AAR: Balkans N. Africa Leg

[Imp]

NF>Lone tank kills BT-2 & now all 3 M3s are heading towards T-28, if anything new turns up here SF will see it.
Squads are giving chase & more runners are coming out of the woods.
M2 & a squad are moving towards NW group, units there kill a couple of men & find another squad. With the way they are heading it is now debatable if flak & ATGs will be able to give much support.
SF> Most Northern scout spots 2 squads one close the other at about 600m, M3 routes the closer while MMG kills 6 in the other squad it is to the NE 300m behind the flags. Send a few squads that way into the depresion its about 200x500ms & recieve no fire so a truck tries to cross to a nearer hiding spot. 2 men down as Maxim HMG opens up, 2 tanks open up & send it running. Send more units this way & squads chase runners to the East some entering the narrow depresion here. Vehicles either go NE or stay put as one unit has exited the depresion & its visible to problems further South.
Troops attack 76ATG its crew abandons but my squad is routed by another one, trying to move on this lose 3 men as find another 2 45ATGs. Manage to move up & destroy these & scout places smoke to block 76 because vehicles cant move & he has a maxim nearby. Thats 9 ATGs in a 500m stagered line so far.
231 M2 & a couple of M3 move into depresion as far as can risk routing maxim & another squad they find. Other scout & squad use transport to enter so they can see whats around. There is a sniper near the gun but hes not very good & misses so route him to.
AIT> Arty is very quite most people are running but sniper rallied & got a man. Also another 76ATG opened up killing an M3 but not before it returned fire along with a couple of squads as smoke cleared a bit. An 80mm mtr hit here & both guns are running.

[Imp]

NF> have a total of 4 runers left that I can see & a couple of units are getting close to arty, T-28 will be somewhere N of it. 1 tank has made it to a position to cover the other 2 are making best speed. Sending stuff to support NW as in trouble, lost 2 men & at least 2 maybe 3 more squads turned up. Tried to stop them using woods but not going to manage it.
SF> the sniper finaly sucumbs to a concentrated effort & squads move out, pretty sure the area is now clear of guns so commence mop up operations.
Kill a fair few lost count but only about 10 runners remain.
Force moving NE discover 2 maxims which MMGs & M3s deal with, also 2 Mtrs squad kills one. Hidden by drifting smoke from destroyed tanks near flags a 45ATG fires at 231 missing, it withdraws. Realise a bit late LOS to from this side is hard but NF squad has it in his sights so routes it.
AIT> Arty started up most is wide of the mark but some fell on units transiting to NE. Most of my arty is mobile just in case it had targeted them as its been quite, my bat is offline again.
Only fighting is to North exchanged men, impressed with my tank despite max move engaged T-28 & hit at 500m but had no effect.
T19
NF> M3 fires everything at T-28 damaging twice & routing scout rides up & has a go to make sure, squad starts attacking 2 mtrs here.
Find 4 more units exiting woods 2 squads targeting.
NW despite some relief arriving can only see 2 squads, route them for the loss of a man. Air was coming in again but going to cancel as it might hit me & I have avoided friendly fire for a while now.
Near the ATG squad closes from the North & finds 3 maxims, rest from south. A couple of squads from move to positins to check for ATGs but out of LOS of maxims due to smoke, fire at routed squad & 2 more maxims return fire. Its a nest of them have already killed 2 or 3 here. M3s fire at recent maxims then one rolls up & kills the ATG followed by squads that kill the 2 latest maxims. Both 231s here attack the other 3 maxims, squad sends them all running for the loss of man.
To the South find a few more squads but kill most only 4 runners left however lose 2 men finding & destroying another ATG in the area. Arty firing has put telltales back on map so 3 vehicles are running for.
AIT> Arty got 2 or 3 men & I could not cancel one plane, it found an enemy squad & attacked that but close call.
Scout failed in its assault of T-28 as it withdrew behind some trees.
Down South 231 had parked by Soviet HQ, survived the assault.
T20
NF> Scout heads after T-28 & tries to assualt again, fails but 2 tanks can get position on both miss. Kill both mortars here
NW lose 2 men finding another 3 squads but manage to rout one, as suspected getting support fire fails only M2 helps out.
Elsewhere kill everything just 4 runners covering the rest of the map, one is the HQ.
Take all flags M3 killing 120mtr found there.
Find 2 120mtrs & 2 107how only one survives the attacks.
AIT> Lose a man in only battle left & for some reason arty seems lighter.
T21
Deal with all runners & T-28 dies sending support as fast as I can to last area.
This time I planned it M2 fires at squad & it pops smoke meaning my only squad here is safe, he fires a bit but no luck as pretty suppressed. One flakwagen manages to find a firing position routing a second squad.
The other 2 squads here were chasing a runner through the woods, follow to the road & man down need help. Valient effort they manage to kill 7 route 2 45ATGs & a squad, there are another half dozen but most are running
AIT> at the road one of my squads is in poor shape but persuaded them all to run. the other group had to move to fire & no one was lost.
T22
Road squads get help from scout & another squad managing to kill all but one Rusky.
As the squads moved support forces get targets & manage to kill 3 of the 4.
Units coming to assist take fire from 2 other squads in woods.
Reinforcments arrive 8 T-26s, 4 are killed 3 by a 231
Soviets call it a day.
7 or so other squads were in the road area
Men 124>1479
AFV 3>39
Score 6126>640
Decisive
Our forces were lucky in that the worst armour threat was T-28s, also I was reasonably lucky with the ATG cluster
It will I think be a few months yet before the Soviets become a major threat as exp & morale improve, at present it takes little to turn them & tank crews are useless.
Still generaly more fun than the dessert though

