Had an opportunity to play Flames of War with RangerDane from the WWPD Forum recently. The game had a couple really neat events that came up. It was Dane's 2nd time playing the 7th Armored with Patton and my first game running the halftracks with my Panzer Grens (I know right!).
US 7th Armored (RangerDane) Confident Trained
- HQ Easy 8 and a Jumbo
- 1st Tank Platoon (Jumbo, Easy 8, 2 M4A3)
- 2nd Tank Platoon (Jumbo, Easy 8, 2 M4A3)
- Priest Battery (3 Priest and Sherman OP)
- Priest Battery (3 Priest and Sherman OP)
- AOP
- Cav Recon (Confident Veteran M8, 2 Jeep)
German Grey Wolf PanzerKompanie (SonBae) Confident Veteran
- HQ (2 PzIVH)
- 1st Tank Platoon (5 PzIVH)
- 2nd Tank Platoon (5 PzIVH)
- Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers (Halftracks and MG Teams...no Panzerfausts)
- 2 Armored Quad 20mm AA
- Puma Patrol (3 Pumas)
- Panzerwerfer 42 Battery (3 Panzerwerfer & extra crew, AT section with PaK40)
Off to the rulebook and and we rolled a mission....Hold The Line. Since Patton gives the US "Auto Attack," I was the defender.
Hold The Line let me pick the table and I choose the near edge. Next, I had to place half my platoons in Delayed Reserves. I chose to put the AA, Pumas, and Panzerwerfers in delayed reserves...always start with the biggest points/biggest killing power units on the table, unless you have something special planned that won't get you in trouble before your reserves arrive. Next, I could place up to 2 on table platoon into ambush....no question there either...Panzers went into hiding.
Deployment:
 |
| Not a lot on the table.....with a host bearing down on me. |
End of Turn 1:
Dane sends one tank platoon after each objective and the infantry up the middle so they can shift either way. I pop both PzIVH platoons. The one on the right nails the Greyhound from the Cav recon. I move a few infantry teams into the haftracks so they can provide some AA fire at the AOP. Dane made a great move with his AOP placement and used the Column Security rule to really hamper my deployment of the platoon on the left. The only spot I had to pop was right in the left corner of the board....and a long way from the objective they had to protect.
Luckily, he was still out of range and my 2iC was still covering the objective.
End of Turn 2:
Dane smokes the left platoon and gets 3 kills on the right platoon. That is enough for the right platoon to make a Platoon Moral Check...I roll a 2. The platoon fails. I need to protect that flank and my CiC is right there so I go for the re-roll.....and get a 1 and lose the platoon and the CiC.
Dane gets a kill on the left (under the smoke) and I get one of the Shermans on the left. I get several hits, but Dane get a great job keeping his Jumbo engaged and he soaked a hit.
End of Turn 3:
Dane continues to move the infantry up and the tanks on the right launch 25 shots into my Panzergrenadiers.....getting 5 hits and I pass them all. The halftracks take a pounding though and I lose one, and I dismount the infantry to protect the objective. Dane takes out 2 more tanks on the left and I pass the Morale Test. It's all or nothing on the left...and I go for flank shots on the Jumbo....getting a hit which he saved.... and miss with the other 2 tanks.
Turn 4:
Dane brings the hurt on the left. and swings in on the flanks of my tanks and takes out the platoon and 2iC. That will force a morale test at the start of my turn (2 dead and 1 active platoon on table) and with no CiC and 2iC...it will be a 6-1 win for Dane.
But....What about the Panzergrenadiers? We do a "what if" and see if the tanks on the right flank can destroy the PGs. Dane runs in with 5 tanks....and bogs 2 of the tanks on the way in. He swings with 3 and only kills 1 team. I pass my counterattack and swing....getting a hit, which Dane passes. Since he sustained a hit even though he passed he still has to make a Motivation Test to Counterattack....which he fails! Now, he has to break off and has to make a Bog Check for the 3 remaining Shermans....and bogs 2 more!!!! In my consolidation I capture 4 Shermans and force a Morale Test for that Platoon....uh-oh....Patton is in Line of Sight and he passed needing a 2+.
A good game....well played by Dane. He made several great moves and bided his time before he he struck very well. That assault at the end was nail biting and goes to show assaulting in rough terrain with tanks can be ROUGH!!!!!
Looking back I was very indecisive with my PGs in their setup. The three teams I had at the buildings I should have placed around the objective, where they actually ended up. That AOP had me bugged and I spent to much time focusing on him.
Even if you lose a game, as long as you learn something it wasn't a real loss...right?
RIGHT?
RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!
SonBae (AKA Jeff Flint) is a long time gamer and painter and runs a blog at Journey Back To The Table where he posts photos of his work, reviews, BatReps and the “Painting Miniatures Declassified” modeling and painting tutorials.
