Heinrich505 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Bah! You are weak. Your lack of fortitude will result in defeat. A battle is a test of WILL, not a test of tactics. A TRUE commander would order the PzIII crew to DISMOUNT and advance upon the enemy Sherman armed with only their sidearms and crowbars. With furious energy and implacable resolve, the 5 crewmembers, eschewing the protection of the Krupp steel armored PzIII and exposing themselves to the dangers of the battlefield, clambering upon the Sherman, prising open the hatches, gunning down the Ami crewmembers, would, indeed, cast an ominous foreshadow of defeat over the American forces. Seeing this, they would beg for mercy. You have cast this aside. Holy Crap!! After reading this I was halfway across my back yard with sidearm and a crowbar, ready to close assault the giant backhoes working construction in an adjacent field before I pulled back from my berserker rage...goaded into action once again by ck3. :-D Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Bil, Great action. You are building this to a great crescendo. I just rushed a SPW into a field trying to flank a mortar team and went face to face with two previously hidden Shermans in a battle I am engaged. Yes, it went badly. Probably better not to have rushed that Mark III in for the possible flank shot. It would have given its flank to the villa, and I shudder to think what would happen next. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 The Thirty Ninth Minute Well it seems to me that ND does not appreciate the position where I have posted my two Pz-IVs on his left... he is scrambling his last remaining Sherman from the ridgeliine and attempting to get position on them. I'll have to prepare a suitable welcoming committee. In this image, 1 - starting position; 2 - right before I lost sight of the tank; and 3 - final FOW icon position at the end of the turn. Not very subtle is it? I have only fired one Grill in the game so far. I was excited when giving orders last turn that I was actually able to target one of the few positions in the Villa I had not been able to previously. This Grille puts his last two HE rounds on target and I hope ND had something really valuable in that wing. It was important to me that this side of the Villa get some attention as this is the side I would like to enter the Villa from. The run on the Hill starts to move slowly forward.. carefully so I don't run into my own artillery. The casualty marker in this image is one of the crew from ND's howitzer that was knocked out at the end of last turn. I am seeing no other enemy infantry teams in the position at all. On the Villa side, my forces continue to sort themselves out and snake up the hill. There are now two tanks in support for the upcoming assault. Before I can start any assault I do need to take care of that pesky Sherman that is still hovering over the ridge from my troops. This turn, you can see that ND actually moved this tank towards my troops a bit... 1 - starting position, and 2 - final position. Who is feeding me the spotting report on this Sherman? Non other than my hull down Pz-IV down the hill that I had kept in position. The smoke is clearing, and that FOW icon is bright from this tank's point of view.. which tells me I possibly could get a solid spot next turn. Wouldn't that be nice? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Bil, Things look very exciting, and I would NOT want to be in that villa! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 The Fourtieth Turn ND's Sherman continues its movement towards my Panzers... its coming in at a great angle and my tanks can't get a good LOS into that area. The smoke cleared dramatically this turn, which didn't really work in my favor, as you shall see. My Grille spotted the Sherman on the front of the Villa and fired a HEAT round... this must have just skimmed the top of the Sherman, but alas it missed and hit the building instead. Which cost me big time as one of my Pz-IVs moving up to the Villa was spotted and hit mere seconds later by this same tank. My bad luck strikes again... smoke clearing, my Grille missing by millimeters, and the Sherman not missing was a series of events that could swing the advantage back to ND. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosigan Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Ouch! That's the thing about the PzIV's vs the Shermans. I always pray for a lower hull hit on my PzIV's because at least then it's usually just a partial penetration at most from the Sherman's 75mm, but the turret shots are usually knock out punches. This is another reason why I sometimes wonder about being hull-down in a PzIV; obviously it's best to have a low profile, but its turret armor is its weakest spot on the front (barring the mantlet or a good angle). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 cool your site actually is still permitted here so I get to see images. Damn you two are having a great seesaw of a battle. Nice show (though I am sure you'd prefer more see and less saw, or is it the other way 'round?) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 Damn you two are having a great seesaw of a battle. Nice show (though I am sure you'd prefer more see and less saw, or is it the other way 'round?) Yeah, I'd prefer a walk over to be honest... but I do enjoy a well fought battle. Win or lose this has been a bitch of a fight, and a shed load of fun. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 ...I sometimes wonder about being hull-down in a PzIV; obviously it's best to have a low profile, but its turret armor is its weakest spot on the front (barring the mantlet or a good angle). Kosigan, give me a hull down Pz-IV any day. I've had hull down Pz-IVs pick apart an enemy formation and never get spotted (see my CMBN BETA AAR for an example). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryCMBB Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 LOL. And a great summary of playing CM! Gerry Yeah, I'd prefer a walk over to be honest... but I do enjoy a well fought battle. Win or lose this has been a bitch of a fight, and a shed load of fun. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosigan Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Kosigan, give me a hull down Pz-IV any day. I've had hull down Pz-IVs pick apart an enemy formation and never get spotted (see my CMBN BETA AAR for an example). Ha, I read it a few weeks ago and enjoyed it big time! And I will admit that the lower profile makes them harder to spot and hit, but I still remain stubborn in enjoying an extra 30mm of armor at times . