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R/C Tank Combat

Invasion of Smallville

Battle #1 Summary


Team Selection
The teams for the first battle were chosen by randomly dividing the veteran tank commanders and splitting the rookie tank commanders, Karl and Tony, between the resulting teams as follows:

Diamondeers
John (Comet), Joe (Hetzer), Chris (T34), Rick (Leopard), Tony (PzIV)

Rough Riders
Will (SU100), Frank (Tiger), Steve (Cromwell), Paul (KV1), Karl (Jagdtiger)
The battle scenario chosen was "Defend The Town", in which each team would be given 30 minutes to defend the town. If at any point during the 30 minute period the defending team failed to have at least one operational tank inside of the town boundaries (as denoted by four orange cones) the game would be over immediately.

In this scenario, both fixed artillery operated by Marty (Flak88) and Tom (Navarone), and both supply vehicles operated by Justin (UN) and Jesse (Goer) would work for the defending team during each 30 minute period.


Rookie Swapping
About 5 minutes before the first battle was about to begin, the Jadgtiger fell off of its dolley while Karl was pulling it towards the Rough Riders home base. With everything tossed like a salad, it was clear that it wouldn't make it into the battle anytime soon, so Tony and his Panzer IV were drafted into the Rough Riders.

About 5 minutes before the second 30 minute period of the first battle, the Panzer IV developed some mechanical problems which made it unable to participate in the second half, so Karl and his Jagdtiger (which was quickly repaired during the first half) was drafted into the Diamondeers.


Diamondeers Defense
With Queenie's honor at stake, not to mention lucrative contracts, the Diamondeers prepared to defend her compound with all their might. The fixed artillery were positioned on opposite corners of the compound, with both of them surrounded by three guards. When all three guards were hit, the fixed artillery would be declared destroyed and the operator would have to return to home base to be re-incarnated. In order to become operational again, a supply vehicle would need to bring the three guards and a load of ammo back out to the gun position.

As the battle un-folded, it became clear that the Diamondeers planned to defend their supply lines well, allowing sufficient quantities of ammo to flow to the fixed artillery that would be the primary defense of the compound. At times, the Diamondeers had only one tank within the compound boundaries, which was usually the Leopard. The other Diamondeer tanks moved around their side of the battlefield re-inforcing each other as needed to defend their supply vehicles and artillery.


Harass, Harass, Harass
Lessons learned from the 1st Monkton Crusade caused the Rough Riders to adopt a two-pronged attack; Tyng's Cromwell would be sent deep behind enemy lines to harass their supply lines and generally draw fire from as many Diamondeer tanks as possible. Sure, he'd take a lot of hits himself, but every delay in delivering ammo would help weaken the town defenses. So, within a minute or so of the start of the war, the Cromwell was zipping around behind enemy lines with paintballs flying in all directions. The Cromwell quickly dispatched both supply vehicles back to their home base, while the Navarone Gun, T34 and Hetzer threw paint at the Cromwell.


Silence The Big Guns
While the Cromwell was harassing anything that moved on the Diamondeers side of the field, the rest of the Rough Riders concentrated on one target; Marty's Flak88. With a number of coordinated attacks, the Rough Riders took up positions near the two bunkers outside the compound that were closest to the Flak 88. From those positions, they tried to pick off the Flak88 guards one-by-one. The Diamondeer tanks successfully kept the attackers at bay for a while, but eventually all of the guards were hit and the Flak88 was silenced.

With the Navarone Gun on the opposite side of the compound, the Rough Riders could overrun the Flak88 side of the compound, thereby taking away most defensive positions. At that point, the Rough Riders made their first all out assault of the town, which was only defended by the Leopard. Realizing that their mission was in danger, the Diamondeers quickly moved forces towards the compound to shore up their defenses. Having recently dispatched the Cromwell back to it's home base for re-incarnation, the Diamondeers were not only able to repel the invaders, but they also re-supplied the Navarone Gun and re-established the Flak88. The Rough Riders licked their wounds and re-grouped for another assault.


