This past weekend 20 brave wargamers journeyed to Games and Stuff in Maryland to participate in the third annual Flames of War Historical Megabattle as hosted by Jeff Kautz. This years theme was Budapest (last year being El Guettar, and Stalingrad before that) - focusing on the German defense and attempted breakout. The battle revolved around holding objectives for as long as you could, accruing points based on how long each side held onto them uncontested, in addition to managing to escape via designated areas with German platoons. The russians had to assault into a ruined city, trench lines, and hills covered by 88's and Panthers, while the Germans had to deal with special scenario rules for fuel and ammo shortage!
After the dust had cleared the Russians were the eventual winner by the very close margin of just one objective. Had the Germans held onto even a single objective for one turn longer, or even managed to get an additional platoon off of the board they would have eked out a victory. Everyone involved had a great time, and the game itself was very balanced and closely fought by all accounts.
Many thanks go out to Jeff for again hosting an amazing Megabattle and taking the time to coordinate, set up, and plan for such an event. Additional thanks go out to Joe Krone who helped with planning and supplied some really amazing terrain to go with the event!
Tons of pictures after the jump!
