ChappyCanuck

I actually prefer Combat Mission: Mayans vs Conquistadors!

OK now that was funny, and a bit visually disturbing. But reeking of tequila and tacos, Capt Chappy has been returned to his task force and the war may commence again!

Gee I go away for a week and someone let the troll in... They are not Americanisms, they are NATOisms and it is the terminology I used throughout my career. I would use the same terminology to describe the action of a Roman Legion. Semantics...meh

Thanks war brothers!

And like a good thriller with a cliffhanger, I will be absent for a week. We have a meter of snowfall here, and with snow banks over 2 meters tall, everything looks like a white tunnel when driving the streets. My girlfriend and I are off to Mexico tomorrow for a break...Margaritas and beach....ahhhhh. But I will be back next Sunday, and the war will commence again...thanks for watching, whoever is watching

MIN 31-29 When the mortar bombs began dropping on his section like rain, bringing cold death, Cpl Marshall knew with grim certainty that he was caught within a German kill zone. First the MGs and AA guns, and now the mortars - all focused on this location. And now his men's lives would be forever changed. A piece of shrapnel embedded in his left arm and he howled in pain. Earth and rock sprayed over him and his men, some of whom were not moving anymore; the remainder were pressing themselves against the cold ground, trying to evade the hot metal fragments. "Medic!!" The bombs kept falling. But to get up was to die. Marshall waited for a pause in the small barrage, and then he and his men would get the hell out of here. Lt MacDougal and his mortar team were fast approaching Cpl Marshall's section when the mortar bombs fell. His signaler dropped like a stone, legs punctured by several pieces of hot shrapnel. His war is over. MacDougal hit the dirt hard and threw his arms over his head, trying to protect himself. He heard a bang back near the destroyed bridge, then a whoosh sound streak by from right to left along the road. The smoke round from the Sherman impacted on the main road near the first trench section. Smoke meant screening. Screening meant that H-Hour was imminent, and this sudden mortar attack had now slowed his platoon from getting into position... Lt Jeremy and his troop of tanks, as well as the other tank troop, were in the form up position awaiting H-Hour, when they would cross the line of departure. Suddenly, he was informed that the scouts ahead had found another section of trench in depth, on this side of the road. "Engage!!!" The tanks began to fire their assortment of MGs over the heads of the leading scouts, the lines of tracer fire converging on the small section of trench. His worry was that an AT gun was entrenched there, and that wouldn't be nice at all. The volume of fire upon that location was fierce, however, and whatever occupants of that hole in the ground would be foolish to show themselves. Jeremy looked over his shoulder and smiled. All eight tanks were successful in crossing that damn river. It was a small miracle that none had become immobilised in that brackish water. A quick glance at his watch showed that H-Hour for the assault was near...and with that the tanks would be begin bounding forward along with the infantry. Here we go.....

funny you should mention that. If you look at some previous turns of mine you can see the faint outline of the pattern. I thought it was just a computer glitch or some terrain glitch. Apparently not...

MIN 32-31 Cpl Marshall was cautiously moving down the main road, wondering if Lt MacDougal wanted his section to be this far ahead, when flashes of MG tracer bounced off the stone wall near his lead scouts. The MG fire was coming from the village, of that he was sure. But where? As he scanned the buildings, a more sinister and terrifying sound was heard that could only be 20mm rounds. He watched in horror as his section bren gunner and a new soldier that everyone knew as just "Joe", get torn to shreds by the large calibre rounds. Death came quickly for them. "Contact!!!!!" Lt MacDougall heard his men's screams of pain as he watched the tracer rounds slam into them. Quickly he radioed the contact report to Capt Chappy, making him immediately aware of this substantial new threat. Certainly by the sound, there was an AA gun to the rear of the village that had just engaged his soldiers. He signaled to his platoon mortar team, and together they ran at a crouch towards Marshall's section. Meanwhile, one of Marshall's men had just spotted a trench system behind the village. Something had to be there... "There Corporal! Some type of gun." The soldier pointed his arm towards the foe, indicating its location within that new trench system. Marshall scanned the odd shaped trenches and then swallowed hard: there wasn't one gun, but two. "Ok lads, two AA guns to our front in that trench system behind the village. When I give the word, start shooting. Now!" Marshall and his men elevated themselves and began to engage the gun crews with their rifles. Marshall smiled grimly as he watched one of the German crew clutch his stomach and drop. One for Joe. In the distance, he heard a sweet sound - the rumble of tanks. The Shermans had finally crossed the Dommel River, and they were near. The proverbial cavalry were on the way...

