| Kampfgruppe Carius
Situation Report: As
Kampfgruppe Carius’ Puma and infantry advance slowly,
VERY slowly down the road and the woods on either side
Carius’ StuG III has been engaged in something of a
long-range dual with a hull-down enemy Sherman.
Click on Image to Enlarge
As you can see in this shot it’s
possible to catch the Sherman in the act of firing a shot.
The next three pictures were all taken from different
vantage points over the course of a second of game/real
time. Obviously the pause button was incredible handy
here ;-).
Click on Image to Enlarge
In the game the Sherman and Carius’
StuG both fired at almost the exact same instant (Carius
fired perhaps 1/3rd of a second before the
Sherman) and their shells actually passed eachother in
flight. The above picture shows both shells and the
Sherman. I’ll give a little explanation so you can
follow. The yellowish shell in the foreground is the
Sherman’s shell on its way to the StuG. Just above
the wall a much smaller shell can be seen (smaller
because of the effects of perspective) making its way
towards the Sherman nestled in between the trees on the
far left of the shot. If you look carefully at the
Sherman you can just see the last wisps of propellant
smoke (caused by the firing of its gun) dissipating.
Click on Image to Enlarge
And now, less than a tenth of a second
later the German shell strikes home destroying the
American tank. The nice translucent explosion graphic,
drooping gun barrel and, seconds later, the bailing crew
say it all. If you look carefully you can just see where the last wisps of dissipating
propellant meet the yellow explosion ball. Now that's what I call being
killed before the smoke even clears. My left flank is
now a friendlier place for Kampfgruppe Eberbach.
It was extremely important to destroy
this tank as it was in a perfect ambush position to kill
the StuG and SPW 251s of Kampfgruppe Eberbach as it
emerged from forest via the southernmost track.
Kampfgruppe Eberbach continued to
advance in the south and its infantry and SPW 251/1s were
just beginning to reach the edge of the clearing at the
end of the turn. There was little to report on this flank
yet although I expect Kampfgruppe Eberbach to be involved
in a sharp fight with the enemy guard units. I intend to
quickly traverse the clearing placing my SPW 251/1s to
the fore. I intend my infantry to follow only scant
metres behind the SPW 251/1s and, when the SPW 251/1s
stop near the clearing’s far edge the infantry will
pass through their line and onwards into the forest to
continue clearing the road ahead of Eberbach’s StuG
and his SPW 251/1s.
It is my hope that by forming my SPW
251/1s into a line abreast formation and advancing them
towards the suspected enemy positions in front of the
infantry that my SPW 251/1s will attract most of the
enemy fire onto themselves. Since they are proof versus
anything short of a bazooka it is my hope that by sparing
my infantry the torment of enemy machinegun and rifle
fire I will be able to suppress and kill the enemy more
quickly and at lower cost than would otherwise be
possible. I expect to lose at least one and possibly two
SPW 251/1s if the enemy is defending in platoon strength
but expect my infantry to come out intact. By mounting
the squad whose SPW 251/1 is expected to be lost on
Eberbach’s StuG I should be able to keep my advance
motorised and moving forward quickly when the time comes
to break clear of the forest.
Kampfgruppe von Kelly.
Click on Image to Enlarge
The Panther is one of my favourite
tanks of all time, if not the favourite so I just thought
I’d show off something which I only just noticed on
the vehicle model. Here goes; The muzzle brakes are
properly modelled. They’re not just textures slapped
on a cylindrical tube. You can actually look THROUGH the
muzzle brakes and into the terrain on the other side of
the tank. I hadn’t noticed this in the game before
but, then again, I find new things in the game every day.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Here is a nice shot of my Panther
turning in place to face the enemy who had just fired on
it. Although you can’t see it on this shot one nice
touch is that to swivel rightwards the tank’s left
track continues driving forwards whilst the right track
is thrown into reverse, just as occurs in real life.
Just as I had feared as I ordered the
advance an enemy tank immediately fired on me as I turned
the first corner of the forest path. Stopping in place,
as ordered, my crew began to return fire. We achieved no
hits on the enemy but he did hit us. Fortunately our
thick frontal armour protected us sufficiently that the
only effect was to half-blind me for a few seconds due to
the shower of sparks and cause me to instinctively drop
into the tank.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Here is a shot of the last thing
many Sherman crews will see this day, namely, a Panther
with its main gun pointed directly at them. In the top
left of the screen you can see the data for the Panther
tank which can be called up at any stage during the game
with a simple key press. The red line emanating from the
Panther shows that it is being targeted by the Sherman.
