Disaster on the Don
Anthony came up for his first visit to the Fort, and his first game of Flames of War. He bought a small contingient of German infantry, supported by two tiger tanks. Opposing him was the assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan riding T-34s and T70s, with a few infantry and katyushas in support.
We did a breakthrough scenario on a board rolled up out of the Za Stalina rules. The net effect was a river running through the board -- with some marshes and creeks. There was nothing -- repeat nothing -- for the Russians to hide behind. The two tigers were deployed near the center of the board. With the tigers massive range and no hiding places, there was only a tiny corner of the board where the Russians could deploy and not be in tiger range.
The Russians decided they had no hope in a conventional battle, so they went for 'bait and switch'. The Russian SP guns and Katyushas were deployed to provide a tempting target for the tigers if they moved away from the objectives. The aim was to bring on a flank march and steal the objective before the Tigers could get back.
It all started well with the tigers being lured away. Then my first flank march came on too early and lured the tigers back. My second flank march didnt appear till turn 7. But by then it was 'can 8 x T34's kill 2 x Tigers?'. The answer was a resounding 'No!'
Anthony got his first victory, not losing a single stand to the Russians.
I do have to say that upon reflection, Za Stalina tank armies are going to have a hard time. The terrain for Za Stalina is generally open, with a minimum of concealing terrain. 88's and Tigers are going to have full effect. Russian forces will need to be heavy in artillery and 85mm guns, and poor in T-34s. Not that historical -- but a good excuse to buy more :)
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