DAR - Ratzki vs DasTiger

[Ratzki]

Thanks for pointing out the link RD. I always try to use some form of Armour Rules, just to help with balance, specially in ME's. You can fudge them a little bit with Att/Def games and let the attacker pick some restricted armour as there is increased chances that a good flank/rear shot can be taken by the defender, as well as hidden pioneers, and mines for example.
In this battle you will not see any:T-34 m43, no KV's of any type, no Pz IIJ, PzIIIJ(short,late), Pz IIIJ(late), or captured T-43 m42.
I think the Star Wars themed tourny is a good example of what you can get with a little thought before the setup, how often do you get to see the Italians or Romanians during a QB? If you even the forces out somewhat at the start you get to play around with some funky units and still be in the game till the end.
It's good to see that some people are reading these things.:)

[SS_expandeux]

It is more interesting with some of this rules No BIG CATS here :P this is a battle of puppies I shall ask for a game like this( soon) since I'm bored of the tiger/panther invulnerability not to say KT...playing on one of your Cmbb ME map Ratzki and the Russians don't use their tungsten projectiles and can't defeat the KT :((

[Ratzki]

Looks like the enemy finally showed up and wants to fight it out. In this turn I get another Armoured Car of some sort and infantry across the map. It would have been nice to have gotten another turn or two behind me first, but thems the breaks. I have my men on hide on this side of the map, and my armour is on the other end. I am still sneaking a ATR towards these guys but have to be careful he doesn't get shot up. If he advances his light armour a little farther I will be able to get a flank shot with my m39 76mm gun. I am trying to give him targets down the map to egg him into moving his armour a bit more. Overall, unless things go severely off-course, I am feeling pretty good about my position as a whole.

I have enemy infantry here as well. They have better cover then the map shows as they keep popping in view and the popping out again as they advance. I can only harrass them with light fire at the moment, but I have better cover, closer to the flag, so DasTiger will have to dig me out. I will have to see how close he is willing to let his men get before I will be able to know which troops I will engage him with. I am positioning a FO to try to stop him from massing any troops near this flag. I willl not commit the arty unless I start to take a beating. It's the AC and Pz threat that can mess me up here.

On the other side of the map, DasT.'s men pop up and are about to take some SMG fire that I have waiting for him. There is a Rifle platoon of mine moving in for support and I am able to get one of the BA's to fire away as well. I want him to think that this is not the way to go, and will try to keep him in the middle of the map where it seems that I have better cover and position.

Here, it's the same story but DasTiger opens with some small on map arty and advances under this fire. It is not enough to supppress my men for long and most lands well out and away from my troops. The SMG platoon here, sends one of his squads back towards his own lines in short order, the rest are on the reverse slope of the hillside. I am moving my T-34s up here to do some battling with the enemy that my SMG squads cannot see. I want to find out if he has any armour over here as well so it is kind of a scouting mission as well.

[Ratzki]

Flag A and area. I have 2x T34s moving around to aid the SMG platoon and check out the area for enemy armour. I am hoping for DasTiger to have brought some SPGuns, With no turret, they are cheaper to buy, but on the attack they have their drawbacks. DasT. has allowed me to claim the flags with no opposition and I am in good order in all but near flag E. I have a Rifle platoon as well just getting to the combat zone, they are going to provide the additional punch to keep enemy troops away from the flage here. I will let the SMG platoons fire at will again this round then I will slip them into hide with short covered arcs on them and wait to see what else shows up. This is a long game yet, and the SMG squads have limited ammo, there is no use wasting it on shots at the end of their effective range.

My dreams are comming true, up pops a StuG near flag E. It looks as though it might try to mess my men up that are advancing on flag C. Now I have a little dilemma, do I open up with my gun on any target or wait for the STuG to maybe show it's side. The StuG will have to move in order to get some targets to fire at, let's hope he moves far enough. I have one of my BA's moving in to take on his Pz? I just could not get my ATR into a good position and he has been creeping his armour around a bit, maybe I'll get some shots at the armoured cars.