The line links the Sherman and Panther in their dance of
death. The only way this line will be removed this day is
through the destruction of one or other tank and the
immolation of its crew.
Seconds later a frantic report from the
SPW 251/1 which I had ordered to advance quickly and
establish an OP in front of my position alerted me to the
fact that my Panther had stopped in exactly the correct
place to block the entire path. Whilst I most certainly
want to remain stationary to maximise my chances of
killing the enemy tank I also have a duty to the Reich to
take this village back. If my tank is knocked out whilst
blocking the road I will have failed in my duty so,
reluctantly I am going to order my driver to advance
slowly approximately 15 metres so as to fully clear the
"choke point" so that if my tank is destroyed I
will not stall my entire advance.
The forward observer connected to my
120mm mortar battery has called in fire on enemy tank
positions reported by the sharpshooters. It will be
inaccurate fire but it may cause the Americans to button
their tanks and thus allow me to engage on more
favourable terms.
Kamfgruppe Student.
Kampfgruppe Student is still in
position. Student reports no further sign of enemy to his
north, apart from the surrendered M1919 but reports the
definite spotting of a platoon of infantry advancing to
his south. Fortunately for Student the fire of his rifle
squads has bunched the enemy together and they are
advancing almost directly towards Student’s forward-placed
flamethrower. With only a little luck, and an advance of
another 20 metres Student will be able to incinerate the
majority of this enemy platoon and surely rout the
survivors thus removing this threat to his flank AND
allowing him to shore up his positions facing the river
with some men this will free up.
Even as I advance slowly in my Panther
the sharpshooters are reporting the presence of even more
enemy groups advancing over the frozen ice. A quick
headcount shows roughly a company of enemy soldiers
advancing on the centre of the village. It is beginning
to look as though I may be facing roughly a company and a
half of enemy infantry intent on engaging my forces in
house to house fighting. I am also under fire from at
least three enemy machineguns on the far bank.
Click on Image to Enlarge
In response to this I am moving both
machineguns from my flank and am moving my reserve
Fallshirmjaeger company into blocking positions along the
portion of the village facing the river. I have also
taken the precaution of calling in artillery fire on the
ground lying between the river and the village. Since I
have a few of the absolutely devastating free-flight 210mm
rockets at hand I have decided to use them here since
they may catch the enemy in the open (where their massive
size will yield even more massive casualty rates) and
since my men are, relatively speaking, far away from the
target zone ( 210mm rockets are notoriously innaccurate).
Since I estimate that the success of my relief force will
cause the Americans to speed up their efforts to take the
village I am hoping to catch Martin’s forces in the
open on that slope. I can’t wait to see the effects
of shells of this calibre on an enemy force advancing in
the open. If I can wipe out or render combat ineffective
an enemy platoon it will have a major impact on the
fighting there.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Yellow elipses represent the
placement of German forces. Black crosses represent the
placing of US forces. I will update this map as soon as
my forces reach their new locations.
I’m beginning to think that I have
overestimated the forces arrayed against me. Either the
American commander is keeping major portions of his
forces hidden behind the reverse slopes of the hills to
the north and south of the village or he doesn’t
have them in position to strike at the village.
I still think it prudent to assume I am
facing a battalion of infantry. I estimate that 2
platoons are disposed along the routes of Kampfgruppe
Eberbach and Carius with another company arrayed along
the low walls running north to south along the map. This
would leave roughly one and a half companies to invade
the village which fits in well with what I am observing.
A force of this size assaulting a fixed
defensive position such as a village MUST have artillery
support. Since I haven’t seen any yet I think it
prudent to expedite the movement of my MG 42s and reserve
Fallschirmjaeger platoon into blocking positions. In the
same way as I hope to devastate Martin’s attackers
with a barrage whilst they are in the open I am certain
that if his artillery barrage should hit whilst these
troops are shifting positions the results could be
disastrous.
Overall:
Everything is going well and the
advance continues apace. Casualties are extremely light.
Two men have been killed amongst the relief forces whilst
one of the green rifle squads in the village has lost two
men to a combination of rifle, machinegun and tank fire.
I will have to withdrawn them from their exposed position
as quickly as possible but for now, whilst my forces are
redeploying they must delay the US advance with their
blood.
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