MAIN EVENT VII! Ratzki vs Joonny....

[Der Kuenstler]

The first shots are fired here by the Southern flag at the church. One of Ratzki's lead squads emerges from the woods in time to pin down a squad of Joonny's that was crossing the graveyard. Joonny's overwatch vehicles can be seen above the cliffs - they have no LOS to what is going on below.



But from Joonny's side it looks a little different. He already has a SMG squad in the church. Another two squads and the platoon HQ are poised to enter....only the trailing squad was pinned down.



On the North side, Joonny's Germans are entering the buildings on and around the flags there. But he is really pushing his men - all of them are tired. Ratzki's men can be seen approaching on the far side. Ratzki has been dropping his 82mm mortar smoke to help get them closer.



Now a few words sent in from Ratzki:

"Needless to say that I am not impressed with how this battle is shaping up. Ok,enough whining. I have decided to move a platoon of T-34's around to my other axis of attack on my right side. I seem to be able to make some headway here for the moment. I thought that I should spread my tanks out a bit in case the smoke/dash plan does
not go to plan. So far Jonny has not been much on the move except with some straggling infantry. This is a good thing cuz he could move way up and guard the lead edge of the town and I would be in huge trouble. I am banking now that he sits on the flags and holds his tanks in a very defensive position deep in the town. This should help me get a foothold. I am just afraid that my FO will not be able to position the smoke where i want it. Every now and then, for some unknown reason, I can not get the arty to work for me. Just hoping this is not the case this time around. another turn or two and operation smoke/dash will be under way."

In other news, Ratzki's T34/85 came unbogged and is now following the others around the Northwest treeline.

[Der Kuenstler]

After a couple of forgettable minutes, Ratzki gets one of his T34/85s in great position for a shot on the German overwatch bullies from the North side of town. What a job positioning this tank! Only the one stug has LOS to it because of the house - the other two AFVs are left out of the picture. An exchange of shells ensues...



Resulting in one gun damaged stug - he pops smoke to avoid being totally destroyed...Zukov high fives and chest bumps Stalin from HQ.



Here is an overall shot from minute 12. We can see after three minutes of fire Ratzki has been unable to get Joonny's German SMG platoon out of the church. In fact, his lead rifle squads are really getting bloodied against the superior SMG fire and are pinning and panicked. The SMG platoon has only lost about a man per squad and their only fear is running out of bullets. In addition, they are backed up by Joonny's HE firing AFVs. We can see more AFV's coming up to the cliff edge. Looks like one of Ratzki's rifle platoons gave up trying to get the 100 point flag vs. 3 firing Stugs andis going south to help the struggling church force.



To the North, we can see Ratzki has gotten his infantry about as far as they can go under cover. We can see his FO has plotted a target and is firing smoke. All the Russians behind that hill will try to run through the smoke into town. A lone maxim to the North is shooting at the German overwatch group to try and keep them buttoned.



Cycling through Joonny's forces, it is amazing how few casualties he has. Only eight men lost and one vehicle gun damaged. Soon Ratzki's hopes will ride on the smoke to come...



A message from Joonny:

"Quick progress report.

Casualties are minimal, all but one of the flags has fallen under my control or is at least being contested by me. I seem to have inflicted a decent amount of damage so far, looks like I roughed up his infantry pretty well in that open ground to the east of the town. He seems to be setting up MGs to fire upon my armour on the high ground, but the range is just to great for it to be much of a threat.

I can see him trying to Manoeuvre some armour in the dead ground on his side, looks to be some t-34s, i'm guessing they have the 85mm gun which makes them a bit of a threat, but at that range the biggest threat is of gun damaging as already happened to one of my StuGs."

And from commander Ratzki:

Well, the smoke is just starting to fall, I guess there is no better time then the present. I will be advancing my men over the hill in the smoke and into town, hopefully without getting shot up in the process. I think that I will hold off on my tanks for a turn and see how the infantry do before I make the mad dash. I noticed that the one SP Gun seems to have a damaged gun. I doubt if Jonny has a covered arc on this unit. I will go for the damaged gun, it's as good as dead.

