Penry

Indeed! Tiring, broken, sole surviving regular inafantryman from 2nd squad, 2nd Platoon, A Company. Shot taken with a M1 Garand at 290m. I must admit that the STuG had come momentarily to a halt, to survey the land, but it was still a moment I will cherish!

Damn, I didn't move my men from their current locations, as they were tiring and I thought that BD might be over the crest of the hill. I really hope my Sherman did the business. Either that or my imminent arty strike does the job!

Thanks Baneman. I thought about those little mortars, but they seemed to be impacting far too quickly. Let's hope my Sherman took them out!

Orders: Two Shermans concentrating on the entrance to the northern forest. One Sherman concentrating on the killed commander STuG One Sherman to hunt forward across the bridge and try to take out BDs STuG behind the farmyard. Self propelled gun and halftrack firing into the southern forest. Infantry and halftrack to crest the brow of the northern slope. One rear halftrack to try to distract BDs STuG bahind the farmyard. Infantry team in southern forest to probe deeper again.

And so to our hero! The armour sound contact in the northern forest continued to bomb it down the forest track, then half way through the turn it came tearing around the rear of the northern forest. BD was obviously in a rush and full of confidence, because his tank commander was sitting high and mighty in his tank, surveying the land around him. How was he to spot my lone scout in the southern forest, all the way across the other side of the valley? With the calm precision of the very best killers my man took aim and squeezed off a single round, taking out the tank commander and sending the rest of the crew into panic, reversing crazily back up into the cover of the northern forest! It took me a good while to discover what had actually happened, replaying the turn over and over to see what caused the casualty. At first I though it was a hugely flukey bit of shrapnel from the activity in the farmyard, because it coincided exactly with events down there, but eventually I noticed my lone man and watched from his perspective. Well done mate! If you survive this battle I'll shout you a crate of beers for that shot! I even had to turn off the tree foliage to get a screenie that showed both my man and BDs STuG the angle was so tight! I'll be chuckling about that incident all evening I think! The last bit of action was over on the northern slopes. My men continued their advance up the hill, all the while chased by small arms fire from BDs men in and around the farmyard. They all got to their positions, but were then subjected to a number of small explosions going off around them. For the life of me I couldn't see where they were coming from, and I still didn't solve the conundrum when I decided to give up and start writing the turn report. The only thing I can think of is that they are grenades being lobbed from over the crest of the hill, from the edge of the northern forest maybe. I'm not sure why I can't see the grandes landing or bouncing, all I see are the little explosions and two of my men kicking the bucket. Any ideas anyone? And so to the overview. The yellow star is the last of BDs mortars to land at the beginning of the turn. I'm not sure if that was the natural end of their mission or if I helped them to decide to call it quits! The orange stars are the impact locations from the main gun of my SPG. Two landed at the front of the southern forest first, before they founf thier range and got four more rounds deep into the forst, right on top of BDs men. The red stars are the last two spotting rounds for my big strike on the farmyard. Here's hoping that I do a good deal of damage with the imminent strike. Hopefully BD gambled on the fact that I expended my ammo in the last strikes.....

Turn 37 A hero emerged! But before we get to our hero, let me brief you on events elsewhere, starting with the southern forest. My team in the forest took out another nearby Italian infantryman and were looking to penetrate deeper into the forest, to chase more of BDs men down, when small arms fire started coming in to their left, taking one of them out. Their morale immediately broke and they started to head back to their original safe haven at the edge of the forest, where it meets the ploughed field. More small arms fire chased them away, so one man hung back to try to buy his mates some time. He lobbed a grenade at their attackers, and the grenade was in midflight when a huge explosion erupted amongst their persuers, doing the job for him. My men still beat a hasty retreat though, while three further main rounds landed around the position BDs men were in. I can't believe that anyone survived, in fact the brave sole who tried to hold off BDs attack even copped a bit of shrapnel for his troubles. Back at the bridge, my Sherman got himself into a position to project some power towards the farmyard. It wasn't my intention to actually have him take out any of BDs men just yet, hoping that he'd be ready to shoot out the blocks once my artillery strike was raining down. Too bad in a way that he spotted some of BDs men in some foxholes and took it upon himself to blast them apart! Just before the turn was over BDs STuG behind the farmyard popped into vision, trying to cause some mischief for my men advancing up the northern slope. If I can just get my bridge Sherman to creep forward a little he might be able to get a good shot off and take the STuG out! I hope his eagerness to get BDs men in the foxholes hasn't blown his cover!

