Coil whups CT, a memoir in advance (Colonels Keep Out!)

[The Coil]

Turn 23

Left side:



CT starts moving men up to the treeline. I unbutton an HMG on the far left to slow him up, he comes under immediate heavy fire. Again, I'm not real sad to see CT dump a few turns of ammo from 10+ shooters on him. Turn 22, CT sends a runner across the open ground at him, no doubt toting satchels. The MG pops up from 'pinned' just long enough to send the runner crawling away. Other units emerging from the trees - time to open up with another HMG, still holding the last HMG on that side and the 2 guns in reserve. Want to keep the guns hidden as long as possible, because 1) I have no illusions about their ability to survive the inevitable mortaring and 2) I want CT guessing where guns are for as long as possible (more on this in a minute).


In the center, the last brave dude from the HMG crew valiantly holds on:



He goes pinned again on turn 22, once again allowing me to break contact and hide him. Don't want that last guy to die, I want CT thinking twice about charging the position. Cover arcs set on HMGs further back to inderdict anyone who does charge. Can't believe this guy is still alive - shows you what a vet unit with a +2 morale HQ gets you (and maybe a little fanaticism thrown in).

I think I've pretty much contented myself with giving up that forward flag, letting the platoon around it fight off CT as long as possible, but keeping the rest of my men further back buttoned up for later.

On the right:



CT moving onto the flags. My arty spotter drops a few of his rounds on the center section of trees at the end of the turn. Not really thinking it will hurt CT much, but make him cautious about moving more men into the area, especially them mortars... This turn I reposition the spot to about midway between CTs two groups, I can shift it to either one as needed the following turn. My plan is to spatter him with shells at the ends of turns, slow him up and keep him guessing.

His units on my far right head further out on the flank, looking for defenders. Not real sad to see them head away from the center, they'll waste a few turns looking, and probably still not come far enough to see that platoon at the back.

On turn 22, CT finds a nifty sightline with his Priest:



Missed that when I was doing the setup. The SP gun is too far away from the HMG too do much. CT is shelling an (empty) foxhole that he probably thinks might house a unit. Fine by me to see them HE shells being used to no effect.

CT sends me an email fishing for info. He's no doubt confirmed my troop selection, which makes me a bit unhappy, in that he knows I'm sporting pretty much all infantry - if he knows my battalion pick, he knows I had less than 100 extra points. I want him fearing the hidden Tiger that doesn't exist. He mentions my '7 guns', no doubt trying to get a read on whether I've purchased another bonus gun. I send him an email back clumsily confirming the accuracy of his guess, hoping I actually sound like I am trying to cover the fact that I have other guns, so that he'll be looking for guns that don't exist. He also casually mentions his Priests (plural!). He either has a bunch of Priests, which is bad, and doesn't realize I haven't spotted them, or he only has one, and this is a clever bit of disinformation. Got my interest, but I'm not convinced there are multiple Priests out there. In any event, my guns are staying under as long as possible to keep him cautious with the vehicle or vehicles.

Feeling pretty good on my flanks, a bit worried about the middle. He'll be able to overwhelm me, I think, especially if there's an arty barrage coming. However, time is starting to get a bit short, so hopefully the pressure is on him... I'd still feel better with about 5 less turns left in this game.