You can’t make me! :D
Used the “surprise me” option to get a quick battle going and was given a small attack to complete against a single point. I had Five PzIV, three infantry companies and some special support company that did absolutely nothing - they had a 2.8cm PAK gun, but they abandoned it the first time someone stepped on a dry twig and were essentially useless the whole battle.
The single point was on the far right, so I put all my tanks there, one infantry company just to the left of them, planning to go right up this thin line of trees into a wooded area, another company on their left flank and then my final company all the way over on the left to close in on anyone who tried a right hook around my main line.
The battle started at 4am and everyone set off pretty cautiously but without incident. Then as my PzIVs broke over a small rise there was a loud BOOM from a distant hedgerow that told me there was a Russian tank there. I didn’t see the round, so either it was totally wild, or some kind of a misfire. I tried to get my first infantry company to hurry up a bit, into the safety of the woods where any further armour would have to get real close, but their leadership was poor and they got a bit strung out. I was hoping to have them into the woods and sweeping right to spot targets for my tanks, but they were taking forever, so I pushed the Panzers in.
That turned into mistake #1 as the lead tank decided to reposition and turned side on to the target and immediately took a round under the left track at the rear. The crew bailed out and sort of loafed about in the grass next to the tank, while I tried to encourage them back inside. Eventually they relented and got back in, then almost immediately jumped back out as it turned out the round had gone through the fuel store and now the tank was on fire!
Pz 116 would burn quite happily for the rest of the battle, casting an eerie light on the area until the sun came up.
The other Panzer IVs pushed forward and suddenly revealed what was firing at us - a Kv1! Three of my four tanks fired and two hit, but the Russian tank was made of finest Stalinium and shrugged off the hits. He fired back and the round hit the dirt in front of a Pz IV, which thankfully took a lot of the speed out of the round as it looped up and donked off the front of the PzIV’s turret with a dull thud.
Just as the Kv was moving into cover, my fourth tank fired and even though we couldn’t see the results, there was a loud KLANG of a hit. I’d no idea how deadly the hit was, but had to keep pushing the Panzers on.
Then entered the three luckiest Germans alive, as a trio of slouchers from first company’s mortar team had become detached from everyone else, then gotten lost and then just stumbled into that KV1. But it turns out that final hit had taken the left side track off and the entire Russian crew was out of the tank trying to fix it… allowing my three stooges to shoot them all and knock out the tank!
With that success in hand, I ordered the other squads who had been waiting for these three idiots to quickly form up on that trio and then push east toward the objective… where they promptly found two more KV1! I had thought I’d have a pretty solid superiority with five PzIV, but now it seemed like the Russians had at least three KV1 and one other tank somewhere behind.
All the tanks fired at eachother - three hits rang off the first KV1 and the crew bailed out, more in panic than because their tank had actually been destroyed… the KV1 rounds both hit one of my PzIVs and ripped the track off. The crew would fix this later, but as soon as they put the tank in gear the track took another hit and came off again - this tank was now stuck in this position for the rest of the battle, which actually ended up working in my favour.
More rounds were exchanged and then suddenly there were shouts from the infantry as they’d bumped right into another KV1! Taking grenades onto open hatches the Russian tank veered quickly out of the treeline and ended up pointing right at my three remaining mobile tanks, while they were sending machinegun fire into a suspected enemy infantry position.
The KV1 fired and drilled a PzIV right through the viewport - the round carried on through the cabin and entered the fuel tanks at the back. Three surviving crewmembers jumped out, while the tank rolled on down the hill, still burning!
That’s the tank rolling down the hill bit, from the earlier post.
The KV didn’t get to enjoy his victory though - as my tank rolled down the hill, looking almost like an Age of Sail firebarge, my infantry got in behind the Russian tank and hit it with several AT grenades, setting the engine on fire. The crew were shot down as they tried to escape.
I kept that infantry company moving, along with the one that had been protecting their flank, making a dash for the capture point… There was a very sharp infantry fight in the trees, which we eventually won, but then it turned out the Russians had an infantry company in reserve too, and it tried to sprint across some open ground into the fight.
Unfortunately for them, that open ground was right under the sights of my PzIV that had twice lost a track, so it engaged them with HE rounds and two machineguns and drove them to ground and then chewed them up as they tried to retreat…
As the sun came up a ceasefire was finally offered and we were told we’d secured a decisive victory. With two tanks dead and one crippled it didn’t feel very decisive, but we’d captured the objective and lost minimal infantry casualties, despite accidentally running into tanks twice.
Hero of the night has to be this guy, who ran out and jammed a grenade into the tracks of a KV1…
Congratulations on your bravery/stupidity award!
This quick battle ended up with me accidentally playing until 2am. So watch out for that.
