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In Progress ACHTUNG! Codex! Let's survive Operation Star.

overtenemy

Augur
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
293
Starting new thread due to inability to change the name of the last one to something appropriate.

Anyway, Achtung Panzer: Operation Star is a real-time, company-level tactical war game. It features realistic ballistics and penetration models for armor, as well as meticulously researched units and scenarios. It also features a turn based operational phase in which you're allowed to command platoons. The battles now feature more units than did the previous iteration, making the game even more intense and awesome. Operation Star features a few thin slices of...Operation Star, one of the Soviet offensives that took place after the failed 1942 German offensive to the Caucasus. German forces are retreating from Kharkov, Soviets are pursuing and encircling. For more information about the game in general, see the old thread here. I get into its merits and mechanics a little more in depth there, where I'll do that more as I go along here.

Index:
Part 1 Again: The Rebeginnining
Part 2: Which World War Is This Again?
Part 3: Not One Schtep Back, Kameraden!
Part 4: Mathilda, Meet PaK
Part 5: Surprise Butt Angreifen!
Part 6: Kleckern, Nicht Klotzen!
Part 7: Mopping up



Part 1 Again: The Rebeginnining

Many moons ago, I vowed to combat Bolshevism if only Graviteam would finally release Operation Star in a real language. Well, here we are, and the game has been properly inclined in a variety of ways. Keeping the screenshots the same size as before because the text becomes more difficult to read the further I size them down.

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Taranovka, February 12-13, 1943, as the Krauts. Must break encirclement and join up with the SS Division Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler.

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They've unfortunately scaled down the information. Before, it'd tell you the story of how the battle played out in reality as turns progressed. Now...you get this. It does provide some basic information. The western part of our forces is supposed to stay put evidently. We'll be advancing on a cavalry corps (hopefully not an entire corps, jesus) and beyond that, Soviet tanks are rushing northwest to complete the encirclement. That makes things sort of tricky. If I attack and accidentally attack tanks, well, I'm in deep shit. German infantry is woefully ill-equipped to deal with them even on the defense, so to actually attack them...I'd rather not even consider it. Already northwest is a recon platoon or company, not sure which.

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The new face of Achtung Panzer. The scale has been increased from previous iterations. There are simply more troops, making for huger and more awesome battles. Additionally, the old irritation of being unable to station more than a single platoon in a 1x1 kilometer square is gone. You may now have up to four platoons. This is of course extremely necessary given the increased amount of troops. It'd be very frustrating otherwise. Anyway, the Northeast once again is our attacking force. We've got no mechanization. It's all infantry and anti-tank guns, and again I feel the need to point out that rolling up anti-tank guns to ATTACK tanks is just a terrible idea. Believe me, I've tried. A little west is the force we'll be leaving there as a blocking force to cover our flank from the advancing recon elements, or the tanks should they reach their goal northwest and wheel around to the east. They're currently considered to be "encircled." I'm not sure what difference that makes since they have a supply depot right there. I'm a little fuzzy on the new supply mechanics and don't entirely understand how they work. After this I reckon I'll have to read the manual. The encircled dudes further south sitting there all by themselves are under my command. I dunno what to do with them. I can't move the supply depot, and what they're sitting on is considered a key point. On the other hand, based on what I know of the situation, they've got tanks fixing to run right over them and not a single gun to their name. I could begin to withdraw them west to meet up with the units you see there. Those are not under my command. They're part of the SS LSAH.

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Most of their units are in reserve and are not yet part of the battle, which is sad, coz get a look at that shit. Tigers to the rescue baby!

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After some deliberation I move my units as such. The northeastern guys begin their trek to attack southwest, while linking up with the encircled guys, which ought to relieve said encirclement by next turn. I left the guys down south alone because losing a key point costs a lot of victory points. There's houses there to defend from. If they get lucky and go a turn without being attacked by tanks, possibly they could be reinforced by some platoons from the SS LSAH. It's a gamble, but I'm not quite yet willing to give up an important piece of ground without a fight.

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Well fuck me. All those question marks are enemy units that haven't been identified yet. You have to first fight a unit before you can be sure exactly what it is. But we've got 5 units of some kind or another coming at the southern crew, and they've only got 3 real platoons. One is just supply troops. The chances of one of the enemy units not being a tank platoon seems...remote. This is sad news. Also, enemy recon advances further on the northwest side, and strangely, what I assume to be the Soviet cavalry troops advances a little north to meet my infantry. If I were them, I'd have just stayed dug in. Now that they've moved, I can be confident they won't have any prepared entrenchments if I choose to attack them next turn. Well, I'll worry about that later. In other news, a recon element from the SS LSAH is being attacked by something or other. It also has a friendly infantry platoon near by. I'm a little worried. I mean, the briefing didn't say there'd be tanks there. But it also said that if its the Soviet recon would be heading north, not going south and attacking the SS LSAH. I deal with that issue first.

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Because of where this fight is taking place, many of the adjacent squares are sort of off the battlefield. It gives me less to worry about. Now to decide in what manner to deploy. I haven't got much anti-tank capability in this platoon.

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That's about it. Just one APC with a cannon on it. I don't think it'd stand up to a T-34. The recon platoon is all mechanized...not easy to hide. If it's tanks, I'll have to hold them back so they're not spotted and the infantry can effectively ambush.

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I consider this spot. The decline means it'd be impossible for tanks to spot my infantry. They could hide, close to a road, and ambush them as they drove past, hopefully taking out a tread at least. That is of course assuming they use the roads, and assuming that the enemies are in tanks. And even so, then what? My anti-tank capability is so pathetic that even if I did ambush a tank there it's unlikely I'd do real damage to it. I decide against it.

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Instead, I choose back here. I use the line of sight tool to place my infantry in commanding positions on top of a slight, but very clear hill. The recon APCs are deployed even further back so as not to be detected. If it's infantry, we'll slaughter them. If it's tanks, I'll sound the order to retreat and hopefully take only negligible losses. I don't think there's a better way to do it.

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The final positions. I'm aided by the fact that there's only so many ways the Soviets can come from. Makes the battle less confusing. I do have one APC up with the infantry platoon, because it's the artillery spotter, and Operation Star has a new artillery system that necessitates line of sight and short bombardments to adjust fire and such.

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Like so. You now have three artillery points. They are by default quite close as you can see - so close they'd practically hit friendlies. But they're very precise. When you reposition them farther out, you lose accuracy in bombardment. To gain it back, you have to do short bombardments to adjust. The more you fire at one of them, the more accurate it becomes. Also once again, it helps tremendously if the spotter can actually SEE what is being bombarded.

