Them Germans were good

[Imp]

Rampanzaer > 4 squads seen now 2 routed cas 4 for 0 ATG in area picked up by truck FOO trying to find cover before he is compromised.
Reinforcment > Pioneer got 1 with flame MkIII got 2 lost 5 men in 2 botched assaults, there does not seem to be anyone else but found HQ which explains arty on the road previosly.
East/Middle Killed a squad for 1 man bit rag tag but moving through bottom of East woods & into more woods running off NE, cant find fire positions & infantry is moving on them, tank force 2 is heading roughly in there direction.
South > Killed 1 squad by hill have a line of infantry in woods 4 squads 2 pioneers, PSWs & a couple of tanks in supporting positions with some LOS behind.
Other tanks have done there best to get to a position can move on & a couple of squads are in HT for mech assault option.Remaining Flak wagon is trying to muscle in on the action as has Pen of 6.
Line in woods caught on outskirts of arty, minor several trucks in there all survived, Tanks missed pioneers but it was as far as I could get them but 1 S-35 immobile cople of men down, risked close arty strike they are all buttoned, force 2 is heading towards middle force

[Imp]

Reinforcement > HQ killed moving to support middle
Rampzr > 1 enemy squad down
Middle > In position to attack tanks depending on what they do light engagement with 6 found squads
South > Suicidal FJ had a go at tanks, 3 in LOS 2 men down, Squad had a go at 2 tanks OK. Pioneer flamed 1, 2nd Pioneer found enemy Squad attacked tank under fire twice killed. Squad & MKIII that cant reach S-35s routed enemy squad. MkII moved through woods for flank shots no effect, 2nd MkII rear shot kill,222 rear shot kill, MKII & MKIII flank for no effect, 2 Squads mech attack force wiped out. Rest doing best to clear area before arty strike 2 PSW towards dug in tank 1 on motorbike heading for middle force, might make it.
Squads at hill decide to take it 2 squads killed 1 routed on the hill that other tank could well decide to move.
Enemy morale has I think gone 3 squads surrendered his turn, arty hit as expected 1 man down

[Imp]

Ram > 1.5 squads left
Middle >this was harder than first tank force because of 5 infantry, attacked them first with my troops & 1 tank then sent in 2 pioneers got a kill & one damaged.
Tanks followed 1 damaged by S-35. After lots of shots got 2 more kills. Damaged tank bailed out when attacked FJ killed crew. They are folding now.
2 squads killed but I lost about 8men. S-35s were 100-150m away & 1 still lives took a couple of shots at my tank but missed.
South > Taken the hill forces that killed tanks took on squads in the woods 2 are dead rest unwell. Some of that force made it to near dug in tank & engaged 2 squads just past it. Fearing atack from tank 1 scout & 2 squads that started turn on other side of woods from him all assaulted to make him think about it, died when routed.
French still control 10 flags & planes made pass can see about a 1.5 companies, Stuka with bombs hit tank so should be an wasy kill.
There are AAA guns some where but 1/2 squads are a KM away as are 1/2flags loading up & moving out.

[Imp]

Turn39
Lost a tank killing last one 4 flags left woods are mine he has 12 squads
Turn40
Silly me lost a tank to mines on road probably why it did not use
Found AAAgun, Lost 1 HT to ATG 6 Squads left have all flags


GAME ENDED

German > French > My total loses 6 battles
Men > 351 >1279 > 697
Art > 0 > 11 > 1
AFV > 6 > 31 > 21
All Air > 1 > 0 > 3
Score > 7550 > 1078
Marginal victory
That battle accounted for nearly half my men lost


Standardising reporting
C = casulties listed his > mine, if I don't take any just his.
Forces if use will say then give its Name > when talking about.

Anything else you think might be nice say.
Also might be easier to follow can suggest map from either game.
Give map no. & description City Villages Woods Hilly Open etc will only use if matches type of terrain it gives me as take what it gives.

