sburke Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 SMGs? Are you kidding? No! You attack with hammers! Climb into the aforementioned Priest, grab some 105 ammo and begin striking the round causing it to detonate inside the Priest ensuing the vehicle and it's crew are obliterated in your ascent to Valhalla. 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted October 23, 2012 Author Posted October 23, 2012 "Hit" it? Bah, more defensive mindset. Act like a man! Your pixeltruppen will be disgraced if they die while fighting a war of material! Attack like a warrior! Have your SMG armed men ENTER the Priest! 40 rounds of 9mm parabellum delivered at arm's reach, passing through the enemy only to ricochet around and hit them back again! Tracers, sparks, cordite, screams, confusion! Glorious... Finally to end when a stray round finds a 105mm shell and sends your warriors to the Great Hall of Valhalla. Valhalla, huh? Time to call in the reinforcements... http://www.thisoldtoy.com/new-images/images-ok/7000s-plus/76000-77999/fp77007-viking-fury.JPG 0 Quote
eltorrente Posted October 23, 2012 Posted October 23, 2012 Thanks guys. Not sure how my AT grenades will stand up to the Priest should it emerge over the ridge on the left. That could be pretty decisive. I always count on those things not working - however in a recent PBEM, my American AT grenade took out an undamaged Stug as it came over a hill. My bazooka guy never even had to fire - the AT grenade hit it in the side and penetrated, and knocked it out in one shot. Normally, I figure they are just good for halftracks and other infantry. I think there's a good chance they can take out the Priest if they are in position. 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted October 24, 2012 Author Posted October 24, 2012 Yeah, we might have a decent shot overall. I reckon I can hit the Priest from two positions at once if it comes over the summit to our left, though it's difficult to gauge given its relative height, etc. That must give me a reasonable chance. 0 Quote
Baneman Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I always count on those things not working - however in a recent PBEM, my American AT grenade took out an undamaged Stug as it came over a hill. My bazooka guy never even had to fire - the AT grenade hit it in the side and penetrated, and knocked it out in one shot. Normally, I figure they are just good for halftracks and other infantry. I think there's a good chance they can take out the Priest if they are in position. I actually recently lost a Sherman to a rifle grenade ... from the FRONT ! :eek: I had no idea they were so powerful. 0 Quote
John Kettler Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Baneman, Do you still have the turn? If so, and if you had labels on (or maybe can turn them on), you may be able to find out what happened. I killed a Tiger I with a rifle grenade in CMBO. Was out of pretty much everything when up trundles the Tiger, preparatory to winning the game. Drilled it through the side of the turret via a Weak Spot hit, probably a pistol port. I suspect something similar might happen if hit, say, in the periscope or, more probably, a machine gun mount, both found on a Sherman. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote
eltorrente Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Baneman, Do you still have the turn? If so, and if you had labels on (or maybe can turn them on), you may be able to find out what happened. I killed a Tiger I with a rifle grenade in CMBO. Was out of pretty much everything when up trundles the Tiger, preparatory to winning the game. Drilled it through the side of the turret via a Weak Spot hit, probably a pistol port. I suspect something similar might happen if hit, say, in the periscope or, more probably, a machine gun mount, both found on a Sherman. Regards, John Kettler That's surprising to take out a Tiger with an AT grenade.. In my experience so far in CMFI (I've had just two PBEM's vs Tigers so far) I've found that even bazooka penetrations to the side of Tigers don't often take it out. In one battle, I had 3 bazooka-equipped units shooting at an advancing Tiger. I had a few penetrations in the side and partial in the turret, yet it still lived. After maybe 5-7 hits total, it was immobilized away from a VL - lucky for me. AT grenades always seem to hit the side, but never penetrate or even partial pentrate (from what I've seen). I've never seen one take out a Sherman or PZIV. I've seen them bounce off the front armor of M3's a few times, too. I've had AT grenades come through the front of Marders and ATV's though, but not even injure anyone. If they do injure, it's usually just one guy. I usually don't worry about them at all. After seeing one take a Stug out, though - I'm going to be more wary. 0 Quote
