comic Rundstedt Sends His Best - a CMFB Comic AAR

[A Canadian Cat]

I hope the crew has migraines from two (!!!) direct hits from a 105!!!

I forget if it was this hit or the next one that took out the gun but at this point my day was pretty much ruined.

 

hehe I have to stop somewhere... It's pure coincidence they're cliffhangers, I swear! 

LOL brilliant - always leave them wanting more.

 

I didn't see any penetration hit text so I am not optimistic that it's disabled. That's a total of five hits on this thing, including two weapon hits. That's one tough SOB....

Initially when I occupied the ridge I saw a number of tank contacts, but once I was forced off those gradually faded, until a few minutes ago, when they started reappearing. I haven't seen anything, but about 5 armour contacts  have shifted position over time. 

I am surprised he hasn't attacked me in force yet, but he has a narrowing window of time to do that. I am drawing a few possible rationales:

1. He may be concerned about crossing that large open space before Liefrange. It's risky for his infantry and half tracks will not be able to do so as long as I have my armour. There is also the not-inconsequential risk of immobilization crossing that terrain, which could throw the balance of forces out massively. 

Yeah, the plan was to use the StrumTigers to take out your strong points and your armour and then run the open space with men inside the HTs while the barrage was coming down.  The theory being that with the tanks gone only .30 cal fire would be left and most of my infantry in HTs would make it over the open ground.  That was the plan.

Once the Stigers lost their guns I changed it to infantry dismount just before the crest of the hill and pray that some of them make it while the HTs cover them as best the can under the cover of the barrage.

Once I saw how sad the barrage was going to be the plan stayed the same but only with the sad barrage.

Once you shredded half my assault force the plan stayed the same but with less men.

In other words after my initial success pretty much total disaster for me

2. He doesn't know that I spoke to a Bil before we started this battle and that Bil wanted the M36s and I took the Chaffee so that we don't both showcase the same things and ignore other new units. Had that not been a consideration, the Chaffee would have been replaced with an M36 and this would be a bit more problematic for Ian. Be that as it may, the simple in-game rationale will be that the unfortunate Lt. Lawrence simply didn't get any M36s due to the vagaries of war. Bad things happen, and you don't get your ideal force when you want it. 

From a meta-game standpoint, Ian has enough points in my view to buy another 3 serious tanks, like Panthers. If he went infantry-heavy then he has a big problem because he can't reach Liefrange without taking massive casualties. So you can understand my wish to make him come to me. He doesn't have time to sit there forever and bombard me to bits, and I hold the key objective, without which he cannot win. 

Yeah but I wanted the impact of two Strum Tigers to appear.

 

Ugh, yeah, that was an unpleasant surprise... I was NOT expecting that!  That is over 1/3 his total force points right there, folks...

 

Looks like the made quite an impact

I remember that comment

Though I believe it was in reference to reloading times and how to make it appear it's happening faster by doing a relay between two SturmTigers. Regardless, you were right. I won the lottery...the here-come-the-Germans lottery!

...

TWO SturmTigers? That sneaky S.O.B!

Looks like Ian will be happy to simply explode everything.

... that was the plan yes

Wouldn't it be nice if they both bogged while turning to move so they would point to the side of the map and be useless??? *sigh* One can dream... 

Hah - only forward and reverse movement for these guys - at least in your view.

Stupendously wonderful news! Anyone can win a "balanced" battle. IanL has given your men a golden opportunity to prove their mettle. Allow them to die for you. They will thank you.

I suggest inciting the Sturmies to fire, then use the lull between shells to charge up at them. If you don't have a jeep, use the Chaffee and just dismount the crew next to the Sturmies. It will be glooooorious!  

Thank you for that Ken.  Sadly at this point while dramatic they are toothless dragons because both guns are out of commission.  So my dramatic "OMG there are two of them" really turned into "how hum two broken down wrecks". 

[Bud Backer]

I feel honored!

Michael

What I figured was that between the oblique view and the map I made, you can easily work out which unit is which. Hopefully. 