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Anyway, time passes. Occasionally I call in some flares to see if we can get an early warning on what the hell the enemy is, to see whether I want to fight or retreat.

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Far off, some Soviet shells strike. So they've got an artillery spotter as well. Fortunately, it's nowhere near us. About 30 minutes pass. I'm beginning to take the lack of action for a sign of weakness and consider attacking. I also notice that the enemy artillery has been gradually creeping toward a certain key point and conclude that is where they're attacking.

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The APCs form up and move to intercept. I sincerely hope it's not tanks now, but I'm pretty sure it's not.

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Enemy spotted as they approach the key point...and what do you know. It IS the Russian Recon. That right there is a shitty Soviet APC. I know from personal experience how easy it is to kill their crews. This ought to be a turkey shoot.

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Before long, the infantry on both sides are dismounted from their vehicles, and my 75mm cannon APC has a shot.

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What'd I tell you? Dead crew already. I tried to screenshot some gnarly pictures of tracers flying about, but failed miserably. We take a few casualties, and if I recall correctly, two of our APCs lose their machine guns, but no actual vehicles are lost and infantry casualties weren't that bad. Meanwhile, a few things happen.

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I order up to the battle the two squads that were guarding in the direction of the battle, since they're no longer doing anything useful, as well as the artillery observer in his APC. Shortly after, an artillery round falls right next to said APC, destroying the machine gun and causing him to retreat like a little girl. So much for that.

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And also on the other side of our position, a captured German APC is spotted advancing on a key point. It's spotted several times later along the road. If it keeps following that road and then hangs a right, it'll be on a collision course with our APCs. I intend to intercept and destroy it.

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Another Ruskie APC drives up the road, but by the time he arrives most of his pals are dead already. They're taken care of quickly.

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With the battle all done and two Ruskie APCs and accompanying men destroyed, I ordered the two infantry squads through the forest to ensure that it was clear and that the APCs wouldn't walk into an ambush as they drove up the road. They're now ordered into a column and ordered to move on the road that I hope to meet the captured German APC on.

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In the future, to illustrate this sort of thing as well as the situation in general, I'll take more map screenshots. In the meantime, this screenshot shows what I mean - the small yellow tank icon far in the distance was the last sighting of the captured APC. The road is sort of perpendicular to us right now, but then turns towards us. Hopefully, he follows it. The two infantry squads ahead are ordered to hold at a key point and wait.

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Not long after the APCs traverse the narrow part of the road the forward squads have a sighting. It's what I'm looking for...cept it's not on the road. It's in the forest and coming straight at them. APCs are ordered in to assist but they've got no line of sight and it may take some time. The race is on.

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Drives parallel to their line, straight towards the APCs. Good, good.

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Til it does a 90 degree turn and goes right at them, headlights illuminating various soldiers. Not cool. I can't fucking take it anymore, FIRE!

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Grenades are throw, guns open up. The Russian infantry dismounts but already they've taken casualties. The machine gunner on the APC is dead as well thankfully. Now you see em...

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Now you don't.

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The APC keeps driving til it crashes into a tree. Presumably, the driver is dead. The troops make a big deal out of it for a little bit but I'm sure it's toast. Now convinced that resistance is mostly broken, I begin moving to take control of various keypoints.

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The remainder of the infantry is told to attack the key point around where the captured APC was first spotted. Friendly APCs and their accompanying two squads move further northeast. For some reason, the artillery spotter refuses to go along with them. Fucking coward.

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Some time later, we get enemy contacts, but the game doesn't slow down the time compression so I can't respond very quickly. Before I know it, a commander squad has lost several troops to a Russian APC sitting right on the point and its dismounted infantry.

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Shortly thereafter however, the squads bombard the APC and its surroundings with grenades. Most of the enemy dies in a heartbeat.

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With that last vehicle in flames, the enemy retreats and leaves all the territory for us. Total victory!

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Well, sort of, according to this. But we did break an enemy platoon where none of ours broke, and we took all of the territory, although none of it was vital. For this, we receive victory points. But enough celebrating, onto the hard part.

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Yeah...about that. I should've just pulled them back when I had the chance. The odds would be much better and since the tanks probably came from the southeast, they might not've been in the battle. The only thing that's stopping me from simply retreating right now is that I'm not entirely sure what will happen to them, given that they're considered to be "encircled." If I retreat and they're all considered to be captured, I'd have given them three perfectly good squads in exchange for nothing, and then I'd surely be fucked. I'll fight it out.

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Cool rifle grenade K98 as an aside.

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This is my deployment. It's snowing and dark out, meaning we'll be very difficult to see. More than likely, the enemy will advance on us with tanks in the front, and probably along a road, although not necessarily. The platoons in the north are situated on a decline next to a road, partially wooded, making them difficult to see. The idea is that they will quickly ambush a passing enemy tank with mines and grenades, hopefully at least damaging something vital. They will then run down the decline away from the tank, breaking contact with the enemy who will surely know where they are, depriving them of the surprise that'll be necessary to fight off larger numbers. They'll then meet up with the friendly reserve force in the southwest, form a line, and get ready. The reserve force is stationed as such because it's unlikely that the enemy will advance from the southwest. The dudes in the southeast are stationed in a very small town, so they're in houses, and are also along a road. This makes a very defensible position against advancing infantry, especially in lieu of trenches, and can be useful vs tanks as well if they're foolish enough to get close. The dudes to the west and east are the supply troops, who are allowed to entrench. I'm just using them as early warning systems. They've got like three dudes per squad and have only K98s for weapons.

Also, no friendly artillery.

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A view of one of the ambushes along the decline by the road. So hard to see I don't think I can even make out a single soldier.

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In what I assume is just an incredibly lucky barrage or two, the enemy manages to direct artillery onto the troops stationed at one end of the town. A house collapses, and by the end of it I believe 4 soldiers died from one squad and a few from another. Bad news. The rest of the barrages are inaccurate for the time being, thankfully.

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Flares light up to the north, also where some artillery has hit previously. Guess the attack will come from around there. Figures, most of the enemy platoons came from the north.

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Couple of apes spotted to the north, heading at us. Odd...I don't hear any vehicles. The infantry are attacking unsupported? I'm not really deployed well for this eventuality. Remember, the idea behind my positioning was that the attack would be lead by tanks, and that my platoons would be in a good position to quickly attack them with clusters of grenades and mines, hopefully disabling something vital before breaking line of sight and hopefully retreating without too many casualties. To accomplish this I deliberately deployed in a spot that has very poor line of sight to the direction of the enemy. That is precisely the opposite of what is good if you're fighting infantry - you want to stay down in a long, open field, so that when you open fire your machine guns mow down the hapless Communist hordes as they try to advance. That's not likely to happen here, both on account of positioning and lack of manpower.