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Ha, I read it a few weeks ago and enjoyed it big time! And I will admit that the lower profile makes them harder to spot and hit, but I still remain stubborn in enjoying an extra 30mm of armor at times . Try parking your Panzers upside down. Oh, wait... :eek: Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 The Forty First Minute I got VERY lucky this turn... I never even saw this bazooka team until it fired and missed. Luckily it was quickly gunned down by my tank and infantry squad. Whew... that was a close one. The Sherman was racing towards the treeline that holds my two tanks when it was hit in the side by the Pz-III I have on the Hill objective. I don't know if there was any damage or casualties but the tank ground to a halt immediately. Next turn I am maneuvering my Pz-IV's against it. Throughout the turn I kept spotting different units from the infantry platoon in the orchard. I can finally put some MG fire on them next turn. What does ND have planned for them? They have been in this position for probably 15 minutes now... One of my Grilles spots and fires a HEAT round at ND's Sherman on the front of the Villa... this time he hits. I would not want to be inside that tank when that round hit. I can't tell if there was any damage but it hit the gun.. one can hope that it is now impotent at least. This Grille is now out of HEAT. Across the map my other Grille spots ND's Sherman on the hill next to the Villa. He will be firing at it (hopefully they are better shots than the other Grille) and I am maneuvering against it with my closest two tanks as indicated in this image. Next turn could either be the beginning of the end for ND, or back to the drawing board for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuderian Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Excellent AAR Bil. A technical question. How do you create your composite time lapse images, and how do you get the tanks translucent in them? Thanks in advance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Excellent AAR Bil. A technical question. How do you create your composite time lapse images, and how do you get the tanks translucent in them? Thanks in advance. Kuderian, I take screenshots of the two (or more) images that I want to combine (make sure you don't move the camera between taking these screen grabs)... bring them all into Photoshop as layers... the main layer is 100% transparency, for the semi-transparent overlay images I select the tank or the unit of interest and delete the rest of that layer... this gives me the tank/unit in a different position than the main layer.. I then simply adjust the transparency of this layer (usually around 50%-60%). Save it out as a jpg image and you are ready to post. Hope that helped. Bil 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuderian Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 And is there a quick tool in photoshop to isolate the tank/unit from the rest of the layer before you delete it or do you have to cut out the tank manually? The reason I ask, is in the hope of jazzing up my own AAR's one day 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Kuderian, I just use the lasso tool... takes a few seconds to isolate the tank. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rake Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 And is there a quick tool in photoshop to isolate the tank/unit from the rest of the layer before you delete it or do you have to cut out the tank manually? The reason I ask, is in the hope of jazzing up my own AAR's one day Photoshop has several quick selection tools... what Bil did with the tank in his in the previous screenshot took less than a minute to select the tank, drag it into the main pic and delete the picture from which the tank was selected. The lasso tool is quick for a freeform selection and there's also a magnetic lasso tool for selecting edges, but circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, etc. are even faster (two clicks and a drag and drop to fine tune the position). Then, of course, there are many other tools for more intricate selections...like edges, color ranges, etc., and a whole lot of add-ons for even more delicate selections. But, I digress... Bil, please, continue with the capture of the villa so the drive on Gela can continue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 But, I digress... Bil, please, continue with the capture of the villa so the drive on Gela can continue. You might want to head on over to ND's thread and hurry him along... we are all waiting for him to get off his ass and return a file. Bil 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Battle is an orgy of disorder. George S. Patton Update: I will be on vacation, and probably without internet access, from tomorrow evening through the 24th of September, so no turns will be posted during that time. I am hoping ND will return a file to me tonight so I can get one more post up before I depart. Enjoy the silence. Silence is argument carried out by other means. Che Guevara 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Update: I will be on vacation, and probably without internet access, from tomorrow evening through the 24th of September, so no turns will be posted during that time. I am hoping ND will return a file to me tonight so I can get one more post up before I depart. Enjoy the silence. I'm sorry Bil, I am err looking and uh I uh don't seem to see any request for leave. Umm have filed your umm TPS reports? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Steve, strange, my copies have been signed by you, you sign in pink ink right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Steve, strange, my copies have been signed by you, you sign in pink ink right? Yeah, Steve, Radar came by and had you sign them. You remember now, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryCMBB Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 One of the classic scenes! The quiet and unassuming Radar. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 The Forty Second Minute - Part 1 Quite an exciting turn. It started with my Grille, which had spotted the Sherman on my left at the end of last turn putting a one-five-oh HEAT into the side of the turret. I saw no crew escape and this baby is now burning on the battlefield. My left should be clear. I worry about the Sherman ND has on the front of the Villa.. but seeing as that thing hasn't moved in a good 4 or 5 turns it must be immobilized. My Pz-IV on the Villa front slope which was hunting the now dead Sherman spots a bazooka team.. guess my tanks in ths area are no surprise to ND eh? Th bazooka never got off a round as my tank quickly neutralized him. Meanwhile my infantry continues to close in on the Villa. Now that my tanks can more safely operate in this area the assault's pace will start to step up a bit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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