HomeNewsCombat Mission: Fortress Italy
Colonel Croesus: Turn 8
ZINC, the rough-hewn chamber with the shack in its centre, has already cost the Comment Commanders Robert Duvall (Colonel Croesus) and John Nettles (Corporal Wood). Will it also claim the life of Charles Bronson (Sergeant Nemchik)?
Despite the west-facing “armour arcs” that sprout, like convolvulus flowers, from Crabmeat 2’s path line into ZINC, Connor gets off the first shot in Turn 8’s crucial armour duel. Rolling past the corpses of our sniper team, Nemchik’s flail tank takes a glancing, inconsequential blow to the turret. The grazed Sherman replies, on the hoof, with an effort of inferior quality.
What looks at first glance like one of CM’s rare double knockouts, is, thankfully, nothing of the sort. A quick GUI check reveals that Crabmeat 2’s only injuries are a lightly wounded loader, and slightly damaged smoke mortar, radio and optics. The effects of the bazooka rocket are hidden from view but are significant enough to allow Nemchik’s gunner, now firing from a stationary platform, two unopposed shots.
I wish I could say the same for 1stSquad.
Combat Mission’s somewhat agricultural’action spot’system makes implementing orders like “Move down the left-hand side of road X” tricky. The two 1stSquad teams scouting the row 3 tunnel look like this…
…in consequence. Hardly ideal, but they reach a point where they can inspect the intriguing x1 structure, without incident. Actually, theyhearx1 before they see it. The faint cries emanating from an air vent in the wall of the bricked-up service shaft come from Captain Lynch (Harrison Ford) and 1st Lt. Bishop (Michael J. Pollard), the B-26 survivors last seen scaling the mountain in search of another base entrance. The pair are trapped and will need help from Squires' breach team to get out.
“Help is on the way” promise 1stSquad.
So too is Hindrance, it turns out. At approximately T+40 a reversing anti-aircraft halftrack, heaves into view at the western end of the tunnel.
Hope flares briefly when the halftrack hesitates, seemingly disconcerted, only to be firmly snuffed out a second or two later when the quad flak guns judder into life.
Maddeningly, Private Moffat, moved to the eastern end of the tunnel in case of just such an eventuality, refuses to fire his PIAT (Moffat’s Thompson-armed ammo porter does contribute). A LoS and range check suggest that he could and should have stuck his oar in.
While waiting patiently at x1, Lynch and Bishop thought they heard engine sounds coming from BRASS.
