For a change, I find myself writing a mission report for a mission I made! That was many years ago, but this version is being played in the beta Panzer Elite mod Britpak 44-x (the -x signifying Aldo's modified code with nice things like proper ballistic trajectories). Visually, there are also Geezer's improved textures. The mission was an attempt, within the limitations of PE's mission editor and my own experience thereof, to reproduce something different from the usual PE 'drive in the countryside' mission. I wanted to recreate an attack by a tank squadron (US company), operating as such and not as disconnected troops/platoons, supporting an infantry company, based in Normandy circa July 1944. It was a bit too ambitious, with the movements of multiple enemy and friendly units, artillery fire and radio traffic all dependent on triggers, some of which tended not to fire because one or more units got bogged down somewhere. It worked on this play through, not entirely without hitches, and very slowly. I could have filled the quiet periods with suitable radio traffic but that would have needed more triggers firing...or not firing.

Anyway here's the loading screen. It sets the scene and conveys important information about who you are and where you fit in. In stock PE you are given your orders individually by someone who calls you 'sir'. Nonsense. You are given your orders by your squadron/company commander together with the other troop/platoon leaders, what the British Army has long called an 'O' [or Orders] Group',



The briefing - sorry, it's ORDERS, briefings are what flyboys get - is in the proper WW2 format for oral orders, from which evolved the later NATO standard. Only the headings are much different. As PE players will know, one of its many strengths is that it supports orders being delivered in a sequence, as spoken words as well as text if you add the .wav files, and using a map which is marked up as the orders progress. A better system would be hard to devise. Speaking of maps, PE includes realistic Ordnance Survey style period maps and I used these to replace the horrible pixelated ones the sim actually uses. Not having made my own landscapes, I had to use those from the existing US campaign, which takes place a little further west. So this is not really Hill 112. In the pic below, the briefing has just started, the heading 'Intention' being called 'Mission' in the NATO format.



The player commands Number 3 Troop (callsign Charlie 3) in a three-troop squadron of heavily-armoured Churchill VII infantry tanks; there is also a headquarters (SHQ) which mission builders seem often to ignore, although wargamers know better; this has a pair of Churchills, one with a 95mm close support howitzer instead of the usual 75mm gun.The player's squadron - 'C' Squadron - is attacking two troops up, supporting 'A' Company of the 10th Bn, Highland Light Infantry. The Phase 1 objective is the hamlet of la Croix de Pirou just to the south. After shooting the Jocks onto this objective, the Squadron is to 'go firm' just beyond Pirou and defend against any counterattacks. For Phase 2, the Churchills will exploit to the south as far as the village of St Giles (just off the bottom of the map). There, they will again 'go firm' and wait until the Jocks Carrier Platoon (in Bren Carriers) comes forward to relieve them and hold the position. The mission is designed so that the advance for each phase is ordered by the Squadron's Officer Commanding on the radio. Tank troops do not go swanning off on their own!

So here's my own Churchill, complete with the correct (if slightly squashed) squadron marking, a circle, on the turret bin. Ahead of me, the Jock platoon my own 3 Troop is to support are doubling forward, towards Pirou, which is in a dip just beyond the skyline. In the message display below, you can see the boss is ordering us forward - both the text and the accompanying .wav file follow realistic radio voice procedure, using the WW2 versions of the pro-words I was taught in the '70s (eg 'off' instead of 'out')



Behind and on my right as I rattle forward at an infantry tank's rather feeble top speed is Charlie 2, my Troop Sergeant in his tank. I've ordered us into line and he's moving smartly out and into position. My Troop Corporal's Churchill is doing the same on the other side. Platoon command and control in PE is second to none.



Knowing what to expect, I order HE loaded. In PE they will unload rounds rather than waiting until they're fired off, so there's a lot of clunking and clanging. Up ahead, as per the briefing, Pirou is being shelled by our artillery. I can hear the rounds falling and see some dust and dirt flying, as the Jock platoon to my front advances tactically, one section covering while another moves.



Machine-gun fire crackles and shells explode near the Jocks, cratering the ground nearby. My Troop Sergeant has spotted a target straight ahead and reports it on the radio, without giving much in the way of detail.



Scanning for it through the gunner's sight, I spot a group of enemy infantry moving from left to right. They disappear in an explosion before I can shoot them myself.