[A Canadian Cat]

Yeah, you hid that pretty well. Was that deliberate? If so you timed it perfectly to have the second one replace the damaged first just at the right moment to account for reloading. 

Related to that - why didn't you bring both up right away? When I saw you had two I wondered why both weren't just levelling the town.

Yes, it was deliberate.  I was going for the dramatic effect.  I could have made two big booms at once and then went silent for three minutes and then do it again.  My plan was to do one big boom every couple of minutes for a bit then then bring them both out for for a big double blast.  I figured that would have a pretty good effect for your comic

Honestly I prefer more sustained fire so that was what I was after.  The hide the one reloading was for dramatic effect. I am glad to see that it worked.  Although one astute reader guessed what what happening pretty early.

 

Ha! You call that bogging! That's nuthin' compared to me. 

In the comic I didn't even mentioned EACH instance of bogging because after a time it became ridiculous. Bessie, the 105 Sherman, kept bogging in the last 6 minutes so much that she'd advance a few feet and bog again. Rinse and repeat. Eventually I treated it a one long bog simply because it would be repetitive in the story. 

The chaffee bogged in the last 3 minutes 4 times. 

Etc...

Yeah bogging is going to be a concern with this title.

 

This is what makes an exception to the "let's ceasefire when asked" discussion in the other AAR. It furthered the story, and made sense to have forces disengage. 

In any event, your willingness to see it through to the end was enthusiastic and that is much appreciated. 

Sure no problem.  That is in keeping with my philosophy though - when ever I offer a cease fire to my opponent it is more to tell them that when they are done they can wrap things up.  I never want or expect the game to end I just want them to know that when they are done they can end the game.  This is a special case for sure.

[Bud Backer]

Thank you for that Ken.  Sadly at this point while dramatic they are toothless dragons because both guns are out of commission.  So my dramatic "OMG there are two of them" really turned into "how hum two broken down wrecks". 

The funny thing is that you did to me what I did to you in our Singling battle - you just used them as much as possible as if they were supposed to be there, as if nothing was wrong, and I was convinced you had two fully operational Death Stars SturmTigers until a good 4-6 minutes after the last one fired its big gun. So well done! Maskirovka, the Russians call this!

 

Edited February 1, 2016 by Bud_B

[Bud Backer]

Yes, it was deliberate.  I was going for the dramatic effect.  I could have made two big booms at once and then went silent for three minutes and then do it again.  My plan was to do one big boom every couple of minutes for a bit then then bring them both out for for a big double blast.  I figured that would have a pretty good effect for your comic

Good effect? More like armageddon! 

Honestly I prefer more sustained fire so that was what I was after.  The hide the one reloading was for dramatic effect. I am glad to see that it worked.  Although one astute reader guessed what what happening pretty early.

MikeyD!  

Sure no problem.  That is in keeping with my philosophy though - when ever I offer a cease fire to my opponent it is more to tell them that when they are done they can wrap things up.  I never want or expect the game to end I just want them to know that when they are done they can end the game.  This is a special case for sure.

I agree with you and that is my approach too.

 

[A Canadian Cat]

Bud,

  Holy Crap...talk about double trouble.  They say bad luck comes in pairs.  That is one hell of a tag team. 

  I liked the new flash teaser.   What have ye up your sleeve, me wonders.

Heinrich505

Sigh if only.  At this point they are toothless dragons.  Now if they were operational things would get interesting.

 

I had to post something to boost the sagging morale of the readers! 

LOL - I see my dramatic entrance had quite an effect.

 

Of course, a comic illustrated book is much simpler to make when each panel is filled with red.

Give Ian his due: his unveiling was masterful!

Thank you thank you.

 

I'm sure I previously warned the German commander NOT to parallel park on ridgetops...?