[Imp]

High command want to take full advantage of the Soviets lack of staying power, our orders are to keep the pressure on by continuing the advance
Special battle Minsk advance visibility is 32
Changed map to 100 wide & set flags in a rough line 2/3rds in woods & Northern group of buildings, then a small gap & rest on the other buiding group.
This means the area they have to protect is just over 1.5km wide so I might face a more dense setup.

Roughly the part of the map we are intrestead in is as follows
3 groups of woods about 500m across in a line with a E>W road & 2 buidings in the 300m clearing between the North 2
500m further back a road runs N>S the village(A) at the crossroads sits in a wide woods & is main objective
500m South of woods is the other village(B) secondary objective
(A) has fields from it to the North woods & a small depresion in front of N part of woods it sits in
(B) has high grass in front of & sits back from 2 lower woods like so >
It has a small depresion to its South & another runs behind central woods to its NW
The grass & field might cause sight problems

Forces
Support
3x Nebelwerfer 41Rockets
3x 28cm other rockets, the smaller ones range 43 or so
Main force
We are missing inc immobile
3 halftracks
2 trucks
2 MkIII
Ram
Motorbike
80MM Mtr
Inf AAMG
2 squads
Scout
Also in a bad way 2 Squads, scout & MMG The scout will sit this one out

The opening gambit
If AI has set up forward there could be a few units in woods but for a fast start I am going to gamble not.
10cmMtr Pre bombard just in case & dropping smoke in gaps between woods
1 Company & a few tanks head for gap between South woods, they can enter a small depresion on turn 2 which when exited could bring them in range of enemy troops. Gives vehicles a place to hide while troops get ahead for gun spotting.
Reduced company & several tanks head down road towards the other gap
Rest the largest force with as much transport as I could give it is heading round a lake then heading round the top of N woods.
The hope is some of this force may be able to head for the enemy rear.
AI Prebombards with 1 bat of 122 only & on turn 1 adds to my smoke between middle & South woods.
Turn3
I have been hitting woods with light stuff as in mortars to prevent creating shell holes but looks like I missed.
NF> Scout in motorbike & 231s charged along the back of the woods drawing no fire, upon reaching top end of woods unload & pass through a tree line that extends further strajght into 2 souts watching the flanks. They are 150m away & my scout seems unseen, only units that can assist are 231s & by using woods can do so without much exposure. Each targets a scout getting a man & pinning, with luck they might miss my scout & infantry is ready to help next go.
The woods has a decent clearing in the middle so Pioneers enter to check it out as a path for vehicles. One recieves fire & falls back to safety after spotting a squad.
CF> Started at reasonable pace to allow NF time & the first squad to stick his head through the smoke gets it shot off, 2men down to a point blank shot plus a unit on my side of the smoke fires from the woods. M3 silences the squad in the woods & squad sends adj squad running, decide to pursue heading down road as not enough MP to enter building & discover transparent trees means squad in woods that fired at Pioneer can fire at him to. Then a maxim in the N woods opens up & a 37AAgun 300m to the East, he is not having a good day.
There is a 1 hex gap in smoke on either side of the other building here which is slightly further East.
231 decides to risk avoids AAgun & sends maxim running, as no fire came from that building it moves directly behind it for cover.
4 M3s move up 2 end turn very slightly exposed but with squad in N woods in sight. the other 2 had a little go at AAgun for no effect then withdrew.
Next squad to go did not fair any better losing 2 men also as decided to check out centre woods. MMG from SF exits depresion & gets him running with the help of a squad.
SF> Several troops exit the depresion fanning out scouts moving for C woods & smoke, 2 HT exit & use smoke to move by central woods & unload but the rest of the vehicles stay in the depresion. There is a line of trees to our SW which I want checked first & it turns out can see straight through most of it.
Carry on bombarding woods & plot 2 guns to drop smoke to screen the Nort flank move. As have rockets decide to fire them at main village areas that cover the road best.
AIT> It drops more smoke in between both woods any LOS to AAgun is gone, looks like I am droping smoke in the wrong place up North as a 45ATg somewhere to NE kills 231, we get a scout running. Not the best of starts & it looks like the AI has flanking covered.

