through the trees, its heat brushing the TC's cheek. The Firefly returns fire, and scores a hit! It bounces off the gun mantle...at this range it could have, should have, ripped right through. Pucker factor through the roof, Kramer and his crew have no time to relax their sphincters! Before: After: Kramer's crew are not new to this business, quickly and determinedly reloading, aiming, "Feuer!" Looking good... ...AND THE MONEY SHOT(S) Whew, I need a cigarette!

Lol, Slim, you know...I never even looked at the Gunner's actions. I do recall looking at the Commander's...go figure. I think it was the flu! Yeah, the flu, that's the ticket!

Minute 40/1120 (I'm going to change the headings to the clock time rather than the minutes into the battle) Trouble and Tension Things get real dicey this turn. (@Slim, Chappy is indeed countering my actions!) (@Heinrich, yes, those Jagds will hopefully save the day yet.) First off, the AT gun setting up in the RA to cover the road to the bridge: I had a platoon HQ up the road in the church pop smoke into the road to cover the Pak while it deployed. Here is the result! The smoke didn't cover the entire road and the Sherman managed to put a round right where it hurts! Then, although there was a lull in the mortar barrage at the Dommel Bridge, a Sherman down at the Destroyed Bridge got a bead on one of the HMG teams which wasn't far enough off the road to hide in the tall grass, and several are hit. I ordered a smoke barrage (5 minute delivery time) at the eastern end of Dommelen to cover the men under fire, hopefully blocking any FO in the Church and any infantry waiting patiently in town for the assault. Mortars are still falling in the southern end of the RA, and manage to bracket a hidden flakwagon and wound one of the crew, but otherwise it is not damaged. The most interesting and worrisome event is that his Firefly in Dommelen is on the move! So much for the idea that it was immobilized last battle. The strange thing is, I assumed he had someone in the church tower (or elsewhere) that would have had eyes on Kramer's Jagd near the bridge, or at least observed it as it was headed in that direction earlier. But apparently not, since the FF is headed for the eastern edge of town on the northside...potentially right at Kramer! (Look close, I forgot to highlight it in Photoshop.) After much nail-biting throughout the turn, it ends with neither side firing. My Jagd has an LOS on it, but not an LOF! The commander can apparently see it, but not the gunner. Scheisse! Frantically, I set Armor Arcs for the Jagd, the AT gun back in Valkenswaard, and the flakwagon approaching the Dommel Bridge. Who is going to see whom first? At this range, his 76mm can tear right through the Jagd. Damn, I spent most of yesterday, last night, and this morning worrying about it. (A touch of the flu kept me otherwise occupied and unable to report to you loyal followers, lol.) Kramer's arc: The Pak's arc: Flakwagon's arc: Stayed tuned!

Well, the boss is still kicking... but his staff is decimated. War is Hell, but we must carry the fight to the enemy! Btw, I will get a shot of your CM rendition of the Dommel Bridge. From memory, yours looks very similar to the real thing.

Minutes 42 -41 It was inevitable that Chappy would bring some form of hurt against the men moving on Dommelen across the bridge. His barrage turns deadly: Four out of five members of the FJ Schule Stab HQ (leader of the Flak units, not the Schule infantry company) go down. Surprisingly, the commander, Thylin, survives unscathed. In total, 8 men are killed or incapacitated, 6 wounded after two minutes under the barrage. But it's not over yet: Meanwhile, Jaegers move into Valkenswaard and de-truck: Overview of movements in the RA area: More exciting action has occurred in minute 41 and continuing into minute 40...stayed tuned!

Minutes 44 - 43 cont. My 105 barrage begins to fall on the Destroyed Bridge area...a lot of Sturm und Drang, but since he has very little infantry there as far as I can tell, not likely to cause a lot of damage...maybe a lucky but highly unlikely deck/turret roof hit on a Sherman, or into a bren carrier: Repositioning Dahm's Jadg forward while the Murderer's Row of Shermans is clouded in smoke, and moving the two newly-arrived Jagds toward the action. I want to keep the Jagds back, but I need to get into good firing positions here for the Deelshurk attack: I readjust positions in the RA, moving all infantry into the buildings for cover, and moving two of the Paks into positions to cover the road to the Destroyed Bridge and Deelshurk: Uh oh, bad news. Mortars (and I think a few Sherman rounds from the Destroyed Bridge area) start to fall around the troops crossing the Dommel: Finally, at the end of Minute 43 a Sherman 75mm is discovered on the road from the Destroyed Bridge (crossed at the ford immediately adjacent to the bridge) leading to the RA, most likely to discourage an attack on Deelshurk. Can this be a golden opportunity to eliminate a Sherman venturing too close? At the end of the turn, looking south from Valkenswaard:

