More About Combat (Battle Thread)

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

It had been a decent sort of day, the breeze was slight when it was around, the birds were chirping and no one had been shooting at Ed for almost an entire twenty-four hours. The march had been easy going so far and lunch was nice as they had been able to build a fire and heat it up this time without fear of alerting any nearby enemies. They hadn't made it far after eating when they spotted a small village ahead in the distance, Leutnant McMillan and his small contingent of soldiers had a deadline to keep and it was not far on the other side of it. The front lines had been shifting recently and their orders were to establish a forward communications center to relay from the other advancing forces on the flanks. A simple task really, well so they imagined it would be, fate however had other plans in store for the crew this day.

"Klein, take your squad off to my left flank another fifty yards, I don't want us to miss signs of enemy movement before we get there if we can help it." Ed passed along the radio to his Sergeant leading the rest of his troops toward their objective. "The rest of you form up on me and continue due east, we should be within maneuvering distance of the village soon enough, check your gear and keep sharp, this village marks the closest edge of the front lines for us." McMillan barked at his squad. They had been with him for what seemed like eternity, they knew his routines, if it was important he would let you know and you followed your orders and chances are he would keep you alive in the end, but if everything was quiet, you relaxed while you could, they were all too often thrust into the worst conditions but their commander tried to give them the rest they deserved, that wasn't always the case. Spirits weren't bad, especially given the previous days encounter, but that hot meal and a supply point got them back to normal.

Ed let his assault rifle hang from the sling as he pulled his binoculars to his face with his right hand and waved his men to stay low with his left. After a few moments of scanning he dropped them to hang around his neck, grabbed his rifle and motioned the men to keep moving. So far there had been nothing of note, course Ed would not have been the first to notice anyway if there was. Hoffmann was a sniper that had been transferred to the unit some time ago and was providing over-watch for second squad, the radio would have chirped back to life had he spotted anything.

"Sergeant, have you men take cover behind that wooden structure, see if you can get eyes through the window for any activity, send Hoffmann north to find a decent location for over-watch. Once you know that structure is empty, my squad will be taking up a position behind the concrete structure. Let's clear this village quietly in case we are being watched." Ed explained over the radio. His Sergeant's reply was quick and confirming. Ed had his men wait in a small depression behind some bushes until he got the clear from his second squad on the wooden structure then they advanced to their position on the right flank.

MAP: img853.imageshack.us/img853/7430/h7uv.png

[Sgt. Cavanaugh]

Redd and his squad were spread out through the plains, a trees beginning to show themselves from the ground. The soil was hard, compact and nice for plant life to grow on. Not very men traveled through this area as of late-- That's good. The grass was also wild and long, tracing along no higher than below the mid-shin. Redd wasn't contemplating meeting any enemy units, but he definitely kept his guard up. He was on the right half of his formation, holding his rifle with his left was a bit awkward. Everything smelled fresh, untouched by Nazi hands as Redd would put it. The man had a lit cigarette in his mouth, the smoke drifting away with the scare winds. It was a nice evening, before they ran into any conflicts. Their mission was to push clear out anything and let the armored vehicles bulldoze through the rest.

Redd spotted the two stone structures, holding his fist up and getting down on one knee. His eyes drifted over to Sergeant Carroll across the way and he brought ups fingers down to his eyes. He then pointed to his men and turned to face the eleven newbie soldiers. "Alright, fellas," He spoke, cradling his rifle in his arms, "There's some buildings up there. We're gonna split up and make sure they're vacant. If there are Krauts, be silent with the kill." He spit the cigarette, exhaling and smothering it with the butt of his rifle, "Birds chirping are our best coverage. You hear them flock away, get down, shut up, and get hidden." Redd then turned to Carroll again, pointing to his eyes, Carroll, then the heavily wooded area beside the buildings. Redd reached to his side and placed his hand on a private's shoulder, "Boy, you're sergeant for a bit. Lead those four guys up to that building and clean it out. If it's clear, I want you to use it as a post and look across the way to see if there's anything else we need to worry about." He tapped his shoulder, "Get goin'."

Redd then turned to the six men he had left, "You guys, on me. We're gettin' the bigger one." He then turned and looked to his right, as if someone was watching him from a far off distance. He kept low, and traveled across the plain to the side of the building. His gear clunked around and his legs felt like they were growing in size as he traveled over, only to slam his back into the wall. He peeked through the window, not seeing a thing. He slid against the wall, his hand on a soldier's straps for him to follow. Redd moved around the edge of the building to the door, the private readying his rifle. They opened it to reveal an empty home, the home's interior rather bare if someone were to still be living here. Redd spotted the room and moved across the floor, trying his best to be silent. Entering the room, there was no one. He turned about, heading across the room, "Get back behind the house. It's clear, but we don't want to be sitting ducks for a sniper." The two then hugged the wall as they disappeared behind the building once again.

