Orders phase
"Sir! SIR!!"
The corporal came running down to me and threw himself in the snow beside me.
"Sir - we have a Sgt. Greenblatt on the radio!"
"Who the heck is Greenblatt? Somebody from Battalion HQ?" I answered - the name didn't ring a bell.
"Well, not quite, Sir." The corporal grinned. "He says he just made it through the town - he and another two of his Shermans!"
I jumped up and raced down to the radio! The cavalry has arrived!
YES, YES, YES! (Note: the left Sherman appears to be in the house due to the visual enlargement of the units)
But let's leave the Shermans where they are for a sec, and first work off the other hot spots.
The MG team in the northern woods is under heavy pressure, and with new confidence gained from the arrival of my armor, I order them (and the other units in the area) to withdraw quickly into the woods. No need to waste any more men - and the armor can't follow my infantry into the woods...
Withdraw before it's too late. I've sacrificed enough manpower already...
I decide to do the same in the south, where the bazooka team which managed to knock out the halftrack, is coming under fire from the following enemy units.
I order the Sherman crew (hiding in the house) to run back across the river and also try to get the mortar team (which has used up all of its ammo) to move back. That leaves the MG team and the bazooka team on the southern flank. Since the bazooka team is now under enemy fire, I order it to crawl back into cover. Depending on what the enemy is going to do in next turn (charge?), I will see if I keep them in position or withdraw them as well...
In the town itself, things are starting to fall into place as more and more units reach their fighting positions. I've made an overview shot to better explain how my defenses are structured.
The yellow circles show a bazooka team, the green ones MG positions and the red ones rifle platoons. Note the green and red arrows - these show the positions of two MG teams and two rifle platoons on the wooded hill south of town. As can be seen, I have shifted my defenses to the south. This is the flank on which the Germans have advanced most and where I expect their infantry to assault first. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to cross the river there, as far away from the town as possible. But even if they don't - taking two platoons and some heavy weapons out of town will help my force to stand any artillery attack on the town AND provide a nice reserve for surprise counterattacks.
Alrighty, now to the newly arrived Shermans! Let's take another look...
Unfortunately, they didn't arrive in the best possible positions. The center Sherman (which is equipped with a 76mm gun!), is right on the street in full view of three Panzers! The distance is long (more than 1 km), but it sure is not a good feeling to have one's precious armor in such an exposed position. OK, the tank is hull-down... but we saw how much that brought to the other three Shermans...
The Sherman on the right (M4A3 with a 75mm gun) is a little better off. It can track LOS to some of the halftracks around the farm houses in the east but is out of sight of the other Panzers. For how long, however, will remain to be seen... The left Sherman (again the standard model with a 75mm gun) is well out of sight of the enemy behind the big blockbuilding.
Now that they are there, the question arises what to do with them? Engage in a long range firefight against the German Panzers? Nah... although the 76mm Sherman has a good chance of actually knocking out some armor at this distance, with its less than superb armor it would also be a good target for FOUR enemy tanks. And the other Shermans with their little 75mm guns might have a chance against the StuG only... and even that barely.
So I decide to first move my armor out of sight of the enemy tanks. There is a good chance that Fionn won't even spot my reinforcements, and if I let his armor close in unaware of the threat, I might actually turn around the odds. So my aim is to bring my Shermans into a hidden position, prepared to jump out when the time is right, e.g. when the enemy attacks my Sherman by the northern woods.
I order the left Sherman to move forward on the road and stay behind the block building. I order the Sherman in the middle to race behind the edge of the house and then face east. I think, that there might be a good LOS down to the bridge, but I can only verify it using the LOS tool when my unit is in position. At the same time, I order the right Sherman to race down the road and hide behind a couple of stone houses in the southern part of town. There it should be nicely covered from the enemy armor until it crosses the river OR until I spot a good target of opportunity.
Here another overview shot.
The Shermans fan out in the town and look for cover. I intend to spread them out to get more flank shots and keep them out of sight of the German armor until it comes closer.
Taking a deep breath, I look at the watch. 18 minutes passed since initial contact! Only 18 minutes?!? It sure seems like an eternity...
The Shermans move forward and fan out. The M4A1(76)W in the middle spots the German tanks on the other side of the river and quickly fires off a couple of AP rounds while slowly moving forward behind the building. The Sherman on the right also opens fire at the enemy infantry and halftracks around the farm buildings before disappearing behind the houses.
The Sherman in the middle actually manages to not only identify the leading enemy tank (it seems to be a PzIV!), but even scores a hit!
Meanwhile, the two other Shermans move forward. The left one, safely hidden behind the block houses, has little to worry about, but the right one seems to run right into my "bad luck with Shermans" streak. I had ordered it to move fast, so maybe that helped it, but as soon as the Sherman leaves the road, it bogs down! Even more unfortunate - it does so right in view of the enemy Panzers!
Oops! Bogged down! And the enemy is watching - from far, but not far enough! I can only prey that the driver will be able to get the tank out again! Until the tank is immobilized (by throwing a track or being hopelessly stuck, for example), there is still hope to be able to free it.
Aaahh - nice to see some armor in action again! However, from almost anywhere else not so good news are coming in.
In the northern woods, my order to retreat obviously came to late. Almost all units there surrender to the Panther and enemy infantry.
More US troops surrender. Looks like only Cpt. Wodzinski (ah - polish origins!) still refuses to do so.
In the center, obviously the Germans haven't forgotten about the bazooka team in a lonely house by the road, as they spray the house with MG fire. My bazooka team is unharmed, but I guess I will have to consider moving it back soon.
The bazooka team, hiding and hoping for a good target to come down the road, sprayed with MG fire from the tanks and halftracks. Obviously the enemy doesn't have a good aim but only tries to flush the bazooka out of there.
And finally in the south, the Germans are moving forward as my units retreat. The enemy halftracks manage to pin my HMG team rather successfully, and so the Grenadiers have no problems in storming the house.
Retreating under fire. My HMG team (hiding under a tree on the lower left) is being pinned down by the halftracks and infantry. On the right, the Sherman crew is running out of the house.
Well, not so good news obviously from the east. My lonely Sherman behind the northern woods is trying desperately to get a good aim at anything that moves forward, but unfortunately the halftracks on the south road simply race by and then disappear out of sight behind the small slope. But with more armor on my side again, my confidence grows and I do not intend to keep the Sherman inactive for too long. More in the next turn...
