Them Germans were good

[Imp]

SF> Don't make predictions they may come true, detouring in was not so sensible 231 moved 100m & went bang mines parallel to village, said he would never shoot his load (scuse me). Thing is he had a squad on either side (blind as bats) & there is a row of trees not far away with no fire forthcoming. I could clear these without coming under fire. Of course all dedicated mine clearers are in the other force. Playing the AI more often would help here if facing a line of mines could transfer to here, but if not wasted 3-4 turns moving over. Poor deployment somebody should be watching.

MF> 4 Vehicles opened up on new squads followed by a squad. Unit out of sight then moved into wood & dug out all dead & there is no one else on this side of the trees. Now I have a problem even with JPz1s I will need to be close from front or mid for a turret side hit, this mean have to find whats past them in the murk to deal with safely & thats if I dont hit mines. Think I can get in position to South of as horizontal row of trees about 200m from them & those guys are the furthest forward. They are only a Km from level 0 flag cluster though so are likely to be coming up on something
Decided 2 Pioneers are heading North to clear mines just in case, turfing the others out of halftracks as safer transport if need to move up & dig out stuff.
Being honest not being very effective here I am in a mess. The only thing I have done right is all mortars are now mobile & should not have to move again once arrive.

[Imp]

SF> they are hunting mines as are troops in far South, Brown trouser squad has made it to row 44 without incident which is more than can be said for the rest of the MF. A few are working there way North of tanks in the open & have discovered 4 pretty poor bunkers armour 3 HMGs only but some decided to move into trees running NE, squad 100m away kills 2 in first squad to try,hmm. Now spotted another squad risk moving an AC to trees then a couple more vehicles, dont bother firing moving fast getting in more of a mess. Bunkers have made it hard for ATGs to get in position North of tanks.
AIT> kills another of my men but tank retaliates & evens the score, top man. I fire arty for no reason as forgot to cancel it Doh.

[Imp]

SF> 2 Squads risk moving onto adjacent mine hexes & make it theres a line.

MF> South now at 41 seen another tank in position to attack them.
3 tanks take out 3 bunkers & another 2 take the fight out of 2 seen squads. Can't see anything so squad moves out from tree line, bad move 5 men down seem to have found the rest of the company so thats 9 squads then. Scrub that its a full company trying to save 2 damaged squads moved more into treeline, on reflection should have picked them up with a halftrack.
Casulties I should CoCo 1 of his squads is dead, my guys don't ask to many not a good opener textbook cock up. Misjudged LOS & truck drove into a hail of fire trying to go round goodbye, pioneers somehow ended up getting involved.

AIT> I drop some arty on tanks one gun drops miles away & hits my squads & ATGs instead, Mortar fire lands in my general area.
Did a bit better in this exchange heavy loses on both sides. Squad in open hanging on by a thread & 2 others badly shot up are the worst of it.
All in all I have had better.

[Imp]

Time to see if we can pull something out of the bag.
Tank attack kicks off 2 MMGs fire then the ATG thats still up for a fight, 1hit no effect, only unpinned squad croses the 100m to near tank & assults hoping to draw fire from them. No fire because LOS vanishes as he drops a grenade in, strike1. MkIII thats been killing bunkers comes into sight & I discover that they have dischargers now, moves again hit survives but only 1 tank has a LOS to. 2nd MkIII breaks cover & they both move once more. Can't risk going any further as do not know whats out there but reckon 1 tank is out of shots. JPz1 enters trees & 2 shots later notches up its first kill then another takes out the third.
4th tank requires a bit of a gamble, squad fires at from 100m man down hes had enough so 2 MKIIIs run past at 500m, he misses obviosly not related to the last lot. JPz moves to 150m fires no effect on front turret, next tries 100m damaged, last shot kills & I wipe my brow.
Scout can now stick his head out, 2 more tanks its a good job I did not go any further. Brown trousers platoon still no contact of any sort hes sped up!!
Last bunker dusted off