Redd perked his head up to see how the other squad was doing, the leading private giving a clear to the house.

sta.sh/021g3akxr2hj

[Marion "MAC" Carroll]

Eying sergeant Redd's movements, Marion knew that he would be headed towards the forested area to his front. Looking around him he saw his 6 men. They were all new replacements just sent in from up the ladder. He hadn't had the time to get to know them yet and as such was unsure of their abilities. He knew that he would have to keep an eye on each and every one of them. Spread out in an standard skirmish formation, Marion notified his men of their plan. "We're going to move into that treeline and setup a position to watch the road men", Marion said confidently to the boys. He had to display an air of confidence to show that everything was fine. Unfortunately for Marion, something didn't feel right. The mood had changed to him. He had felt it many times before. "Stay sharp, something doesn't feel right", Marion whispered to his men.

Looking to his left he could see Redd's men moving into the buildings to clear them. Good", he thought. Didn't want to have any surprises in there waiting for them. Signaling to Redd through hand signals, Marion clarified what he was go to do. After getting the go ahead, Marion stated, " Stay low and move fast. Do exactly what I tell you and we'll all go home today. Get into those trees and set up to cover each other. Remember your training. Good luck"

Advancing cautiously into the wooded area Marion directed two of the men to take up a forward position to watch the road. Ordering the men to get down behind the trees and shrubbery, He began to wonder if this was going to be a good day. Taking up positions, the order went out "Keep your eyes peeled boys, check your weapons and make sure your covered. We don't want any unnecessary surprises". Marion checked his rifle one last time before aiming down the sights to scan the area in front of him. It was a new rifle that he was still becoming accustomed to. He preferred the feel of his old M1 carbine. Nonetheless he knew how to use it and would if push came to shove. Breathing deeply he readied himself for what was to come.


    Map: imageshack.com/a/img6/6218/psks.png

[Heiko Alkema]

German:
Group 1
Morale: High

Lt. McMillan

Gfr. Arnold Brandt (E/Radio)
- Radio

Gfr. Alexander Müller (E)
Gfr. Maximilian Becker (E)
Gfr. Johann Vicinius (E)
Gfr. Alwin Woenert (E)

Group 2
Morale: High

Unt. Boris Klien (V)
- MP40

Gfr. Faulk Zimmerman(E/Radio)
- Radio

Gfr. Hannes Oehl (E)
Gfr. Justus Schimmele (E)
Gfr. Alex Timpe (E)
Gfr. Theodor Zickwolff (E)

Group 3
Morale: Moderate

Gfr. Leon Hoffmann (E/Sniper)
- K98k, Scoped


American:
Group 4
Morale: Moderate

Sgt. Cavanaugh

[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)

Group 5
Morale: Low

[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)


Group 6
Morale: Moderate

Sgt. Carroll

[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)

---

McMillan
- Clear orders, clear command structure; coupled with a high concentration of experienced men creates an atmosphere of confidence among the first two groups which bring both groups to a "High" level of morale.
- Sniper Hoffman has this effect off-set somewhat by being alone, however being the skilled soldier that he is, this has no negative impact.
- All soldiers are alert, confident and ready.

- A long, low bird call from Hoffman alerts McMillan and Klein to an enemy presence spotted, however, McMillan and Klein have no way, as yet, of knowing where exactly the threat is.

Cavanaugh
- Clear orders and clear command structure for Group 4, offsetting the troops inexperience. Group 4 is rated Moderate morale.
- Group 5 has a leader designated by Cavanaugh, however, this leader has no experience in this role and they all know it. Their inexperience and unease at being led by an inexperienced soldier has them extra nervous. Rated Low morale.

- Cavanaugh picks up on the oddness of a particular chirping. No other soldiers notice anything unusual or threatening.

Carroll
- Clear orders and clear command structure for Group 6, offsetting the troops inexperience. Group 6 is rated Moderate morale.

- On the opposite end of the field and in the wooded area, Carroll does not hear or see anything threatening or unusual.

---

Next Post: McMillan

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

OOC: took the floors out of the buildings, was causing the colors to bleed all over the place, and I'm pretty sure we can all figure which areas are buildings, what with the closed in walls and whatnot.

IC:McMillan was about to order his men around the corner and into the building when the radio crackled, it was Klein, seems that Hoffmann had spotted movement across the roadway. "Confirmed Sergeant. Gonna take my guys into this building and try to do so quietly, you should get a couple of your men into that wooden structure, but it seems small so don't pack them all in there." Ed ordered before waving his men around the northern corner to the door he had spotted through the window. "Quietly men, let's take this location without being noticed. We don't know what we are up against and I'd rather be in a better position before we have to engage." he said softly to his men, they nodded and moved to the corner preparing to move around and through the door. Ed give a firm tap on the lead man's shoulder and off they went taking up positions around the door. Ed gave the knob a slow but deliberate twist and softly made his way inside followed by his small force.

After a quick look around McMillan motioned for his men to move toward the eastern wall of the structure, the radio operator stayed with Ed, who took two corporals into the northern room, the other two staying in the main area of the building. They tried to stay near the edge of the windows giving them angled views across the road but overlapping one another's without exposing themselves too much. Ed took a knee and rested his weapon upon it as he peered through the lower pane of the window attempting to spot any enemy movement, if unsuccessful he would use his binoculars to get a better view in the distance. "Corporal Muller, how are things looking with Klein's men?" the Leutnant asked.

"Sir it seems that they have pried open one of the the rear facing windows on the structure and a few men are climbing inside as we speak, they should have some good cover." the Corporal reported to his commander.

