So, in lieu of our Fury In The North which was met with very little interest both locally and regionally, we had a different battle.
Originally just the two of us with Germans v Soviets we had another player wanting to give it a go but he had never played before.
I decided to play Brits as I allegedly know what I am doing and give newbie a chance with the US tanks.
Two 6x4s end to end, festooned with 3D buildings, oil tanks (thanks ebay), woods, AT traps and a river splitting the two tables with 4 bridges, one of which was a metal girder looking one 3 brick.
For big battles we tend to go for just heroes, no other upgrades as it becomes way too difficult to remember.
The Germans consisted of 6 Tigers, 6 Panthers, 1 Jadg, 1 Stug and 7 Panzer IV.
Brits - 2 Comet, 2 Cromwell, 2 Achilles (with semi indirect fire :) ), 2 Firefly and 3 Sherman V
US - 1 SP, 2 Pershing, 2 Jacksons, 3 Sherman 76, 5 Sherman 75.
Turn 1 lasted 45 mins :)
The Brits had plenty of town type scenery with 4 oil tanks and I managed to use it very well, peeping and shooting at 4 Tigers, two Panthers and 2 P IV.
The US were living up to their Gung Ho and making steady progress against the Germans mostly P IV and Stug with Panthers and Jagd in nearby support.
The German, who has won an Iron Cross for his dice rolling in previous games, for once rolled averagely for most of the game and was slowly, sometimes very slowly, whittled down.
As I had hoped, the superior hit points of the Shermans helped them stick around while the P IVs died. The Jacksons attracted a lot of fire but lasted 3 turns before they succumbed.
The Brits, usually dead ducks in my hands, performed amazingly only losing 4 tanks out of 11, one of which was a brave (or foolhardy) Comet going fast over a bridge over the Rhine with just one hit left, shrugging off 6 shots from Michael Wittman in a Panther only to get sizzled by a Jadg hiding in the woods.
A game of extreme fun and the newbie thorough enjoyed it. I told him that when you move back to a more normal size game it is such a disappointment.
Final survivor count after SIX hours playing time, yessss!
Germans - Two Panthers, Otto Carius barely damaged, Michael on 3 hits.
US - 1 SP, 2 Sherman 75
Brits - 2 Cromwell, 3 Sherman, 1 Achilles, 1 Firefly - Woohoo
A few photos below.
Start of the battle - Germans right side, Allies left.
https://drive.google.com...4WMb2fhb2bGRNeUZ5M3ZzUE0US start
https://drive.google.com...4WMb2fhb2NUVsMWRnR2FtYmsBrit start
https://drive.google.com...4WMb2fhb2azdPVVcwcXktV2sUS Turn 1
https://drive.google.com...4WMb2fhb2dF9qMVNzOU9adU0Brit Turn 1
https://drive.google.com...4WMb2fhb2LVNFWFM2Z2oxQXc