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Orders phase
Oooo...what is this? More reinforcements! It
seems that the US infantry which was engaged in house-to-house
fighting in the western part of town, finally broke through and
arrived in my combat zone! I can see two full platoons with
attached MGs and bazooka teams! THIS is going to make the assault
a quick and deadly business for the Germans...
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Two US rifle platoons managed to fight
through the eastern part of town and arrived in my combat zones.
They will be invaluable in taking the rest of the town!
Swiftly I order the new arrivals to fan out and
move to the norther part of town. A small victory flag is located
there at the church, and I inted to dispatch one or two platoons
to take it, while the rest of my force is fighting it out in the
center. What looked like a great move by Fionn - starting his
defense on the outskirts of the town and then slowly retreating
back into the center, might actually be a mistake. It WILL take
some time to clean the blocks room by room, but now I have enough
forces in the town (two full companies!) to do that AND set up a
defense against the German counterattack. With the Germans in one
spot, moving around the town might actually be easier than
otherwise.
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I order one platoon straight north to take
on the church, while the rest enters the block houses from the
rear. Notcie the orders menu - it lets you choose if you want to
move to the bottom or top floor of the building.
So overall I am now sure that the town will
fall. Will it happen quickly enough before the German
reinforcements can enter the town? Probably. Besides, when they
see now how many fresh troops I have in the town, I expect them
to slow it down and re-think their approach.
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Another overhead shot to show my assault on
the town. The reinforcements are moving north to join the platoon
by the church and squeeze any German defenders out, while a total
of four platoons will fight it out in the center and south of
town.
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I do risk it a bit now, but I order the
platoon in the south-east to just storm forward across open space
to the block building on the edge of town. From what I have seen
in the previous turns, the defense there is a mix of badly shaken
units, and taking the corner will greatly strengthen my attempt
to clean out the block buildings in the center. If anything, this
assault across open space, coupled with the assault of 2nd
platoon up the hill from the east, will force the German
defenders to spread its fire over a wide area.
Now, you might ask, I concentrate so much on
taking the town - but what about the bridge? It is part of my
main objectives for this mission, indeed, but the problem is -
how to defend it??? There is a lot of open space and a few
scattered trees around the bridge, but not much more. Not enough
cover for infantry to stop an armored assault... I figure that my
chances to win the game are much higher if I hold a firm grip
around the town rather than try to defend forward in less
suitable terrain.
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A lot of open space around the bridge makes
defending it with infantry against armored targets a futile task,
IMO. BTW, in case you wonder why you don't see any units in the
screenshot - they're all there, but set to "realistic size"
and therefore hardly visible at all at this distance...
Besides that, I do have the Sherman behind the
northern woods with a good LOS to the bridge, and I guess that
the Germans will have a tough nut to crack with this one. It
cannot be seen from the east because the woods is blocking the
LOS, and it will take a good while until the Panzers can move
forward to get a decent shot at it. Meanwhile, my Sherman now is
in a good position to pick off German halftracks, all the way
even to the south-eastern flank! It is a long distance (1+ km!)
but the halftracks are armored so lightly, that any hit will
score. Better get those sights prepared, gunner!
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The German is targetting the halftracks
which are assaulting my bazooka teams in the south-eastern part
of the map. The LOS is not clear YET, but I issued the tank the
order to aim for that halftrack as soon as it moves forward and
comes into LOS.
BTW, that south-eastern flank is deteriorating
fast. By the end of last turn, the first German squad managed to
enter the patch of trees and captured the .50 cal HMG. The
question arises now - what to do? Retreat - and hope to build up
another line of resistance a few hundred meters further back? Or
stand and fight it out with the mix of German infantry and light
armored vehicles? Hmm...
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The German assault could not be stopped and
the first German units enter the patch of trees. The Platoon HQ
unit in the middle is faced with a difficult question - stand and
fight or retreat? Unfortunately, any retreat would have to be
made across several hundred meters of open ground... As indicated
by the green line, I order the HQ to run back, but keep the two
bazooka teams where they are. The chance it slim, but they MIGHT
take out another halftrack or two...
Meanwhile, my immobile Sherman and two MGs are
engaging the German infantry moving along the norther road in the
woods. Here a nice shot of the awkward situation the Sherman is
in...
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The M4A3 Sherman got immobilized from
shrapnel right in between the two houses. It has pretty nice
"side armor" now (uh... about two houses thick!), but
unfortunately doesn't see what's happening around it. It does
have a good field of fire to the front (at the enemy infantry
coming down the northern road) and to the south onto the central
road.
So far, so good. Time to finish off those
Krauts in the town...
Action phase
All of a sudden, it seems, the town is swarming
with US troops! One platoon dashes north towards the church and
stumbles into a lonely MG team hurrying into a different position.
Before the MG can be set up, the GIs open fire...
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One platoon - supported by one MG team -
move north towards the church and catch an enemy MG42 squad in
the open.
The other platoon which just entered the map
from the west rushes forward to the block building and storms it.