Calling division bridgehead taken time for some quick R&R before having a look at these tank destroyers we are getting.
Then its time to spearhead the push for Paris & the coast. Wonder if those Tommys are going to try & muscle in on the action

[Imp]

New Battle
We are to dig the French out again & are assaulting at dawn.
Turns 45 visibility is 11 terrain is mainly fields with some single line trees surrounding them (like fulda gap MBT), area 130 x 130

Road runs E>W 250m from top with a small village at coord 50,4
2nd E>W road runs mainly down 91 going sligtly South for last 2km in the West
A third road runs at 45 degrees from 30 to the bottom right corner.
Where it crosses route 91 there is a small settlement & also at coord 60,42.

We have to capture the level 3 hill that dominates the NW quadrant at its most Eastern point it is about 10 hexes from last village mentioned & North of the village gets fairly close to the road. It stretches to within about 10 hexes of route 91 which veers away from it & has 2 large peaks.
Level 1 has about a 70% ring of trees on it but the rest is mainly fields.
Elsewhere its flat.

We must control both Peaks & the terrain between the hill & route 91 so as to control the roads in the area for the advance.

We have had some changes to our line up & it currently stands as follows.
Total inc crews 8 shy of 900 men

Infantry
3 Comp > 39xSquads 6xMMG 6xScouts 2xSnipers
20xTrucks 8xHalftrack 3xMotorbike
A&B comp have swapped 2 squads for Pioneers giving a total of 4

Armour
2x222 4x321(8rad)
14xMkIIIe 2xRaempanzer 6xJPz 1

Arty
4 Each of 8cmMTR 10cmNbwMTR 10cmK18(offboard) 15cmInf How 12 Trucks
2 Foos 223Fu

Other
4xFlak36 mobAA
3x 4.7Pak ATG 3XSdkfz7

Support
2xJPz 1
2x75mm offboard
1x22cmMrs offboard

Notes Got a bit big for a fast game last time so pioneers deleted now in inf com.
Rather than increasing my tank company stayed with 22 tanks but swaped MkIIs &IV to JPz1 for the moment.
Upgraded MkIIIs & 4 armoured cars.
I actualy have 40 squads 1 is in command of the odds & sods.
Trying big guns 22cmMrs, it might hurt but has a very low rate of fire so thinking not that useful.
Looking at arty listed core has grown a bit might delete some next game.


Votes for path please when get there Balkans N.Africa or Eastern Front, thinking Mother Russia. Not played this campaign before but a long time in dessert could get a bit boring. Could I do a few dessert battles & then get transferred?

[PanzerBob]

Imp.

Sounds like a heck of a fight you got going on there, interesting read on a slow night at work. Have not done a long campaign for a while this gets me to thinking I should start another. Keep the SITREPS coming.

Bob out

[Imp]

Bob
As you have done before can you say if I can flit around in the campaign.
Realise its not realistic for my unit to be everywhere but could I change theatres when I want. So say do Eastern Front but nip over for half a dozen N.Africa then off to Italy on the line for D Day etc. Switching foes every 6 - 10 battles say. It gives battle dates so I could turn up for the big events
thanks

[Imp]

Well those damn French may get us yet it seems they have a secret weapon.
This morning I woke to a raking chorus of coughing due to those Gauloises my men have liberated. It is probably to much to hope for them to be cursed with the same affliction which is a shame as it would give away their positions, my gut tells me going at first light may not have been the best choice as it will be harder to locate them in the half light but command is eager to press on & maintain blitzkrieg. Its to early for our planes to fly so we are on our own, still now we have a few battles under our belt most of my troops are veterans & have performed admirably thus far.
I am keeping these new tank destroyers back as a mobile reserve, while I am assured they have the firepower to dispose of these French tanks they appear somewhat fragile.
The main force is ready to move out & will head down route 91 & its general area before dismounting. Once they have engaged 2 platoons from C company supported by a tank section will head for the Northern village. The idea is once mines are found they will attack to try & draw some artillery & give my pioneers a break so we can clear a path for our advance. Our new 10Cm guns probably are not up to the task of counter battery fire so will want to get some kills.


