Section Leaders:
Fionn Kelly & Madmatt

Riesberg

German – Riesberg
Turns 16- 20

German Commander - Robert Hall (Tomcat)
German Movie Password - redbmw

Turn 16

The situation is becoming critical.  My roadside ambush is blown and as the team there has started to panic, it will not be possible to withdraw them.  I am beginning to feel totally surrounded, yet my opponent is not rushing in for the kill just yet.  The US Commander is really playing it cautiously.  I decide not to give any new orders this turn but just try to hunker down and await the impending US assaults.

During the action phase the US troops totally decimate the roadside ambush and also gang up on the right flank HMG unit they "discovered" last turn by hitting it from multiple directions.  I can now see my defence is very susceptible to being picked off piecemeal, although I feel there is no way the HMG unit should have been spotted in its foxhole at 160m last turn.

Turn 17

Although I saw a Sherman coming around the 2-storey wooden buildings to support the US assault force on my left rear flank, I decide to turn and target the central Flak 88 to the front of the town for that Sherman in the centre.  This Sherman has been gradually creeping forward and is now only just out of LOS from the Flak 88.  I feel sure the US Commander will commit his infantry on my left rear flank before he exposes the Sherman there, so I am convinced this is the correct decision to take.  I also make minor adjustments to my troop dispositions hiding in the woods alongside the central Flak 88 as I particularly want the Panzerschreck team to have a good LOS to the Sherman if it advances further.  The US troops are going to have a much tougher job getting to this Flak 88 than they did to the first one they took out.  Apart from those orders, there is little else I can do now towards the front of the town where I have the remainder of C Platoon in foxholes in those woods.  If I tried to run them for the cover of buildings, I am convinced these units would be annihilated very quickly, so they have to remain "hidden" where they are.

The inevitable happens when the turn begins and another foxhole in heavy woods is spotted and shelled at about 150m.  The C Platoon squad in that foxhole quickly routs and retreats.  I might just as well have left all my troops in the open waving their arms in the air at the US for all the cover these foxholes provide!  Very disappointing and it means there is no way I can possibly hold out against any concerted US assault now.  I wish I had realized foxholes would not be effective at the very beginning so I could have made better initial deployment of my infantry forces.  The US Sherman in the front of the town conveniently stops and does not come into the Flak 88's LOS as expected.  The US Sherman at my left rear flank appears to be taking a very wide course around the buildings, obviously concerned about any anti-tank weapons I might possess in that general area.

The net tightens on Riesberg.

Turn 18

The net appears to be tightening on us slowly, very slowly.  The time has come, I decide, to use my second 81mm mortar before it is too late, so I set it for area fire into a concentration of US Stars in scattered trees to the front of the town.  I cannot see the individual units in those trees, but it seems a reasonable concentration of US forces to try and disrupt.

The results of this mortar bombardment seem disappointing and not very effective.  Apart from that, little else happens during the turn except for the gradual creeping forward of some of the US Attackers.

Turn 19

Now I am getting worried about that Sherman circling at my left rear flank going wide of my Panzerschreck team.  So I decide to re-target the central Flak 88 to the rear again for the Sherman there, as the Sherman in front of the town has not moved during the last couple of minutes.  I am also expecting an assault from the left rear flank any time now and I need to be fully prepared.

Well, I guess I am a little surprised the US is back to its old, destructive habit of shelling the buildings again and rubbles the 2-story Victory Location wooden building on the front left flank of Riesberg.  Good, because he is not going to be very successful at taking out my troops with this approach.  My continued 81mm mortar barrage again seems totally ineffective.  I do not see the US advance anywhere this turn.  Are they getting despondent, I wonder, at finding so few of my troops around?

Turn 20

I have been expecting a US assault for some time now but still nothing has materialized.  There is nothing more I can do to prepare for it.  All my men are well braced for the inevitable attack when it comes.

The long anticipated US assault comes this turn with a vengeance.  A Platoon of US Infantry attacks from my left rear flank running straight into my ambush which wipes out the HQ unit leading the charge way out in front.  That should slow that continued attack down a little!  Unfortunately, the turn stops just before the Infantry squads also walk into the same ambush, while my Panzerschreck unit is killed trying to crawl to a better position to take out the Sherman.  At least my sharpshooter has a good shot at the Sherman and causes it to button.  On my forward right, two Platoons of US Infantry charge the first line of houses to find them empty, and my Heavy SMG squad from C Platoon hiding in the woods is quickly discovered when it opens fire, itself then taking fire from multiple directions.  Finally, towards the end of the turn, some 105mm arty starts falling on the centre of the town without causing any casualties.  Looks like the beginning of the end to me as all my main ambushing forces have now been discovered and it appears I am vastly outnumbered.

Here They Come!

Movie Files

German Turn 16
German Turn 17
German Turn 18
German Turn 19
German Turn 20