Minutes 44 - 43 Dahm's Jagd misses the shot that looked like it was headed for the Sherman's across the way: The Shermans' reaction from all the unwanted attention. This will at least take them out of the action for a few turns and allow me to make some adjustments: Meanwhile, he is dropping mortars on the southern edge of the RA where my men are assembling for the attack on Deelshurk: 10th Kp MG HQ, lead by Unterfeldwebel Meissner--without machine guns but with a pair of binoculars--is adapting to his new role as a scout and leads his team down the Dommel Dommel River to get another set of eyes the enemy at the Destroyed Bridge: The rest of my reinforcements arrive in and around Geenhoven, and start moving toward the action, including the last two Jagds (Yeah!): Grim-faced, determined Jaegers move out in trucks borrowed from their IG battery:

Hey, thanks Ian!

Remember the Marne!

Minute 44 - Review/Overview Recapping where we are (as much for my benefit as yours)... My original plan, based on where I thought Chappy's forces would likely be, was to move as many infantry units across Ford #1 and the (northern) bridge towards Dommelen as feasible, then attack along the road into town and the woods to the north. I was going to leave a very small covering force in Valkenswaard's residential area, mostly just FO's, the Paks, some random small units, and maybe a platoon from the 10th Kp. From an Operational perspective, I wanted to take back Dommelen (hex 1, 6) to give more breathing room to defend the heart of Valkenswaard, the 30 point Victory hex (2, 5). Of course that plan had to be changed from the first minute of battle, when I discovered that his troops were set up basically in the positions where they ended up at the conclusion of first battle for Dommelen. This presented an opportunity to seize two Operational hexes, Dommelen and Deelshurk (hex 1, 7, the scene of my Penal Kompanie's trouncing at the hands of Chappy's troops in the first full battle of this campaign). If successful, the Allies will have to re-fight to take back these hexes, or at least one of them, to be able to attack into Valkenswaard. Even without the wrench this throws into the to the Allies' tight timetable, making your enemy fight twice for ground already bought in blood is always a good thing! This opportunity meant I had to drastically alter the original plan...glad I kept it simple, lol! Now, I am sending men and vehicles to the residential area in southwestern Valkenswaard, and unfortunately in a helter skelter fashion. So I have one platoon of the 10th Fliegerhorst Kp there, while the remainder are crossing the bridge to Dommelen; same for bits of the FJ Schule Kp, the FJ Flak platoon and, due in part to the diverse entry areas of my reinforcements, one Jagd off by itself over Dommelen way. I sent Oberst Kerner himself to the RA area so that he can help in steady and control those units that are out of command range of their CO's. Although it is time consuming, I'm keeping the FJ Kp Abt. Kerner together and sending them all to the RA to partake in the Deelshurk attack. I'm borrowing trucks, kubelwagons, and HTs from other units to do this, but as of Minute 44, most will be in or near jump-off positions in 5 or 6 more minutes. (I don't think in the context of the Market Garden campaign, immediately following on the heels of the Germans' disastrous flight from France, and their use of disparate commands from all points of the compass hastily being sent to stop the Allied drive to Arnhem, that stealing trucks from my Paks and infantry guns is too gamey. I see this all as Oberst Kerner being given a hodge-podge scratch force, ordered to hold Valkenswaard and its surrounds, and counterattack when and where necessary to stop and/or delay the Allies. What do you guys think?) Regardless, so far the battle is going well. I'm getting the bulk of my forces designated to the Dommelen attack across the bridge without having to worry about timing a smoke barrage--so far at least; a mortar round hit near the bridge this turn. Troops are assembling for the jump off to Deelshurk (again, with some mortars falling around the area), and his two main barrages are hitting empty ground and so far have only caused 1 casualty--to one of the 10th Kp hQ unit. Better yet, his troops are separated into pennypackets over a wide area, and mostly are not in very good mutually supporting positions. I hope to overwhelm his Firefly and the two 75mm Shermans at the destroyed bridge by overwhelming him with 3 Jagds and two AT guns; the five 75mms of Murderer's Row have temporarily taken themselves out of the battle with a smoke screen, allowing me to make a few moves, especially Dahm's Jagd and an AT gun, that could otherwise have been at a greater risk. And his lone Firefly in Dommelen is virtually unsupported by any other armor. I need to uncover his infantry positions in and around Dommelen, but once identified, I plan to lay in a barrage to help soften them up. I believe I have sufficient infantry and firepower, with the addition of Kramer's Jagd and a flakwagon, to deal with what I think is approximately a company of infantry there.