I'm more concerned about whatever it was made those shell craters and creep forward slowly (even by infantry tank standards) while trying to stay in a fold in the ground. Suddenly, the radio comes to life again. 1 Troop (who are in depth, operating with SHQ - it's important to remember such things from the briefing, though PE's good in-mission map can display as much as you need) reports a contact with an anti-tank gun! They engage it at once - clearly, they're on the ball. SHQ's two tanks join in.



Hoping to contribute, I spot what's likely a different A/T gun, to my own front. It's already knocked out, by the look of the craters and the inactivity, but PE guns have no crews so it can be hard to tell. I give it a round of my own plus some co-ax, just to be sure, ignoring a panicking Jerry who's departing hastily, stage left.



There's still a lot of small-arms fire crackling in the air. The occasional 75mm round from a Churchill contributes to the din, but nothing too serious seems to be coming our way. I haven't done much damage myself but I reckon my Troop Sergeant got that A/T gun, so Phase 1 seems to be going reasonably well, so far. Now we need to forge ahead and clear Pirou itself.

...to be continued!

Rolling sedately forward and staying outside the built-up area, I spot some enemy infantry running away, near the church. I let fly at them with HE...



...but miss. Still, it'll encourage their departure.



Up ahead is the A/T gun knocked out by 1 Troop and SHQ.



To my left rear, SHQ - identifiable by the stubby 95mm howitzer on one of its two tanks - is sort of milling about in front of Pirou. They will eventually sort themselves out, but it's this sort of hesitant and sometimes failed pathfinding that can cause triggers to fail and mission scripts to go awry.



I resume the advance, up gently and irregularly rising ground and past the knocked out 75mm. The Jocks are now advancing at the double through the centre of Pirou, the small arms fire is dying away, and the battle for the little hamlet seems to have been won.



Time to re-organise! Being the right point troop in a 'two up' squadron attack, my job now is to go firm facing south-west. The Germans were noted for rapid counterattacks to retake positions just lost and we need to be ready to fight off any such move. I steer quarter-right and order 3 Troop into echelon right formation.



Time to check my map. This displays very small at the higher screen resolutions PE never designed to handle. At least it's using the proper map and not the pixellated original. I have it set to display friendly forces; my platoon is yellow, the others are green, the dismounted infantry being the small diamonds.



While all this has been going on, I've been aware that one of my troop's three Churchills had got stuck on a tree and was no longer keeping up. I'm just about to dash across and take over the tank myself - switching your command being supported in PE - when he manages to unstick himself. You can see him in the left background in the pic below, just after he got going again. Note to self - try enabling my own 'tree mod' next time - it was designed to make the scenery less of a tank trap.



With the troop back together, I position my own tank facing slightly right of the axis of our advance. Then I order the other two Churchills to fan out, to form an arc facing half right. This is as simple as mouse-clicking on one tank at a time, then clicking - carefully! - the spot you want him to go to.



Right, now we're ready! I believe it's Jerry's move, next.

...to be continued!

Good show

To: B.d.U

U31A

Korvet Cpt.

Gerd Blomwitz. Departed Base. 1st Day out forced down by a/c. 3rd day; Contact Report Fast ship headed NW in heavy seas. 5th day. Sighted and made attack on Cargo ship Fire 4 torps only one exploded by luck it broke the ships back and sank AM 32. Continueing War Patrol

Behind me, SHQ and 1 Troop are sorting themselves out, as they edge through Pirou.



A look through the binos reveals 2 Troop and their Jocks are in position on our left, covering that flank.



Not much to do now but wait. As per the briefing, the Jocks are now bring up reinforcements, including a couple of Achilles 17 Pdr SP A/T guns. If the mission script is working, that is. When they arrive and relieve us at Pirou, the boss will order the Squadron to press on to the south, for Phase 2. Everybody is now just watching their arcs and waiting. I swing my turret left and right to scan for targets out on our open right flank. My troop's job is to cover this flank until it's time to start Phase 2.



Nothing much seems to be happening and the airwaves are quiet for a minute or two. Then suddenly there's the crash of (as it happens) mortar rounds falling amongst us. Then it's quiet again. Until somebody reports enemy infantry about 300 yards away, on our line of advance. People start shooting at them and I spin my tank to face that way, scanning for targets. The counterattack is coming in!



