THE MAIN EVENT III! Arrow vs. Moondog

[Kelen]

Fight Moondog! FIGHT! Nothing is over as long as that Elite PzIVH lives! Nothing better than having your back up against the wall and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat! FIGHT Damn you! You DAMN DIRTY APE!
Lord Bane

Aw, LB you just want the points should his result match your prediction! ;o)

Actually I backed Moondag as well! Yes, fight damn you!!

[Lord Bane]

Kelen said:

Aw, LB you just want the points should his result match your prediction! ;o)

Yeah, busted. But at this point I figured someone ought to be cursing Moondog out!!

Lord Bane

[Der Kuenstler]

Here is a shot from minute 19. Small arms fire continues from each side. We can see that Moondog's infantry has bogged down to the North. The platoon in the house rubble to the south is doing allright, but will have to cross a lot of open ground to get to the flag. The Elite IVH continues to area fire houses, afraid to move.



Further South, Moondog tries to send a platoon towards the Southern flag, but he's about 10 minutes too late - Arrow's infantry have been there quite a while and they quickly fire from their cover in the woods- sending the exposed platoon running.



Realistically, Arrow does not have to do anything now other than sit still and return fire in order to win. The pressure is all on Moondog - he needs to get that Elite IVH out and away - perhaps on a far flank where it can take advantage of it's good optics and elite crew to engage the Shermans one at a time - sitting in town won't help. It's a risk but only a risk will get him victory at this point.

[British Tommy]

Poor old Moondog :(
He's really in a right pickle now.
DK is right, no good hiding that PZIV. He's got to take some risky moves ..... and fast!

[Der Kuenstler]

Minute 21:

Two more minutes go by of - basically nothing. The battle is sinking into a funk here - an Italian Sitzkrieg. The only movement to report is Arrow backed his vet Sherman up about 20 meters. Moondog keeps his elite IVH in the same spot - area firing buildings. He has about two more minutes before he will run out of HE, and then what will he do?



There is really nothing Arrow needs to do at this point, and Moondog seems to lack a plan. The inactivity is beginning to tax my reportng skills. How does one keep this interesting? Some of Arrow's infantry are getting bored and pulling out playing cards.

Even Moondog comments: "sorry but not a lot occurring on that turn" (or on the last five turns, I'd say...)

Any USO shows in the area? How about the Rockettes?

[Der Kuenstler]

Intercepted messages:

From Moondog: "Here ya go, back to you. Nothing much going on at the moment...."

Arrow: "Yes, this is the point in the game where the Germans hide to conserve ammo and then make a Banzai rush to take away the flag points in the last turn or two. Unless David has some cool strategy that I haven't seen..."

Moondog: "No cool strategy that's for sure, even a flag rush won't alter much even if it's a success. We're doooomed...."

Hmmmmm...OK...well...how about those Andrew's Sisters, boys? Bring 'em out!

[Der Kuenstler]

Here is a shot of Moondog's orders for turn 24 - he could still change these - this is what was leftover in movement phase from turn 23. We see he has decided to change positions with the elite IVH - is he trying to hit buildings or tanks? From the looks of the "fast" command and the area fire order I would assume he is not expecting to see any Shermans. And he probably won't - if they stay where they are. If he hunts past the house to his right he might be able to pick off the Sherman on the far right.

[Der Kuenstler]

Minute 24:

In this minute Moondog sends his Elite IVH around to area fire a house. Notice the area fire command is already on the house even though he does not currently have LOS - it's OK - this way when he comes into sight he will start firing immediately. Notice how full of US troops this already weakened house is.



It only takes two shells to bring it crashing down - One of Arrow's squads was able to run out, but two full MG teams and remnants of two other squads were crushed and killed. A total of 18 men died in the unlucky house!



But Arrow's four Shermans are still alive - and just as intimidating as ever. They appear to be waiting patiently like hyenas for Moondog to run out of HE and to come out in the open so they can surround him and pick him apart.

Message from Arrow to Moondog: "That was a great move thanks for keeping it interesting...."

All other areas of the map are at a standstill other than minor small arms fire.

[Mikey_FGM]

The Last Hurrah from the doomed Moondog???

The approaching inevitability of circumstance:

[Lord Bane]

It seems that both of these guys are now content to just wait for the other to make a mistake or the clock to run out. I would encourage them to Ceasefire so that the next round can begin. Congrats to Arrow for his almost guarenteed victory. Moondog......sighhhh....poor Moondog.
Lord Bane