Thread by @GermanSchteel

It's time for Das Finale 2! Welcome back to "why am I even still following this idiot" and today we're gonna start taking a look at Das Finale 2 of Girls und Panzer.

Where we last left off, the engagement for Ooarai went south against a surprisingly united BC Freedom...

>had Ooarai entrapped on a bridge with no cover and no room to maneuver
>didn't manage to nab a single kill

Well, they scared them at least.

To recap: This is Marie, leader of BC Freedom's Senshado team.

I wouldn't ask where she manages to keep fresh cake inside of her tank. That definitely was not the cake she was eating in the previous chapter.

You see, kids? This is what happens when you get together and actually work as a team.

Stuff happens.

These two are great, I love them.

But they're so much better when they're on the edge of killing each other, don't @ me on that.

Marie knows it. Her subordinates are much better when they're trying to kill each other and not working together and possibly planning some kind of united coup that would dethrone her.

That's how one keeps the peons down, keep them fighting each other.

translation: Long live BC, go!

Unlike Das Finale 1, DF 2 doesn't waste time getting back into the action. And this time Ooarai has not wasted time regrouping to catch up with them.

>tfw i actually would like to see the girls get dusted up and unkempt over the course of a match because girls working hard is aesthetic

It ain't fair.

I'm sure the two probably want to say "just put the cake back into your minifridge" but are too respectful of Marie to say it.

Like Nonna and Klara to Katyusha except instead of cooperating to simp for Katy, they're just hatefucking each other.

>images preceding unfortunate events

And we get reintroduced back to Ooarai now, with their newest addition, the Mark IV tank.

If this is your first piece of GuP Media and you're wondering why a Mark IV is even here, you've missed out on quite a bit.

I don't think it's appreciated enough that Ogin is the one that recognizes Momo is the commander and not Miho, and thus has to constantly remind Miho who's puppeteering behind it.

That's loyalty to a tee.

oh no.

The Bocage.

We'll get to this in just a second but suffice to say, Ooarai's gonna have some environmental challenge ahead of them.

A protracted battle for Ooarai doesn't exactly favor Miho, especially in something like the hedgerows. Even though they still have numerical parity, BC Freedom's more balanced line up along with the terrain advantage means that it'll be a uphill battle.

Miho accepts responsibility. Sure, Yukari was fooled, but Miho as the XO should've taken more care to train Momo to the task of commanding the team and to actually further her scouting of BC Freedom beyond just a single spy mission.

In this case, she got lucky no one got got.

As was stated before, BC Freedom is a school merged from two other schools (BC and Freedom Academy). If the translations are right (and they usually are, shout out to /ak/ subs) someone did a dumb thing merging two very hostile schools together.

However, their theorycrafting leads to them their best possible way of beating them.

That their recent union isn't as "perfect" as Andou and Oshida have made it out to be.

We get reminders that Hana is into flower arranging (and went into Senshado to make her flowers prettier) every now and again.

Queen of the Night refers to a particular cactus species that flowers only once a year and lives for a very short time.

Momo demonstrates another issue with her taking commander. Speculation is important to figuring things out. When you don't have all the facts, you kind of have to try and guess otherwise you're just blind.

That said though Saori pipes up with something.

As was demonstrated in Der Film, Saori actually keeps a self-illustrated book of tanks on hand for quick identification. It's an understated charm to her position as RO that she isn't just fiddling with radios all the time.

This time, she's got something important.

The turret on the SOMUA S35 and the Char B1bis are APX-1 turrets. The SOMUA's turret is a variant known as APX-1 CE, with a larger turret ring. The intent was to allow for "one and half man" crew inside the turret.

i.e. radio operator gets up and occasionally helps out.

What does this mean? It means it's time for a little "accidental" blue-on-blue.

Even Yukari has to complement Saori on something even she didn't spot.

But that aside, they've got a plan now. And it means tracking the Frenchies down to their natural hidey-holes.

Those of you who are enthusiastic about the topic of WW2 have probably heard about the Normandy bocage more than once. And it is infamous for a variety of reasons.

Established in Roman times, the French bocage became one of the great obstacles of the Normandy breakout.

Bocage and hedgerows are often used interchangeably. But hedgerows are the most recognizable feature of the Normandy bocage. You might think they're just shrubs and plants, but nope.

These are whole trees on top of mounds of dirt that can be up to fifteen feet tall.

It was these hedgerows that grew around large open fields not much bigger than a few football fields in length. Where pre-sighted artillery, machine gun teams in the sunken lanes, and anti-tank guns hid among the foliage hamstrung the Allied advance for weeks.

