THE MAIN EVENT II! Lord Bane vs. Matteponk

[Der Kuenstler]

THE FIREWORKS BEGIN...

Minute one passes without event - all tanks and men headed towards their objectives without traffic jams or bogs.

Minute two: Lord Bane wheels his vet T34 tanker platoon into hulldown position on the East side of town near the central church. A vet 44H platoon and HQ leap off the tanks and run for the light building to the left - they are getting in position to spray any German troops that may be headed for the church. The conscript T34 is approaching out of sight of the main road to deliver his riders. But about 35 seconds into the minute, Matteponk's leading Pz IVJ appears in the fog on the horizon.



The T34 on the left sights and fires first - but it ricochets! The shell can still be seen flying up into the sky after hitting the hun tank.



Next the IVJ fires at the central T34 - boom - one shell, one kill! Unfortunately for LB it was his platoon leader also. Dang - Ain't that the way it usually happens? To add insult to injury, the Pz IVJ fired while still moving "fast" and was green.



But the green IVJ crew's glory is short lived. Lord Bane's T34 on the right fires and hits him. The FOW shows "immobile" to Lord Bane but the German tank is actually dead.



From Matteponk's side, we can see as the minute ends his dead Pz IVJ. The SMG riders have been swept from the tank and are pinned in the road. Another SMG squad has dismounted and runs for the nearest building. But Matteponk's lead vet Pz IV70 has moved into hull-down position and drawn a bead on the Russian tank that killed the IVJ.



The tanks on the wings are still approaching and haven't seen each other. At the close of minute 2 each commander has already lost a tank - it looks to be a vicious fight to come.