[Imp]

Firstly it seems despite a vision of only 32 most woods hex can be seen through so 100m is common engage range in the woods. Because of this & reasonble size clearings vehicle support is not a probem. Ignoring rifle grenades as front hit is acceptable.
CF> 231 still has maxim in view so takes out 2 men before it moves to safety, the other squad has disapeared into the smoke & I am not risking more hits on lead squad as he is now 4 men down. Remember several squads started the battle 1 or 2 men light & this could have gone better.
Move him over behind E building but recieves fire & is now 5 men down, it came from a 2nd squad in N woods so 2 M3s & 231 route both of them.
Am now becoming worried arty fire could finnish off some of my units.
Another squad & 231 search for squad that ran & lose a man in the process as he recovered but send him running.
Next one goes down road entering a single tree hex to wait for smoke to clear but recieves fire from a squad & maxim so pulls back
Now I know why the AI was dropping smoke I am walking into him but there is a small gap in it & can fire on maxim from top of centre woods. Squads enter followed by armour & we lose a couple more men. The most southerly squad has brass ones it takes 3 tanks & a squad to get him to move.
Thinking we are clear M3 moves towards position to take on maxim & is assualted, fails & sent z fire at its hex but can't spot him. Situation ends with him & 4 runners in the woods, another squad was also found in the clearing & persuaded to run but this is provin quite costly.
SF> things go better here ther is a 150m corridor in the smoke scout spots squad sniper pinns then scout routes.
A squad is also detected by the treeline & forced to run by MMg & squads, seems like he is alone.
Vehicles move out some enter Central woods in position to check clearing & possibly cut off runners in, ATGs heading this way to.
Other units enter smoke so we can at least move forward in force.
NF> In the woods pursue 2 squads CF routed killing one & units move up to clearing, seems clear & HT enters spotting a squad so withdraws. M3 moves to position so it can attack but does not as max move.
On the flank 231 routes the other scout my scout kills him moving onto earth so has a good view, sees another scout which MMG takes on.
Now several squads move out the one furthest North loses 2 men to another scout & maxim bit of fire ends up with 2 scouts running one is down to its last man.
The maxim is untochable grass & earth block view, turns out 231 that died was on grass so had a view. I need to get my MMGs on or risk vehicles to ATG that is out there as maxim is out of squad range.
Begining to think the AI has a flank move pretty well covered, 1.5km to NE 2 T-35s are visible, SE in front of town are 2 T-26s.
Its catch 22 situation take on the flank with problamatic LOS, sense says let them come to me but if I do not expand my front his arty could have a field day on my densely packed forces.
Take a gamble squad fired at by maxim places smoke the treeline extends another 200m NE so truck moves & makes it. More transparent trees but squad unloads anyway grass blocks LOS to the North. More squads & sniper move up in hopes they can get in range of ATG but I am reminded of the last game when it had a dozen guns covering the flank. Some units press into woods & tanks move to position to go either way.
Normal game this turn 4 & I am winging it the plan has turned to pooh.
Cancel 1 rocket strike as thinking might get town in sight was ambitious. Targeting it & short range rockets plus 155s at flank blanketing the area, with luck might hit something & dust will be welcome.
I am actualy worried about Soviet arty as units started damaged & while the besst defence is to keep moving this could leave me very exposed.
AIT> No arty yet they lost a couple of men we didn't but tank was damaged before squad was routed, mortar drifted off target in woods & killed one of my trucks in another friendly fire incident.
T5
NF> Both scouts move NE to good vantage points, locate 2 squads, maxim & 45ATG there has to be more than one. MMG gets on some grass & pinns the maxim followed by a couple of squads by the woods firing at max range vs a squad. Due to there position most of my squads will need to move through the treeline to fire sniper goes first as he can stay in trees, routes maxim & pinns nearest squad. Squads move forward & both sides end up losing about 3-4 men, 2 more maxims are found. We now have some targets so FOO moves out & shifts fire.
In the woods tank routes squad but only has 2 shots, I am hoping it started damaged & rifle grenades did not do that, need to take care of this tank.
Troops kill the squad & we are nearly at woods border, transparent trees are causing probs one of my squads is exposed & sees a squad midway between woods & the village.
MMG by the road enters building & losses 2 men to 2 squads opposite. M3 goes after the one with RG then 231 helps out, one is routed so MMG chances his luck both are running.
Smoke has drifted meaning cannot get a shot on maxim, 80 mtr is landing behind it so move into position but recieve fire from a squad in front of woods, get him running for no loss this time.
Another squad moves towards C woods seeing 37AA gun, he dives into wood & chases sqaud that assaulted M3. Grass means we can attack the AAgun safely so 2 M3s kill it moving to position for maxim if smoke clears.
