Penry

Thanks for the advice and apologies for the delay in my reply. Had a few computer issues this week and coupled with pre Xmas madness at work it has meant that free time and energy have been at a premium. I have a bazooka in the bridge buildings and one just outside, one by the bottom bridge, one in the left farmhouse and one by the right farmhouse. I've also got two with my halftracks in the southern forest. I'm guessing, as we are playing v1.10, that they can't be fired in a building and I'll need to get within 100m of my targets? I wonder if I can persuade BD to update to the latest version.....

Turn 31 - Minute 15 to 14 Just about the only thing that happened this turn was for BD's 75mm Semivente to pound my leftmost farmhouse with half a dozen rounds. It forced my MG team out of the building and exposed the whole front edge of the top florr of the building. It won't be long before the building collapses, so I think it must be time to get the hell out of there! If he does the same to the other farmhouse (I would) then I'm really up the proverbial! My AT gun got a handful of rounds off at the haystack, but by the time they did BD's infantryman had continued his suicidal rush of the farmyard. Thankfully my bailed SPG crew held him up with some small arms fire. Quite why my halftrack can't see him I'm really not sure! Orders: Everyone out of the crumbling farmhouse! Take out BD's lone infantryman. He's just 18m from the other farmhouse! Try to take out BD's 75mm Semivente commander, who I've noticed pops up for spotting purposes before every shot fired! Time for another sharp shooting hero to step up to the plate!

Orders: AT gun to target the hay stack! I can't see BD's last man, but I'm hoping to at least flush him out with some nearby explosions, then let my halftrack mop up as he runs away! My last SPG is to turn it's attention to BD's R35s. Here's hoping he gets a shot or two......

Turn 30 - Minute 16 to 15 What a difference a minute makes! From being in a reasonable position and confident of seeing out the battle until the end, to having the confidence knocked and wondering how I'm going to keep these Italians out! How fragile things can be, turned in the blink of an eye! I am, of course, referring to the loss of one of my SPGs! BD's advancing R35s finally made their mark. A first shot hit the trees just in front of my SPG, then a second shot impacted and penetrated its upper front hull armour. No casualties were sustained but it was enough to force it to start reversing back up the hill. Soon after reversing across the ploughed field a third round penetrated the lower front armour, knocking out the SPG but still leaving the crew unharmed. Shots then started to come in from the Semiventes (note the plural, more on that later) on the far bridge, then another round hit home from the R35s, penetrating the superstructure of the front hull and killing the gunner. Still the crew reasoned that they were safer inside the hull, that is until a round from the bridge Semiventes penetrated the right hand side of the SPG, killing the commander! The crew bailed out and hugged the earth as one of BD's R35s let rip with a horrific cannister round. Thankfully it fell short, although I'm sure more are to follow in the next minute! So, back to the Semiventes on the bridge. The 47mm variety was joined by another 47mm model and by a 75mm version. Quite how I'm going to clear this lot I have no idea! BD was also on the move on the northern flank, his mortar team upping sticks and running down the hill to the orchard wall (white arrow). I wonder if BD is intending to shift his mortar's position, or if he has run out of rounds and is using it as bait to get me to reveal my positions around the farmyard? So far my men have exercised excellent gun discipline! Lastly, BD's lone survivor by the hay stack recovered enough to start firing the odd round at my AT gun. I'll have to try to deal with him next turn.

Turn 29 - Minute 17 to 16 BD's infantry team continued their advance towards the farmyard. Unfortunately for them my halftrack was ready and waiting for them. First one infantryman bit the dust, then, as the rest turned to run away, another two met their deaths. The last man managed to take cover behind a hay stack, but things are not looking good for him! On the other side of the valley BD's R35s pushed forward once again! My SPG by the farmyard got eyes on one, but by the time he turned to get a line of fire he lost contact with it. At least now he is facing the correct way, so any further contacts should result in at least one round getting away! My other SPG still had it's attention fixed firmly on the far bridge. It unleashed two main rounds at it. The first hit a tree by the farmyard, the second hit the bridge once more, terrifying BD's men once again! I can't believe that BD's men on the bridge haven't suffered any casualties yet. I would have thought that some shrapnel would have hit them after three direct hits on the bridge. At least they aren't going anywhere and their morale must be shattered bu now! Also, note BD's Semivente at the far end of the bridge. Here's an overview of the minute's events. Orders: As is. Let's hope that one of BD's R35s moves into my SPG's line of fire......

