Bpoli7

Great write up, Noland!

Yeah it was! Your bad luck at the beginning on your spotting checks was made up for by a few good hits of those 15cms. Also, assault rifles are nasty, but I don't want to give away too much before I finish the story...

Burt's machine guns opened fire at the treeline just ahead. "..I see that kraut infantry you were reporting, 2nd Platoon. You're not kidding there are a lot of them..." The big 105 shattered a tree just ahead sending the Germans emerging from the forest diving to the ground. Some didn't get up. Richard called for a high explosive round to be loaded as he added the coaxial .30 caliber to the swarm of tracers ripping through the brush. The 75 slammed into the ground near a particularly tight grouping of soldiers, sending them flying. He saw several Germans kneeling to aim panzerfausts and he prayed the extra sandbags the tank commander actual might stop them. Richard was skeptical. He heard a new voice, one he didn't recognize. He realized it was over his own tanks intercom."...Thought you guys might need a little help! 3rd platoon 393 of 99ID here, we're assaulting this stand here..." Richard thanked the smart kid who had come up with tank telephones silently to himself. "..We've got dough support!.." he heard his tank commander report. "...Tell them we'll hit the line at the same time! We'll crush these Hun bastards!..." That was the platoon command of 2nd Platoon. A rocket streamed from the lead panzerfaust. It struck the glacis of his tank with a thud and Richard could hear the sandbags sliding off. Maybe there was something to them, after all.... He saw the American troops advancing from his tanks left, firing as the ran. "... We've got them on the run!..." 2nd Platoon again. "... Infantry's got the copse!..." A second faust struck the ground just ahead of his tank.

Richard winced at the thought of the behemoth turret smashing down on his tank. He was lucky. "...1st Platoon, Report!..." yelled Johnston. "..London here, were okay..." That was the other Jumbo. "...Big Shot is up..." That was the assault Sherman that had replaced Sgt. Burt Whittemore's M4 when he had hit a mine in the Lorraine. Burt had come to appreciate the lob in the 105 for knocking out gun pits the higher velocity guns couldn't hit easily. "Lil' Joe still here. We're alright..." That was Richard's tank commander. Noticeably absent were the reports from not only the 2IC, but also the other 75mm Sherman, Marge. He spun the gun around to search for the other M4. When he found it, he saw its entire side had been ripped apart by the blast of the German heavy artillery. "...2nd Platoon reporting Kraut infantry crossing the road at Gridsquare 129. I count , 30... no... forty at least! We can't get a clean shot at them in this damn fog!" Gridsquare 129 was right behind 1st Platoon. "...Burt, turn Big Shot around and protect our rear. I don't want any Kraut infantry getting the drop on us. We need to clear that armor before they get to the command post! London, Lil' Joe, on me, lets get these Jerry sonsofbitches..." "...Assault platoon reporting heavy casualties, we've lost two tanks with a third on fire. They're trying to put it out. We've mauled them pretty good, but they're still comin'..." "...Boss, 2nd Platoon here, we better start thinking about clearing the command post, it looks like this is a major push. I've withdrawn all non essential personnel over here, but this swarm of infantry is not stopping..." Richard heard Jessop again, "...Boss, we have enemy anti tank guns unloading to cover the back way into that forest, we're gonna have to chew 'em up before we can hit those Stugs..." "...Roger that, Jessop, don't let them get set up. Assault platoon, clear your non-essentials ASAP and get back to Gridsquare 229. We'll regroup with you as soon as we can. Command post, destroy the maps and start pulling out, we'll try to buy you some time!..." The stress of so many commands was clear in Johnston's strained voice. "...Lil'Joe here. That blast must have taken a track, were goin' in circles here..." Richard's tank let out a screech as the now bare road wheels contacted the snowy ground. The tank turned to face it's former track. "...Other than that, we're fine..." "...Big Shot, cover Joe until we can get the command post out, I need your guns covering our flank..." Johnston swore. "...Battalion, Baker Company here, under attack by German heavy artillery and both mechanized and infantry forces. Requesting reinforcements..." "...Mortar platoon reports they've pulled out. Recon is loading up right now...."

