Across The Rhine (PC, Microprose) #5: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The more I play this the fonder i am of Across the Rhine as the strange hybrid game it is: within a battle, there is highs and lows, strange incidents and encounters, and tactical and strategic considerations, as well as trying to take actions that would be worthy of some promotion. It seems the larger campaign against the US forces in Europe is going better than my recent failures would lead me to believe. This battle seemed like it would just further the westward push, but a stupid move on my part probably led to the defeat that this battle ended it (the recording though stopped oddly before the defeat screen appeared). I should have just stayed with the rest of the company, but some retreating US troop trucks i thought would be easy prey and I am wanting to really get promoted as with higher ranks comes more units under my command; however I forgot that there is quite some abstraction that goes into this game in regards to what each unit represents. Not only was failing to knockout the trucks, firing while chasing them, when ii got to close some much so that i actually rear-ended them, i was totally destroyed. Perhaps my choice of ammo was wrong, but also moving Panthers so close to infantry meant I was at more risk of whatever anti-tank weapons they have so they got lucky. It is a strange mix of abstraction and simulation, in that as a tank unit, representing several tanks, i am still dependent on have the turret facing the enemy, while for a other units it may just be a general area around them that their attack covers, and also I have armour vulnerabilities on my side and rear. So within that realm of abstraction it is left to ones imagination as how to the infantry took me out, which is something i kind of prefer to say games now where the expectation is for ones imagination to play no role. That realm of abstraction is also then what allows some space to make a quick digital painting that accompanies the video, of my Panthers being destroyed by the soldiers. I like to imagine they led me into a trap, and used bazookas and what not :)