Right at the end of the turn my BA gets a line on the Pz? I'll have to get through that light tank's frontal armour, let's hope I hit before he does, these tin cans can't take too much of a hit, please be a Pz I.
The 120mm FO is going to move to get a better lie on the infantry moving towards flag C, plus I want to keep him safe from DasT.'s armour, better to move now while I can then wait too long and pay later.

All that I really have moving is my armour at the moment. The T34s on the left are moving to help out the SMG platoon, the T34s on the right are gonna hold pat for now then will move to isolate the men that he has in the trees and maybe remove any reverse slope ideas that DasT. has for his men near flag C.
I am moving a jeep to pick up one of the infantry guns and move it to a better location. This should be in tow within two turns.
The platoon at flag D will move to engage the infantry comming at them while trying not to get in the sights of the STuG or any of his friends. The Gun in the lower right, may get some chances to fire on the infantry as well, I have a turn or two to decide, but I really want a piece of that STuG with this gun before I give my position away. The other BA's are going to support the troops where they can, I have to be a bit careful with them as they are somewhat fragile.
That's it for this turn, will have to wait and see how things work out.

[Ratzki]

What looked quite promising last turn has gone a little sideways this turn. My BA is unble to score a hit after several rounds but the 20mm on his Pz KO's one of the crew in the BA. My guys think better of the situation an reverse out of there after taking another couple of shots to the breadbasket. DasT. will know that I am in trouble here so I will try to side step his STuG and Pz and move to the left of the trees to get a possible flank shot in with the BA. This all hinges on how long the BA stays SHOCKED for.
My ATR is being a pest as only they can and peppers the remaining Armoured Car as it moves towards my hidden infantry and gun to the right of this screenshot. I may get lucky and cap a crewman, there is nothing better at keeping enemy crew heads down in there tanks like a ATR.
I am moving my flamethrower team to try to shore up an area that worries me a little as I have no LOS to this area. I doon't know what he would do if he got his armour in there but could wreck some havoc with my low powered guns in a hull down from here. Once he got into my backfield, I could get hurt a bit, mostle my infantry near flag C.

The armoured car makes a beeline for my gun and thinks it can use the clump of trees as cover. My men on HIDE orders jump up and start to raost marshmellows around the area. I do get an ID on the AC finally, a PSW 231, which helps to explain the poor showing from my ATR. My squad most have scored a hit with the molotov as the PSW slams into reverse and out of range of the squad. I don't think that it even fired a shot at my troops, and now it is back in LOS of my ineffective but persistant ATR.

Both the STuG and the Pz II move up quickly through the trees, but DasT. has made a poor move, as he has no infantry to protect his armour. The Pz II is attacked right off and fire breaks out all around it. It does not return fire.
The STuG also is in grave danger, I have a T34 with LOS, and several squads jump up and have a bead on it. The flame thrower team might be close enough as well, but the smoke that I dropped to hide the FT's movement has helped the STuG with hiding from several of my units. Next turn could prove to be interesting, as if the STuG moves forward it will soon be in LOS of my gun with a flank shot, and if it moves back, it will likley get all tangled up with the Pz II as I suspect that it will be thinking about getting out of there as well.

Here at flag D, my pioneers slap around some German infantry that thought they could avoid my gun by staying on the far side of the trees. This could be bad for them. I get 2 enemy squads to go to ground and one starts to make his way back to the Motherland just as the turn ends.

At Flag A, my T-34's get into position and with the help of 2 SMG squads flush out a German squad. It will be interesting to see if DasT. will vacate the woods, If not I will be pouring in some area fire HE from the T34s once they get back in command. The SMG plt. will make a short advance as well, and see what else is in the trees.

