Random chatter...

[Jim von Krieg]

In the East, Pawel's Red Army troops have gone into stealth mode... He has been giving me the rope-a-dope most of the battle... Slap my infantry around at long range and slide away.. then a furious fight as I crossed the bridge... Only to slide back into quiet time...

Only when I forced the bridge did he really put up an effort to engage me toe to toe... We were in a slugfest up until the point I cleared the treeline and smashed his local defenses...

However, the casualties were severe on my part... I had a couple of lapses and one "ah ha" moment when I realized I made numerous tactical errors and a strategic miscalculation...

My biggest mistake, I assumed he'd fight this battle as I would fight it, aka force mirroring... but alas that was not the case... I wasted precious time on closing to the fight as I was maneuvering across the snow to establish multiple crossfires and make it extremely painful if he tried to come after me as I moved up... A result of not being familar with the scenario or the opponent... I moved a tad bit slower than normal and not quite as aggressive as my typical fight...

Once I realized the deal, I attempted to pick up the pace and subsequently got pummeled as my light forces went for the bridge before I was fully set... So much for underestimating Pawel... He's a wiley one...

Now, with the bridges on the far river blown I don't have much of an option to force a decision in this game... I'm always loath to do this, but it appears I have to go head on into what I can only deduce is going to be a massive Red Army tank reception committee as I crest the ridge to overlook the small town at the heart of the Red Army defense... There is no way to get LOS down in there without getting pasted by whatever is waiting just on the other side... T34/85s, ISU-152s, SU-100s and lots of rocket launchers...

Little bites of this problem... Control the treeline... Drive what's left of his infantry back... move my infantry up to see the massed T34s/Shermans sitting just below waiting on me...

I put the heavy armor in place... See if they like King Tigers at point blank range with a height advantage... and guess what, they don't... I lose a King, but soak up most of his OPFIRE... Then the Panther rush to point blank range... They definitely didn't like that...

Oh it's a blood bath... Underneath the burning King Tiger, a lot more T34s and Shermans burn... Not as many as I had hoped, but now its a points calculation as the bleeding contributes to the victory conditions... I have to dishout more pain than he does for the next few turns... I expect to get pummeled next turn as the disrupted and reduced King Tiger sits explosed before a large number of enemy tanks...

I made a critical tactical error as I forgot something very important... Too long away from the electronic front... I don't think I have enough time to recover from the oversight.. It would lock this game down for me because it doesn't look like Pawel's accounted for it... Should of, would have, could have...

Oh well, it's water under the bridge... LOL... With only a few turns left, its grind it out now...