Central woods> things go better here kill a squad 2 runners exit & one remains but it seems empty clearing has been checked. The dip behind is just over 500m long but only 150 wide & a couple of units make it in using remaining smoke cover. At the end of the turn as LOS seems clear HT moves into. Find spot I picked is not that good as has a reasonable view out of, squad unloads recieving fire from a maxim & DSHK HMG 300m away in depresion just East of trees, places smoke. In the woods moving up but again transparency is a problem. ATGs unload but could take a couple of turns to get position, FOOs in there to.
South of these woods squads in smoke find a squad unnoticed & kill 5men. Those moving to treeline find another hardy chap, it takes 2 M3s flak & a squad to put the persuaders on him. M3s move back behind smoke, I am trying to figure out what to do with my vehicles but risk running a HT to very South of depresion (trees between it & HMG) as scout finds limited LOS. It makes it as does an M3 but it recieved fire from a T-26 somewhere
A thought dawned on me part way through, at the moment I am not doing much better than trading men, I cannot afford this last battle was an attack to & seem to remember he lost 1400 men. I only have 900, 800 after casulties so even a 2:1 ratio will leave me in big trouble, need to do better.
AIT> Decide to smoke out T-35s adjust rockets & target area around road plus 2 HMGs in the depression. I am using a lot of arty here & purposely did not buy more ammo supply so have to think about if I want rockets to keep firing.
Soviet arty starts up 6 81mtrs & on board 122s one in road area but rest to far back.
Only exchange is on the flank we lose 2 men they lose 3 2 to a great shot by my scout. Another maxim & squad join in rockets get 2 ATGs but have little effect on the rest just pinning update further next report.
At the road get a lucky break during retreat smoke has cleared & squad & MMG fire at runner as he enters AAguns hex killing 3 & making it abandon, now thats a result.
T6
NF> Find another squad so we have 4 squads & 4 maxims 2 scouts, 1 of each is running, also 2 crews running.
MMG kills 3 forcing another maxim runner.
Sniper God Bless him takes 2 squads & a maxim out of the picture.
2 more squads kill scouts.
Last maxim is hidden from most by dust so squad fires at last ready squad routing but sniper 150m away makes him pay, 2 down.
Scout routes sniper & squad moves adj to kill, further fire kills a maxim but another one opens up from just North of the village by the T-26.
Now things get a bit hairy most units in N woods are not ready though 3 squads engage near the road, helped by 2 m3in s the last of the smoke they send 3 squads & a maxim running.
The other maxim need to take a gamble as its pinned squad moves out he is exposed but risk the shot & send running.
This leaves area near road clear, we need to move fwd this is were arty is coming so squad moves resulting in this situation. will use R followed by numbers to signify route status.
North of road 3 squads + maxim all R nearby, further away like 500m maxim 82mtr 2-T-26
On or by the road 6 squads & maxim all R, 2 BT-7s
Very slightly South of road another 4 squads 2R & an AAgun, T-26s
Move ATG up have a gap in my view but further South 2 squads maxim 4 assorted BTs.
Its time for the armour to play but the AAgun is a pain it covers best positions to attack from & will suppress.
2 tanks that can in N woods & 1 from centre have a go at 2 N T-26s & a BT-7 destroying one T-26 but all other shots miss.
Finnish moving squads in woods one has to place smoke as HT ends up exposed.
2 Squads by road decide to get abit gung ho taking on AAgun under fairly heavy fire, MMG moves up to help even more fire & 2 more BT-7s spotted, grief not sure this was sensible. 3 AA crew killed its running but we lost 3 or 4 men to.
2 M3s just S of road take on T-26s killing one.
Now I am running into flank shot issues which I hope high grass will prevent, it does but T-26 damages M3 so withdraws.
M2 risks it killing a BT-7 & ducking back, 231 does the same.
I am exposed to more than enough possible ATGs for one turn.
Central woods squad moves into N end of depresion under fire & places smoke, HT & truck follow then transparent trees catch me out Pioneer in truck losses 4 men to a squad ouch. M3 has ago at HMGs in depresion but no luck.
At the South find another squad & my squad sends running, keep afew others running the find another squad about 500m further back plus 3 T-26s, my squad takes a lot of fire so smokes.
Bit of a problem here smoke is about to go & I am unsure of places from which I can target T-26s. have a nasty feeling due to grass will have to get close enough that they hurt & thats without a half decent ATG kicking in.
AIT> That was a bit tense, firstly misjudged pulling back trucks lost 4 & a bike to arty, got a couple of men as well.
North arty pinned most of my force & maxim got 2 men, we probably got about the same.
South not a lot happened.
Middle the dogs of war were let lose 2 Soviet tanks died a 3rd possibly damaged, the AAgun is gone as are several squads & a maxim.
The highlight was probably the squad & HT in the depresion taking on both HMGs & winning big time.
We have one nearly dead squad by the road who took serious amounts of fire, thought he was a gonner but MMG rallied & helped save him.
Luckily the Russians are bad shots thought 231 was safe but took a fair amount of fire all missing, there are at least 3 45ATGs out there that I have not spotted, targeted tanks as well. 2 76 ATGs which I have spotted only scored a couple of hits one M3 is really messed up.
I think area directly in front of the village is clear of ATGs & most fire came from South end of the woods or between both villages.
Could well have been more stuff a lot happened we did win the exchange but I am being made to pay.