More coming

Germans

Guns flashed through the fog as the enemy armor opened up on the lead Shermans. The rounds skittered of the thick hides of the Jumbos, the high velocity rounds deflecting off into the lightening morning sky, streamers of white hot sparks following them. "...Ha-ha!..." laughed the 2IC, "...It's gonna take more than that to take down ol' Leslie!..." The Shermans returned fire, gouging deep furrows in the front armor of the Stug assault guns. Realizing the lack of effect of their weapons, the Stugs dived in the heavy forested region to Richard's right. Over the radio came a new voice, Sgt. Roy of 2nd platoon. "...Enemy infantry in the woods, lots of 'em! Engaging!..." He was interrupted by the leader of the assault platoon, "...Careful guys, these infantry have bazookas!..." "...Lt. Jessop, that armor is in the forest between your position and ours, can you flush them out?..." asked Cpt. Johnston. "...You got it, boss!..." Jessop replied. "...Just like running hounds back home!..." The Shermans gathered and began to approach the stand of trees.The ground rumbled in the same 1-2-3 that Richard had felt before. The ground exploded around his tank as fire blinded him through the gunner's periscope. Stones rattled down on the hatch above him, when the turret of the 2IC's tank landed not ten feet away.

"...I've got Jerry infantry running through the vineyard! Engaging!..." That was a tank from the assault gun battery, to Richard's right, who had set up their camp on the other side of a copse of trees. "...Fire for effect!..." came the reply of Cpt. Johnston. Richard's platoon advanced in combat spread slowly through the fog, the radio squeaking enemy contact up and down the line. At the center of the company, 1st Platoon protected the command post, with 2nd Platoon guarding the approach to the HQ from the left and the small contingent of ancient Stuarts guarding the approach from the right. The assault guns were there to provide the Stuarts with a little more firepower. The assault guns had been brought up from battalion upon discovery of the German defenses the day before, with thought that their larger caliber and greater explosive effect would be just the thing needed to suppress and destroy the vast amounts of dug in infantry and concealed antitank guns that invariably were dug in on the other side of the dragon's teeth. His friend Donaldson had been coordinating with the tankers in the assault gun platoon to make sure there was understanding on the types of fire missions the recon platoon would be asking for. The battalion guys were a little green, and only Baker Company's own Sgt. Blake was very coordinated with laying the large gun exactly where it was requested. A baseball pitcher for his town's high school team back home, he had in training a preternatural ability to put the rounds on top of the 55 gallon drums filled with water that in England had been their training targets. He bragged jovially that it was just like throwing sliders on a Saturday morning. "... Kraut convoy dead ahead!..." That was their 2IC, a tall Mississippian with a his slow drawl. Richard feared the man, as his quick temper had on more than one occasion put he or his friends on the dreaded "K-P" duty that left him with skinned knuckles from the vast quantity of potatoes he had peeled. Through the fog, Richard could vaguely make out the road emerging from the fog immediately ahead. On the road, not 30 feet ahead was a convoy of trucks, some towing large guns. "...Open up on them!..." Cpt. Johnston bellowed as Richard brought the turret around to target the first truck. The flashes and thuds of the Shermans 75mm guns punctuated the staccato rattatat of the .30 caliber Brownings burning incandescent holes in the thin metal of the softskins doors and engine bays. Torn and twisted metal licked by flames was all that remained of the convoy minutes later. "...Contact! Enemy armor! 0130! They're firing!..." That was Lt. Jessop, the platoon commander of the Stuarts, a man Richard didn't know very well. "... That was too close! This is some heavy enemy armor, requesting permission to fall back and work another angle..." "...Do it! Get that flank, we'll take care of the armor! Jumbos, to the front!..." agreed Johnston. The 2IC in his behemoth M4A3E2 trundled to the front with the other Jumbo. Their immense mass was concealed by the grace with which they slotted to the front of the platoon. Turning onto the road, the smaller, lighter M4A1's fell in behind, with Richard's tank behind the two Jumbos and two other M4's ahead and on either side of him.

