Yesterday, we were assaulting Montis map V94 from our nearby A base. I mostly tank having spent 12 years in air. I initially didn't like the new M18 much. Seemed like a tracked M8 with the power of the old M8 AP..yet with more drop to the rounds. But it goes fast! It is smooth! And isn't a deliberately high black/brown target like the T34, my favorite ride so far, which stands out like gamma rays from quasars even at the twilight of AH night. The only hiding it is in the sun as it shines through AH's mountain ranges at their roots...that powerful laser-sun that can breach & burrow though hundreds of miles of dense soils, virtual magma and any tectonic plate they've modeled.
Anyway, I got to teh (<--- internet accepted spelling revision and permutation of "the"...when typing speed is more important than OCD in grade school spelling) base early to strip out the ack with the M18's HE. V94 is rimmed by hills so I was able to lurk and reappear circling the base to get all the ack & soft gunnery. Soon, an M3 upped and various other tanks in anticipation of a all out GV assault. I radioed/chatted that a GV battle was brewing and soon had some other hardened & adept tank commanders arriving. sspears, zapper, tech? & roma (sorry can't remember the exact names but feel free to fill it in below).
The heavy gun M3, which upped, came out near where I had been. I was listening to his sortie from another hillside since I had moved. He was firing upon the arriving mates and not posing too much of a threat. I alerted them he was there and settled into spotting for the heavy tanks my mates were bringing in. I could see the entire battle field and realized that I could also see every ack from my position. So, as they would pop I would eliminate them. Getting good with the "feel" of the M18 drop.
For gvs, there is no range gage built in to narrow the first shot. We must bracket. Okay fine. (Submarines have scale silhouettes to superimpose range for torp solutions). Sometimes you only get one shot, and while your loader is at work, you can take incoming from an nme tank, especially if he is good. We should have these ranging silhouettes for tanks to range that first shot using tanks, even buildings and things. It would increase the initial lethality & danger and some would cry, but it would be realistic.
Anyway, the M3 was sitting over there patient and might have forgotten about me, the reason he came up the hillside in teh first place, to see if I might become his prey. I couldn't see him but I decided to venture over there to hunt him down. I came close and shut down knowing that I was being heard. After about 5 minutes he decoy-started and shut down, the typical ruse you get used to in GV'er world. That helped me a lot. But he started again and I immediately started and went his direction and shut down facing away from his base 94 but where I thought he was.
You know that the tubed M3 is more difficult to aim with its limited swing turret. So I figured I had some time if I wasn't in-the-swing. I looked in the direction of his sound and He wasn't where I thought he would be. I scanned to my right and he was facing his base just sitting there. I guess he was looking for me but not facing my direction. He was broadside, fat and as if showcased for tactical aiming practice. Usually, I will tickle an nme about to die with a bit of MGs, just so he has time to stress out, that he can know for an agonizing moment that death is imminent, that he will soon be thrust back to his humble tower, upon that virtual stretcher which carries the body bags of the hapless dead. So, as I say, it happened. <S> M3.
But our spawn was removed. Our base was taken, stranding us from continuing this fight. We weren't about taking the V94, we just wanted good GV action. And we got it, for a little while. There should be some way to paralyze bombt*a*r*d*s from masturbating over good GV battles with their bombwads. When GV's fight, many times they are not progressing to take any base. Ya think? Tards cry when you come back in fighters and remove them. They say you ho'd when you didn't and other feeble complaints for actually furnishing resistance arriving to deny them their chronic propensity for ejaculate upon gv'rs.
I heard one of my mates had gotten turreted and there was no way to up supps for him since our originating base was shut down. So I decided to go land my M18 and return by C47 to resupply them. I told them I would return with supps. This meant a NOE flight to assure I wasn't being detected. Now this can be accomplished pretty easy, I find, by zooming in tight while in rearview or even in cockpit standard view. This gives you a great feel for your height while flying along very close to the ground.
After a few minutes I arrived and had to elevate to see who was still there. I saw only one fellow. He said zapper, who was turreted was being chased by the guy who turreted him, so two guys were left. I didn't see zapper so tech? vectored me in the direction and soon I saw his black plume and the M4 that was relentlessly chasing him, wanting that kill and to deny him landing kills.
Now I had climbed to 1500 ft to look around and was now being tracked on nme dar. They had a base sorta close so I needed to do this fast if I was to get back. I saw a red dar appear so an interception was OTW for defenseless me. I radioed zapper and told him I would drop ahead of him so he didn't have to wait for supps dropping by parachute. The M4 chasing him was not that far behind him. They both were quite far from the original battle area by the time I returned.
Having been in this situation many times, I knew the thrill of getting supps so you can have a fighting chance against your pursuer and maybe even land your kills. So I dropped 2 supps then circled to see what would happen. Zapper stopped and picked them up, then turned around immediately where he picked up the supps to face the M4 as he was fixated and advancing. This chase was at least 10 minutes long by now. Surely the M4 saw me and that I had dropped supps, but maybe not. Unlikely that he didn't. So as I circled above excited to see the outcome, zapper fired a facial AP and the M4 exploded. Helping like this? It felt great. Still does.
After that I saw a white dot in the distance, proving red darbar was specially initiated for me. No time for me to escape. I'm sure zapper's frustrated kill now at the tower would vector his bud in to nail me. So, to save time, agony and to frustrate this arriving air, salivating at killing me, I ditched about 5 miles away, in a desolate field, over a hill, my ignominious end to some real fun. Now, if only a jeep could have traveled to pick me up..maybe someday.
