| Every year local gaming stores hold an event call Tanksgiving where players bring all their tanks and duke it out in a massive megabattle for the bragging rights of which team was able to organize the chaos and win. This year, the Icehouse Warriors in Newark, DE, played the event across three 4'x6' boards with forces being organized in 2000 point companies, with a max of 2 companies per player, from Mid-War. With 4 players on the Allied side and 3 players on the Axis side, objectives were placed in both deployment zones and No-Man's-Land. Three objectives per player are used with one in each of the described areas, holding objectives nets that team victory points that are calculated at the end with the addition of the number of platoons killed. |
Axis
| Allies
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TURN 1
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| Deployment of the Axis Left flank, featuring Brien's Tiger company. |
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| Deployment of the Axis Right flank, featuring Rob's companies and Chris's companies in the center of the field. |
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| Allied deployment with all 3 Soviet hordes covering the middle and Right flank, so many T-34s... |
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| Allied deployment of the lone US Armored player, Ron, holding down the Left flank. |
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| Axis forces push forward into No-Man's-Land to capture objectives and to take advantage of what cover is available. |
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| Brien's Tigers and Panzer IIIs along with Chris's StuGs open up on the US Stuarts in an attempt to eliminate the speedy and deadly light armor platoon but only manage to destroy 2. |
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| Chris's Tigers advance into No-Man's-Land and and taking what cover they can find. From their positions, they unload into the T-34s hiding in the woods, but being conscript several shots hit their marks, killing off a few. |
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| Adding to the damage done to the T-34's, Rob focuses his Panthers on the same Company, taking out a few more. He then uses his StuGs to destroy a Soviet SU-76 positioned near the T-34s in a different set of woods. |
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| A view of the battlefield as the turn swing to the Allies, having suffered rather light casualties, the Mobile Battle special rule will undoubtedly benefit them. |
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| The allies use their movement wisely as Ron move's his Stuarts out of the fire of the Axis forces to swing them on a wide flank. The rest of the Allied forces advance their Soviet hordes towards the No-Man's-Land to take objectives and face down the German tanks. |
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| Ron's Priest battery lands a perfect Time on Target strike on one of Brien's Tigers, and manages to destroy it. Following suit, Jesse's KV-3, with it's massive 107mm cannon, targets another Tiger, destroying it as well. |
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| These StuGs of Chris's quickly succumb the to rarest of circumstances, with one StuG already bogged down, the other four suffer exactly four hits from Jon's 57mm ATGs. They promptly fail every save, managing 3 bails and 1 destroyed. With 0 operational units and a singular destroyed Stug, they must motivate; but in the end they cannot and run off the board in the first turn! |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:A fairly ineffective opening round of shooting and because of Mobile Battle, the 15cm guns were not used. Casualties caused were light but the center way taken along with it's bounty of objectives. Victory Points Earned: 6 Allies:Surviving the initial swing is always important, and the Allies did exactly that. They followed it up with a very tide turning strike of causing the StuGs to run and destroying two Tigers holding the flank. Victory Points Earned: 6 | |
TURN 2
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| Brien's Panzer IIIs move up to help fill the gaps that the burning Tigers have left. |
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| Chris and Rob both close the gap with Chris's Tigers taking the slack the StuGs left and Rob's Panzers advancing to cut down the Soviet Lend Lease Stuarts and incoming T-34s. |
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| Brien's Tigers take a minor revenge swing and destroy a Lee while Chris's 15cm guns range in to strike the KV-3s and T-34s but only destroy a single T-34. |
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| Combine fire from Chris's Tigers and Rob's forces eliminates all visible T-34s from the originally damaged platoon, forcing a check which the Fearless Conscripts manage to fail. Additionally, Rob's Panzer IVs target and destroy the SU-76 platoon. Else where, one of Chris's Tigers destroys a KV |
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| The other Panzer IV's of Robs manage to destroy a T70 in the center, along with causing massive damage to the LL Stuarts, forcing a check which they pass. Storm Trooper moves see Chris's CiC Panther start to head to support the heavily damaged flank Brien is holding. |
