Rinaldi

Recently completed the "Operation Encore" campaign. Loved it. Here's some choice shots:




I compiled all my experiences into a very brief, very general overview for my blog. You can read about it here: https://rinaldiaars.blogspot.com/2022/02/combat-mission-fortress-italys.html. I've also included a link to the full gallery of all the screens. It should go without saying but, obviously, spoilers!

Played the excellent Hobart's Funnies scenario and whipped up an AAR. Some choice shots:




Phenomenal infantry set-piece. I wish I had the time this weekend to play Swansong, the variant without the Funnies, to see just how much more bloody it is without these innovations. 
Read it here: https://rinaldiaars.blogspot.com/2022/09/armatos-fundit-cm-battle-of-normandy-aar.html
 

Having a go at this in singleplayer since James and I had to end our PBEM due to mutual time constraints (both of us being teachers, being 7 hours apart and playing a regimental-sized scenario apparently did not occur to us to be an issue...). 
Some shots from the seizure and holding of Hill 203.1. 







Really itching to play since it's a slow period at work but my laptop is in for repairs. Praying that the replacement parts don't necessitate a reinstallation of Windows. I'll despair if I loss the save data. 

Hahahaha, the idea that this place is any different from any other gaming forum is pretty funny. mil professionals indeed.

well, new the holidays are just about over and things are at least a little more back to 'normal',  here's a few 'caps for your  enjoyment.....or not.





 
cheers,
rob
 
 

No real luck with heavy tanks, I'd thought about the Challenger from Shock Force but it looks out of place with RCWS. The FV432 works a bit better.
Coming round to the idea of a West German replacement instead. With a lot more time I could try to reskin the M48 and M113A1, maybe try swapping the CMSF Leopard for Abrams then play around with parts from CMA and CMBN for infantry.

Quite the cheap shot from someone who's never been part of the beta testing process.

Great job and quite the result both in the final mission and overall. Has been interesting to follow from a distance. 

Snipers a complete pain in the backside. 

Unbelievable over hundred years and still looking modern and going strong.

Some hot action at Dariyah:




 

Immediate battlepack deliciousness.

Splendid, thanks! 

Splendid, thanks! 

looks like the bug has been fixed with the latest patch.

Having a go at this in singleplayer since James and I had to end our PBEM due to mutual time constraints (both of us being teachers, being 7 hours apart and playing a regimental-sized scenario apparently did not occur to us to be an issue...). 
Some shots from the seizure and holding of Hill 203.1. 







Really itching to play since it's a slow period at work but my laptop is in for repairs. Praying that the replacement parts don't necessitate a reinstallation of Windows. I'll despair if I loss the save data. 

The JgPzIV really needs to be unbuttoned to spot well. Its low silhouette also poses issues as whilst the unbuttoned commander can see the gunner might not. As noted by GreyFox there are some limitations with the targeting tool. Also in this mission the Soviet tankers are generally pretty higher experience levels than the German AFV crews.
In this scenario I suggest trying to hit the Soviet from the flank - you'll have better luck with the JgdPzs that way. Head to head will be a tougher engagement.

Great job and quite the result both in the final mission and overall. Has been interesting to follow from a distance. 

Having a go at this in singleplayer since James and I had to end our PBEM due to mutual time constraints (both of us being teachers, being 7 hours apart and playing a regimental-sized scenario apparently did not occur to us to be an issue...). 
Some shots from the seizure and holding of Hill 203.1. 







Really itching to play since it's a slow period at work but my laptop is in for repairs. Praying that the replacement parts don't necessitate a reinstallation of Windows. I'll despair if I loss the save data. 

After all this time, all these months.  Right there, right in front of me, is the final objective of the final battle of this long 10 battle campaign.  It's bittersweet in a way.

The men sense victory, they know the sacrifices of their fellow soldiers all comes down to this, to finalize the breakout and open the way.  Gathering our power, unloading all the remaining artillery on the final suspected enemy positions, my last assault gets underway with Panzers leading.

There is an incredible irony here, and it's amazing how @Lille Fiskerby has truly made this massive and completely immersive campaign come full circle.  I'm not sure how many have followed since the beginning but on battle 2 I commented on the swamp/terrain and snow and how the Pripyat Marshes were horrid and something I'd never forget.  Yet here, in the waning moments, through all this time and my troop's learned battle experience, we now use that very swamp to move up close on the enemy and take the final prize by getting right up on top of them.



A lone enemy Maxim harasses my men as they cross the low swamp.

And is made short work of by my tank.  Infantry and armor, working together hand in hand.


And then...another Valentine is spotted and dispatched.


The final push on the final objective.



Through the swamp, up the ridge and to the hedge line!  The enemy is right there and quickly put down. 

This was the final German casualty of the long and grinding battles of Kovel.


With 20 minutes left on the clock and all objectives seized, we offer a flag of truce to allow the surviving defenders to collect their casualties and desert the battlefield.  And with that, it's over.  Battle 10 is finished and, ultimately, so ends the campaign.

