THE MAIN EVENT II! Lord Bane vs. Matteponk

[Der Kuenstler]

Greetings again fight fans! Our first main event matched up our two men at the top of the default view ladder - Walkure and Herroberst. Thanks to them for a great and hard fought battle.

Next we have a battle between win percentage leaders. These two guys win - and win a lot. In fact, they have won more than any veteran player who has reported 100+ games, as we can see here with a screenshot of our ladder as it stands today:



Lord Bane (George Scott) is from the USA - as we know from his posts he likes to boast of his formidable CM skills, but he rarely gets proved wrong with his .825 win record.

Matteponk (Mats Ek) hails from Sweden. He hardly posts on the forums and doesn't say much. But his .800 win record speaks for itself. Don't let his comparative lack of games reported fool you - he has been active playing in various tournaments at FGM and has no rust to brush off.

Pending their approval, as cold weather approaches I have set the battle somewhere in the Polish winterland, where our commanders will be forced to fight not only each other, but the visibility, the snow, and the biting cold. It's a still dawn in January of 1945. The gently falling flakes make a stark contrast to the violence that is to come.



A shot from above. The map is smaller than last game, but the combination of falling snow and early morning light have reduced visibility in the sleepy town to 252 meters. The Germans will not be able to take advantage of their long range guns, but the lack of summer cover means the Russian SMG squads won't be firing as closely or as effectively either.



The main 300 point flag sits on the church at town center. All around the church long deceased Poles are sleeping below the tombstones. Soon Russians and Germans will be falling and dying over them.



The night before, women light candles in the church - they have just endured a days bombardment and fires are still burning in parts of town. Will there be peace on earth by Springtime? They can pray.



Interestingly, these two ruthless killers have never played each other - no game between them was ever reported. So we don't know who is better - yet....

[Der Kuenstler]

Both numbers have come in - Matteponk chose #7 and Lord Bane chose #16. The number was 7! This means Matteponk will choose his side and send the setup with parameters specified to Lord Bane.

Parameters are:
3000 point CMBB meeting engagement
January of '45
Northern Region
Force mix: unrestricted
Nationality: unrestricted
Quality: unrestricted
Rarity: on
Imported map
Dawn
Cold
Snowing
Still
33+ turns

These parameters (unrestricted) will give both commanders the most freedom with their skills.

Both commanders accepted the parameters, except Lord Bane was not thrilled about the visibility. I'm not set in stone about it. I told them if they want to set it as fog at midday the visibility will increase to 752 meters. If they want snow at midday it will increase to 1002 meters. The current snow at dawn setting makes it 252 meters. I told them they could decide among themselves - but if they can't agree then we'll be going with the current dawn/snow.

The only thing is the snow - the computer will sometimes randomly make the snow setting "deep snow" - if they get a "deep snow" map, I strongly suggested they redo the setups as it would be a bore watching their units slog and bog in the snow at an extremely slow pace.

So once the visibility is settled, Matteponk is to send his setup according to the parameters specified. they will each use passwords that they don't normally use and cc all of their turns to me so I can report on them.

"Yes, yes, whatever - just get us to town so we can sleep somewhere inside tonight!!", the shivering foot soldiers say...

[Der Kuenstler]

Lord Bane has suggested fog at midday which would allow the units to see 752 meters, or about half of the map. We are waiting on Matteponk's response.

In the meantime, a few notes on fighting in Winter weather - it really changes your tactics.

Bad weather means that vehicles will bog more easily and units will tire more easily. A mad dash that would work in warm weather might turn your infantry into exhausted mush in Winter.

The snow setting represents roughly 8 inches of snow. According to the manual, wheeled vehicles will get stuck frequently and and even tracked vehicles will find the going tougher. (I don't expect to see any trucks.)

A methodical infantry heavy approach might be the answer. Halftracks could be an option for the heavy weapons as a large hill separates the two armies and blocks their sight of each other.

Each commander will need to rely more on intuition as less information will be available. The snow and fog will deaden sound contacts and make unit identification more difficult. Slower movement will mean that each commander needs to decide right the first time - there won't be as much time for maneuver once the enemy is discovered.



The soldiers prepare themselves to move out into the bitter cold....

[British Tommy]

Ok lads, place your order for popcorn and cold beers. Please settle into your seats before the action starts ........ and the front seat in the middle of the row is reserved for me :)
Good luck to both players and we expect a close and bloody battle to come :2guns:
Looking forward to your excellent screen shots and photos DK

[Ratzki]

Do we get another "who do you think will win" poll?

[Der Kuenstler]

Do we get another "who do you think will win" poll?

OK sure...

[Der Kuenstler]

Message from Matteponk:

"Hi guys!
Just plugged a new graphics card into my PC. The old one gave up on me the other day.

Well, let's rock!

I'll go with Lord Banes suggestion of Fog+Midday. I'll have the evil Axis please."

So it's all set - Matteponk will lead an Axis force against Lord Bane's Russians across the frozen waste....Visibility will be 752 meters...

[Der Kuenstler]

Latest news:

Lord Bane has to work this weekend so Matteponk will make his force picks and send - Lord bane to return Sunday evening...

[Der Kuenstler]

The first couple of files have been exchanged - we now have access to the battlefield. I'm delighted that the computer gave us an 8" snow setting - no need to redo it. The battlefield is empty for now - covered with an icy fog that will sting the soldiers' exposed skin and reduce their vision to 752 meters. Here's what it looks like out there:



And here we get to see Matteponk's German purchase screens - his choices are quite a shock - not what I was expecting at all. Here is the first screen:



And the second screen:



GOOD GRIEF - TEN GREEN Panzer IVJs - These have the 75mm L48 gun. He got shafted a little as one of them came out conscript. Then a regular Panzer IV70 platoon that contains a bonus veteran. These have a 75mm L/70 gun. All of his AFVs have an HE blast of 45.

With his remaining points he buys a veteran Volksgrenadier Battalion - good choice as they are relatively cheap, contain a lot of SMGs for the fog, and still fight well at veteran quality.

This is very odd as the traditional QB method is to pick vet quality tanks and then scrimp on infantry. Matteponk has done the opposite.

Other Surprises - not a single schrek team? or sniper?

Very interesting force pick - so unusual that it may catch Lord Bane off guard....

[Rico (FGM)]

That is an interesting pick... very curious to see how that works out.
PzIVJ's are not one of my favourite pieces of kit. :whis: