The next turn begins with more enemy infantry contacts turning up almost instantly, with some of them taking shots at my infantry. However, my lead K98k rifleman is quicker on the draw, and he quickly drops one of the enemy. Moments later, my 2 MP44-armed troops open fire on another contact, taking another man down. Meanwhile, a Bren gunner decides he's had enough, and he successfully makes a run for it. And finally, the initial enemy contact we saw last turn also turns to run, but he is cut down by the squad I had sent around on the left flank for this very purpose.







Meanwhile, on the right flank, my trailing Panther notices an enemy contact in the woods behind him and opens fire on it. At least one man is seen to fall to its fire:




Finally, 1st Platoon 5th Company spots an enemy infantry team in the woods up ahead and fires a brief MG burst at it, after which the contact disappears from view:



Next turn orders:

One of my Panthers will move up and fire on the spot where 1st Platoon 5th Company spotted the enemy infantry, while the 2 trailing Panthers will join up with the rest of the platoon (yes, as you can see in the first shot, there are still some ugly pathfinding issues with vehicles). 2nd Platoon 5th Company will take up position on 1st Platoon's left flank:




5th Company will continue to advance forward:



On the left flank, 3rd Platoon 9th Company will move up behind 2nd Platoon, while 2nd Platoon will continue to move forward cautiously through the woods and along the road:

Ahhhhhh, now things are beginning to happen.

Indeed. Now is when I'm going to make my push.

And just when is this push going to happen ?

We're waiting.

Sorry, it's been a busy week. Will get back to the next mission hopefully by the end of the weekend.

About 10 seconds into the next turn, a spotting round lands near my reserve infantry company (10th Company) on the left flank. Fortunately no one is hit, but I know that I can't keep this company here for much longer:



Meanwhile, my men from 2nd Platoon 9th Company picked up this Bren gunner on the move. He was probably one of the troops that disengaged from the fighting in the treeline last turn. In any event, he dropped out of sight after taking fire from my troops:



On the right flank, my Panther made it into position and started firing on the last known position of the enemy in the treeline:



And that was about it for this turn.

Next turn orders:

6th Company (my reserve formation on the right flank, highlighted in yellow) will continue to move up in line formation to the next hedgerow. 5th Company will stay put and wait for 2nd Platoon and the trailing armor to catch up before advancing:



On the left flank, my Panzer IV covering the treeline advance will reposition to better support 9th Company's advance. 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon will cross the road and take the lead, as the two other squads in the platoon need a moment to catch their breath:




Finally, 10th Company (highlighted in yellow) will make a move towards the woods, putting them in position to 9th Company's right. The two rifle platoons will move first, followed by the weapons platoon:

As 2nd and 3rd platoons of 9th Company secure positions in the woods, another fleeing soldier is seen briefly before dropping out of sight. My men don't take any shots at him. However, much closer to my troops, two riflemen make their presence known, along with a pistol-armed soldier I can hear but not see. In any case, the two riflemen fall to my enemy fire after a brief exchange of fire:




While all of this was happening, Rambler's Vickers MG took aim at my men at the edge of the treeline, which caused my men to take cover but resulted in no casualties.

On the right flank, my right-hand Panther spots a Vickers machine gun team that looks like it's just trying to reach friendly territory. My tank shoots a few bursts of MG fire at it before the team ducks into cover and out of sight:



6th and 10th Companies continued their advance without any troubles.

Next turn orders:

Although Rambler is probably going to have that Vickers MG team on the right flank on the move, I'm going to take a chance that they're still taking cover, and so I'm going to have my StuG move over and fire its MGs at it:



I'm going to send a pair of scouts from 2nd Platoon 5th Company forward to see if Rambler has anything lurking up ahead. In any event, 6th Company will eventually take over this area and provide flank protection as 5th Company moves forward:




On the left flank, I'm going to have 2nd and 3rd Platoon move a bit deeper into the treeline, so they won't be as exposed to Rambler's MG. I still have a smokescreen mission on call that should mask that MG, so I'm not in any hurry. And besides, I have the advantage in firepower being in the woods, so I can afford to make this move:

C'mon, you're going to make me beg aren't you ?