Turn 28 - Minutes 18 to 17 Let it rain! Let it rain! My last 81mm mortar strike finally started, and ended, this turn! Twenty one rounds slammed down along the leading edge of the northern forest. I just hope that BD had a few men hiding in the forest, resting and ready to advance out of the trees when he felt the time was right. I know of one confirmed casualty and I'm hoping for quite a few more! For his part, BD let rip with one of his little mortars too (red circle in overview), trying no doubt to catch my AT gun crew in there positions out in the farmyard! BD managed to get off four rounds before its crew was suppressed for the rest of the turn by the nearby 81mm mortar explosions. I'll have to try and deal with them next turn though as I don't want them threatening my positions around the farmyard. BD also pushed forward one of his infantry squads even further. They obviously have a mission to harrass or take out my AT crew, as they reached a certain point in the field then hit the deck and started taking pot shots at my AT gun position (blue line in overview). Thankfully I sustained no casualties, just some suppression, but by the end of the minute the AT crew had worked out where the fire was coming from, so will hopefully be able to let rip next turn! BD's two R35s (white circle) pushed forward yet again. He must really be confident regarding these guys. I just hope they move into the line of fire of one of my SPGs! Another Semivente (orange circle) also revealed itself by the far bridge, while the first one disappeared from view for most of the minute. My rear SPG took some incoming small arms fire from one of BD's infantry teams in the southern forest. They soaked it up for a while, then lost their patience and sent two main rounds back at them, which caused a rapid retreat by BD's men! Satisfied that they had dealt with that threat my SPG then turned its attention back to the far bridge and sent another round at BD's men hanging out on it. Needless to say they spent the rest of the minute cowering for safety! Orders: AT gun and M3 halftrack in farmyard to open fire on the infantry team in the middle of the field. All others, as is.

Great news! Now where's the twin brother of my sharp shooter from Ritirare?

Turn 27 - Minute 19 to 18 Pffffttttt! BD's under fire R35 managed to escape a follow up shot and reversed back and out of sight of my SPG, which did have another pop at it, but the round hit a tree trunk on its way to the target! BD's other two R35s (yellow circle) continued to advance out from under the protection of the edge of the northern forest. I'm not sure I'd be so brave, but BD must obviously feel that they are in a safe enough position! They sure do have a good view over the farmyard! At the other end of the northern slope, towards the end of the minute, the first (hopefully only) semivente (white circle) was revealed. Thankfully it is only the 47mm variety, which houses a crew of three in a hatch open to the elements..... BD also continued to advance his infantrymen across the other side of the valley (red circle). One lot had the audacity to move across the open field, then take up a position by a hay stack. I think BD is trying to get my men to open up on them, so his armour can then pound my positions. Discipline men, discipline! My rear SPG took the opportunity to have a potshot at BD's men on the far bridge. They were standing around on the bridge until a main round slammed into the side of it, forcing them to drop to the floor and take desperate cover for the duration of the minute. Lastly, two 81mm spotting rounds landed in the northern forest. Hopefully at least one of them caused some damage. Let's hope the main strike comes this coming turn and hits BD and his men hard! With only 18 minutes to go it might just put an end to any thoughts BD has of assaulting from the northern forest! Orders: As is. Nothing planned until the 81mm strike plays out!

Orders: Apart from those orders already in place, I have ordered my SPG to follow up and attempt to confirm a kill on BD's R35 near the top bridge. My MG team in the front farmhouse are to sneak back upstairs, and set up overlooking the southern forest where BD's men have just advanced to, still on tight gun discipline though! I want to deal with BD's armour before I start spraying more lead around! 81mm spotting rounds are incoming soon......