Orders: Move another infantry team forward on the left flank, along with a MG team (and deploy). Move two half tracks up and to the cover of the trees. Move second MG team up to the cover of the trees. Move one riverside Sherman forward to take position facing up the northern forest track, ready for any sign of BDs new armour up that track. Move the other riverside Sherman back and into another position covering the entrance to the northern forest. Move Sherman near buildings forward, to try to take out BDs mortar team again. Move Sherman by first bridge to the entrance of the first bridge. Move misc units around my buildings to back up bridge Sherman. Ploughed field half track and SPG to area fire to new position, just to the left of my infanty team. Send infantry team deeper into southern forest to track down sound contacts. Lone southern forest scout to hunt forward, until he has eyes on the rear of the farmyard and the second bridge. Artillery strike should start this turn (green circle) Wish me luck!

Turn 36 Woooohooooo! Just what the doctor ordered! BDs southern R35 was history within five seconds! Some more MG fire was followed by a main round into it's left hull, which knocked it out. The order was given to cease fire, but that didn't stop my other Sherman following up with another main round into the same location. BD didn't even have time to react! There was more trouble for BD in the southern forest. My half track and self propelled gun were both firing at the general location of BDs infantry (orange star). I'm not sure what damage the half track did, but five main rounds landed in amongst the trees, near his men, and must have caused some pain for him. My infantry team (yellow circle) tracked across the forest and managed to pick off at least two of BDs men. Hopefully they'll be in a position to pick off any survivors of my area firing next turn too! Another of my spotting rounds landed on the southern forest track (red star), the main bombardment should start next turn. Three more of BDs mortar rounds landed on my left flank (yellow stars). None caused any casualties to my men though. My team advancing up the northern hill took a single casualty though, from small arms fire form the farmyard, but the assualt is going well. Worst news for me this turn was the arrival of two new armour contacts in the northen forest (red circles)! One sped along the forest track towards the rear of the forest, the other took a more leisurely pace towards the junction in the middle of the forest. At least I know that they are there, they must be making a hell of a noise! I just hope that they are R35s and not more badass German hardware.....

Orders: No prizes for guessing what my two riverside Sherman's will be doing this round. Go for it guys! My Sherman near my buildings will hunt forward and attempt to take out BDs sneaky mortar crew. My SPG and the halftrack in the ploughed feild will area fire towards the infantry units in the southern forest, while My infantry team in the southern forest close on them for a gunfight More leapfrogging up the hill on my left flank. I'll move up a MG team too. My last Sherman will move up towards the first bridge. My lone scout in the southern forest will attempt to get eyes down behind the farmyard. Looking forward to getting the next turn......

Turn 35 Another quiet one, with no visible casualties on either side, although the next turn is bound to open with some hurt for BD - I hope! Three more mortars landed for BD, all very close to hitting either the halftrack I have by my buildings, or the Sherman I have just moved up to that position! Thankfully neither seem that bothered by the rounds landing amongst them. I got a spotting round on the battlefield too, landing near the mouth of the track entering the southern forest, just before BDs southern R35 emerged into view. My left flank infantry continued their leapfrog climb of the northern hill, a much better way to do it than the crawl up the ploughed field that I did earlier in the battle. Of course, I have the men to do such a maneuver this time. I think they have attracted the attention of BDs southern R35, so there could be a little race against time early next turn..... Speaking of BDs southern R35, it emerged from the cloud of dust kicked up by my spotting round, right at the end of the turn, but not before one of my riverside Shermans got some small arms range finding fire off at it. I predict fireworks at the beginning of next turn. I don't think BD even knows my Shermans are there, and they both have a LOF on him!

