You can split logs and de-husk coconuts with CMx1’s low-poly AP shells. As Team France proves in the twelfth turn of the fourteen-turn CM Olympics, they are also pretty useful for killing Panzers.
The turn is barely one second old when the ventilated Crusader fires the shot that pots the Pz III.
A fatal front upper penetration leaves DAK forces in the French arena dependent on a halftrack for mobile support.
Advancing menacingly, said halftrack fells a Frenchman at T+6.
Fortunately for Team France, the vehicle’s commander is acutely aware of what mortar bombs can do to cabriolets like his, and when 60mm pandemonium pears begin windfalling in his vicinity he orders his driver to reverse ‘schnell-schnell’.
The retreat doesn’t save Sgt Vidalies’ gallant band. Assisted by a second Axis infantry unit that pushes into the H21/22 trees during the sixty, the two German machine gunners in H22 eliminate what remains of 1 Squad with a mix of high-velocity lead and CQ thuggery.
When the clock freezes, Bredin’s squad is molesting a mortar team that crossed the road from F19 this turn.
Quite why their comrades in the villa aren’t helping them out with this task isn’t clear. Perhaps they need some manual encouragement.
Now the Panzer III has been neutralised and the HT has skedaddled, potentially the Crusader and mortar could turn their attention to the crowded patch of scattered trees SE of the Village VL too.
* * *
While the Brits don’t clobber any AFVs in turn 12, they do manage to handicap one and spot another.
As the German ATR team finishes off the Carrier, the halftrack beetles southward through a keyhole the British mortar team is working feverishly to obscure with smoke rounds.
The trundling HT is so busy hosing Team GB’s northernmost half-squad (2 Squad A) that it fails to notice there’s another cluster of Tommies a little further south.
At T+54 an anguished cry emanates from the SPW 251/1 and the geezer operating the MG 42 disappears from view. A second later the HT begins backing towards the smoky veil to its rear.
The situation at the end of the turn:
No enemy infantry units are visible.
The Crusader cant quite see the PSW. The ATR team can, but hasn’t fired yet because (judging by this LoS check) it doesn’t fancy its chances.
West of the highway, the two half-squads have made it the relative safety of the wall corner at E24.
Next order deadline: Sunday night
TEAM GB DISCUSSION
Bummer to lose the Bren carrier; I think it was worth some points if it survived but was crippled. We may still be ahead on the infantry casualties, at least.
Crusader gets another go at the PSW, I think, in the penultimate turn? Shame that it didn’t come a little further forward to give the ATR team a full look, or alternately that I didn’t let the ATR team look toward the halftrack—I think they would have had an angle on the halftrack if they’d been permitted to engage it.
I’m open to suggestions, though.
My biggest concern is taking the VP location now that the HT is gone. With only the PSW on the far side I think we might have a solid go at it. The two squads to the west and the tank could each fire on a different building while our flank forces rush up the other side.
There are still 20+ enemy soldiers who we need to evade. I’m thinking the HE mortar rounds on the PSW, or on the far buildings to cover our western forces.
We should keep our AT rifle quiet against a possible move my the PSW. If we start shooting at this range we are likely to just get blown up.
I don’t think CM orders admit the possibility of advancing the Crusader, targeting the PSW for half a turn, and targeting a building for the second half, which is my first preference.
The points rubric favors a VP rush, though. Let me know what building you’d like me to hose down.
I believe H19 holds the AT rifle, and it’s the most likely to contest the VP location, so I would direct your fire there.
I’m debating moving a flank squad into the hotel quickly after a pause, since our original capture team is still crawling. That means keeping several houses under fire.
VIVE LA FRANCE!
I’d also like to take this opportunity to quash any scurrilous rumours, and say that those two free tickets to Edith Piaf we sent to a certain IOC official were merely an unprompted and unrelated gift to old family friends.
Tim’s suggestion that the Crusader turn its sights to the eastern copse seem sound. It’s half tempting to charge up to the mosque on the mount in a final dash for some victory points glory, but a) I’m not sure we’d make it in two minutes, and b) I assume we would need to occupy the building to score them, and finally c) who knows where the german ATR team is actually hiding. Although the fact that it’s such a terrible idea is what makes it so tempting.
Please Gobser, talk me out of it
Fairly sure it was my shout of “Remember Flat Eric!” that swung it.
Even before I’d finished getting the words out, in that first second the thought transmitted itself through the turret and past the headphones into the gunner’s noggin.
That Vidalies and that 2nd (or whichever) squad bozo were looking at my section of grandstand when they copped it is entirely coincidental.
Haha! Well, thank you / curse you, Colonel. (I’ll decide which is applicable at the end of the match)
Woooh, a lot of good news this day!
You know, a mad dash across the eastern part of the map might be very sound. The ATR has popped up previously somewhere NW from my Bren Carrier, so our Crusader must be safe for one last crusade.
About the capture point – I think CM, at least CM2 has more of capture zones rather than points, so they normally spread a little from under the buildings. But I am not sure if they can be captured by AFVs solo.