A German squad runs out the other door, but it has no chance - it's
trapped between two full US platoons. The Jerries decide to do
the only right thing in such a situation - surrender.
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The enemy squad runs out of the building as
on platoon storms inside from the other entrance....
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...but the Germans are caught in the open
between two platoons and swiftly surrender. Now the full info
about this unit becomes available to me - I can see that the unit
has lost 5 out of 9 squadmembers and belongs to a regular
Wehrmacht unit.
Meanwhile, one of the two platoons at the south
hill rushes into town and fans out, while the others remain at
the hedge and provide covering fire.
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Two rifle squads are running for the small
wooden building at the edge of town, returning fire at German
positions within the big block building. To the left in the
background, the two reinforcing rifle platoons just entered the
building from the west. In the far background, 1st
platoon can be seen approaching the town from the north.
As mentioned, the other platoon stayed back at
the hedge and gives covering fire for the advancing platoon. But
here comes a surprise... a Panzerfaust round zooms in from
somewhere to the right! It must be coming from that block house
at the south-eastern edge of town!
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While the platoon (actually one and a half
platoons) provides covering fire, a Panzerfaust round from the
big block house at the edge of town flies in, leaving a trail of
smoke! The round misses and explodes harmlessly in the trees!
Two other platoons make it into town this turn.
3rd platoon, approaching the town from the south-east
towards that block house, doesn't quite make it this turn, but
comes close enough to identify one of the units hiding within -
it's a veteran Fallschirmjäger squad!
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Enemy identified - it's a Fallschirmjäger
MG42 HMG team! And it's at half strength!
The other platoon, coming in up the hill
through open ground from the east, has the most difficult going,
since it is under fire from the back (tanks and halftracks in the
east) as well as some MG fire from the block buildings!
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The right squad already lost 4 or 5 men due
to an HE shell from one of Fionns Panzers, and the MG in the
block building puts another one or two GIs out of action!
But overall, the attack on the town is more
than satisfying so far. The hard part is still going to come -
cleaning the block building - but a first strong foothold in the
town is secured!
In the east, however, the news couldn't be less
encouraging. In the northern part of the woods, the German
infantry is pushing forward down the road despite fire from a
couple of MGs and the immobilized Sherman. The enemy infantrymen
storm forward and surround my bazooka team...
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German infantry surrounds the bazooka team
and Platoon HQ waiting in ambush. Notice the explosion behind the
trees - it's from an HE round from the immobile Sherman.
In the center, enemy halftracks are racing
forward as my position beside the houses is shelled by an
artillery barrage! I lose an MG team to a direct hit, and several
other units break in panic! Tracers everywhere and the screen is
shaking (literally - this feature is in CM!) from the intense
bombardement...
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The forward platoon in the center is taking
a heavy toll - casualties mount as the enemy Panzers, halftracks
and artillery shot the area to pieces. With the Sherman
immobilized and behind the house, there is not much I can do for
these guys...
In the south-east, the advancing infantry
enters deadly close-combat with the rest of my defenders!
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A German infantry team (seems to be a
vehicle crew) is hit while locked in close-combat with my MG unit.
CM displays no specific hand-to-hand combat animation, but the
sounds tell you the full story...
Further south, enemy infantry is at handgrenade
range with my bazooka team and HQ unit. Here - as good as I could
capture it - a hand-grenade sequence as seen in CM:
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See the black spot in the middle just above
the trees - the grenade!
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While it arcs forward, the infantry squad
opens fire at my retreating Platoon HQ unit. A bazooka gunner is
pinned on the left.
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The handgrenade explodes on target and kills
one man from the HQ unit.
But as bad as it looks here, the situation in
the south-east actually got a little stronger for me. After
moving the Sherman in the north forward to the edge of woods, it
has a clear LOS at the assaulting halftracks. The Sherman opens
fire, but misses badly with the first few shots. However, with a
little time, those halftracks are sitting ducks...
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The Sherman, covered from the east by the
wooded hill, is opening fire at the German halftracks assaulting
my south flank force (on the wooded slope in the background on
the right). At a distance of over 700 meters those little
halftracks are hard to hit, but eventually the gunner should be
able to pick off a few...
All in all, the situation in the east is
growing worse with every passing minute. The Germans are slowly
advancing on the town and are about to overrun both defensive
positions. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the
immobile Sherman, but I guess everybody can imagine that an
immobile tank against infantry armed with AT weapons is a juicy
targetand not much more than that. My last hope is the reserve
Sherman in the north, indeed.
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After an intense shelling (notice the
craters around my position), the German infantry is dismounting
from their halftracks and assaulting my defensive positions. The
immobile Sherman on the left behind the house can do nothing
against it. Meanwhile in the north the infantry is locked in a
deadly melee. I expect both positions (as well as the ambush
position in the north) to fall very soon. THEN the Germans have
an open road to the town and all I have to stop them is a few
bazookas along the roads and the last operating Sherman.
Where are those damn' tanks, I am thinking to
myself! Where are those reinforcements!
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