:b: Cheers for clarifying. I'll certainly be conscious that it should be SOP in future. Shame it doesn't happen automatically, but them the breaks!

Hmmmm, I don't think they did though. Definitely not the first lot of half tracks. The second lot I ordered to take them as a precaution, so I've no idea if they would have or not.

Some, but not all. I had wanted to get in range of some of his armour - no such luck yet....

Orders: Two Shermans and my SPG near river - concentrate on the possible reappearance of BDs southern R35 Lone scout and rifle team in southern forest - converge of southern R35s position too. Men on bridge - get out of there and back to safety Rifle teams on left flank - leapfrog each other up the hill. Sherman on left flank - reposition to near bridge, awaiting the mortar strike in a couple of minutes Other Sherman on left flank - position yourself to the left of my builidings.

Turn 34 A pretty quiet turn - good that I didn't suffer much damage, not so good that I didn't inflict any either! About the only event of note were the impacts of BDs light mortars. Looks like he may be targetting two locations - my entrance to the first bridge, and the small copse where my mortar team were holed up fo a while. Thats's also where my HQ is stationed that is calling in the big strike against the farmyard. Let's hope that they don't get knocked out! I had hoped for some heroics from my lone scout in the south woods, but BDs R35 didn't retreat into his path as expected. Instead he headed back towards the action. Now I've got to play chase!

Orders: Evacuate men around the bridge, back to the safety of my buildings..... Reposition one left flank Sherman to near my buildings. Advance two teams on the left flank, leaving the other two in position. Lone scout on left flank to move to behind the low stone wall. I need better eyes on BDs armour behind the farmyard. And of course, lone scout in the southern forest - be a hero!

Turn 33 I can see why they were called Ronsons now...... Back to the not so good turns already? Maybe it's just the game keeping our over confidence in check. BD must have been feeling good about himself when his StuGs dominated the battlefield, then I got lucky and took out a STuG and a R35, now I lose a Sherman in return. There's never a dull day at the CM office! The turn started badly when some MG fire came from the farmyard and took out the commander of my left flank Sherman. I guess I should have buttoned my TCs up, but I figured that they would be pretty safe from that distance (265m). Once again I'm amazed at just how accurate BDs fire from the farmyard is! My 0 commander was replaced by a -2 commander and I think that is what lead to my losing the tank! My two advancing half tracks started to take incoming MG fire too and I lost a man in the one closest to the farmyard, forcing the driver to bail out, while the other half track reversed back to the safety of the nearby trees. My Sherman advanced up the hill and took position behind the abandoned half track (against my orders, but a good move I thought) but then, after a few seconds in this good position, carried on and out into the open. He was obviously looking for the armour targets behind the farmyard, but they found him instead! The image below doesn't do the explosion justice and of course you'll have no idea what a noise it made as it echoed around the valley. If I wasn't on the receiving end I'd say it was awesome! The other action took place around the first bridge. I managed to get another team back off the bridge to the safety of the trees, but the last team is still receiving occasional incoming fire from the southern forest, which is preventing them from getting back to safety. What I'm classing as 'safety' might also get a bit hot soon too, as BD started two mortar strikes on the general location (red and yellow stars). One mortar team seems to be located back at the second bridge, the other at the rivers edge by the farmyard. I almost got my 'woop woop' moment this turn, as my lone scout came very close to intercepting BDs withdrawing southern R35. Such a shame that the turn ended before the R35 emerged from the trees, although I'm seriously doubting the eyesight of said scout!

