Tankodesantniki Forward!

Today Sean and I threw down a game of Flames Of War. I got to use my Step 1 Soviet army, the Tankovy, against his brand new Task Force A. Since it was a blue-on-blue match up, we decided the game we played took place in late 1945 somewhere in the Czech Republic when the US and USSR collided in a fictional battle.

I took some photos of the action. Its a bit late to do a full AAR, but let me just say it was an epically brutal game. We had lots of fun and many lessons were learned on both out parts. So here's a few shot of the forces we used.

Mike's Tankovy

Sean's Task Force A

Note: Sherman 76mm tanks are standing in for M18 Hellcats

The Battlefield & Setup

The mission was No Retreat. Both Sean's and my armies were "Always Attack" forces, so we ended up dicing off for the first turn. Sean won and I chose the side with the railroad to defend from, figuring I'd have a bit more room to maneuver my reserves forward and less terrain which could bloc my LOS to the objectives.

My deployment was pretty uneventful... just a long line of tanks with its tank riders dug in on the forward objective. Sean weighted his right flank where my tanks were fewer. In his first turn he revealed one of his M18 platoons and wrecked the T-34s on the central hill.

After the carnage the survivors of the platoon went after Sean's engineers for a little revenge. They brought the infantry to their knees but....

M18s made quick work of the remaining T-34s while the engineers came back for a little part of the action!

Sean made a blitz for the objective, but my second Tankovy arrived just in time and blasted any US vehicle that tried to make a run for the capture.

With only two TDs left at his disposal, Sean decided that he'd cut his losses and retire, leaving a field of twisted metal behind for my SMG teams to have to clean up later!

Ended up as a 5-2 Soviet Victory, yay for 3 platoon forces. I "only" lost 10 T-34s and accompanying infantry, but thankfully it only counted as a single platoon for VPs! :)

The battle lasted five turns, and we both learned some valuable lessons. For my part, I'm not sure I used my force to its fullest potential. Neither of the Tankodesantniki companies fired a shot in anger and were largely a points sink. The Decoy Tank platoon was not worth much as I didn't attack and they were really more of a liability. But the one thing I did come to realize was the value in mixed 76mm and 85mm T-34s. The 76s added a lot of extra cheap firepower, while the 85s soaked up a lot of punishment from Sean's M18s.

I'm sure Sean learned a bit about TFA, the most being using a copious amount of artillery and smoke to help his M18s maneuver into excellent positions. 

We had a great game, but I can safely say that I doubt I'll play that Tankovy list in it's present form against another "Always Attack" force if I can help it.

Well, thats it for Step 1. I've got all the SMGs finished and now its time to start working on the platoons I'll need for Step 2. Roll on the Rota!