"Good work, keep an eye on them unless you see a target of opportunity. The rest of you, wait for my command and keep your eyes open. If you hear a lone shot from our side that is Hoffmann. After that shot see if you can put a round in a window across the road, or into a bush, let's try and keep the sniper's presence masked as long as we can, he doesn't have any cover out there men, just concealment, keep him alive and he will keep the enemy at bay a little longer." Leutnant McMillan said to his men then finished his scan with his binoculars before placing them back in their pouch and checking his weapon once more.

Clean Map: imageshack.us/a/img24/8117/0vcc.png

Movement Lines: imageshack.us/a/img28/1782/01go.png

[Sgt. Cavanaugh]

The houses were clear and Redd let out a sigh as his mind wandered off to tactical thought. Carroll had no way of getting a plan change if things went to hell. Redd grit his teeth and looked over to Squad 2. The men looked disoriented, lost, and rather confused. Redd let out a small bird call to capture their attention, then looked like he pretended to smear something against his helmet: Redd told the men to cover that area. The leading private nodded, issuing some men to peek over the sides of the wall and three others, including himself, to take camp inside the structure. Redd turned to a private, "You the best shot here?"
"No, I am."
Another private stepped forward and Redd gave a small chuckle, "Best damn news I've heard today. Alright, I want you to get behind that tree and lay down covering fire if things go to hell." The man gave a hesitant nod of agreement, and booked it to behind the appointed tree.

Redd then turned to the nearby window, pressing his hand against it to try and open it. It shifted, Redd then placing his fingers under the wooden frame and pulling up. The window now slide with ease until it was shifted all the way upwards, Redd turning himself from the window to look at the men. "You three, you're in with me," His hand pointed at a man and slowly spanned across the air to point at all of the three privates and then shifted his them to the window, "Move." The men did so, trying their best to stay silent as they climbed through the window. Redd then looked at the two remaining men, "You two, cover the corners. Keep your finger off the trigger until you need to fire." The two nodded and proceeded to cover the corners.

Redd crawled through the window, sliding across his belly before getting up to his feet.

The second time coming into this house was a bit more discomforting. Looking around, Redd felt it was appropriate that it was abandoned as such. "You two, get the windows. You, you're with me," The privates followed orders as such, the two taking the windows and one following behind Redd. The sergeant entered the side room, moving towards the window, "We'll lay down covering fire." The sergeant leaned against the wall, "Carroll's men will tell us if it's clear. If we don't hear from him, we fire up the place."

clean map: sta.sh/0oq7e3tck13
movement map: sta.sh/01j96vr67xu0

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Slow you're roll there high speed, gotta wait for a mod mark before each post now that we are into the hostile part of this battle.

-JT

[Heiko Alkema]

Some notes to start with:
1. I'm going to roll the mods for both posts into one as I don't feel like writing up two mods back to back.
2. Yeah, the convention is to wait for a mod-post between every players' post. While no overtly hostile actions may be made, that doesn't mean nothing happened. Like the following.
3. I want to stress that the following was in no way influenced by the break of convention.
4. A technical note, please save your maps with the .png extension as opposed to the .jpg. JPG makes the map look like shit after a couple of posts.
5. For clarity, each players' section is happening concurrently with the others, not chronologically from top to bottom. Events are repeated from each characters' perspective. Each of you could just read your own marked section and have all the information that your character would.

---

German:
Group 1
Morale: High

Lt. McMillan

Gfr. Arnold Brandt (E/Radio)
- Radio

Gfr. Alexander Müller (E)
Gfr. Maximilian Becker (E)
Gfr. Johann Vicinius (E)
Gfr. Alwin Woenert (E)

Group 2
Morale: High

Unt. Boris Klien (V)
- MP40

Gfr. Faulk Zimmerman(E/Radio)
- Radio

Gfr. Hannes Oehl (E)
Gfr. Justus Schimmele (E)
Gfr. Alex Timpe (E)
Gfr. Theodor Zickwolff (E)

Group 3
Morale: Moderate

Gfr. Leon Hoffmann (E/Sniper)
- K98k, Scoped


American:
Group 4
Morale: Moderate

Sgt. Cavanaugh

[unknown] (R) KIA
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)

Group 5
Morale: Very Low

[wroth] (R) - Minor Wound
[envy] (R)
[pride] (R)
[sloth] (R)
[guttony] (R)


Group 6
Morale: Moderate

Sgt. Carroll

[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)

---

NEW MAP [Click]

McMillan
- Both groups of German soldiers moved into position without a hitch. McMillan, using the binoculars, caught some motion in the trees but wasn't able to identify whether it was even human.
- Then there was clear movement across the road, followed by a pop from the north. Then McMillan's men, as ordered, fired into the buildings across the way. This, in turn, was almost instantly answered by a hail of rifle fire from the woods. Things were hit, shards of concrete spalled off the walls, and the men were driven back from the windows, but no one was hit.
- Klein's group fired randomly into the buildings across the way, following McMillans' example.