Now to the tricky bit choices choices who do I fire at first most are 250m+ away but there is a group of 5 with 3 within 100-150m of squads I have there hidden behind treeline. If I can deal with them my units nearby could try & dig some out. At the other end of the cauldron I have a pretty hurt squad next to a Frenchie
There are 2 in the centre & the rest are hugging the trees behind.
I have about the same number of units facing them but it includes 4 tanks & 1 AC.
Also 4 squads most in transport just out of sight & a few more that might reach the area.
When these tanks fire they are kicking up enough dust to block view which I have to think about & may be able to use to advantage.
To difficult to explain but its hard to judge when dust becomes vissible any fire adds to even small arms can create you just dont know when but more than normal. Managed to block my LOS in error but got round it, blocked 1 French squad from taking part in what one can only call heavy fighting, this is not a firefight we have the real deal going on here.
Vehicles & some squads fire concentrating on left flank, moving forward & the French are throwing more at it to. Village on the diagonal road errupts with fire then more comes streaming through a gap in the trees, the grounds turning red & we are now climbing over the dead to push on towards the trees. A pioneer makes it by truck to a previously unengaged squad. Boy is he pissed, his first fire kills 6 men & the remains head through the trees.
The boys 100m away charge & break the left flank. The middle has crumbled all that remains is 2 men running for their lives,a mortar was found here to & quickly dispatched.
Thoughts of mounting an attack on the tanks are fading fast as everyone is heading to the cauldron by any means.
That includes a FOO who finnished off 2 squads with his smg. We cannot afford to take loses like this but need to clear the area before his arty comes down.
At the end of it all somehow I have not lost a squad & we have moved forward 300m everywhere but the right flank. Can see 2 new units, there are more. Of the original 13 squads 3 are still in there holes 1 of which is badly hurt & routed & the taters of 6 other squads litter the field.
That was pretty manic part of the problem being most armour is near his tanks but there is no way we can maintain this type of push, good fun though I am enjoying this campaign. Going for a fastish ending to this battle, find & kill.
Also realised my Blue strike was effective again no men down but a JPz1 is immob before it saw any action.
The Pioneer who managed to stay out of this got dropped off North of the village for a looksee.
Casulties so far the French are about a company of infantry & 4 tanks & bunkers down, mine I realy don't know but not good a platoon maybe.

AIT> Another Mortar hits truck 2 passengers & it dead. Fire was quite light compared to earlier both sides lost 2 or 3 men & tatered squads survived mainly because passed through woods. Bringing my arty on song round village & West of. If I had known those big guns would have been handy leaving on CB.
Cleared some mines up North.
Think we can conclude I found them, funny thing is old brown trousers is still unscathed maybe he did not get the short straw after all.
Time will tell.

[Imp]

Well my trucks have a death wish SF is still clearing mines but moved a couple of trucks to position for the gap, drove straight through known minefield to other side & then through another lot!!
Should have been ski troops slalomed mines to great effect & emerged intact.
Brown trousers can see one flag then lost a man, recieving fire from 2 squads I think smoked. Long range fire by French has been surprisingly effective so far.

French tanks are blind moved troops near nothing tried moving a MK111 into trees at 200m nothing, squad placed smoke & JPz1 drove into trees with LOS to 1 tank at 200m kill. Another did the same no shots fired by Chars tanks now moving to support brown trousers & few troops here fanning out towards the hill.
Giving up idea of tight force as it isn't MF is spread over a couple of KM after recent actions & moving to contact is whats taking time so fanning approach out & trailing with a mobile reaction force once current threat dealt with.

Pioneer East of village thinks his approach is clear.
The French put up a valiant fight at the cauldron but its over they are hopelesly outgunned. 3 more AC several HTs & more troops are bolstering my forces.
Moved tentativly after runaways into woods not wanting a repeat of recent events & cleared out right flank moving towards village. Several relief units turned to become forward units for the advance on the hill.
There are 2 squads in the village & 2 in next row of trees after tree line all healthy & about to be shelled, remains of 2 squads is all thats left of the original company, we lost another man. Formation seems to have lost some finnesse the term charging about like a bull in a china shop comes to mind.
Having words with my MMG team, realise they are replacements but they could not hit a barn fired everything at men in open 150m away & all that happened was they gave him the finger, FOO showed him how to do it 3 kills now. He is giving up arty directing & heading off to kill 2 surviving bunker crews for his 5 kills.
AIT> Minor ecxhange no cas my arty routed 1 village squad his landed right were I was, path cleared through mines ready to roll.

[Imp]

Brown trousers platoon can now see an enemy platoon fire exchanged for no effect. 3 tanks & a sniper have turned up for an asist, MMG on the way.
Further in a few lead units are 150m from hill, no trees on this bit & a scout spied a Char bis, JPz1s moved to take up position & 2nd recieved fire from an unseen S-35 on the hill. Squad in a truck just managed to get close enough to drop smoke & cover.
Slightly further North virtualy in line with central flags several units inc ATGs moved up to treeline, just ahead is another that forms the base of the hill.
Village deffenders folded easily & can confirm 70% of it is empty.
There is now a gap of less than 1.5Km between my 2 forces so driving for the hill anyone in it can come to me.
SF> moved to treeline, will be moving on to next one about 250m furter on then cross the road & level 1 treeline that forms the base of the hill is another 200m.
AIT> Brown trousers lost another man to Frech long range fire some arty dropped on them. There arty died down most shifting?
Have used hardly any arty so far keep ploting & over running before it fires so most now targeting level 2 crest line.
Will not be moving onto hill till I can do so in force as squat all cover once I pass other trees.
Thinking as my force is a bit smaller will reduce map height to 110 so AI is not so spread out.

