EF team game

[Crossroads]

Meanwhile, the 19th Panzer finds themselves between a rock and a hard place.

The unexpected, massive appearance of Soviet armour from North caused major havoc, forcing General Schmidt to quickly mass the majority of his hardest hitting tanks there! (I do love the Mk IVs, so I am not complaining :) )



The panzergrenadiers scramble to dig in a defensive perimeter, while observing the III Corps ordering the 228th Stug brigade to pass them by and enforce another sector instead!



"That makes no sense, the order must have come directly from that Mad Corporal again!", Schutzen Heinz Ketchup is found cursing here... "They already had Tigers, and now they got all the Sturmgeschutze as well!"

[Crossroads]

No rest for 19th Panzer as they scramble to secure their left flank, while still continuing the push forward.

In the north, corporal Steiner stops for a quick cigarette, while waiting for the inevitable Russian counter move...



... while private Putz, pictured below, prepares to assault the Soviet trenches who continue to call artillery on his advancing comrades.

[Crossroads]

General Schmidt is busy reporting the HQ that he is finally making significant progress in the Northern sector!



He did not mention that "significant progress" actually consist of one single 250mx250m hex of enemy trenches... Why bother the high command with insignificant details?

[Crossroads]

General Rudolph "Rudi" Schmidt studies the map with weary eyes. The III Corps advance seems to be in a danger of grinding to an halt in all sectors.

The large amount of enemy tanks spotted in all sectors is a special concern to everyone, while the strong Soviet artillery is an ever present factor as his men are finding out.

"Where are the new wonder weapons Hitler kept bragging about? Panthers, Tigers, Ferdinands? Well I'll tell you where they are NOT! In my sector!"

General Schmidt can only rely on his trusted Mk IVs, and even they are not available in any great numbers as they continue to monitor his flanks for sights of those fast moving T-34s.

The 19th Panzer continues to push on.

[Death~Dealer]

In Rzhavets the fighting has become a fierce close-quarters battle. Russian infantry overtake a Tiger by assault...


Dug-in Russian infantry are putting up a dogged defense of the hills west of Aleksandrovka...


As the Russians send self-propelled gun platoons to reinforce their defenses at Rzhavets, some Tiger platoons ambush them on the road with good effect...


South of Kazache, German FlaK batteries urgently hammer away at massed Russian infantry attacking through open ground...

[Crossroads]

General Schmidt observes a brief halt in the fighting. His scouts report plenty of T-34 still lurking around his left flank. Nothing the 75 mms of his Marders can't handle, he's certain.



Meanwhile, the friendly artillery starts to arrive. "Here's back at you!", he shouts and orders his men prepare to assault the town in front of them.



The Russians, weathering the barrage in their well prepared positions, seem to be not too concerned while waiting for their enemy to raise their heads and dash into open...

[Dragoon]

Cool way to keep informed of the game.Too bad there isnt a record function for the game, would be fun to watch it play out.

Good luck all...

Dragoon

[Crossroads]

Again, the panzergrenadiers of the 19th Panzer Division find out they are being shelled by enemy tanks while in transport. "How is that possible!", General Schmidt rages, "I am certain they were securely out of enemy LOS!".

Cursing with, or is it at, their commander the surviving men of the rearguard unit rush out from the trucks and take safety in the ditches by the road.



(Variable Visibility! That's what happened!)

Meanwhile, the vanguard of 19th Panzer storm the enemy trenches guarding the passage to that unnamed godforsaken town somewhere there... The thinned lines of panzergrenadiers find the town swarming with enemy infantry, who clearly were anticipating the enemy advance.

Determined to not give out an inch of hard earned land, they prepare to to make the enemy pay no matter how outnumbered they are.

"Just another day at the office, eh?", they share a quiet joke, while waiting for the fierce Russian counterattack that is surely coming sooner rather than later.

[Death~Dealer]

Soviet artillery delivers incessant barrages on the German positions west of Aleksandrovka. Katyushas, aka Stalin's Organs, are playing their funeral song for many German Soldiers...


Once the smoke clears we engage the Russians in their improved postions near the hilltops...


It takes heavy German assault supported by panzers to drive them from the crest, and the real estate gained is only on the southern edge of the hills...


As our panzers scout from the hilltop, they report a red storm brewing over Aleksandrovka in the form of advancing Red Army Soldiers fresh into the line...it's gonna be a long day...

[Crossroads]

...it's gonna be a long day...

Ooh yeah... the going is definitively getting... tough?