Yeah, the message runner must have go lost in the snow.  This was a huge miscalculation on my part.  Oh man bad bad bad.  The loss of both guns was bad but then to loose half the attack force - I should have begun withdrawing at this point but how boring would that be

[A Canadian Cat]

The funny thing is that you did to me what I did to you in our Singling battle - you just used them as much as possible as if they were supposed to be there, as if nothing was wrong, and I was convinced you had two fully operational Death Stars SturmTigers until a good 4-6 minutes after the last one fired its big gun. So well done! Maskirovka, the Russians call this!

Exactly the FOW in this game is the third player and such an important part of the game.  Think about the other armour contacts you saw and thought might be other tanks.  All this stuff keeps the opponent off balance and is such a great part of these games.  All of which is essentially unattainable in miniature or paper based rules (yes, yes I know there are systems to allow for it and you can use umpires etc but there is simply no comparison to how it works in CM).

Brilliant stuff.

[A Canadian Cat]

Looking excellent!

 

I have to agree. Instead of being stupid, this is actually fun! Possibly because it is tied to CM and not just the product of some boobs decrepit imagination?

Michael

So,l true - and I agree it is because the source material is coming from CM (and @Bud_b).

 

Earlier we were speculating about a gun hit on the Sturm then discounted it when the beast returned and resumed firing. But perhaps that was the second Sturm that had 'returned' and the 1st did indeed receive a gun hit... maybe. 

I love how even at this point there is uncertainty about the status of the big guns.

 

"It seemed, however, that the Americans had what they needed to stop the Germans cold."

Indeed they did.

[A Canadian Cat]

Heroes are amazing when they arise. But that's just it, they arise out of the action, one unit or man that is exceptional. We can't decide that someone is a hero, unless we stack the deck and give him superlative experience, morale, etc (none of which happened here, in fact my force is on the low end of the curve because they represent a unit shattered in a previous battle). This is what I think is one of the insufficiently acknowledged positive features of CM games; that units do totally asinine things, as well as Alamo-like fights to the death against insane odds. Both are representative of what has happened at various times and places in real battles. That I cannot with certainty predict their behaviour is a good thing, in my view.

 

+1 for sure - how ironic that my first major score of the battle caused you to have a guys hiding in such an important spot.

 

Bonus feature!

I made a Gif of the last 30 seconds of the battle for you to enjoy it "live" so to speak...

I hate it.  OK OK I hate the content - having in the thread is good.

 

And the mystery unravels.

 

What did you think of the slow-motion fall of the PanzerGrenadier lieutenant? 

I'm experimenting with things but won't bother if they don't really interest you. 

I think it was awesome - the comic effect that is.

 

Now that you know the truth about the Strum Tigers  -  now the wheels really come off the assault.

 

Welcome to the forums; nice first post!

It is especially rewarding to get a comment from someone like you - if someone can be bothered to register just to say "thanks" it's really a big deal, so thank you very much! 

Yeah, excellent.

[RockinHarry]

 

Naw, I don't think anything has changed.  The thing about being on the ridge line like this is if the shots are not right on the bullets just wizz by and have little impact.  They guy doing the buddy aid did not even realize he was still being shot at.

Hm...maybe, but from my experience in CMBN, a single bullet ricochetting from far away into the immediate vicinity of the medic would already be sufficient to get him interrupted. Maybe there´s differences between a medic from a high morale unit and one with low morale I can´t tell. Time for another test setup to find out. 

[Bud Backer]

+1 for sure - how ironic that my first major score of the battle caused you to have a guys hiding in such an important spot.

It's funny how that worked out. I spent the last 5 minutes of the game looking for a way to throw into the comic the following: 

On some level it can be argued that the destruction of the M4A3E8 early in the battle was the critical component of Allied victory. Without the Sherman's destruction, PFC. Berry would not have been at the south end of Liefrange, and would not have spotted German halftracks on the eastern side of the ridge, which was what drew the Chaffee to the hill where he was hiding. That led to the discovery of the attack force on the west side of the ridge, and their annihilation. The Sherman and her crew were the price of victory.

I think it was awesome - the comic effect that is.

Thanks! You'll see that again...