Jonny has moved his one Panther in to the houses and the 2-storey building on my right. This is good, I plan on assualting his position soon from that direction so I should be out of it's LOS. On my left flank, I am still awaiting the maxim's to arrive before I start to duke it out here. I am sensing some SMG squads in the Axis forces, as he is able to do some damage to my squads with few shots. This is bad news over here, if this is the case as I will have to get in close due to the terrain. I did notice his squads were also bobbing up and down quite a bit, so he either has poor quality troops or my two LMG's per squad will pay off nicely. I am trying to move my 122mm gun into position to just catch sight of one of Jonny's SP Guns in the centre of the map. Terrain is difficult to navigate, but I am hopefull that I might be able to get a shot off without being shot at.

In the town I should have a company sized screen around the 2 big flags next turn, this should prevent Ratzki from being able to sneak any infantry teams past me to get at my armour. If he can get his armour in close to the town then the StuG could be in trouble, but I have found some pretty nice keyhole positions for my T34 and with that great frontal armour they should be ok."

[ekrommen]

The SMG platoon has only lost about a man per squad and their only fear is running out of bullets.

My experience with Jagers is they dish out a world of hurt for a few minutes then run out of ammo. I think the Russians will be in the church soon if there are no backup troops. No more Jagers for me, only regular troops if I have a choice!

[Der Kuenstler]

True Ekrommen - and these are pure SMG troops, not even Jagers, so they have 20 ammo instead of the Jagers' 25.

In this shot from minute 14 we can see the smoke is appearing nicely and Ratzki is using the "Human Wave" command - this is only available to the Russian side - they will run with added morale until the end of the red lines and then begin running normally. Scattered fire from the Germans is landing between the smoke plumes but the Russians keep coming.



Over to the South Ratzki must be frustrated - he wedges this IS-2 in position to try to get some stugs but still has no line of sight - there were only 17 meters of woods in front of him, but the added scattered trees and brush beyond that still blocked his view. Now he'll have to back out and try something else. The stugs continue to shoot at Russian infantry. The IS-2 commander shouts something rude in Russian which has something to do with a female dog and her son.



Ratzki comments:

"I might have been a bit ambitious in my move with the smoke. I think that my guys will tire before they get to their intended positions, but I really have no other options at the moment as time is marching on. If I get a good foothold in the town, Jonny will be in a world of hurt as I am only seeing about a company's worth of men. Fingers are crossed as my men fling themselves over the top and into the fire.

Ya gotta love it when you can use the human wave command. Makes me smile to hear all those Russian voices yelling Uuuuurrrrahhhh! I am gonna make a note to do this more often. ;o)"

[Der Kuenstler]

Now to update Ratzki's efforts in taking the Southern church. We can see that the combination of German SMG troops defending the church backed up by area firing Panthers and stugs is just getting to be too much for the regular quality Russian rifle squads. They are wilting and dying at quite a high rate. There's hardly anything Russian out there without a warning label over them.



To make things even worse for Ratzki, Joonny's flanking rifle platoon has arrived in the cliffs from the South and can now shoot at the Russians from the side and even in some cases from behind, giving them an added loss of morale...



Here is a shot in the North in the Seatown looking West. We see Ratzki's smoke has about petered out and he has a significant bunch of men at the edge of town, but not close enough yet to contest the flags. Ratzki's six T34/85s were able to zip in behind the outer buildings with no losses despite almost every German AFV picking them up in their sights at one time or another - the Russian speedsters were just going too quick to get a clear shot off at them. But look at all the struggling Russian infantry still in the open with warning labels over them...it's hard to call the attack a success right now...



From Joonny's side, we see one of his Jager squads has a cover arc out and is preparing to try to stem the coming Russian tide. The German line in town is thin but in good condition and backed up by Panthers and Stugs.



