VOT Spoiler: One Last Time -- Plomville Burns

[Guest grunto]

ok i was playing Michael Polito in vot. we started with me as the germans and he as the americans. somewhere during that time we fired up a second one with the situation reversed.

in the first one i put my 75mm pillbox se of 209, pointing n and hoping for an allied tank attack around the north side of the board, then moving south over that hill ne of 209. i figured that just as they would crest that particular hill, my 75 would let them have it. i put all three infantry platoons in the area s of plomville with all of the antipersonnel mines in various clumps of woods west of there. if the amis were going to come out of the sw woods they were going to hit mines bounding from woods patch to woods patch.

the 150 was there supporting the 75mm pb.

as it turns out the two sherman 105s worked their way over the map just as i'd hoped. the ami artillery was ineffective. when the sherman 105s crested the earlier-mentioned hill they knocked out my 75 and 150. they also had two squads on board.

there were also the 4 other shermans as it was probably turn 14 or so. well the ami infantry assault hadn't even materialized. with the sherman 105s in control of the east edge of the mapboard - for i had nothing on 209 - i decided to call it a day. i didn't want to spend several turns getting pounded by shermans as i tried to attack out of what i considered to be poor attack positions.

perhaps that's what they mean by setting up with some sort of exit strategy on defense. my infantry was intact but in terrible position. perhaps i could have killed a tank or two but i could have very well been slaughtered to the man just as easily.

in the second game meanwhile i thought i would lay waste to the german 75mm pillbox with my 105 FOs. the german 75 was on top of 209 and my sherman 105s were on the north edge of 216. they ran down the road early and hid in the dip west of the farmhouse.

roughly two platoons of infantry moved up on each side. the engineers were mixed with the regular infantry advancing from the north end of 216 down through the valley to the e-se. they were headed for the wall down there and the buiding roughly e of 216.

two regular platoons advanced down the center of the board.

the german 150 opened up early and was silenced relatively quickly by various american fire including 81mm mortar

meanwhile the 105 FO fire started kicking in as the sherman 105s lay in wait and the infantry tried to pick its way forward. all 50 rounds of 105 FO fire ended up being used with no effect on the pillbox. the rest of the 81mm fire was wasted on a wooden mg pillbox. in contrast to other battles where the tactic of using 105 FOs to take out the 75mm pillbox had worked, this time it hadn't and the 4 reinforcement shermans ended up having to face the 75.

meanwhile the two 105 shermans were loaded with a .50 cal, a flamethrower, a platoon hq, and a baz.

they roared off down the right side and were slated to rendevous with the 4 reinforcement shermans just nw of plomville. there in the dip near the woods north of the row of light, 2-story buildings they would consolidate and move eastward. the 4 shermans handled the 75 without loss and moved down the valley, trying to stay off of the road as they veered over hill 198 going ne.

one hit mine so there were 5 shermans.

the 2 105 shermans on the north wing swept past the farmhouse and the wheatfield. then they dashed into the valley east of the wheatfield but realized they'd closely flanked an infantry platoon in the woods to the s of them when a pzk knocked one of the shermans out. the .50 cal and flamethrower had to dismount and find cover in the scattered trees.

thus begins the story of lt. napier. he and his baz team continued to ride the other sherman 105, cutting south straight toward plomville. with german infantry behind them and a cement mg pillbox facing w toward 216 between them and plomville, this was tricky business.

the tank moved right up to the side of the pillbox while the german infantry were right there behind the tank, now to the tank's nw. lt. napier jumped off and ran into some woods just behind the pillbox. his unit was down to 3-1. the baz meanwhile had been eliminated.

the other three shermans continued over hill 198 and the first one ran past those woods n of plomville and further n-ne to try and help take out the cement pillbox. this pillbox was killing my machinegun positions on top of hill 216. as that first sherman 75 approached the pillbox it took a pzk round from some infantry in and around the row of 2-story light buildings. ok 3 shermans left.

meanwhile the two regular platoons were crawling straight up the valley and into the southernmost building of plomvile. they had long-range crawl orders. a german mg42 barked out from hill 209.

on the north the engineer and infantry contingent swept upon the infantry the sherman 105 had bypassed and helped eliminate it all in an attack. the engineer platoon was intact. those troops curled down and began gathering in and around the heavy building in the deep valley nw of plomville.

