Battle Report Flames of War game with Francis

We decided to play a game to understand the new lists for Stalingrad. I was playing using the enemy at the gates and Francis was playing with Iron Cross. We used the mid-war edition 4 rules of flames of war.

I tried the mixed tank battalion list. Strange thing with this list is that there is no Formation commander. With only 100 points I took a KV-1 Company, a T-34 Company. In the support I took KV-8s, BA-10 armoured car platoon, 76mm Artillery Battery, and DShK AA MG Platoon.

Francis took 2 Panzer IV platoons, one Heavy scout platoon, one Panzer Grenadier Platoon, and one platoon of 88s.

Now the issue with this list is that you only have 2 Formation units. So if you lose one you are broken and lose the game.

We rolled for the mission and got Dust Up. This is a meeting engagement with both players only taking 60 % of their list. This left me with only the KV-1 and DShK AA MG platoon.

This is the start state. The picture is taken from the German perspective. My four KV 1s are hiding behind a hill. The Germans are protecting one objective with a panzer grenadier platoon and the other with two 88s. A panzer IV platoon is kind of between both objectives.

The next picture is a view of the German position.

My plan is to charge the 88s and put pressure on the objective.

Now this can go terribly wrong. When the KVs move they get a 1+ to their roll as they are overworked. The old Flames of War rules where hens and chick. Same outcome. The 88s are gone to ground and in concealment so impossible to hit.

The Soviets got the first turn and charged the guns. The Germans fired the 88s and only killed one KV 1. Now it only takes a 2 to hit a KV 1 which goes to 3 because they where more than 16 inches away. The KVs have a front armour of 9 which goes to 10 because they are being hit over 16 inches. They 88s have an anti-tank of 14, so you need to roll a 4 or higher to not die. I was able to save 2 out of the 3 shots. The 88 made its firepower roll, so the end result was one kill. Again this could have been much worst.

My return fire managed to Kill one 88. I needed a 6 to hit with 6 shots. I got one hit out of 6 dies. Then I needed Francis to miss his save. A roll of 4+. Then I needed to make my firepower roll of 3+. So this was a lucky set of rolls. The next turn Francis failed to roll the last stand, so both 88s were lost.

The only good thing for the Germans is that the KVs are not very fast. As you can see in the previous picture the Germans have decided to put pressure on the Soviet objectives. They left their Formation commander behind to protect the other objective. The Formation commander had a long barrel gun. With a front armour of 9 and a side armour of 8, this was the only tank that could penetrate the armour.

The following picture is the German force starting to put pressure on the objectives in the Soviet zone. You can notice KV-8s rushing back to protect the objectives. The KV 8s have flame throwers and a smaller main gun.

The following picture is a little blurry, but shows my reserves coming in. The T-34s have better armour and guns then the Panzer IVs, so the Panzers were not able to kill one tank.

This was pretty much game over for the Germans.

The KVs are moving on the objective.

So this was a Soviet win, but could have been a German win if the 88s were a little luckier.

Still was a fun game in preparation for our Campaign.