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Section Leaders:
Riesberg American – Riesberg
American Commander - Jason
McGrody Turn 6: Orders:
Some slight readjustment is required for Platoon ‘F’.
The attached mortar, currently positioned about 50m behind the
platoon, is ordered to move up and join the party.
Platoon ‘D’ is still meandering forward.
I guess Germans could be hiding in the woods that the platoon is
headed for, but I don’t see how he could have avoided annihilating
Platoon ‘F’ when he had the chance. Another
mortar and the FO are ordered to wander around and move to more forward
observation locations. Unless
he can clearly identify the FO I don’t think he’ll attack it.
If he can even see it, the FO will show up as Infantry Team? And
he might think I’m using a bazooka team in a gamey method to scout
his positions. Maybe
he’s just waiting for me to come to him.
Shermans
V-1 and V-4 continue firing at the same targets they did last turn.
They have so much ammo I might as well.
The
picnic doesn’t last long as my HQ, a MMG, and a mortar are ordered to
move to the small copse of woods at the base of the hill. I feel relatively safe with two Shermans behind me.
One of the Shermans is ordered to fire at the wooden house
objective. The other has
to move forward a bit because it is too far behind the hill.
Platoons
‘B’ and ‘C’ haven’t spotted anything resembling a German
soldier so they continue on their original course. Action:
Supremely uneventful. No
opposition whatsoever. On
both the left and right side I forgot to move a bazooka team.
Platoon ‘B’ is REALLY in a vulnerable position.
Even an attack from a single Volksgrenadier platoon would have
an undesirable outcome. The
only benefit is that ‘B’ is my veteran platoon.
Also, walking out in the open is kind of the bait.
I want him to show himself.
I can’t kill what I can’t see.
Turn
7: Orders:
Platoon ‘F’ is ordered to sit tight and wait for Platoon
‘D’ to take position in the scattered trees nearby.
The mortar and FO are told to move closer to the town towards a
patch of heavy woods. There
they will be able to see the front corner of the town.
All four of my Shermans are ordered to fire this turn - V-4 at
the two story stone building at the rear of the town and V-1 at the
church. I stopped firing
at the wood building because I don’t think he has any units there.
And besides, I can always use it for my units.
The Shermans on the right target the stone building on the
corner and the wooden building objective.
As soon as Platoons ‘B’ and ‘C’ get perpendicular to the
wooden buildings near the fields they will make a run for the
buildings. Action:
None of my units see anything remotely resembling a German.
The units on my left have now reached their staging point.
The units on my right are very exposed.
They have no support and some stiff opposition may make them
flee off the side of the map. My
bet is that he is waiting for me to come to him and he won’t show his
hand unless he absolutely must. Turn 8: Orders:
Before I go on I wanted to state that this game between Robert
and I was started at the very end of November and finished at the
beginning of January. I
had only played one PBEM game of any kind before this.
It is interesting to go back and see how I played then. The
two platoons on the left still need to advance past the first row of
houses extended before they can assault the stone buildings in the rear
of the town. I had hoped
that by advancing beyond the first row of houses that I might force the
Germans to redeploy and perhaps catch a glimpse of him moving.
If he has adjusted his forces, I can’t see them. Up
until this point, my platoons have all been given the ‘Move’ order
so they don’t get tired before the battle starts to heat up. Now, I want my units on my left to make short runs from
position to position. Without
knowing where any of his units are, the only way I’m going to find
them is if I walk into them or get lucky.
With that in mind, I order Platoon ‘F’ to run to patches of
woods ahead. I’m using
the time delays to my advantage here.
The HQ and one squad are Regular and the two other squads are
Green. This means that the
Green squads have a 33 second delay and the Regular units only have a
20 second delay. While the
Regular units rush forwards, the Green units can provide a bit of cover
fire. Platoon
‘D’ is going to angle in towards the town and take up position this
turn in a large stand of woods about 80 meters away.
Since the distance is so close, their command delay is only 10
seconds. I honestly
don’t think he has any units there, despite it being a great hiding
spot. I’ll find out
shortly. My poor bazooka
team is still way behind as I’ve forgotten to move him the last two
turns. All
the Shermans except for V-1 continue to fire at the same targets as
last turn. I’ve ordered
V-1 to stop firing because it is down to 28 HE shells with little to
show for it. Platoon
‘B’ will pause briefly before they dash for the wooden buildings in
case any Germans appear and Platoon ‘C’ is still a ways behind. Action:
All the platoons advance forward without incident.
Platoon ‘F’ hasn’t quite made it to the cover of the
trees. Platoon ‘D’ is
in the woods and crawling forward.
Platoon
‘B’ is in an odd position. One
squad has made it to the house, one squad and the HQ are right out in
the open in the middle, and the last is still in the woods.
This
isn’t exactly the way I wanted things to go, but no Germans have
appeared so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
The Shermans take down two buildings, the church and the stone
building in the corner. Turn
9: Orders:
The platoons on my left need to tidy up their current positions
before advancing to new ones. The mortar and FO haven’t moved for the last couple of
turns but now that no Germans have appeared on the woods I feel safe in
moving them again, this time to some woods close to Platoon ‘D’.
When all the units are in position I should have a string of
units on my left flank that I hope will be able to spot any German
movement. My
Shermans stop firing. My
victory percent is still at zero so my shelling isn’t having much
effect. Platoon ‘B’ on
my right is almost in position as it heads for the far wooden house.
Platoon ‘C’ is still behind as it moves to the near wooden
house. Action:
From a level four view my troops look like ants scurrying across
the battlefield. Without
Shermans firing the turn was rather quiet.
Oh, no Germans. Turn
10: Orders:
Reinforcements! The reinforcements will advance straight into town ahead of
the two Shermans using the trees on either side as cover as I get
closer to town. Platoon
‘F’ gets some slight readjustment to the right.
The mortar and FO should make it into position this turn.
From the FO’s position I hope he will be able to see clearly
into the rear of the town. I
suppose I’ll find out when he gets there. J The MG teams are loaded
on to the tanks which will move a little bit forward.
I don’t want to move them too far because I want to make sure
they stay behind Platoon ‘G’ (the reinforcement platoon). Action:
The turn proceeds like all the others…until the very end.
The first time I watched the turn my ears perked up because I
heard explosions where there shouldn’t have been any.
In fact, there shouldn’t have been any firing anywhere since I
wasn’t targeting anything. Platoon
‘F’ had two shells land nearby, one mere meters from a squad and a
mortar. I’m surprised
neither took any casualties.
Movie Files American
Turn 6
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