kohlenklau Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 No, I think Neidermeyer's first name must be Francis... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) You are of course absolutely correct, as the video shows. (I believe the vid shows Francis Niedermeyer, Jr. of the Bundeswehr.) Crazy Hans was the old man's nick given to him by his comrades, in an attempt to keep him from being sent to Russia, where they wanted only serious, sane snipers, like Ed Harris. Edited March 27, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Minutes 46- 39 Furhmann headed left, eventually settling his section down along the slight rise at the edge of the road, keeping a close eye on the left-hand destroyed bridge crossing. Still, after several more minutes...nothing. All quiet. Ruppertz and Weber wove their way through their own wire in the village and made to the end of the stone wall without encountering any sign of enemy activity either. Ruppertz decided that they were too exposed to any British force that may be hiding in the river bed, and whispered to Weber that they should pull back. "Besides, there doesn't appear to be anyone around here anyway. We haven't seen or heard a thing for five minutes!" Of course, the gods of war can play the cruelest tricks at exactly the wrong moment. Literally, just as they arose and turned their backs to the bridge.... BAM, BAM, BUDDA-BUDDA...rifle and automatic fire rang out! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) Ruppertz goes down, shot in the back almost without warning. Weber buries himself in the dirt, hoping the grass will hide him in the semi-darkness. Mein Gott, what just happened?, thinks Burke as he trains his binoculars from his position in the village. Fire back, throw some grenades, don't just hide like a rabbit, Ruppertz! But these are green troops in a punishment unit, and when faced with a choice between fighting and getting captured by the Allies with perhaps only a wound, why risk raising your head? Weber crawls a few feet under fire...Okay, okay, maybe if I lay doggo for a while, just maybe I can somehow get out of this, thinks the very, very rattled Flieger... But a grenade puts all thoughts out of his mind, forever! Burke takes a hasty look around, desperately trying to determine if these are just British scouts, or if the push is coming right at the village and up the road. Edited March 27, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Ouch. They should have waited another 5 minutes. Timing is everything! Not even a cry out for a Sanitäter... Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Indeed. More on that shortly, Heinrich. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) Minutes 39 - 33 The British appear rather suddenly farther up the road, and immediately open fire. But what exactly do they see and fire at? They appear to be firing on the 81mm mortar behind their trench way back in the rear, but they could just as well be firing on the crossroad trench. No bullets actually hit either trenchwork, so it is hard to tell. No matter, both Schreiner's 2nd Squad/2nd Zug team (in the crossroad trench) and the mortar team quickly cower and become rattled, then almost immediately shaken, and stay that way for several turns! (In the first screenshot, Schreiner's Team is in the trench...and are OK for a few seconds. Second screenie shows his team with faded icon. But note that one-man Pfaust Team Schulist kept his cool and rode it out.) Edited March 29, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) ...Burke then let's his men open up...no use waiting to see if he spots the AA guns in the trenchworks behind town first. The AA teams open up, and in combination with automatic and rifle fire from the village, Brits start to go down! Using preregistered fire, the light 50mm mortars open up at full throttle as well: Up to this point, and although the British fire has caused some troops to cower remain unresponsive to commands, the only two casualties are Ruppertz and Weber. However, a sniper seems to have zeroed in on the AA trenchworks: Lt. Burke is very pleased and relieved that the kill zone created by fire from the village, the light mortars, and the AA guns (assisted by the TRP at the crossroads) has caused the British to go to ground. Consequently, their fire is easing up and offering Burke an opportunity to shift units around a bit, and maybe get that 81mm mortar firing at last. Edited March 28, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 [All you followers (well, I know Heinrich505 is reading these reports anyway ) will notice the Allied armor icons in the last picture...if you are reading the Allied AAR, and assuming Chappy has kept you up-to-date, I suppose you already know his armor is on the field. I only discovered them in either Minute 31 (or maybe it was Minute 30).] Minutes 33 - 29 Even though the British infantry seems to have gone to ground in the crossroads area, Lt. Burke is concerned that his troops out on the road flank are too exposed. With machine gun fire easily reaching the 81mm mortar position, and with it and the sections in and around the crossroad trench cowering so easily (both the 81mm crew and Schreiner's 2nd Squad section went from OK > Pinned > Rattled > Shaken in the course of one turn), he faces a dilemma regarding positioning of those right-flank troops. Do they stay in place, or displace a bit to avoid counter-fire, especially from mortars and arty, or displace a lot, back toward the village??? British LOS to my troops seems very good, and he has a machine gun firing almost continuously down the reverse (my) side of the road. Burke decides some