Baneman Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 ...Do you still have the turn? If so, and if you had labels on (or maybe can turn them on), you may be able to find out what happened. I killed a Tiger I with a rifle grenade in CMBO. Was out of pretty much everything when up trundles the Tiger, preparatory to winning the game. Drilled it through the side of the turret via a Weak Spot hit, probably a pistol port. I suspect something similar might happen if hit, say, in the periscope or, more probably, a machine gun mount, both found on a Sherman. Well, generally when I play Axis, I'm terrorised by Shermans which so routinely shrug off PzIV hits that I've stopped buying PzIV's ( I know it's not fully historical, but there's little point in purchasing an "egg with a hammer" if the hammer is rubber ). And then I lose a Sherman to an AT rifle grenade. Took a while to winch my jaw back up off the floor In another game I've managed a rear-turret penetration of a Sherman with a similar grenade which seemed plausible ( didn't KO the Sherman though, natch ). How exactly do AT rifle grenades work anyway ? Is there a HEAT aspect to them ? Both my examples were at pretty close range ( sub 20m ) 0 Quote
Kanonier Reichmann Posted November 9, 2012 Posted November 9, 2012 I was wondering whatever happenned to the updates on this AAR? It was just getting to the exciting conclusion then went all quiet! Regards KR 0 Quote
CharlieMike24 Posted November 9, 2012 Posted November 9, 2012 I was wondering whatever happenned to the updates on this AAR? It was just getting to the exciting conclusion then went all quiet! Regards KR They've broken with military tradition and had a cup of tea with the windmill owners! Once they've drunk up, perhaps they can resume to completion? 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted November 9, 2012 Author Posted November 9, 2012 Mea culpa - well, partly. We were postponed during Hurricane Sandy as my opponent was out of action for a few days! Since then I've been quite busy. Should have the last few turns for you guys in the next few days. Sorry to keep you waiting. Thanks for asking. It's nice to know there are people out there who are interested in the AAR! 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted November 27, 2012 Author Posted November 27, 2012 Hello all. After weeks of delay, caused by a combination of hurricanes, illness and work commitments, BD and I have finally got our act together and found time to play through the last few turns of this contest. Here we go... Turns 49 - 51 As first squad attempt to make their flanking move on the right, to the left, the enemy Priest - which has been threatening to move up the hillside for some time now - rolls into view. It doesn't come that close, keeping itself in a position where only the machine-gunner in the turret can actually fire on my men. This, however, is enough to put 2nd squad into a state of considerable disarray. For the first time my troops on the hilltop threaten to break in large numbers. They are held in check by the steadying presence of nearby officers, and the MG teams are ordered to target the Priest in particular to see if we can hit that gunner. A few moments later we succeed, and the vehicle retreats again below the brow of the hill. Meanwhile on the right, 1st squad has begun its flanking move with the support of the Co. HQ, but this does not go as smoothly as I had hoped. The first part of the advance goes well enough, with one team removing what appears to be the last of the HQ team. But I'm mistaken in this judgement - as they move off again they come under fire and lose two men, which I can ill afford. I have moved the Co. HQ in closer to deal with this threat. The rest of 1st squad loops round the ridge unhindered, but as it approaches the crest, it comes under heavy American fire. More men are lost in this encounter and the remaining handful cower in whatever vegetation lies to hand. Within a turn they are stuck just behind the top of the ridge. The Americans would be unwise to advance on this position as they are flanked on two sides up there. But with few resources to push ahead, my attempt to break out from the hilltop looks to be stalling. This will almost certainly now be a fight to the death. 0 Quote
A Canadian Cat Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 Glad you guys are back at this. It will be nice to see the resolution of this cliff hanger. 0 Quote
CharlieMike24 Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 Hostilities have been resumed! 0 Quote
John Kettler Posted November 28, 2012 Posted November 28, 2012 Tiresias, While I admit having forgotten the details of the last few turns of the fight, I definitely remember the Priest was coming up to shoot you to pieces. You did well to stop the .50 caliber onslaught. Not so well off is the GI behind the wall. Why? He's got an incipient case of M1 thumb! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote
eltorrente Posted November 30, 2012 Posted November 30, 2012 I'm glad to see this AAR going again. This one has been very interesting, and is a good demonstration of how much fun PBEM's can be. Just about everyone I've played has a been a fun opponent, and it's been great to match wits with a thinking enemy general, as opposed to the AI. I'm hoping you can pull this victory off, and I think you can do it with your forces at hand. Use the clock and let him come to you, and it should be a good fight. 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted December 6, 2012 Author Posted December 6, 2012 Turns 52 & 53 As 2nd squad start to crack, disaster strikes. The Priest, which had rolled back down the hill a few minutes ago after some deft machine-gunning on my part, re-emerges. This time the Americans have got it into a better position and instead of using the MG on the turret are firing from the main gun. We can barely sight it and, with casualties mounting, AT grenades are in any case thin on the ground. Were 2nd squad in a better state I might be able to move round the side of it and try and gun down the crew somehow, but there is no such option. With my men trying desperately to find better cover as their morale sags, the Priest opens fire with devastating effect. 