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Section Leaders:
Click Here for Print Friendly .DOC version German Commander - Fionn
Kelly German Turns 6-10 In
a nice piece of TacAI the SPW 250/9
which I ordered to HUNT forward over the crest of a small hill
on my right flank spotted
an enemy M36 Jackson, fired its MG a few times to cause the TC to
button and then, as befits any vehicle with armour which gave rise to
the term “paper thin” , reversed the hell out of dodge and back
into full defilade. I
worked the SPW 250/9 around the base of the hill ( thus keeping it out
of LOS of the M36) and proceeded to work leftwards and forwards so as
to get a good view into the second dip in the ground in which I
expected the enemy to be. I also decided to start aiming my off-board
arty towards the hollow in the ground holding the M36 on the principle
that there were bound to be more vehicles and men than just the M36
there. As
the turns continued on it became evident that my spotting of the M36
had spurred the enemy’s entire right flank into action. On turn 8 the
SPW 250/9 was destroyed by a bazooka but not before it uncovered
another enemy vehicle, this time an M3 half-track. All in all by the 10th
turn I was certain that at least an enemy company was advancing on my
right flank. They were advancing carefully forward with half-squads
thrown ahead of their main body but it seemed obvious that my estimate
that the main enemy attack would come in on my right flank was correct. While
this was all going on I moved my Company HQ and two half-squads forward
to provide a little speed-bump in front of my rightmost Panther. My
hope was to prevent Chris from bringing zooks up to take on my Panther
directly whilst also forcing his infantry to halt and deploy for a
firefight thus making themselves easy targets for my arty. On
the ninth turn more evidence that Chris has now definitely committed to
the attack is provided by the charging forward of multiple Sherman 76s.
Of course, my Panther gunner is to be shot the instant the battle
finishes after missing EVERY DAMNED SHOT this turn ! Still, if I keep
him in position for a bit longer he should, eventually, manage to hit
something. The
tenth turn passed with little more action. My SPW 250/9 on my left
flank is simply being used to make a continuing nuisance of itself by
driving around near the American infantry and machinegunning them
whilst my Panthers are being used to take the Americans under fire and
attrit then at long range. My whole concept here is to utilize as much of my “big gun” on-map firepower ( tank main guns, HMGs, FlaK guns, on-map mortars) at the longest ranges practicable. I feel that attriting Chris’ infantry over the entire range of engagement distances while they seek to close into close-fighting range with my infantry yields the best possible chance of victory. Generally I prefer to let the enemy get “in close” before opening fire since I prefer to kill a squad in 1 turn rather than attriting over 4 or 5 turns but, using my on-map long-range firepower is necessary now as it will force Chris’ infantry to bunch up and ONCE they are bunched up my artillery can work over their concentrations and inflict significant.
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