CM war stories

[JasonC]

I played Berli in a hotseat at Rune's, at a CMAK screening iirc. Computer picked forces. He had high quality Brits with some infantry, 2 Staghounds, and one MG only Humber armored car, which he was sure was a useless piece of junk. I had one StuG, a 75mm PAK, a 20mm AC (4 wheel type), and a platoon of infantry, regular quality. Oh and a trench.

I set up too fast ("the LOS tool is your friend" - write out 100 times), and put the ATG on the main road meant to sight down it, but well back on my side of the board, in the trench, which was stretched across the road. After hitting go I noticed the gun didn't actually have LOS down the road because of a lip of ground, and needed to be about 6m to the left to see. I figured what the heck, how fast can he get way back here? One minute of grunting, 2 minutes of setting up, the trench is still good cover after moving, no problem.

Meanwhile I sent my AC bravely down the road looking for him, poking out from behind a tall wood building. The StuG was well back, planning on pivoting around woods the infantry was in to run through his armor. The ATG was supposed to be the "stopper" to keep him from just playing ring around the rosy with the StuG. All purest gossamer theory - lol.

What actually happened was, one of his Stags drilled the AC within 6 seconds of it getting LOS. His Humber meanwhile had a long fast move order straight past said AC, onto the road, down it right through the middle of my positions. Go get this piece of junk killed recon. But instead it worked lol.

The Humber would have been meat if the AC stayed back 15 seconds longer, but as it was it breezed by the bailing crew and onto the road. Panzerjaegers are grunting with their gun. Down the road the uber Humber steams, past hiding infantry, right up to the trench and gun. It circumnavigates the trench, the PAK still on emplacement delay with the Humber 10m away firing at them with its mighty MG. Berli is howling at this point, as well he should. The gun crew abandons.

His crack infantry works close while my now rather lonely StuG starts around the trees to the right. His Stags play ring around and support his infantry. The StuG eventually doubles back, the infantry slows his but not for long. Just as the StuG tries to push through some scattered trees to get LOS, Berli runs one Stag around its left. The turretless monster doesn't pivot in trees very well, and soon there is a Stag 50m away and no more StuG. His crack infantry steams over a mere platoon of regulars with MG support from his vehicles.

All very British if you ask me, "To war in a string-bag" on land...

[DBaron]

My most memorable expierences with CMBB came from playing Biltongs campaign. Played in a number of quick battles using parameters and units I would never have bothered to use otherwise. IIRC the worst was being ordered to conduct a night counterattack with something like 20-30% ammo, with my company being worn out and half strength. I think I got only ten turns or so into the battle before I got an auto cease fire since my troops refused to fight anymore.

[Glider]

Campaigns produce strange setups... I remember in the CMTB campaign (PGDivision GrossDeutschland around Akhtyrka, near Kharkov in Ukraine, in August 43, conducting a counterattack against the Soviet 6th Guard Army and 27th Army), when my opponent tried to seize a bridge using 12 Panthers and a some mechanized infantry against the defending force of 63 6-pounder Valentines, 4 85mm guns and a LOT of infantry.

[Joachim]

A night battle. Soviet assualt in a factory district. Soviet forces: Paras. Ammo: 70 or 80%. IIRC it was on one of the Kiev maps of BCR. As it was foggy, LOS was down to 30-40m. I set up a defenisve perimeter in the rear - 2 plts of inf covering my tanks and HWs. A single PzGr plt with 1-2 Romanian LMGs as flank protection got in the way of half the Soviet force - paras with FTs. The position was well covered with mines, burning tiles and wire. The Soviets attacked on the right flank of my plt position. When my plt run out of ammo they made an orderly withdrawal even though the minefield was breached. A few turns later the game ended.

Own losses: Nil or almost nil.

Each squad scored 100+ kills. HQ had less kills, but had to fight the only intruder.

Lots of enemys laid where the wire was placed on a road next to a fire tile. It was dead ground - but the hand grenades worked pretty well.

Result: Victory, as the AI only held 2 flags.

Gruß

Joachim

[slysniper]

Joachim

Interesting set up, it reminds me of a few that I have been wanting to try but have not yet.

But wow, 100+ kills, that is very high, even against the AI, no wonder it sticks out as one for you to remember.

[Dandelion]

Warstories.

Playtesting a scenario against a human opponent. Normandy setting, rolling hills and forest, two roads meandering through the landscape.

