Babylon Part II - The Chase

Pre-Game

After the defeat at Outpost Whiskey, Machete Mac decided that he would need to retreat and regroup if he was going to push the Axis out of this area of Mesopotamia. Rommel knew that the damage was done and that pursuing with the entirety of his force would only complicate things later. He decided he would send Christoph and a strong, quick strike force to dismantle or destroy anything that could pose a threat later to his plans. Rommel knew that the paradrops would be happening soon and he needed this area secure for the eventual Allied counterattack.

The constant sound of howling wind was starting to grind his patience. Sgt. David Miller almost wished he could hear the sound of an Axis walker coming down on his position then have to sit in solitude or dig a hole with the sound of the sand moaning around him constantly. What could the sand around here possibly have to complain about? Thankfully, Gunnery Sergeant MacDonald, or Machete Mac as the news reels like to call him, had done his homework and found this watering hole as a fallback point so he shouldn't complain about it too much. "Hey Sarg, when do you think the jerries are going to hit us?"

Mac looked up from the map he was staring at to look at him in silence before looking east at a rising gale. "I reckon as soon as this damn sandstorm starts. Jerries are becoming predictable at this point." 

It wasn't much longer after the sand started getting into his nose and eyes again that he wished he hadn't thought what he thought. Sgt. Miller heard the threatening approach of  Axis walkers and shouts in German.

Game 2 - A Rude Sandstorm

Axis 150 vs Allied 100

When asked about what she was taking Master Sergeant Kara had this to say.

"This time around I decided to use the USMC Rifle Platoon again and then supplement with a few other units that did not fall into any specific platoon. I was aiming to have as much heavy firepower as possible to try and fend off the Axis. My point limit was 100 and I was able to bring an additional 10 points since the majority of my unit was USMC. My total point count ended up at 108." USMC Rifle Platoon: Command: Machete Mack Combat 1: USMC Fire Squad Combat 2: USMC Rifle Squad Combat 3: USMC Demolition Squad Combat 4: USMC Heavy Engineer Squad Separately: Bazooka Joe 2x USMC Heavy Mortar Squad Blackhawk 2x Barking Dog (Light) USMC Close Assault Squad Bushmaster

So for this list I decided that a quick tank force using most of the stuff I used before would be the most thematic. Obviously, chasing the Allies that ran wouldn't need much more than a single hero and a few generic command squads in case I needed to come on from multiple angles. First time I got to try the Flammluthor so I was curious to see how it performed. This would have worked great if my men didn't make sure they got as much sand in their eyeballs as possible before taking their shots. 

NDAK Kampfgruppe Christoph Platoon:

Command: Christoph

Combat 1: Grenadier Security Squad

Combat 2:  Hermann Tropical

Support: Panzermeister (Ludwig), Grenadier Command Squad, Grenadier Heavy Mortar Squad, Grenadier Observer Squad, Grenadier Recon Squad x 2, Loki Tropical, Lothar, Flammluthor, Ludwig, Fallschirm RSO / PaK 40.

NDAK Grenadier Platoon:

Command: Grenadier Command Squad

Combat 1:  Grenadier Battle Squad

Combat 2:  Grenadier Anti-Tank Squad
Combat 3 - Heavy Grenadier Assault Squad

The scenario was to survive the onslaught. The Allies are in the middle of the map while the Axis come in from any board edge of the map. The Axis has a healthy, and in our opinion possibly unfair, lead when it comes to army points, but Master Sergeant Kara was determined to give me a migraine from frustration by thwarting my plans. This scenario has a high risk for adverse weather so it was almost guaranteed that a sandstorm would come in at some point in the game. This would work to the defenders advantage since it would stop any long range, across-the-board shooting.

The scene is set as the marines take positions in the middle of the board. Their entire goal is to survive until the end of turn 4 when relief will show up to give them a healthy dose of salvation. The primary concern from the Axis side is can I kill the Allied tanks before I lose all of my anti tank assets? 