Turn 26 - Minute 20 to 19 A strange turn this one, with action at the beginning and end of the turn, sandwiching a period of inactivity during the major part of the minute. To start things off, things got nasty up by the top bridge. BD's men were overrunning the foxholes, even though they were still drawing fire from two Italian infantry teams from the north forest. I'm eager to read BD's thoughts on these events. If he presumed I had men down there, even though he couldn't see them, and he was trying to suppress them while his men on the valley floor overran the position, then it would have been some awesome work. Of course I had long since vacated the position, so BD's hard work and planning were for nil. My farmyard halftrack was also spraying the area with MG fire, and was soon joined by my SPG firing off two main rounds at the egde of the foxholes. This attention was too much for BD's men and they soon legged it back across the bridge to safer positions! I doubt I'll be seeing too much from them for a while, and if they do return they'll be fragile for sure! At the end of the turn my SPG got in on the action once again. In the final few seconds he landed a penetrative upper hull hit on BD's R35 at the top bridge end of the northern forest, even though it had decided to withdraw back into the depths of the forest track. The hit was too late to confirm whether it was a kill, but hopefully I'll follow it up next turn with another hit to make sure! The only other items of note were some infantry advancements from BD's men in the southern forest, an armoured sound contact on the far side of the top bridge and BD's two R35s at the near end of the northern forest shifting position.

Orders: SPG to open up on the frontmost R35 of the pair. (red) Halftrack in farmyard to suppress infantry at far bridge. (orange) Halftrack at entrance to southern forest to suppress infantry at far bridge while it reverses back into the forest, then head back to my end of the map and wait for further orders. (yellow and light blue) Halftrack near southern barn to head deeper into woods and back to my end of the woods, ready for further orders (dark blue) Recon team in woods to rendevous with the barn halftrack (purple) Final 81mm mortar strike in approx two minutes......

Turn 25 - Minute 21 to 20 Another minute slips by for BD and he really doesn't seem to be making too much progress. I wonder if he is waiting for more reinforcements? Does he not think that three R35s are enough to make a push? Is he waiting for his Semovente that is hinted at in the mission briefing? My SPG (yellow) made it to the pines by the edge of the farmyard, but the halftrack (white) that was supposed to meet it there only got as far as the edge of the southern forest before bottling it and reversing back into cover. I'm going to have to come up with a different plan for the two halftracks in the southern forest, because sooner or later BD will advance his infantry and they'll get caught out again in a short range scuffle. My other halftrack (red) faired far worse, taking more small arms fire from across the valley and then a main round or two from a R35 which spelled its doom! BD's two R35s at the other end of the northern forest took out an empty jeep by the buildings, but other than that they showed little threat and little sign of being eager to venture from the safety of the trees. I also noticed more shots fired from BD's R35 and men at the far end of the northern forest, aimed at the far bridge again. Even when BD had men in the foxholes there he was still firing at the bridge area. Just what is he up to I wonder?

Orders: SPG by bridge to race forward to the cover of the pine trees to the south of the farmyard. (yellow) Halftrack in the ploughed field to take cover by nearby trees. (blue) Halftrack in the southern forest to race odwn to join the SPG by the pine trees. (red)