The enemy launched an assault all along the MLR, which soon focused into three separated battles over a crossroad, an orchard and a hill.

The battle for the hill, an irregular hill with several hillocks and patches of forest and brush, became the most memorable. It offered several covered routes of redeployment, which was to characterise the battle. A reinforced platoon managed to hurl back two dedicated assaults, enemy infantry supported by Priests and halftracks.

The first assault pretty much stopped dead in its tracks when hitting a reverse slope defense. I seemed rather untouched.

The second assault was persuaded to leave only with great effort. The enemy repeatedly tried to flank the position and needed to be chased off with repeated counterattacks. At times the platoon fired in three separate directions and I was totally tied down, unable to act. Prospects seemed grim. But the enemy faded away rather surprisingly and regrouped. I regrouped myself to the rearmost defendable resistance nest offered by the hill.

By the third attempt, few in the platoon were still alive, no AT rounds were left and hardly any ammo left either, and so the line collapsed very rapidly under his two-pronged shock assault supported by a Priest.

One squad from another platoon had been held back in reserve, veterans with high firepower. I launched it as a flanking attack, hitting the enemy line from the right rear, rather imemdiately after the collapse of my defense. I didn't really believe it was a prudent measure but I was out of options. The squad assaulted across (and rear of) the enemy frontage and enemy squad after enemy squad turned and routed, or surrendered. I was rather stunned.

My opponent later told me that most commanders had been lost by then, few men had any ammunition left and the remaining squads were severely depleted. It had been the same company assaulting all three times.

With a victory of sorts, the feeling was more one of exhaustion and relief than of triumph.

I know it probably sounds very vanilla, but it remains my most interesting and intense infantry combat experience in CM. Though forces were small, each turn took me a good hour, as every single decision was decisive.

Cheerio

Dandelion

[slysniper]

Dandelion

Battles like the one you are sharing are the best, I love it when the outcome is close and every bullet counts, I have one at this very moment where I am having to pull units and save the last of the ammo for what should be a struggle for the main objective to the very end of the game.

[Lurkur]

From the Onion Wars circa early 1943-

The Russian infantry had located the forward defenses and the tanks were coming to blast 'em good. An enemy tank sound contact rumbles down the road. It's a Tiger! which proceeds to brew up a Sherman on the first shot. The Tiger spends a minute looking menacing while the reds back away as fast as they can. The Tiger then backs off to a copse of trees that is marked by TRP. I drop a salvo of super heavy artillery on the tank, and bring my tanks forward for a Tiger rush.

The artillery explodes and the sound contact disappears completely. There is silence in heaven and earth.

Did the artillery get the tank? Cap the TC? Nick the paint job? My question was answered when the Tiger roared out and nailed another tank on the first shot. That's IT!

I rushed the sucker with 5 tanks. The nasty cat stayed put but turned it's turret, ending the turn facing one of my tanks. CRAP! The other tanks found the Tiger and began firing at 150m and continued to close the distance. The Tiger hit the tank it was facing on the first shot. Fortunately it was only abandoned, so I eventually got it back. Now there were shots pinging off the Tiger every three seconds or so. The Tiger starts rotating to back out when a single shot penetrates the turret. The crew bails, and was chased halfway across the map. Bastages got away! Discovered that the Tiger was CRACK, or on crack. Losing it left a mark, to be sure.

Oh THAT was a tense game of Cat and Mice!

[dieseltaylor]

My best battles I cannot remember but incidents yes. I was fighting against a human in the woods of Finland [actually he was Finnish] and I had bought a Flampanzer. I was in the process of being overrun by his infantry and T34/85's against my tank and platoon.

There was a slope rising in the clearing and one of his two tanks was working along the slope to nail me. He came into sight at about 40 or so meters and my two flames beat his one shot - leaving me enough time to flame a squad who thought they would waltz across the "open" ground.

And of course the 17pdr in an ME who nailed a platoon of crack Panthers by himself : )Which as it was the enemies entire armour .....

The Valentine nailing a Stug at 1454 meters from the slightest of head on angles getting a side hit.

The joys of playing.

[David I]

Late 1941 Russian Counterattack. I was the Russians and my T-34's were doing a number on my opponents PzIII's and II's. I got points for exiting units so my Infantry advanced behind my tanks. One reinforced platoon had be advancing on the reverse slope of a ridge. As I came to the crest I ordered them to Human Wave to the next cover.