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This shows where they are, exactly. I guess I'll wait a little then tell the platoon there to open up.

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After the firing starts, naturally, the enemy can see where I am and fire in return, allowing me to see where they are. There's quite a few of them.

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At this point it occurs to me that this simply isn't going to work. We didn't have a very advantageous position to engage infantry and we're outnumbered locally in a big way, with more dudes coming around east evidently.

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The ambushing platoon I had further west is ordered in to attack to relieve pressure and hopefully inflict a ton of casualties, but...would you just look at all those Bolsheviks?

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It's not enough. Before long, the area of first contact looks like this - as in, without any friendlies. They've all been killed or captured. Staying there was a hideous mistake - I should've retreated the minute I saw that things weren't looking well. Also I realize this is very dark. There's an option to brighten things up when you pause. It looks sort of silly, but makes for easier to view screenshots. I'll turn it on next time.

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So now with most of the eastern squads destroyed, the dudes attacking from the west are sort of just wasting lives. They've taken bad casualties too. Rather than keep up the attack, I'm ordering them southwest. The reserve platoon will move up and form a line facing north. They'll be on a slight hill on open terrain. Against infantry and no tanks, it ought to be enough to stop them...unless I've lost too many men already.

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The retre-erm tactical withdrawal begins, but it's already too late to save most.

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Fortunately, when the enemy came into contact, he called artillery down on our positions. But they advanced so quickly that it's now hitting the Russians. I'm not sure how many they lose, but the shellfire on several occasions comes down right in the middle of them. Slav incompetence is funny.

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But they must have two batteries because the houses are under fire again. More casualties.

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The retreat is mostly done. A few squads routed but eventually get a grip on themselves, but they're just a tiny shell of what they once were. The anti-tank rifleman I had has been killed as well. That's no good. Anyway, the reserve platoon is almost done moving to a point where it'll be able to check the infantry attack further west, while some of the Russian elements have already reached the houses. They don't accomplish much, however, and are gunned down.

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Managed to screenshot some shells falling behind Russian lines. Is nice.

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Meanwhile...this happens. So far it's just one tank, south of the houses, unsupported, but once it clears the houses it'll have a clear shot on the now vital reserve platoon. Something must be done. When it gets closer, I'll have the squads on the southern end of the houses leave them and swarm it, accomplishing...something, I hope.

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As the tank approaches, the reserve platoon finally gets into position and begins halting the Stalinist scum very effectively.

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Some more shells explode but our casualties are negligible. The Russians on the other hand...they ain't makin it. What hope they had at overrunning the weakened northern houses has been shattered by a stalwart defense, the reserve platoon, and their own shelling.

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That is, unless the tank gets out into the open and runs everyone over. It's finally getting line of sight by wheeling around the houses. It's time.

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They manage to get in close.

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The turret turns, casualties ensue...but after awhile, it stops firing. Keeps driving, but stops firing. I'm completely unable to actually destroy the tank, but I assume the turret mechanism has been destroyed and its no longer much of a threat. Great success. Sort of.

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Flares arrive, letting me take some funny screenshots. This is some burned earth, ravaged on account of Russian artillery. Look closely and you'll see corpses strewn about. Not all of them are German. When the dots are grey instead of blue, it means the dude in question is dead.

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I lolled

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Anyway, here's how things look with the flares in the sky. Pretty good. Grey dots once again are killed enemy, and I'm not seeing much blue. There's a few Russians out of sight to be sure but its safe to say they're mostly dead.

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Things calm down, but there's one problem. They had a tank, meaning, well, tank platoon. There's got to be at least three left but possibly even more. And flares have gone up east of the houses.

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Before long, three tanks are spotted, supported by infantry to boot. I was planning on ambushing them, but someone disregarded orders and fired, giving the position away. We come under tank fire. As I aptly demonstrated against the first tank, our AT capabilities are slim to none. I now feel there's no real hope here, and no sense in fighting. I order a retreat, and just take the risk that the encircled platoons may be destroyed.

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The text is very hard to read. I think in the future I'll just play in a lower res instead of scaling it down, maybe that'll help. Anyway, the one tank I damaged lost its turret mechanism AND its gunner, so it was pretty harmless. However, the gunner is easily replaceable and the turret mechanism can be repaired in a few turns. Against it, I did no lasting damage.

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The houses where the tanks were attacking...or whats left of them. Poor little town. The battle is considered a minor defeat for me. I actually lost more infantry than the Russians did due to my ridiculous error in the beginning. This might have been an acceptable trade were it not for that, because it looks like our platoons didn't break. One of theirs, however, did. When friendly platoons will be available to use again and where remains something of a mystery though.

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Russians currently ahead in victory points, partially due to the capture of key points. They have two broken platoons. It says we have four, but like I said, I think they'll resurface later...I hope.

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The situation. Since the enemy tanks are south, and I know that enemy infantry has moved north and can't have dug trenches, I'm very tempted to go on the attack while I still have the chance. The Russians'll have houses to hide in though, but I'm not sure I'll get a better opportunity. Our orders are, after all, to break through and link up with a friendly division. But it may be smarter to bait the Reds into attacking me instead, something the AI is all too keen to do when it has perceived superiority. I could then bleed their infantry first then attack with great local superiority. But this would also give them time to move their tanks to me....but then, the tanks are supposedly moving northwest to complete the encirclement. What to do?
 

overtenemy

Augur
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
293
Part 2: Which World War Is This Again?

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It was a tough decision, deciding what to do about the Russian infantry that pushed north. On one hand, it seemed probable that they outran some friendlies, and they can't be entrenched yet. On the other hand, they'll have buildings to hide in, and attacking with infantry without having armor or artillery has a tendency to result in many casualties, even when you have a crushing superiority. What ultimately decided me was that my troops are incredibly tired. One unit in particular was exhausted, which is pretty terrible. In battle, troops become less responsive when tired, and obviously battle is tiring in itself which would compound the problem and probably lead to a disastrous situation. I have decided therefore to hold where I am, and keep the platoons in the back right where they are to give the impression that I'm weaker than I am. I have two platoons dug in. Ideally, the enemy will attack there, and I'll have ridiculous numerical superiority. I wouldn't have tried this against enemy recon platoons as they can see for two squares. But I'm pretty sure they don't have any recon - it's all further west. I forgot to screenshot the movements after I ended the turn, but they end up attacking the square west of the entrenched platoons, with one platoon in it. Not as ideal, but it'll work perfectly well. Now I have a machine gun platoon participating.