(More to come)

He felt a rumble and then another, and then another, in quick succession. The fog lit up with a surreal glow as the trees ahead of him exploded. Branches and splintered wood rained down for several seconds as he opened the hatch to wake the others. "Artillery incoming!" he screamed as he fell into the tank headfirst, landing on the commander. "And big ones, too!" The rest of the crew were in action so fast he wondered if they had been asleep at all. Cpt. Johnston was already on the SC508 radio screeching for the other tanks in Baker Company to disperse. The old M4's engine roared as Sgt. Watson eased her into gear, the tank lurching forward and away from the other tanks. Through his gunner's periscope he could see the rest of first platoon spreading out in all directions as they had been trained back in England, turrets covering all fields of fire. Again, flashes illuminated the night, bright against his adjusting pupils. A giant fir, with a trunk some two feet across, fell and rolled through the snow some 20 feet in front of the 2IC's tank, just afore and to their right. To their left, a pair of older M4s were covered by falling snow and dirt.

He had drawn the last sentry duty of the night, feeling lucky that his sleep at least was not interrupted by the midnight shift. He looked to his left and right and saw through the dark shapes five other Shermans idling in the night. It was so cold that if they shut the engines down, it would be a real pain to get them started again when the sun broke the next morning. He wished he was inside with the rest of the crew where at least the heat of the Sherman's engine would provide some warmth. He knew the rest of Baker Company was out there beyond the fog, with sentries in much the same position as his own. At least he wasn't suffering alone.

0530, Dec 16 Sgt. Richard Wilcynski peered into the dark from atop the Sherman tank he had been assigned to the previous summer. He pulled the collar of his government issue overcoat up in a vain attempt to keep out the biting winter cold. The fog had rolled in the previous day and had obscured the dense forest that they had bivouacked in two days earlier. Recon elements, including his friend Donaldson, another Illinois native, had crept into the outer defenses of the expansive bastion known as the Siegfried Line to reconoiter just the previous day. Richard had seen the bleach-white antitank obstacles preventing their long awaited push into the German heartland protruding like the grim rictus of some ancient and terrible beast. 'Dragon's teeth' Sgt. Lemon, his tank commander had called them. The whole thing gave him the jitters. He pulled back the charging handle of the .50 caliber self defense anti aircraft gun on top of the tank where he was huddled, feeling the cold steel through his glove.

BATTLE REPORT FIRESTORM ARDENNES BATTLE REPORT POSTED BY: Bpoli7/Ben POSTED ON: 12/16 TURN NUMBER: 1 BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 7 ATTACKERS NATIONALITY: German DEFENDERS NATIONALITY: American ATTACKERS LOCATION: H2 DEFENDER LOCATION: G4 ATTACKERS FIRESTORM UNITS:12 VG, 1st SS Arty DEFENDERS FIRESTORM UNITS: 99 ID, Inf SUPPLY CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Fog WEATHER: FoW mission: Fighting Withdrawl WINNER: WINNER points VS LOSER points: 4:3 FS UNITS DESTROYED (filled out by the GENERALS): FS UNITS EXPLOITATION MOVES (filled out by the GENERALS) : WARRIORS USED:None WARRIORS KILLED/CAPTURED:None

Josef and I are playing Arrow 7. 7AD is defending against a Panzer Lehr Grenadier attack...

Just finished Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in WWII by Steven Zaloga and Tank Killers:A History of America's WWII Tank Destroyer Force by Harry Yeide. Just started The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor for late late war German military morale feeling. Also reading Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy by Eri Hotta, The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War by Andrew Roberts (a fantastic book,) and The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor, all to flesh out my general knowledge about the war.

Yeah, it requires a computer. There's a ton to read, Noland, and a bit of nuance to it, so get unlazy quick!

The Northern panzer groups are chomping at the bit.

I can play any Americans [Tank (Light/Med), ARi, ARe, TD, INF, Eng] except paratroopers. I have a Peiper list, and a FBB armor list, and a Panzerbrigade list.

Have we determined who are our generals? What are our teams?

What's the scoop?

Thanks guys, for the fun time! Can't wait to see you guys in the next tournament!

I've got the book, Josef, if you want to borrow it...

I'm in! Gotta find a hero.

Thank you, Oregon crew for coming up! See you next month!

Just confirming you received my list, Barca? I sent it earlier today..