McIvan's View - Clash at Pavlograd - McIvan v [hirr]Leto

[McIvan]

A plaintive email back from Pete lamenting the failure of his tankers to hit the broad side of a barn :) Just what I like to see....the first psychological cracks :P My immediate thought is that my Sd251/10 on the left has survived, and so it proves. The Russkie tankers get off two more shots but miss, and the German halftracks withdraw safely behind a screen of smoke fired by the Sd251/9.

That's pretty much it from the left side for that turn....although two squads of Russian infantry are observed moving up toward the river bridge....they're still a fair way away. In turn the German HMG sets up to overwatch the bridge approaches, and a halfsquad of infantry runs up to just short of the bridge on the left side of the river.

The real action is over on the right. The tricksy Russians are indeed intent on cutting off and flanking the HT's around the Small Arms Factory. Twenty one seconds into the turn and you can see the Sd251/9 has arrived and has temporarily halted while it works through the command delay for the second fast order I gave it last turn....thinking that where I had it stopping was a bit exposed. No less than three Russian light tanks have it targeted....




There is the sound of 20mm fire and 45mm fire....so a mix of T60 and T70s......but both shots miss, and the Sd251/9 moves away out of sight before they get another go. I suspect my HT was exposed only at its very top, more than likely a low percentage shot.

Here come the German infantry....



Thirty eight seconds into the turn and the assault is in full swing......both the Sd251/9 and the more exposed 251/1 have moved up to point blank range. Although I thought the second Russian squad was pinned, it is up and firing again...this could get a bit nasty and I'm checking the HT waiting for a "shocked" or a molotov or grenade attack...



but seconds later, before they can do any damage, the advancing German assault team kills the last man. That was kind of fragile....either a half squad or maybe an LMG team. The fire team is now on the top floor of the building and is sneaking into position at the corner.

If you have been watching carefully, you will see that the left hand Sd251/1 has eased back a trifle....that is because there are two more Russian light tanks, charging full speed toward the Small Arms factory from the top of the map....coming left to right down a road which then turns down toward the Factory buildings. That makes at least seven T60/70 pincering them from two directions, and the German HT's would indeed be in deep trouble without the PIIIs coming to save them. The Sd251/1 reversed a little all on its own initiative the instant one of them came into sight. This would have been a good thing except that it finishes the turn in sight of one of the Russian light tanks coming from the river, and gets a burst of machinegun fire for its troubles.

You can also see that the Russkie halftrack at the back is now gone.....it has reversed out the back, but unhappily for it has ended right in the LOS of the German PIII travelling slowly along the right side rail embankment.



One shot, one miss......well, what can you expect from a tank on "fast" at long range? What I was hoping was that the PIII would do the decent thing and machinegun it, but the two MGs in the PIII remain stubbornly silent. Odds are the HT can get out of sight before I can get a decent bead on him, but we'll have a go next turn.

Finally, about 45 seconds into the turn, the lead PIIIs are getting into position. Cresting a small rise, two of the PIIIs find themselves looking at a number of the Russian light tanks....the lead PIII draws a bead on a T70 to the left, while the second PIII targets one of the light tanks moving right to left on the road behind the Small Arms Factory....





A hit! Guaranteed to drive Leto's into paroxysyms of depression...the veteran german crew slams a 50mm AP into the Russkie tank. They fire a second 50mm round before the replay ends, which bounces harmlessly off the turret front....definitely a T70 then; that 60mm of turret front can stop quite a bit.

Watching the stricken T70 very very closely a couple of times, it definitely loses way when hit compared to the other light tanks around it. Looks like a kill to me, so I'm going to take the chance and switch targets if there's one in view.

One concern here....the T70s etc are going to fire back from two angles...could easily find myself losing a PIII or two from side shots. That will be something to think about in the orders phase. For now tho, pretty happy...didn't lose the Sd251/10 that I had expected to lose, cleaned the Russian infantry out of the Small Arms Factory, and hopefully got a kill on a T70.