Orders phase

The end of last turn left my M4A3 Sherman, which was hiding behind the northern woods, in a duel against the German Panzer IV. The PzIV fired two near-misses at my Sherman, and I am not so sure if the third shot is not going to be right on target? I check LOS and see that I have a 26% chance to hit and a good chance to kill the enemy tank. Hmm.. maybe it's my nerves, but I do not feel good to see my Sherman exposed to the PzIV for a whole minute and order it to back up into cover. I have no time pressure (in fact time is working for me and against the Germans at this stage) and am happy if I keep my armor intact to deal with the tank at a later stage. The Sherman near the woods might prove more useful knocking out enemy halftracks racing for the bridge than being wasted in a tank duel which might have bigger chances later in the game.

The commander of the Sherman decides to back up behind the trees...

But since it takes time for the Sherman to move back (about 10 seconds actually), I order the other Sherman in the town to move forward to get an LOS on the enemy tank. I do this using the hunt order, so my Sherman can stop and benefit from partial cover by the houses as soon as it spots the enemy tank. I "hope" to create a crossfire with my Shermans. In any case, the first fifteen seconds of next turn will be decisive!

The Sherman in the town (the one that bogged down previously) is ordered to move forward and look for the PzIV. The enemy tank is just behind the house and only a few meters to the right should enable my Sherman to open fire. Hopefully in time...

My third Sherman, moving into a position which will enable it to oversee the bridge, overhears on the radio that an enemy halftrack has moved around the northern woods and is racing forward. It shifts its forward movement slightly to the left, to be able to get a line of sight in between two buildings on the incoming halftrack.

The Sherman is moving around the farmhouse to get LOS to the advancing halftrack, marked with a yellow circle. My tank won't arrive in position in time, but might be in a good firing position in later turns. Main reason for this move is that the halftrack is coming uncomfortably close to the two HMGs which I am just now moving back, and I want to be able to cover their retreat with some heavy punch.

With the defensive setup around the town finished, there is only one thing left to do - move the German POWs to the rear and off map.

After having them rounded up nicely in two groups, and after the fighting in the town is dying down, I feel it's time to move my German POWs back to Regimental HQ and off-map. This will bring some extra victory points in the game.

With German infantry slowly entering the northern woods and reorganizing in the center for another push down the road, the only point of resistance left in front of the town are my badly beaten up defenders in the south. The situation is getting out of control now, since my Platoon HQ and the HMG are panicked and the others don't really seem to like the idea of leaving the tree cover and make the 400-500 meters run across open ground back to town. But what else should I do. I can see two or three German squads approaching, more behind them and then three SPWs!

I decide to try it once more, this time choosing the shorter path in south-western direction. My goal is to get these units off the map (the southern map edge is in US control). But there is a big question mark if they can make it without breaking under heavy MG fire.

As can be seen, I order two units to run for the southern map edge. The two other units (Platoon HQ and .50 cal team) are not under my control, since both are panicked. I also have one bazooka team there (with one man left after one was hit from MG fire from the halftracks). I leave this only man in position. It has already targeted one of the halftracks, and although chances are slim, maybe it will manage to knock out another one before he surrenders or is killed.

But it's not like I am leaving these poor pigs unsupported. I am doing what I can, but that is unfortunately limited.

My MGs and rifle platoon on the southern hill have a clear line of fire across the river, but the distance is simply too big for the fire to have much effect.

The lack of a LMG organic to each rifle squad in the US Army can be felt right here...500 meters and even with two BARs, the firepower my rifle platoon can bring on to help the guys in the south is... not much :-(

The MMGs further back have a bit more punch, but they also won't manage more than temporarily pin the attackers.

Looking desperately for more support, I remember the 105mm FO on the hill. He has still three rounds left after the last barrage, and shorthandedly I decide him to order fire on my own position. Ugly, I know, but with most of my guys panicked or close to run away, I simply assume that there will be no allied units in the area within the two minutes of impact. I can - if the situation changes miraculously, still call off the artillery before it comes down.

That's it. The fifteen seconds or so of next turn will bring news for sure... good or bad.

Action phase:

As the shootout between my Sherman and the PzIV begins, the "halftrack" races forward and comes around the woods. Now it becomes visible what it really is - an armored car! Now the "mystery" from the first few turns is solved where it appeared that the armored car was firing tank rounds! It did - because it's armed with a 50mm gun!

The Sherman opens up with its bow and coax MGs on the armored car, forcing it to button up. The main gun is still firing at the Panzer IV to the east.

The armored car opens fire at my Sherman, missing with two shots (although it's close it's going full speed!) - but the third looks like it's going to hit!