@Bulletpoint, yes, shadows off...I'll have to check whether the shaders are too, usually I have them on. Shadows seem to give a performance hit on big maps like this. Thanks for mentioning it, though...I should turn them on for screenshot purposes. @Bil hey, glad to see you're checking this out. The Jagds came on piecemeal,their entry points separated quite a bit. But the last two (4 total) are moving up together to join Dahm in the Residential Area. It's risky having Kramer out there by himself by the bridge near Dommelen, but I'm trying to be careful and will use him to harass the Murderers Row troop and the troop near the destroyed bridge, while the 3 Jagds in the RA gang up on each enemy troop in succession. Chappy has conveniently split his armor troops ( by necessity due to starting positions) and they aren't in very good mutual support distance from each other. I hope to exploit that. In conjunction with my PAK's, I want to keep his armor occupied...and hopefully destroy it...so that he leaves my infantry alone as they move across open ground to their objectives at Dommelen, and now Deelshurk, too. So far, so good.

Minute 45 continued I will pull Dahm back a little so that all five Shermans of Murderer's Row can't all get LOS/LOF to him. I did some testing before this battle, Jagds against Sherman 75s and 76s at various ranges from 800 yds to 1400 yds. The Jagd's gun mantle is a tank projectile magnet, and the gun and optics can get damaged or destroyed fairly easily, even by the 75s. The Firefly can, of course be deadly. So I want to be as cautious as possible. The Pak should also help distract some of those Shermans... As my 1052 start falling at the destroyed bridge area, I targeted a carrier full of troops easr of Deelshurk with a small linear barrage from the IGs, which will arrive in 4 (or 5..I forgot) minutes. His barrage in front of the RA hit one of the members of the 10th Kp HQ group. They are rested, and will make a run for it back into the RA next turn. (At the end of the turn, rounds were falling more to the north of their position. It's a risk, but the rest of the platoon in the RA is heading toward the assembly area for the Deelshurk attack, so they need to get moving.) The Firefly in Dommelen is something of a mystery at this point. I didn't think Chappy would leave it in town on defense without a few other Shermans, but that is surely the case. He no doubt has nearly a company of infantry in town with it, because I have yet to spot any retreating out of town and they were certainly investing the place at the end of the last battle. But why not leave a 75mm Sherman or two in town, and pull the Firefly back and let him support the defenders from in range?? So, maybe it was immobilized last battle??? I hope so because that will make it easier to take out, either by a Jagd or my panzerschreck team or other infantry when they get into Dommelen. Another reason I think it may be immobilized is that it just turned its turret toward the infantry crossing the bridge, but the hull didn't turn...

Minute 45 Things start to heat up! The Pak scores a hit, but it bounces off the front of the Sherman. Meanwhile, Dahm gets a bead and starts firing at the same Sherman. The first two rounds are too high... ...and the Sherman fires back, hitting the pavement under the Jagd! As the turn ends, Dahm fires again. It looks lower and might just score....

Minutes 50 - 46 These turns saw his barrages fall mostly on empty space, while I started to move troops across the bridge toward Dommelen, and move troops to the south side of the RA for the eventual push to Deelshurk. Still a ways to go to Dommelen, though. I am preparing to blow gaps in the wall on the south side of the RA in order to advance troops and vehicles to the southern-most buildings inorder to provide as much of a covered approach as possible on the way to Deelshurk. The 75mm Pak remaining in position finally gets a few rounds off at Murderer's Row, but shoots too high. Jagd commanders Dahm, in the RA, and Kramer, along the Dommel River north of the bridge area, move into position. Dahm is maneuvering to get sights on Murderer's Row and possibly the Firefly in Dommelen, or the destroyed bridge west of Deelshruk. Kramer is moving to a hull down position behind the destroyed building near the bridge.

I forget my own bull****, there's so much of it. Chappy tore himself away from his better half and we are battling again. More reporting tomorrow.

LOL, I know. I forgot I even parked it there until I did the photoshop thing!

