Avanti! BigDork vs Penry Reverse - ALLIED DEFENCE

[Penry]

Orders:

Two jeeps circled in white to dismount.

Purple halftrack and pink infantry squad to hunt forward just a bit. My halftrack outpaced the infantry boys last turn, something I didn't want to happen, so my halftrack will pause for half a minute first.

My other halftrack will reverse out of combat a bit, then hunt forward along a different axis, then reverse to the previous spot, then hunt forward on another axis, and repeat. I don't want to push forward any more, but I don't want to lose contact with BDs men, and I don't want to remain stationary either!

Recon team in north forest to sprint to the edge of the map and then hunt thier way up towards where I suspect BDs mortar team to be setting up.....

(forgot to plot movement path on image below)

(Must have coffee before playing first turn in the morning!)

Farmyard halftrack - as before

Mortar team - as before, except I've switched to target light, to conserve ammo.

[Penry]

Turn 5

More joy with my halftrack in the south woods, although the Italians did get some reward too!

The Italian who was in the halftrack's sights at the end of the last minute didn't survive long, despite adopting the foetal position in the dirt. Only waving the white flag might have saved him!

My halftrack then reversed out of the action, back to the anchor point of my bipodal attack pattern. While starting off on its new axis, a grenade landed near the rear of the halftrack, killing my rear gunner.

Soon another couple of Italians came into view, running for there lives, into the depths of the forest. Shame they didn't run fast enough - two more kills for my halftrack heroes!

My halftrack slammed back into reverse not long after, and before the end of the minute two more Italians fell to the curtain of lead I was laying down. I've got to say, despite being a very rash strategy, flushing out the woods with my halftrack has reaped huge dividends!

Elsewhere, BD's mortar team (red circle) showed their faces, launching a couple of rounds across the width of the valley. The first round landed near my scout team near the edge of the south forest. The second round was uncomfortably close to my scout team in the foxholes by the southern barn. The sooner I deal with this mortar team the better!

My own mortar team continued with their mission, with little success. The first round landed in the soup; the second was very long, landing way beyond the intended woods. I might have got lucky and hit a follow up team, but it would have been a pure fluke if I did. Both mortar teams had a round in the air as the clock stopped.....

[Penry]

Orders:

Halftrack heroes will reverse out of the action, take up a whole new hunting path, then hunt and reverse in a new tripodal (is that a word even?) pattern.

Orange halftrack and yellow infantry squad will hunt forward. Halftrack is still to the front, so will pause for 30 seconds first again!

Recon team dark blue will hunt forward into the depths of the forest

Recon team mid blue will move forward half the arrow, then hunt the rest of the way. I'm anxious to take out that mortar team ASAP.

Recon team light blue will move forward half the arrow, then hunt the remainder.

Farm halftrack to cease fire.

Mortar team to continue light targetting the woods on the other side of north bridge.

[Penry]

Turn 6

A pretty quiet turn, although I may just have inflicted some kills on BD and his men, but I also lost another man from my northern recon team. Just as they were switching from moving forward to hunting forward they came under some small arms fire, dropping one of my men and causing the other two to turn and run for it. I think that I've advanced enough down this flank now, and will take up a defensive position and let BD come to me. I'm not sure how much use two men will be, as BD has a few men up here, but they will at least act as an early warning when BD decides to move forward.

He's certainly decided to load this flank. I watched a whole squad of men run up the hill from the back of the map. They almost reached the top of the hill by the end of the minute (white circle in overview), but not before one of my halftracks in the farmyard squirted them with lead. Unfortunately it all fell short and BD escaped unharmed. His men are sure to need some rest at the top of the hill. I might just send him a welcome present.....

In the southern forest, my halftrack heroes had a quiet minute, at least offensively they did. They took a bit of small arms fire from BD, including some sort of MG fire, but no casualties were sustained and no visible ones given out. I have marked the location of the incoming MG fire on the overview with an orange circle.

My other halftrack crept forward and, right at the end of the minute, spotted an Italian with a mean looking machine gun (red circle below). A bit of research indicated that it is a Breda M30 LMG ( I didn't get to see much of BDs hardware last game, everything was blown up from a long way away!). Why is all the Italian equipment so messed up? I'd hate to think what goes on under the bonnet of all these Ferraris and Masseratis! Needless to say, he's enemy number one next turn!