They prepare to advance...

The Russian Infantry advances boldly with the cry, "Uuurrraaahhh" resonding over the steppes...

Suddenly the unexpected sound of a divebomber and the scream of the falling bomb.... :eek:

A huge explosion....

When the dust clears, 47 dead Russians, every man in the reinforced platoon! No survivors...

The beauty of this game is that it's cool, even when the unaccountable, very bad thing happens to you.

DavidI

[ May 07, 2005, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: David I ]

[Flenser]

"Only their boots left." Nice.

My favorite moment came a while back while playing a Soviet Assault QB, I was the Krauts.

My opponent was wisely moving his T34s in packs of three and generally causing all sorts of havoc. My lone AT gun in the area had fired at the lead tank of one these packs, missed, and got hosed by return fire. Not good. Thinking that he cleaned out all my AT assets in the area, he decided to rush his tanks foward and flank a group of my infantry that had ambushed him in a previous turn.

All three tanks had to move through a small gap in some woods to reach their destination.

Covering this gap was a lone Tank Hunter team. I had ordered the team to "hide", and not set a cover arc (I had simply forgot about them, it was a rather large battle). Plus I wasn't expecting such a rash move, charging forward with the tanks without first clearing the way with infantry. So the round ends with a T34 just entering the gap, the other two behind it in a column.

The next turn I un-hide the TH and target the lead '34. A mine sails through the air and brews the lead '34, 10 seconds into the round. The next 34 bumps into his now burning friend, stops, and briefly tries to back up. It is interrupted by a second mine blowing it to smithereens. This doesn't faze the last '34, which in true Ruskie form also tries to force the gap.

So at the end of the turn sit three burning T-34s, three dead crews, and one unhurt TH team with a grin so large you could see it even if you zoomed all the way out.

It's probably still the largest Points Killed/Unit Cost ratio I've achieved (300 pts of T-34 for 12 pts of TH).

[slysniper]

These last two are great, nothing like amazing outcomes

[George MC]

Originally posted by David I:

Late 1941 Russian Counterattack. I was the Russians and my T-34's were doing a number on my opponents PzIII's and II's. I got points for exiting units so my Infantry advanced behind my tanks.

When the dust clears, 47 dead Russians, every man in the reinforced platoon! No survivors...

The beauty of this game is that it's cool, even when the unaccountable, very bad thing happens to you.

DavidI

Aye you still kicked my butt! I could'nt see that happening for all the smoke from my burning panzers

George

[SpitfireXI]

Has anyone seen a motar round drop down an open hatch? I have tried to replicate this in the game but I think the probabilities are so low that it would take a couple of years before I see that.-But my favorite war story is the plucky 6 pounder Valentine that destroyed an entire German armor advance using shoot and scoot tactics. The tank ended up with 9 tank kills to his credit. The AI could never spot the tank till he had alrady fired and was reversing.

[von Nev]

The most fun I had (not actually playing anyone) was with I believe a scenario called "Fun with Firepower". Somebody created it just to see how much damage could be done by a single shot. So they created a valley map and packed something like 1000 troops into the valley. On the top of the hill was a lone German Sturmtiger with its 38cm rocket launcher/mortar. When the turn started the troops started to run in all directions trying to get the hell out of the way. The tank slowly moved its gun almost like it was trying to find the best place to get the most casualties. It fired one shot into the packed troops and killed everyone of them in a TREMENDOUS explosion. I laughed so hard on that one I think my stomach hurt.

(Boy I am a sick freak)

von Nev

[Code13]

Originally posted by David I:

When the dust clears, 47 dead Russians, every man in the reinforced platoon! No survivors...

The beauty of this game is that it's cool, even when the unaccountable, very bad thing happens to you.

DavidI

Thats funny!

A similarthing happened to me playing CMBO - I was playing a British recon force advancing through a small hamlet, I cant remember any details of the battle apart from it had been hard fought between some top grade troops on both sides, right at the end though I was assaulting the germans last redoubt, a well dug in 88 that had ripped my light armour to pieces before they could get to cover, and a good amount of infantry.

Fortunately I had managed to save a full platoon of infantry for just this job and I begun my assault.

At that exact moment MY air support turned up, misdropped its bombs and landed them both in a perfect straddling shot across that platoon!

Boy I was spitting feathers at that Typhoon pilot!

[RawRecruit]

Before:

After:

'Nuff said!