[Imp]

With the way things are coming in from the North does seem the best option as can screen me from some guns.
A sweeping flank move here though seems out for the forseable future, there are 4 tell tale arty puffs here though.
Smoke should block 4 tanks to far North, they are however nicely set up on the road so can reinforce the village quickly.
Its actually a good place as large clearing there with contact ranges of 150-300m, that will kill my tanks.
Reasonably confident area N of road is devoid of guns apart from some possibly to far North.
The area between the 2 villages is a diffrent matter thats chock full of guns & armour.
Assume further South will be more guns as terrain allows for & the AI seems fairly competent at covering its flanks.
All the troops I can see from N to 200m S of road are running with the exeption of 2 maxims.
Further South can only see 10 & most are ready, there are I am sure a lot not yet detected.
Route maxim near village & pinn the North one but few fire opportunities & more worried about getting away from arty here though quite a few are stuck for the next barrage. HT picks up FOO & wisks him away from it.
Take out BT-7 & T-26 this leaves one T-26 near the road but wrecks & woods make targeting without exposure to ATGs impossible at the moment.
This leaves 2 groups of tanks N+S of 2nd village, using trees to screen 2M3s attack furthest south group reducing it to 1 T-26
2 ATGs get a BT each leaving 2 but unseen squad kills 2 crew.
From N>S
3 tanks head out think only one is vulnerable to fire from the North.
Squads in N woods head for village see a T-26 which M3 takes down then a maxim in the dip that runs in front of woods.
Nothing else seems to be there so 231 & Ht send it running, try driving a truck up so lead squad is on dips edge 350m away from flags.
Units exit woods heading for village & M3 routes a maxim in it.
A problem we have is a maxim behind the central woods depresion but discover units N of road cannot geat a bead on him. MMG in depresion tries & walks into a sniper. M2 & M3 have a go but end up having to commit my sniper ruining plans for him, squad moves up & kills.
Back to the maxim & troops south of road move on at some cost but 76ATGs shoot at them to. Lose quite a few men here as discovering more all the time including another BT.
As ATGs fired tanks take a risk fire at for no effect but kill last T-26 by the road & another near the village, 3 are left.
231 & a couple of squads risk a run for North village getting to within 250m, lots of stuff in field following.
C woods have now nearly left as in the dip including several tanks, its cleared out.
Furthest South having problems not much more than reinforced platoon here, there are 2 tanks but they have to be very carefull so are not helping. At one stage we were outnumbered 2:1 here though slightly better odds now. HQ is playing scout again bless him.
AIT> arty was ok batts are still silent, no vehicles recieved fire.
Maxims are cheesing me off as they keep picking off men, luckily have not come across any yet down South. Most heated exchange was here but numbers vs exp battle is going exp way. My troops get 4 or 5 shots while Soviets usually run after 2.
T8
Smoke came down well in South giving a reasonable screen from fire past the village.
Half wit that I am used rockets up North, its all over the shop, useless.
With the exeption of far South nearly all visible troops are running
Maxim in village & a squad between them only units with fight in.
Tanks & guns are alright arty should hit 76s this go.
231 & M3 sort out maxim & a HT in the depresion gets the squad, ATG takes out BT.
North units continue towards T-35s looking for guns see another T-26, 3 M3s are now heading for.
MMG moving up N of village in truck recieves fire from 76ATGs, they miss but scout finds both in woods near good ambush point, M3s are safe.
Squads are at wood edge & will be able to attack one next turn.
Closing on the village find another squad in it, we are slicing & dicing though now within 100m & units are ready to look down the road, enemy units are fading fast.
In the centre every troop posible moves out of the depresion for a look, find a 3 more squads maxim & AAMG, village tanks get maxim sniper the AA.
Some squads trade fire with enemy squads but mainly ignore fire from as several are now in range of 76s, they are shooting back but 4 crew killed & my ATGs had a go to.
Light armour sits tight & M3s role out one is damaged by a 45ATG but troops in position to see now 4 of them. Tanks are staying put & engaging, light armour engages the ducks back. Result, we lost some men & have a damaged M3 but kill a 76 & all other guns have crews greatly reduced & routed, another BT has shown up.
Down South the lack of vehicle support is showing not to mention we are now outnumbered 3:1 facing more than 15 squads.
Smoke cover is not enough but help is needed so 2 M3s & HT help out, kill last T-26 here to. End up positioned not to bad I think as my squads placed smoke to restrict fire at.
Trying to extract damaged tanks & picking up ATGs, they have been there to long. Same goes for some arty its relocating. Foos have ended up quite far fwd running from expected arty fall.
AIT> Batts kick in but recent move forward means they miss something hits a MMG that was damaged & kills it.
North M3 is fired at by a new ATG which squads kill.
Few other new units pop up in centre & South including a mtr direct firing & damaging HT.
More smoke falls in South making fairly safe there exept M3 recieves fire from centre somewhere near other ATGs, its another 76 but quite where it is elludes me.
This ones fun.

