[TYG tournament - Monsieure Pinke (AX) vs Jhmorneau (AL)] Battle resolution

[laska2k8]

hi,

here the battle report sent to me by Jhmorneau.

I hide my shermans on both my flanks, sent the M8 in the forest in the center, and ordered my leaders and infantry to take position on the ridge and stay there watching the other side.

One Stug and a HT rolled down the hill to take position behind a few trees in the bottom of the center valley.

After a few turns I started to spot enemy vehicles : one HT on the right, one Stug in the center, and, after a while, my opponent sent 1 Stug + 1 HT to peek over on my left flank so by then I knew more or less what was to expect.
I waited until every tank got intel from the HQ units as where the enemy positions were in order to ensure that they would spot enemy units as fast as possible. Gave them narrow target arcs too.

I engaged the HT one the right with 2 shermans, hull down. It appeared that there were not just on HT but two of them. The poor Krauts didn't last long.
Simultaneaously, I moved forward all my Shermans on my right flank to engage the Stug in the center, also hull down. Poor guy received a serious pounding.

M8 tried to get some LOS and help in the process but with caution. Not very effectively I must say because of LOS issues.

Germans shelled me thrice during the battle : in the wood in the center (but I managed to get nearly all the M8 back out of harm's way before the rain started for good) (lost a HT and a few good men though), and on the houses + nearby forest on my right flank (lost some grunts there too) + on my right flank. Overall, german arty did not hurt us too severely.

When enemy threats had been removed on the right and in the center, I turned my attention to the Stug + HT at the bottom of the valley. I shelled their position with 2 shermans in the center, and sent one of my Sherman from the right flank down the valley (with the others overwatching) to flank the Stug. It worked vey well. Stug hit reverse and was caught in the open. HT and a machinegun were shelled to death after that.

By then the last heavy german position was behind the hill on the right. I knew he had a Stug and at least one Stummel left (one was destroyed in the first turns). I lost one Sherman on my left flank to this same Stug on the opposite side of the map.
Another Stug was spotted in the center.

As it was time to march forward, I sent infantry and shermans down the valley on my right flank. One sherman then climbed cautiously the slope of the right hill with a target arc toward the Stug hidden in the center. It worked beyond my expectations and the Stug was dispatched. Then I sent another one and both of them slowly climbed the slope to engage what was left of the Germans behind the ridge. The last Stug reversed. At one time, I moved some of my M8 to assist from the top of the hill on the left hand side of the center position. One was killed in the process but another german HT was nailed. Eventually, the 2 shermans got the last stug.

Mopping up was well under way. One M8 left the center wood after an engineer unit had breached the bocage and went up the central road to assit hunting the last Stug on the left.
Two shermans climbed the hill on the right and wreckec havoc in the remaining germans (2 HTs and some HQ and crews).

Battle ended with a mutual ceasefire.

I must have forgotten one or two things but overall that's what I saw from the Allied side :-)

There you are !

Overall my opponent was very unlucky. His Stummels and Stugs hit Shermans various times but with little effect. On the other hand, my shermans were deadly even against well placed Stugs.
I've lost MGs, radios, optics but just one sherman ! I remember once a sherman with the tank commander in the openwas hit frontal by a Stummel round : the result was minor damage and the tank commander wasn't even injured in the process !!!

JH

soon I'll post some shots from the battleground