It was especially rough for tanks as well. The hedgerows themselves got to be taller than the tanks. Hidden sunken lanes could trap your tank. And around every tree or under every bush could be some kraut with a Panzerfaust ready to ruin your day.

To clear hedgerows, you usually needed fairly powerful explosives, a big dozer blade, or the field-expedient cutters that gave the name "Rhino" to the tanks fitted to them.

But to make the point clear, attacking through the hedgerows was a laborious and costly process.

Stephen Ambrose once said that "No terrain in the world was better suited for defensive action".

And that's how Marie thinks BC Freedom will win, by bringing the fight to their gardens.

Or in this case, probably her actual garden.

Frankly speaking, everyone's said that at some point.

That said though, it was one thing for Marie to be lounging about in the open when deliberately trying to draw Ooarai into a trap. It's another when she has to conduct a defensive action that may involve deep penetration.

Chalk it up to a bit of the old overconfidence.

That said, GuP is kinda understating how bad fighting in the hedgerows was by making their hedgerows only taller than the hulls of their tanks. Were Marie a little smarter, she'd have chosen a place with a bit more height and a lot more narrow passages.

This'll come back later.

As you can see here, these hedges are more the garden variety hedges. They're not the mean bush that one's forefathers had to fight through just to get to the other side of the field.

This path Ooarai is charging down is wide as fuck. The bocage of Normandy were a lot less wide.

As a result, the fighting is more conventional, with the hedges posing purely a cover/concealment issue rather than "where the fuck are these fucking frogs i can't see them"

And here we can see that Miho and crew simply blast their way through the hedges to go around.

Yeah, Marie chose the ground poorly. I guess that just goes with being smoll as she is.

That said, it's not entirely fish in a barrel. From Miho's POV here, she can't see the ground behind the hedges.

This was a real problem with artillery observation. The Krauts had already pre-sighted the place, but Allied FOs couldn't see where their shots landed for correction.

One other thing that Marie chose poorly is that while the Hedges don't entirely cover her tanks, the hedges the invaders are taking actually completely disguise theirs.

So while Miho is going around for the flank, she's also gathering vital info on enemy positioning.

And importantly, she's having multiple people count off on what they see to create a bigger picture of where everything is inside of the hedgerows.

As a result, Miho now has a basic understanding of where everyone is.

Something that probably wouldn't be available to the Allies in the Normandy breakout. But then again, if this were simulating the actual hedgerow fighting, we'd be here for at least two months.

Thusly, Sodoko, normally the one who's the biggest stickler for the rules, is doing quite possibly one of the more underhanded things in Senshado (that isn't what Alisa does anyway).

It's hard to portray in images, but Leopon is performing a maneuver that allows them forward momentum while keeping their angling against the enemy. It's gently rocking each tread forward bit by bit.

I think it's called Crab Crawling, but someone please correct if it ain't.

At the very least, Andou and Oshida are on top of each other (lol) and are calling out things as they see them properly.

That means support is provided where it needs to be thrown at.

As they provide supporting fire though (note that that their barrels aren't perfectly flat. They're engaging at distance after all), when a shot pings one of the ARLs from behind.

And this is where the hedges work against BC Freedom. Because their tanks are only visible turret up, they only see the incredibly similar looking turret of the B1bis (nevermind that it's the wrong color).

Oshida almost calms the situation down, at least until she sees it for herself.

For those wondering, the S35 and the B1bis only have about 5 or 6 inches height difference, which at the ranges portrayed would be practically imperceptible.

Oshida's response is as expected.

As funny as the situation is, BC Freedom has got itself caught in a basic IFF situation. Something friendly shot at them, so who was it?

At the very least, they're doing their best to calm the situation down.

I only just noticed this now, but the S35 that Oshida is shouting it actually bobs its gun up and down while talking like a Red vs Blue character and now I'm giggling.

It's clear from Oshida's tone of voice that she clearly doesn't trust what the peon is saying, but can't prove the point wrong. Not to mention as she turns to go back to position, she takes another look back just in case...

And here you can see the difference in color between the two turrets. But it doesn't matter to Oshida or the Escalators. It's the turret from a SOMUA, er go, low class.

It's a good thing that BC Freedom brought out its dress blues.

CUZ IT'S TIME FOR BLUE ON BLUE.

Andou, who probably can only see the bursts of fire and explosions behind her near the front, doesn't take the news very well.

Though kudos to that SOMUA for knocking out an ARL 44.