The Table and Game

Turn 1

Allies would take the lead for the first turn thanks to Bazooka Joe's black ops skill. The expected storm would waste no time making its debut this game and make sure every Axis tank scope and window was filled to the brim with sand.. Due to the lack of enemy presence Master Sergeant Kara would use a pass and wait for the inevitable attack. Panzermiester would arrive as the first unit with the goal of removing the right Barking Dog and the nearby marine mortar. The terrible shots would completely miss and the resulting return shot would make Panzermeister have to think about what he did in the comforting embrace of whipping sand.

Panzermeister, you are GROUNDED!

On the other side, the Loki would arrive and put the veteran tank ace to shame by killing an entire unit of marines and dinging the bushmaster. Allies would use another pass in order to see where the dedicated push would come from to respond properly.

Now that's how it is done.

The left flank would then have the grenadier anti-tank squad come screaming out the shadows of the storm with pompous swagger. Surely the weak American steel on the left flank's Barking Dog would fall before the powerful panzerschreck 100s. The wind was quickly stolen as they missed all but one shot that was saved by a cover save due to the storm. The Barking Dog must have heard them approaching with such idiotic pomp and decided it would reactive fire before their heralded anti-tank weapons would destroy it. Unfortunately for the Allies, the grenadiers joyous cries of early victory were so loud and misguided that the Barking Dog could not draw a bead and failed to shoot due to a failed test. The Allied mortar used its firepowerto kill an anti-tank grenadier and force them to keep their heads down and shut up.

Back on the right flank, a grenadier recon squad would advance and attempt to remove the mortar on that side. With the coming numbers of Axis troops it would be painful to experience a blast in a clumped up area. Minimal damage is applied, and the mortars laugh at their failure. Allies take another pass. The tropical Hermann arrives and attempts to remove the same mortar and potentially get rid of the barking dog, but it was too much! The Herman would fail to hit the mortar and laser flash burn the Barking Dog down a few wounds. The bushmaster would see an opportunity to potentially destroy the Herman and reduce the amount of anti-tank assets for the Axis. The open design of the walker would hinder him as the wind and sand would limit his success to only killing a recon grenadier with his machine gun. Truly, that man deserves some hazard pay. A grenadier command squad would come on and reactivate the Hermann to destroy the bushmaster and kill another mortar crewman. Now who is laughing?

Mac waited in the middle of the action just preparing to open a can of murder wherever he could be best utilized, but the Axis would attempt to remove his interference by sending the heavy grenadier assault squad. Literally, a millions of bullets would land all around Mac and his boys, but thankfully no one was hurt. The rifle squad would then run over to cause them quiet a bit of pain.

Its only steel bees, boys! Do not let that deter you!

The NDAK mortar would blitz up the board as fast as they could carrying the mortar and use the scout move that Christoph's Platoon would give them to finally blow up and kill the last of the mortar squad. The heavy marine engineers were in the rare position to actually be able to reach something with their drills and they were not going to let that opportunity pass. The Loki pilot had no idea what was going on as the legs were drilled away and he was burned alive with a flamethrower. 

Everything is fine.

The RTO would tractor its way into position on the left flank and make sure everyone knew that it was the best misser in the German armed forces. Surrounding troops applauded the impressive amount of nothing that it was able to perform by not hitting the blackhawk that was poised to unleash large amounts of pain. Allies pass yet again. The observer grenadiers run up to the tree in front of the blackhawk in a vein attempt to pull fire away from the other assets in the back, but what they reeled in would change everything. Machete Mac would come running to the left flank to remove the observers with gusto and be in a position to clear the left flank the next turn, but he forgot about the hero of the hour.

Away with you vile peasants!

No one bores marines like Christoph, no one misses barking dogs with expert panzerfausts like Christoph, and no one misses with his expert flamethrower like Christoph......thankfully the security squad would wipe out the unit and put 3 wounds on Mac and ding the Barking Dog with a panzerfaust.