Action A Little Too Fast
As battles get bigger and bigger, the amount of action and confusion on the battlefield increases as well. In one amazingly fast exchange, the first real test of the battle conduct rules was seen. During one of their many assaults on the town, the Rough Riders pushed hard towards the Flak 88, drawing Diamondeer defenders out of the town except for the Comet, which was dug in behind a building. With the Navarone Gun having mechanical problems, Frank recognized that the Comet was vulnerable and called for Steve to send in the Cromwell for a high-speed strafe of the Comet. Within a few seconds, the Cromwell drove into town up to the side of the Comet and fired enough shots to destroy it. Seeing the attack coming, Chris immediately drove his T34, which was under fire itself, into the compound boundary in order to avoid the mission loss. The Hetzer and Leopard also started moving towards the Cromwell, which was now almost surrounded and moving quickly towards the T34. A few shots later and it looked like the T34 was destroyed and the game was over. But, that's not what happened.

When the Cromwell attacked both the Comet and the T34, it came within 5 feet of each vehicle and fired multiple shots all within a few seconds. Both commanders called foul and Frank immediately declared a cease fire to evaluate the situation, with a number of issues that had to be considered. Was the Cromwell too close to the Comet when it was destroyed? If not, then was the T34 "inside" of the compound at the instant the Comet was destroyed? If so, was the Cromwell too close to the T34 on the second attack? Fortunately, Frank saw the initial attack by the Cromwell on the Comet and it was indeed within the 5 foot limit. Therefore, the Cromwell was not allowed to shoot and the Comet was not destroyed. So, Frank reset the position of every vehicle as best as possible to the point when the infraction occurred. The Cromwell was placed 3 feet from the Comet, the T34 was moved back out of the compound and all guns were faced in the direction they were facing at that time. Then, with a very clear count-down from 10, the battle was resumed. In a mass frenzy, every tank on both sides starting moving and shooting in all directions. The Cromwell sped out of town as fast as it entered, while the rest of the Rough Riders and all of the Diamondeers moved into the compound. With paint flying fast and furiously from all directions, the Rough Riders retreated and considered their next options.


The Final Assault
With only 6 minutes left in the first 30 minute period the Rough Riders found themselves in home base with virtually all tanks destroyed. Their aggressive assaults on the compound almost secured a victory twice, but they took damage in the process. With only 6 minutes to go, they'd need a different approach ... or so they thought. As they drove out of home base, the Rough Riders looked towards the compound and saw something they didn't expect to see ... all but one of the Diamondeers had returned or were returning to home base, leaving only the Leopard inside the compound, defended by the Flak 88. With a loud cry, the Rough Riders all ran headlong into the town, dodging paint from the Flak 88 and Leopard as best they could. They had to destroy the Leopard at all costs if they wanted to succeed in their mission.

Seeing and hearing the all out assault, the Diamondeers quickly sent all vehicles back towards the compound, which was now a swirling tornado of action. The Leopard danced around and between the buildings as best it could to protect itself, while Rough Riders were running through and around the town trying to get the best shot on the Leopard and avoid being shot at point-blank range by the Flak 88. Fortunately for the Rough Riders, the Navarone Gun was having mechanical problems and was not able to help repel the invaders. With the T34 and Comet closing the distance towards the compound and raining paint as they charged, the KV-1, Tiger and SU-100 surrounded the Leopard and finally finished it off. The T34 was less than one foot from the compound boundary at that moment the Leopard was destroyed, which immediately ended the battle. Had the T34 reached the boundary in time, who knows how many tanks would have been destroyed with 6 to 8 tanks within 20 feet of each other at that time.


Second Defense
After about a 15 minute break to re-supply and reset the field, the Rough Riders took up their positions in the town to defend it for their 30 minute period. The fast pace of the first defense and the number of vehicles destroyed made both teams think differently about the second defense. The Rough Riders decided to keep their forces concentrated whenever possible, forcing the Diamondeers to bring the battle to them. Both artillery pieces were placed on the Diamondeer side of the compound to lay down as much paint as possible in the center of the field, forcing the attackers to the sides.


Bunker Busting
The Diamondeers began their assault by slowly moving up both sides of the field, attempting to establish strong bunker positions on both sides of the compound. With two tanks on each side, they took the bunkers and directed their fire into the compound. To reduce fire angles, the Tiger, Cromwell and KV-1 moved in tight behind the buildings, while the SU-100 maintained a defensive bunker position on the right flank. With the KV-1, SU-100 and Flak 88 keeping the right side secure, Frank noticed a lack of Diamondeer support on the left side, with only one tank sitting in a bunker. The Cromwell was immediately dispatched to attack the bunker, which it did quite successfully and it returned to the compound. A few minutes later, another Diamondeer appeared in the left side bunker and again the Cromwell was sent out to attack the bunker, returning in short order with another successful sortie.