1st squad are unable to make progress on the right, as the Co. HQ continue to seek out the enemy HQ team which remains elusive in the undergrowth and refuses to come unstuck. Two men are lost as we try to flush them out - moving too quickly as the American push on the left means that we are desperately short of time. Worse, a lone gunman on the ridge has positioned himself close to the central windmill and is picking off the men of 3rd squad, who are unsure whether to fire or attempt to help their fallen comrades and, if possible, grab their MG34s. Sensing that the game might be up, the Americans launch a final push. Supported by the Priest, huge numbers of infantry start to appear on the far left flank, far more than the near-to-routing men of 2nd squad can take on despite the efforts of the platoon HQ. We lose several more men as the superiority in numbers of the US forces finally starts to tell. Here are the heroic PHQ team in question. They're facing withering fire all over the place, though and more men fall as the seconds tick by. As the turn reaches its end, I have only 16 left. Of the 16, at least five are breaking and out of control. 3rd squad are periodically giving up and then trying to reorganise themselves as more Americans appear on the top of the hill. There's no time for the Co. HQ to pick up the bogged-down members of 2nd and try to launch a counterattack on the right and the Americans are far too numerous. More than anything, we have little to no chance of stopping the Priest. Finally overwhelmed, I've decided to ask for a ceasefire. 0 Quote
Tiresias Posted December 6, 2012 Author Posted December 6, 2012 Turn 54 Well, there we go, it's all over. In the final 60 seconds, my mean really do start to rout and before the ceasefire can take effect, large numbers are lost to the Priest and the advancing infantry. The final scorecard looks like this: (Keen observers may note that I've pinched this last image from BigDork's thread! We finished yesterday and agreed to allow the reading of each other's AARs, which was just as well as I forgot to upload my pic of the results and am now writing from a different computer. D'oh!) Like BD, I'm going to check out the other AAR in depth before doing a proper post-mortem. However, after my initial disappointment at having folded, I was absolutely staggered by the superiority in American numbers. Given the extent to which morale appeared to break during the American advance up the hill, I presume that my opponent opted for a lower grade of troops than I did. Given the size of his force, I'm not quite as disconsolate as I might otherwise have been. We clung on quite admirably for an awfully long time under the circumstances. If I'd set a more stringent time limit, I suspect that I might have been able to hold the ridge. Plaudits should go to BD nevertheless for another sterling effort. I have learned a lot about CM (again) in this confrontation and really enjoyed the fight. I think parts of this encounter - particularly the opening phase and the ill-fated advance of 3rd platoon on my left flank - really showed CM at its best. As I say I'll come back with some closing thoughts in the near future. In the meantime, a big thank-you to everyone who's been reading, and commenting, on this thread on both fora. Hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. I would really welcome feedback as I strive to become a better player. 0 Quote
John Kettler Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Tiresias, Your force fought tenaciously and well, suffering virtual (on several levels) extinction in the process. I was shocked Big Dork won a U.S. Army Total Victory, considering I thought it was going to be more like a Draw. In the larger view, his men are shot for offensive operations for some time to come. Sadly, it falls on others to conduct the shoot already registered on your positions in anticipation of an overrun, then counterattack the already disorganized and cut up survivors of the first action before they can consolidate and regroup--after pounding them with mortars and artillery. Am astounded your force held together so long in the face of casualties which make the classical Roman decimation a lark by comparison. A shame you didn't have foxholes on that reverse slope! Why foxholes? Foxholes would've helped your men survive, whereas LongLeftFlank's tests have found men in trenches die like flies under mortar fire, so entrenchments would've unhinged your defense even faster. I've thoroughly enjoyed this AAR, and though it's not CMBN, it's been quite an education. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote
Heinrich505 Posted December 12, 2012 Posted December 12, 2012 Tiresias, Very nicely done AAR. You kept us right in the action to the bitter end. Your troops performed quite well, considering you didn't have many of them, especially at the end. It was great fun to follow. The Priest really tipped the balance at the end. You really had nothing to counter it by then. Great job and highly entertaining. Heinrich505 0 Quote
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