The plan is still a go, at flag A I am moving the 3rd SMG platoon around to try to isolate the units there, get them is some form of pocket and close in.
Flags B and C will see my troops doing more of the same. My only concern is that he may be getting ready to drop some off map arty on me somewhere here, but unless it is real heavy stuff, I should be able to weather the storm.
DasT. could be down three pieces of armour by the end of next turn, I'll take two, and be happy, the PSW would be an outside shot. Overall, I think things are going well. Again, I am able, at this point, to split evn this map into smaller sections and not let units pass between them without get all shot up. I think this is absolutely neccessary to restrict movement of the enemy, while allowing movement of your own troops. And it is not the units that he knows about that are worrying to the enemy, but, it's the unknown, if you can absolutely turn back whatever he is using to scout with, it makes him think that you are more powerful then reality may prove. You can achieve this by interlocking covered arcs with your overwatch infantry, guns, and armour where-ever possible so to not give your location away 'till he is in too deep to get out easy. This way the hit is decisive, and swift

[Ratzki]

Well, this is a good how not to take out a tank lesson. I have good position, manage to get off three good non-moving shots, and miss with all three. As you can see, he did not miss. My men are throwing everything they have at the STuG as well, but it just keeps on ticking. I heard some good clangs as the grenades went off so I must have scored some hits, but it is still moving it gun around so the thing must still be alive. I am moving up a second T-34 to get a better shot, as the smoke would not let me target him last turn. He will be in position and ready to fire before the STuG is visible through the smoke.


It is kind of the same story over here. My men are peppering his Pz with all they have but the silly little thing does not know that it is supposed to die. Right at the end of the turn a pack of 1/2 tracks makes a dart for the flag D. I will not be able to hold off all this fire power so will be pulling my guys around the flag D back and into the woods, mostly a delaying ploy to try to buy some time. I will start to move a gun up somehow for support, just don't know how i am going to do it yet. I have to kill that Pz, or anything that I move in here will be shot up right away.

[Ratzki]

So after taking another three shots at 230m at a non-moving STuG from a non-moving T-34, I have yet to even bounce one off the SPGun. It locks on, fires.... one less T-34 in the world. I think this makes for eigth shots now without a hit, never mind a kill. Let's hope the infantry have better luck. Guess what, all 60 seconds tick by with a few more loud clangs and clunks but no sign of this this keeling over. I am going to move my flamethrower over to try to improve my odds. I think this thing has to be immobile by now, but don't really know yet. I would say, what are the odds, but.... I only have to look back at the last few turns to know what odds are.
His Pz II won't die either, but it is getting out of harms way, by the looks of things. I am moving my BA forward to try to get a side shot at the STuG or Pz II.

I have thrown DasT.'s men back to the other sie of the clearing. I will continue to engage with the Rifle plt. as they have more ammo to burn. I would like to move through the woods with ny armour but there is no way with the AT stuff that the Germans have, I will just back off a bit with two tanks and move one tank in to help the Rifle plt. deal with his infantry. I should be able to keep enough distance to not worry about AT stuff.
I will keep on pushing a bit with the right side SMG plt. at the moment, I need to see if some of those German symbols are dead men or BROKEN units.

[Ratzki]

I have been wondering where the rest of DasTiger's troops were hiding. They have been pretty sparse up to this point. Now we have 1/2 tracks, two unknowns near flag E, and a 1/2 track and a tank sighting between flags A & C. There have been more infantry showing up as well, in dribs and drabs across the map.
The last couple turns have been me trying to get a shot at the Pz II, which is still preventing me from supporting my pioneers at flag D. This tank is being a right good pain in the a$$. I would figure that it has to be running short on it's nine lives, I will move my T34 in to try to finish the job.
I have LOS to some troops of his in the woods near flags C & E and Drop some arty on them for a turn. They don't run away, but do spend most of their time face down looking for earthworms. I did not think the arty would do much but want to let DasT. know that I have not forgotten about him. I will call off the arty now and still have 90+/- shells for future use, I may need a smoke screen to get my men to the pioneers at some point.

Well, well, well.... look at the STuG. My infantry come through in the end, don't really know what it was that did the trick, they threw everything at it. I am glad to see it gone. And it looks like I have a prisoner or two as well, I'll have to move these guys out of the way.

Time to take a look and see where I am in trouble, then see if I can fix it. The pioneers at flag D are going to be in for a fight here soon. They will have to go it alone for some time as I do not know if I can get any more infantry over there to support them in time. I have pulled them back so that DasT. will have to come in and get me, without the aid of those 1/2 tracks' MGs. I have put the pioneers on HIDE and with short covered arcs. The 120mm FO has started the call for a fire mission right on top the flag. That is as far as I can see with this unit. I will keep moving it around 'till I am about to lose the flag then, will let fly and hope that I catch most of his troops in the bombardment. I am slowly moving the one T34 to help out as well, but willl have to watch out for hidden guns and armour that will get a flank kshot in if I am not careful. I have one of the 76mm guns in tow that is moving this way as well.
At flag A, I am goming to get a T34 in through the trees to help with his infantry. I want to draw that one tank? of his in here as well as I will be moving the other two T34s in to position to try to get a Flank shot on him if he enters in to this battle. I have the one m39 76mm gun that can see a fair ways but he will have to move down the road before I will get a chance to use the gun. My infantry near this flag is in good shape, but I am thinking of moving one platoon from near flag C in to help out if things start to go bad.

[Ratzki]

Thsi has to be some sort of record or something, 13 shots at mostly non-moving targets from a stationary position at no more then a few hundred yards with regular troops quality and still no hits. Das T. does kill a BA in the exchange and now his Pz II has popped smoke and I can't see him again. I don't care if I lose this battle, I am going to get that little tank if it kills me. I think that I will start some of my men down the road through the trees towards flag E, I will have to go this way anyhow if I want to bail out the pioneers. I will follow with my T-34 as well, I am still a bit concerned as to where his main armour is on the map. One tank has shown up over at flag A but nothing else of significance. I do not want to be the victim of a last minute flag rush and lose the game, so I will have to keep on looking for him with some caution.

Here we have a Pz of some sort, by the sound of the gun I have to assume it to be a Pz III or IV. I have moved a T34 into the trees to help my Rifle plt. out as well, I now have LOS to an area that I feel he will be moving through. I also have a T34 moving into position to be able to tag team this Pz if he comes any more near. My m39 gun might be able to get into the action as well, don't know yet, LOS is a little spotty for him to this area.
He has a bead on my BA but it is moving flat out to cover and should be there soon, I hope. He has already missed with his 1st shot just as time ran out so I have a little bit of time while he reloads. The 1/2 track has stopped moving to fire as well, I expect that both of the units will start to move again as soon as they do no have a target any more.
My SMG plt. is going to see where his troops are in the trees. I do not want to let them get out, as I have worked them over a little several turns back and I think that I can get another run at them. I will have to be careful here as well as they can see the Pz III? so he can see them as well. I may have to try to deal with him before I move around too much.

[Ratzki]

At flag A it looks like DasT. has pulled up a Pz IV, it has a short barrel, so that is what I will assume that it is. This tank has LOS to one of my SMG squads so I will keep them hidden with a short covered arc.
I did manage to flush out 2 squads of his by advancing with a 1/2 squad, I have good overwatch and as soon as the enemy popped up, they were pinned by heavy fire. The 2 squads do manage to hold their ground so there must be a HQ nearby. I do not figure that they can hold out for another whole round however. Again, I think the trick is isolate the enemy and then do not let him move troops to support where you are attacking. Here, DasT. is outnumbered, outgunned, and can't move unless he crosses open ground in los of other units of mine.

Another view of the same area shows the Pz IV with I am suspecting a covered arc on to point at my T-34 in the woods. If he moves any more I will get a good flank shot, plus I am moving up another T-34 to possibly get into position where I willl be able to tag-team this tank.

I feel like I have just won the Superbowl, the Pz II runs out of luck and takes a good hit to the front. I will be moving the T-34 around to try to get a bead on one of the 1/2 tracks or more. I have infantry flanking the armour as best as they can while still moving through the trees.