Now some words from commander Ratzki:

"Well that went off better then expected. Problem is that I have too many troops and too little cover. I hope that Jonny starts to sweat a little now and runs around a bit so I can catch a couple breaks, maybe plunk off a couple of his many tanks and do some damage to some of his few and far between infantry. I am gonna take this turn and blast away at infantry only. Did I not just write something about playing to one's strengths, so I will fight my strength against his weakness, his infantry. I will try to avoid taking on his armor where I can and just start blasting away at the ground pounders.
On my left, I might get a shot at one of his tanks with my 122mm but position and timing have to be right. I see that he has moved up a couple more of his sqauds, this is good news for my guys, I should be able to out number his guys as they are a little spread out over here. Will have to wait and see. I am gonna be brave as well and make a run at the church and get into some hand to hand combat. If by some stroke of good fortune, I take this church, I will have to exit about as quickly as I figure that he will open up with all his big gub that he has and flatten the thing. It was a good eye opener when he did so earlier on the other church as I know he can accomplish this within a turn.
In the centre, I want to get him thinking on moving in reverse with his men, this is why I am firing everything that I have at his infantry, I want him moving. I need to know where he is, and one at a time deal with his infantry while I move froward. I will be really pressed for time, I am cursing this map every turn as without the huge delay in getting my FO into position, I feel that this would have been a within my grasp to win this game. Now, I am not so sure, he will get a bloody nose, and know that he was in a scrap no matter what.
I have 2 T-34's that will be able to target him if he comes down off that hill at his startup position. I suspect he will come off there fast if he does move, That might get me a couple good shots, maybe get lucky."



Hmmmm...Ratzki seems pretty upbeat at this stage, although the owner of the town store doesn't seem to share in his optimism...

[Der Kuenstler]

Emboldened by the success of his speedy T34/85s from the past minute, Ratzki orders them to zip across the street in front of the panther and stug up on the far hill. They both pick the lead T34 up in their sights....



This time it doesn't go so well. A T34/85 can go up to 34 mph, but the Panther's 75mm shell went a little faster -925m/sec...



But another T34/85 did better a block to the North. The vehicle hunts up unbuttoned and zeroes in on a buttoned Panther in town - one shot, one kill...



In this shot from Joonny's view, we see the German infantry defense is not going so well. His lead squad with the cover arc can't see anything due to smoke from the fallen building - they just sit there. His platoon HQ also sits there. The squad that can see is being overwhelmed by russian fire. The tank hunter team in the rubble is down to one pinned man after the building fell on them.



Looks like the Russians may get that Northern flag. The town store owner rushes to the phone again....



Here is a Ratzki update:

"The action on my left flank could have went better. He had more infantry over there then I expected. Did Jonny by all SMG platoons?.... I think that I will cut my losses and give him the large flag, I just cannot deal with all the armor and his infantry. I am gonna try for the small flag instead. I hope that I have time to get there before the end of the game.
In the centre, I lost a T-34 but am working him over pretty good now. He has moved off that blasted hill with his tanks finally. I think that I have damaged a gun on one of his SP Guns so I think that there are only 2 threats. I am moving on the one large flag now that his panther is out of the way. I am going to move fast to get into position to try to get at those 2 tanks in the centre of town before he has a chance to reinforce with more tanks.
Overall, still playing cat and mouse with his armor, all while working his forces over in the centre. I might be able to pull off some sort of upset if I can get a couple more panthers as they are worth more than my T34's."

[Der Kuenstler]

Ratzki sent in a pic of his coming plans. Notice Joonny moved his Panther and healthy stug off of their pirch and into town.

Ratzki says: This is the plan for my next turn. This could open the game up if it works. With only 10 turns left, I have to get his tanks running around more.



Looks like it could work - I'm not a fan of backing into the LOS of anything, but the German AFVs aren't there yet so it seems like a pretty safe move.

[Der Kuenstler]

This first pic is a bit difficult to explain. At the top of the pic is Joonny's vet Panther and Stug that were up on the hill. As they were coming down the Panther's commander was shot and the vehicle was shocked, but then recovered and started hunting into town. Because the turret was pointed correctly with an armour cover arc, the Panther still picked up Ratzki's T34 which was going on "fast" but came to a stop - I believe to back in next to the other T34. The Panther hit it broadside. The other T34, crack in quality, then fired and hit the Panther at a angle, bouncing the shell off....The stug and Panther circled in black are blocked by buildings and smoke.