Cavanaugh
- With all his men nestled safely behind the buildings, neither Cavanaugh nor his men noticed any of the German movements into the buildings to the West. Things got more interesting when his own men started moving however.
- All seemed well until a pop sounded from the northern side of the Western buildings and the American soldier peeping around the northern corner dropped to the ground without a sound. This was followed by a series of more pops from the western buildings into the building housing Cavanaugh and his men. In this building, no one further was hit.

- The second group, had more trouble to begin with. After Cavanaugh issued his orders via hand signals, the leader, [wroth] turned to "his" men and ordered [pride] and [sloth] to peep the corners. [wroth] replied with, "Pfft, you do it". [sloth] followed up with, "I'm not doing it if he's not". [envy] peeped up with, "Maybe we should just take cover inside". The slightly chunky [gluttony] avoided eye-contact with [wroth] when [wroth] looked to him for support. Frustrated with the lack of cooperation, [wroth] moved to the door of the building and muttered "To Hell with all of you!" as he kicked in the door. As his foot was in motion the first pop echoed over them. And as [wroth]'s foot knocked the door off the hinges and the door fell most of the way to the floor, a loud clink resounded off his helmet and his head snapped back, then he fell to the ground. [gluttony] let out a terrified yelp as [wroth] was bowled over. [wroth] isn't dead, the rifle round that hit him was tumbling through the air after smashing through a window and left a very respectable dent in [wroth]'s helmet. He's very disoriented and dizzy.
- This group is in a bad way. With their "leader" momentarily incapacitated this group on the verge of a terrified panic.

Carroll
- The sergeant and one of his men caught a glimpse of movement from the southwestern building just before rifle fire erupted from it. The other man, inexperienced and eager for action immediately emptied his rifle in the direction of the enemy. The others around him followed suit, firing until their weapons were empty; a chorus of pings echoing through the trees around them as their rifles ran dry.

---

Next post: Carroll

[Marion "MAC" Carroll]

"Hold your fire damn it. Reload and prepare to move", Marion hissed at his men. He should have kept a tighter reign on them and he knew it. Now the whole German army and maybe the Russians too, knew their position. "We have to seize on this if we're to make up for that damned mistake", Marion thought as he ran through differing ideas. It had all started with a single shot. Probably a marksman out there somewhere. It sounded like it came from his right across the road. He wasn't to sure. His men luckily had the sense to reload their weapons as soon as they had finished shooting the house across the road."It looks like at-least someone is in that house. Better hit em hard while they're reeling from that burst of fire", he thought. "You two", pointing to the two men to his left,"lay down suppressing fire on that building. Everyone else to that ditch by the road. Get down and lay fire into that house. Wait for my signal. You two move up after we start laying into the house". Waiting a second in the hopes that one German might be foolish enough to look out the windows to get a field of view, he ordered,"Now,go go go, get up there. Don't stop moving."

Hearing the order given. The two men ordered to fire began to fire in sequences at the building. Aiming for the windows each would fire a half second after the other to maximize the duration of their fire until their combined 16 rounds were spent again. At the same time that the firing stared, Marion and the other four men rose up and charged a quickly as their feet could carry them. Moving forward Marion shouted,"KEEP YOUR HEADS DOWN, DON'T GIVE THEM A TURKEY SHOOT. WE'LL MAKE IT. MOVE MOVE MOVE". Marion spurred his men onwards as quickly as he could. Reaching the ditch, Marion leaped in, landing on his feet, quickly followed by his men. Raising his rifle he fired 4 rounds at the middle window, placing two shots on the right side and two on the left side of the pane, not knowing which side to fire at. His men followed suit and pored rifle fire into the windows. 12 shots rang out in concert with each other as the men in the ditch began to cover the other' advance. 4 rounds went through the right window 2 more through the middle and finally 6 through the left.

Hearing the rifle fire from their comrades, the two G.I.'s that had provided covering fire first began to rush forwards as well. Seeing sergeant Carroll and the others spread out along the ditch they shifted to the left hoping to shorten the distance. Using the trees for cover as they advanced, they moved as quickly as they could. Not taking any chances if Fritzy decided to take a shot at them, they slide into the trench.

Reloading his weapon along with the others, Marion thought of everything that had happened. He didn't want this fight. He was in a bad way. The situation had escalated quickly and he had to make a decision. He prayed that he had made the right one. "Cover those windows, but keep your heads down. There's a sniper out there and I don't want anyone getting a new hole in their head today", Marion spoke to his men. Looking down the trench he could see it ran for quite a ways. Maybe if things went bad he could use that to his advantage. "You've done really good boys, damned good work so far. Just remember your training. We can do this", Marion said, trying to be the eternal optimist, while in reality realizing the position he was in. Without grenades, it could end in a bad way if he decided to try and rush the building. He didn't know anything about these Germans. Hell, he hadn't even gotten a good look at them yet. Thinking on the fly he remembered the shot that had started it all. "Where was that shot sent to. Was someone hit. I pray that Cavanaugh and his men are alright.'. He couldn't look to see what was going on over at the houses sergeant Cavanaugh's men had set up in. What he did know was that the Germans knew they were there. He had to get their attention and draw them toward him, and hope to God that Cavanaugh would seize on the distraction to do something. If he didn't, Marion knew he was in deep. "If only I had a radio", Marion hissed. "What was that sarge?", one of the privates asked. "Don't worry about it, keep your eyes forward man", Marion replied.