LOL, yes, I've used that trick many a time, especially in urban fights with my FJ infantry/engineers. And that is exactly the plan for the AT guns and flakwagon at the southern wall of the RA, where they are now either headed or have already arrived. I was going to locate the IGs in the cemetery in the Kromme Straat, but but I don't want to wait for call in and have to time their TOT, etc., but for other reasons--fear of a counterattack into the RA*--I unloaded them where they are. But I might have to move them yet again. OTOH, I don't think his armor can get a bead on them where they are at. LOS on this map can be deceptive...we'll see. *edit: Almost forgot, I needed the trucks to move the reinforcement FJ Kp. It would take them forever to reach the action areas without transport.

Minutes 51 - 49 Yes, Heinrich, a-trembling in their boots they must be! I just hope they don't run off before we've had a chance to spar. Looks like they are definitely looking to shore up their hold on Deelshurk. Infantry in carriers are headed that way. Meanwhile, in answer to your question Phil, I believe those shells falling between the RA and Kromme Straat area are something on the order of 25 pounders. They are preceded by the roar of artillery... ...as opposed to these mortar rounds falling around my flakwagons--no casualties taken. They have since retreated to covered areas. One will stay in the vicinity to assist the push on Dommelen, the other will head to the RA to assist in the attack on Deelshurk. (Curious onlookers might wonder where my 4th flakwagon went...it wandered off the battlefield! No doubt lacking in spirit, or searching for some of the liquid kind, the AI decided it had a better route through the RA than my movement commands, at off it went!)

Glad you're enjoying it, guys. Good to see you here, Heinrich! My 105s start falling near the destroyed Dommel bridge in about 6 minutes. I've got several (3?) 81mm mortars with the FJ Abt Kerner Kp, will use them to smoke and hit Dommelen. It will take me time, maybe 10-15 minutes to get set for my new plan, which is to try and take Deelshurk, so will need to shift the barrage to hit it as we jump off (maybe even call this strike off and re-call it). I have 2 off-map 81mm mortars as well which I will use on Deelshurk, too. He has, for the last few minutes at least, had those 5 Shermans across the river sitting there pointing in my direction. New general plan. More detail, plus action close ups tomorrow.

Come on, you know you want to! http://www.armortek.co.uk/tiger-1-131-production/

Minutes 53 - 52 Interesting developments abound. First, contact is finally made with the 2 sections fleeing across the river. Infantry and AA fire manage to take one guy out. Next, spotting rounds drop, two along the front of the RA, one along the Kromme Straat a turn after the first ones hit. I can't tell just where the beaten zone will be. Then, my men nearing the bridge finally spot the second Firefly, sitting in Dommelen near the church, facing North. I hadn't expected Chappy to leave a Firefly to defend the town alone (his other 4 Shermans over there have retreated way back to the other side of the woods to the South), but because he's facing North, he's obviously expecting some of my armor to come at him from that direction. (I had a choice to have some Jadgs and parts of the FJ Kp arrive from the North, across the Dommel River. But I didn't want my forces to be split so far apart.) I have hopes of trapping that Sherman and eliminating him, either in the town, or if he tries to pull back across the front of my AT guns and Jadgs. And finally, the one Pak not in the process of repositioning has spotted and drawn a bead on a Sherman across the way. Stay tuned to see if there is another duel.

Btw, thanks for the comments, fabishd and Kohlenklau. Minutes 55 - 53: The plan changes on the fly The Brits having pulled back all along the front, it appears they are either intending to pull out altogether and leave the map (unlikely), are repositioning to move against my left flank and push into Valkenswaard, or simply hunkering down with the intent of holding the Dommel crossings at the ford near the destroyed Dommel bridge, the little village of Deelshurk east of there, and intact bridge further south. His armor has been sitting in those spots for several turns, so I assume he's intent on holding his earlier gains. Though it would provide another axis of attack against Valkenswaard 30 point VP, the Dommelen "hex" is not really crucial for an operational victory. For now, I am continuing to move toward Dommelen, either to attack it or merely occupy it if he has already abandoned it, and move troops into Valkenswaard. The troops there will defend it against an attack and be in position to withdraw off the east side to be in better positions operationally for the next British assault. Unfortunately, this involves breaking up units, like the 10th Kp, some heading for Dommelen, some staying around Vwaard. But with the distances involved and lack of transport, I have no choice. I am mustering all my trucks and Kubelwagons to ferry the reinforcements closer to the front, but am leery of exposing to his armor, even at long range, for fear of turning them into troop-laden coffins.