Two of the three anti-tank rockets that whoosh from shouldered lengths of drainpipe this turn are of German manufacture. The other was made in the United States.
Seven seconds after the clock restarts, patient flyboy Corporal Whitehand decides the time has come to make use of his pilfered Panzerschreck.
As he’s never used the weapon before, and is firing through an open window at a moving target roughly 100 metres away, his initial miss, while disappointing, isn’t inexplicable.
Will he get a second chance?
Yes! Before the combined ire of the Panzer IV and the halftrack cause him to withdraw he manages to reload and fire another 88mm shaped charge at the port side of the passing Jagdpanzer.
Sadly, this rocket also fails to hit the target.
Having narrowly escaped death-by-HEAT-projectile, the German tank destroyer appears to be heading towards a potentially fatal encounter with Sergeant Pyle’s Sherman.
However, the slightly sunken nature of the road north of the castle and the TD’s low profile, mean Marian, Tuck, and Sherwood are actually the only Allied units able to observe the Axis AFV after it rounds the corner and heads towards the road bridge.
Happily, Corporal Lincoln has more luck tank hunting than Corporal Whitehand. After surviving – with invaluable help from nearby comrades – a brief close-range firefight with a six-man HMG team, the Comment Commander’s zookists act swiftly on spying the dug-in Tiger (?) at 55, 2, 1.
As the half-buried behemoth swings its main gun clockwise, Costner and Alvarez keep the MG 42 busy, and Carlson and the HT fend off a new threat approaching from the north, Lincoln takes aim and squeezes his trigger.
‘Side upper hull penetration. Knocked out.’ That will do nicely.
Elsewhere this turn…
While waiting for Venison’s lads to embark, Fletcher’s HT eliminates one of the signal box survivors.
A second HT (?) sound contact appears in the plantation.
Tuck and the 25-pounder switch their attention to the foxholes in box 28, and Hawthorn ceases fire (Unfortunately, in CMBO it’s not possible to give a delayed fire order to a mortar team).
The situation at the start of Turn 19:
Turn 19 orders here, please. Commenters are cordially invited to suggest moves for the following eight unit groups. First come, first served. A maximum of one unit group per commenter (Ignore this limit if order execution – usually Monday morning at 0700 GMT – is less than 24 hours away).
(See screenshots for unit locations)
– Merry’s men (Lieutenant Merry + Sergeant Venison’s rifle squad + Corporal Fletcher’s M5A1 halftrack)
– Marian’s men (Lieutenant Marian + 3 x rifle squads + PIAT team + 3 inch mortar team)
– Captain Hood (Six-man company HQ + arty spotter Lieutenant Tuck)
– Sergeant Bowman’s Archer TD
– Sergeant Johns’ Churchill VIII
– Sergeant Pyle’s Sherman
– Lieutenant Costner’s platoon (2 inf squads + bazooka team + 2 HTs)
– Captain Dale’s party (Six POWs armed with pilfered rifles and pistols) + Corporal Whitehand’s team (Two POWs armed with a pilfered Panzerschreck)
Please start all order comments with ‘ORDER’ and any later revision comments with ‘REVISED ORDER’. This will help me distinguish firm instructions from suggestions and advice.