Note: while the Dommel is 99% fordable in the water, the swampy/mud banks make it only about 5% fordable, as they create impassable terrain to vehicles. You will see one of my Shermans has actually crossed the river, but cannot climb the far bank. It cannot navigate through the small "passable" terrain between the impassable terrain (I thought maybe the computer would give me a break). So it just spins in circles. Maybe the tank commander had too much Guinness this morning....

MIN 40-34 When I did my estimate for this battle, I decided on placing a firebase at the destroyed bridge, composed of 2 x Shermans, 2 x 81mm mortars, sniper team, one rifle platoon. They have been augmented by a second rifle platoon that will at first provide firebase security, since Germans were recently encountered nearby. From my estimate I also decided on a left flanking. If I was to have a flanking force anywhere, it would be the far left. There was a small chance that I would encounter mines or enemy resistance that far to my left - which so far has proven correct. There is good cover and good spacing to deploy the flanking force, composed of 8 x Shermans, 1 x rifle platoon, scouts, 1 x section assault pioneers, Coy HQ. The problem is fording, which is slow, and every vehicle that has crossed has bogged at least once (thankfully no immobilisation yet). I have 3 tanks across so far, and scouts out front. The infantry is crossing now. The flanking force, when complete across the fords, will be the swinging door. The firebase will be the hinge. The door will close upon the flank of any enemy positions guarding the main road. At least in theory Below is a shot of the flanking force expanding the bridgehead. During the last minute of battle time, my leading scouts have discovered two sections of trench along the main road (see pic below). The trench system in the pic is the closest one to my forces, with another directly behind it about 200 meters away. For the coming turn, I have ordered both firebase Shermans to MG both trenches, one tank for each trench. I have also called a 81mm light mortar mission to fire upon the closest trench, but that will be 6 minutes or less from now. Also, the scout team pictured above, with a Bren, will spec fire onto the trench to their front. Hopefully we will scare something

My first Sherman swims across the river First contact coming from the direction of the village "Get him boys!" MIN 13 First contact! Cpl Graham's section, crouched behind the stone wall just past the destroyed bridge, were observing towards the village when they heard German voices. Suddenly, some probing German soldiers came into view along the wall that leads to the village. Graham ordered his section to engage, and engage they did. The lucky German pictured above dodged the section's fire, and went to ground along the wall. Spec fire will continue, and Lt MacDougal has ordered the platoon mortar team to engage the section of wall where the Germans are suspected to be. Meanwhile the final reinforcement platoon is scooting down the road as fast as they can, and will soon reach the destroyed bridge. Lt Jeremy's first tank has forded the river on the far left flank; the others will soon follow unless they get bogged down. Capt Chappy, the flanking platoon, and the pioneers are moving as fast as they can to join Jeremy's tanks at the fording site.

we are already knocking back the Guiness, as will I will be in real life soon!

already thought of that.....but they are very busy right now.....

Koh: Yeah, I only saw the at start forces. Another solution is to mount those 2 HQs with one of their assets. Don't get me started on tank riders. I can't believe we still don't have this ability in the western theater.

Mr Koh, are you here? Now that I have my entire force on the map, I have a couple of constructive points, if I may: 1. Force composition - both the Carrier Pl HQ and Mortar Pl HQ are on foot while their assets are gleefully streaking ahead of them in vehicles...and probably laughing at their commanders as they trudge along with the poor bloody infantry platoons. I recommend that in future these two HQs be in either bren or universal carriers (or even jeeps for that matter) 2. Force deployment - Firstly, I like the 5 minute spacing between reinforcements in this battle. The only problem is that both groups of infantry reinforcements appear onboard knee deep in swamps. Then it takes them a good 1-2 minutes to get out of the swamp and onto the road where they should probably be in the first place. Just some thoughts for future considerations. Although there is no contact yet, I am enjoying the guessing game, as well as the tactical considerations here. Interesting terrain as well. Hopefully those fords don't bog me down! Thanks!

Great fording sites! (sights?)

Thanks ford specialist

Trees toggled off MIN 50-45 During the first 5 minutes of this battle, I only have one third of my force, it's dark, I have a blown bridge in front of me, and no idea where the Germans are. For the first phase, caution is in order. I first want to control both sides of the blown bridge, which is almost complete. I have teams on the opposite side of the river, with one team moving into that hopefully empty house on the left. I have deployed my sniper team on the bridge as it affords the best LOS. My mortar team has deployed in cover, and the tanks are observing, providing overwatch. In the meantime I have scouts checking fording site possibilities for my tanks and follow on forces. The scout report has just come in and things look ok. The second third of my forces has just arrived after the 5 minute mark, including the company commander, another rifle platoon, a pioneer section, mortars, some tanks and add ons. Here we go

Thanks for the report L/Cpl MacBeth

Koh: my far left scouts have finally reached their destination...is the ford there passable to vehicles?