[Imp]

Situation normal, apart from in the South all are running.
North misjudge LOS for 76 & it kills truck & scouts, another 45ATG fires at M3s & is killed by squaud & MMG, about 6 runners left now, M3s attack tanks T-26 brews up.
Now the fun begins as move on woods & village, a couple of men entering woods find trees are transparent here to.
Near the 76 find 3 squads a maxim & another maxim running, 4 squads & 2 HTs send them running killing both maxims, they then engage 76 followed by 231 & Ram who kill it. Care is needed as found another 45ATG slightly back from & the other 76 is out of reach to.
At the village 2 squads & M3 deal with 2 found squads there.
First squad to look down the road finds a 45ATG just past the crossroads, he has a go but is routed, there are two of them, 2 other squads & MMG take over followed by 2 M3s, finaly get one & other runs. The crossroads has a clump of trees in its SW corner then a little gap, centre squads recieve fire from 3 squads in woods SE of the crossroads M2 persuades one to run.
In the centre the hunt is on for the 76 tanks can only move towards the North till I can find it.
Start recieving fire frm the South village another 2 AAMG, 37AA & 2 squads are found here. tanks engage at range with some success but its still enough to stall the move forward. Fire from crossroads area means some troops are caught in a crossfire, I have to smoke in places.
Down South things are still not going well ignoring the scouts we have advanced all of 100m in the last few turns. Anticipated relief is now not fothcoming due to the hidden 76 & scout smokes M3 to protect it.At least the 2 M3s & Ht are now playing a more active part but its heavy going, some arty is going to help as men are getting a bit short on the ground.
Apart from the Ht here most of my light armour South of the road is in hiding
AIT> Most arty has stopped, my batterys reputation is tarnished it had been doing good CB service but since coming to the Eatern front it has failed abismaly to get a lock, giving up.
Main things tide finaly turned down South, combination of vehicles 2 MMG now giving support & a bit of arty made a diffrence.
Big moment up North not sure how lead tank survived unscathed as he was ganged up on. Tanks fired at him & another 45ATG had a go before squads forced to run. Of much more concern was another 76 in the woods somewhere near the other possibly, looks like the flank move has stalled again.

[Imp]

Smoke blocks LOS from centre to crossroads, hunt for ATGs goes first.
Near village find 2 76s & 45 to go with 2 already there, they are pinned as dropped arty.
Get all but one to route status, it does not have a view out of the local area though. If they recover Ram 231 & HT are targets.
Move into the village proper having trouble with a couple of new squads but one of my squads has made it to the N>S road, lots of runners
2 tanks move to take on squads SE of croosroads, squad has to help as find another but control the area.
There is smoke on the E>W road 100m past the crossroads, lead squad enters more runners kill 3 of, get MMG here by taxi then in exitment to kill em move 231 a bit further. It dies to a 37AA at the side of the road asked for that.
Central guys can't find thier gun(s) but kill an AAMG a 2 more squads appear by the village. Vehicles still carefull but taxis break cover to pick up guys near the road, we need to get a shift on runners now have a good head start.
South again does not go to well but only one more squad joins in. For some reason this turn my rally attempts have gone to pot, think out of those tried only 1 managed it.
North, freed up from ATGs move on MMG & squads routing another 45 then M3s take out all but one T-35
AIT> No arty that turn but if anything went to Soviets.
N found another 45 number 6 hes pinned
ATGs in wood killed or routed 45 & 76 but a new one showed up to NE so lost 231 & HT
Road they routed MMG & killed his truck.
Centre we won here a few runners taken out & found & routed 76ATG
South think we did slightly better but 2 of my squads are now half squads, its getting critical.
T11
NF> Route ATG & another they find then destroy a mortar & last T-35
Village 2 squads kill closest 76 others are moving toward the other down the road. Have taken several flags & starting to cross into woods now, but a bit of a firefight is going on which we win, cannot pussue runners down E>W road due to AAgun. Some tanks & taxis that loaded last go head into woods South of the road to get position on AAgun & they kill the 76.
Continue moving forward in space between woods & South village recieve more fire from village & to East a sniper, decide tanks can risk coming out but we lose several men over the next bit.
South village has a line of trees running / just behind & smoke screen is nearly gone, scout moves through it & requests help.
Sniper routes 2 maxims bfore scout pops smoke as apart from runners there are 2 squads here & a T-26.
Squad enters village from the North its full of AA, he manages to route one, next squad fails but find excluding excluding runners.
2 squads E of village covering road, 2 more in it & 3 AA guns.
Each AA gun is positioned so attacking one gives another track hits, squads manage to silence one at some cost allowing 2 M3s that can reach to take on others. Other squads have to draw fire to allow trucks to close safely. Its all a bit hairy & some smoke is dropped but 2 AAguns are killed & squads routed.
In the process though 2 more AAguns take part. As I said lost a few men here.
The exitment in the village means the only support SF gets is an ATG & one squad at range, however I think morale has gone, another squad joins in but they are folding. HQ decides its time to break cover & is closing, so does 223Fu who so far has stayed out of things, tanks move forward to better firing positions.
AIT> arty returns, have outrun most of it but units near South village & clearing North of take a couple of solid hits.
No more ATGs up North but AI is on the move. M3 destroys T-26 by North village & one is engaged at the other village.
Sniper is found & destroyed by a huge volley from M3s
In the village 1 squad is in critical shape but killed 4 AAgun crew
South, we are moving no further here they have started heading for village & flags outnumbered by more than 3:1 again.
T12
First squad to try his luck vs 76 is routed, second does little better but Pioneer places a DC killing it outright.
North group finaly start to become a flanking force & head forward.
Around the village & its woods the race is on to see if we can catch the runners before they exit. 2 M3s get the AAgun routed then Ht drives up squad finnishing it.
Little moment then as M3 heads down the road straight into the arms of 3 T-26s, range 100m but all are moving, get him some help another M3 but first 2 flaks Z fire on 2 of them, kill without taking a hit. Take all flags here.
Rally seems to have returned to normal so most units can clear arty however some end up possibly heading into it at the village.
Its all getting a bit worrying round here 2/3rds of my force is to the North chasing units.
To the South do what we can but its more a case of hanging on, 3 more squads appear & while i do manage to get all 3 ATGs helping the odds here are now becoming silly.
Tanks just North of village turn NE & head for it & a bit of fighting kills AA guns & T-26 who only fired once, combination of move & low experience I think means few shots. Would explain earlier tank exchange.
Now the reason for heading into arty, squad & scout make it to far side of village recieving fire from over a dozen squads meaning they cannot place smoke.
Scouts position is critical 4 squads within 100m, manage to reduce this to 1 but still dont think its enough & expect more armour to come to villages defence.
The only good thing so long as it misses my scout is rocket had reloaded & is about to fire here
AIT> Oh hell arty missed in town just but SF has been stuck for a while so arty is coming down on them & the ATGs & theres more. To the South of the depresion 6 T-26s & 2 T-28s have shown up. More may have made it into the depression. A few more squads appeared to. One of my squads in the village is critical but scout survives. Lots of blood was spilt on both sides but we did get the upper hand. Should have left 223Fu alone AAgun somewhere in S woods killed him, no survivors.
At least the North is now a done deal its becoming a case of can I transfer help quick enough.