Orders: Sherman on the left flank - open fore on the remaining farmhouse. Men and half tracks on the left flank - hunt up the hill. Other two Shermans at the rear - move to left flank. Assorted units around buildings - move up hill, behind the cover of the low stone wall. Half track in ploughed field - continue to suppress southern forest infantry Scout in southern forest - anticipate R35 movement and go for that headshot!

On the southern flank my SPG fired three shots at BDs hastily retreating R35, but all three hit the intervening trees and the R35 made good its escape, back into the forest. I'll have to keep an eye out for its return in the near future..... I lost a gunner from one of my half tracks by the bridge, from small arms fire from the farmyard, but other than that there was very little aggression shown by BD. My cowering infantry on the bridge showed signs of recovery, a few running back over the bridge to my side and relative safety, but some small arms fire from the southern forest near the end of the turn put a halt to that, at least temporarily. My halftrack in the ploughed field continued to area fire into the southern forest, which kept at least some of BDs men in there eating dirt. My lone scout in the southern forest safely crossed the road. I'm so wishing that he meets BDs retreating R35 and knocks out the commander with a sneaky head shot!

Turn 32 Du, du, dum, dum, dum, another one bites the dust! I couldn't bloody wait to get home from work to load up this turn, a far cry from how I have been feeling for the previous, I don't know how many, turns! As soon as the turn started BDs northern R35 was slammed into reverse. BD obviously knows that the ball is firmly in my court and wanted to get the hell out of there. As it was reversing it had one last pop at my self propelled gun, but thankfully it's shot fell just short and my heroes lived to fight another turn! I thought for one minute that BDs R35 might just get away before my boys could open fire, but just as it was reversing back over the edge of the forest track my two Shermans unleashed their first shots. The first penetrated its upper front hull, the second penetrated the lower front hull immediately afterwards. The R35 stopped reversing and started to slowly roll forward, back down the forest track. Looks like I got the driver at least! My Shermans then proceeded to subject the R35 to a shower of MG fire, hitting numerous different locations before another main round penetrated the front of its turret. More MG fire rained down on it, before another front turret penetration was immediately followed by another upper front hull penetration and it errupted in flames! Yes, this is more like it!

The tide has definitely turned good sir. I'm hoping it turns into a tidal wave before long! I have another platoon of tanks due in 14 minutes...... I've no idea about MG placement in these Shermans, if it's an error then I'm glad someone slipped up!

Not so much picking the right conditions, more like a wounded fighter coming out of his corner with both fists flying, as soon as the bell goes!

Thanks Baneman! It's good to be back on the front foot! womble, the STuG was between 380m and 415m, depending on which Sherman I selected.

Orders: Two of my Shermans have line of fire on BDs northern R35, so I'm confident that I'll be able to take it out this turn. Two more Shermans I have ordered to hunt forward and try to help take out BDs southern R35, if they can get a line of sight. My last Sherman is ordered up onto my left flank, then to turn and look out across the valley, hopefully at BDs southern R35, if I haven't already taken it out! SPG hunt forward some to try to evade BDs northern R35 and get a line of sight on BDs southern R35. I'm also moving a MG team and a half track up towards my buildings. Soon I need to get some eyes on BDs armour behind the farmyard. My scout in the southern forest will try to cross the road...... I'm feeling way different compared to last turn. Half way through the scenario and it's still up for grabs I think!

Elsewhere BDs northern R35 popped up again, had an attempted chew at some of my infantry, but failed, then sent a main round at my self propelled gun, which was concentrating on trying to bring down BDs southern R35. He got a penetration, but my SPG suffered no serious damage and the turn ended before he could get a second round off...... The only other action was at the bridge. Most of the turn was pretty quiet, as my men were hugging the bridge in fear, but as soon as one popped up there was a hail of bullets from at least three seperate locations around the farmyard. I lost three men in all at the bridge, and my men are still out of command, but hopefully relief will be coming for them soon! Once I've dealt with BDs various armour that is.....