Ritirare! Allied attack AAR

[Penry]

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!

[Penry]

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......

[Penry]

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.....

[Penry]

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!

[Penry]

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!

[Penry]

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.....

[Penry]

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.

[Baneman]

.... 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?

Very likely to be 45mm Brixia mortar rounds. At shortish ranges it has quite a high rate of fire.

[Penry]

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!

[womble]

Yeah, they're almost certainly a Brixia on "Target" in direct fire mode.

[Penry]

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!

[Blackcat]

That was an incredible shot. If I recall the shooter was the sole survivor of an infantry squad that got shot up in the first few turns, so I am assuming he wasn't a marksman and was not equipped with a 'scope on his rifle. To pull off a one round head-shot using iron sights against a moving target at what looks like a range of several hundred yards is amazing. I don't think I have ever seen the like in all the years I have been playing CM. You could probably replay that turn a thousand times and never get the same result.

[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!

[Penry]

Turn 38

An action packed turn this time! Some good, some bad, some disasterous! Business as usual then!

Let's start with the good stuff then. My Sherman on the first bridge hunted forward, in an effort to grab a sneak attack on BDs STuG behind the farmyard. Mission achieved in a way, except it wasn't the STuG that he surprised, it was BDs R35 from behind the farmyard, trying to sneak around the side of the farm building. It didn't take long before my Sherman let loose a single round - more than enough to knock out BDs tank and send the commander running!

Unfortunately, BDs STuG was in a good position to watch what was going on, and it was only a matter of time before BD got his revenge. A single round in return was enough to light up my Sherman, sending the crew running and straight into a hail of small arms fire from the farmyard. Only one man got away with his life, taking cover in the nearby copse.

[Penry]

Just before BDs STuG let loose its deadly round, my artillery strike started to touch down, one round landing just in front of BDs STuG. I hoped that the dust cloud would obscure his view, allowing my Sherman time to evade, or even get a lock on of its own, but alas, it wasn't to be. Twenty four rounds landed around the farmyard, so I'm hoping that I inflicted a good deal of pain on BDs men at various locations around the place, but I witnessed very few confirmed kills.

One thing is for sure though. The three men I counted hiding out in the farmhouse had a very bad day at the office!

There's nowhere for you to hide now BD!

[Penry]

Towards the end of the turn another STuG appeared, this time at the near entrance to the northern forest. He took up a position behind the burning hulk of the R35 and then waited things out. I'm hoping that if he gets a bit brave and moves forward then I'll have a good shot at him with my three Shermans in the area.

[Penry]

And so to the disaster! Can you guess where it occured?

My push on the left flank deflated quicker than a beach ball in a porcupine sanctuary. More and more of the direct 45mm mortars landed, just as my main push was in full swing. Coupled with small arms fire from the farmyard, which halted my halftrack as soon as it started hitting, and more small arms fire from the northern forest, as my men crested the hill, resulted in just about the whole of my attack biting the dust! Of the twenty two men who were in the immediate area when the turn began, only eleven of them were alive at the end of it. All of them are out of control and five of them are injured.

I've got to say that watching the assault was pretty bloody stiring! I was really getting my hopes up that I had co-ordinated the various units into a cohesive force to be reckoned with. But my elation plumetted into despair as my assault was slowly unravelled and then repulsed.

Go on, keep going. It's for television. Don't look at the camera!

[Penry]

Lastly, here's the state of play at the end of the turn. I'm still pretty much stuck before the first bridge. My left flank assault attempt is over with. My artillery strike on the farmyard is almost over. I've only three Shermans left, until I get some more reinforcements in seven minutes. I really can't see how I'm going to dislodge BD from the farmyard, let alone get to either barn in the hilltop forests, or the far bridge. BD keeps hinting via PM that it's a close run thing, but he seems pretty secure to me!

Orders:

Three remaining Shermans - focus on the STuG at the near entrance to the northern forest.

Infantry team in southern forest - head for the southern barn

Lone scout hero in southern forest - try to get an eyeball on BDs STuG behind the farmyard.

I tried to set up one last artillery strike on the farmyard, but with the building collapsed, and all the dust around, there is nothing to spot to get a fire coordinate!

[Penry]

Turn 39

My artillery strike ended this turn, with a further ten rounds landing, five in decent locations to cause BD some pain. Shame my Sherman got knocked out though, as I'm not in a position to capitalise on the confusion caused by the strike. I'm not even sure that I'll be able to find a way past the knocked out Sherman on the bridge! Is it possible to shunt things out the way in CM? Otherwise I might face a long detour round through the northern forest, not a journey I particularly relish....