Turn 24 - Minute 22 to 21 Another turn, another confirmed armour kill on BD, this time with a confirmed casualty too! The work I started last turn was finished within a few seconds of this turn. Another main round from my SPG by the bridge was enough to knock out BD's R35, causing an immediate explosion, killing one of the crew as the other bailed out of the rear hatch. That's about the only offensive news I have for this turn, as every other unit I have, apart from my half tracks, is on a very short target arc, to prevent BD knowing exactly where my men are and targetting them with his R35s. Once I deal with them I'll set up my MG teams again and start to light up the general areas I believe BD's infantry to be hiding. I did get some incoming small arms fire from the northern forest, so it's good to see that they are holding their positions, ready for my next 81mm mortar strike. One Italian infantry team opened up on my SPG HQ halftrack (yellow) as it repositioned to get out of LOF from BD's R35s (yes there looks like there is a queue of them now!) that are waiting for the right time to reveal themselves. Apart from a bit of armour spalling there were no negative side effects and my halftrack soon reached cover. On the other side of the forest track BD's infantry opened up on my farmyard halftrack (orange) as it reversed into cover. This forced them to panic and they decided to get out of the farmyard and head for the exposure of the ploughed fields, occasionally hounded by more small arms fire from the same team! The same infantry team also managed to pick off one of the men from my remaining AT gun. I'm not sure if this was an aimed shot, or a stray shot aimed at my halftrack as it pulled out of it's position, let's hope the latter! Other than the above, the only item of note was that BD's other R35 continued to fire on the foxholes by the first bridge. I'm not sure if he is just being super cautious and spraying the area for good measure, or that, for some reason, he has actually picked up some sort of sound contact from that area. Either way, he has an infantry squad closing on the area to finish mopping and and take control of the victory location. Let's hope BD's R35 stays fixated on the first bridge for quite some time. Lastly, as previously mentioned, a second R35 sound contact popped up near the end of the minute, right behind the first at the entrance to the northern woods from the bridge buildings. With both my SPGs on the other side of the river and focusing on the other end of the woods, it is going to be tough to deal with this threat......

Orders: Offmap 81mm mortars ordered to one final mission, along the length of the front edge of the northern forest. 41 rounds incoming in approx 4 minutes! My two halftracks by the bridge buildings to reposition, to hopefully keep out the way of BD's hidden armour contact. My SPG at the entrance to the bridge to continue to fire on BD's damaged R35. Rattled halftrack in farmyard to attempt to reverse back under cover of the farmhouse. Recon HQ in southern forest to change plans and attempt to recover the empty halftrack by the southern barn. I'm going to need as many of these halftracks as I can get. I hope they can drive it!

Turn 23 - Minute 23 to 22 Half time and I think my defence is going OK, even if BD's armour is starting to pop up left, right and centre! I think I would be in a much stronger position now if I had abandoned the barns at kick off, maybe with just a token defence to slow BD down, but, as they say, it's all a learning curve and I think I'm getting a bit better with every conflict I have against BD. In retrospect I think I made my biggest mistake before the game even started, presuming that BD would be coming from the top only, instead of having at least three different entry points. Then again, I'm not sure how I would have set up had I known that BD would be approaching from multiple angles! Numerous sightings of BD's Italian infantry kept popping up in the northern forest. It looks like those men I encountered a while ago near the northern barn have finally made it to near the edge of the forest. My SPG HQ halftrack had something to say about it, laying down some MG fire (yellow) whenever it spotted some enemies. How long until BD pushes for the bridge I wonder? More infantry elements popped up on the other side of the forest track too. Whether these are from the northern barn too, or have made it across from the area BD's R35s are now in, it's hard to say for definite. Either way, my halftrack by the brdieg buildings opened up on them too! (orange) More worrying was the confirmation of another armour contact. Only a sound contact at this stage, and it looks like BD is being cautious and keeping it just out of sight, but both my halftracks will have to reposition to avoid being on the receiving end of a main round, should BD push his R35 forward much more. Another R35 showed up in the same area as the first two also. I'm not sure why BD has positioned it in much the same area as the one that has just been knocked out, because my second SPG dished out much the same treatment as my first SPG did last turn. It's first main round skimmed just over the top of the R35, but the second round achieved a penetrating hit just as the turn ended (red). I'm not sure if it has knocked out the R35, but if not I'm hoping that a third hit will do the business..... My first SPG made it to the safety of the trees, despite being subjected to some MG fire from BD's R35. I'm now wondering if it can get into a position to keep an eye on the entrance to the northern forest leading down to the bridge buildings! The only item of note in the farmyard was one of my M2 halftracks. It's positioned behind the left farmhouse, safe from attack from the northern forest. Midway through the turn it appeared to take a penetrative small arms hit to it's left door. Just a single round by the looks of things, but it was enough to rattle the crew and set them in motion. As they were pulling out another single small arms round hit from the northern forest, keeping them moving until the turn ended. I sure hope a couple of small arms hits don't force it out into the line of fire of one of BD's R35s! It was pretty quiet over in the southern forest. My halftrack finally made it to its destination by the recon HQ team (dark blue). I'll get them to load up next turn. My two survivors of the direct mortar hit to my other halftrack panicked and legged it into the depths of the woods! (light blue)