Other than the above it was a game of mortars. BD fired off two, with a third incoming at turn's end. the first landed midway between my jeep and the southern barn, the second landed near the foxholes on my side of the north bridge. Does BD think I have men in these foxholes? Does BD have two lots of mortars at the entrance to the northern forest?

My mortar team zerod in on where I suspect BDs men are resting up. The first round was a touch long, the second round landed right in the middle of the trees, the last round landed just by the bridge wall, on the tree side. If there is anyone there then I'm sure that I must have caused some damage!

[Penry]

Orders:

Halftrack heroes to take out infantryman in front, then fork off towards the hidden MGer, then reverse and do the tripod maneuver again.

Purple halftrack to take out LMGer, then hunt towards hidden MGers position. Hopefully I'll catch him in the vice of death!

Pink infantry squad to hunt forward and take the centre.

Dark blue recon team to hunt forward and take the left flank.

Light blue recon team to withdraw then set up defensive positions.

Medium blue recon team to hunt forward and then set up defensive positions.

Yellow halftrack and infantry squad to motor it up the hill then take up reserve position.

Mortar team to switch targets to last known position of BDs mortar team. Hopefully BDs infantry squad who have just sprinted up the hill will also be having a breather in the general location!

[Penry]

Turn 7

Hmmmmmm, things turned to custard in the southern woods. Everything that could go wrong did, but these last few turns have been a blast and I know that I've hit BD hard, both in game and in his psyche. Only time will tell whether it was worth it in the long run.

My halftrack heroes started the turn continuing their rich vein of form, mowing down at least one more man, probably more if you include those hits on Italians I can't even see in the undergrowth. Just look at the carnage! This is real Hamburger Hill type stuff. BD must be at his wits end!

Things didn't go all my own way though. While reversing I lost my front gunner, but my rear gunner soon took his place. No sooner had he stood up to lay some more hurt on BD than he too was taken out by an Italian sharp shooter. Grenades were incoming from all angles and it wasn't long before I started to take track damage. Next a grenade landed right next to the drivers door, forcing him out of his seat and to the rear gun. Another exploded just behind the halftrack, forcing him to make a crawl to the front of the vehicle. Just as well as the next grenade landed inside the compartment. How it didn't take my driver out I will never know! What I do know is that by the end of the turn the halftrack was immobilised and my driver was cowering in the front gunner seat in panic. I wonder if he can rowse himself for one last stand behind the front machine gun........

My other halftrack fared little better. They started the turn letting off a stream of fire at the LMGer in their path. This failed to kill him but forced him to run away into the depths of the wood. They soon came up against multiple contacts, but had the sense to keep their heads down behind the protection of their armour. Unfortunately one particular Italian had a keen eye and managed to get a shot through the drivers view slit, killing the driver! My brave gunner took over the driving and reversed back to safety as a hail of small arms fire came raining down on the halftrack. In his haste the driver reversed into amarshy area and the halftrack ended the turn unharmed but bogged down!

Behind all this action BD's mortar team were pelting the area around my jeep with fire. The second incoming round hit home and destroyed the jeep, but the rounds kept falling for the remainder of the turn!

My mortar team fired off one last round at the north bridge, then spent the rest of the minute repositioning for a strike on BD's mortar team position. The round that was already in the air also landed on target, so, if anyone was hanging out in the woods they have definitely suffered!

I suffered one last casualty this turn, one of the two withdrawing men from my left flank recon team. There's now just one man guarding my extreme left flank.

Lastly, I spotted another Italian mortar team running up the hill to the same location as BD's other one. If I can het lucky with my incoming mortar strike then awesome, otherwise I might be in for some mortar grief of my own soon!

[Penry]

Orders:

Both recon teams on the left flank to hold positions and dig in.

Halftrack on left flank. Drive infantry squad to northern barn then halt.

Recon team, infantry squad and bogged halftrack in southern woods to hold position and await the inevitable assault.

Halftrack hero is out of command at the start of the turn, but I'm hoping for some heroics!