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The battlefield. I've got more than enough troops to cover everything. I find that typically the AI likes to go for unoccupied squares and occupy them, then attack you from them.

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A machine gun getting an amazing view. I have like 6 of them.

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Our only artillery for the battle. It doesn't have many rounds to boot. 15, if I recall. No smoke either. It also only has about half a kilometer of range, so I'll have to constantly reposition it, tiring them out.

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This is the dude that can call the mortar. It's different now in Operation Star than previously. You need a commander to radio in to tell support units like mortars to fire on a position, and they have to be able to see the targeted area to do so effectively.

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My final deployments. I made sure to cover my lines facing the unoccupied squares. There's no real gap. What seems like a gap in the middle north really isn't. I have a few squads and a machine gun with a great view of the whole area, so any attack there will be shot up post haste. I didn't leave a reserve, because I'm extremely confident that any one point will be able to defeat the entire Russian attack on account of my larger numbers. Not to mention these troops are on foot, would take a long time to respond to a crisis, and in doing so would tire themselves out terribly. The only real worry I have is their artillery, which could prove to be a pain in the ass if targeted in a cluster of unentrenched troops.

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What'd I tell you? Few minutes after I start, the key point of the unoccupied square is shelled, destroying several communism shacks. They'll be heading there for sure. I also note that shells strike at a different place simultaneously, meaning they have not one but two batteries at their disposal. Bullshit.

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40+ minutes pass. I assume they occupied the place they bombarded, but nothing has come of it. I had begun to despair, thinking that they might have decided to accept the modest gain and not attack me after all, when some shelling started, dangerously close to our mortar.

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First sighting not too long after. They may actually outnumber me locally, but I have a machine gun on a hill that's going to make life miserable for them, so I'm not very worried. Hopefully the commander will die before more artillery is called.

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At the moment I only see one. This is why you have everyone on hold fire by default. Why shoot now when I can only see one, when I can wait til there's a whole row lined up?

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Like so! FIRE

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The machine gun was entrenched, hampering its vision abit. When I order it to fire it actually climbs out to get a better shot. You can prevent this from happening, but fuck it, get the shot.

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A squad is spotted further west. I order everyone to hold fire til they get closer. They don't have a real shot on anyone at the moment.

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Shortly after repositioning itself, the machine gun gets to work on the Bolsheviks.

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It also fires at the guys further west, and I order the machine gun covering them to open fire as well. They advance under machine gun crossfire until they get closer to the squad hiding in the shacks.

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So he opens fire and they drop like flies. This threat is pretty much neutralized as far as I know.

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The Bolsheviks originally spotted manage to make some headway and get close to a friendly squad. I figured they'd have been chopped down rather easily but since they've now inflicted a casualty or two and are in a position to inflict more, I send a few friendly squads down at them to assist in case things go south. It'll be awhile before they get there, though.

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Luw has now taken two casualties and is fighting the Russians who are advancing uphill and through a lightly forested area.

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And this finally rears its ugly head. Irritating accurately shellfire, but fortunately directed against an entrenched squad.

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But casualties are taken from a direct hit, including a commander. Very unfortunate.

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More dudes spotted, advancing where I stripped the two squads to assist with the first attack. Not a big deal though.

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Unfortunately, my units lost their hold fire order at some point and beginning let it rip immediately instead of waiting and ambushing them properly. Nevertheless, the effort is pretty successful so far.

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They don't get far. An anti-tank gun gets in on the action too and lobs a few HE in there.

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The enemy offers a ceasefire, meaning he no longer has any offensive intentions this battle. I'll read that as he's been soundly defeated and doesn't have much left. My Easternmost troops are ordered south to begin clearing everything out. I'd like to break every single enemy platoon involved in this battle, and capture all the territory. The square the enemy started in is a key point, so I'll be capable of taking that back with a successful attack of my own.

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I begin ordering squads up to finish the job. Behman is on the scene for the most recent attack.

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The rest of that particular line is ordered west into Central Taranovka. I hold back a platoon not just as a contigency but also to participate in an attack southwards later.

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Key point taken. That squad out front there isn't really a squad. It's one guy. It was an anti-tank rifle crew whose anti-tank rifleman was killed. He's not particularly useful to me anymore, so I ordered him into the attack. He's moving faster than everyone else for some reason and I don't bother stopping him.

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Things go smooth. I order the eastern dudes a bit west. When they reach the border of the Amber 1 square, they'll be ordered in and the platoon north of it will be ordered south.

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The Dressler guy out front runs into some opposition! I quickly see that it's not a prepared defense, but a retreat. They're retreating south, to the key point, where they probably have some defenses they left behind.

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He's way ahead. Time to go down fighting Dressbro.

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Unless he kills them all himself I guess.

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I guess he's got some ranks in move silently. The Bolshevik dies shortly after. After this, he has literally 3 rounds left - for an MP40. I order him to the back and give him a well deserved rest.

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The Soviets retreat, we advance, and they take the occasional enemy that doesn't run fast enough gets shot. But most of them are now over the train tracks that run through town, which'll obscure vision til friendly troops are over it themselves. I also tried to call a mortar round or two on them but already we've outpaced the mortar team. They're being brought up now.

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Advance on Amber 1 commences. In the West, multiple squads have crossed the railway and slain a few more Russians. Strangely, it looks like a few stragglers were headed at us rather than fleeing south. They are cut down.

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Anti-tank rifle Russian tries to be a hero. It doesn't work out for him.

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This is what I'm trying to prevent the Russians from retreating to. It's a nice brick building that'll prove a complete pain in the ass for me if its occupied by enemies. Without artillery to bring it down or tanks to suppress the enemy, I'd take disproportionate casualties attacking it. I'd prefer the enemy didn't manage to escape to whatever he already has lying in wait. To that end, I advance along the houses rather than in the open as much as possible to avoid any bullshit.

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While a few guys haven't made it into the safety of cover yet, this rears its ugly head. Machine gun. And if they're anything like mine, they've probably got more of them. It opens fire, but doesn't produce many casualties initially.

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Fuhrmann calls in mortars and thank fuck they're actually in range. Can expect some relief shortly, though it's unfortunate that I'm caught like this and I can't really extricate my troops from the situation easily. I've ordered people who are still on the other side of the railroad over in hopes that they'll cross close enough to return fire effectively against the machine gun.

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Mortars land, killing a few and suppressing others, but the gun is still active.

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Nice. Since I know there's still some mortars in the air and we've got limited ammo, I cancel the shelling. But the gun is still working...

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Now further south another machine gun is spotted, on the other side of the railroad. Fortunately due to said railroad, they're not what you'd call mutually supporting, but not all my troops are over yet and they begin to take fire.