[Larry Thorne]

Originally posted by RawRecruit:

After:

'Nuff said!

I have been thinking about the greatest thing happened to me in CM front for awhile but this picture above cleared my mind from all the long stories of fun battles...This happened last fall: I was playing DEY the Daffy´s great scenario DEY The king has arrived. Exellent fight against great opponent. Result isn´t the thing but that one glorious moment (I watched the replay about 100times :eek: ) my heroic soviet tankhunter team knocked out a King Tiger WITH A MOLOTOV! :eek: The KT was struglling in muddy conditions in scattered trees as it was close enough my tankhunter boys jumped up from the foxhole and threw the Molotov right on top of the rear deck and knocked it out...the hunters were soon cut down by MG fire and shells from other KTs approaching, but their names are carved in my board of heroes!

Cheers

-LT

[Code13]

Originally posted by RawRecruit:

Before:

After:

'Nuff said!

I must be lucky then I seem to be good at getting hits like that against light german armour...

However I have seen two FT teams hose down a Panther for a full minute without scratching it, only for the Panther to waste them with its grenade dispensers.

Same thing happened to a full platoon on engineers throwing demo charges at one

[General Bolt]

Originally posted by SpitfireXI:

Has anyone seen a motar round drop down an open hatch? ....

Been there done that.

I blindly targeted an inf flanking maneuver with a 81mm spotter. The rounds miss by 150 meters, right in the hatch of a lend lease Sherm. Turned out the infantry was a weakend platoon and the main attack up the middle, wiped me out later in the battle.

[Noman]

My favourite moment so far was against my best friend via a LAN game. Bear in mind this game was immediatley after a humiliating defeat at his hands after badly losing the armour war. My revenge would be sweet. So...I was the Gerries in a late war game versus the Soviets. My friend, poor soul, had been fed lies by the computer, who had incorrectly given him a positive ID on my Jadgtiger as a Tiger and "ambushed" it with 3 captured Panthers it as I was cresting a hill (the sheep ambushing the wolf in sheeps clothing?). They were veteran units and very accurate with their shots but, too bad so sad, all 8 or 9 shots they fired in the first round of battle ricocheted harmlessly off my 250mm of front armour. And I laughed... Actually, my words to him were "AHAHAHAHAHA!!! As your friend I must advice you to FLEE! FLEE NOW!! FLEE WHILE YOU CAN!!!" His response was an enraged "WTF!" (Remember he was getting a positive ID as a Tiger) He decided to stick it out for another 2 rounds. My J-T decided he wasn't gonna stick it out another 2 rounds. And I laughed some more. All this was after my J-T had killed a couple of his KV-2's that thought they could kill my "Tiger". I probably had 20 rounds ricochet off the J-T that match. Good times. Incidently, after calling a ceasefire due to a very late hour, he still had all the flags (5?) but I beat him hands down for points. I'd decided I was just gonna bombard him into oblivion with my Brumbars and J-T's HE rounds and the plan had been a overwhelming success. Poor bastage!

P.S. In response to "How do I take pics of screenshots?" this is on the FAQ: "On a PC press Print Screen. This saves the screen to the clipboard. Then open Paint and use Ctrl + V to paste to a new document." -Big Ron" What if I don't have a paint program, what is a clipboard, and how do I attatch a pic to a post? Sorry I'm rather ignorant of computer whatchamadoozits...

P.P.S. Dandelion, the games which leave you exhausted are the most satisfing for sure. Great post!

[ May 12, 2005, 12:42 AM: Message edited by: MaxDFury ]

[Freder]

Mine has to be a Feb. 45 QB Had a King Tiger and a Sturmtiger with a good amout of inf. AI snuck a tankhunter team around my right flank and sneaks up on my sturm tiger (I had moved it too far foward after knocking out all the AI's armor) Tank hunter team suddenly races out of some nearby woods spooking the Sturm which turns and fires on them Killing the tank hunters and itself. Not the First time I've suffered FF from those sturms but the first time I've seen a unit kill itself. Leson learned never move a stum thats out of mg ammo anywhere near where it can be attacked by inf.

[Larry Thorne]

Originally posted by MaxDFury:

P.S. In response to "How do I take pics of screenshots?" this is on the FAQ: "On a PC press Print Screen. This saves the screen to the clipboard. Then open Paint and use Ctrl + V to paste to a new document." -Big Ron" What if I don't have a paint program, what is a clipboard, and how do I attatch a pic to a post? Sorry I'm rather ignorant of computer whatchamadoozits...