[Imp]

A false sense of security
Brown trousers is pinned so he opens up along with the tanks 2 French won't be sampling wine anymore, a squad has worked its way onto the road to run up to them out of LOS & appear bearing gifts at short range. This did not go according to plan nobody else gets a shot as realise it might be flat but in the middle of a field & can't see if further North. Squad takes fire from flags another spotted.

MF> Well working on the fact last lot of tanks were blind (totaly unmolosted) troops moved up found S-35 then Char fires at squad at 350m C>1, fires again so I think heck in position go, JPz1 enters trees fired on miss damages Char, another moves into adj hex & dies to new fire. LOS here not to clever but think alright if come further East MKIII tries & any idea of carrying on vanishes as multiple shots hit the dirt round him, hasty retreat. Now the troops can see 3x S-35 on level 2 crest (handy arty plotted) & another Char at level 1. The other FOO moves out to get a LOS on S-35s & promptly takes fire smoke C>1, now I am thinking there are troops up there to tanks can't have seen him surely. Even without troops there this approach might need a complete rethink as I cannot get in a position to pick off a couple, the village is clear.

AIT> I lose a man in BPants area decide to smoke S-35s out as will take a while to reposition. Also they cover any approach from the South to.
His arty still moving some of mine is wildly inacurate as no LOS like miss by 250m. Lost contact but not a prob forgot to say think this is 3rd time a battery has gone walkabout.
On new arty its very difficult to get a full fire for effect 0.0 0r 0.1 before you would move it about to delay partial fire for a full slam next go but you end up with 0.2-3 if you try this. A delay button if it does not move could be handy so get full effect actualy I will post.

[Imp]

SF> Moved up to road treeline last turn then a squad moved to next one 200m from the hill, the rest decide to carry on forward a bit & first squad is fired at by 25mmATG at 250m , hes pinned so smokes as a couple others & tanks move to trees to his right. force is 2 platoons & scouts with an AC & 3 tanks.

Brown trousers has a pretty effective prep fire 5 or so for 1, sniper is learning his craft, couple of squads move forward & recieve fire 2 more spotted & a 2nd MMG has been droped off. Dust now provides covers to trees so squad & bike that droped sniper move in, 3 out of 7 have left cover
Scout risks the hill another S-35 slightly South 2 squads in position to assault a Char, rest here are struggling to find useful paths to move up but further along
several are now nearly at the hill. 1 ATG is in position to move onto it but not close enough to be effective
AIT> Squads rallied plus think an unseen one motorcycle died. Thought arty might hit this turn but only fire mortar in a back area took out a truck, if it had a passenger doesn't now. Smoke came down okay & plotted big guns at S-35, dont expect much joy but thought I would try. Gold spot here actualy got one half right

[Imp]

HSF> Only 1 squad can get a bead on the ATG unless they sprint & it loses 2 men in the exchange. 222 risks a move as its pinned survives then a tank fires at ATG kills. Now proceding North of hill but a squad & scout are heading for its "corner"

BT> LOS round here are weird several units failed to fire because could not find one. The guy on the flag is proving very hard could see at 500m+ but 150m & still can't get a line on him. This lot are hardy nearly all back to ready status & luckily discovered bikes killer before ran into. My units ave exp seems mid 80s some are higher. When get in SMG range they seem a nasty lot managing to kill 2-3 dug in men with full use of firepower, nice. C> 7 for 1 squad gone

MF> Damaged Char brews up to first grenade assault, 3 more units crawl onto hill in area of tanks & ATG moves into trees to find he is 150m away from another Char bis, can't fire of course, 2 squads remain out of LOS & move to 100m of him. Further along move onto hill in force thining out further north we go, about the 5th unit to move loses a man to an AAMG, 222 gets sights on it without exposure & pins, troops open up its gone. Armour stays behind trees or in at a couple of places as moving safely onto the hill is not an option.
AIT> Chars spot a squad 2 men down French lose a man routing in BT area His arty is firing at nothing mine is wild again but more smoke drops S-35s are hidden. Going to try directing arty by platoon leader with LOS to see if improves accuracy, might be me but it seems a lot worse than normal. My units within 250m or so are getting hit & JPz1s cant take much punishment.

[Imp]

Not sure what I helped with but with what you are trying in your campaign mail me I could keep track of how well people rally etc if useful as a sort of comparison just say what might help
John