I'd love to go faster, but Rambler is taking his sweet time.

I just had to watch 100 screenies reload to read that.

edit: Ignore that strange man who keeps pushing for action, he act's like a damn officer or something!

There will be a new update posted soon.

It seems that Rambler is attempting to retake the woods on my left flank, but he's not getting very far. Shortly into this next turn, one of his men is quickly and brutally cut down by an MG42 from 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon, 9th Company. Another soldier - this one carrying a Sten SMG - was also seen running towards my men, but he dropped out of sight and was not seen for the rest of the turn:



On the right flank, Rambler must have eyes on my men here, because the first of two spotting rounds fell in this area this turn. That's gonna require a change of plans. Meanwhile, the StuG fired on the last known position of the MG team, but they were not spotted during this turn:




And that was about it for this turn. Next turn orders:

Because I know Rambler has eyes on 5th Company, I am going to displace 1st Platoon from the hedgerow and prepare to move them through the woods on the right. I am going to keep 2nd Platoon in place for this next turn, to hopefully give Rambler the idea that I still plan to cross this field and so encourage him to not cancel this fire mission. The next turn, though, they will be following 2nd Platoon into the woods on the right. With the success 9th Company has had in the woods so far, I feel comfortable making this move, as my small arms firepower is significantly better than Rambler's when it comes to close-range action:



6th Company will stay put for now and take cover. If the enemy mortar barrage does land where I think it will, they should be safe from it.

On the left flank, aside from moving a few men forward, 2nd and 3rd Platoons of 9th Company will stay put this next turn. For one, it looks like Rambler is trying to retake this portion of the woods, as besides him moving men up, it looks like he is trying to lay down a smokescreen of sorts. In any case, staying stationary and allowing him to come to me will allow my guys to spot and interdict his movements easier, and it also allows me to make my next move: getting 10th Company into a useful position. 2nd Platoon 10th Company will move up to a line abreast position on 9th Company's right flank. This will allow me to cast a wider net around any counter-moves by Rambler, and it will allow me to take a broader path towards the objective. In addition, the weapons platoon will move up to join the rest of 10th Company and wait for further orders:

Yeesh, this was an ugly turn on the left flank. No more did the turn begin than I began hearing rifle shots from unspotted enemies in the forest. Sure enough, just as 2nd Platoon 10th Company was getting into position, men started falling from 1st and 3rd squads to small arms fire and hand grenades. 2nd squad lost its leader by turn's end, and as a result their morale is currently shaken and thus out of my control for the moment. The platoon CO does have good leadership skills and is in verbal & visual contact, so hopefully they will recover quickly. Nonetheless, this was a rude awakening for them, for sure:






Things went better on the right flank. As 1st Platoon of 5th Company made its move towards the forest, one of my Panthers picked up the Vickers MG team and began to lay down fire on it. A moment later my infantry opened fire as well, and the man carrying the MG was seen to fall:





Next turn orders:

2nd Platoon 10th Company is in no shape to move right now, so they will stay put and attempt to recover their nerve this next turn. Meanwhile, 2nd Platoon of 9th Company will move cautiously forward to see if they can root out the men who caused the mayhem last turn:



4th Platoon (weapons platoon) 10th Company will halt their movement for now, and instead 1st Platoon will move up in preparation for moving into the forest. I'm not quite ready to move them into the woods yet, since I don't know the extent of the forces facing me here:



On the right flank, 1st Platoon 5th Company will start to move into the woods. 2nd Platoon will also begin its withdrawal from the hedgeline and prepare to follow 1st Platoon:

Hello ?

I'm here. Believe me, I want to get this going as well.