[Imp]

North we are out of the trees & just mowing down runners, the odd one has rallied but nothing to worry about. Should get most runners going down the road I think, picking up anyone I can & transfering unit cohesion be damned.
At the village tanks trying to move to engage enemy armour get stuck in the fight there. Still over 2 comp of Soviets south of the village & the scout is living dangerously finding more & 3 AAguns but hes now out of smoke, have engaged to little effect. The sniper is doing a great job though of keeping the scout safe
Far South most units dont fire smoking & trying to clear arty. Reposition 1 ATG trying to move others might lose the trucks so did not load just near.
A couple of tanks might get armour targets next go.
AIT> To my joy find I have plotted all 3 rockets in the vicinity of the AAguns, let fly & thats that but another one has turned up. My arty is mainly hitting just South of village should all be running now so can support South from behind once sort out tanks. M3 gets a T-28. Most arty missed managed to clear it just.
HTs are taking direct fire from artilery now all but 2 tanks have vanished.
T14
Killing arty pieces 4 left by the looks of it but the big question is where did the tanks go. At the depresion so think they are in the woods heading for SF. They have also come underattack by maxims but slowly getting reinforced. The village is ours as we are aproaching equal numbers & the road nearby is chock full of trafic. Next go we will probably outnumber him everywhere.
AIT> They are still putting up a fight one particulary hardy squad killed 3 of my men despite the fact he was taking fire from 2M3s 2 squads & a HT, the tanks headed back for the depresion all fire exchanged missed. Its looking like my South force is out of the woods now they just held on without losing a squad.

[Imp]

SF> is accepting losses to save 2 squads reduced to 4 & 5 men but has help now, tanks die easily as greatly outnumbered its just a case of keeping guys in trouble alive & taking the last flag. There are still more soviet squads turning up though.
T16
Hurt troops are withdrawn if they can avoid arty will survive. Have a minor moment when thought I had missed a tank but realise there are another 4 or so, still have a lot of armour here now so they succumb quickly. All arty stops
T-17
Never a dull moment HT has kittens as 3 BT-7 arrive as reinforcements, only armour near is a Ram & M2 but they get one a piece then squad unloads from HT walks up to & kills the other. The fun continues as units going after 122s start recieving fire from them, manage to destroy one but HQ has joined in as well & the few tanks here dealt with BT-7s or moved there in case more turn up. The good news is in South scout has made it to where new squads keep apearing & think thats about it. Taking last flag next go & it turns out moved arty just in time, one was hit but will be moved next turn.
T20
Its all over I think a couple of units escaped but there is not a Soviet unit left on the map.
Men 164>1893
Guns 1?>64
AFV 4>43
Score 6507>889
Marginal
Thats 3 marginal 8 decisive so far, paying the price for not playing for a long time as wish I had not upgraded all my tanks. Germany did not have the better equipment at the start of the war but it certainly does now. Apart from the odd ATGs you do not need to look after your armour much which could become boring.

