Russia: Mission 1 - Retaking Taranovka

"Dimitri! Get your ass over here before I transfer you back to infantry!"
The Battalion Commander had a very special verbal arsenal at his disposal to get us to run quicker, his threats were meaningless (he was, after all, smiling) but we had to make a show. I dashed over to the green table.
"Today Dimitri, we retake Taranovka." He started, jabbing a finger at the towns position on the map.
"I don't care how you do it," he continued, "just don't run any one of our guys over. I only have two tank platoons, and I know you are experienced, so I know this push will count. We need Taranovka to retake Zeleny Gai, farther north," again, he pointed at it's location on the map.
"Understood sir, I'll do what I can."
"I know you will Dimitri, make me proud my boy!"
(Author inspects the battlefield before "buttoning up")I ran over to my tank, a T-34/76 model, it was a year old already but it hadn't seen much combat, my best friend, and loader, Ivan, constantly (bordering obsessively) repainted the red star on the turret, as well as the 10-10 identification code on the other side. This is what he was doing as I re-approached the tank.
"Time to go Ivan!"
"But Dim-"
"Ivan, we will have plenty of time for you to repaint your star later, let's go."
"Yes sir. Let's do this."
"Attaboy Ivan." I produced a theatrical smile and he punched me in the arm as we climbed into the cramped, two-man turret.

Call me paranoid, but any time we are going into battle I button the tank up. I don't want to think of an airburst artillery shell ripping Ivan and I to shreds. Perhaps this has led to my impressive track record with the Commander?
The driver (I feel bad, I haven't memorized his name yet) Fired up the motor and we were off, our platoon was the last one to move, the First platoon was already tearing the forest to shreds ahead. As we approached the building firefight I saw one of the platoons three tanks take a hit and go down, the men ran out of it burning, I didn't know them but it was a dagger to the heart to see my fellow comrades go down. Another tank returned fire and continued on. I suspected there wouldn't be much left by the time we reached the town. I spotted an anti-tank gun in my sights and ordered a stop. Ivan and I knew there wouldn't be many tanks so He had already loaded a high-explosive round. I fired...and it missed...I saw the men manning the gun start to turn it in my direction.
"IVAN LOAD THE GUN!"
"LOADED"
I fired again compensating for my mistake and right as the loader of the other gun had the round ready to go into the breech my round hit the shield, the gun hopped and spun about 90 degrees.
I breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the tank to continue forward. We rolled slowly down a dirt road in Taranovka, reaching the town without dispute, save a few ignorant Germans who fought alone or in pairs. A valiant group, fighting for the wrong cause. i scoped out another anti-tank gun and Ivan fumbled the round as he went to load it, I suppressed the position with the coaxial and when he finally loaded the gun I took care of the actual cannon. That was the end of the action. Two anti-tank guns is all I got for this? Better than death...
My right eye was ringed in red thanks to the hard cushioning on the gunsight, and my face was covered in grease, I have no idea how it got there. I must have been a sight when the Commander stepped out of the Zis truck he used as personal transport.
"Excellent Dimitri, I knew you could do it!"
"yeah...I-"
"Later Dimitri, celebrate your victories with your crew."
"Okay" I sighed.
Ivan procured a bottle of vodka and, as an honorable Russian, I wasn't about to refuse a drink...
(author's tank amidst one of his two kills, another destroyed gun can be seen in the background.)

Germany: Mission 1- Capturing Peschanoye

May 13th, 1942.

I arrived in the Kharkov area on a dewy morning. The Opel wasn't too kind to my back so if anything, I was grateful to be in my new combat zone. The division commander led me over to my new panzer, I wasn't expecting anything shiny but certainly something in better shape...
The Panzer IV that was to become my home, number 510. It's plating was gouged in spots, a fender tore up from what Radio Operator Heinz called, with dour humor, "a brush with a tree."
I met the tank commander, he would be calling out my targets and ordering everyone about. He was nice, unshaven, unkempt, but thus is war. I was brought up to speed on the "current tactical situation." but I didn't care very much. I was looking for war, and I didn't care how I got it.

