And then what happened ?

Christmas leave.

Not a whole lot happened this next turn. The infantry that my men of 5th Company spotted in the treeline last turn were nowhere to be seen this turn. On the left flank, 2nd Platoon traded fire with the Vickers MG team I'd previously spotted. Otherwise, that was about it:



I've lots of moves planned for next turn. First up on, the right flank, I'm going to move up my two reserve Panthers, so that they aren't out of position if I need them in a hurry. They will move up to where the other 2 Panthers and the StuG currently are positioned. Meanwhile, the two forward Panthers will move around the wall and up to where 1st Platoon 5th Company is positioned. Since they will be moving through an area where I suspect enemy infantry to be, I am ordered my troops from 2nd Platoon 5th Company to lay down some covering fire into the treeline:




To 5th Company's left, my reserve 6th Company will continue to move up through the woods:



On the left flank, my forward observer team from 9th Company, who is now in the building adjacent to my 1st Platoon 9th Company HQ, is going to call in two different sets of mortar fire. The first will be an 81mm mortar barrage where Rambler has that Vickers team and some other assorted troops:



The second fire plan will be a 105mm smokescreen, indicated by the green line below. The idea is to provide cover for my left flank as my troops move along the treeline at the right of the screenshot. This will allow me to move into the objective zone and hopefully see where Rambler has his armor:



Lastly, in order to put this move into action, I am disengaging 2nd Platoon 9th Company from the firefight they're currently involved in with Rambler's troops along the hedgerow. They are still in good shape, and I don't want them to be ground down by Rambler's infantry or mortar fire. They will rally at the location near where I am having 2nd Platoon move to, which is shown below.

Meanwhile, 10th Company, my infantry reserve in this area, is continuing to move up and is just out of sight at the right edge of this pic:

Don't make me beg for more. I am always ashamed of myself after I beg.

Another one begging (too old to feel shame anymore:) ). Love this aar, and really interested in how it goes.
Thanks!

Rambler's been ill as of late, so that's delayed things. I'll post a new update as soon as he sends me a new turn.

Thank you for the update. All the best to him.

Wow, it's amazing how timing can be everything in this game. As I mentioned up above, I ordered 2nd Platoon 9th Company to displace from their current position. This they did in good order, and it turns out that was very wise. Within seconds of the last troops moving out of the area, the mortar fire (which looks like 81mm) began to fall around their former position:

(Sadly, I did have to leave my wounded behind, as to do otherwise would have shredded 2nd Platoon).





On the right flank, 2nd Platoon 5th Company starts to open fire on the suspected enemy position in the treeline to their rear:



But, it was these troops from 1st Platoon that spotted the enemy, which looks to be some sort of platoon leader or forward observer, judging by his animations. After a few seconds of taking enemy fire he slipped out of sight:




Meanwhile, by turn's end, the lead Panther had safely made it through the treeline:



For the next turn, 1st Platoon 5th Company will continue its advance forward. The first men up will be the overwatch element, and 30 seconds later the maneuver element will begin to move up to the next row of tall hedges:



Not much is planned for 9th Company. I am going to let 2nd and 3rd platoons catch their breath before I give one of them a scouting mission. I know Rambler has Shermans in this area, and I want to find out where they are. Otherwise, I'm just waiting for my mortar fire missions to take effect. The earliest of those - the fire mission on the AT gun - is about 2 minutes away.

On this next turn, Rambler's mortars continue to pummel the former positions of 2nd and 3rd platoons 9th Company, but they do no harm to me:



On the right flank, my troops from 2nd Platoon 6th Company spot the enemy team inside the treeline again, as the trailing Panther moves up. After a few seconds of taking fire the enemy team disappears from sight, ducking back into cover:




Meanwhile, as my assault teams from 1st Platoon 5th Company move up to the next hedgerow, the XO team from 6th Company spots an enemy team and begins to engage them:





Finally, as the turn ends, the mortars were just starting to fall on the 57mm AT gun that 9th Company spotted. No impacts were yet observed, however.

For the next turn, I am going to have my overwatch teams from 1st Platoon 5th Company spray the hedgerow ahead of them with MG fire, which should pin the enemy troops there and allow my assault teams to take them out (one of them is just out of sight on the right in this image). One of my Panthers will also put some fire on the target as well.



My two trailing Panthers will also start to move up through the treeline this next turn, including the platoon HQ. The StuG, which is attached to 6th Company, will remain in overwatch:



Finally, on the left flank, 2nd Platoon 9th Company has been chosen for the scouting mission I previously mentioned, as they are more or less the weakest platoon in the company. They will move up to a position near 1st Platoon, and then I will send a couple of scout teams forward to see if they can find Rambler's Shermans. You can see near the top-center of the image below the last known position of his tanks:

Well, this next turn was very busy. I'll start with the not-so-good events on the right flank with 5th Company:

As you recall, I sent two advance teams from 1st Platoon up to the next row of hedges. While the left-hand team made it safely, the team on the right lost a man to an unspotted enemy while on the move, and when they reached the hedgerow, they lost another man to fire from a Sten. This fire probably came from the scout team which, spotted last turn, had begun to retreat at the beginning of the turn but then stopped when it saw my troops:





Thankfully, the left-hand team was on the ball, and their team leader dispatched at least one of the enemy scouts with his recently-acquired MP44:



Lastly, my 10th Company HQ team, way over on the left-hand side of the map, spotted enemy infantry headed towards 5th Company as the turn was coming to an end. This looks to be like at least a squad-size element. There's not much I can do about them now but watch and see where they go:



Things went much better on the left flank with 9th Company. As the turn began, one of my HMGs from the weapons platoon kept up the fire on the 57mm AT gun, which buys me time until the mortar fire mission can begin:



But, the big action this turn in this sector began shortly after 2nd Platoon began to move up for its scouting mission. 1st Squad, while on the move, finally found that Sherman that had been hiding, right where I thought it would be! Disaster was narrowly averted as the Sherman, aware of 2nd Platoon's presence, fired an HE round that missed high:



Fortunately, I had positioned my Panzer IV platoon well, and so a moment later the left-hand tank I had positioned with another way back behind some hedges took aim at the Sherman and, unlike the commander's name , it connected with its first shot:



The Panzer IV reloaded and took a second shot, which somehow missed high. All this time, the Sherman never took a shot at my tank, which leads me to believe it never located my tank, or the crew was too shaken to return fire. In any event, shot number 3 hit the mark, and as shot number 4 was on the way, the crew had decided it was time to bail. No matter - the final hit settled the issue and set the Sherman on fire. Huzzah!

(The distance to target in this engagement was 493 meters).





For the next turn, I am still going to move up 2nd Platoon 9th Company as the scouting platoon. Two of the squads need a rest this turn, but 3rd Squad and the platoon CO will begin to move up. The plan is to move them along the right-hand side of the road in the treeline that leads to where the knocked-out Sherman is:



The Panzer IV platoon HQ tank is going to reposition slightly and fire on the position of the AT gun. With any luck it'll knock it out and save me some mortar shells in the process:



As for the right flank...1st Platoon 5th Company is going to stay put for now. I have the feeling that the enemy fire that took out one of my men came from the right flank, so I am going to send 2nd Platoon up to the right and see if they notice anything out of the ordinary. 1st Squad will split into 2 teams, while 2nd and 3rd squads will move up the stand of trees in reserve. The two trailing Panthers will also be in position to provide support if necessary. Lastly, the StuG III will provide some supporting fire on a position where I know Rambler had some troops a while ago:




Lastly, I have the feeling I won't be able to use 5th Company for much more sustained action, so I'm having 6th Company move up from cover to the next cluster of trees. I don't want to be caught out of position with an under-strength infantry company if Rambler shows up with strong enemy forces in this area:

Vo ist das Jabo's????? (as good as my German gets)

Did England sink or something in this scenario??

I don't think there were any Allied aircraft involved in the real version of this battle.

This next turn wasn't terribly busy. On the right flank, Rambler started moving up more troops to counter my advance by 5th and 6th Companies. Under the observation of the 10th Company HQ team, they stopped at the short hedgerow in the middle of the second pic. More on them later:




On the left flank, that 57mm AT gun continues to take a number of near-direct hits from my mortar barrage, but it continues to remain in action somehow:



That was about it, other than the recently-destroyed Sherman continuing to burn, with the occasional cook-off from its ammo storage.

On the next turn, 2nd Platoon 9th Company will begin to move up through the edge of the forest alongside the paved road. 2nd Squad will be in the lead, trailed by 1st Squad. Once there is enough space, 3rd Platoon will follow their path. 1st Platoon will remain in reserve:




Back to the troops my 10th Company HQ spotted: this unit has been ordered to call in a short 120mm mortar strike on the enemy's position. If nothing else, I want Rambler to know that I have eyes on him:



The remainder of 1st Platoon 5h Company will move up to the hedgerow currently occupied by my advance teams, along with a Panther:




Meanwhile, nothing seems to be happening on the right flank to where I sent 2nd Platoon, so the StuG will move up to to take the place of the Panther I'm moving:



Lastly, I'm going to be a bit more assertive in moving up 10th Company, my reserve rifle company on the left flank. The two rifle platoons will move up this next turn:

Just be sure to not take any prisoners.

I think I owe you guys a new update.

Some unexpected action took placed way back at the Knoll objective (on the right flank, where my 5th Company HQ section spotted some of Rambler's scouts attempting to make it back to enemy lines. The company CO opened up on him with his MP40, and after a couple of bursts at least one enemy soldier was seen taking cover inside a shell hole:




Other action this turn on this flank saw more of Rambler's troops successfully make it back to the treeline bordering 9th Company's sector:



Meanwhile, that stubborn AT gun was pelted with the last of the mortar rounds targeted at it, while my fire mission on the nearby hedgerow went to Fire for Effect:




2nd Platoon 9th Company started making its move into the treeline. Soon afterward, 2nd Squad started taking rifle fire, and just as the turn ended the squad was taking aim at a man positioned behind a hedge:




Next turn orders:

2nd Squad 2nd Platoon 9th Company will stay put and engage the enemy in the forest. 3rd Squad will flank around to the right of them with a short Quick and Hunt order. 1st Squad will move up on the left to catch any troops attempting to flee across the road. A Panzer IV will also back up a bit and provide suppressing fire with its machine guns:




Lastly, on the right flank, 1st Platoon 5th Company will regroup on the hedgerow, while 2nd Platoon will continue to follow up behind them. One more Panther will move up, while the StuG will continue to move into the trees:

I've been looking forward to this update!

The company CO is right up there in the front line. Yet, he is not wearing a combat helmet. Does he not understand what could happen to him?

He wants to look more spiffy than his comrades!

(On a side note: it is kinda odd he's not wearing a helmet. In the German Army formations, the company CO wears a helmet).

That is what I thought too.