Lowering his head, the Commander slumps back into the gulley – this battle is lost. He has failed to take the high ground, and worse – the Germans have a commanding view of the field of battle, and are moving up additional tanks and infantry to secure their lines.

“Get ready to fall back, we need to get out of here!” He shouts to his crew. They grab the wounded driver and slowly and carefully make their way back to some better cover. Tanks are retreating, the battle is lost. Soon they leave their cover and continue their way back to the rear as darkness falls. Tired, bruised and demoralized, they stumble along until finally reaching a first aid station. The driver is conscious but needs blood; the rest of the crew is essentially uninjured.

The Commander leaves his men and makes his way back to HQ to debrief the General. How to tell him that he lost the battle? He will be lucky to survive this meeting… 

Fire erupts from the barrels of the Panther and PZ IV nearly simultaneously as they open up on the T-34/85, which is creeping further into the building. The Commander sees one shot impact the T-34/85 in the hull between the driver and Assistant driver! No smoke or flames, but how bad is the damage?  The other round just misses, the small movement throwing off the aim of the Panther.

Behind him the SU-100 fires at the Panther again – another hit but it bounces off the sloped armor again! They need to flank him!

The T-34/76 moves into another building and has a nice flanking position on the Panther – if they hurry they can get a shot in before the Panther can move! This may be our chance to take out that Panther!

A round whistles past the T-34/76 – the Stug took a shot after it had stopped but missed.

The T-34/85 just sits there, how bad is it damaged?

The Commander looks around, but the situation is dim. The end of the day is approaching, the Germans control the high ground, and his tanks have been unable to dislodge the Panzers. If we can make one last push before nightfall, we just may be able to drive them off the hills. Attack!

Coughing from the acrid smoke that envelopes his men, the Commander realizes that they are going to lose this battle unless they can kill the Panther and Stug that have captured the high ground in front of him. And they need to do it soon as German reinforcements have been spotted moving towards the hills. They command the battlefield from there and are laying waste to his men. Fortunately the two German Panzers appear to have lost targets as they just sit there, exposed. 

The SU-100 behind him opens up, nearly knocking him into the side of the gulley. He sees the round impact the Panther in the Hull and bounce off! The angle from the hill was just enough to deflect the round! That Panther…

Behind him the T-34/85 moves up and moves into a building when a round bounces off the hull! The PZ IV has him in his sights, but fortunately that round failed to penetrate.

The T-34/76 appears to have spotted the Stug and is preparing to shoot.   Hurry up! Hurry up!

“The Panther and PZ IV are zeroing in on the T-34/85!” he hears his Loader shout out. Looking at the hills, he sees both tanks lining up shots on the T-34-85!

The Commander can only watch as the T-34/76 comes to a sudden stop, mud spraying.  Get out of there! But it is too late – the Panther’s gun barrel settles in, aimed at the T-34/76. He isn’t sure what came first, the sound of the shot or the explosion as the T-34/76’s hatches blow clean off and the turret is lifted up! Incredulously, two men crawl out and drop to the ground next to the destroyed tank.

This attack is falling apart. 

A shell whistles past his head, and another explosion rocks the earth, throwing dirt and debris into the gully where he and his men are desperately searching for better cover. Looking at the T-34/85, he sees that the turret is blown off the hull – there isn’t much left. There’s no way anyone survived that.

“I think the PZ IV went into those woods over there” the gunner shouts above the din, pointing to the right. Looking back to the battlefield, he is unable to see the PZ IV. 

Behind him, the SU-100 manages to find a small depression in the field, only the superstructure is visible. He sees the SU-100’s cannon adjust, taking aim at the Panther! Fire! Fire!!!

A T-34/76 and T-34/85 appear further to the rear, additional meat for the meat grinder. How much more of this can we take?

Smoke drifts from the hull where the round impacted, but the Commander doesn’t see any flames – hopefully they can get the fire out quickly. 

Across the battlefield, the Commander sees the Stug moving into a flanking position, it won’t be long until he stops and aims at our weaker side armor! We need to find a better position. The PZ IV turret is rotating, scanning the battlefield and looking for targets. Thankfully he hasn’t appeared to focus in on any of his tanks. 

His tanks… are just sitting there!

“Move it everyone! Move! Don’t just sit th….”

The words are drowned out by another impact that rocks the SU-100, almost throwing the Commander out of his hatch. Something knocks his headset off, he flinches well after the shrapnel nearly took his head off. Battered and dazed, he slowly looks around to see smoke coming out of another hole in the hull, this time on the driver’s side.

Where did that come from? The Panther!!!!

 “Status!”

“Driver wounded, still on Fire – we have to get out of here!”

The Commander pauses for what feels like minutes though he knows it is only a few seconds. Assessing the situation, it isn’t good. We are on fire, the Panther has us in its sights, the Stug is about to flank us and I don’t know if we can even move…

“Bail out, bail out!”

The crew bails out, dragging the wounded driver out with them. The Commander jumps down, and leads his rattled crew deeper into the gully, looking for better cover and a spot where he can watch the battle.