Orders: Lead SPG to take cover in amongst the trees. (yellow) SPG HQ team to equip with bazooka and extra ammo and the dismount into nearby trees. (orange) Halftrack in southern forest to make a third attempt to get down the forest track..... (red)

Turn 22 - Minute 24 to 23 Ten more rounds landed around BD's position in the southern woods. Obviously there were no confirmed kills, but I'm sure looking forward to seeing what, if any, damage this strike has inflicted. The mission ended midway through the turn leaving me thirty odd rounds left still to fire. BD's R35 continued to take potshots at the foxholes recently vacated by my light mortar team. One such round impacted just beyond the foxhole and some shrapnel killed the third member of my MMG team in the nearby farmhouse! Unlucky or what? The angle the shrapnel must have flown in the building and then just happen to hit and kill my man! Oh well, you can't win them all! Worse news occured up by the southern barn. My halftrack tasked with creeping down towards the edge of the forest spotted one of BD's R35s and promptly bottled out and reversed at full speed back into the trees, just as my men finished loading into the other halftrack. They passanger halftrack was just pulling out of the forest when they got cut up by the reversing halftrack, forcing them to reverse to try another path out the trees. Just as they were reversing they suffered a direct hit from one of BD's little mortars. Little they may be, but the took out six of the men cooped up inside! At least I got my revenge on BD's R35s! My lead SPG crossed the bridge and turned to get a shot at the first R35. However it seems that he was unable to get a shot at it, even though BD's first R35 was able to fire some MG fire over the top of my SPG. More MG fire slammed into the gun shield, but it was still unable to target it back. It was however able to target BD's second R35, which was bizarrely firing at the foxholes around the second bridge. A single main round was enough to knock out BD's second R35, just before BD's first R35 got a main round off at my SPG in return. Fortunately it wasn't enough to penetrate it's armour, only succeeding in forcing it to withdraw.......

Orders: White SPG to cross bridge and target BD's first R35. Some trees should shield it from BD's second R35. Black SPG to cross bridge and hold position oiut of sight. Green halftrack to try to sneak down the hill again. Blue halftrack to wait until all nearby men have boarded, then take cover in woods on opposite side of the track. Orange recon team to try to rendevous with green halftrack.

Turn 21 - Minute 25 to 24 Death from above! Hopefully BD suffered some hurt from my 81mm mortar strike. At the very least it has bought my men some time to retreat and get out of dodge! A pretty wild smattering of rounds (14) landed on and around BD's probable position. One even landed close by my retreating recon team, so I'm sure glad that I decided to pull my men out of their positions. The mission was still in progress at the end of the turn so hopefully I'll get a few more hoits on BD's men. BD's mortar team also landed three more rounds near my retreating recon team, but thankfully (miraculously) I sustained no more casualties. Midway through the minute, as my halftrack was trying to snake down the forest road, an Italian mortar round landed right by it, which forced it to screech to a halt, then reverse back towards the south barn. As it reached the edge of the forest another mortar round landed right by it again, so no doubt the beginning of next turn will see it trying to bug out of it's current position. BD's R35 also decided to switch targets, from my men in the front farmhouse to the vacated foxholes my mortar team had recently been in. Five rounds impacted in and around the foxholes, hopefully he keeps targetting this position next turn! The only other item of note was the appearance of another R35 over by the northern forest. This one popped out of nowhere - I guess I had no-one close enough to get a sound contact on it previously. My SPG's almost reached the bridge, so I'll be able to take this new R35s location into account next turn!