Leave it to me men. - Christoph

I am taking credit for that one. -Christoph

Bazooka Joe would run to cover and get ready to leap onto the left flank to support a counterattack. The Battle Grenadiers would come from the north and remove the majority of a marine squad. The blackhawk would see all the choas and death around him and decided he needing to get rid of Christoph's unit before his unit could upshow him anymore. The resulting explosion only wounded Christoph.

They are coming right for us!

A command squad would come onto the left flank in an attempt to get a killing blow on Mac or the Blackhawk, but they failed their reactivate. A Grenadier Scout squad would come from the north and remove the marine rifle unit. Allies were out of units to activate and watched as the Lothar would come onto the board and explode Joe's squad and the heavy marines with his rockets. Unfortunately, the rockets were filled with peanut butter instead of boom powder, so they were only slight inconveniences to the marines. The Flammluthor gets into position to burninate the right Barking Dog.

Many flashy booms, but no effect.

End of Turn 1

Turn 2

Axis forces refuse to let up and would get first activation and see the Flammluthor active and burninate the Barking Dog crew alive. The storm would continue to affect the area as well. 

In retaliation, the left Barking Dog would put everything into Christoph's squad and kill the majority of the unit before they would have a chance to shoot. Christoph would continue his legend by ensuring that he missed every single shot yet again with both of his weapons at the Barking Dog and at Machete Mac, and to make sure it really stung, the squad would follow in his footsteps. The bushmaster would see the men floundering around spraying bullets into the air and just put them out of their misery with a large explosive. The desert heat can really mess with people's heads.

The RTO would see a shot of opportunity to finally remove the left Barking Dog, but made sure to really put some punishment into a sand dune. Everyone continues their applauding. The Allied mortar would land a shell in the middle of the grenadier anti-tank squad and the RTO and would kill half of them. The Axis mortar would attempt to imitate and put another boom into Joe and the heavy marines thanks to the recon squad performing observations. The heavy marines would be unharmed and just some cuts on Joe. 

'Wild Cheering'

A gift from America!

A much less gunpowder filled mortar shell.

The heavy marines would advance and prepare to demolish the Lothar with their hammers, but the reactive fire from the heavy grenadier assault squad would wipe them out before they had the chance. 

Tripped up right at the finishing line.

The left command squad realized they would need to do the job themselves and advanced to throw grenades and shout mean words at the Barking Dog. Thankfully, the mean words worked and the Allied tank crew got out to go cry behind some trees. Mac would overhear some of the meanness and decided he needed to run back and get into range for officer actions the next turn, and to probably have a good cry himself. The battle grenadiers would advance and put a stop to the whole crying shenanigans however and put Mac on his back. 

Seeing their leader treated with such inhumanity would persuade the remaining marines to surrender and hope to be treated more fairly than Mac. That command squad would be marked to be talked to later for such unprofessional use of the spoken word. The game was over and the Axis had managed to secure another win.

End of Turn 2 and Game

Axis 2 - Allies 0

Post Game 

So that game was a bit rough for the defender, but I think that it had some interesting moments that could have swung the game the other direction. I was acutely aware of just how much stuff I was missing which I thought was going to turn the game at any moment. At the end of the second turn we discussed that it would really come down to if I could get rid of the armor quick enough before all of my anti-tank assets got erased. With the overwhelming amount of units that I had at the end of the game it was clear that I would just eventually get everything in range and remove them. This would especially be the case if the storm went away and got rid of most of the cover and all of the line of sight blocking. 


When asked, the Octagon would issue a statement from Master Sergeant Kara. "My tactical skills took a steep dive in this instance. I brought all but one of my vehicles as well as both of my mortars to defend my ground. This proved to not be enough to get me through even two turns. This was a frustrating defeat, but I know the Allies will rally and bring honor back to us soon!"