THE MAIN EVENT III! Arrow vs. Moondog

[Der Kuenstler]

Welcome back, fight fans! Owl decided to run rather than play me in a battle of ELO leaders (LOL) - no, seriously - he said he would like to play, but he will be traveling abroad for the next three months - so that battle will have to be postponed until later.

But for the present we are excited to have two available vicious competitors in Arrow and Moondog(FGM). This battle will be fought in Italy in 1944, and these guys both love to play CMAK. It would be accurate to call each of them a CMAK specialist. When either of them sends out a CMAK setup, think twice about accepting it unless you don't mind losing, because they are good at it - real good!

Here are the tentative parameters:

3000 point CMAK meeting engagement
September of '44
Italy
Force mix: combined arms
Nationality: unrestricted
Quality: unrestricted
Rarity: on
Imported map
Midday
Cool
Clear
Breeze
33+ turns

The biggest difference from the first two battles is the combined arms setting. We won't see any tank parades this time! Commanders will need a balanced strategy.

To add some spice I am planning to give each player one elite armored unit with their name put on it. I plan to give the Axis player an Elite Panther IVG Late, and the Allies an Elite M4A3(76) W Sherman, loaded up with tungsten. The Panther has frequent armor flaws in front plating and costs more to lose. Seemed like a fairly even matchup - as close as I could get.

If agreeable, then each player will send me a number between 1-20 and the one who picks closest to my number will get to pick their side.

The map for this contest is very good - made especially for the Main Event by Ratzki. The arena is already filling up for this one.



Next up: we will look at the map!

[Der Kuenstler]

Here we have the map for this battle, and a beauty it is. This map was made especially for the Main Event by Ratzki - and it looks to be one of his masterpieces. Only a few minor tweaks were made from the original...



A view from the South up the scenic Italian valley...



A view from the German side - we can see the variety of terrain which will tax the combined arms skills of both commanders.



The map has been attached for all to inspect.

Arrow chose number 11 for his pick, while Moondog chose number 14. The number was 20! That means Moondog gets to choose his side for this fight....

[Lord Bane]

I was hoping that the Main Event III would be watching Owl getting taken apart feather by feather by DK. But it seems that Owl couldn't face that prospect and is now on the Lamb! He can run...but he can't hide.

I will put my Money on Moondog (FGM). Gotta stick with my FGM Brothers. Arrow is going down like a clown! Give me Moondog with a Tactical Victory.

That map is huge compared to the last round of Main Event! Should be a good one.

Lord Bane

[Der Kuenstler]

That map is huge compared to the last round of Main Event! Should be a good one.

Yes I believe it's 1600 meters E-W by 2000 meters N-S. Your map was smaller, but the LOS was shorter too with the bad weather.

[Ratzki]

Yes, good call on the map, it was made to specs setout by Der K.. It is a good size but has limited good cover, there are only a handfull of heavy buildings and the vast majority of tree cover are scattered trees. I think that the two players will be all bunched up in little pockets here and there grasping for some terrain advantage in quantity enough to protect their infantry while trying to get enough men in positions to fire on the enemy. Depending on the forces chosen, this should be a good map for flanking manouvres by both armour and infantry, lookoing forward to the battle.

[Mikey_FGM]

Cool Map!

I bet we'll see long range duels between wolf-packs of PIVH's and M4(76)'s fighting for positional advantage, claiming good overwatch positions, while swarms of AC's and Half tracks buzz around the flags... Could end up being a lengthy game of maneuver with neither player claiming a discernible lead...

I'm gonna go out on a limb and anticipate a draw.

[Lord Bane]

I am betting on some big cats appearing after the poor performance of PzIVs in the last round.

[Der Kuenstler]

Moondog has chosen the Axis for this contest. We know he will have at least one big cat - this elite Panther IVG (late) will be imported onto the map with his name on it. The pricey unit glistens here in the sun awaiting orders - costing 386 points - the pride of the Reich. This baby can pierce 123mm of armor from 2000 meters, and won't miss often with it's elite standing. But it would be devastating to lose such a costly machine.



Meanwhile Arrow will be getting this elite M4A3(76)W Sherman. Sure, its upper armor is not as thick as the Panther's, but don't count it out. The American armor is better quality than the Germans had at this time. Also the Sherman has a gyrostabilizer -it can fire more accurately while moving. It has a "very fast" turret compared to the Panther's "slow" turret rating. This Sherman also can sting - it has been fitted out with 20 tungsten rounds, which can peirce 125mm of armor from 2000 meters. That is 400 meters further than the map is wide! This expensive piece of American engineering cost 285 points.

Here it is in all its glory, checking out the landscape:



Commenting on his pick, Moondog says: "It has to be Germans for me.
I usually prefer the challenge of the allies but seeing as I won the pick I'd be silly not to take the Germans."


Moondog is now doing his purchases. Soon he will be sending out the first file and the battle will begin!

[Der Kuenstler]

Here we begin with Moondog's purchase screens - he goes with an elite pzIVH, a vet Tiger, and a regular platoon of stugs.



Second screen - this is the body of his vet Rifle '44 battalion and a Pioneer 44A platoon.



So he has a total of two big cats. This may be a battle where if he saves those cats, he wins - if the cats die, he dies too. AP shells go through elite armor just as easily as conscript armor.

The 251/1s must be intended for an early flag rush.

Surprises: No guns? no snipers? only two schreks? His infantry carry only the very short ranged pzfst-30.

Before making his Allied purchases Arrow says: "I looked at the forum before we started and it has me as a 10:1 underdog. Well I like being the underdog! Looking forward to a good battle. Let's just hope I can make it interesting..."

[Lord Bane]

So Moondog's PzIVH was computer upgraded to Elite! He is already having some luck then.
Bane