At 1247 the war came to me. Artillery started whizzing over our heads as I went about bending the fender back into shape. The commander ran to the tank and yelled to me "Mount up!"
As I jumped in to my position in the gunlayer's seat he filled me in. There was an artillery regiment in a town just beyond Peschanoye, we couldn't get there fi because, "well, Peschanoye was in the way!" He said with a laugh. (This wartime humor hasn't made any sense to me yet.)
our Zug, or platoon, which was named Zug Adler (adler means eagle) was ordered to charge up the hill, which was entrenched by russians and anti-tank guns nearby.
(Panzer IV, unit 510, beginning the charge up the hill)
It was all of 2 minutes before we saw the first enemies. A pair of Russians somehow managed to get stuck in the forest and popped out on our side, I saw them first and took them down with the coaxial machine gun. I felt horrible. Here I was safe in this steel beast and these two barely had a chance to turn and run, no armor to protect them.
As we approached the top of the hill rounds started to ricochet off the tank.
Suddenly the commander's voice rang clear in my headset.
"12 'o' clock! Danger close! Soviet anti-tank gun position!"
"I can't see it! Load high explosive!" I yelled back.
"Loaded!"
We crested the hill and I saw the green-painted steel of a small caliber russian anti tank gun. It wasn't aimed at us. I let loose a sigh of relief and fired a round at the shield.

(Authors first kill)
I took down about 15 men on the top of that hill and another anti-tank gun, at least by myself, I didn't keep track of the assisted kills. I don't like shooting at people, but they are the enemy and I absolved to the idea that if they were in my position they wouldn't hesitate to mow me down.
I saw Peschanoye in my sights. A typical Ukrainian village, very quaint.
The commander yelled again
"10 'o' clock! About 700 meters! PANZER!"
"load armor piercing!"
"high explosive loaded sir!"
"damn..."
I fired the high explosive and the shot hit the left-side track of the tank, his track came apart and he was immobile.
"Armor peiercing loaded!"
I adjusted my aim and fired a plunging shot at his front armor. It apparently did the trick. The tank just stopped. It stopped doing everything and just sat there. My first real kill! I was elated.
We entered Peschanoye and there was very little resistance from the Russians, a few men here and there threw grenades at the tank but they didn't do any real damage, I took down another anti-tank gun.
Finally the shooting stopped and we were allowed to climb out of the tank. I head a massive headache.
The commander walked over to me, smiled, clapped me on the back and said "Good job Kurt."
I did my best to smile back, but I'm sure it wasn't a total smile. I leaned against the tank, smoking my first cigarette of the day.

Kills:
3x 45mm Anti-Tank Gun Mod. 1937 53-K
1x BT-5 Mod. 1934

Wilkommen!

For those who know me and those that don't, I'm Sledgehammer427, I am currently a moderator of the Tanksim.com sub-forum at SUBSIM.com (link below)
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=203

I've had a passion for tanks for a long time, I consider myself a historian and researcher, I will run analysis of tank battles by request and use my years of knowledge (I have no experience in tanks, but I've studied them and their crews) to give the request-er a plausible scenario.

Well what do you say I tell you why I made this?

I have a game called Steel Fury-Kharkov 1942, it's an armor simulation that places you in either a German tank or a Russian one. The scenarios in the stock game are based on real things that happened during the fighting in the Kharkov Pocket (a pocket is better illustrated as a bulge, e.g., the Battle of The Bulge. It happens when the front line of an advancing force (lets say blue) is pushed farther forward in a specific place rather than advancing as one line. On a map this would create a bulge, an enemy (red) can also create one if they attack a pair of weak spots in this line, creating a bulge in an attempt to complete a pincering maneuver. The attacking blue force would then have to fight on 3 fronts instead of one and would have to either retreat back to the formation or crush the attacking red forces entirely)

The fighting in the Kharkov area was so intense it was nicknamed "the meat grinder." Soldiers on both sides weren't apt to sugarcoat things like this.

I wanted to blog my experience in the fighting that goes on in this game, from the viewpoint of both a German tanker and a Russian one. There are no politics on this battlefield. One cannot hear Hitler's speeches or Stalin's mighty rallying calls. There are no propaganda posters, there are no crying civilians, no children, not even dogs. This is what war was like for the men that fought in these hot, growling, clanking monsters.

I play on the most realistic settings possible, I will only use external views because sometimes you need an out-of tank perspective.

First entry coming soon! :D