OOC: I changed my characters unit color to blue due to the fact that the maroon blended in with the brown that is the ditch. Sorry if anyone is confused. Also I didn't specify which windows the two G.I's (for the sake of this lets call them curly and mo) fired into when they were supressing. I wanted to leave it up to you Heiko to decide that. They fired 16 rounds in total. 8 from each rifle.

imageshack.com/a/img822/7477/gqzq.png

[Heiko Alkema]

Note: Testing out a table format for the units in an attempt to reduce the overall size of the mod posts. If It's harder to read and understand, let me know.

---

German:

Group 1 Morale: High	Group 2 Morale: High	Group 3 Morale: Moderate
Lt. Edward McMillan	Unt. Boris Klien (V) - MP40	Gfr. Leon Hoffmann (E/Sniper) - K98k, Scoped
Gfr. Arnold Brandt (E/Radio) - Radio	Gfr. Faulk Zimmerman (E/Radio) - Radio
Gfr. Alexander Müller (E)	Gfr. Hannes Oehl (E)
Gfr. Maximilian Becker (E)	Gfr. Justus Schimmele (E)
Gfr. Johann Vicinius (E) - Wounded	Gfr. Alex Timpe (E)
Gfr. Alwin Woenert (E)	Gfr. Theodor Zickwolff (E)

American:

Group 4 Morale: Moderate	Group 5 Morale: Very Low	Group 6 Morale: Moderate
Sgt. Gordon Cavanaugh	[wroth] (R) - Minor Wound	Sgt. Marion Carroll
[unknown] (R) KIA	[envy] (R)	[unknown] (R) - Wounded
[unknown] (R)	[pride] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[sloth] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[gluttony] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)

---

NEW MAP

Carroll
- Most of Carroll's men reloaded their rifles easily and without incident. One, however, fumbled with it a little and got his hand bitten by the bolt as snapped back into position.
- With clear orders, Carroll and the bulk of his force moved forward with supporting rifle fire. The first five made it across alright as the supporting fire was sufficient to keep heads down in the closest building and there wasn't a clear line-of-sight to Carroll's advance from the second, further back building. Upon arriving, the Carroll and his men opened fire to cover the two who had hung back.
- Then things got hairy. As the two rear troops were about to reach their destination, one caught a bullet in the shoulder and tumbled over the edge of the ditch and down to the bottom. His wound isn't life-threatening, but he's not going to be much help from here on out. The other made it in unscathed.
- While Carroll and another man were able to restrain their selves, the other three emptied their weapons again, and again the pings resounded. This ended up being fortuitous as a body appeared in one of the windows in front of Carroll. Alert and already aiming in his direction, Carroll zeroed in and was able to get two shots in before the figure disappeared again.

McMillan
- Hoffman wasn't able to dial in on the first group of advancing Americans, but the pair that followed after him was less fortunate. Hoffman managed to get one round off before the pair descended into the ditch. Judging from the less than graceful entrance of one of his intended target, he had found his mark.

- Yet more rifle fire from the woods kept heads down in McMillan's building. "KEEP YOUR HEADS DOWN, DON'T GIVE THEM A TURKEY SHOOT. WE'LL MAKE IT. MOVE MOVE MOVE", was clearly audible and understood by the English-speaking McMillan. Further, quieter speech could be heard, but not understood.
- In another room, one of the Gefreiter heard the series of pings that signified an empty M1 and knew what it meant. Eager to repay the Americans for their warm welcome, the soldat moved to take advantage of the opening. His effort was answered with a shot to the arm. Luckily, his compatriot had a little better sense tackled him in time to save him from further injury. The corporal's not going to have an easy time making good shots from here on out.

---

Next Post: McMillan

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

McMillan and his men hunkered down as the fire from the Americans across the road poured in, there was little threat from the fire itself but Ed did his best to keep the glass from finding a way into his boots or clothing. Then a short scream rang out from the adjacent room "Sir, Vicinius is hit! Looks like his arm!" Corporal Woenert shouted. Wit that information Ed kept his head down and scooted over to the doorway adjoining the rooms.

"How bad is it Corporal?!" the Leutnant questioned. His subordinate reported that the wound wasn't too serious. None the less Ed told him to get a bandage on it and stay down until ordered otherwise. Ed shuffled his way beck into the room with his radio man and propped up under the closest window, ready his assault rifle and let out a quick burst across the street before ducking back down. "Let them think about a fully automatic weapon for a few seconds." Ed thought to himself as he motioned for his radio operator to come to him. "Listen, get on the horn and tell Klein we have close enemy contact! Have him get Hoffmann to link up with him, and they better lay down some heavy covering fire, but let me know when they are going to so we can join in! Tell him!" McMillan ordered in a calm but firm tone. Then with a little more duck walking Ed made his way to the northern window, "Becker take up a position on the eastern windows, if there is a quiet moment put a shot across the road, better if you can put it into someone!" Becker nodded and almost cracked a smile seeming anxious to get in the fight. Ed smiled back at him slightly, he was proud to have such fine troops following him. A few seconds later the radio sprang forth letting Ed know that Klein had finally made contact with Hoffmann and that they were ready for the maneuver. McMillan readied himself then signaled his radio operator to give the signal to execute.