a lone flamethrower unit crept up behind the main body of infantry near the road into plomville.

the panther had by now appeared and the 3 shermans scrambled for cover. one sherman 105 was under the lip of the hill n-ne of 209.. the hill where the panther showed up.

another sherman backed into the valley where the dead sherman 105 sat. i wondered if this other sherman would die here too.

the 3rd sherman was caught in the open by the panther and killed.

meanwhile my infantry worked its way down the valley but by now it was pretty much tattered. i checked and there were eliminated american units of every type, leading right up to the building(s) they'd been told to crawl to. one of those buildings was in flames so the germans were taking some casualties it appeared.

the mg42 continued to fire from 209. if i'd just had a tank within los or some more artillery... several of the american units gave sporadic fire to the mg42 in an attempt to suppress or even better yet eliminate it.

the sherman 105 under the lip of the hill was rushed by the german reinforcement infantry. a sqad made it right to within 5-10 meters but was broken and crawled back through the clumps of scattered trees, shattered. the 105 continued to pound the outlines of the other german infantry still on the crest of the hill.

the last sherman 75 snuck up and after a near-fatal run-in with the panther camped directly behind the sherman 105.

the panther, not having any shermans to fire at but knowing that the shermans were in a spot where they couldn't move forward but only backwards, contented itself with hanging just out of sight of the shermans while pounding the american infantry with its gun and machineguns. the .50 cal and flamethrower from the first dead sherman 105 were sent back into that valley after trying to move out and consolidate with the other troops in the other valley just nw of plomville. the flamethrower was dead.

meanwhile in the middle a 6-6 american squad had insinuated itself into the light 2-story building closest to the church in plomville. german unit markings could be seen in both the church and in the 2-story light building 2 buildings down, to the w.

that 6-6 just stayed put. a 4-8 was battling it out from some scattered trees with the mg42 which continued to fire from hill 209. some germans were beginning to make contact with my southernmost squads, there by the road down in the valley just s of plomville.

squads is an overstatement actually. it was one 5-7 squad and a 2-2 platoon hq which were battling it out with some germans down around the objective marker there in the valley.

oh getting back to lt. napier. he snuck up behind that german cement mb pillbox and did something which caused a major explosion and fire in and around the pillbox. that was cool! so by now there were 3 fires... the pillbox lt. napier had attacked from behind at close range, the building furthest up 209 which had been torched in the 105 barrages, and one of the heavy buildings in plomville.

the two shermans both backed up at once to get los to the panther. they exchanged many rounds and finally my remaining sherman 75 torched the panther through a weak spot in its turret armor. the sherman 105 was toasted too.

so i have the last remaining tank and weave it back west to meet up with the remaining infantry in the valley nw of plomville. they'd been sitting there trying to avoid the panther's fire and were waiting for the outcome of the tank battle to decide what to do next. now that i had the lone tank, it made its way back to be in the thick of that last fresh infantry. lt. napier had come back out of the woods e of the destroyed pillbox and was back in conact with his remaining squads.

the reserve platoon had long since been added to the center attack. the units in the center were not in very good shape. 4 or 5 depleted squads spread about and engaging various targets. a fresh m1919 mg was moved up but was never a factor in the game. it had been guarding one of my 105 FOs in the sw corner of the map.

the engineers, infantry, and the tank started advancing toward plomville from the nw, along that crease or valley and toward the patch of woods n of plomville and w of the church. there were germans in the church still and germans on the top floor of the westernmost light 2-story building.

now it gets good. my flamethrower - which had patiently snuck up the middle behind the main attack force - somehow manages to make it into the scattered trees in the middle of plomville. he starts torching everything in sight. within about 3 turns he's burned 5 buildings, including the 2 of the 2-story ones... the two without my 6-6 squad. that squad remains in the last standing 2-story light building.

germans go running from every building torched. i'm sure there had to have been casualties.

now near the objective marker in the valley another mg42 rings out. the units on the far south are threatened. they are nearby the mg42. the sherman moves between a couple of the 2-story light buildings and finishes that position off. the americans have taken the valley objective and now the score is 46-41 germans. the last fresh infantry crawl through the small woods toward the church from the west. they take out a german platoon hq on the second floor and some engineers and an infantry team advance into the building and capture it on turn 35 as a 7-man crew flees out the other side.