The strike did seem to rattle BDs STuG behind the farmyard, either that or BD withdrew it for tactical reasons. Either way, towards the end of the turn it reappeared midway between the farmyard and the rear bridge. As the dust from the artillery strike settled, a narrow line of sight opened up between the STuG and my Sherman by my buildings. The STuG got a round off, which spalled my upper front hull armour, then my Sherman fired a round off in return, which partially penetrated the lower front hull armour of the STuG. It's going to be a tense few seconds at the beginning of the next turn. I wonder which tank has the faster rate of fire?

[Penry]

There was more hurt for my men over on the right flank. They had no sooner regained their morale, than the next load of mortars started falling amongst them. Those that survived the first wave of explosions quickly descended back into panic again! It's not a pretty sight at the top of the hill, and I hold little hope of them escaping to any degree of safety!

BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest also made its presence felt. Adjusting its position ever so slightly, so it had a line of fire on my half-track at the base of the ploughed field, but reaming out of sight of my three Shermans at the base of the northern hill. At least the poor sod didn't know anything about what was going to hit him!

Not much change in the state of play. The next turn will all be about who gets the telling shot between my Sherman and BDs STuG!

[Penry]

Turn 40

Well, the standoff between my Sherman and BDs STuG never happened, but I still lost a Sherman to another STuG!

BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest somehow managed to take out my rear Sherman, all without the Sherman even getting a visual fix on him, even though he was unhatched, looking directly at it and had an armour arc over its exact position! I'm not sure what else I could have done to get a chance for a shot and I'm more than a bit miffed that I've lost another Sherman to BDs STuGs! Any ideas what I could have done better/different?

To make matters worse BDs rear STuG from the northern forest recovered from my hero shot, and got his revenge, of sorts. My hero was keeping an eye out over the valley, but BDs STuG must have spotted him because he sent a main round over as retribution. Fortunately he aimed a bit long and only injured my hero, but it was enough to get him to run away back into the depths of the forest.

[Penry]

There was more misery for my decimated assault on the northern slope. As they tried to withdraw they came under more small arms fire from the farmyard, resulting in the loss of three more men. Just to make sure that my men would not be returning BD launched a massive artillery strike of his own, just in front of where my men were. I only lost one man to the artillery strike, the FO man, but it scared the crap out of my MG team, who were hiding out in the trees, right in the middle of the attack!

I'm running out of options again. I've now only got two Shermans and a self propelled gun against at least three of BDs STuGs. I'm still no nearer making an assualt on the farmyard, and what infantry I have left are just too brittle to do the job. My last throw of the dice will be my last lot of re-inforcements, another platoon of Shermans, due in 5 minutes. If I can take out BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest I might just stand a chance, but I'll have a hell of a lot of work to do in just 15 minutes!

[Penry]

Orders:

Not many options again!

I decided to call the last of my artillery strikes (yes more!) on the farmyard. Eight minutes and counting. That should tie in nicely with my platoon of Shermans arriving in 5 minutes. A couple of minutes to deal with one or more of BDs STuGs, then a mad dash for the farmyard, presuming I can squeeze them across the bridge. It would be real nice if they arrived on the other side of the river.....

I also decided to move my SPG into position to face BDs STuG in the northern forest. Here's hoping that one of my men gets a shot off at it when the smoke clears!

[Penry]

Turn 41

Not a huge amount happened this turn.

BDs artillery lasted for the first half of the turn, but didn't cause any more casualties, even though three rounds got real close to my MG team in the trees. They are in a panic, but otherwise OK!

BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest took out two of my previously damaged half tracks (yellow circles), each with a driver only, but didn't manage to locate my Shermans or my SPG.

The only good news of the turn was that my rear Sherman took out one of BDs men hiding out in the foxholes at the southern side of the farmyard (red circle). A main round, followed by some MG fire, did the trick, so hopefully I might have even got some hidden casualties too!

Orders:

Not much I can do other than hope BD moves a STuG (or two) into a LOF of mine, that is until my last throw of the dice in 4 turns.....

[Penry]

Turn 42

Another quiet turn, with the main events taking place in the southern forest.

My rifle sharp shooting hero finally went to the great rifle range in the sky, after being taken out by a infantry patrol.

My rifle team in the other part of the southern forest made contact with some infantry in fox holes around the southern barn. As soon as the lead started flying my boys ran away. Soon after they made contact again with some more of BDs infantry. This time my boys threw down their guns and gave up!

Other than that, the only item of interest was the Sherman on the first bridge cooked up big time! Just as well I didn't have any men in the vicinity!

Orders:

Sit tight and await those reinforcements......