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Axis AAR: A Route to Ribera or "A Bridge Too Far" (CMPzC)


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29-31 minutes

Strike 2 Stewarts! What is more they were destroyed as opposed to immobilized or damaged therefore they can not be repaired for later battles in this campaign.

I have also reached the 30+ minute mark therefore I am allowed to retreat into the exit zones without penalty.

The enemy lead tanks' destruction will give my men more time to retreat in an orderly fashion. No routing yet thank dog!

If I can slow down the enemy advance torward Ribera then I will have time to fortify it and get my Panzergrenadiers better organized for it's defence. With the new patch his armour should have a much tougher time in an urban environment.

Tankers bail out successfully

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Second victim of much derided Italian 47mm ATG...

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Facing off across the valley

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Walking wounded exit first

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32-36 minutes

The Good - Another Stuart knocked out. After receiving some non-penetrating front hits, the Stuart went into 'self-preservation' mode and exposed its flank.

The enemy's infantry advance seems to have stalled. My ATG's and Brixias have inflicted serious casualties, it seems.

The Bad - My Construction Engineer Coy is caught in a withering Destroyer barrage. Not only are there many casualties but the survivors morale is shot.

And the Ugly -One of his Stuarts has closed in for some canister ammo shots. I assume it has run out of normal HE. I have one of my two remaining ATG's to point in its direction if it comes over the brim of the hill. Only problem now is the ATG is being shot at in the back by enemy suppressive fire :-(

overall 36 minutes

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Advancing bunched up Paras pay the price

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Another trench falls to the enemy. Perhaps a Pyrrhic Victory?

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Antitank specialist gets off a shot before being nailed by Italian 47mm HE

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  • 2 weeks later...

40-66 minutes

Another Stuart destroyed, this time with infantry assaulting with grenades :-)

The two remaining Stuarts, enraged at their compatriots fate, have been buzzing around the battlefield like angry hornets spewing canister shot with great abandon!

So now all my AT Guns are gone, and my defence is largely compromised therefore I am going to try and exit any survivors off the map.

Carnage as Italian Bersaglieri get caught by a deadly canister shot.

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The ricochet saves some Italian lives but claims others.

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Close up look at death!

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Cross the tracks at your peril!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Using his remaining 2 Stuarts the enemy wipes out my last pockets of resistance.

Hex 18,7 Battle finished.

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My casualties - ~75% of my men and 100% of my 8 x 47mm AT Guns.

Enemy casualties - ~50% of enemy infantry and 4/6 Stuarts.

Both me and my opponent apply these casualties and the two other battles in Hex 13,12 & Hex 10,8 to our respective Order of Battles (Both Italian artillery batteries were eliminated using the PzC assault function). As well, the survivors take a large morale hit after suffering such high casualties.

Terminator!

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Final enemy dispositions.

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My intention this battle was to slow down and degrade my opponents armoured thrust across the river torwards Ribera.

The survivors of 5th Construction Engineer Battalion & 74th/10th Bersaglieri Battalion retreat back into Ribera.

Meanwhile the 4th Construction Engineer Battalion & 35th/10th Bersaglieri Battalion defending the 100 Point river crossing hex at 15,11 also retreat back into Ribera.

They were up against a large Sherman and infantry force. I think they have more of a fighting chance in the narrow terraced Sicilian town of Ribera than standing at the river.

Over to the NW the 9th Battalion, 104th Panzer Grenadier Division accompanied by 5 Grilles travel along the road East to recapture the 300 Point Hex 10,8. They will have to assault over the bridge therefore they are in travel formation.

Overall after Axis movement

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  • 7 months later...

There are some photogenic battles in this round 10, I think. So I am going to try and get this thread going again!

Here is the current strategic situation with the three Allied assaults this round marked.

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The assault at Hex 14,6 for 200 Victory points is on hold until the adjacent assault at Hex 15,6 (Poesel71 vs Kohlenklau) is finished. This is determine which Axis forces can arrive as reinforcements in hex 14,6.

I am up against Fizou my opposite number in Hex 10,8 for 300 Victory points.

We are between 15-30 minutes into our respective battles.

Some quick snap shots to get the overall picture then I will add more detail later!

Hex 10,8 300 Point Victory Location Allied perspective

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Hex 10,8 300 Point Victory Location Axis perspective

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Hex 15,6 Allied perspective

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Hex 15,6 Axis perspective

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More coming soon....

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Some pics from the Hex 15,6 Northeast Ribera assault.

The Stuart opens fire with canister shot, range <100m.

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The shot ricochets off the stone wall, splitting left and right.

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The Italians take casualties and their already tenuous morale drops a further notch!

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US armour and infantry have broken into the East of the Town.

Two Stuarts are already burning after some very effective PaK 40 'shoot & scooting'!

The Bersaglieri are doing a fighting retreat West into Hex 14,6 the main part of Ribera town.

Meanwhile the German PaK 40's are planning to exit as well after the 30 minute mark is up. They will reinforce the main defence of Ribera in the next battle.

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Over at Hex 10,8 things are going from worse to snafu!

Fizou has played his trump cards - Shermans x 3.

They are bearing down on my 'Town' objective (I must hold 2/3 objectives to claim possession of this hex and it's 300 Victory Points).

Hex 10,8 Front lines 'Town'. 35/90 minutes

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Camouflage is sooo pretty..

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From above.

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Shermans advancing towards 'Town'

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Must get out of Sherman's Line of Sight!

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