In this shot we can see the Northern flag by the sea in real danger of falling to the Russians. Ratzki has two T34s in position to blow this building down and a platoon of men in the rocks to the North to run in and mop up. Joonny has no reinforcements in the area to get it back. The panther by the building has already been destroyed.



From the East side of town, one of Ratzki's other T34/85s comes up big with a great shot - over 800 meters hitting a buttoned stug on the seacliffs. I don't think the stug ever knew what hit him.



Here from Joonny's side we can see that he has run one of his expensive Panthers up way too close to the Russian infantry. The Panther is buttoned and the sheilding squad in the building in front of him has been pinned by enemyfire. The Russian AT capablity is limited but put them within 30 feet of that Panther with a handful of grenades and you may have a dead Panther. The Russians ony need to advance into one more building to reach it.



From commander Ratzki...

"Ok, not as planned. Jonnys panther caught a glimpse of my T-34 before he got into position and took it out. I did score a hit but it looked like it glanced off the tanks armor. Well on to plan B, hope to get the equalizer with my infantry and pioneers in the area.

I put a couple more holes in his SP gun on the hill. That thing has to be
finished now. It is not moving, so that it a good thing. Still advancing in the centre and withdrawing on my left. Jonny's forces on my right are in total colapse at the moment. These were either not SMG squads or the combination of my guys shooting along with maybe some poor shooting on his part has let him down.

Boy, I wish I had those 10 or so turns that it took at the beginning in order to get my FO to drop smoke. I would love to not be on such a time table right now.

More than the enemy forces, time is a much more potent enemy at the moment. Jonny has chosen to sit in the defence, not something that I would have done. If he would have came all the way forward, my move into the town would have been ruined. He then could have fought a fighting withdrawl to the present position and this game would have been long over. We will have to see what the next few turns hold for me. It is still a possibility that I may get all the flags in the centre if things work out. He is hiding his remaining infantry, or so it looks,
near the other large flag as I have not seen them in a long time. All I have are markers and they are not moving so this is what I have to assume.

I bet Jonny wishes that he had bought some more regular infantry instead of those SMG squads. I think that he may only have a couple platoons of regular infantry, one up on my left flank on the hill, and maybe another. It is hard to tell until he shoots at me a couple times and I see what is left of my squads. I have not hard or seen any Machine guns, come to think of it. A little fire suppression is always a great asset. I know that everyone thinks that these SMG squads are grand on the defence, but I don't think so. All you do is locate them
then just stay back and shoot the crap outa them until they drop, then advance and get into some hand to hand along with some shooting from your other guys and they are as good as dead. The SMG squads are the best at attacking, though. As you are advancing, you are able to pack a big punch.

Ok enough rambling, on to the next turns... heh, watch me be totally wrong about his force composition."

[willow]

Nice to see Ratzki even things up a bit!

[Der Kuenstler]

This is one of those minutes where the whole battle can change within a few fateful seconds. In this first shot we can see Ratzki is charging one of Joonny's vet Panthers in town with one of his Pioneer squads. The squad has two satchel charges which would be deadly if thrown at the buttoned Panther. A rifle platoon is already in the building nearby with grenades to throw.



But disaster happens for the Russians. The Panther fires the dread of every school spelling bee contestant, the nahverteidigungswaffe, and backs away from the threatening infantry. The pioneers never got close enough and the rifle squad in the church just sat there without throwing a grenade. The Panther backs into the LOS of Ratzki's two T34/85s to the North...



Shells are exchanged and the lead T34 is knocked out....



The Russian beasts bounced three shells off of the Panther's frontal armour before the rear T34 tries to back away, and he ALMOST makes it -but no...



Over near the Southern flag, we can see what a difference elevation makes. Despite being back in about 70 meters of Summer woods, the Russians are still taking fire from the Germans up in the seacliffs. There is just no place for this maxim crew to hide from the onslaught...



Ratzki is now down to two T34/85s and one IS-2. All three have had their commanders killed and so are permanently buttoned up. Facing them are 11 healthy German AFV's, three of which are Panthers.

Vasilov runs back to the phone...



Joonny appears delighted with this - he writes:

"Yes my Panthers are fighting like panthers again!"

Ratzki deadpans: "That could have gone better."