Random chatter...

[Jim von Krieg]

On the Western Front, the Germans (me) and the Canadians (Mike) face off. I haven't played this and its probably one of the classics of the WF battles.

I've assessed my units and mission. I have a lot of Mk-IVs and infantry with a little bit of artillery to drive the Canadians into the sea. Looking at the Canadians, they have a lot of armor and a lot of heavy naval artillery. I could sit back and respond to Mike's moves OR I could go after him. Of course, there is no choice in that. I'm going to go after him.

Over the course of the game, we seem to have had the same idea... push forward along the roadway to the villages of Gruchy and Buron. There's been a little harassing activity on my right flank at Epron, but so far its a side show. Though if his reserve forces release, it could become a major headache for me very quickly.

His scout forces sweep through both Gruchy and Buron just in front of me. Does not look like anything more than his lead elements of Stuarts and Bren carriers with infantry. As he moved in, my infantry and armor move up to take Gruchy. After a short and furious fight, I drive Mike out of Gruchy.

He seems to be locking down Buron and casting his eye on St. Contest as his infantry and light tanks push toward the village. My AT Guns engage along with long range tank fire. We've got a duel going on as his Shermans pop out, shoot and scoot behind Buron. There seems to be a lot of armor back there.

Then, the unbelievable use of large smoke screens to block my LOS from my supporting fires. We're in a close in fight for St. Contest. He's stuck on the outskirts with his infantry and my panzergrenadiers duking it out. Mike's unwillingness to commit his Shermans to the fight seems to give me the advantage in the fight, but they are definitely give excellent supporting fires. I've pushed up more infantry to support the attack on Buron, but this attack out of Buron toward St. Contest has locked them down defending St. Contest.

As this battle rages, I mass my forces to seize Buron. We're still battling in the treeline on the low ground between Buron and Gruchy, but I'm slowly gaining the upper hand. As I clear the trees, I begin to move up for the assault on Buron. This is going to be a tough nut. I suspect lots of infantry on the back side of the village with a lot of Shermans that have been popping out to blast my infantry near St. Contest quite effectively.

As I mass, Mike is scouting way out on my left flank to gain LOS to see what I'm up to. I blast Stuarts and infantry units attempting to sneak a peek and drive them out of LOS several times.

My artillery is not doing very well. Mike just doesn't really give me anything to shoot. As my infantry moves up for the attack, I lay down smoke to reduce the losses. I assault into Buron and drive him back, but a furious counterattack knocks me back.

His naval guns really did a number on me this turn and then he assaults forward to retake the village and drive me out. I lose a Mk-IV platoon and have over a company of infantry and engineers reduced and disrupted.

As my forces retreat back through the village, my second echelon counters his counterattack. I drive forward with supporting artillery and mortar fire to retake the village and drive back his forces. As my panzers push out, his Shermans engage disrupting two platoons of Mk-IVs; however, there are a lot more where they came from.

My Mk-IVs move up to essentially wipe out two platoons of Shermans and a platoon of Stuarts. I pull back waiting to see if he has second echelon forces to counter my counter to his counter. LOL... Engineers lay smoke and I hope I've pushed through far enough to escape his murderous naval gunfire. I'm just hoping he runs out of ammunition. I can't stand much more of those bombardments.

We have an excellent fight underway. Currently, we're locked in close combat with a draw and I'm not sure I'm going to have an opportunity to push forward to victory.

I'm bleeding out as Mike pounded my St. Contest defenders hard with tank fire. I accelerated the bleeding as I attacked into the teeth of his strength. I drove off his attack into St. Contest as well as seizing Gruchy and Boron. I only hope I can hold it. I drove off a lot of enemy infantry, destroyed a company of tanks, and will hopefully be able to continue my push forward towards Villons. Not sure, but I need to look hard at what I'm going to do next.

Mike's a tough opponent who is aggressive, but doesn't give you much to shoot at... Hmmm... Clash is definitely a tough fight for both sides as we both seem to be on the attack.

Heading for the hills... His defense of Buron is broken and he's cutting and running... I left a few tidbits exposed to see if I could get a bite which would leave his Shermans exposed... As his infantry heads for the trees, his tanks take time to blast my 75mm Half-tracks. Then they roll out of sight... but I'm sure they didn't go far... BWU HAA HAA!!!

Near Epron, a strong probe moves up supported by several Sherman platoons. He blasted my front edge defense and I lose an AT gun that popped for no effect on his Shermans... Three platoons surge into my LOS from the low ground and in the trees on the flank of my main defensive position in the area... Finally, a target rich environment...

His naval guns blast away... a panzer burns on the VP objective, but he didn't come in close to counterattack so it's an acceptable loss... As my panzers surge out, supporting fires hit nothing because of the quick withdrawal... I take some mortar indirect OPFIRE... Nothing...

One of my AAA trucks rushes down the road to scout ahead... I run nose to nose into a full strength Sherman platoon blocking my path... My panzers move forward to engage the exposed tanks... round after round slams into the first Shermans, driving them off the road and to their destruction as the rear shot destroys the whole platoon... My AAA truck surges forward again and runs into two more Sherman platoons... the long range panzer fire brews up the Ronsons... Simultaneously, I push forward to the treeline and run into his disrupted infantry... My infantry and other AAA vehicles decimate the infantry units sitting in the low ground...

Near Epron, my MG and infantry fire drives off his infantry company that is pushing forward on the objective where I sit. This is going to be a while as he has enough firepower to hurt me in the area. I'm not defenseless, but most of my combat power is on the other end of the battlefield...

I'm dreading the next few turns as his reserves "may" come in to play if he gets the right dice roll to release... I'm pushing down the points towards a minor victory, but I'm a long ways from that.. I've lost too many panzer grenadiers... and that's adding up against me... the cost of an aggressive plan...