"GO! GO! GO! GO!" was all Ed could hear as his comms guy ordered Klein and his men to open up. Ed stood and leveled off his rifle and started placing short bursts into the most likely positions he thought his enemy would be in...the buildings. When his mag was dry he slumped back down and reloaded.

"Hot Damn it's a good day sir!" Becker shouted toward his commander. Ed looked up to see the Corporal smiling from ear to ear.

"You're God damned right it is Becker!" Ed resounded back to the man. "Head over there and check on Vicinius and Woenert! Make sure that bandage is tight and you soldiers top off your weapons!" Becker nodded and mimicked his commanders odd walk earlier, staying low and looking a bit like a water fowl. "Remind me to see about getting that man promoted when we make it back to base." Ed muttered to his radioman.

"Sir it's Sergeant Klein, they have Hoffmann with them!" Brandt passed along.

McMillan held his calloused hand out asking for the hand-held portion of the radio. "Klein, good work over there! Hoffmann...son you sure know how to shoot! Nice work keeping those yanks in check!" The Leutnant said happily. "Now I've got some American dogs advancing on my position, I want you to send two of your Corporals down to my position, I'll have Muller waiting for them at the back door..." Ed motioned to Muller to head toward the back who nodded and away he went. "...Just keep some constant fire on those buildings! Once we open up this right flank we'll cross over here, there is plenty of cover, and flank these rats right out of town!" Ed handed the radio back to Brandt, "Make sure they understood that!" he told the man and looked back through the window for a moment. "LET 'EM KNOW THIS OUR TOWN MEN!!!" With those words Ed moved back to the eastern windows and sprayed some more fire toward the right flank, he could hear his men joining in the chorus.

"RELOAD!!" Ed shouted as he slid back behind the wall. A short thought fluttered through Ed's mind...

..."Good day indeed!"

Clean Map: imageshack.us/a/img43/5343/2wp5.png

Map with firing and movement lines: imageshack.us/a/img690/1080/cvu5.png

[Heiko Alkema]

Apologies for the delay.

---

German:

Group 1 Morale: High	Group 2 Morale: High
Lt. Edward McMillan	Unt. Boris Klien (V) - MP40
Gfr. Arnold Brandt (E/Radio) - Radio	Gfr. Faulk Zimmerman (E/Radio) - Radio
Gfr. Alexander Müller (E)	Gfr. Hannes Oehl (E)
Gfr. Maximilian Becker (E)	Gfr. Justus Schimmele (E)
Gfr. Johann Vicinius (E) - Wounded	Gfr. Leon Hoffmann (E/Sniper) - K98k, Scoped
Gfr. Alwin Woenert (E)
Gfr. Alex Timpe (E)
Gfr. Theodor Zickwolff (E) -Wounded

American:

Group 4 Morale: Moderate	Group 5 Morale: Very Low	Group 6 Morale: Moderate
Sgt. Gordon Cavanaugh	[wroth] (R) - Minor Wound	Sgt. Marion Carroll
[unknown] (R) KIA	[envy] (R)	[unknown] (R) - Wounded
[unknown] (R)	[pride] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[sloth] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[gluttony] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)

---

NEW MAP

McMillan
- McMillan's quick shots were enough to keep heads down across the street but made no contact with any American soldiers.
- Becker reached his station, but not a creature was stirring across the street, as most we're weary enough to stay out of sight and alive.
- Covering fire from numerous rifles and two automatic weapons, once again, kept the Americans from getting too curious about what was going on across the street. Hoffman was able to link up with the group just to his south without incident.
- The two corporals fared a little less well. Despite plenty of covering fire tearing up the buildings across the street as well as the lip of the ditch, one corporal still somehow managed to catch a bullet to his thigh, the other corporal moving with him was able to stop and help him hobble to McMillan's position. The bullet didn't hit anything life-threatening, but the wound is going make him more or less immobile without assistance.
- Sharp-eyed Hoffman picked out where the single gunmen was positioned, hiding behind a lone tree to the rear of the Americans. He got one round down-range but by the time he had reset the bolt of his rifle and put the scope back to his eye, the American sharp-shooter was gone. His best guess has the American hiding behind the tree.

Cavanaugh
- Sustained fire from the enemy kept his men down and out of sight. Shards of glass and concrete dusted their helmets and shoulders, but no injuries have been sustained.
- The lone soldier in the rear didn't feel he had an opportunity to retaliate until he caught two Germans making a dash across the open space between the two structures opposite him. He emptied his rifle in there direction and was overjoyed when on of them stumbled. The fallen soldier's comrade assisted him out of site before the less experienced American was able to reload his rifle. And to make matters worse the buzzing of bullet zipping just millimeters away from his head drove him back behind his cover. The bullet was close enough to his face that he felt the air that the bullet displaced brush against his cheek. The boy is, justifiably, scared out of his mind.

Carroll
- While American training materials point out that almost every fourth German soldier has some kind of automatic weapon, the clatter of an automatic rifle so close to them has the semi-automatic armed Americans in the ditch extremely uncomfortable.

