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Sean and I had scheduled a Normandy game for Operation Overlord, but at the very last second decided to play a game using Rising Sun which had just arrived. Sean's always been a fan of the Finns, and I was excited to try a ridiculous Strelkovy horde. The last time I used them was against some Polish Cavalry and the effect was quite devastating! We rolled for the mission and came up with "Surrounded". Perfect! |
Steven's Strelkovy
- HQ
- 1st Strelkovy: Full Strength, upgrade 3 light mortars, 2x HMGs
- 2nd Strelkovy: as 1st.
- 11 T-26s
- 8x 76mm obr/1902 guns (played by some Zis 2 guns)
| Sean's Finns
- HQ + Close Defense + Simo (sniper hero)
- 1st Jaakari w/ SMGs and Close Defense
- 2nd Jaakari w/ SMGs and Close Defense
- Sissi Platoon all SMG Tank Hunters (in Motti Ambush)
- Tank Hunter Platoon (2 Close Defense teams)
- 2x HMGs (in Ambush)
- 76mm Guns (I forget the exact model off the top)
- Sporadic Fockers
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The board. Finns in the center. Objectives are next to both swamps. Both Strelkovy companies are to the left. Guns and T-26s to the right.
T-26s Roll out.
Strelkovy A.
Soviet "East" side.
Finn guns prepare for the onslaught!
Walk up the guns!
TURN ONE
The 76mm guns walk forward and knock out 2 Jakaari teams in the building!
Simo fires on the advancing guns, pinning them down.
Guns open fire
Pinning Strelkovy A, but causing no real harm
TURN TWO
The 76mm guns fail to unpin, so the 2iC commissar executes the staff team to motivate them, which works.
Soviet command teams in Rising Sun are also commissars.
T-26s round the wood and machine gun the crew of one of the Finn guns.
The slow advance of the horde.
A pair of Fockers drop out of the cloud cover!
76mm guns continue firing on the Strelkovy
3 tanks go up in flames!
TURN THREE
But the surviving tanks keep coming!
The 76mm guns continue walking forward, killing another Jaakari team
The horde approaches
Due to a slight bulge in the Finn line, and all being equipped with SMGs, the Soviets see an opportunity to assault.
They launch the assault, dragging 4 teams into defensive fire. 12 shots, hitting on 2+, needing 10 hits.
And there it is! 3 "1"s.
The assault is successful, killing 2 finn teams.
The Finns wisely pull back as the Horde crosses the stream.
The other horde continues advancing.
The Finn guns swing around to open fire on the T-26s as the Sissi platoon ambushes in the trees just to the right! 3 shots needing 2+ to hit some T-26s!
And ol' "Three Ones" O'Hara strikes again. The T-26s remain unscathed!
Sissi charge forward
NOTE: because we played this game literally minutes after tearing through Rising Sun, we missed the part about Sissi platoons not being able to launch an assault the turn they arrived. Considering Sean's HMG ambush was almost useless, we're okay to let this one slide!
And manage to launch a successful attack. Jakaari on the left have come out of the buildings to provide support.
Leaving one T-26 dead
The rest pull back.
Leaving the Jaakari dangerously exposed.
TURN FOUR
Sean is pressed on all fronts.
T-26s open up on the Jaakari.
Volley firing 76mm guns finish off the Jakaari.
While two guns walk forward and knock out an HMG which ambushed in the tree line to stave off further attacks on this flank.
The soviets in the creek are at the objective, but the HMG combined with all the SMGs makes this position unassaultable.
On the right The Strelkovy are in assault range of Sean's guns.
After the charge into contact, Sean surveys the battlefield and decides to call it.
POST MORTEM
Wow! What an insane steamroller of a game. The Soviets were just an unstoppable horde! Sean and I did a solid post-mortem to figure out what he did wrong, and came up with a few points.
*His guns should've turned far sooner. They would've neutralized my T-26s pretty effectively.
*Killing my Strelkovy was going to be tough, so he should've tried to make himself unassaultable. Combat attaching the HMGs and just staying gone to ground would've helped. This would be dependent on knocking out my 76s and tanks. Sissi could've probably handled the guns, and Sean's guns could've handled the tanks.
I didn't do anything particularly clever with the Soviets- just pointed them at the enemy and went in! But this was a tough mission for Sean to be sure. Still, it was quite the spectacle! I hope you enjoyed it.