Wow!  After all this time and struggle, it's complete!  What an awesome victory and accomplishment I have to say.  This campaign was incredible and beyond epic and I will never forget it.
My final numbers.  I can't believe I lost over 1,000 men in my command.  It just shows how brutal and fierce the entire campaign was.
I do have to thank @Lille Fiskerby for all your effort, time and research that went into creating this.  All of you scenario designers, campaign designers and even mod creators do so much for all of us with so little thanks.  I hope just me doing this huge and never-ending slog "review/battle report/embedded combat photographer journal" lets you all know how much your work is appreciated by us.  
I feel like lots of people lurk but don't talk so do feel free to offer any comments, thoughts, etc.  Honestly, I hope anyone following tries this one out as it's truly one of CMs exceptional campaigns and fun!!

I hope you all found this as entertaining as I did documenting it.

It's finished.  I've done it.  The breakthrough is successful and my surrounded comrades now have an escape route from Kovel and disaster!  
After 8 months, and on Veteran's day as well.  It couldn't be more fitting.
As the assault on the final objective on the ridgeline, Obj Schwarz continues to develop, my remaining Marder and one of my panzers screens out to the right and drifts towards the swamp and the final objective in town.  Maybe I won't have to right hook all the way around and maybe I've found an exploitable soft point to rush 3rd Zug, 2nd Kompanie into town and take my final objective.
However, both my Marder and PzIV begin to take AA rounds.  

Covering the swamp approach appears to be a battery of AA guns, not what I needed.

Now multiple guns are beginning to open on me.  This, again, is not the fight I wanted but I don't have a choice.  AA rounds are pinging and whizzing off both of my vehicles armor.  It's an absolute hornet's nest and I'm stuck right in the middle of it.

Rounds fly back and forth in utter intensity and desperation.


Unfortunately, my tank gets completely shredded by the sheer amount of incoming AA.


And then a Marder brews up too. And those are not AA rounds.  A Valentine tank is spotted on the other end hiding low to the swamp.

However unplanned it may be, an opening is created as my last Marder and another panzer keep firing and take out the enemy AA guns.  Finally the Marder gets the drop on the Valentine hiding in the mist and ends his war.


 

Everyone knows the old adage, "no plan survives first contact with the enemy", and how much truth there is in that.  Realizing I have more than enough time, unlike battle 9, I rethink my aggressiveness and decide to slow myself down and fight this out much more methodically.  I have the time, the forces and the terrain to do so.  Orders go out to concentrate our troops and then move forward like a slow rolling German steam roller.
What's left of 6th Kompanie, and while dodging Russian artillery, forms up in captured enemy positions and moves on the town center.


Take your time boys, go slow and eliminate every enemy soldier who dares take a shot a you or shows his back. We are doing this one by the book.  The men want to press and get this over but it's that very impatience that causes mistakes and casualties.  7th Kompanie and their early aggressiveness are the perfect example.

On the left, 1st Zug, 2nd Kompanie, creeps up the back of the ridgeline to keep unmasking and eliminating enemy guns and resistance.


Using a dip in the terrain, 6th Kompanie keeps the pressure on and keeps moving up.

I have my Marders on the right side of the ridge and panzers and troops on the left.  Again, slow and methodical rolling forward will win this day.



I send a team from 7th Kompanie out to capture or kill any enemy tank crews still hiding amongst the wreckage.  


And at the same time, German artillery continues to fall and disrupt the enemy works.

Softening the way for the infantry to keep moving forward.

No time to think, ignore your downed wounded comrades, the enemy MG has been silenced, forward into town, now!

Through the freezing and snow, smoke, fire, mud and blood...

Bde 190 StuGs, throughout the entire campaign, have been my razor sharp and highly effective point of the spear.  Today is no exception.

On the left, 2nd Kompanie methodically clears the woods along the ridgeline.

One enemy soldier hides in his foxhole, absorbs 6 hand grenades thrown his way and bravely still fights.  Not for long though...


As suspected, another Soviet 76.2mm gun is uncovered in the woods.

The enemy was ready, swings the muzzle of their gun and lets my forward team have it.


Revenge is quick and certain as the casualties only further motivate and enrage my men.  As the bullets come in the enemy crew abandons the gun and runs for their lives.

The end is inevitable.  We are an unstoppable force that is slowly gaining momentum.  Only 2 of the 6 objectives now remain to be captured and I still have an entire platoon of 2nd Kompanie in tracks, fresh and ready to go!  Additionally 5th Kompanie on the right is also moving up and still fresh, though bloodied and slow from their previous fights.  My plan is to take the third objective on the ridge, move up my fresh platoon and then right hook around the swamp to take the far end of the town and complete my mission and campaign.  I still have vast amounts of time and a lot of artillery to dole out.

German pressure escalates and is relentless.  Although the Russians fight bravely and with spirit, selling their lives dearly, they do not have the strength to resist my columns of steel.



Here you can see the dual points of my attack.  On the far bottom left, 2nd Kompanie's fresh platoon waits for orders and on the right, 5th Kompanie moves slowly towards town.

The prize!  My troops hate these things and are happy to see them out of action and behind them.

The fury of battle in images...





In town, it's all StuGs pushing slowly forward.  7th Kompanie has taken their objective, Mosczcana West, and I will ask no more of them.  Their dead and wounded lie all along the berm behind them.

Having a go at this in singleplayer since James and I had to end our PBEM due to mutual time constraints (both of us being teachers, being 7 hours apart and playing a regimental-sized scenario apparently did not occur to us to be an issue...). 
Some shots from the seizure and holding of Hill 203.1. 







Really itching to play since it's a slow period at work but my laptop is in for repairs. Praying that the replacement parts don't necessitate a reinstallation of Windows. I'll despair if I loss the save data.