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| Pat springs an ambush of KVs directly in front of Rob's Panzer IIIs and IVs! Additionally he ambushes another SU-76 group to replace the destroyed ones. |
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| Ron smokes out Chris's Tigers to force them to move or be useless for a turn while Jesse's KV-3s destroy the last non-command Tiger of Brien's, forcing him into a Company Moral situation. Shermans add to the problem by nailing the CiC Tiger with smoke rounds. |
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| Jon's Heavy Mortars range in, hit, and manage to destroy a Panther! |
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| Pat's SU-85s, KVs, T-34s, and LL Stuarts open up with everything Stalin gave them. In all they manage to destroy several Panzer IVs and Panzer IIIs, forcing checks on both. The IVs fail to stay on the battlefield, even with the CiC attempting to force a route, the IIIs on the other hand stay and fight on. |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:The 15cms fail to hit their intended target, but do not go empty handed while the rest of the forces trade shot for shot. A far more effective turn sees heavier casualties and a few platoons destroyed, but at what cost... Victory Points Earned: 10 Allies:With momentum in their corner, the Allies continue to press the attack. Tigers on the flank are folding under the massive KV-3 power and Panzers on the other flank are taking heavy fire from the giant Soviet horde. Despite several loses, more progress is made. Victory Points Earned: 5 | |
TURN 3
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| Brien passes the Company Check to stay around. He advances his Panzer IIIs to take revenge and manages to destroy 3 Lees with fire support from his CiC Tiger, forcing a check on the Lees which they pass. |
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| Rob's Panthers advance to take the place of the destroyed Panzer platoon. Targeting the KVs, the Panthers manage to destroy one with other shots failing to land hits. The Panzer IIIs on the other hand destory more LL Stuarts and force them to flee the battlefield. |
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| Chris's Tigers are forced to settle for shots against the T-70s and end up wiping the platoon out. 15cms repeat their attempt to destory the KV-3s but instead settle for another T-34. |
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| Jon's Sappers cunningly ambush Chris's Tigers while the KVs move at the double to close the gap on the objectives that the Allies need to recover. |
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| With incoming fire from Jon's 57mm ATGs, the Panzer IVs take another lose in the center, mean while on the flank, the rest of Rob's forces suffer heavy fire from the Soviet horde, destorying more Panzer IIIs, causing yet another check that they pass. StuGs on the other hand take a loss from Heavy Mortars and fail to continue the fight. |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:With the upper hand in objective points, the Germans can focus on platoon destruction, but more bad luck comes their way as targets are limited and hits are no where to be found. Taking more losses than those doled out seems to be a theme. Victory Points Earned: 8 Allies:With the need to regain some ground in victory points, the Allies push ahead at full speed. Sappers make the wise move with an ambush and assault, but are unable to pull it off due to defensive fire. But scores of tanks destroyed helps the Allies yet another turn. Victory Points Earned: 8 | |
TURN 4
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| Again, Brien passes the Company Check and stays to fight with the Tiger. This round he manages to destroy a Sherman and force a check on the Lees again, but the Lees are as stuborn as the Tiger. |
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| Chris's Panthers finally get moving to help assist the falling left flank after being stuck for several turns in the woods. The Tigers on the other hand fire for effect into the KVs, killing two, which included the CiC. |
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| After several attempts, Chris's 15cm guns finally hit their mark and destroy a KV-3, slightly reducing the massive threat that they present. |
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| Rob's companies form a tight perimeter, but with all of their shots they bail two KVs and only manage to destroy a T-34, not enough to help this turn. |
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| Without a Batalon Commander, Jesse's forces are eliminated but the divisional support (the KV-3s) remain to fight on. Jon's forces destroy the lone Panzer IV of Rob's in the center while combine might of several Heavy Mortar groups bail and destroy some of Rob's Panthers. |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:A mighty KV-3 finally is taken out by the 15cms, but not before it has all but destroyed Brien's army. The victory point advantage has all but dried up as now it is a battle to stay alive and eliminate platoons. Victory Points Earned: 9 Allies:One Soviet general down, 3 other generals left. The loss of Jesse is nearly unnoticed as the KV-3s remain and the only losses are 2 KVs. The US forces under Ron still maintain superiority over Brien and the combine forces of Jon and Pat are beginning to back the Germans into a corner. Victory Points Earned: 9 | |
