This was the 6th and final battle of Turn 1 in our Firestorm game. The Germans again win the initiative and move to cut off the Soviet Borizov/Lepel Salient. Lepel has been the location of most of the fighting this entire turn! Succesfully retaking Lepel will leave the Soviet spearhead in Borizov cut off from supply. The action was fast and furious so I'm not gonna do a turn by turn breakdown- the pictures will speak for themselves!  The mission is the new Hold the Line. Both ISUs and the large Strelkovy are in ambush! |
Sean's SS Wiking Panzercompanie
| Steven's Soviet Udarny Strelkovy
|
 |
| The board. |
 |
| The German armored column masses. I would kill for some Sturmoviks right now. |
 |
| The "little" Strelkovy is tasked with holding the line. |
 |
| Panzergrenadiers ready to charge into action. |
 |
| The coming storm. |
 |
| A Panzer Kanonen knocks out a team at long range. |
 |
| If only Sturmoviks were available as anything other than Firestorm troops! |
 |
| For the swarm. |
 |
| Soviet casualties begin to mount. |
|
| ISUs spring their ambush! |
 |
| As does the large strelkovy. |
 |
| A Flame thrower chews up large swathes of the Heer Panzergrenadiers. |
 |
| Only one panther burns as a result of the ISUs. |
 |
| The large Strelkovy slams into the German flank, weathering immense defensive fire. |
 |
| But manage to get through it! |
 |
| Casualties are high, but the Heer Panzergrenadiers are entirely wiped out. |
 |
| The fight is on now! |
 |
| The Wiking Panzergrenadiers roll in guns blazing. (as an aside- are we correct in assuming there is no detrement to firing the passengar fired AA MG on halftracks anymore? It makes top armor 0... which it already is) |
 |
| Panthers knock out two ISUs and bail one. Rat survives. |
 |
| The large strelkovy is not so large anymore. |
 |
| The surviving ISUs run away. Bummer. |
 |
| Panzer IVs SS it up, and slam into the Udarny. |
 |
| The Soviets fight back and claim a Panzer IV. |
 |
| The 3 active Panzers decide to break through and surround the Soviets. |
 |
| SS Wiking Panzergrenadiers launch a mounted assault! |
 |
| And are completely destroyed in the counter attack! |
 |
| The little Strelkovy break, killing the Komissar as they run in terror from the tank schwerepunkt slamming into them. |
 |
| The Soviet company is now below half Strength, but the Commander keeps the men on the field. |
 |
| Reserves race to the front! |
 |
| The remaining Strelkovy move to contest the objective. |
 |
| 2 Panzer IVs go up in flames! |
 |
| And the remaining tank flees the field! Both companies are now below half strength. |
 |
| The Panthers turn their attention to the battered Strelkovy and inflict heavy casualties. |
 |
| In a torrent of MG fire, the Soviet company commander dies. |
 |
| If the Strelkovy break, it's curtains for the Reds. |
 |
| And down they go! 4-3 to the Germans. |
 |
| The Borizov Pocket |
 |
| At the end of Turn 1, exploitation move reopens the Salient, but Borizov is still too far to be in supply |
 |
| To kick of Round 2, Sean yet again wins the initiative, and brings his consolidated armor forces to bear on Borizov. Unfortunately for him, we roll on the out of supply table and I roll a 6! My troops are bumped up 1 motivation level. |
| What a fun game! The carnage was fast and furious. Well played by Sean. True Blitzkrieg style that was costly but effective. |
Generated by WWPD's BatRepper Software.
