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| Fear Me, Tanks...Infantry, not so much. |
Wally and I recently got together for a fairly large Late War Flames of War game at my house. I wanted to test our one of my crazy New Year's lists, and Wally is always looking for a game. We settled on open, LW, a 1750 points level, and a random mission. We got Hold the Line, meaning my tanks had to attack Wally's infantry.
Now, my list is not great. I tried to build something that was tournament playable with a Pz IV/70 Company. I figured that six platoons of CT Tanks with Enjoy the War was probably the best way to go. Against tanks, I think I am covered with 9 Pz IV/70s and Rudel. I added in Panzerwerfers with extra crew to help shell any infantry I had to attack. I also took Assault Rifle/Faust infantry that have some chance in assault as well. It is all Trained, so I have to be careful. I swapped out weapons teams for HMGs for this game.
Jon's List:
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| ...now with the correct list. |
Wally's List:
Wally has to pick first, and puts down five platoons of his eleven. He puts one unit of infantry on each objective, six 105s, two Bofors and a platoon of British tanks. He decided not to put anything in Ambush. There are three rows of barbed wire blocking the upper objective, but that doesn't bother me.
I deploy a gun line across the board. My Panzerwerfers are in the upper left. From the get-go, I decide to tie down the infantry on the bottom, kill the Shermans and take the top objective.
This is the nut to crack - a platoon of Infantry being backed up by wire, a platoon of Shermans and two Bofors.
Bofors and arty are ready to hit anything that comes near.
Wally placed this objective in the far southern corner. Later, we'll discuss this strategy.
Wally chose a great table end, as this has a ton of wheat fields.
I send this unit of three Pz IV/70s and the CiC to hold down the southern front. These guys are to engage the tanks and pin down the infantry.
My main attack force is a four-tank platoon of PzIV/70s, Assault Rifle/Faust infantry, Luchs and Ostwinds. The Panzerwerfers can attack targets of opportunity or slam the infantry on this objective.
I get Rudel on the first turn and use him to single out the Staff Team. Wally has not played against Rudel before, so we went over the rules before deployment. This strategy is one of the many that is not necessarily apparent from the get-go. If I take out this team, the US special rules will be hampered and also unable to use the AOP.
I get some shots on Turn 1 with the Pz IV/70s. I kill a Sherman....
...and bail a Sherman.
Staff team taken out by Rudel.
A general advance for the whole Company. I manage to get the Overloaded PzIV/70s into woods on the northern front. Generally, I did not flub many bog checks.
The Panzerwerfers completely whiff against the 105s.
The 105 battery bails one of the Pz IV/70s.
Next turn, the Panzerwefers shell the house with infantry and manage to kill a tank.
The remaining Firefly is bailed and would eventually be destroyed. The Pz IV/70s advance mercilessly. I make a lot of bog checks and press the attack.
Rudel tries the Bofors to no effect. He is easily shot down, but will come back next turn!
Wally rushes on an additional infantry unit from reserve. The infantry on the north objective take tons of fire from the Luchs, Ostwinds and Pz IV/70s. I used the Luchs to lift gone to ground for better shots.
Wally lays down smoke to protect his oncoming infantry. If the infantry on the objective quits, it may not be possible to get to the objective in time.
With the tanks gone, the Pz IV/70s on the south objective continue to fire into the infantry in front of them, scoring some hits.
In a daring assault, the Pz IV/70s crash into the remaining infantry, and they quit the field. The 2iC is behind a house in the middle and can only challenge the objective if he assaults.
The new infantry and the 2iC rush to the objective. The infantry platoon is JUST out of range.
The 2iC attempts to assault, but does not make his roll, resulting in a 6-1 win for the Germans.
Wally is a fairly new player, so we did a little AAR after the game. When we talked after the game, the most important thing I pointed out was objective placement. Wally should have put the objective square in the middle of his deployment area, but instead chose to put it in a back corner. While this seems like a good choice, it isn't. If that objective was in the middle, I would have had to deal with two infantry platoons and not just one.
Also, not taking an Ambush was a mistake. I think the tanks in ambush would have been very good. On Turn 1, I killed one and bailed another. In Ambush, that would not have happened. Wally had a great side of the board for Ambushing as well, and that could have made a big difference with semi-indirect firing AT 15 Fireflys.
This victory shows that this crazy list is ok, but I think it will get stomped a lot. I think the only thing that is a really favorable match up for me is a medium tank horde. Attacking infantry is NOT going to be easy for this list, even with the mitigating strategies I used.
This was fun, and it was great to get in a game with Wally!
