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.
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