 

 

 

[General Jack Ripper]

... that was the plan yes

Well, for what it's worth, I always approve of a plan read simply: "Make everything explode."

Once I realized there were two SturmTigers, I was waiting for buildings to topple like dominoes. Then again, I have no idea as to the ammunition capacity on those tanks. I haven't used SturmTigers myself since CMBB.

It was certainly nice to see them again, and in such a dramatic fashion too! Thanks Ian, and thank you Bud for taking the time to make this comic.

[Bud Backer]

Well, for what it's worth, I always approve of a plan read simply: "Make everything explode."

Once I realized there were two SturmTigers, I was waiting for buildings to topple like dominoes. Then again, I have no idea as to the ammunition capacity on those tanks. I haven't used SturmTigers myself since CMBB.

It was certainly nice to see them again, and in such a dramatic fashion too! Thanks Ian, and thank you Bud for taking the time to make this comic.

Thanks for following, SLIM, and for your comments and support.

 

[c3k]

Very well done, gents! I loved it.

Thanks,

Ken

[A Canadian Cat]

Well, for what it's worth, I always approve of a plan read simply: "Make everything explode."

Once I realized there were two SturmTigers, I was waiting for buildings to topple like dominoes. Then again, I have no idea as to the ammunition capacity on those tanks. I haven't used SturmTigers myself since CMBB.

Sigh I was hoping for more big explosions too.  What can you do my opponent refused to cooperate Amo supply is not an issue their rate of fire is so slow that I doubt we will be running out of ammo much.

 

Very well done, gents! I loved it.

Yes, it was fun - @Bud_B had all the hard work - excellent job.

[A Canadian Cat]

A good if embarrassing question...

The M16 had fired on other occasions at the SturmTiger(s) and was ignored. They seemed focused on the farmstead, where they are doing a good job of wearing down the G.I.s there. The German assault is clearly broken, with men running toward the back away from Liefrange. So moving the M16 was a miscalculation. I was thinking it would continue to be ignored, and that if it wasn't the case, its armour would be sufficient. 

Yeah they stayed until my guys were off the slope or taken out - except one became immobilized in the final minutes. So their mission was to cover the retreat as best they could so that Quad .50 cal was top priority once it showed up - before that the StrumTigers usually could not fire on it.

 

Oh man loaded up and unable to move - that totally sucks.

 

Woah, 3 bogs in one turn !

You specialise in disaster mate !  Play me !

  the motion blur on the Chaffee tracks/sprockets

Yeah what a turn for you.  Love the Chaffee tracks spinning.

 

For Sale:

1944 Used Half-track. 3,000 miles. Good running condition, radio has 8mm hole in it. Accessories: four machine guns. Carries driver and four passengers. Racks for hiking gear in rear. 

Engine turns over, smooth as silk.

Previous owner abandoned vehicle in France. 

Best offer or for trade. 

LOL nice

 

Love it.  Am surprised IanL tried to trade 20mm lead with the Sherman.  Seems to have ended...ah...badly. 

Yeah but again I was trying to get the survivors off the slope and @Bud_b had taking out most of the HTs and the men on the ridge so all I had left was the STigers and the 20mm HTs and the 20mm was the only thing that could do anything remotely meaningful against the 105 Sherman.  I was hoping for distraction and system damage.  And @Bud_b had it right - it had shoot and scoot orders.  I hoped it might get missed and get away.

 

Hahaha yes, that would be true. It's near-wracking - Thomlinson only has 3 AP rounds left...

The thing is i still had a platoon at the top of the hill so retaking it really was not happening especially not with just a single M24.  There were 4-6 fausts and two (or was there just one I forget) Shrek teams still up there.

 

1. Please don't forget to ask me what happened at 6 minutes left in the game.

What happened with 6 minutes left in the game?

 

I wanted to thank IanL for being my Guinea pig opponent in this battle. He's a tough one to beat as I've experienced multiple times since we started playing some time ago. More important was his collaborative spirit and his patience. Sometimes almost a week would pass before I could send him a turn back because I was in the midst of processing countless screenshots and organizing them and so on. 

