DAR: Sicily

[RERomine]

Turn 9

The American air force is back! They made passes with two P-51s, one P-38 and one P-39. They caught one of my core SS infantry companies loaded into tracks. One track was destroyed and one immobilized. An enemy P-51 was damaged and will have to RTB.

Mines are still being cleared from hill 4. No additional enemy contact on the hill. South of the hill, another enemy squad opened up, so engineers popped smoke and artillery was called in. Another enemy bunker was spotted South of the first one, but is not in a position to cause any problems.

My scouts have a good observation point for hill 1 and are still moving across hill 5.

Counter battery hit one of the enemy 60mm mortars again.

Direct enemy resistance is light, but their artillery and air power is really doing some damage.

Casualties

Friendly: One SdKfz 250/1 destroyed and estimated 10 casualties.

Enemy: Zero

[RERomine]

Turn 10

Most of the mines have been cleared on hill 4 and I'm trying to push my engineers and SS panzer grenadiers forward. There are enemy units around covering the top of the hill with fire, however. Another 57mm ATG has been found on the back side of the hill as well as a 50 caliber HMG team. I put fire on both, but didn't neutralize them yet. I'm still dealing with the enemy squad South of the hill, but small arms fire, support from three Tigers and artillery roughed them up pretty good. A platoon of enemy Shermans opened up on one of my Tigers as well from 500-750m. Not a good move. Three of the four Shermans were destroyed, but the did manage to destroy an empty track. It had just dropped off two MG-42 teams. Enemy artillery started coming in on the hill, disrupting activities of my engineers. My grenadier tracks are also close to the impact zone, so I need to get them moved.

Two scout teams are sitting on top of hill 5 monitoring activity to their front, which amounts to nothing at the moment. Other scouts are pushing around the Northern and Southern flanks of the hill.

Counter battery hit two enemy 60mm mortars this time. I don't think they are being damaged, but at least they are quiet.

Enemy aircraft should be back again soon, so I'm going to keep my AAA units stationary for the next two turns.

Casualties

Friendly: One SdKfz 250/1 destroyed and estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: Three M4 (Early) tanks destroyed and estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 11

The enemy 50 caliber HMG and 57mm ATG have been destroyed to the rear of hill 4. Two more Shermans opened up and were dispatched by Tigers. Incoming mail kept being delivered, but the impact zones are pretty much clear. Scouts have pushed down between hills 2 and 4. No enemy seen on hill 2 so far. There are probably a couple more mines on hill 4, but a couple of engineers squads can take care of those while the rest move forward. The grenadiers will try to move forward, but are dodging artillery right now. There are also enemy Shermans around as well. Shermans may not be able to destroy Tigers, but will make short work of a half-track.

I'm still wasting a lot of steel on two 60mm mortars. No enemy aircraft yet.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: Two M4 (Early) tanks, one 50 Caliber HMG and one 57mm ATG destroyed and estimated 10 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 12

Just last turn I made the comment about Shermans being rough on half-tracks. Well, one proved that to be true and destroyed a grenadiers track on the South side of hill 4. My Tigers returned fire at it, but failed to kill it. The range is about 1000m. Aside from enemy artillery, that was the only hostile fire on units on hill 4. Engineers are pushing West of the hill, while the Tigers and MG-42 teams take up overwatch positions.

My core infantry and tanks are continuing to move out slowly. There has been a lot of fire on and around hill 4. The area is just too crowded for them to take their route around the Southern side of the hill at the moment. For something to pass the time, I'm going to bring my PzKw IVhs up and destroy the enemy bunkers. A third has been sighted, but they don't have anything but infantry weapons in them.

To make things a bit more interesting, three enemy M10s have been sighted moving East about 1200m Southwest of hill 4. One Tiger fired and immobilized one. They should be easy kills next turn.

The enemy aircraft haven't returned yet. They should show up soon. I'm sure they aren't out of ammo yet because they haven't made enough passes.

Casualties

Friendly: One SdKfz 251/9 track destroyed and estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: One M4 (Early) tanks and estimated 10 casualties.

I've included screen prints of the main action areas at this point. All things considered, this assault seems to be running ahead of schedule. I want to break through the main line enemy resistance by turn 21 to give me the 20 turns I like to have to secure the objectives. I'm getting ready to start turn 13 and direct resistance seems to have subsided. The problem I'm likely to have is I've seen only one enemy platoon of infantry and I know there have to be more. My guess is they are around the objectives.

[RERomine]

Turn 13

The American air force is back. Only passes by a P-38 and P-39 this turn. They got another half-track, with the P-38 being shot down and the P-39 damaged. Near as I can figure, they have one P-51 left, but with so many planes coming in, it's hard to be sure.