So eager to repay the Escalators that Andou and her wingman end up scraping with each other briefly squeezing through a hole they've blown in the hole.

One wonders why don't they just make two different teams for one school.

As this fight goes on, one wonders how such a thing could've been averted.

Anything from "we're receiving reports of a SOMUA in our lines firing at people. Everyone call out and cease fire" to rechecking reports of where SOMUAs are supposed to be, etc.

I'm just armchairing tho.

It's almost tragic in a way (and tragedy is gonna be the running theme of Das Finale 2 IMO) because this fight between the two factions shows that they're not just throwing lemons at the wall to see what sticks.

They're actually individually competent at the sport.

That said, another SOMUA goes down, as does another ARL 44. That's already four tanks taken care of at least, their defensive line against Ooarai has completely collapsed, and their tanks are in full Civil War mode.

Meanwhile, at the Picnic of Doom.

Yeah, in all the midst of the fighting, they've been so caught up in trying to kill each other that no one thought to tell Marie that there's actions quite perfidious in the FOB.

fuck

the most hilarious thing is that she keeps the expression through the next shot as well even as her crew are beating feet back to the tank.

But as stated before, four tanks down, six left. That puts them at a severe numerical disadvantage, compared to Ooarai which hasn't even lost a single tank and while they have their little spat is right now maneuvering for the final blow.

Absolutely no fear in Marie as she just runs up to the front of a moving tank to hop over and mount it.

RAMMING SPEED

The difference in their eyes is palpable, you can just see their inner workings.

Andou going: "this is for the taiyaki you bullshit you put me through and all those times you called me a peasant you fucking whore"

Oshida: "FUCKING PEASANTS REEEEEEEEEEEEE"

The clubs and spades aren't just decorative flair, they're for distinguishing platoons as seen on the actual French tanks.

According to this website: france1940.free.fr/armee/colours.…

As for the heart, Marie has it, and is the only one with it as the full commander for the team.

But as for the Diamond, as pointed out to me by a cool dude in /ak/, it belongs to alumni Azumi.

SPEAKING OF MARIE THOUGH

This is probably the part where Marie won over so many people. Not because she's particularly good at authority, or the fact that she hasn't needed to raise her voice at anybody, etc.

It's because she's a fucking -blob- of a person just wiggling under tank guns.

And then she does pulls this fucking cartwheel like it's no big fucking thing.

Goddamn she's flexible.

And it's back to the fucking Looney Tunes shenanigans with these two.

Completely forgetting that they're in the middle of a fight with Ooarai.

The fact that insults increasingly devolve into random French in-jokes only further highlights the fact that these are just Japanese girls pretending to be French and I love it.

And of course, the culprit is immediately revealed. Of course, Oshida doesn't care, all she sees is S35-looking turret and a scratch on one of her ARLs (I didn't point this out before, but note the battle scarring on the tanks, it's quite good.)

And of course, Marie further demonstrates her cat-like behavior by just running across Oshida's gun barrel like it's nothing to pose a simple mathematical question.

Andou's smug look of "Yep" gives me energy.

Is one extra.

The logical math of course is:

2 ARLs defeated
2 SOMUAs defeated

6 tanks should be left, 3 ARLs, 1 FT, 2 SOMUAs.

Even Marie, tub of lard that she is, recognizes that Oshida has fucked up severely.

But of course, they can't dwell on it now. They're still in the middle of a match after all.

Thus they go on the hunt for their culprit. Here, Marie actually blasts a hole in the hedges with her 37mm, only further compounding that these are just garden hedges that offer very little cover when even a piddly 37mm's HE can blast a hole through them.

And finally the culprit revealed. They actually did paint their turret a different color, but not the actual hull itself.

As it stands, the gambit paid off beautifully, all for the price of their lives.

oof

God even the fucking lighting changes, I love it.

As long as they understand they made a mistake, it's all gucci.

In this case, much of the ferocious reaction from Oshida may have been genuine hurt at being betrayed by the Examiners. But now it's back to being friends.

Or as good as friends as they can get.

It would seem to be too late however. As their infighting has collapsed their lines, put them at a numerical disadvantage, and allowed their enemy to take the bocage and turn it from home into the killing fields.

And this is where the hedgerows truly show the terror of not being able to see what's on the other side. They've become so tall now that Ooarai's tanks are concealed perfectly.

Which means that as they squeeze the pocket tighter, every corner BC turns could have enemy tanks.

One ARL stays behind to block up for the rest to flee.

As this goes on, you've probably noticed that we actually haven't seen Miho in person in quite some time. I think this is a deliberate part of Das Finale 2's (and probably the series overall) greater focus on the rivals.