[Sgt. Cavanaugh]

The spree of gunfire left Redd's men in a fear that would rise before every pull of the trigger. The sergeant was well aware of this fear, no man in his right mind wouldn't be afraid of being hit with a passing bullet. Well, except maybe that bigwig Hitler who holed himself up.

As clips flew and rounds were fired, Redd ducked down when he heard a shout of "Hit!" There were a few more rounds fired before he heard the beginning of another "Hit!" Only to be cut off with the sound of a man screaming. Red looked at the opposite wall, his back against the wall next to the window. He looked at the private, "Keep firing! Lay those--" There was a barrage of gunfire that cut off his voice for a second, "--To waste!!" The private nodded as Redd got down into a crouch and hurried out of the room. He looked at the beat up walls, his men firing away while keeping their heads on their shoulders. Redd turned right and stood up, opening the window and sticking his head out. The private was on his rear, cradling his rifle as a few more rounds whizzed by the edge of the building. The sergeant noticed the men across the way, bickering and arguing among themselves as one was behind the corner and some were falling back into the trees to hide. He grit his teeth, looked at the downed man. He pulled back his head, his voice a near shout, "I'm friendly! I'm friendly!" He stuck his hand out and didn't feel it get blown off. That's a good thing. He stuck his head back out and this time the private was looking at the window, his eyes wide with horror. "Get your ass in here!" Redd shouted, the soldier struggling to get to his feet. He was pulled in through the open window and dragged to the minicorridor that was right next to them. Redd set his rifle against the wall and reached under his jacket, fidgeting with his shirt pocket. "Sip some water," He told the private, pulling out a cigarette. The private's hands shook as he managed to get some water before putting it away. Redd plopped the cigarette in the other's mouth and lit it.

Redd called the private in the other room over. The two men were quickly called over as well, all five crouched down, "Alright, fellas, we need to get our asses to that ditch in front of this place. We'll go in pairs, you three, then the two of us." Redd pointed his hand at the door, "Go when we give covering fire." The three men were crouched and huddled at the door, Redd and the last private rushing to the two windows. "Covering fire!!" Redd shouted and the three men darting towards the ditch, Redd bringing his M1 to the window and quickly firing away his eight rounds. The clip flew from his rifle, Redd pulling back against the wall. He quickly reloaded the rifle and fired away, his eyes quickly glancing to the ditch as he saw the last man slide in. Redd pulled back and got down, the private doing the same. Redd held his hand out, the private taking the cigarette out of his mouth and handing it over. Redd inhaled, only to exhale, passing it back over and hearing the faint sound of "Covering fire!" Redd swore and rushed towards the door, the private quickly behind him. "Move!" Redd shouted, darting out the front door. He held his rifle at high port as he sprinted across the grassy distance. The sergeant dove head first, getting a mouthful of dirt as he crawled over and let the private dive in... Who repeated him but complained about the dirt in his mouth.

clean map: sta.sh/01906nonxmu0
movement and firing: sta.sh/018z14sc8nyd

[Heiko Alkema]

---

German:

Group 1 Morale: High	Group 2 Morale: High
Lt. Edward McMillan	Unt. Boris Klien (V) - MP40
Gfr. Arnold Brandt (E/Radio) - Radio	Gfr. Faulk Zimmerman (E/Radio) - Radio
Gfr. Alexander Müller (E)	Gfr. Hannes Oehl (E)
Gfr. Maximilian Becker (E)	Gfr. Justus Schimmele (E)
Gfr. Johann Vicinius (E) - Wounded	Gfr. Leon Hoffmann (E/Sniper) - K98k, Scoped
Gfr. Alwin Woenert (E)
Gfr. Alex Timpe (E)
Gfr. Theodor Zickwolff (E) -Wounded

American:

Group 4 Morale: Moderate	Group 5 Morale: Broken	Group 6 Morale: Moderate
Sgt. Gordon Cavanaugh	[wroth] (R)	Sgt. Marion Carroll
[unknown] (R) KIA	[envy] (R)	[unknown] (R) - Wounded
[unknown] (R)	[pride] (R)	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[sloth] (R) MIA	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)	[gluttony] (R) MIA	[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)
[unknown] (R)		[unknown] (R)

---

Cavanaugh
- Somewhat to their surprise, not much enemy fire met the Americans as they raced to the ditch. The first group made it without incident, however the second pair split up after an angry burst of automatic fire in their direction. Redd made it to  the ditch, but his companion veerd off to the closer cover of a nearby tree.
- In the beleaguered group five, [sloth] and [gluttony] have slipped off into the French countryside while the other two helped [wroth] back to his feet. [wroth]'s dizziness has worn off. 

McMillan
There weren't many weapons positioned in such a manner to deter the American dash to the north, and a few semi-automatic rifles were enough to push most back into cover. McMillan himself, however, did manage to get a few rounds off at the advancing enemy, driving one of them off course.