Having seen the "offensive-defense" work twice on the Cromwell's side, Frank took his Tiger over to the right hand bunker to see if it would work there as well. With heavy cover fire from the Flak 88, KV-1 and SU-100, the Tiger drove towards the bunker occupied by the Jagdtiger. As the Tiger pulled around the corner of the bunker, the Jagdtiger had to retreat, straight into a cross-fire between the Flak 88 and the Tiger. The Tiger returned to the compound to reload and await the next bunker-busting task. The Cromwell and Tiger repeated such attacks throughout the second defensive period, coordinating their attacks with the KV-1, SU-100, Navarone Gun and Flak 88 for cover fire.


Leapin' Leopard
For the most part, the Diamondeers stayed on their side of the field and concentrated on securing flanking positions and attacking the compound whenever possible. This allowed the supply vehicles to move freely between the Rough Riders home base and the compound, keeping the ammo stocks high. However, about halfway into the 30 minute period, Justin and Jesse started running for their lives ... a Leopard was loose behind the lines attacking the supply vehicles without mercy. Justin and Jesse made a few attempts to get past the Leopard, but it was clear that something had to be done to re-establish the supply lines. So, Frank gave the orders for the Cromwell to hunt down the Leopard and kill it. With no where to hide deep inside enemy lines, the Leopard battled with the Cromwell for a while and then returned to home base for re-incarnation. The Cromwell returned to the compound and reloaded as Jesse and Justin completed two more supply runs.


Offical Scores for Invasion of Smallville Battle #1
Team Asset Operator Hits
Taken
Hits
Made
Runs
Made
Moves
Made
Steals
Made
Mission
Pts
Points
Given
Points
Earned
Points
Pct
Diamondeers T005 Chris Wacker 20 7 0 0 0 0 5,000 1,750 0.259
  T010 Joe Sommer 18 14 0 0 0 0 4,500 3,500 0.438
  T012 Tony Tyree 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
  T037 Karl Klusewitz 12 0 0 0 0 0 3,000 0 0.000
  T038 Rick Schultz 12 8 0 0 0 0 3,000 2,000 0.400
  T039 John Pittelli 4 5 0 0 0 0 1,000 1,250 0.556
  SV004 Justin ??? 8 0 7 0 0 0 2,000 1,750 0.467
  SV005 Jesse ??? 8 0 3 0 0 0 2,000 750 0.273
  FA003 Tom ??? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
  FA004 Marty Hayes 3 3 0 0 0 0 750 750 0.500
TOTAL 85 37 10 0 0 0 21,250 11,750 0.356
Rough Riders T001 Frank Pittelli 8 17 0 0 0 556 2,000 4,806 0.706
  T018 Paul Pittelli 4 7 0 0 0 556 1,000 2,306 0.698
  T026 Will Montgomery 4 12 0 0 0 556 1,000 3,556 0.781
  T037 Karl Klusewitz 0 0 0 0 0 556 0 556 1.000
  T040 Steve Tyng 16 33 0 0 0 556 4,000 8,806 0.688
  SV004 Justin ??? 3 0 12 0 0 555 750 3,555 0.826
  SV005 Jesse ??? 2 0 9 0 0 555 500 2,805 0.849
  FA003 Tom ??? 0 0 0 0 0 555 0 555 1.000
  FA004 Marty Hayes 0 16 0 0 0 555 0 4,555 1.000
TOTAL 37 85 21 0 0 5,000 9,250 31,500 0.773

Asset Type Net Points
T040 A27M Cromwell MkVI 4,806
FA004 Flak 88 4,555
T001 PzKpfw VI-I Tiger 2,806
T026 SU-100 2,556
SV004 U.N. Peacekeeper 2,555
T018 KV-1 1,306
SV005 M520 Goer 1,055
FA003 16-inch Shore Battery 555
T039 Comet 250
T012 SdKfz 166 Brummbar 0
T010 JgPz 38(t) Hetzer -1,000
T038 Leopard -1,000
T037 SdKfz 186 Jagdtiger -2,444
T005 T-34-85 -3,250
Operator Net Points
Steve Tyng 4,806
Marty Hayes 4,555
Frank Pittelli 2,806
Will Montgomery 2,556
Justin ??? 2,555
Paul Pittelli 1,306
Jesse ??? 1,055
Tom ??? 555
John Pittelli 250
Tony Tyree 0
Joe Sommer -1,000
Rick Schultz -1,000
Karl Klusewitz -2,444
Chris Wacker -3,250