Tigers destroyed the three M10s and one Sherman near hill 3. There is one Sherman left, but I couldn't line up a shot at it. My engineers will try to get it next turn. Another M10 popped up in the same area, but ran through without getting engaged. It's headig East along the bottom edge of the map. Three 75mm ATGs are guarding my flank, so there shouldn't be any worries about it. Most of the engineers are off hill 4 now, pushing toward their objective of hill 2. I finally was able to confirm I had shelled a mortar on the rear of hill 4. It has was abandoned and destroyed and engineers destroyed the crew. One enemy infantry squad was found in the woods West of the hill. It was engaged by the grenadiers with supporting fire coming from their tracks. Engineers encounterd and destroyed a 57mm ATG between hills 2 and 4.

The tanks in my core engaged a couple of the bunkers, destroying one. My core SS infantry in tracks are waiting for the tanks to take the lead in the advance since there could be enemy Shermans to the front. There are enough dismounted engineers and scouts around to provide eyes out to help avoid ambushes.

Three scout units jumped a bazooka team and the 60mm mortar near the South end of the enemy line. The bazooka team was destroyed and the mortar team is retreating.

Enemy artillery is still coming in. Some mortar rounds thunked on a couple of my core tracks without damaging them, but a nearby SPAA unit was immobilized.

Casualties

Friendly: One SdKfz 251/9 track destroyed and estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: One M4 (Early) tank, three M10 GMC (Early) tank destroyers, one P-38 and one 57mm ATG destroyed and estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 14

All things considered, action was light this turn. One enemy mortar hit one of my recon tracks with no damage and one battery of enemy 155mm guns hit hill 4. Some engineers still on the hill took casualties.

The grenadiers pushed the enemy squad out of the woods West of hill 4. It was last seen running West. One more 57mm ATG was encountered by a Tiger at about 250m. The Tiger started to engage it, but after a near penetrating hit, I brought up an MG-42 team to suppress it first. The Tiger finished it off. Engineers and one company of grenadiers are pushing towards hill 2. Scouts still report no activity on the hill. The second company of grenadiers is finally moving over hill 4. Engineers ran into a second Sherman just South of the woods and assualted, damaging it. They are still maneuvering against the first.

Core tanks continued moving forward engaging the two remaining enemy bunkers. They are still remaining. Core infantry started moving forward again.

Scouts finally destroyed the enemy 60mm mortar down South. Enemy infantry was seen nearby, so they started to withdraw. The M10 in the area has disappeared. If it continues forward, it will have to pass through mines and wire before it breaks into the open.

Counter battery has been plotted on the suspected location of two M4 mortar tracks.

Scouts are approaching objective group G1. At this time, no defenses have been seen.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: One 57mm ATG destroyed and estimated 5 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 15

The one enemy 155mm battery continued to hit hill 4 without affect.

Engineers assaulted and destroyed the two enemy Shermans near the West woods. During the process, they received small arms fire from the area South of objective group G3. More engineers are starting to move up hill 2 and scouts are near the top. No resistance encounted at this time.

Core units are moving on objective group G3. They should be in position to overrun it in 3-4 turns.

Scouts are within 400m of objective group G1. Their role is to investigate and not capture it. I'm sure there are stiff defenses around it anyhow. They just haven't been spotted yet.

Counter battery started to drop on suspected enemy M4 mortar track positions.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Two M4 (Early) tanks destroyed.

[RERomine]

Turn 16

More enemy artillery on hill 4. No effect.

Scouts have reached the top of hill 2 and so far see nothing. The enemy are likely to be on the reverse side near objective group G2. Scouts also don't see anything around objective group G1.

Another enemy Sherman spotted near the West woods. It's too far out for the engineers to deal with, so my core elements will take care of it when they get into position. The scout unit that spotted the Sherman also spotted the remnants of the squad that had been run out of the West woods. They destroyed the squad.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Estimated 5 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 17

Enemy artillery hit some grenadier tracks heading to the rear after dropping their troops immobilizing one and damaging another.

Scouts still report no activity around objective group G1 or on hill 2.

Core infantry dismounting in West woods.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Zero

[RERomine]

Turn 18

Random enemy artillery hitting without causing damage.

Enemy infantry spotted South of objective group G1 between hills 1 and 2. One scout found them the hard way. Estimated platoon strength. Artillery plotted.

Enemy infantry spotted Southeast of objective group G3 next to two enemy Shermans. Estimated platoon strength. Artillery plotted.

My units continue to move into position. Top of hill 2 is clear.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 3 casualties.

Enemy: Zero