If you are running Windows then you should have paint. If not some other drawing/picure editor program can be used. If you still don´t have anything in this matter

download this Irfanview

or this UOSU

Hope those help.

Cheers

LT

[Gpig]

Just played a FUN QB ME versus my pal, last night.

CMAK game, mind you. He was SS Mechanized, I was the Yanks. Italy. Computer picked forces.

He's got a Tiger, a Stug and a Panther (plus a couple of halftracks.) And a reinforced platoon of infantry. (We played Armor forces)

I get 1 plt of HMC 75mm tanks. 3 M10's. A M4 Sherman and a couple of halftracks. Plus a platoon of Engineers (with FT's and bazookas.) Add a couple of .30 cal Mg teams.

I put my M-10's on the flanks and run my platoon with HMC support right up the middle. I throw an MG team and a FT team into a halftrack and secure the left flank with 'em. (They've got M10 overwatch backing them up.)

The battle develops VERY slowly. His men hiding because my HMC's will destroy them if they move from cover. Then my HMC's hiding once his Tiger and Panther crest the hill-top. (Not to mention, 2 of my M10's ALSO decide to chicken out, reversing into cover.)

Then MY men hide. And he starts crawling forward towards the objective. His Panther stalks my LEFT flank. takes out my halftrack (which has already dumped his passengers into the woods). He takes out one of my HMC's. Things are looking bad. I've taken a few shots at his Tiger, to no effect. When my M10's spot the Panther, they decide to retreat.

I take a guess that his Panther is going to go right by my FT team in the woods. So I give him a covered arc and hide him. His range is 45m with the flame unit.

Sure enough, it all comes to a head during 2 turns.

Just as his Panther rounds the corner of the woods to take out one of my M10's (which he does), my FT team unhides and gives it to him good. Blowing him up in a catastrophic explosion. No survivors!

Then, his Stug rounds a bend and falls to one of my M10's in overwatch.

Next, as he's pushing up his Tiger, one of my HMC's buttons it up with a burst of .50. Then the Tiger stumbles blindly into the LOS of my other two M10's.

Boom! Kaching! Boom! Pen., Immob. Boom! Side turret Pen. BOOM! Gun hit.

Next orders phase he surrenders.

Cpl King and his Flame thrower receive a BOAT load of medals.

Ahh, that was fun. I thought for sure I was going to lose that battle. Tigers and Panthers bring a lot more to the battlefield than just points. They bring fear.

Gpig

[Falcon988]

All right I got one.

Germans counterattacked my positions at Anzio on February 16, 1944 and completely smashed through my first line of defense. I mean just obliterated them, causing entire companies of infantry to disappear and never be heard from again. The survivors staggered back to friendly lines and I rushed up reinforcements to fill in the gaps for what amounted to one of the most desperate defensive battles I've ever seen in CM.

First the Germans launched a full scale attack on my center, defended by a platoon of U.S. infantry. I managed to strip them of their armor at long range with my own dug in tanks and ATG's, so they resorted to mass human wave assaults. I called in heavy artillery to support, 155mm and 107mm batteries, and hit the attacking Germans with massive fireballs. It was amazing to see an entire attacking formation of enemies -disappear- in the flames. A lot of Germans kept on coming but the remainder were shot up by my troops and they retreated in disarray.

Next they pressed my extremely weak right flank, guarded by a platoon, an ATG, and the artillery batteries. This was the scene of the most desperate fighting because if the Germans had broken through there they likely would have won the battle by turning my whole line. Four assault guns and more German infantry than I ever want to see again smashed right into my battered GI's. The Germans bungled their attack though and ended up losing their tanks to my ATG and bazooka fire, so the infantry was left unsupported but they still outnumbered me 5 to 1. Again the 155's and 107's were called down and pumelled the Germans into dust.

Nevertheless there was a distinct point of the battle where the Germans entered grenade range and were close to being overrun. So close in fact that a withdrawal order was given and the GI's started falling back. Corporal Grilli on his M1919 machine gun stayed behind and opened up on the Germans, single handedly stopping their attack in conjunction with the artillery. The GI's returned to their positions and the Germans retreated again. After that the threat to Anzio was pretty much over.

Anyway, in that battle the Germans took 1006 casualties. My 155mm spotter had 312 kills and my 107mm spotter had 101.