---

Next Post: Carroll

[Marion "MAC" Carroll]

"Oh god I'm hit, I'm hit", one of the men in Carroll's squad screamed. shuffling his way over to the man, Marion quickly checked the wound. The round had hit him in the left shoulder. Luckily it had gone through cleanly. "Lucky for that. Not much blood loss either", Marion thought to himself as he quickly treated the wound. "Reload your rifles boys, and quit getting so anxious to empty them again. The Germans will get theirs when its time", Marion passed down the line of men. Hearing the roar of automatic fire, accompanied by the crack of rifle fire, Marion whipped his head right In the distance he saw men rushing forwards towards the road, using the same tactic that he had to get into the ditch. "Looks like Cavanaugh finally decided to join in the fun ehh boys", Marion said to the men who responded with scattered laughs and chuckles. "About damn time too", Marion thought. Looking down the ditch to his right, Marion could see Cavanaugh and his first squad piling into the same ditch as Marion. Sergeant Carroll's men were beginning to look a little worse for wear however. Hearing the chatter of what sounded like a stg 44 had shook them up a little. Up to the time they had rushed for the ditch everyone had assumed that the Germans only had Kar98k bolt action rifles. Attempting to raise the morale of his men while venting his frustrations at the Germans, Marion came up with an idea. Hey Kraut, that's a cute little toy you got there. It'll make a nice present for my boy back home after I kill you with it", Marion shouted, not really caring if the Germans head it, let alone understood him. It was more, a display to get the men to laugh. The men began to laugh hard at this, finding it funnier that Marion apparently.

Thinking hard and fast, Marion deduced that Cavanaugh's second squad was somewhere behind his position. Probably by that old brick building by the wooded area. He needed those men. Considering this, he wondered what their condition was. More than likely they were scared out of their minds about now. This was their first combat situation. His men's too. Wanting a little more time, Marion leaned over and fired three rounds into the building across the road. "That oughta by me a few seconds", Marion thought. "Hey you", Marion spoke, indicating to the wounded man, "Can you still fire your rifle"?

"Well yea sarge, but it'll hurt like hell", the man replied. Marion, thinking on the run said, " I want you to slide on down to our left, find a good spot and start putting rounds into the side of that building. See if you can maybe draw some attention over that way, but keep your head down. You've already got one medal. I don't want to give you another", Marion chuckled again, trying to get his men to relax. The situation wasn't good but he didn't want them to know it.

Crawling down the ditch, the G.I. found a spot that would allow him to rest his rifle while keeping some pressure off his arm. It hurt like hell, but that didn't matter now. Looking over the lip of the ditch then popping back down he saw two windows on the south side of the house. Breathing deeply he readied himself. Sliding his Garand into position, he began to fire into the windows. Firing 8 rounds in between the windows, he slide back down and began to slowly reload his rifle.

At the same time this was going on, Marion was plotting his next move. "You there, curly", pointing to the ginger with red curly hair, "I need you to go back that-a-way", motioning to the wooded area, "and find Cavanaugh's second squad. Do whatever you have to but get those men up here. We need them and we need them now. We'll prove suppressing fire to get you into the woods and then your on your own. Once you link up with them, get them into the trees silently, and wait for my word. We'll need them when the time comes". Nodding his head, curly readied himself. Checking to see that everyone was loaded, Marion passed the word silently to surprise the Germans if possible. Simultaneously, Marion and the others began to lay into the concrete building once again. Firing in conjunction with each other to conserve ammo while giving the appearance of firing just a furiously, quickly 42 rounds went into the windows.

Hearing the order given Curly began to run. He had never run so fast in his entire life. sprinting into the woods he ducked behind the closest, thickest, widest tree he could find. Getting his breath, Curly rose up and began to move at a quick pace. Moving through the woods he came upon the building quicker than he expected. Rounding the corner he was met by three of the five G.I's that he had seen earlier. "Where are the others at", Curly asked quickly, looking around for them as he said it. One of the men, who had a dent in his helmet by the looks of it replied, "Don't know. One moment they where here, the next they were gone. What's going on? We've been hearing tons of shooting all over the place. Wheres sergeant Cavanaugh." Curly didn't have time to answer all of Wroth's questions, but he explained what he could. Getting the men up to speed on what had been happening, Curly went over what sergeant Carroll had explained to him, "After we get into the woods, we're supposed to set up behind the trees and aim at the building across the road. Also, we're not supposed to fire until sarge gives the order to. Got it" Nodding in reply to Curly's orders the men began to calm slightly from Curly's eyes. They had been sitting here the whole time not knowing what was going on or what to do. Now they had a focus and were happy to have it.Spreading out into a skirmish line, newly deemed second squad advanced into the treeline. setting up they aimed their rifles at the windows of the building. Unsure of what to do now but wait, they did as they were told. They waited...

Finishing his most recent clip, Marion quickly reached into his bandoleer and grabbed another clip of rounds. His men doing the same, they kept their rifles trained on the building constantly. Marion could see that the battle was having an effect on the men under his command. Some were beginning to get a feel for it and were sliding into that groove, while a few others were beginning to dart their eyes left to right. "Steady boys, Steady. You're doing well, each and every one of you are making me proud", Marion said quickly, and found, to his surprise, that he really meant it. Breathing in deep, he wished he had a cigarette to smoke, but knew that none were to be found close by. Closing his eyes for a brief second, Marion silently recanted the lords pray. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen", finishing the pray Marion prepared himself.

Map: imageshack.com/a/img24/5315/4ip2.png

OOC: I wanted to ask out of curiosity, the combat knife, does that double as a bayonet on here.