JcDent

"Good heavens, what's next? Previewing unit composition in army building?!"

It's a clear afternoon, around 2 PM, and a armor heavy force of soviets rush to take a vital harbor fort. The Germans are doing the same. Both sides notice one another when their airforces stream by, and a race to the fort begins...

This was the scenario "Battle Royale" for Combat Mission Red Thunder. I obviously chose to play as the Soviets, and boy what a fight it was. The map consists of a old naval fort, which I rushed a majority of my heavy armor to (in this case, a IS2 platoon, a ISU platoon, one SU76, one BA64, and 3 T34s, two with tank riders) while the rest of my armor ran to a hill which was surrounded by some low trenches and dominated by a church tower. The plan was to get a FO into the church tower, and sit up there spotting tanks for the force in the fort, thus allowing me to turn the middle of the map into a killzone.

The German AI plan had the same idea.

Very quickly, both the soviet and the German FOs killed each other, 6 of my t34s and a T70 then rapidly engaged a horde of panthers streaming towards them. In this opening exchange, I lost a T34 and knocked out a panther that crested the ridge. The next turn, the 5 remaining 34s engaged 5 panthers, knocking out 4 in a slapstick knifefight, where smoke and dust prevented anyone from seeing one another until each tank was fender to fender. For this, I lost another T34. And then for good measure, a IL2 decided to drop it's bombs on the whirlbelwind, and then dropped 3 more bombs on my T34s and tank riders.

Meanwhile, the fort force proceeded to not understand how to shoot. The IS2 overshot a stationary panther and got killed in return, while the whirlbelwind started to chew up the optics and radios of all the fort tanks. Aside from the SU76, which happily trundled along to the seaside. More panthers show up, striking into the flank of the fort. This action saw

1 T34 stared long and hard at a panther, before deciding not to shoot while the panther decided to engage

the other IS2 lost it's commander, panicked, which caused another T34 to panic, and then retreated right next to another panther, which promptly ammoracked it.

Both ISUs got into the fort, and then on the same turn proceeded combust. One to the panther which killed the IS2, the other to one of the still alive panthers on the church hill.

A SU122 which got into the fort proceeded to have it's main gun taken out by a mobelwagen

MEANWHILE, the SU76 starts to go ham, and in quick succession kills a wespe, a nashorn, and a panther, and is driving around to kill another, when the Germans surrender, having lost most their armor to the T34s in a railway cut next to the church, both their KTs which went into the town and then got blown up by the railway cut T34s advancing to reinforce the fort, and lost 3 stugs to a flame thrower T34 and a SU85.

It was a wild battle full of stupid moments like that.

Final tally was 10 Soviet tanks lost for 18 German tanks scrapped. Could be better, but not bad.

In 9 days, I managed to make two unit tables for Shitbox Wars, one featuring probably the most spiritually important unit to the game's vibes.

Further down the line, if such a place exists, will have to consider adding some near future options to the technical because there's nothing people wouldn't put on one.