@Tim, can you please enlighten us?
I think I can also shift mortar support against the Germans in the open, I think. Need to check the LoS.
I think our Bren should stay put, since it can contribute nothing other than target practice for the enemy at this point. And, considering how much it costs in points, I am not sure such a distraction would be worth the investment.
The French mortar has LoS to the German mortar and the two geezers who took out Vidalies’ unit.
You can take VLs with AFVs in CMx1. I believe flag ownership depends on the balance of unbroken units within 75m (?) of the flag.
I found a CMAK manual, and the following text:
Victory flags
The key to winning battles in Combat Mission are the “Victory Flags”. They represent the “objectives” that both sides need to take and hold, or defend. Each flag is worth a certain number of “victory points” which are awarded to the player who controls the flag at the end of the battle.
However, unlike classic boardgames, you don’t need to sit directly on top of the flag in order to control it. Instead, each flag has an invisible area of control associated with it which extends all around the flag. This “area of control” is dynamic and depends on whether the unit is able to see the flag (in which case it’s about an 80 meter radius) or not (in which case it’s 50m).
The further a unit is inside this circle, the more control it exerts over the flag. The “stronger” your unit is, the more control it exerts. Strength is roughly equal to that unit’s purchase cost.
In order to exert control, a certain threshold needs to be reached. A heavily depleted squad alone will not be able to revert a flag to that side’s control. A full strength squad is usually enough, or a tank.
Control is NOT relative. If one side has just one strong unit in the vicinity (strong enough to reach the threshold), the other side can have 10, 20, 30 or more units in the area, but will not be able to claim control of the flag! Instead, the flag will remain contested until that one enemy unit has been decimated or eliminated.
Prisoners, ex-prisoners, forward observers, and unarmed vehicles exert no control over flags. Crews do, but you need several to reach the threshold.
***
Which I think answers our questions (although would be great if Tim could confirm to the best of his knowledge). Of particular note is this: “A full strength squad is usually enough, or a tank.” Which implies our Crusader could well capture some vital VPs.
Anyway, I think if we can get the AFV helping out the mortars with a pummeling of the exposed Germans, and somehow also get to the road at G21/G22 this turn, then we have a fair chance of pushing for the mosque on the final turn. If we can’t eliminate or dislodge the H-column krauts, though, in this turn, we will probably be unable to get either the village or the mosque VPs in time.
Ah, I see Tim already pipped me to it. Thanks Tim.
Can’t you just, eh, let’s say “move fast through infantry”? That would improve our chances considerably I think, especially if there is someone to contest the flag but out of sight
Agreed, although I do want to add a little support this turn and try and suppress or eliminate the ruffians in the trees. If we do, we have a slight chance of capturing the village VL (with the remaining squad) and a good chance of getting the Mosque Mount VL (with the Crusader) in the final turn. If that doesn’t succeed this turn, then I’ll definitely ignore the infantry and Sonic the Armoured Hedgehog it to somewhere out of sight that still gets us the VPs.
@Tim FRENCH F1 & F3 ORDERS:
F1 (i.e. Bredin’s squad): Continue molestation
Crusader: Target arc from G18 to J23. HUNT to F23
@Tim French mortar squad ORDERS:
Lob HE at the enemy infantry in the open that has just killed our comrades.
@Tim BRIT GB2 Orders:
A shame the Bren Carrier’s sacrifice was wasted as the crucial useful distraction and ignored as the turning point in an expected push forward and fast flanking manoeuvre with our armoured cav it was intended to do but there it is. Besides, he isn’t dead, he’s just resting. Not sure why our team is discussing targeting buildings with said Crusader either as I thought he only has solid AP anti-tank shells on board – no HE rounds – but I digress? Carry on following Oneknown’s HQ orders for mortar support, thank you.
I’m pretty sure without that carrier fire the enemy would have overwhelmed us and held the hotel. Pretty sure that was the crucial moment in the fight.
The tank has a coaxial mg, and an AT shell into a building can still do damage, but yes, I wish we had some HE rounds. Happy to hear alternatives.
Also, I’m happy to share command of a couple squads so you’re not left out of the fight.
ORDER GB1:
Western squads : unhide, cover arcs out to 250m.
Northern flank squad (the one with a casualty): FIRE the house with the AT rifle (H19)
Southern flank squad (halftrack killers): Target house H18
Crawling squad: FAST to the squad next to the hotel, straight line.
Hotel squad: cover arc 80m
HQ: if the area by the PSW can be seen, call mortar fire there. If not, call mortar fire on the house at I17 or the woods in front of it if it’s hidden
ORDER GB3:
Crusader: shoot and scoot, up to G22 and back to G24.
AT rifle team: no new orders.
Sorry for my tardiness—I thought about orders last night, but that isn’t particularly helpful for putting them in. From a points-gathering perspective, I think it’s better that the Crusader serve as a distraction to the Kraut infantry by appearing on the scene, while preferring a shot at the PSW over machine-gunning the H19 house.