the sherman pops out into the streets of plomville on turn 35 and faces east. there it is met with death from the remaining german pzk... doh.

well i could have gone for some major infantry charge at the end but i didn't want to take any more casualties in order to score higher in the game. i figured from about turn 30 that any gains i was going to make were going to be made in a sane and cohesive fashion. i wasn't going to do one last infantry charge - and it appeared that there were several german units all over hill 209 - for the sake of seeing what would happen. i'd seen quite enough in this one.

anyway i had to write about it because i'd never seen a flamethrower in action and that, combined with the exploits of lt. napier, and the brutal tank attrition, well it makes for a heckuva battle.

here's the final score:

Americans

Casualties: 182 (55)

2 mortars destroyed

6 vehicles lost

141 men ok

40 points

Germans:

Casualties: 127 (40)

5 captured

1 mortar destroyed

4 pillboxes knocked out

1 tank knocked out

73 men ok

57 points

andy

[aka_Deadline]

This was one of the best and closely played matches I have had, since playing the demo.

Andy made me rethink my tactics on a turn by turn basis and this lead to a well played and

thought out game...as you can see the score and casualties where high and the fighting was intense...

I have never looked more forward to recieving email since I was playing this particular game.

Again well played Andy

Deadline

Mike Polito

[Guest grunto]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka_Deadline:

This was one of the best and closely played matches I have had, since playing the demo.

Again well played Andy

Deadline

Mike Polito<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

yeah that was quite the battle. i learned something. it's very difficult to advance crawling over open into house occupied by german squads while an mg42 heavy is emptying all of its ammo on you.

it was quite the problem i had that my tanks couldn't see that guy after they went north. that lone surviving sherman never did get to shoot at that particular mg42. it did take out the late-arriving mg42 on the far south nicely to put the game at 41 46 going into turn 35. really what more could you ask for than 41-46 going in to turn 35 for an incredible game?

oh forgot to mention.. there were 5 rounds of 105 fo left at the end. i think in the back of my mind that the barrage had somehow kept your pzk further back. that was one reason i popped the sherman out into the open.

it appears we both had relatively well-defined lines at the end. we were split by the n-s road into town and the e-w road leading e out of plomville up 209. my line went from the church to around the flag in the valley and yours was kind of a 'box' in the se corner of the mapboard, marked by the above-mentioned roads. all buildings along the w of the n-s road - the small light and heavy buildings - they were all on fire if memory serves. the amis were mainly in strength in and around the church and had gotten some squads into the remaining 2-story light building and the small heavy building between it and the church.

the sherman kill at the end was from the pzk and they were both on the e-w road - the sherman at the bottom and the pzk up on hill 209.

man that was good. as brutal as i was telling those guys to crawl into plomville, they sure gave it the college try, and perhaps that flamethrower finally balanced things out a bit.

the 2:1 sherman-panther duel was awesome. there must have been 4-5 hits on that panther before it died.

as amis it sure is a helpless feeling when you've wasted almost all of your 105 and 81 fo ammo and you have to meet the germans face-to-face.

plus when your m1919s are at 2-3 and 3-2 atop 216 it gets dicey. the 60mm mortars were long out of action.

the 4th m1919 did sit in some trees in the valley and empty all of its ammo at that mg42 on 209 and other positions. (the 3rd was that reserve one guarding the fo - the reason for that was that my move was more up the middle and i was concerned you might hit me through the woods so i had an m1919 in a building w of the s woods in case your troops were to infiltrate w and appear at the woodline. the fo was in the far sw corner in the trees patch).

if memory serves that dismounted .50 cal in the valley did contribute in the early firefight against the immediately bypassed german infantry, but it never did link up with the main body of americans and in the end i think it moved back w or got killed.

the encounter with the panther did take out 2 of them so they were 2-3 the last i saw of them.

my favorite had to have been lt. napier behind the cement pillbox.

remember how that thing was crawling with shermans but it never got taken out, then the shermans moved away? turn after turn i was checking on napier to see what he was doing.. the hq unit was just sitting there behind your pillbox, right at the doorway. finally at the end of one turn his 'counter' made some kind of throwing motion and the next thing i know it's like the fourth of july in and around the pillbox.

andy