units must move in order to either get into better defensive spots, or simply to scatter into the long grass in the field behind the crossroads trench. British medium mortar rounds bracketing the crossroads made Burke's decision much easier! The light mortars get moving after lobbing about 30 rounds towards the crossroads: 2nd Squad moves out into the field behind their trench: After firing at the British from the road shoulder, heavy enemy fire convinces Obergefreiter Kruwell and 1st Squad to move into the trench. During the move, an enemy grenade or Piat round (or a tank round?!?!?) hits nearby: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Good action. You don't have to convince the lads to buck down in the trenches with all that fire ripping around them. Good displacements. I usually wait too long when mortars are trying to find the range on my positions and then...blewwy! Does the MG have enough visibility to interdict the road? Or will you just have him throw rounds down the road to discourage the Brits from crossing it? I hope that wasn't Heinrich that got zinged at the Flak gun. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 I'll double-check if it was Heinrich or not. Don't think so, I think he's with the "Regular" grade gun in the village. The HMG has LOS down to the crossroad, maybe a bit beyond. If he survives (you'll see why I say that in a little bit), I might fire for interdiction down the road if/when his troops starting crossing the road. I have to be careful though, once it starts firing, I'm afraid he'll nail it pretty quickly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Those are some seriously shaky troops to be that badly affected at that sort of range! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Minutes 33 - 29 (cont.) At the end of the Minute 31-30 mark, as Unterfeldwebel Teichert's light mortars are falling on the Brits near the crossroads, British fire is cutting the air over the heads of those in the crossroad trench, and his spotting rounds are impacting, ominous engine sounds are heard! Schiesse, TANKS! From the sounds the men are hearing (contact icons) they appear to be several Shermans and a couple of light tanks, Stuarts probably. So far, they are between 200 - 400 meters from the road, out on the right flank. Displacement suddenly takes on even more urgency, because no one wants to be caught out in the open with those monsters around. Their positions suggest they are going to be driving at me north-to-south (right to left on the screen), so I may be able to use the road shoulder as a short reverse slope/bulwark/rampart for protection. Well, maybe not much protection, unless the men slip down a tad, and hopefully draw the vehicles in closer. The turn ends relatively quietly, with enemy infantry--a Bren gunner showing-- sitting right on top of my mortar registration point on the secondary road to the north. I will task the 81mm with hitting them with some rounds, if they ever become un-unglued! Crazy Hans is about to shyte bricks, though, because just as he was getting down into cover, the armor came into view! Eventually ending up right across the road! We'll be keeping a close eye on Neidermeyer over the next few turns! Somehow, even knowing the enemy has armor, when you see them, it is heart-stopping. It's no longer an expectation...it's here and now! A Sherman, looking toward the end of the road toward my AA gun and HMG. With a sigh of very minor relief, Neidermeyer sees that the light tanks, or at least one of them, is actually a bren carrier. Little solace though, since it has a machine gun and presumably infantry in and around it. It too is pointed east, toward the end of the main highway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) Your men may all be in Valhalla by the end of the battle but it looks like you could take a few with you! Just like with Crazy Hans, please keep us posted on how Guyver, Slebner, Heinrich and "the Burke-ster" are doing! I will remember to enter names as *Slebner* for example so next time so we can easily see our tracked characters... Edited March 29, 2015 by kohlenklau 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Gaak!!! Sherman tanks...never a good sight, unless you are peering over the lip of your Panther turret and your gunner is lining up the sights...did Guyver save any demo charges? We might be needing them soon. Did you put a tight covered arc on Crazy Hans? If not, he might just try to take on the Bren crew. Did he remember to bring any grenades? He doesn't like anyone touching his stuff... I know what you mean on the MG crew. A few bursts and everything the Brits have might be falling all around them moments later. Nobody tell the FLAK boys about the tanks just yet. Let them think it is only Brens they are facing. The Spiess "depleted" the schnapps earlier and there wasn't quite enough liquid courage to buck up every FLAK crew. Damn, war is Hell!!! Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Don't worry, I'll keep you posted on all the characters. Guyver is alive and kickin' in the ville, with 4 demo charges. Burke is in the vile too. There actually is no flak crew or flak HQ with any one named Heinrich, but I heretofore designate the Regular AA crew leader in town as him. I forgot who Slebner was.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Aw crap, Heinrich bought the farm! He was the Flak Battery CO...promotions only happen when...gulp! Slebner was your MG34 gunner at the battle at the Dommel River bridge...then when they dragged back a blood stained MG42, he cleaned it up and should be there somewhere at your side. Green but with high motivation I think... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Battery CO? I'll double check an earlier file. ohh, that's Slebner. The other HMG is in town, so he should be safe. I was going to put up the very last turn...Chappy won't see it until he plays the file I sent him after he went on vacation. My doc said the new medicine I started last week (nothing major) might cause my to get pretty sick for a few days. Looks like it took hold this evening. Feel like crap...hopefully better in the morning so I can bring you all up to date. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Well Heinrich, perhaps I should have warned the Flak boys after all.... Minute 29 The turn after the first tanks were spotted, the flak crew on the right flank near the road exit lifted their heads and saw "something" straight ahead...they could hear an engine, but the gunner couldn't get a bead on whatever it was. Feuer, feuer, for Gott's sake, feuer!!, shouted one of the crew. At what?, the gunner yelled back Just then, something exploded on the other side of the trench. A tank round? A mortar? A piat? Heavy automatic fire followed, causing part of the gun crew to jump into the trench, leaving the gunner and loader at the gun, with one of the ammo crew nearby. [Has anyone ever seen that happen in CM games? Maybe because part of the trench was actually in the same Action Square as the gun--although I don't think it was...will have to check that????] Before the gunner could get a shot off at whatever was firing at them... there was a loud CRACK!, and half the crew were dead or wounded, the gun just a piece of twisted metal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) Minute 29 (cont.) Luckily, the nearby HMG team was neither targeted nor affected by the chaos next to them. Minute 28 As the panicked remnants of the AA crew and ammo team take off on their own in the general direction, and relative safety, of Valkernswaard, British small arms fire and a Sherman's bow machine dogs their steps... Meanwhile, the 81mm crew finally gets their nerve up--for a few seconds, anyway--and lobs 3 rounds on target. No casualties are seen, but at least one bren team is keeping its head down. Elsewhere along the road "line", tanks, machine guns, small arms and mortars sweep the unfortunate Fliegerern. Casualties mount. Edited March 31, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) Minute 29 (cont.) As for the stalwart heroes of the earlier skirmish at the bridge most are still safe in the village or the nearby trenchworks... Guyver: Slebner, who seems to have swapped his heavy machine gun for a lighter version. (He moves into the trenches next turn): Leutnant Burke: Heinrich's situation is a bit more precarious, along the road between the crossroad trench and the 81mm position: And then there is poor Crazy Hans. Despite his general psychosis, he still can sweat bad situation... Edited March 31, 2015 by mjkerner 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Minute 27 (or "From Bad to Worse") Thinking that since the remnants of the AA crew and ammo team already started heading on their own towards the Exit hexes, I would have them lay doggo for a minute to get a sense of where the enemy was, then try to hustle them off the map. But to their complete surprise, British infantry pop up right on top of them! One makes a break back toward the gun position... ...but is gunned down. Those not hit, surrender. Although a calculated risk, the HMG team wisely broke from cover and headed over the road toward the 81mm position, and made it safely, despite all the lead flying all around. As the enemy continues to fire up and down the road positions, Neidermeyer is still in a sweat.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Geez, that was crazy action. Those doggone Brits sure are sneaky, infiltrating like that. One FLAK gun down. That was a brutal hit. Good to see that the MG boys got out for the moment. Heinrich's position looks grim. As for Crazy Hans...call him the iceman. Cold, calculating...lining up for the kill shot....just don't touch his stuff. Sorry to hear about the medicine. Take your time and post when you feel better. We'll be waiting...patiently...well, sort of patiently....Kidding! Hope you feel better. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Minute 26 Here is the general Sit-Rep at minute 26. Two platoons of Shermans, plus bren carriers and infantry, coming from the right. Obviously, Chappy will grab the road exit, and swing left (his right) to hit the road full-on broadside. At least I hope so, since that is now the only real hope I have to nail or immobilize a Sherman or two. I will keep 1st Zug spread out a couple of action squares away from the road in the tall grass, while the AA guns and infantry in the village and trenchworks rake the road when his infantry tries to actually take possession of the road sections, then hope a tank gets close enough to loose a 'faust at it. Besides a general shellacking from tanks, machine guns, automatic weapons and mortars along the road, this minute of action wasn't as bad as it could have been, I guess: The HMG at the road exit made it into the 81mm trench, but the assistant gunner went down. And Niedermeyer's situation went from bad to worse. He's soaked in sweat now.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Minute 25 Lots and lots of action this turn! I'll start with Crazy Han's situation, but I won't be able to get to the rest of this minute's Sit-Rep until later. I figured you'd want to see this one "live".... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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