As I continue packing for my move, I am leaving as much
Flames of War stuff, as possible, to be packed last. Since my minis will be inaccessible for three whole months, I'm trying to cram in a few more games! Tom obliged me today with a little
Blood, Guts, & Glory action. After seeing
Bill Wilcox's success with 3 Jumbos, I decided to give a stripped down version of his Nats list a shot. We played at 1500(ish), so I had to cut back a good deal from 1780, but I felt I still captured the essence of the list.
Tom went all in with a reluctant trained panzer horde.
7th AD: HQ (1 Jumbo, M32 TRV). 2x Platoons each with 1 Jumbo, 2 Easy 8s, 1 M4A3. 4x Stuarts. Recon platoon (1 halftrack, 1 jeep). Priest battery w/ AOP. Full Armored mortar battery.
Panzerkompanie: HQ (2 Panthers). 4x Panthers. 2x Platoons w/ 4 Panzer IV Js. 3 Stugs.
The mission was Dust Up. I started with Priests and all my Shermans on the board. Tom started with Panthers and Panzer IVs as his starting forces.
2nd Platoon ready to roll out!
1st Platoon and the CO.
Panthers lay in wait.
TURN ONE
Gunner, right! Some Panthers shift around a bit to take potshots, but fail to connect.
US armor goes rollin' out!
An Easy 8 nails a Panther.
The CO lays down some direct fire smoke. The Jumbos roll on!
Priests drop rounds, but fail to do any damage.
TURN TWO
Panthers shift a bit and return fire. Several rounds bounce off the Jumbos on the US left.
An Easy 8 from 1st Platoon goes up in flames as 2nd Platoon moves up to the wall.
1st Platoon, though down an E8, rolls forward!
Priests lay down some smoke.
1st Platoon in close range.
The situation around the town.
TURN THREE
The CO fires smoke to cover the advance after an E8 knocks out a Panther.
End of three.
TURN FOUR
Tom rolls in with all of his reserves, lining up flank shots on 1st Platoon!
Nailing the E8 and M4A3, and bailing the Jumbo. With the help of the CO, the Jumbo sticks around.
But in a frenzy of reserves, the Stuarts and mortars also show up!
2nd Platoon scoots into the town.
The AOP shifts to spot the newcomers as the two remaining Jumbos pull back.
Stuarts come racing in and knock out a Panzer IV and bail another. Mortars direct fire smoke to screen the light tanks.
Mortars. Their commander was ready to assault if that Panzer was left bailed!
An E8 snipes Tom's company commander.
And the turn ends with a devastating Time on Target knocking out a StuG, and the entire Panzer IV platoon.
Followed by the remaining Panthers failing motivation.
TURN FIVE
The Panzer IVs fire back at the Stuarts but only bail two! Yeowch! On the left, Tom's 2 StuGs skulk forward, but have no real chance of threatening the Jumbos.
Tom seriously whiffed so many shots on the Stuarts. This picture is just before the Stuarts remount in the US turn.
The left flank at the end of the German turn.
The Jumbos swing left and nail a StuG in the side.
The Stuarts bail two more Panzer IVs (ignore the two dead StuGs in the top left- they were temporarily placed there on their way to the StuG graveyard). The StuGs fail their morale check and quit the field, leaving Tom with a reluctant company check by the 2iC, which doesn't end well.
6-1 to the Yanks.
Closing Thoughts: Jumbos and E8s are a fantastic combo! The Panthers just couldn't do anything to me. I'm sorry I dismissed Jumbos at first!
As I continue packing for my move, I am leaving as much Flames of War stuff, as possible, to be packed last. Since my minis will be inaccessible for three whole months, I'm trying to cram in a few more games! Tom obliged me today with a little Blood, Guts, & Glory action. After seeing Bill Wilcox's success with 3 Jumbos, I decided to give a stripped down version of his Nats list a shot. We played at 1500(ish), so I had to cut back a good deal from 1780, but I felt I still captured the essence of the list.