SHQ and 1 Troop are also keen go get involved. They surge forward - well, amble forward, really - and start taking up fire positions.



I can't see anything until I roll forward a few yards and scrunch some bushes which are blocking my view. There they are! Enemy infantry, milling about in the next hamlet, la Corbinierre. I let them have some HE and they go to ground.



At this point, struggling to find the key for the tank commander's view, I think I kicked off time acceleration. This ends with the clang of shot on armour as my other two tanks deal with a flanking move by at least one small SP A/T gun. Their light armour is no match for our seventy-fives. I order AP loaded and spin my own tank right to face this new threat, but it seems to be over, before it really got started.



The enemy troops forming up to our front seem to have been driven to ground by our and the Jocks' fire. The Jerry counterattack seems to have been well and truly contained. So far, so good.

...to be continued!

The boss decides it's time to resume the advance. He comes on the air and orders 'Phase 2, move now.' Ahead at this point I can see what looks like another knocked-out A/T gun and some German infantry in la Corbinierre.



As a troop leader I have the ability to call in the artillery support we've been allocated, which the map shows as four fire missions from Division's 105mm field guns. Ideally I need to modify the mission and also the unit data to replace that with 25 Pounders! Anyhow I quickly pick HE for one of the missions and drag its square target bracket over the top of the enemy spotted just beyond la Corbinierre. The timer starts counting down.



The salvos start falling at the appointed time. If those Jerries had any notions of doing anything other than pulling back, this should settle the matter. In our favour.



Even as the last rounds are still falling a couple of hundred yards ahead, I resume the advance. I want to keep up with 2 Troop on my left for mutual support, while not getting tangled up with 3 Troop/SHQ, coming up from behind to complete the squadron 'two up' (and one behind, 'in depth') formation. In the meantime, I've finally found the key for the tank commander's view from the hatch - this view could be lowered a bit, if that doesn't introduce clipping - and I steer for a fold in the ground about fifty yards to my right front.



La Corbinierre falls behind us. It's been knocked about a bit by the modest barrage I called down but the latter has driven out the remaining enemy.



Time to check the map. This shows that we're getting slightly ahead of 2 Troop so I can afford to move tactically, from fire position to fire position.



If I recall right, in the mission script, I set the AI troops to advance in bounds, not continuously, some tanks moving while others stop to give cover. This is a neat feature and looks great in action, although the AI are not great at using such cover as there is, when stopping to provide cover.



I halt as near hull down as I can get and swing the turret to scan for targets. There's a lot of open ground on this flank!



All looks clear so I back off a little, swing to the side and climb out of cover. The PE terrain is detailed but a bit angular and even heavy Churchills can sometimes 'do the PE wobble' when negotiating it, though it's a bit better than it was with this mod.



Nothing bad happens, so on we go. Slowly, infantry tanks being designed to accompany troops advancing at about walking pace.



Across the open ground we rattle. I could break the troop down and have some moving, some covering, but I am concerned about falling behind 2 Troop and want to get everyone across this open ground quickly. As we go, I get my first glimpse of the houses of the Phase 2 objective, St Giles, just visible amongst the trees on the left.



A lot can happen before we get there!

...to be continued!

Suddenly, movement catches my eye, slightly right of straight ahead. Crikey! An AFV turret pokes over a small hillock less than a hundred yards away. It's one of those Puma 8-wheeled armoured cars!



An AP round whacks into one of my tanks. The Jerry is hull down, but skylined. I line him up...



...and let him have it!



A second Puma slides into view just to the left of the first one and repays me in kind. But even at this ultra-close range, my Churchill's thick armour keeps out his 50mm round. For some strange reason I decide to pop smoke but get the key commands mixed up. Instead of firing my little smoke mortar, I replace the seventy-five's APC round with a smoke one. I'm still in the commander's station so I designate the target to my gunner and he whacks the armoured car with the smoke shell.



It seems to take forever for an APC round to be loaded again but when it is, I make good use of it and knock out the second Puma.



That was a close-run thing! Anyway Jerry seems to have run out of armoured cars for now, so I pull myself together and press on.



...to be continued!

I haven't gone far before the action picks up again. First, 2 Troop out on our left (callsign Charlie 2) reports contact with enemy infantry. All IO can see is the turret of another Churchill, briefly skylined over on that side.