Mortar team in farmyard to light fire on BD's mortar position.

Forward observer team in farmyard. Time to earn your pay. Call in a heavy ROF, medium duration linear mission just to the rear of BD's mortar teams position. Incoming in 4 minutes.....

[A Canadian Cat]

Hmmmmmm, things turned to custard in the southern woods. Everything that could go wrong did, but these last few turns have been a blast and I know that I've hit BD hard, both in game and in his psyche. Only time will tell whether it was worth it in the long run.

Burned by your own success. I still have not learned that lesson: when things are going well and you think "wow that was awesome, they can do that again next turn" it is time to ask your self if you really should. I still leave guys in place too long or press an attack that is really not equipped to deal with the whole picture. Maybe I'll learn one day. Or maybe not.

[A Canadian Cat]

A request. Could you use the clock to indicate your turn. In stead of:

Turn 7

Do this Minute 38-37 or similar. Using that format makes it much easier to synchronize the two AARs.

[Penry]

I know exactly what you mean! I even mixed it up as much as I could with my hero halftrack, taking them to new locations, ordering the back and forth tripod and bipod maneuvers, I guess my luck just had to run out eventually!

I take you point re turn numbering. Unfortunately I can't go back and edit (is there a time limit here for editing, because I'm sure I edited a post yesterday?) but will do so from now on.

[Penry]

Turn 8 - Minute 38 to 37

Alas, all good things must come to an end. BD siezed the initiative and started to advance his infantrymen towards my stricken hero halftrack. Realising that the game was up, my driver jumped out of the cab as BDs men swarmed aroudnd the vehicle. No sooner had he started to run away than he was calously mown down by the Italians.

The only possible lining is that, just a couple of seconds after my driver met his doom, something caused a huge explosion in the halftrack! Maybe my hero rigged some demolition charges jsut before he bailed out? With luck the explosion managed to take a few of the too eager Italians with it!

The only other action was from the mortar teams. I managed to land three rounds near the last known position of BDs mortar team, the rounds walking back from near the track towards the rear of the map. Another round was in flight as the turn ended too!

BD landed a single round between his men and my stationary recon team in the southern forest. I wonder if my first round took his mortar team out? I sure hope so!

[Penry]

Orders:

Infantry squad in northern halftack to dismount and dogleg round to extreme left flank, out of sight of the long forest track. Halftrack to stay put this turn.

Recon team in southern forest to hunt forward into a line with three defending units.

AT team in farmyard (now rested) to jump in the nearby jeep......

[Penry]

Turn 9 - Minute 37 to 36

Looks like each side is licking it's wounds and taking stock of the situation. The only event of note was another mortar landing near the last known location of BD's mortar team (yellow star), and the emergence from the very same location of two mortar teams. I'm presuming that they have decided to up sticks and move, probably expecting more mortars to land around their location. They end ed up in the little stand of trees and at the very top end of the far wall that lines the track leading up to the forest (red circles).

Other than that, the only other thing worth commenting on was yet another infantry squad running up the hill, accompanied by yet another motar theam (orange arrow). BD certainyl has a load of men in this encounter, and a good deal of them seem to be loading my left flank!

[Penry]

Orders:

Mortar team to shift fire onto the location taken up by BD's mortar team at the end of the far wall by the forest track.

Offboard mortars due to land in 2 minutes!

Northern forest halftrack to move into position at the end of the forest track, to provide overwatch down the track.

Infantry squad to continue their dogleg maneuver.

Jeep and AT team to race up to the southern barn.

Southern recon team to hunt forward a touch more.

[Penry]

Turn 10 - Minute 36 to 35

BD is still massing men at the top of the track leading to the northern forest. They seem to be staying fairly mobile, no doubt he is trying to outfox my mortar team, but I was very unlucky not to really hurt one of his mortar team milling around up there. At least, with them moving around all the time, they are unable to set up and fire down into the farmyard.

Two spotting rounds from my off field 81mm mortar section landed in the forest proper.

And a single round from my 60mm mortar team in the farm landed right by BDs mortar team who were at the end of the wall. They had moved forward to a position overlooking the valley and just as they arrived a round landed right behind them. I can't believe that BD didn't sustain a casualty from this!

During the minute I spotted numerous infantry squads and mortar teams, milling around in the general area, popping in and out of view in amongst the trees. Otherwise there was nothing else of note.

[Penry]

Orders:

Halftrack in northern forest to advance up to the position of the empty jeep.

Infantry squad to continue on their dog leg to the left flank.

Mortar team in farmyard to continue light firing at the top of the track leading into the forest.

Off field mortar are about 1 minute away from their linear strike (orange line and crosses)

AT team in jeep to dismount and run to the halftrack.

[Penry]

Turn 11 - Minute 35 to 34

Crap! Bad day at the office for my brave Americans! Mr. Scenario designer (yes you Mr. Jaws!), you're a naughty person!

There was my 1st Rifle Squad, strolling along in the northern forest, safely behind the front line (or so I thought), doing their dogleg walk to get round to the far left flank unobserved. Before they knew what was happening they were getting shredded, by what I can only presume were reinforcements that must have come on the corner of the battlefield that turn! A machine gun got the first few, then, as my men turned to run away, grenades started to come raining in left, right and centre. The machine gun took out one more man and I ended the minute with just one terrified rifleman running for his life! Not impressed!

Things didn't go much better at the farm. BD's mortar teams wasted no time gettign set up and started launching round after round at the farm. One round took out the leader of my mortar team, with two other rounds landing dangerously close. Four other rounds landed in close proximity to one of my halftracks, threatening to make a bad day even worse!

My mortar team responded by launching four rounds back in the general direction of BDs men, but there were no confirmed kills, even though I have a hunch that I might have caused some hurt in return. Two more spotting rounds landed from my offboard mortars, both way off target!

Another quiet turn in the southern woods, thankfully. I expect BD is regrouping his men in these woods, ready for a push through the forest towards the southern barn, or even down the hill towards the farm, if he is feeling brave enough.

[Penry]

Orders:

Time to get the hell out of the northern forest! BD can have the northern barn, it's cost me too many men already!

Halftrack to withdraw towards the first bridge buildings.

Recon team to sprint to jeep.

Left flank recon survivor to sprint to his jeep.

Halftrack target in farmyard to reverse out of danger and head to buildings by first bridge.

Time to reveal my machine guns! Each to target BD's mortar teams that are causing trouble at the farm. My mortar team to switch targets to BD's infantry team on the forest track. I can't quite target them, but I can get close enough I hope......

Southen forest defenders - as is.

[Penry]

Turn 12 - Minute 34 to 33

A mixed bag this turn. I suffered some losses, but I'm sure that BD suffered more, even if I'm unable to see them!

I came in for some more grief in the northern woods. It looks like BD has more men in that corner of the battlefield than I thought and better prepared than I thought too. He definitely has a MGer (red oval) who now has eyes down the forest track which leads down to where the host of his northern men are. As my halftrack tried to swing round to withdraw back to the houses near the first bridge, it came under heavy machine gun fire. So heavy that it caused the driver and gunner to bail out! Once outside of their vehicle one was mown down and the other fled into the woods! Towards the end of the turn my recon team survivor reached the jeep, but now I'm uneasy about sending him back down the road. Going forward seems little better!

Which brings me nicely round to the area where BD's northern troops are massing. I hit it with mortars this turn, and hard!

My little 60mm mortar in the farmyard managed to get two or three rounds off, before they decided to pack up their tube and crawl out of their foxhole. Luckily my 81mm mortars followed right after they packed up, approximately twenty rounds landing right on top of the where I think (hope) BD was massing his men for his push through the woods.

My MMGs in my farmhouse buildings were also pretty effective. They caused one of BD's visible mortar teams to pack up and withdraw back into the woods (and my mortar strike) and the other to spend the majority of the minute cowering behind the wall lining the forest track. I doubt I'll get a hit on these guys, but with 3000 rounds apiece I can keep there heads down for the next thirty odd minutes!

BD did manage to pepper my farmyard with a few more rounds, but it didn't feel as intense as the previous minute, and petered out as the minute progressed.

As mentioned above, my 60mm mortar team did decide that enough was enough and crawled out of their foxholes, but I hope to have them back in action as soon as possible!