Moving out
Well pre bombardment was a bit to close to my 155s for comfort ammos pegging it pronto. Have found a use for those big guns though as they took out some 75s straight off, that will help when it comes to mine clearing.
Main force has the pedal to the metal & storms down 91 & diagonal road then lead elements dismount, they borrowed arty trucks for the trip & they will now head back. Most of the force will stay mounted so it can respond to contact which could be soon if facing an area defence.
AA are twidling there thumbs they could do with some exp as most died last time out but are a bit vulnerable at this vis level. This could help the ATG crews who are after a few more kills this go as getting into range should be a tad easier, not a lot of hiding places mind. Pioneers are trailing main force in Hts.
It occurs to me that arty should be plotted if anything slightly in front of where I might expect contact due to vis as FOOs are riding up front at least to start with.

Proceeding on foot & frankly its all a bit to quite, perhaps they are still asleep

Well I love this game I can feel the tension 10 minutes in & no sign of them French. The morning air resounded to the sound of my 155s opening up but otherwise nothing, they left smoke signatures on first fire so maybe borrowing there transport was not so wise he has a confirmed target.
I can see to row 52 in a couple of places so it looks like the AI has decided to concentrate its defence around objectives, damn.
Have not even found a mine..... yet. They nearly always make me jump if find the hard way but not even on the roads.

[Imp]

I was just thinking at this rate my mortars will be out of range but contact at about 60,65 This is about 1.5 Km in front of central flags & just below a Km from the hill.
A couple of squads moved into trees another entered open & drew fire, unit spottrd MMG opened up ranges 300m+, first blood to France they realy do not like my MMGs, 2nd squad seen. Decided its best not to draw fire so more squads take up position to return fire. Two in HTs move to a position behind trees 150m away, thats as far as they dare, was pretty risky as wary of mines.
Kinda caught with my pants down 3 tanks here are carrying riders, another reason not to, 231 wastes some ammo.

Further South have made further progress nearly to 50 on the road & there is a line of trees running verticaly along 54 nobody seen so a motorcycle ran near to, no fire so mounted troops heading for treeline. Trouble must be waiting on the other side & my scouts seem to have got shuffled to the back of the pack.

Have managed to position 2 mtrs for a half hearted strike at the vissible squads.
4 mortars have been picked up & will be moving up to get the hill in range.
Going to leave that big battery on CB in hopes of something. Has limited ammo so saving for concentration expecting round flags

His go MMG evened up the score & arty kicked up enough dust to totaly hide a squad. Things just go from bad to worse winds blowing in my direction, risking losing my FOOs will not help much.
Giving troops fire support with my new armour could prove costly as those ATGs are going to be very hard to spot so once find mines or a break in holding a tight formation.

Well just as things are hotting up works finaly come online so its going to have to wait

[Imp]

MF=main force SF=secondary force AIT=AIs turn CWA=Camo Workshop acronyms
Well this is not what I was expecting
SF has reached the village & it appears empty from what I can see. Continuing further down that road seems madness so 1 platoon will detor in slightly. Will continue down road at a crawl just in case its undefended.
Waste of good arty

MF Haa these 231(8rads) not such a good idea no HE & doubt they will last long enough to use AP loadout.
Bit of fire & first squads out of the fight, getting a shot at 2nd is not easy & have to risk vehicles. 222 makes him give upto. Squads in Hts move up & dig out but with the dust kicked up by fire at nobody can see them now, aargh been a while since I had a low vis battle.
One squad makes it to that treeline then beats a hasty retreat, not staying there by himself saw 3 Char 1 bis (the hard ones) on t'other side, scouts please.
JPz1s are going to get there first taste of French armour vs a formidable foe, moving up.
There is a line of trees between this area & where French squads are but there is a gap & have found another squad so any hopes of a stealthy approach on those tanks is blown
I have got so far down route 91 its starting to veer off SW, my bottles going, the lead squad have put on their brown trousers.

AIT No arty another squad fires giving away position close.

Just where the hell is everyone, was thinking of working my way round that hill & doing a pincer attack but think they might have had a big party last night & there could be a reasonable amount of latecommers to the battle. So probably not wise, wonder if my adled brain will remember this conclusion.