Then suddenly, my Troop Corporal reports enemy behind us. Before I can do anything, there's an explosion and he's knocked out!



I have no idea what did it. Another armoured car we missed? One of the light SPs that attacked us at la Pirou and was able to get us in his sights briefly as we moved forward? A stray Jerry panzerfaust team? I have no idea. No-one else is engaged or reports anything in that direction so I press on, concentrating on what might lie ahead of us.



The map tells me the enemy has been spotted in St Giles. Only a truck has been specifically identified. I decide not to wait and call in a fire mission.



I scan through the tank commander's binos when the rounds begin to fall. I can't see much beyond signs of the exploding shells. Meanwhile, MG and tank gun fire from the left confirms 2 Troop are still in action with the infantry they reported earlier.



My now, my Troop Sergeant's tank is back in position. I decide to order him forward about fifty yards to a grassy bank, to cover my next bound. With just two tanks left, it's time for us to play this with greater caution.



While he's moving, I cover him from the halt. The shelling has done some good, even if whatever's burning up there is only that truck!



...to be continued!

The other Churchill reaches its assigned fire position, so now it's my turn.



Initially, I try to work around to his right. But I suddenly realise there's a steep bank just beyond him, into which I narrowly avoid tipping my tank.



So I switch sides and find myself facing St Giles again. Just at this point, the OC comes up on the radio and gives quick orders for the Squadron to attack the village in the formation we're already in, 'two up'.



On my left, 2 Troop are rolling forward. I do the same, calling my other Churchill back into echelon right.



I veer back right again, keeping close to a bank for cover and hoping to get an angle on a target in St Giles.



Charlie 2 is having no trouble finding targets; now he reports engaging an A/T gun. Judging from the map, it's straight in front, so I Iob a couple of HE shells in its general direction.



Without any warning, armour-piercing rounds are suddenly clanging into my tank, which shudders visibly with each impact. I swing the turret right and there they are - at least two panzers firing at me from amongst some trees. We're being taken in the flank by Jerry armour!



Before I can do more than fire off the HE round I already have up the spout, my tank is knocked out.



All I can do now is take over my Troop Sergeant's tank - the switch occurs automatically and instantly in PE - and continue the engagement.



I'm not side-on to the panzers so maybe this time I've got a chance!

...to be continued!

What follows is a desperate and nearly toe-to-toe shoot-out between my remaining Churchill and what turns out to be no less than four Panzer IVs.



Their odd red cupola markings don't signify they have some special IR night-fighting kit - it's a bug in a texture file I thought I had fixed!

Tracers fly in both directions and several AP rounds clang into my tank. But the first victim is the panzer on the right. I quickly switch targets to the one on the left and get him, too! The Jerry in the middle tries to get out of the line of fire to the left but I get my gun onto him and slam two rounds into his side skirts before he can disappear behind his knocked-out comrade. Three down! I can hardly believe it!



Meanwhile, the fourth panzer has slid off to the left into dead ground. He's practically turret-down by the time I get my sights onto him, and going at full tilt. I aim just above the crest and manage to lob a round onto him - and the blows up, throwing his turret into the air! Now that's what I call a shot and a half!



Leaving four burning wrecks on the battlefield, I turn left and make for St Giles. The rest of the squadron is going firm there and I reckon that's the safest place for me to be, if I'm going to live to celebrate my little victory. By this time, the boss is on the radio, urging us to hold our ground until the Jocks come up to relieve us.



There's St Giles, our Phase 2 objective. It's the first time I've had a clear view of the place. I approach cautiously. I don't want to the the one knocked out on the cusp of a successful finale.



I settle down and face outwards, just as the HLI's Carrier Platoon completes its move to the village. Job done! What a relief!



The debriefing confirms the outcome...



...and the stats provide the detail:



I discovered later that I wasn't playing the Britpak 44-x version, which I have since enabled. So hopefully that will be the end of the evil red eyes on the Panzer IVs, and perhaps slightly slicker scripting too. Perhaps not; South of Hill 112 was all a bit too ambitious, although I learned a fair bit from making it, thanks in no small measure to PE stalwart Aldo. Thanks to the original team and the work of its community, Panzer Elite was and still is a classic WW2 tanksim, in my book.