The night was silent, the only sound in the city rubble was the noise made by the Sherman tanks and halftracks as they worked their way through the disaster that used to be a beautiful city.
Sitting on top of his cupola, Lt. Richards smoked a Lucky Strike and watched the snow fall down towards him, it was mesmerizing. They only had a few more kilometers to go the bivouac point, and everyone was relaxed. Allied air cover had swept the area for the last three days, and found no enemy movement at all. The locals gave them wine and fresh bread, it was amazing to see them so industrious in so much ruin. If only the allied army had held out last year in France, this whole mess would already be over, and he’d be home gardening. God, how he missed California.
The stars were up there, but barely visible in the moonless sky, just because of the snow streaming down like miniature white meteors driven by a high wind. None of the streetlights were on, and the dim headlights of the M4’s could barely pierce the white fog. Some of the ground troops carried flashlights to avoid stepping on rusty iron bars left from the bombing campaign, others just used zippos and walked carefully.
The lead tank, three up in the formation from Richards, exploded in a fireball at 21:11, the turret was flung up into the air at least twenty meters, and he knew instantly that there were no survivors. “We’re under attack!” he screamed into the wind, but with no radios, there was no way to communicate with the other vehicles. Infantry were scrambling around like roaches, seeking whatever cover they could find.
I built up the older version of this not too long ago and it’s not bad. There might be some warpage in the upper hull, but careful gluing will fix that. If this is the same as the older kit, then watch out for the exhausts- the PE supports aren’t too useful and break easily.
chtulhu77, that’s a really cool intro!! I’m looking forward to seeing what blasted that lead tank!! BTW, I think it would be awesome if you kept the alternative history storyline going by adding a little more with each WIP post! Maybe resulting in a climactic battle sequence right before your finished build post?! Panther II vs. M26 Pershing???
The Germans pushed back the Allies into France in 1945? Wild.
That is an interesting intro. I guess we know what brewed the lead tank. hehe I always liked this guy. I heard it had some inaccuracies, but can’t recall them. Does it come with any PE?
Please continue on with the story. Curious to see if maybe Otto Carius is commanding the new Panther.
Nice lead-in to whet the appetite, cthulhu–make sure when you build that gun and mantlet that you put a semi-circle of plastic tube unger the mantlet where the gun would go through the mantlet and into the turret–you can even see it on the box art where and how it needs it–see that white space beneath the mantlet right where it joins the turret? You need to fill that in there so that the gun doesn’t look like it ends in the mantlet.
Nice subject and backstory cthulhu77! Black is an interesting base color for it. If you want, you can include it in the Endgame 1946 GB as it meets all requirements. Keep up the good work!
(note: don’t worry, the SS don’t win this engagement)
Part 2:
The Uhu 251 was hidden in the woods just outside the buildings, hull down and under complete netting, but that did not interfere with the infra-red system mounted on it’s back. Through the eyepiece, Kraamer saw the first tank go up in a puff of white, and quickly moved his targeting system to the rear of the column. If they could get them stuck, the tankers could wipe out the entire batch of invaders.
The 6000 watt infra-red light tracked the column slowly, while the passive sensors on the Panther II’s and the X-7’s sucked in the information, applying it to their targeting systems. Through the viewfinder, the Allied tanks appeared as wobbling green images, some now moving faster, others with turrets swinging around, searching for a target that was invisible.
Another X-7 left its cradle in a plume of smoke, Erich could see the heat trail as it fried the way to hit another Zippo at the base of the turret. He looked away as the entire scope went bright green, the tank had exploded, and cascading debris rained down around the Shermans and half-tracks. The troops scurried about, looking for anyplace to hide.
SS sharpshooters began taking them down, even the small Vampir scopes could fasten onto the passive infra-red signatures, and the STG-44’s caused even more havoc in the ranks. Frantic yells over the wind came echoing over the rubble, and the Allied formation dissolved into a total rout.
His tank lurched as the massive 88mm gun fired at the rear M-4, the sound was deafening, and he shook his head to try to hear what the radio link between the Uhu and himself was spitting out.
“Tank Destroyers!” it was a frantic yelp, “On your right flank!” He pulled out his IR binoculars, and saw what the Sdkfz 251 driver was panicked about. Three large barreled tanks with white stars on them came rumbling down the other street, towards their positions. Most Panther commanders would have panicked, but he just grinned. He wasn’t worried about them firing at his group at all.
“Rudolph to Viking. Rudolph to Viking. You have some company.”
Even through the wind, he could here the Maus tanks’ turrets rotating.