What's a DAR??? lol Having very limited indirect support in this battle, I chose not to squander it by guessing where the Germans may be. Instead, I will horde it until contact with the enemy. Also, I always think about creating an initial smokescreen, but I have lots of good start cover and my follow on forces are 5 and 10 minutes away...so the smoke would be gone before it even helped my soldiers out.

Lt Ron Jeremy casually stroked his very large and popular…….75mm gun and peered eagerly through the gaps of the leaves in the tree branches. With dawn still imminent, darkness prevailed and he could barely see anything out to his front other than the destroyed Demmel Bridge. “That’s a bridge too forlorn,” he thought. (Author’s note: interestingly enough, Cornelius Ryan would later interview Ron Jeremy after the war about his thoughts during this operation, and later changed Jeremy’s phrase into his book title, “A Bridge Too Far”) “Hey, Jeremy!” Lt MacDougal had to yell over the sound of the idling Sherman engine to get his comrade’s attention. “The boss wants me to take both ends of this bridge ASAP. What Chappy wants, Chappy gets. I am going to move forward where I can have a look at that building on the other side of the river. Can you provide some cover fire if things get shifty?” “Sure Mac, no problem. Watch out for mines, big fella. We kind of enjoy your ugly face.” Lt Jeremy proceeded to deploy his two rear Shermans along the left flank where they could open up on Jerry if necessary. MacDougal chuckled at his friend’s insult and then signalled his lead section to advance towards the bridge, scouts out. He followed closely behind: he was conducting a commander’s recce and he wanted a first hand look at that building across the river for himself. He gazed to the right and noticed his second section advancing to the building on the “friendly” side of the bridge. It was supposed to be clear but safety was survival. And off on the far left, he noticed the bren scout carrier rolling along. It was their task to find a vehicle crossing. Things were so much easier when I was a Sergeant….

http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/ChappyCanuck/media/Valk%20Campaign/Screen%20Shot%202015-03-09%20at%2017.04.00_zpstdnlzqrf.png.html?sort=3&o=0 “Sh#t!” Ahead, the blinding flash that lit up the dark, pre-dawn sky, would normally have been a wondrous sight, except that it was immediately followed by a series of loud, explosive blasts. The obvious conclusion was that the Demmel Bridge had been blown. “Sh#t!” Captain Chappy stared grimly towards the blast, automatically closing one eye to preserve his night vision. He was 1 Company Commander and today his task was to bounce the river and head towards Valkenswaard, allowing the Irish Guards to press on and link up with the paratroopers ahead. Why don’t they just give up? He had witnessed the slaughter of the German Army of the West at Falaise Gap, the remnants of that once dangerous army retreating in dribs and drabs towards Belgium. And the CO mentioned in the briefing last night that the Russians were just outside Warsaw, and that Germany’s ally, Rumania, had just been knocked out of the war by the Soviets. Why don’t they just give up? “1 this is 11. SITREP, over.” Chappy could hear the voice on the radio but it lingered at the outside of his thoughts. The war was nearing its conclusion. His men were professionals and wanted it ended as soon as possible of course, but lately he had noticed a change. Some of the men spoke about not making it home, about being the last soldier to “buy it” just as the war ended. And with this Chappy had noticed a slight hesitation, a slight nervousness, in his soldiers’ actions. And of course, the inane superstitions followed. To make matters worse, just a moment ago one of his soldiers had died due to friendly fire, which is never friendly. How would he explain that in a letter to the boy’s parents? Why don’t they just give up? His thoughts were disturbed by his signaller, “Sir, it’s Lt MacDougal trying to reach you.” Chappy grabbed the handset and depressed the switch. “11 this 1. I know, bridge gone. I need you to secure both ends of the bridge immediately, then have the tanks cover the road ahead. We need a ford site ASAP. On your map, do you see that farm track that runs north east and crosses the river, over?” “11, roger over.” “1. Good, send the bren carrier to check it out. I need a vehicle crossing that will outflank Jerry, out.” Chappy once again allowed his thoughts to drift. It was going to be a long day. He wondered what his lady Jacqueline was doing now? Why don’t they just give up?

it truly amazes me how people can create such awesome work like this. I have absolutely no idea how to do something like that. It baffles me...I wouldn't even know where to start...great view!

Everything noted. Roger that. Awaiting first file