Tonight’s Flames of War game against Peter was great fun. We played the Cauldron scenario with my fortified Hoch und Deutschmeister force defending. I started the game with lots of barbed wire sections, some HMG nests, a Panzer II turret, a platoon of Panzerknacker Rifle/MG troops and my company commander. I kept my three Panzer IV Hs in ambush and the rest of my force (two Rifle/MG platoons, Mortars and Nebelwerfers) were in delayed reserve.
Peter had three platoons start the game, mostly on my right flank – five Stuarts, Pioneers and Riflemen.
The game started with my tanks taking out a Stuart and bailing another. Then I managed to cause heavy losses to the Rifle platoon. Pretty good going. I took pot shots at the dug in and gone to ground Pioneers with my main guns on the Panzers. This offered a side shot to the Stuarts who bailed two and caused the other to break! Things were suddenly looking bleak…
I managed to hold off for a while, but the Stuarts were able to rampage through my army unchecked.
It was a really fun game and finishes out our Infantry Aces campaign (kind of ironic that the tanks had such a strong role in the final game!). It’s been great fun, though both mine and Peter’s Aces were destroyed in this game. I think I’ll dig out my notes on the Hürtgen Forest campaign and prepare something for a few months time.
Until next time,
Owen