Thanks gents for the input. As you'll see soon the fire mission did go ahead after all!

Orders: Wooohoooo! My SPG's have arrived. Let's go kick some R35 butt! The first SPG is to cross the bridge then open up and target BD's R35. The second SPG is to drive to the near side of the bridge, along with the SPG HQ team. One halftrack in the southern forest is to drive back down to the farmyard, hopefully acting as a distraction for BD's R35 and keeping it's attention away from the farmhouse and my appraoching SPG's. The three teams in the southern forest are to double quick withdraw to the other halftrack by the southern barn. When they are loaded up it will be time to evacuate. Here's hoping my 81mm mortar strike gets to be completed before my men perish in the farmhouse.

Turn 20 - Minute 26 to 25 Hmmmmm. Things didn't go quite as well this turn. Not disasterously, but not great either. Over in the southern forest all three of my teams got hit by mortar fire. I lost one man from the recon team on the right flank (yellow), one man from the infantry team in the centre (orange) and two men from the recon team on the left (red). Trouble is, I think one of the hits might have been from my 81mm strike, but the other two were definitely from BD's little mortars. Not sure how he spread them out so much, unless the first was the remnant of a previous turns mission, and the latter was a new mission hit. Either way, I think it's time to get out of that position, as BD's mortar team ended the round firing off a good few more rounds. One of my 81mm mortars definitely hit at BD's position (blue cross), but I'm not sure if any casualties were caused and I'm not sure if any more will be incoming, as you'll see after the screenie. BD's R35 started firing main rounds into the front farmhouse, no doubt trying to take out my NG team. Fortunately I had already given the order for them to get out of their position. Unfortunately I didn't have that luxury with my forward observer team (white circle) and the third round to hit the building killed my radio operator. I keep getting 'fire for effect' messages, so I presume that the mortar team are waiting for adjusting co-ordinates........

Turn 19 - Minute 27 to 26 So much for BD's armour staying in the same place. No sooner had the minute begun than a R35 was turning the corner of the forest track and getting into a position to overwatch the farmyard! Just as well I tweaked some positioning last turn to make sure nothing was exposed! Thankfully the R35 spent the rest of the turn just sitting there, watching over the valley. I'm guessing my men lost sound contact with the R35 last turn, and so it's position stayed marked at the last known location. One of my MG teams in the farmyard spent the turn firing at some intermittent targets in the northern forest, but I recorded no confirmed kills. I'm sure that they would have attracted the attention of BD's R35, but I'm sure BD knows of their location anyway. Over in the southern forest, my recon team split their activity between taking potshots across the valley at BD's mortar team and firing their Thompson into BD's forward line - again, no confirmed kills. A final spotting round also landed amongst BD's front line, so the next turn will see the hurt raining from above! BD's mortar team also lobbed a couple of rounds over towards the southern barn. I'm not sure what his intended target is, but I'll have to take precautions next turn!

Turn 18 - Minute 28 to 27 Another mostly quiet turn, with what action that did occur taking place in the southern forest. There was more exchange of gunfire in the southern forest, an Italian MGer (red circle in overview) suppressing my infantry squad, then my left flank recon team returning some Thompson fire, resulting in a casualty for BD - sadly not the MGer though! There were also two mortar rounds that landed just behind my front line in the southern forest (see overview below). I'm presuming (hoping) that they are off target spotting rounds for my 81mm strike on BD's position. Let's also hope that there are no more dangerously close spotting rounds thank you! Lastly, right at the end of the minute another of BD's mortar teams (white circle in overview) popped up on the northern flank, right behind the wall I destroyed a couple of minutes ago. It looks like he is dialling in a mission. Let's hope I can take him out double quick time! Please note that BD's armour did not move this last minute. Maybe he is waiting for further reinforcements? Order: Sit tight and wait for that 81mm mortar strike......