1350 hrs, Turns 57-60. Not much happened in these turns. My probes at the center and on Hill 33 were thrown back as expected. At the center, two teams of the 5th Company were driven back by concentrated fire of a few Bren guns - the Brits are "crossing the T" here, able to deploy several units shooting at the one place I have to pass through. I cannot deploy symmetrically to match their firepower - snipers on one side, tanks on the other. No casualties were taken though. On Hill 33 a team from 6th Company advanced a few meters and was hit by fierce 3in mortar fire from Hill 36. This was my goal - I want this mortar to spend all ammo, otherwise I can't do anything here. I took three casualties though, more than I would like.
My opponent is shelling rear areas south of Wynton, hoping to catch some HQ or reserve units there, but the area is "sparsely populated" and no casualties have been taken here.
A few 150mm shells were dropped on Louvoy and I think I hit the AT gun spotted there, but I cannot say if it has been taken out.
And of course, the StuG watching Hill 33 cannot see the Firefly. Two infantry teams on the ground level, one in front of and another behind the StuG, can see it, but not the StuG. Looks like another CM spotting anomaly.
Situation update, 1350 hrs, 1 hour in. Not much of an update - nothing dramatic has changed over the 20 minutes, and I do not think anything will change in this battle. Having destroyed or disabled nearly half of my armor primarily by air attacks, and occupied the majority of objectives and good defensive terrain, Stafford has no need to to take risks, his victory is practically guaranteed. I could not inflict the same damage on him as he did on me: his tanks either survived the hits and/or made themselves invisible. However, I intend to pressure him and shell him with artillery for the next 90 minutes, trying to cause maximum casualties and waiting for my opponent to make a mistake - striving for the best result I still can get out of this battle.
The main change from the previous update is that one platoon from the 6th Company has reached Hill 36 and engaged some defenders hiding in the trees. Or more precisely, they are getting shot at by invisible infantry in the trees. My plan is to remain on the western side of the hill and advance northwards to help 5th Company clear the access to Louvoy. I also want to destroy the immobilized Cromwell on the hill.
We both have vast infantry reserves - only a small part of our infantry is in the fight. Even if I make some progress or destroy part of Stafford's forces, he still has maybe 5 intact companies - my guess is that an entire British battalion has not yet left the setup zone.
Stafford has taken 46 confirmed casualties. One Firefly, one Stuart V and five Humber LRC armored cars have been destroyed. One Firefly and two Cromwells have been damaged. The approximate purchase point value of the casualties is 667 points. 147 3in and 32 2in mortar bombs have been expended (estimated total supply is 432 3in and 288 2in).
I have taken 93 casualties. Two StuG III, two SPW 251/1 halftracks and two SPW 251/2 mortar halftracks have been destroyed. One StuG III and two SPW 251/1 halftracks have been immobilized. Another StuG has lost 2 crew and is unable to reload the gun. The purchase value of the casualties is 1186 points. My artillery ammo expenditure is as follows:
81mm: 413/1080 (includes 132 HE lost with the mortar halftracks)
120mm: 60/60 - empty
150mm: 67/108
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