After all, Miho and her story are practically finished. So what's left?

Well, seeing how the Senshado world carries on after some of Miho's greatest victories. Sports isn't just world saving antics after all, it's people coming together to be the best they can be.

BC Freedom continues to flee as they lose yet another tank to an ambush, and the blocker from behind gets knocked out (while also eliminating the Lee in return).

It seems now that Miho has actually forced BC Freedom to flee into an actual hedgerow hell.

GUTS GUTS GUTS

Instead they just get crushed between the two.

You can't fault their bravery, only their results.

Andou gives their turret a scraping shot, which sends their turret freely spinning about.

Which I'm pretty sure doesn't actually happen in tanks like this but I'll allow it because it's hilarious.

Note all the stuff flying around, from volleyballs to bullet casings, to duck heads, to fruit, etc.

That's a lot of stuff to squeeze into the Type 89.

The FT pulls a sick slide back with the kill shot set up.

Meanwhile, inside the Type 89, Noriko and Akebi are spinning around.

ALL YOURS, MADAM

Marie just looks so done right now, as if thinking "welp, we lost, may as well make a show of it."

And truly, I think they really did realize "yep, we're done here." It's one thing to fight against Miho, but you're fighting against her while lost in the terrain, with more than half the team gone, and while surrounded.

May as well make a show of it to the end.

Oshida ends up biting it first, chasing Ooarai's flag right into the gun barrel of the History Club's StuG III. They trade with each other.

After their astonishing success against Ooarai in DF 1, they just couldn't seal the deal. And this is one thing in Girls und Panzer that separates it from most sports stories.

BC Freedom is a good team, but they weren't good enough. Here, they were just simply outplayed.

The P Tiger ambushes Marie at an opening, but Andou quickly knocks Marie out of the way and takes the bullet (somehow remaining in her seat).

All of her escorts dead, Marie is the last man standing.

They started singing the L'Oignon song together, but now Marie is the lone signing as she tries and fails desperately to seek out an opening to escape, only to find the enemy around every single corner.

A ray of hope though, she somehow finds the Flag on its own. If she could run it down and get a shot into the rear, she could pull the same thing Miho has done in the series! And then this could be a story about BC Freedom going through the tournament instead of Ooarai!

nope

Outgunned ahead, outgunned from behind. There is no escape.

welp

SASUGA

Fukuda writing down has the same energy as Patrick tbh

Oh yeah, remember Anzio was supposed to be watching?

Yeah, they missed it again.

Andou internally: Least it wasn't my fucking fault we lost lol

And for now, that's where BC Freedom's story ends. Had they managed to maintain their cohesion a little longer, they might've made a better go at beating Miho. But not this time.

Oshida and Andou meet with their senpai, Azumi, at the end of the day. Seems BC Freedom ever since Azumi left has been on the rocks, slipping from grace.

Instead of scolding them for losing because of bleu-on-bleu shenanigans, Azumi instead encourages them. After all, they have the tools in place, they just need the hands to come together to use them properly.

And from there, Oshida and Andou take the lessons to heart.

Like the young students learning from the master. After all, Azumi learned how to work with Rumi (Jatkosota) and Megumi (Saunders). Surely these two can work together, yeah?

They're not gonna bang though, one thing at a time.

you know where she is

This'll be the first tournament that Miho will go through where she can finally enjoy herself and cut loose. After everything from the series and Der Film, she's already living her happy ending.

But for BC Freedom, you could say this is the start of their own story.

GLADLY

With that though, the match is over, and the team begins to come back aboard with their bout of shore leave over.

And with that, I'll have to put a pause on this until next time. But before I go, let me say a few things.

I've mentioned before that Das Finale 2 has a running theme of tragedy, at least in my opinion. In this, BC Freedom's successful start got thrown away by lingering hatred, exploited by their enemy. Almost like something from a fable.

It's only gonna get worse as we go on.

The reason for that? We're getting a much greater focus on the rivals this time. Unlike in the main series where defeat of the rivals was a necessity, for Das Finale 2 it isn't that way.

This is where it really sucks to root for the underdog.

Ooarai has now become a powerhouse school in its own right. While it may not have the numbers on their side, they have skill, experience, and most importantly one of the great Senshado prodigies.

The series and Der Film has built up to making them the enemy to beat.

And in short, with more focus being put on the rivals, that means Ooarai has now become the Boss Battle for teams that have hopes and dreams of winning it big in the tournament.

Das Finale and all the rest are gonna be wild.

Until then though, I'll see you next time.