[Imp]

Quite day so here you go.
Missed the location but meeting vis 51 turns 31
Map open ground is mainly high grass & a large level 2 hill in the middle.
A strip of woods runs over it from the bottom left to top right corner. It gets a bit sparse with a couple of small gaps my side of halfway point on the map.
1.5Km South at the base of the hill are more woods, this clearing as it heads East opens up to 2Km with a clump of trees in the middle like so ---O
So trees all round it & a clump in the middle.
Flags are on the clump & further forward in top & bottom row of trees.
The bit to the North is mainly open but probably will not come into play.
Map included.

Force
Decide if anything should downgrade make a few changes for no real reason
Swap 2 MkII for MkIVf1 as main roll is infantry.
Swap 1 231 for 251/10HT plan to swap all 3 & buy enough HT so 1 company is equiped with in next battle or 2
The Plan
Each company is heading for a set of flags.
ATGs most MMG & half of the armour is heading down the centre to crest the hill.
The group going for North flags should hopefully be screened by woods for a while & have a reasonable amount of armour with them.
Hope is they can move to get flank shots depending on what Soviets come at me with or act as a firefight force.
Start
No pre bombard so start the race for objectives.
By the end of turn 2 I can see half a dozen BT-7s heading for S flags & a mix of BT-7s & T-28s heading between central & S flags.
Have some units on the hill & grass does some funny things with LOS, move 1 hex & you are hidden the next back in view using speed of 231s to find hidy spots. Unload in a few places time to see if I have judged it right think range is to great for them to try firing.
T3 They don't fire & nor do I keep closing range for the turkey shoot. N & S made good speed trucks within 400m of flags, have to pop smoke in 2 places in South to protect taxis as could be in LOS when he moves. In the centre several troops unloaded but have found one area can stay loaded for a good distance.
Can see a lot of Soviet cruiser tanks heading for C & S flags details next go as can probably start picking off. They will start taking S flags this turn.
T4
The majority of tanks are BT-s 2 through 7, Also some T-28 & T-26 & 3 BA-10 armored cars some have left my sight.
NF> Squads & Pioneers are entering woods, tanks are still moving to position & 4 are going NE as lone squad on sentry duty there reports a dozen tanks heading down. Coming from the East mainly towards S & C flags are 40 plus tanks. 231s have ended up here & could end up engaging at about 500m when they move to level 1
CF> Move to position should be able to start engaging shortly range still generaly 1.5km
SF> They have taken some flags, can't see as in woods but 4 or 5 BTs, squads & Pioneers head in for ambush. 3 M3s Ram & 251/10 are here along with a MkII who kills a BT-7 at 500m
No arty plotted yet & AA is in position, taxis retreating but trying to guess arty fall.
AIT> Yeah gads there are a lot of them can now see 17 flanking to the North my view is not good here.
231 damaged a BT-8 but only expected a couple 6 made level 1.
They took central flag & from what I can see main push is between centre & South flags but I cannot see much to the North East as woods block
At S flag Pioneers have killed & forced abandonment of 2 BTs, bit of fire here to but it missed.
T5
SF> We move forward 100m as low exp seeing squads in woods moving 1 hex should be hard for tanks is my theory.
It holds 2 BT-7s die to a squad & 2 Pioneers then M3 & M2 both get a BA-6 trying to come round the left flank.
CF> Holding central hill majority of force is still on level 2 but a few have moved to level 1.
A BA-10 made it to level 1 & several tanks are just over 1km away so open up.
Kill a BA-10, 3 BTs, T-28 & immob another with a flank shot. T-28s have riders squad & maxim
I have 10 M3 here & 2ATGs one in position half the M3s move forward but have to be careful about flank shots from the North now.
NF> Squads take 2 flags & 231s kill a BT-8 & damage a BT-2, not sure its wise to leave them here they are having trouble penetrating at 500m
& tanks & ATG here are not quite in position.
FF> (Flank force far North) 3 tanks enter LOS hoping to tempt in my direction as we took flags.
AIT> Well luckily the fire improved a bit BA-10 took about 10 shots to hit but still mainly missing.
CF> got BA-10 eventualy plus 5 or 6 BTs & rider unloaded.
SF> only got 2 targets but missed
NF> 231s somehow survived & damaged 2 BTs, squads in wood slightly North of flags engaged cavalry & smoke dropped near 231s is blocking ATGs fire lane.
FF> Lots of smoke dropped here & they are charging on Westward