Things were still quiet in the southern woods, at least for most of the turn. I did occasionally spot some Italians hunting towards my men, and right at the end of the turn I spotted a bloody Italian machine gunner lying in the dirt, trying to pick of my infantrymen. I really don't want a repeat of what happened in the northern forest!

[Penry]

Orders:

Northern forest jeep to attempt a cross country escape through the northern forest. If he gets out of the forest then it's pedal to the metal back to the bridge buildings!

Halftrack by first bridge to take up a position behind the buildings, looking up at the northern forest.

Left machine gun in farmhouse to keep BD's mortar team behind the wall cowering, while my mortar team crawl back to their foxhole, set up once again and then target the same position with 60mm mortars.

The right machine gun is to switch to target the infantry team at the edge of the southern forest. I have revealed my location now, so I might as well make hay while the sun shines!

Rifle squad in southern forest to target BD's machine gunner, while my halftrack creeps forward until it too has eyes on him. Between them, I hope thay can dispose of him!

[Penry]

Turn 13 - Minute 33 to 32

After my recent blip, and the attendant loss of men incurred, things have settled down again somewhat. I feel that I am causing BD a few headaches again, and I feel that I will be able to regroup again and defend my victory location, with the exception of the northern barn, which I am happy to conceed, especially if BD has a port of entry for reinforcements right by it!

My off map mortar strike on BD's forming up location continued again this turn. Either I have wasted a ton of rounds on some empty forest, or I have caused BD a world of pain in this area! Another twenty to thirty rounds landed in and around the edge of the forest. If anyone was in the area they must have been pulverised. Anyone who has managed to survive is going to be freaked out by the slightest noise for the remainder of the battle!

I also managed at least three confirmed kills this round too (red crosses below). The first was BD's mortar team hiding behind the stone wall lining the track to the northern forest. Their heads were kept down for the majority of the minute again and the one time that they were brave enough to sit up and attempt a few pot shots down the valley, I took one of them out!

I also hit another mortar team member, this time his team that had packed up last turn and ran away. The rest of the team ran back into the cover of the woods before I could inflict any more casualties. I'm just happy that I have them either cowering or running around, either way they can't be lobbing rounds back at me!

The last confirmed casualty was in the southern forest. Not the MGer that I spotted last turn, he vanished as quickly as he appeared, but a rifleman that was trying to take on my infantry squad. If BD comes at me in dribs and drabs then I'll be more than happy, I should be able to keep them at arms reach and pick them off one by one. I'm counting on the fact that my hero halftrack team managed to mess his men's morale up enough that they are unable to launch a co-ordinated attack.....

[Penry]

Orders:

As previous turn.

[Penry]

Turn 14 - Minute 32 to 31

Damn! What were some of my last words in the last minute's write up? 'I'm just happy that I have them either cowering or running around, either way they can't be lobbing rounds back at me!'

Well, what do you know, BD's wall hiding, dirt hugging mortar team managed to set up again and perfected the art of firing mortars while cowering behind their wall! They got five or six rounds off at me - lying in the dirt, then just popping up for a view while they fired a round, then cowering in the dirt again, and repeat, and repeat!

I wouldn't have minded if the rounds hit in the middle of nowhere, but they all landed around my AT gun. Result? Scratch one AT gun!

It was all pretty quiet elsewhere. A couple of visible casualties were exchanged in the southern forest. I took out an Itlalian rifleman, then I lost one of my stand in gunners from my halftrack team, which caused the driver to bottle it and start reversing. Looks like morale may be fragile on both sides.....

[Penry]

Orders:

A light, short, linear 81mm mortar strike has been called in on the suspected positions of BD's men in the southern forest. Four minutes until incoming!

Halftrack to move up to southern barn.

White jeep to wait 15 seconds for last passenger, then race down to first bridge buildings.

Black jeep to weave it's way through the northern forest.

60mm mortar and MMG to keep the pressure on BD's mortar team!

[womble]

...then I lost one of my stand in gunners from my halftrack team, which caused the driver to bottle it and start reversing. Looks like morale may be fragile on both sides.....

That kind of behaviour is not unusual, for halfies. They're jittery under fire, or even any kind of threat, even when their morale is fine.