The plan.

From the jump off point and after deciding on a few options the Sherman decides to angle away from where the enemy was expected, trundle down the hill and then jag left across a patch of open ground to their first stop point. From here, hopefully under cover of the trees they would be able to gauge the situation, possibly report enemy positions, maybe engage if favourable. If no engagement was to be had then they would move further South and then head East spotting all the way until they got to a ridge and some thick forest. From there they could come in at the enemy from the rear.






The enemy at its jump off position. Tigers..always Tigers.







Crossing the first patch of open ground, gun backwards so as to get maximum wind resistance while under speed







At the first stop point, on the top of a rise, looking down into a small group of house NE of the main town. All eyes are peeled for any trace of enemy tanks.







Tiger spotted, moving slowly, houses, trees and bushes mask a good shot so the Sherman crew just reports him in, sits and waits. That big square ass end is tempting, but the commander doesn't want to give away his posi yet, there is definitely more where he came from.








Spottting nothing else and seeing the Tiger disappear from view in the mess of buildings, the boys take this chance to cross another open field on the way to the next point which will have them heading directly East.









A boom in the distance..crack and a whistle ! Spotted !








They force the Sherman to the right, full speed ahead and damn the 88's! Still keeping to the original route the commander tries as much as he can to keep any cover on his flank where the shot came from.








The field ahead that must be covered , a quick stop behind the tree clump in front to spot and then another sprint needed across the next small field to make the ridge and safety of the forest.











Halfway across and binoculars up, a target to tempting. A Tiger.. full broadside on.






The commander orders 'STOP !', traverses the gun..





..and fires..








The Tiger has turned and is now heading up the hill towards the rear end of town..the Shermans shot is long.







As is the next one..







And the next, the Tiger now searching for its attacker. The Sherman crew is annoyed by its succession of near misses and seeing the slowly moving 88 reaching out towards them..







...the loader pushes home the next shell with a whisper..'come on baby..'








A hit ! But the Tiger shrugs it off, stands solid and booms out its reply as another shell finds it mark leaving only a scratch..








The Tigers first shot is wildly short, the Sherman reloads, sends outbound mail







Another hit, again in the front corner. The German crew may be rattled..but the Tiger is shrugging off the shots like a Heavyweight boxer in his prime.







It becomes a slinging match..











The Sherman commander snaps out of it, he is playing the Tigers game here and will come out a metal wreck. They get the Sherman up to speed, potting shots whilst on the move, braking as they see the Tigers 88 flash in the distance, stopping, reversing, moving forward..trying to throw his shot off. Hits and near misses rain in around the slower loading Tiger...






















Finally an 88 shell finds its mark, the shell doesn't penetrate but the boom of its hit brings home the message they are fighting in a weight division above themselves. The commander knows they need to make cover, if they were going to hurt the Tiger from here they would done it by now, they need to get hidden asap !








The battle from above

The straight line the Sherman has taken in the last minute, moving, stooping, reversing..moving forward again.





The Tiger since the beginning of the battle, reversing and changing direction.






The contenders at range







Crossing the open field shots are continually exchanged, metal flung through the air seeking steel and flesh.














The Tiger is now defiantly unmoving as the Sherman runs across the field, it unloads again. the 88 booming across the field





The Sherman falters as it absorbs the hit, it is in trouble..







Punch drunk it resolutely sends another shell the way of the Tiger








and instead is again uppercut by the heavyweight






The turret now unable to traverse the Sherman seeks the nearby shelter of the trees, another big hit from the Tiger just missing in front. The Sherman is reeling, the transmission screams in protest as it moves forward..








The Tiger knows it has the Sherman against the ropes, its shots are sloppy and becoming fewer.







The next round bounces and hits, taking out the Shermans left track..this could be the end. Immobile, unable to get its turret on target, transmission barely working, loader injured.









The Tiger bellows out what could be a finishing blow for the stoic Sherman..








It is. There is no great explosion as the shell penetrates. Just a mangled mess of men inside what is now a steel coffin.









Silence reigns.











The Tiger moves on, looking for the next contender..

Well written report. Not surprised about the outcome though. When the Sherman stayed in the open area and started exchanging shots with the Tiger my thought was "The Commander doesn't follow the plan. He'd better have done so."

May I ask which game you used here? I'm not up-to-date with tank sims.

This is War Thunder Ground Forces.

And what exactly is "Ground forces"??

WTGF?

Either my graphics settings are way subpar, or it has changed - haven't played that for months, didn't recognise it.

I was an idiot for doing that, but, i was keeping on the move most of the time. I would stop when i saw his flash, reverse, move forward again etc. The Tiger didn't seem a great shot and i was hoping to track him or get him in the turret ring. I guess, in the end, i was just too greedy and tried for a kill when i should have kept hightailing it.




USA/Germany/Russia (Britain and Japan to come) lowest of the low tanks to the ultimate WW2 machines and come cold war era stuff. Arcade is a good primer to figure out how it all works and then move along to the sim event modes where the tactical type side of it is.




The last couple of patches have added a lot in the way of graphical enhancements like mud, terrain deformation, the heat thingy around the gun flash, new tree and bush textures, new maps, and some new models as well.

Ouch... but then again, it´s fair that the mighty shermans have a hard time, too

Dukley and I had our fair share of trouble with those, too ;=)