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Irritated by lack of progress and steadily mounting casualties, I call in more mortars and a direct hit finally ends the machine gun or machine gunner, whichever. Troops close in and finish what's left.

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Current situation. I've got the rest of the troops coming from the East but they're tired as fuck and it's going to take awhile. The machine gun East of the railroad is currently a non-issue as I've got most of my troops to the other side. I'll wait for the Eastern troops to arrive, then have Fuhrmann peak over the railroad to call in mortars to support their advance. In the meantime, a southward advance through the houses begins. The brick building I was worried about is a little East of where it says SOuth Taranovka.

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Key point taken, guess there can't be many Russians around.

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There's this one idiot who refuses to get over the railroad. He's the command of his squad, to boot. He sits on it with a machine gun firing towards the enemy machine gun and admirably scoring a hit or two, but ultimately loses his life in the process. I believe that he died because of fatigue. Sounds odd, but fatigued troops often times have trouble responding to orders and move very slugglishly, as his unit was doing. Often times they're be almost inert. It's a good thing I didn't bother trying to attack them head on.

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Arrive at the brick building. Nothing here. Odd. Not complaining though. Welp, guess it's time to sit tight and...

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Spot yet another machine gun further sound that inflicts a few more casualties. I try to fire mortars but they're out of range and extremely exhausted. To the left of the screen is the same north/south road I've been advancing on that has buildings for cover. I'll just round up all the squads west of them and advance til I'm closer to the machine gun, then destroy it.

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So far so good. The gun keeps firing at longer range targets in and around a building, such as Schlitz and Luw. There's the occasional casualty but nothing terrible. Meanwhile everyone else advances forward. Unfortunately, due to fatigue, this takes a long ass fucking time.

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Some of the soldiers fail to use common sense and advance out of cover. There's no real excuse for this as I've ordered the squads to advance in column formation rather specifically to avoid shit like this.

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The machine gun turns to the advancing troops finally, presumably as they pass through the gaps between houses and present themselves as shots. Fuck it, time to attack.

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This doesn't go very well. We have a shot on them soon enough but the machine gun isn't taken out quickly, and casualties begin to mount as it fires away at close range.

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A temporary reprieve as the gunner goes down, but soon another will be manning it. Fuckers need to MOVE but they're just too goddamned tired. Someone turn the clock back 25 years or something?

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Like this true Aryan hero. The commander of an infantry squad, Tanner, manages to dash right up to the machine gun while its busy with others and comes face to face with a Bolshevik animal.

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They throw grenades are each other, killing one another simultaneously and temporarily suppressing the gun, opening the way for his comrades.

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:salute:

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Still the casualties already incurred cause panic amongst a few squads, including that of the deceased Tanner. Still, its not a big deal. The other troops will be arriving shortly and I'll use them to finish the job.

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They meet their first opposition a bit East of the machine gun I had spotted East of the rails. This makes four enemy machine guns now and hopefully it'll be the last.

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Fortunately we were close enough when it was located, and our numbers superior with decent line of sight, that it doesn't last long. If I recall correctly it dealt a total of two casualties before going down. The advance continues undeterred and unabated.

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Mortars are called in on the other known MG as the Eastern forces approach the line of houses protecting them from it.

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Boom. I can't tell if the gun is down but we definitely got a few Reds.

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After that, though a few enemies are still alive, they finally retreat, leaving me in possession of the entire battlefield.

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Evidently, this is a draw in Achtung Panzer logic. But seriously, it's considered a draw because of how superior my forces were. The numbers being so in my favor the game expected me to win with fewer casualties. It of course is incapable of taking into account my lack of armor and artillery amongst said forces that gave cause to all this, not to mention the fatigue. In truth, it was a victory, although in the greater scheme of things I'm not sure the soldier exchange ratio is one I can afford long term.

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They came at us with three platoons. Two broke, but this one miraculously survived because it has one squad of infantry still untouched. I should be happy that I was able to knock out two enemy platoons without losing one of mine, but seriously how did this other one survive? I bet if it were mine it'd have broken. I hope it doesn't just get put back up to strength with replacements, which I'm sure the Reds have in abundance.

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The map now looks like this, oddly. Even though most of my squads ended the battle in the south, it didn't actually advance any platoons southward, meaning the key point is considered mine, but it's not really occupied by troops. In the West, the recon platoon from SSLAH didn't really do shit and the infantry there has bunkered down, and two of my wayward squads emerged from routing. They have no ammunition, are panic stricken, and exhausted. They're sure to be useful in the coming turns.

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This looks good to me, especially considering that one of my broken platoons isn't actually broken but merely routing, where the Soviet ones are all really dead. But we still don't have the edge in Victory points (the second number from the left.) Not even close in fact.

Anyway, in that battle, after capturing South Taranovka I could have simply accepted the cease fire and occupied the square without taking any more casualties. But I had the advantage then and there, and I'm going to have to fight the machinegun platoon in the future regardless, so I figure, why not destroy it now? It was depressing seeing all those people mowed down after all that marching but I did what I had to do and it worked out in my opinion. As for what to do next I'm not sure. My troops are even more tired now and if I advance further south I could easily run into the tanks, and my anti-tank guns aren't quite in range yet. I'm also dug in properly, and moving south into the key point, as logical as it sounds, would remove my ability to entrench in tactical combat AND tire out whoever I move up there even further. I may just have to take a breather for a turn. Will decide later.
 

overtenemy

Augur
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
293
Part 3: Not One Schtep Back, Kameraden!

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Where I left off. Two of the routed platoons from the first update appear in the Southwest. They pretty much have no ammo though, and are extremely demoralized, but fortunately there's no enemy troops RIGHT on their tails. In the north, I have possession of an important point due to a counterattack, but no platoon is stationed there. And everyone's so damned tired that I'm literally incapable of moving anyone to it. That sort of decided the issue for me. Rather thank attempting to press an attack, everyone will be staying still for a turn to recuperate, with a few exceptions.

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In the West, one platoon pulls back, and the other goes south to nab a key point to grab some victory points. Hopefully he won't be attacked. In the north, a 75mm field artillery platoon that was entrenched by the supplies moves South, and is replaced by a 37mm anti-tank platoon from the East. The reason is here:

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The 75mm is capable of penetrating the side of a Mathilda, and from any range because its anti-tank round is HEAT. The 37mm couldn't penetrate the side from ANY range even though its an armor piercing shell. I expect APCs from the West to attack that area and the 37mm will do fine there, where the 75mm will serve us better south where we MAY encounter tanks. Though, then again, we may not. Other than that, there's a bit of a traffic jam. I'm having diffuclty moving fresh units forward. Some units may swap places, but even that costs energy and I need them to rest. So with that exception, the setup is mostly the same.

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As expected, the enemy immediately takes control of the key point in the north again. Less expected, he launches another attack. Some of the platoons involved will be fresh because this one was launched further West than previously and will now include Becker and Kanner. Two of the platoons are ones we haven't seen before. I suspect tanks immediately and prepare for the worst. In the Southwest, a single tank platoon, the one that routed us originally, attacks again. More than likely, we will be retreating without a shot fired. First, the battle in the North.

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The battlefield. Where previously I was confident of my superiority and deployed along a large front to repel any possible infantry attack, I'm feeling a bit more conservative now due to the unknown quantity now present. The tanks were supposed to head northwest, but it doesn't mean they did, and they could easily be here by now. It'd also help explain why they're even bothering to attack, considering how they got their asses kicked last time. The attack is directed towards Central Taranovka and I expect most of the fighting to happen there. Thinking more broadly, it would be pretty unfortunate for me to get flanked to the West and lose the Northwestern reaches of Taranovka, because back on the the operational map it'll dislodge several entrenched units and make the area less defensible, and probably force me to counterattack to boot. I deployed with this in mind initially, and spread out the troops to prevent such an eventuality. But ultimately my fear that we may be seeing armor prevailed and forced me to accept the risk to the flank in order to concentrate enough power to actually meet a massed attack.

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Fuhrmann's mortar is still around, but is without ammunition, as are his snipers. As such, they're placed in the back. This on the other hand is the mortar from Becker's squad, featuring 50 shells. It's the entirety of our "fire support" yet again.

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Where I expect fighting. Central Taranovka is a line of sight nightmare. A bush here, a slight incline there, a house over there. This is advantageous to me if tanks are present. Some troops are deployed entrenched behind bushes for maximum concealment in the hope that a tank will drive by and present itself as a target.

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But poor line of sight is NOT advantageous for our 75mm guns. They need a straight shot. So more entrenchable infantry are lined up further west, the one open area of Central Taranovka. They're positioned directly next to each other with the idea that a quick couple of shots to the side of the tank will hopefully decide the issue, and won't give it any time to respond. There are troops further south on either side, meaning if I cause them to open fire, a tank will hopefully drive towards them, presenting a nice broadside target for both guns. I also concentrate the most machine guns here, for even though they're vulnerable to tanks, they are perfectly capable of mowing down their accompanying infantry which is almost as important.

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Final deployment. I would have concentrated more troops were it not for my fear of artillery. If I bunch too many platoons up and more rockets get called in, the casualties could potentially be monstrous in comparison with the effectiveness gained by placing them there in first place. So, the platoon further east is Walkerstein, whose men are thoroughly exhausted and need a break anyway. They'll cover a flank but are not central to this battle hopefully.

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As soon as the battle begins enemies are sighted. One tank and a few men, not moving.

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Mathilda. Great.

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Looks like an MG42 has a shot but that'd probably attract unwelcome attention at this point.

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And now we see why they were waiting. Stalin's Organ, again, right on the key point. Good thing I never deploy there.

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They begin heading East. Wonder if that means they're going all the way around. Sort of odd, if so, considering they could've just deployed in the East.

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Meanwhile, further West, an odd sight. An anti-tank gun is being wheeled down the road North, heading towards the unoccupied square. Seems like a pretty good opportunity to take down a unit with minimal risk.

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The machine gun I have over there takes a few pot shots but doesn't really do much. I send one square over to take care of this, not really wanting to displace the entire platoon for what should be an easy encounter.

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When they stick their heads out onto the street, more infantry comes into view behind the guns. Fire is exchanged. Rather than continue rushing the guns in the open I order the square to take cover in the houses to better combat the enemy infantry.

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The guns fired a few times initially, but enough people manning them were killed before they managed to inflict even a single casualty.

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Unfortunately, a few of the squad are slow to get to the houses and remain in the street and are now close to the surviving subhumans.

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A grenade is thrown and we have our first casualty of the battle - Krondorf himself.

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Four casualties are taken on the way to the houses, but once inside the issue works itself out and the Russians die off.

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Meanwhile, this is where the enemy is headed - parallel to my lines. The guns currently have line of sight on one of the tanks but the shot isn't totally broadside, and failure to hit and destroy it quickly would be disastrous. I hold fire for now.

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Infantry also walking up the road...not a big deal in and of itself, but when they get close to the buildings I'll have to tip my hand in that area and open fire, rendering at least a few positions visible.

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They keep moving across...there's a slight decline that prevents my guns from having line of sight on the tank to the left or I'd probably take that shot. Guess they'll be getting even closer.

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Then this happens. The infantry back on the road hit the deck, apparently alerted to the presence of enemies. Going to have to fire shortly.

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And more problems. Even further West, back at the site of Krondorf's skirmish, a lighter tank shows up. Could be the end of them, which is too bad because they inflicted some nicely disproportionate casualties on the enemy.

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The infantry on the street opens fire. You can see a tracer flying in the upper right, so they've spotted a position along the main line as well as possibly some of the dudes in the houses. Southernmost house squad is ordered to open fire, as well as a machine gun that I positioned for this very purpose. Result:

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They don't accomplish much.

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Amazingly, in addition to a tank approaching, the Krondorf squad must not deal with an anti-tank gun's crew who has suddenly decided to man it again.

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As well as another gun, and a few more infantry. It's too late to have him retreat really, leaving the houses would get them killed for sure.

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And back here, the basic idea behind my deployment appears to have worked. Alerted by the fire on the infantry to the west, one of the tanks begins beelining for it, exposing its vulnerable side to two guns. It's TIME.

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The first shot misses short, but the second connects, blowing the protection off of the tracks but doing as far as I can tell no real damage.

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The shots that land do nothing. Alerted, it turns towards the guns. The next shots hit the frontal armor and waste precious ammo. I become seriously tempted to simply stop firing because I don't feel like there's anything to be accomplished now.

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In slightly happier news, another AT gun's crew is being killed along with a few more infantrymen, though Krondorf is now taking fire from the tank and shouldn't be expected to last much longer.

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But wait, what's this? The Mathilda gets de-tracked, causing it to spin and for a hot second its REAR is exposed!

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But it doesn't last long enough to score a hit. However, its side remains exposed, and it takes about 4 more hits...but it's still not dead. What the hell?

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But then it turns back toward the guns and I'm in deep shit again. It can't move but it sure as hell can fire back. It occurs to me now, far too late, that I should've set the guns up to be mutually supporting but farther apart so that they could not be faced simultaneously. My plan to quickly have two guns unload on an exposed tank to end it quickly has failed miserably and now its going to cost me.

