MAIN EVENT VII! Ratzki vs Joonny....

[Ratzki]

Now a look at Ratzki's setup. The big surprise is he's put NOTHING up above the seacliffs. He has basically given all that area up to Joonny without a fight. Looks like he plans to avoid any roads with his T34s and head straight for town. They are all loaded with troops. His ISU 152 has no one on it and will probably hang back to use its HE later. His IS-2 has no riders either - he's alone on the dirt road to the South. He has two jeeps positioned to tow his 45mm ATGs to town quickly. All of his troops are spread out fairly evenly on the red start line.

It seems that neither commander has done the obvious and put an ATG gun or two in those cliffs. Perhaps that's why - it was too obvious. It will be interesting to see how this plays out...

I had done quite a bit of spotting before the game started and I knew that the German side would have the advantage on the hill. When I was informed that I was gonna play my beloved Russian forces, the options were to place a mobile force on the hill which due to the extreme ranges would have been wiped out by superior German optics and guns, or to place a non-mobile force up there. The latter seemed to be a waste as well as the Russians really have nothing that can penetrate German frontal armor from those ranges, plus from the Russian vantage point there was really a limited amount that could be accomplished due to poor LOS. After I worked myself into a lather, I just decided to let the AI pick my forces, and I would deal with what I got.

From Ratzki's side. we can see his T34/85s are flying along on "fast", still not responding to the threat on the seacliffs. An impact from one of the shells of the German AFVs can be seen landing in the grass dangerously near one of the Russian beasts. These Ruskies may be better off to keep going as fast as they can to the cover of town and not try to stop to fire from this disadvantaged position.

I knew right off the rattle, I was in for an uphill fight, can't go head to head with German armor, and very limited movement without being shot at by tanks on both hills positioned in the German setup zone meant that I had to make sure that all was perfect every step of the way or this game would be over real fast. This would burn up valuable time getting everyone into position to enter the town, I would only have one chance at it.

It's not looking good for Comrade Ratzki. At this rate I can see a major victory for Joony.

Nothing like jumping ship right away guys. I mean really, predicting a major victory at about turn 5... I think that I was there as well, just could not see this going well for me even at this point. Still it would come down to me getting all my force into position and then advancing into the town.

Too bad Ratzki didn't put two or three crack 57mm L/73 guns up in his cliffs at the start of the match - that would have given those German thugs on overwatch something to worry about...

Not a chance, at 1000m,and the shots were in fact longer, this 57mm Zis gun could only penetrate 38mm of armor at 60 deg. The Panther's lowest armor value is 63mm at 55deg, I would have needed a miracle to get anything other then wasted points as the Germans blew the crap outta my useless guns. I wasn't gonna be forced to fight a head to head tank battle with no chance of winning. I had to come up with another game plan.

It certainly looks like it's going that way. Here in minute seven Joonny decides to have his AFVs blow down the church. This was actually a mistake, IMHO. The church was empty for one thing, so bringing it down did not kill any Russians. Secondly, it is a heavy building so the smoke will hang there a long time, blocking Joonny's view and allowing Ratzki to run his Russians in there. What I like to do in this situation is shoot the building until it is ALMOST going to fall, then let it sit there. That way the other guy will be afraid to run his troops in, because another shell or two would bring it down.

Blowing that church up was great for me, I needed smoke and what better then a downed building. I was not planning to use the church anyhow.

After a couple of forgettable minutes, Ratzki gets one of his T34/85s in great position for a shot on the German overwatch bullies from the North side of town. What a job positioning this tank! Only the one stug has LOS to it because of the house - the other two AFVs are left out of the picture. An exchange of shells ensues...

I would like to take more credit for the shot then is due. I knew that shooting through a building was a possibility, but I could not have planned it this perfect.

This is one of those minutes where the whole battle can change within a few fateful seconds. In this first shot we can see Ratzki is charging one of Joonny's vet Panthers in town with one of his Pioneer squads. The squad has two satchel charges which would be deadly if thrown at the buttoned Panther. A rifle platoon is already in the building nearby with grenades to throw.

There were just two turns that I would like to have had over again, this was one of them. The Panther blows it's stack and releases Mr happy (nahverteidigungswaffe), and then a series of random events takes over that changes the whole game. The panther retreats into LOS of two of my t34's, I get off a couple shots, ring the bell but no KO and the panther takes out two of my tanks. A short distance away, another t34 puts one into a Stug but again, I do not get a kill, but the Stug kills my t34 on the following shot.
Realistically this was the nail in the coffin.


I think that I have answered any/all the questions that might be out there. Jonny played a good game, very challenging from my end.
Thanks to Der K and Jonny for the parts they played, a good DAR and a good opponent.
Thanks for the one member that supported me all the way, he did remain silent throughout the battle, never posting but I could feel the support that he was sending me every turn that I played.;)
If anyone gets asked to do this in the future, take it, the pressure to play well is pretty intense and if the enemy player is at all skilled, it makes for a great game and atmosphere. I could not wait to get each and every turn back.