TURN 5
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| Brien finally fails his company check and loses his CiC Tiger, but his Panzer IIIs remain as they are divisional support. Despite their best attempts, they do not land a single hit this turn. |
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| Rob again repositions his army continually having to collapse in upon his position, trading ground for time. His forces combine for a handful of destroyed T-34s, still not enough to stop them in their tracks. |
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| Chris's Tigers kill off a couple of stands of Sappers and a T-34 while the Panthers finally having positioned for shots target the T-34 force flanking the Tigers and eliminate a T-34/57. |
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| Ron's Stuarts time their comeback perfectly as they rush behind Brien's Panzer IIIs, with help from the Shermans do they not only do they destroy enough to force a check, but they contest the objectives that were keeping the Axis forces in the black. Again with luck, Brien makes the check to keep the Panzer IIIs in the fight. |
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| Ron's smoke again allows Jon's Sappers to advance further into the Tigers former position. |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:Forces being to dwindle but the bogged Pathers have started to come back into the fight, if they are not too late. Several destroyed units across the board against the Allies do not amount to anything that can significantly help this turn. Things begin to look grim. Victory Points Earned: 7 Allies:Daring moves by T-34s and Stuarts pay off as the majority of the Panzer III threat is destoryed while the Panthers now must make difficult target choices. Objectives change hands and the Allies gain the new majority of the victory points. Victory Points Earned: 9 | |
TURN 6
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| Having to recover from suffering significant losses, Brien's Panzer IIIs destroy a Stuart which is enough to make them retire from the battlefield along with the CiC. |
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| Chris's Panthers destroy more T-34s, forcing a check which the Fearless tanks easily pass. The 15cms guns land another successful hit on the KV-3s which manage to pass their test as well. |
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| Chris's Tigers land hits on the SU-76s in an attempt to score another platoon destruction, but the lone remaining SU-76 stays to fight on. |
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| Rob's Panthers all combine to eliminate several T-34s from both the platoon in the woods and the platoon that doubled behind them. Both groups of T-34s pass their motivation tests, snubbing Rob's attempts to gain points. |
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| In a last ditch attempt to gain some momentum, Chris's Tigers assault into the Sappers who are both in the woods and in the building as well. The Tigers manage to hit and kill the Komissar, but when they are required to motivate to counter attack, they fail and back off. The Sappers, forced to take a check stay to fight on. |
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| Ron eliminates the remaining Panzer IIIs and Brien from the game, the only player to be fully removed from the game but only on the very last turn. |
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| Pat's SU-76 and T-34s focus on Rob's recon unit for attempt to destroy it, but fail it break it's moral. The KVs destroy a Panther who's platoon also passes their motivation and continues to fight. |
Axis
| Allies
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| Axis:All or nothing, Tigers assault Sappers, all potential broken platoons are fired upon in attempts to gain more victory points, but all the Soviets and their Fearless rolls saves them from running. Little else can be done for the Axis this day. Victory Points Earned: 5 Allies:Having the numarical superiority, the Allies choose their targets wisely to attempt to gain more platoon kills, but none are successful. For what it is worth, the Allies manage to completely table one Axis player. Victory Points Earned: 11 | |
| The final score comes to a difference of 4 points in the Allies favor, 55:51. A hard fought, long, but extremely fun mega battle where everyone had a good time and played a fairly friendly game. There were several key losses on the Axis side early on that turned the tides of the game almost immediately that just could not be recovered from. No major tactical errors were made on either side, the dice decided how things were going to play out, and Stalin's dice had the most willpower this game. Mega battles are a very fun game type, but they should always be viewed as a super casual game. There is a lot going on at all times and everyone needs to work together to prevent frustration. The ultimate goal of Tanksgiving was to have a group of friends get together and enjoy a great game together, mission accomplished! |
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