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The following photos are courtesy of Amir Tahvildaran who took a ton of
them throughout the day.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (249 Kb) |
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The Leopard is ready for its debut battle. Rick Schultz is a veteran
R/C "warship" combat battler, but this will be his first R/C tank combat
battle with his own tank and he's itching for a fight.
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The Gangsters prepare for the first battle which requires them to
pick-up the General and his wife in two separate vehicles and deliver
them to the church at the same time. Of course, the Knights have the
same goal and there's sure to be a conflict.
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As the battle begins, the White Knight races out to the center of the
field straight towards the General who is laying on the far side of the
field. Chris Wacker's T-34 is following behind to provide support while
the other gangsters go down the other side of the field.
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It's clear that the entire Knights team is closing in on the General's
position in order to prevent the speedy White Knight from completing its
mission. The Knights laid down heavy fire to prevent Steve from picking
up the General, eventually forcing him to retreat to his side of the field
and await support.
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The Tiger drives into the ditch to secure a defensive position on the
far side of the field to anchor the Knight's right flank. Joe's Hetzer
and Chris' T-34 continue to push hard on that flank to work around
the Knights.
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The T-34 suffers a mechanical break-down and Chris has to declare it
destroyed in order to repair it in the field. If a vehicle is destroyed
and can't return to home base, the operator can repair it in the field.
As in real battles, proficiency in field repairs comes in handy.
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The Knights show excellent teamwork as they mass their fire-power on their
right flank to repell the invading Hetzer while the Tiger returns to home base
for re-supply.
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The Hetzer faces down the Jagdtiger operated by both Karl Klusewitz and his
daughter's boy-friend Pete. Karl drives the vehicle with one transmitter,
while Pete operates the elevate and gun with another transmitter. It's
unclear if such a dual control is helpful or not, but Karl and Pete had
fun, so it really doesn't matter.
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Help arrives in the form of the recently reloaded Tiger. Frank has faced
Joe and his Hetzer on numerous occassions and he drives straight into the
conflict without hestitation. Two-on-one is a big advantage, assuming that
rookie Karl knows his role.
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The Jagdtiger earned its stripes, working into a position that definitely
causes trouble for the Hetzer as it is being held fast by the Tiger. As
long as no other Gangsters show up, the Hetzer is in a bad spot.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (316 Kb) |
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As a veteran battler, Joe knows when enough is enough and he makes a
dash to get the Hetzer out of a bad spot. Frank pursues and attempts
to score a hit or two before the speedier Hetzer gets away.
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With a number of Gangsters in home base destroyed and/or re-loading, the
Leopard is left alone to guard the town with the Tiger on the loose.
The Tiger works into a perfect firing position and scores a kill shot
on the Leopard.
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Having destroyed a number of Gangsters and all of the soldiers guarding the
Navarone Gun (the Gangster's fixed artillery piece), the Knights take over
the town and prepare for the inevitable counter-attack.
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The Jadgtiger has some track problems caused by grass that is caught
up in the rear drive cogs. The Jagdtiger did very well on the
groomed soccer field, but it's unclear if it will fare so well in
rough terrain. Rough terrain has a way of exposing weaknesses in track
systems and drive trains, so we'll have to wait and see.
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The Knights are feeling victorious as they fully occupy the town and run
a couple of successful missions. But, victory isn't ensured in any battle
and there is still some heavy fighting in front of them.
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The Tiger and Comet dig into defensive positions in the town and await
the advancing Gangsters. This is the Comet's first battle and all systems
are working good enough to be considered successful, although John will
definitely be tweaking some things during lunch and after the battle. The
Tiger's new turret is also working well, but the elevate will soon fail giving
Frank another chance to jury-rig something.
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The Knights complete another successful mission transporting the General and
his wife to the church. Over the course of the battle, the Knights would
complete five missions because of excellent teamwork and coordination.
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The Gangsters re-group and push towards the town with a coordinated
attack.
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The Gangsters successfully drive the Knights out of the town with
a well-coordinated counter-assault. With possession of the town, Marty's
Flak 88 was eventually suppressed and the Navarone Gun was re-established
on the outskirts of twon. Both fixed artillery pieces were destroyed
twice during the battle and then re-established by counter-attacks.
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The Knights call for a strategic retreat as the town falls into Gangster
hands. John's Comet and Paul's KV-1 cover the retreat, while the Tiger moves
out of range with the General on-board. The biggest fear is that Tyng's
White Knight will make a dash through their tanks in an attempt to steal
the General from the Tiger.
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In the second battle, each team would be required to defend the town for
a period of 30 minutes, with at least one tank in the vicinity of the
town during that entire time. Both fixed artillery pieces and both
supply vehicles would be assigned to the defending team. This would
indeed test the abilities of the attackers who were out-gunned 6 to 4
and with no supply vehicles of their own to establish a forward base.
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After the initial direct assault on the town failed, the Knights re-grouped
in the ditch to think about a better tactic. The ditch was one of the
few places on the battlefield that was not in range of fixed artillery
or tanks located in the town.
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The Knights decide to travel along the ditch in an attempt to outflank
the Gangsters and eventually interfere with their supply runs to the
fixed artillery. It was hoped that eventually the artillery would run
out of ammo (that never happened), allowing the Knights to assault the
town (which eventually happened despite the artillery).
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In the waning minutes of the second battle, John's Comet and Joe's Hetzer
face-off with both battlers calling for support from their teammates.
Face offs are becoming increasingly rarer as more vehicles are involved
in the battle because cross-fire support breaks them up quickly.
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