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Like so. One gun is hit, and the crew panics. I don't believe it's actually destroyed but the crew just runs away, leaving it unmanned. Fucking cowards.

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In a hilarious side note, two people surrender to Krondorf...while a friendly tank is not 30 feet away.

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Meanwhile, while it is regrettable that we lost a 75mm, enemy infantry casualties have so far been heavy while ours have been light. The mortar has been firing and doing a rather good job of it. Scenes like this are scattered around the field.

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Spoke too soon. The infantry firing from the house got some artillery called in the general area, which has hit several squads.

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Here, a squad who hasn't even seen combat yet loses over half its men to the barrage. Other losses are less severe but irritating nevertheless.

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In a desperate attempt, I redirect the fire from the remaining gun onto another incoming Mathilda so that it might be immobilized like the last one. So far, no such luck.

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More mortar action, for those wishing for more bloody screenshots. That'll learn em.

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The artillery is getting more accurate. Bad news.

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One or more of the rockets destroys the remaining anti-tank gun. The infantry, however entrenched, are left without the protection of guns and without any real prospect of retreat. To leave the trenches now would expose them to murderous fire from which there would surely be no escape.

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Failure to stop the tank finally results in this. I'd held fire on most of the infantry squads and let machine guns do muh of the killing so as to keep them unseen, so that tanks might drive by then and get detracked by thrown grenades. This is about as close as it gets for now, and no such things occurs. They become now forced to open fire to defend themselves against the encroaching infantry.

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Oh dear. This is going to get very bloody, very soon.

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A tank gets close enough for Dornberger's squad to attack! Unfortunately, the squad now consists of three people that, between them, literally have two rifle rounds. No joke. a 45mm grenade launcher targets the tank from the side and scores a hit, but it's just an HE grenade and does nothing, not even a detrack.

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Next barrage is a failure at least. If it killed anybody at all, it was a Russian.

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Amusingly, rather than finish off Krondorf, the tank drove by, presumably capturing some territory. I left Krondorf where he was though, which turned out to be a big mistake because the tank has actually come BACK down the same road it left.

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And it wants blood this time. No escape due to my negligence. I should've had them take positions back at the trenches.

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Knowing the positon is completely untenable and that retreat is not an option, they take to the offensive, hoping to destroy the more lightly armore tank with grenades on weak spots.

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Only two survive the approach, only two score two hits that do no discernable damage. They die shortly after. :salute: for that squad though, we'll check its stats after the battle.

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Back to the big fight, just when I thought I'd killed enough infantry...looks like an entirely fresh squad will be moved up to support and spot for the spearheading tanks, which are honestly doing a pretty good job by themselves. And we're just about out of mortars.

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By pure luck however, I had stationed two machine guns in an incredibly favorable flanking fire position. Initially, the intent was to draw the tank towards them and set up a shot for the guns. But now, between Radel, Hantzen, Volk, as well as other guns that are off screen due to being at the main position, are tearing them up pretty well. Bitches don't know bout our MG42s. In fact, the machine guns truly do the majority of the killing in this battle.

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Similar scenes are repeated incessantly as the tanks try in vain to suppress the multitude of our machine guns. If only I had set up the 75mms as sensibly.

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But that's not to say everything is rosy. Scenes like this are being repeated as well. Shells landing perfectly, to kill several brave warriors at once. The stalwart commander Kossatz is the next victim, which is highly unfortunate because commanders carry the HHL-3, an anti-tank grenade that I've noticed is effective against Mathildas. Sadly, regular squads don't have them as a rule and just use grenades with 6 warheads strapped together at the end of the stick.

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Back where Krondorf died, the tank that slew him advances East, probably hoping to join the great battle.

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Foolishly, I left a machine gun out of hiding in order to help Krondorf earlier. I had forgotten about it and now its going to pay for my repeated negligence.

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As the enemy armor fires at us with impunity, my hopes begin to fade. They can do this all day. In a desperate last ditch attempt I order the remainder of the Kossatz and Neuman squads forward to attack the closest tank. They are severely and quickly rebuked for this foolishness and take a multitude of casualties before managing to settle back into the trenches.

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Meanwhile, I've set up a trap for this tank. I've got a commander with a HHL-3 sitting in houses behind it, with more infantry in front of it. Soon, they'll swarm and hopefully claim at least one tank for this battle, as well as vengeance for Krondorf.

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And another infantry squad moves up after the others have died. I'm beginning to think I may not have enough machine gun ammo.

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Forgot to screenshot the approach, but my trap goes off against the light tank in the west. Its track is taken off very early.

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After a nonstop barrage of anti-tank grenades. the hatches open!

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Crew hops out and are killed. Finally, a victory...but it's only a weak ass little Valentine, not the great Mathildas that are causing me so much pain further East.

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A glance at the overall situation. I can't really counter attack with what now are essentially reserves in the West - it'd only lead to their deaths at the hands of the tanks on an open field. Things were looking up before, but now...the scene looks ever more apocalyptic as the corpses pile up on the frozen ground around the ever increasing number of shell craters. At this point, I seriously considered simply retreating and giving the enemy all the territory than incurring more losses. But a thought came to me. Although I have little anti-tank ability and am facing grim prospects, much of the enemy's forces WERE in infantry. Perhaps if I kill just enough, they'll abandon their offensive objectives and offer a cease fire. It's worth a shot. Everyone currently fighting will do so until victory or death. If death is the case, the rest will retreat.

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Another barrge claims more lives and suppresses troops who ought to be firing instead of cowering. The Knebl machine gun crew now consists of one man, stubbornly manning it with waning ammunition. Those Organs sure do make a mess of things. A few more rocket barrages and this place will look like a mini Eastern Somme.

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Oh great, this is good. At least they're shitty bi-planes instead of Il-2s, who would do immense damage for sure. Nevertheless they carry bombs, so it doesn't help any.

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Our lines are not as powerful as they used to be. Many dead squads. But it also needs to be said, there's not much visible living Russian infantry either. I count three in this screenshot. All the grey dots are dead enemies. Maybe, just maybe, if a few more die...

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Here goes this. The Western troops are being bombed, fortunately, rather than the ones actually in combat.

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It strikes nothing...this time.

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They also try (unsuccessfully) to bomb a machine gun that's already destroyed. I have no problem with this.

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Volk, a hero from the last battle in this area, is about to go under. Machine gun destroyed, ammo low, and receiving attention from two tanks. Well, it was a gun run, just fire your last few rounds at that one visible infantryman and....