The 50mm round is coming in right on target!

PPINNGG!! It bounces off the front of the tank! <sigh> The tank commander decides that it might be safer, though, to button up for a while...

The armored car races on, down the small slope and onto the road running parallel to the river.

It stops behind a farmhouse by the road. In the meantime, my Sherman has withdrawn out of LOS of the Panzer IV and rotated its turret to engage the armored car. The enemy vehicle is not completely hidden behind the house, and part of its front is still visible...

But meanwhile, worse things were going on. Sgt. Odom in the town sneaked a few meters forward and came within LOS of the Panzer IV while it was still engaging the other Sherman near the woods. But the first two shots from my Sherman miss! Just split-seconds after Sgt. Odom's tank fires its third shot...

...it gets knocked out from the Panzer IV and burst in flames! I can't see yet if any of the crew survived :-(

But the shot from the now knocked out Sherman is still underway! It does hit the Panzer IV...

...but simply bounces off its front armor! Dammit!

That certainly didn't go as planned. I was more worried about my Sherman by the woods, but now I lost the second tank in the town! I am determined to blame it on another lucky shot by the German tank commander!

Meanwhile, the other tank in town is making its way slowly through some backyards to get into position. The going is rough with all that snow, but slowly the tank is making its way to the north.

The Sherman is engaging a halftrack near the farmhouse, but has no LOS to the enemy Panzer. It also does not have a clear line of sight to the armored car (marked with a red circle - the yellow circle shows the position of the other Sherman), because that car is on a lowered road between the two allied tanks...

Before moving on to even more bad news from the eastern perimeter, just a quick note about the German POWs - accompanied by the MG team (which has been captured in turn two), the prisoners are slowly moving off map to the west in two groups. It will take one or two turns before they make it, though.

The POWs are being brought out of the town, as the enemy counterattack has to be expected anytime now.

Along the southern road, my line has basically broken for good. Although the bazooka team manages to get off another shot at one of the approaching halftracks, it misses (at around 160 meters), and soon becomes pinned hopelessly by enemy MG fire. It looks like two full platoons are approaching, and that sight makes MY blood frown... and I am sitting in front of a computer screen and drinking hot coffee!

The bazooka team (one man left only) gets off a shot at one of the approaching halftracks, but seems to miss...

...and soon afterwards heavy MG and small arms fire from the approaching Germans is pinning all of my units! The MG team is routing away to the south-west, but doesn't come far. The Sherman crew at the beginning of the turn to leave the tree cover and run for the river, but turned around after a few meters after being shot at from the rear. I hate to say it, but it looks like there is no hope for these guys... :-(

Cpl. Rawls MMG squad and the men from the other .50 cal team panic as they retreat hastily towards the river. With MG fire coming in from the rear, they're running for their lives...

The fire from the Germans even proves to be very effective on my units on the western bank of the river. The platoon and heavy weapons which I ordered there to cover the bridge are taking heavy casualties from what seems to be an artillery barrage! In fact, the mortar is knocked out in a direct hit and the crew runs away!

The mortar of Cpl. Yates team is knocked out from a direct hit and the crew, unharmed, runs back. To the right behind the trees the bridge can be seen. On the left, on the river, one of the retreating machinegun squads...

And we're not finished yet :-( The lonely bazooka team, desperately trying to get away from the German infantry across open ground, is killed before it reaches cover. MG and small arms fire hits the first man, 40 meters after the team left the building in panic. Then a short "burp" from one of the infantry MPs kills the second.

This is the last sight of the bazooka team. The fire from the back kills the last man halfway between the house and the cover of a small patch of trees...

So that was a ton of bad news this turn... even worse - there were no good news. The last German tank is still standing and I have now two Shermans to keep it from helping the assault on the city. And even worse - one of those two Shermans is in a really exposed position which will be overrun soon by enemy infantry advancing through the forest! But I guess that I still have some time - the crew from one of the knocked out Shermans is still in the woods (trying to escape off the map to the north) and it didn't see any Germans in the woods yet, which would mean that they still have several turns to go. Hopefully...

My tension is rising. The Germans are currently slicing through the remnants of my MLR like through butter and soon will start their assault on the town. I can see two full platoons advancing along the southern road, some more infantry dispersed across the whole map and a total of 5-6 halftracks still active (besides the PzIV). I am nervous. I have almost two full companies in and around the town (six platoons), which should be enough to deal with the enemy infantry - but everything will depend on if I can knock out the last German tank or not. If it survives to support the German assault, then my chances are slim.

Here an overview shot over the center of the map. Well visible the two knocked out Shermans, the two burning enemy tanks and a lot of american POWs moving to the rear...