He notices the T-34/76 finally moving, attempting to flank the Panther! But the Panther notices the T-34/76 and rotates to keep its front armor and gun facing the T-34/76! That is an incredible crew… The T-34/76 is still searching for cover, while the T-34/85 just sits there. What are they doing? The Commander notices the Stug stopping and zeroing in on the T-34/85…”Move!!! Move!!!” but his shouts are useless. If only he had a radio.

Behind him, his loader shouts that another SU-100 is moving forward to shore up this side of the battlefield. They need the help, the Germans are threatening to capture the High ground and gain control of this battlefield…

“I’ve got a clean shot on the Panther!”

“Fire!”

The Commander braces himself as the SU-100 cannon roars again. He watches as the shot impacts the Panther’s turret and the Panther Commander is blown out of his hatch! “Great shot! Reload!”

Nearly simultaneously, the T-34/76 fires and the PZ IV erupts in a massive explosion! Finally, we’ve dislodged the PZ IV from the hill!

The Commander’s attention is drawn back to the Panther, which despite two hits to the turret and no commander is advancing up the hill! What is it going to take to kill that Panther? We need to flank him!

The replacement T-34/85…. I forgot to give him orders… it’s just sitting there! “T-34/85, I need you to…”

The Commander’s vision blurs, the ringing in his ears threatens to drive him insane. His chest hurts from impacting the cupola, shouts are coming from inside the SU-100 but he can’t quite make them out… “Fire!” … “Give me the fire extinguisher! Hurry!”… “We need to bail out!” “No, it’s not that bad, not yet! I think we can…”

The Commander shakes his head and looks around as his vision clears. They’ve been hit, lower hull, across from the driver. Thankfully no serious injuries but there is a small fire and his crew is panicking though they are trying to put the fire out. We need to do something fast!

Looking at the battlefield he sees that the Stug fired the shot that hit them. The Panther is still on the move, its cannon pointing in his direction… they may stop and fire again! It appears the Stug is starting to move and is going to try and flank them while moving up the hill… they are well coordinated, I can only engage one at a time. I need support!

“Status! Can we move or engage? How bad is the fire?” The Commander knows he only has moments to decide to try and stay in the fight or bail out before the next round impacts…

The Commander’s heart rate quickens as he watches the Panther’s long gun barrel rotate past him and settle in on the T-34/85 on the hill. Unable to line up a shot on the Panther in time, he can only hope that the T-34/85 realizes the danger and moves, but they are too focused in on the PZ IV. The ground shakes as the Panther’s gun erupts in flame and smoke. The shot flies flat and hits the T-34/85 in its tracks. Smoke drifts out of the front hull from the impact. 

“Status T-34/85?”

“AD is KIA, we are on fire! Get that fire out before we burn up! Hurry! Hurry!”

From the front, the Stug and the PZ IV open up and two more rounds impact the T-34/85 nearly simultaneously! One appears to bounce off, while the other penetrates the hull.

“Get out of there!” The Commander shouts into his radio, though the words are hardly out of his mouth when he sees most of the crew bail out of the T-34/85 and take cover in the woods. Amazingly the T-34/85 doesn’t explode or erupt into flames, but it is out of the fight. Not good, we have lost 2 tanks already!

His SU-100 rocks backwards as the 100mm cannon fires – we finally have the Panther in sight! He watches the round hit the Panther in the turret! It appears the Panther Commander slumps over in his hatch but he’s still moving. Other than that he doesn’t see any other damage – “Reload, Fire!”

The air around him crackles and rumbles as a round roars past him – the T-34/76 behind him opens up and hits the PZ IV in the turret! Fire breaks out and the commander appears to be wounded… Finally, we inflict some damage! Hopefully that will knock the PZ IV out of the fight and off that hill.

“Where do you want us to go?” comes over the radio – another T-34/85 is joining the fight! The Commander thinks for a moment as he assesses the situation, trying to decide the best place for the new tank entering battle…

Round 3

“We are too exposed! Look for cover or a place we can go hull down!” the SU-100 Commander shouts to his driver as the battle rages on. The Panther is on the move making it nearly impossible to hit. He flinches as the T-34/85 hidden in the woods on the hill opens up, firing at the PZ IV on the opposing hill – looks like a HIT! But his elation quickly wanes as the PZ IV returns fire at the T-34/85. A near miss, lucky. Looking back to the Panther, he is pleased to see it hit a patch of mud and come to a quick stop. Now’s our chance! 

“Gunner – Panther, 11 O’clock –fire at will!” The SU-100 slowly rotates to get the Panther in sight.

A T-34/76 moves up behind him and tries to conceal behind a small building but grinds to halt while still exposed to the enemy.

BAM! The T-34/85 on the hill rocks as a shell impacts it – that Stug has found the range!

“We’re ok, failed to penetrate. Reload! Hurry!”

The Stug moves further into the rubble – there isn’t much there to shoot at now. And the Commander notices the Panther’s turret turning towards him… can we get him in our sights before he has us in his?