Company of Heroes: An Epic Battle!
A while back my friends and I decided to play a game of Company of Heroes. We played a map that I tend to enjoy, which was the Montargis Region map. It seemed that neither of my other friends had much experience on this map, and so it was going to prove to be an interesting battle.
We each planned on holding a side of the map, against enemy forces. I believe it was 3 Normals and one Hard. I was in the center, and my job was to hold the central area, and help my friend Okanieba with the Left flank. Okanieba was to secure the dias and then lock down the area between it and me. Haggerty (spelling?) was on the Right flank, with 'Zack' assisting my Center and the Right flank.
The game started with a push on both flanks. I secured the middle against what I knew was going to be a strong push down the center. Being british, I couldn't set up tank traps, so I was telling Okanieba to run a long stretch of tank traps and barbed wire from the dias all the way to the center. I think he thought I was joking :)
I built a AT gun, and a machine gun nest to the left of the center, where you see my blue units near the green line in the map above. This was to counter the eventual flank attack due to the center being locked down. The green line is how I envisioned the tank traps being set up. That is usually how I set them up anyhow.
Having locked down the center, and with Haggerty and Zack pushing the Right flank, the Germans began to sneak in on the Left flank. I don't believe we actually noticed the enemy flanking attempt at the time of this screenshot. My engineers were running barbed wire where I wanted the tank traps built, as Okaneiba's guys were occupied. Meanwhile I was locking down my Engineering HQ just to the rear of that position, in the fuel points. That was placed so it would be close to the main defenses.
This is when we realized we had been flanked. My men were still laying barbed wire, but it was too late. The line had been broken and tanks were already rolling at us. The enemy pioneers were harassing the men at my Engineering HQ. The right flank however seemed to be going fairly well. I had an engineer over there running barbed wire, and assisting with building an AT gun, but that wasn't ultimately needed in the long run. This is where I should of focused more on the left flank.
They began to mass on the left flank, and their tanks encountered my AT guns, which kept them at bay for the most part. However there was still a gap between my defenses and the dias, and that was the critical failure.
Once the enemy discovered this, they exploited it without hesitation, using the gap in our lines to outflank my defenses. With one AT Gun, and tanks approaching from the front and rear, it was very tough to keep those defenses alive. The rest of the map had very little action at this time. I was calling for assistance from the right flank, as I knew this was bad.
My static defenses holding the line, but useless against the flanking army.The others all rushed over to help plug our shattered defense, but they had already dug in, and pushing them out was going to be tough.
I had to retreat my Engineering HQ and my static defenses were destroyed. I had no units alive, and I thought this was the end. But the right flank was secured, and Okaneiba was defending his base, which was under attack. Haggerty and zack were both helping on the left flank with any units they could spare, but it still didn't look good. The Axis powers were also pushing on the center with 2 tanks...
Zack brought in a Churchill and basically saved the center. It destroyed at least one of the two tanks, and disrupted the infantry push enough to give Okaneiba and myself a chance to rebuild our defenses. At this point I had 3 twenty-five pounder artillery guns, which were firing in an almost endless barrage in order to sustain the lines.
While we weren't able to secure much, we did lock down some points and fortify our line. With our push however, the Axis forces decided to try the right flank, and Zack and Haggerty had to recall their forces to defend against them.
Zacks Churchill holding the line against a heavy Axis push o the right flank.
With the Axis advance halted on the Left side, they push very heavy on the Right. Zack holds off a push of infantry with his Churchill. Meanwhile Okaneiba and myself continue to fortify and rebuild our forces.
The Germans push thru the center, and begin attacking my defenses with infantry.
My guns however do not fall silent, and continue to fire as they are being attacked. I had 5 twenty-five pounders at this point, and they were firing almost non stop the entire time.
We were however being over run. This was it... All or nothing.
I believe it was Haggerty who came in with 6 Greyhounds. They were effective at cutting off the Axis advance in the center, and continued to isolate the Axis forward positions on the Left side. However they were very beaten up at this point and had to pull back. But this bought us a lot of time.
After quickly repairing the greyhounds, the allied forces made another push against the left flank, from the front this time. Meanwhile the Axis forces reinforced the left flank, making it a little more difficult to move in on them. Heavy artillery support by myself, really helped stem the Axis's ability to push however, and gave us the upper hand.
Finally regaining control of the fuel points, the Allied forces continued to push the front. Haggerty's greyhounds assisted my engineers in pushing the left flank towards the Dias, and Okaneiba and Zack pushed into the center with a pincer type attack backed by armor units.
The Axis forces countered back into the fuel points, which at this point were nothing but bombarded ruins. But it didn't last long. They were not able to secure anything as my artillery was pounding them steadily.
The greyhound push for the left flank with my engineers was successful. We also countered the temporary counter attack of the Axis forces and re-took the fuel points. The center was being held mainly with artillery, and the right flank was quiet for the most part.
The Axis however didn't give up, and again pushed our weak spot (the fuel points). But the greyhounds had the ability to flank their push, and a pincer type attack contained their push. Meanwhile I believe Zack had a Churchill crocodile out on the right flank, which was wreaking havoc with the minimal defensive line.
While Zack, Okaneiba, and myself held the left and center lines, Haggerty found a weak spot, and broke through the right flank with a few tanks. Encountering little resistance, he pushed straight for the first base he encountered. The Axis forces pulled back from the left and center lines in order to counter Haggerty, however it was too late.
Okaneiba and Zack began pushing in the left flank, while I defended the center with artillery and emplacements. The Axis forces were still pushing the center, which was a big mistake, as we had flanked them on both sides.
Their push was short lived, however, as most of their forward units were wiped out. The right flank push had successfully cleared the first base, and the left flank was making good progress against the remaining defensive forces.
Allied tanks broke thru and secured the remaining Axis bases, while infantry slowly cleared behind them. The battle was won. An epic battle at that!