Thanks, Ian!

 

Well that was my pleasure for sure - any time.  It was loads of fun and a great addition to the CMFB thread - well done @Bud_b!!!

 

Yes, I requested that from him, I'm sure you all would like to see the mess I made of them 

Ah oops - I forgot about that.   I'll have to dig the turn out of the archive.

[Michael Emrys]

The thing is i still had a platoon at the top of the hill so retaking it really was not happening especially not with just a single M24.  There were 4-6 fausts and two (or was there just one I forget) Shrek teams still up there.

Like I tried to say several pages back, bold is good, reckless is inviting someone to hand you your head.

Michael

[Bud Backer]

Very well done, gents! I loved it.

Thanks,

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

 

 

[Bud Backer]

 

The thing is i still had a platoon at the top of the hill so retaking it really was not happening especially not with just a single M24.  There were 4-6 fausts and two (or was there just one I forget) Shrek teams still up there.

 When I did the math (information Lt. Blanchard wouldn't have) I realized there was likely a platoon of infantry still up there somewhere. When I saw the guy with the panzerfaust appear, I sensed it would be a bad idea to challenge you for the ridge.

What happened with 6 minutes left in the game?

We discussed an upcoming ceasefire - you and I explained that a few posts earlier yesterday.

 

Well that was my pleasure for sure - any time.  It was loads of fun and a great addition to the CMFB thread - well done @Bud_b!!!

Thanks, Ian, again, it was a pleasure to do this with you.

Ah oops - I forgot about that.   I'll have to dig the turn out of the archive.

Don't bother, I still have the file.

 

[Bud Backer]

Like I tried to say several pages back, bold is good, reckless is inviting someone to hand you your head.

Michael

Hence my retreat with the Chaffee

 

[Bud Backer]

All right, here are the two SturmTigers:

 

This is the first one - recognizable by the barrel penetration at the 5-O'Clock position

It spend less time in the front lines because it got hit quickly and lost its main weapon. So the second one, masquerading as the first, came along and did it's stuff. 

What is incredible is that these two killed less together than the Chaffee. Tomlinson has a horseshoe somewhere, that's for sure! 

The other thing that is truly amazing is how much punishment these two things took. Yes, their main weapons were out, but even so, look at the scars, and recall the number of times the Sherman 105 hit either. And I didn't even show each individual hit, as it would be too repetitive for the comic... tough SOBs, these...

Edited February 2, 2016 by Bud_B

[A Canadian Cat]

What is incredible is that these two killed less together than the Chaffee. Tomlinson has a horseshoe somewhere, that's for sure! 

Or someone sent his guys out into the open without proper support...

The other thing that is truly amazing is how much punishment these two things took. Yes, their main weapons were out, but even so, look at the scars, and recall the number of times the Sherman 105 hit either. And I didn't even show each individual hit, as it would be too repetitive for the comic... tough SOBs, these...

Indeed.  They were both mobile until the closing minutes. I was disappointed I could not with draw both of them.  The sure took a beating though.

[Michael Emrys]

Hence my retreat with the Chaffee

 

Shrewd move. Your intuition did not fail you, Grasshopper!

Michael

[Bud Backer]

Just a reminder that I'm back to posting Apache: A Tank's Tale in the CMFI forum. You don't need to have the game to read the comic.

 

[Doc844]

Just a reminder that I'm back to posting Apache: A Tank's Tale in the CMFI forum. You don't need to have the game to read the comic.

 

just wondering if it is possible if BF  admins can create another announcement/sticky thread where work like this can be put into.  It would be a shame to see it drop out of sight as more posts are put up and I think they would be missing out on a great opportunity of advertisement for the game.  I know there may well be legality issues but it is a thought.  Same can be said for some of the truly outstanding AAR's that are done here, I know there is a search function but it's not that great and to have all the real quality work in one place for each game would be a win win for everyone.  

(just a random thought that popped into my head while I'm waiting for the clock to hit 5 at work).