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HOLY SHIT CEASEFIRE

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I begin moving troops to ensure that I didn't lose any area to the Russians before accepting, but the ceasefire at one point is temporarily retracted, jarring me considerably. However, it was temporary, and once it was back on offer again I accepted it without question.

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We made it! Yay? I like how this is considered to be a defeat. I mean, sure, I have no artillery, no mobility, exhausted troops, pitiable anti-tank capabiltiy, where the enemy has 5 tanks, more rockets than they know what to do with and...ah fuck it, I'm used to it by now. I will flatly state that this was a victory, won in no small part due to luck.

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Looking at the map reveals a few things. First, how FEW troops they had left. True, they did have three functional tanks, but I was in no position to harm them. I suppose if I were more daring, I might have kept the tanks busy while the Western infantry advanced South to capture the key point and eject any Russians from it on the operational map. But I couldn't have known they were running so low, as they USUALLY leave at least a token defense behind at key points, and my other men would have no doubt suffered in the meantime.

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We lost two platoons this battle entirely. One was Kossatz, killed or wounded to the man. The other was of course the inadequate 75mm field guns, who, despite said inadequecy, I will be probably missing next turn.

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They on the other hand lost three infantry platoons entirely. Also, their anti-tank battery is mauled. Two guns are gone forever, one unfortunately persists with one crewman, and the other is fine. Also one of the artillery spotters calling the rockets on us is gone for good. Hopefully after the first battle, they won't have enough men to re-crew the anti-tank gun. A gun with one man is completely useless.

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Here we can see they threw two tank platoons into this, meaning they have altogether at LEAST three tank platoons in this scenario. That's pretty bad news, seeing as how I only managed to destroy one and damage another. At least the air spotters died as well. It's pretty amazing the amount of shit these guys have compared to me. And I'm suppose to attack and breakthrough to the southwest!? What a joke.

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This looks good to me. They have more broken platoons and lost materiel. Our losses are actually somewhat similar. It's the number under the three red soldiers in the middle. But it seems to me really what I really need to do is wait until the Tigers show, and so far I'm holding out nicely.

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Not one inch of ground yielded to the enemy during that cease fire. Absolutely beautiful. As for the battle in the Southwest, I simply retreated. The two squads under my command there literally have almost no ammunition. Between all the squads, I had if I recall correctly two HHL-3s, the only real defense against the Mathildas we'd be facing. If we were incredibly lucky, that might kill two, leaving us to deal with one more, or possibly even two or three more tanks. The numbers just didn't add up, so I had to retreat and give up the entrenched positions of the SSLAH infantry platoon as well as the houses by the key point.

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Things now look like this. One of the platoons is in enemy territory routing again, with another that still has yet to surface from the battle on the first turn. What I really need is for one of those friendly tank platoons to show next turn. Just one. It'd fix this shit in a heartbeat.

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The tanks didn't show, but two friendly infantry platoons did. One has access to a flight of FW-190s. I tried to look up the penetration on their weaponry, to see if maybe they had some sort of armor piercing round loaded that might destroy a tank from behind but it wasn't in the Encyclopedia. Nevertheless, next turn, I'm going to have to stand and fight. If I don't, five platoons will rout and become heavily demoralized as well as probably unavailable for several more turns. Can't have that. Must win.

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The blue icon of the dude indicates FANATIC morale. This has occurred undoubtedly because this particular machine gun platoon shot up some serious subhumans, and only two machine guns from it are actually destroyed and lost permanently. Two are being fixed, Volk's among them (man how'd he survive) and two remain completely operational, if low on ammo.

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They've killed 40 men over the last few hours. That actually strikes me as incredibly low overall. I almost wonder if it's inaccurate. Still, it's many fewer casualties than they've taken, that's for sure.

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As for Krondorf's 10 man infantry squad, it took out 23 men, many of which manned three now disabled anti-tank guns. Dead but not forgotten. :salute:

My issue right now is whether or not I should attempt to push Westwards with spare platoons to claim keypoints or hold, and whether or not I can move up more anti-tank guns to assist in defending our positions. Attacking is simply out of the question, no many how many infantry we just killed. Going at tanks in the open, with no tanks of our own in broad daylight is simply a recipe for disaster, and now that they're on the scene instead of heading further Northwest, the basic idea of the operation must be thrown out the window. There is simply no way I can manage it. My path is fairly clear: hold tight til the Tigers arrive.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
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Third Reich from the Sun
The Soviets sure have a whole lot of more material to work with than you do, your not doing to bad considering all the tanks and artillery they have. A couple of tigers would be amazing at this point really, those matildas wouldn't stand a chance.
 

GarfunkeL

Racism Expert
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
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Insert clever insult here
The 75mm is capable of penetrating the side of a Mathilda, and from any range because its anti-tank round is HEAT. The 37mm couldn't penetrate the side from ANY range even though its an armor piercing shell

There's actually a good reason for that. What was known as an AP round during WW2 was nothing more than an aerodynamically formed slug made of the densest metal possible, so as to give it as much kinetic energy as possible for piercing armour. Basically a sledgehammer approach - you repeatedly whack the armoured shell of a tank in the hope of few armour plates giving in. The HEAT round (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) which become more and more common during the War and pretty much pushed the old AP round off the market, doesn't rely on kinetic energy at all but the shaped explosive charge it carries. The same principle made RPGs possible - it's the exact same principle on why AT-rifles and AT-guns were superseded by RPGs and recoilless rifles until the advent of ATGMs. Thus the HEAT grenade from a 75mm Infantry Gun, due to the larger size of the shell, packs more punch, than the solid iron/steel/tungsten grenade that a 37 PaK fires. The latter was more useful during the early periods of the war before the emergence of HEAT rounds.

Of course, HEAT itself was superseded by the modern Sabout rounds or APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) as the official acronym goes, thanks to increases in muzzle velocities and metallurgy. Pure tungsten or depleted uranium rods with guidance fins (think of a crowbar with tiny wings) pack way more kinetic energy than the best of the HEAT rounds, in fact so much that in modern armour wisdom, HEAT rounds are used for APCs and IFVs, and Sabot is saved strictly for MBTs.

In any case, good LP so far, will be interesting to see if you can save the poor 320. Infanterie from destruction.
 

Phelot

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
17,908
Reply to this post if you agree this LP should proceed to page 2.
 

Phelot

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
17,908
FFS PAGE 2 DO U SPEAK IT? I actually really love seeing this game being played.
 

Cenobyte

Prophet
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
1,117
Location
Japan
You are doing quite well, considering you basically only really have infantry at your disposal. At what rate do you regain fatigue? Any chance to get some more MG ammo or mortar shells?
 

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