This was another painful turn. No more had the turn began then I started losing men from both 9th and 10th Companies to Rambler's unspotted submachine-gunners. About the only thing that went right for me was that, right near the turn's end, my men from 9th Company got a good spot on an enemy HQ team, fired on it, and forced it into retreat. My squad from 10th Company that was shaken last turn has recovered, so I can use them again for future movements:




In other events in this sector, a Vickers MG adjacent to the now knocked-out AT gun showed itself, and by turn's end it was being fired upon by one of my HMGs from the weapons platoon of 9th Company:



On the right flank, 1st Platoon of 5th Company gave me some very nice intel: two Sherman tanks, one of which is a Firefly. By the way the Firefly is positioned, it's apparent that Rambler hoped I was going to take a route far to the right of my actual movement path:






(In that last picture, the Firefly is behind the Sherman, in the adjacent field).

Hopefully I can put those guys out of business quickly.

Next turn orders:

One of my machine gun teams from 2nd Platoon 5th Company will move up a bit and area fire into an area that I know is occupied by Rambler's troops. Hopefully I can kill a few guys that way or at least force them to pull back. Meanwhile, one my Panzer IVs will move up and area fire into the treeline, in an area that (again) has enemy troops waiting:




On the right flank, 1st Platoon 5th Company will get out of the line of fire of those two Shermans, and 2nd Platoon will stop where they are and take cover. Meanwhile, my Panther platoon leader will move up into a position whereby he should be able to see both Shermans. The StuG will also move up and attempt to take out the enemy. Those pink lines mean that the tanks are to stop and engage any enemy armor as soon as they are spotted, instead of traveling all the way to the end of the waypoint before firing:



I really, really hope that Firefly doesn't see me before I can open fire. Those things have a nasty gun, and at this range (about 430 meters) they can smoke any panzer that crosses their path. They do still have the armor of your typical Sherman, though, so that does work in my favor.

Well, as the saying goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and that was certainly true on this turn.

We begin with the Panther. It made it into position but, as it was slewing its turret and preparing to take a shot at the closest Sherman, a previously-unspotted man behind a hedge opened up with his Sten and killed my commander. The Panther, naturally spooked, quickly reversed. It took a shot at the Sherman, but it missed short:



Then there is the StuG. It made it into firing position, but the Sherman spotted it first and put one round right through it, destroying the vehicle and killing the commander and gunner:



Things went much better on the left flank. My men regained their composure, and finally my cordon did what I wanted it to do: stop Rambler's advance. On the left, my men from 9th Company opened up on the previously spotted HQ team and took one man out with an MP44. On the right, I did lose one man in 10th Company, but the men kept their nerves and took out a number of men, including a couple in the second screenshot below. Other men of Rambler's were taken out this turn, as I could hear the cries of agony coming from his ranks:




Next turn orders:

Well, if at first you don't succeed, try again. I'm going to send my now 4-man Panther forward again (this time with the hatch closed), along with a second Panther from the platoon. I know where the Sten gunner is that took out my tank commander, but my men from 1st Platoon 5th Company need to rest a bit before dealing with him. The last thing I need is more casualties due to my men being too tired. Other than that, on the left flank I'm detaching a few men to deal with the wounded:

An SS Panther runs from a Sten gun???

Even SS men have their limits.

Nothing worthy of a screenshot happened on this next turn, outside of a stray mortar round landing near my men on the left flank. Thankfully it caused no casualties to my men. It's probably a 2-inch mortar that's part of one his rifle teams. On the right flank, the two Panthers I sent forward to attack the two Shermans found...nothing.

Next turn orders:

The two Panthers will continue to hunt forward, looking for those two Shermans. I can't imagine that Rambler repositioned them that fast, so hopefully they'll pick them up this next turn:



One of the other Panthers will reposition to its right, in preparation to cover 2nd Platoon 5th Company's advance. I'm going to have that latter unit cut across the field to that area where the trees jut out a bit:



On the left flank, I realize that I have a golden opportunity to move my men forward with the help of the newly-created smoke cover. So, 3rd Platoon 9th Company will start the advance. 2nd Squad will take up position on the hedgerow to the left of the paved road, while 1st Squad will take up position to their right on the right-hand side of the road. The nearest Panzer IV will stay in place to provide overwatch. Meanwhile, 10th Company will stay in place and continue to tend to their wounded: