Firestorm Bastogne - Turn One Recap

The first turn of the WWPD Firestorm Bastogne Campaign is complete! There were three battles in turn one, Marnarch, Hosingen, and Café Schinker that were fought out by players in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Italy. It was a pleasure to see how players took the scenario suggestion and played out these games as very realistic depictions of the battles' historical counterparts from December 16th, 1944.

Initial German Assaults in the Firestorm Bastogne Campaign

In all the first turn battles, the primary defenders were Perimeter Outpost Platoons from the US 28th Infantry Division list (Page 68 in the Battle of the Bulge Book). These were limited to 1250pts force without Tank Teams or air support to replicate the dangerously spread out and initially unsupported aspect of the US front line on December 16th, 1944.

Volksgrenadier of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division try to flank the Hosingen position

The Germans, likewise had no vehicle support due to engineer bridges not being emplace on the Our River yet. But as they were massed for the attack, they had 1500 points and were supported by Firestorm Troop bonus units. The meant that the attacking Germans often could have as much as 1900 or maybe even 200pts total in their force. Because the German forces in these games had to leave their artillery behind the east banks of the Our River, we had to resurrect the old Version 2 "Guns Across the Volga Rule." But here we called it "Rockets Across the Our."

One would think the 1250 to 1900 point difference  would make the mission used in turn one a "walk in the park" for the attacking Germans. However it was not. The Germans ended up only winning 66% of the games played in turn one.  This was enough to secure a win in all three areas, but because the wins were so marginal in Hosingen and Café Schinker four Firestorm Troop units were at risk for loss. Fate favored the Germans here and none were eliminated from the game yet, but the US players created that possibility due to their performance in these battles.

Volkspioneers from the 26th Volksgrenadier Division use easily cross wire obstacle and then flamethrowers to eliminate an Perimeter Outpost Platoon.

So why play these seemingly unbalanced games with some pretty strict force composition requirements?  The answer is for the pure joy of recreating history! It was far from a forgone conclusion that the Germans would win all three battles. Though they did, the US really did about as well as they could forcing four Firestorm Troop loss rolls. This is not too far off how the actual battles went on December 16th, 1944. Two out of our three battles were close calls, but instead on barely favoring the US as they did in history, here the barely ended up favoring the Germans.

One club's take on the Café Schinker battlefield

So as we move into to turn two of the Campaign, we'll see more battles and they will be less restrictive on force compositions as the Panzer will have crossed the Our River and the US will have realized the threat and sent Armored units to try to stem the breakthrough. Players and clubs can jump in and play games whenever they want. There will be many more opportunities to participate and even if you only get in and report one game, you can still contribute to the outcome of the campaign! So look of the turn two battles to be posted soon and try out a historical scenario for a change!

Tom has been playing wargames since the late 70’s, and Flames of War since 2007. He maintains a gaming website www.battlevault.com for the BattleVault Gamers of Kentuckiana and posts and moderates WWPD as Iron-Tom.

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Firestorm Bastogne - A WWPD Online Flames of War Campaign

Starting this month, WWPD will run a "Firestorm Bastogne" Campaign as a global Flames of War campaign. This campaign will run for about six weeks and will give players a chance to fight out the engagements that revolved around the encirclement of Bastogne from 16 to 21 December, 1944. If you are not familiar with Firestorm campaigns, no problem! Basically the campaign map and movement of units on that map will be used to generate battles that players, from around the world, can fight out and report their results from to determine the campaign flow and eventual winning side.




2nd Panzer moves in on CCR/9th Armored Division at Longvilly



A battle at Longvilly plays out on the table top

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Team Throck Does Market Garden, Turn One.

By Throck "T-Rock" Morton

Me and the local Northern Virginia boys who I call "Team Throck," primarily because I'm an egotist bent on world domination, decided to pick up the Flames of War late war campaign set Firestorm Market Garden and get our Bridge too Far on.

You'll notice some unpainted armies as we go along. We've used the campaign as a way to get more of our friends, who have some models and are interested in Flames, deeper into the game and they've committed to painting as we go along. At the very least, most of what you'll see is primed or base coated.

We split up into teams of three where (SHOCKER) I actually get to play allies for once, and set about figuring out how this whole thing works.

On of the great things about the Market Garden campaign is that doubles as a board game. So, to get a feel for it we actually played it that way a couple of times to get our feet wet. While this isn't a review of the board game version, I have to tell you, if you think you want to play the full campaign, sit down with the slimmer board game version first (it takes about an hour or two to play) it will certainly help you understand the campaign planning phases of the operation.

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Firestorm: German 2.SS vs Rota Razvedki

FIRESTORM TURN 2 GAME 3 After the fall of Vitebsk, the North thrust of the Soviet advance was back in supply, and knocking on Minsk's doorstep! The Germans won the initiative for round 3, and elected to attack from Lepel to Polotsk, despite Lepel being cut off from Supply. Sean is lucky, however, and suffers no ill effects from being cut off! Victory in Polotsk will again cutoff the tip of the Soviet spear. With no firestorm troops in Polotsk, the Soviets fight at a slight disadvantage! The mission is Fighting Withdrawal. Sorry for the poor lighting, I didn't have my good lighting available.

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The Assault on Vitebsk (Firestorm game)

FIRESTORM TURN 2 GAME 2 The Soviets have now encircled the Festerplatz, and the time had come to crack them. Vitebsk was chosen as the first, because capturing the fortress city would open up supply to the soviet forward elements pushing for Minsk. A heavy assault gun company with Engineer support was sent as the first wave. Their goal was to secure the Southern bridge, or if rapid advance could be made- to push into the city and secure both bridges. The Germans were cut off from supply and thus had their morale reduced after suffering several days of preparatory bombardments. The soviets had air support (technically air isn't allowed in the city battles, but we don't need no stinkin' rules). We also had a guest helping with the soviets- shout out to Dan Wood! The Mission was Pincer.

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Firestorm Turn 2 has Begun! Soviet Forward Det vs Panzers

To kick off Turn 2 of our Firestorm Campaign, Sean attempted to blunt the spear of the soviet advance by hitting the out of supply forces in Borizov. However, despite being out of supply, the Soviet Forces are determined and thus have vastly improved morale! The mission is Counter Attack with Sean's Panzers defending.

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Firestorm Turn One Recap

Sean and I finished up our Firestorm Campaign's Turn One, but before we begin turn 2 we decided to recap the action.

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SS Wiking Panzers vs Udarny Strelkovy (Firestorm)

This was the 6th and final battle of Turn 1 in our Firestorm game. The Germans again win the initiative and move to cut off the Soviet Borizov/Lepel Salient. Lepel has been the location of most of the fighting this entire turn! Succesfully retaking Lepel will leave the Soviet spearhead in Borizov cut off from supply. The action was fast and furious so I'm not gonna do a turn by turn breakdown- the pictures will speak for themselves! The mission is the new Hold the Line. Both ISUs and the large Strelkovy are in ambush!

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Soviet Engineer Sappers vs Wiking Tanks (FS Game 4)

This is Game 4 of our Firestorm Campaign. The Germans are counter attacking at Lepel in an effort to cut off the Borizov Salient. German Firestorm troops are Heer Armored Panzergrenadiers. Soviets are SU-76s. I don't have any SU-76s so Sean graciously allowed me to replace them with 3 SU-85s. I decided to try out the Engineer Sappers. Sean went with SS Wiking Armor. The Engineer Sappers' auto attack rule would not make this a pleasant fight! Note- I also took Komissars our of habit, but missed that they weren't a part of the list. Sorry Sean! Thankfully, they didn't do much... This would be our first game using the Version 3 rules. We rolled on the new mission table and got Hasty Attack. We were both very pleased with the changes to Hasty Attack. The Attacker now has the first turn and the defender's reserves are scattered. I think this went a long way to balance the mission.

Steven's Soviet Engineer Sappers HQ 2 Platoon Engineer Sapper Unit + Supply Truck 2 Platoon Engineer Sapper Unit 1 Squad Spetsnaz Unit 4x ISU-122s w/ .50 cals. Upgrade platoon command to Vasily "Rat" 3x SU-85s (Firestorm)

Sean's SS Wiking Panzers HQ 2x Panzer IV H 4x Panthers w/ Panzer Kanone. (Sean Rolled a 6 for the uber kanone) 5x Panzer IV H 3x Panzer IV H Heer Armored Panzergrenadiers (Firestorm)

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

We let my wife set the board up for us! We decided on a zero intervention policy.

The board is taking shape.

The board post setup and deployment. The building in the lower left is an objective. Sean starts with his 4 Panthers in Immediate Ambush, and 7 Panzer IVs. As I have 5 platoons, I start with ISUs and Engineer Sappers. I know this will be a hard fight, but if my ISUs can just get armored superiority, we'll be okay!

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Soviet Strelkovy vs Ersatz Pioneers in Night Assault

This is game 3 in me and Sean's Firestorm campaign. Sean was attacking from Borizov to Lepel in an attempt to stem the soviet tide. His Firestorm troops were 2 Panthers and a battery of 105s. My Firestorm troops were 3 T-34/85s and 5x T-34s. The mission we rolled for was Night Assault.

Sean's Ersatz Pioneers HQ + 2x HMGs (CT) Ersatz Pioneer Platoon (CT) Ersatz Pioneer Platoon (CT) (Small Kampfgruppe with 1 stand from each pioneer platoon and 2iC) (CT) Veteran Tank Hunters: 4x Hetzers (CT) 4x Hetzers (CV) 4x Panzer IV H (CV) Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers (CV) 2x Panthers (Firestorm)(CV) 105 Battery (Firestorm)(CV)

Steven's Guards Strelkovy HQ (FT) 2 Platoon Strelkovy + HMG + Komissar + 2 Flame Throwers (FT) 1 Platoon Strelkovy + HMG + Komissar (FT) Strelkovy Medium Mortars (FT) Strelkovy Scouts (1 section) (FV) 3x SU-85 (FT) 3x IS-2 + .50 cals (FT) 3x T-34/85 + escorts (Firestorm)(CT) 5x T-34 (Firestorm)(CT)

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

The Soviets on the Starting Line

The Soviet Left Flank is weighted with the large Strelkovy, SU-85s, and T-34s.

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Guards Motorstrelkovy vs Finn Pioneers (Blind Domination)

This battle is Game two in our Operation Bagration Campaign. I didn't take a picture of the board but you can consult the bottom of this post to see a map. In this game, Sean attempted to relieve his surrounded forces by counter attacking from Lepel to the recently captured Berezino. Train Tracks, bridge, and swamps by Battlefront Miniatures Roads and Creek by JR Miniatures We rolled for the mission and came up with Blind Domination- we both agree that this is one of our absolute favorite missions. The first three movement steps are pre-planned out for you, and we love how this makes for a really smooth transition from deployment to playing.

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Firestorm Game 2

Still don't have time to do a full batrep, but I am done with school for good in 2 weeks, and then I promise the reports will be more in depth. For now, enjoy some pictures from me and Rob's Firestorm campaign.

LOCATION: Zhlobin -> Berezino
FORCES: Steven: German Grenadiers
Rob: Russian Tankovy
TROOPS: German Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers
Russian T-34/76s
Russian Sappers
SCENARIO: Free for All
OUTCOME: 3-3 tie
LOSSES: Russian T-34 Firestorm troop
NOTES: No strategic change



Click "Read More" for a boatload of pics.

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