Pre-Game
Axis forces have shown up to the Mesopotamian area with a real sense of piss and vigor. The marines continue to be pushed back from a majority of the landing zones for the coming air invasion. Mack and Bazooka Joe had escaped into the desert after some really cool events that could be used for a movie that I am not allowed to talk about in this battle report. It's all very hush hush. Their escape would give the Allies the advantage of knowing the Axis were making moves and looking for something, but they did not know when and where the true hammer blow would fall.Early the next day, the sound of Axis Junkers and air raid sirens would confirm the Allies's fears. The occupants of Outpost Doghouse knew their day was about to get much more exciting as they grab their gear. Thankfully, Machete Mack, Bazooka Joe, and their surviving marines managed to make it to the base in time to warn them that the storm was coming and they were on high alert. The ironic part being, figuratively and literally, was that the outpost's proximity to the desert meant they were in the way of a literal hellstorm. As the battle got underway, it become clear that the PBIs on the ground were gonna need to get behind and grab something solid or they were going to be turned into meat bullets.
Rolf and Florentine were ordered to land in this area to hinder any chance of relief from Outpost Doghouse to the true objectives, but they were also very unaware of the approaching apocalypse. Rolf and Florentine knew that their objectives needed to be met for a concise and decisive invasion to take place. The Allies must be kept guessing to their true intentions! The unexpected Shamal would blow the paratroopers off course while they were dropping and create a true desperate situation, but the two Heroes of the Axis knew they were up to the task.
It was always a curious thing to experience. The silence before the jump was truly a strange phenomenon. It was always impossible to describe what it was like when he answered his family's letters to be sent back to Frankfurt. The strange perfect mixture of complete silence with the unignorable scream of the wind slamming into the plane as it made its way to the destination. It was a war in its own truthfully he thought to himself. The physics of the world were trying to slow down the inevitable victory of the plane reaching its destination. Just as the Allies and Bolsheviks were trying to stop the inevitable victory of the Axis bloc. Unteroffizier Abelard Fischer look at his assembled men, and the familiar sense of pride overcame him.
The men did the little things that they were known for doing before the furious, manic pace of the jump. Claus checked every portion of his rifle for even the smallest error or smudge. He would have trouble coming up with so much saliva to spitshit his gear in the hot hellhole they were headed to. Robert nervously played with his survival knife.The sound of the sharp edge scratching against the toughened leather of his straps always brought him a sense of calmness. Ahren checked expiration dates on his food rations. Abelard always thought that the only thing that kept the man going was the promise of the next meal. A fatherly smile of sorts crossed Abelard's face. Most of these men had been with him when they took Crete from the willy British so many years ago, and he knew that they would be the only thing he could depend on once this entire thing went underway.
As Abelard was getting lost in his revelry, the lights above them turned red to warn them the jump was coming. Abelard took a firm breath and said, "Alright men, lets make the fatherland proud. This war isn't going to end itself."
The same nervous laughter he had heard so many times emanated from his men. They knew that this war still had a long way to go, and it was their responsibility to help bring it as quickly as possible. Abelard thought to himself as he felt like a portly man attempting to move through crowded restaurant that the laugh was his tiny ritual. The small thing that he gave himself to help him calm himself before the jump. The men needed him, and he knew he needed them for the same reasons. The Allies wouldn't know what hit them.
Game 3 - Bad Jump Part I
Axis 135 vs Allied 135
An increasingly frantic Allied High Command sent back this communique from the Master Sergeant Kara when asked about the next army.
"I am super excited about this scenario since I get to bring an equal amount of points as the attacker. I have stuck to several of the same platoons including Allied Medium Combat Walker Platoon, USMC Rifle Platoon and USMC Taskforce Diver Platoon. I also enjoy bringing Bazooka Joe for the Black Ops which gives an extra dice on initiative rolls. I also added several Ranger squads that I had not tried out before. Here is my complete Army for this fight:"
USMC Rifle Platoon:
Command: Machete Mack
Combat 1: USMC Fire Squad
Combat 2: USMC Demolition Squad
Combat 3: USMC Rifle Squad
Combat 4: USMC Heavy Engineer Squad
USMC Taskforce Diver Platoon:
Command: Diver (USMC)
Combat 1: USMC Close Assault Squad
Combat 2: Bushmaster
Allied Medium Combat Walker Platoon:
Command: Mickey (Light)
Combat 1: Barking Dog (Light)
Combat 2: Barking Dog (Light)
Separately:
Bazooka Joe
Blackhawk
Ranger Weapon Squad
Ranger Assault Squad
Ranger Attack Squad
USMC Heavy Machinegun Squad
 |
| What is that marine on the right even looking at? That is what I really want to know. |
I didn't have the perfect grouping of units so I was not able to run a Platoon that I thought would make any difference.
Florentine, Rolf, Raketentruppe Battle Squad, Fallschirmjager Tank-Hunter Squad, Fallschirmjager Missile Squad, Fallschirmjager Battle Squad, Geist, Fallschirm RSO / PaK 40, Hermann Tropical, Loki Tropical, Hans x 2, Grenadier Tank-Hunter Squad, E-10 Hetzer, Grenadier Battle Squad
The scenario was to destroy as much of the enemy as possible. However; a huge sandstorm was on the way that would more than likely wipe out anything not smart enough to get behind something sturdy. The game length was much shorter than normal at only 4 turns, but the deployment clearly shows something went horribly wrong when the boys jump out of their planes.
The Table and Game
 |
| Before the Deployment |
 |
| And here they are! We missed two walkers in the bottom right if you were wondering. |
Turn 1
After the hectic deployment of everything just landing all over the place, Allies would grab the initiative. Likely thanks to that stinky Bazooka Joe and all that black ops stuff he has been up to. He should really learn to keep his nose out of other people's business! The Allied Demo squad decides it's time to start the game with a bomb and hurl their demo packs at the Hans on the northern flank. Thankfully for the pilot, their packs were filled with glitter and rainbows. Not dangerous, but very hard to clean off the hull effectively for the next inspection. The Hetzer decides he wants to outperform the demo squad with their inability to get things done. He shoots everything at the barking dog for a big fat nothing even with rerolls!
The Barking Dog crew laughs at the audacity of being shot at and decides to make the Tropical Hermann a crater and an anti-tank grenadier a corpse. The Geist comes down from the clouds and reports a hit on the eastern flank's barking dog. The "hit" would ding the tank for the majority of its life, but its crew didn't know the meaning of death!
 |
| Just a spectacular shot. |
 |
| You guys have no idea how many whooshing sounds I made with the plane in my hand. |
The same Barking Dog decided revenge was best served hot......with lead, and did considerable woundage to Florentine and the nearby plane. The pilot would hold steady, it was only a .50 cal bullet, no big deal. The Hans on the southern flank wanted to do some damage or potentially kill the Micky, but decided he wanted to roll and reroll nothing but misses. This isn't looking too good for the landing party's prospects.
The ranger weapon squad saw the Raketentruppen under fire from the tank and decided to exploit the opportunity. Florentine saw the text book move coming and ordered her solider to reactive fire and light them up before they could do any damage. They obliged her and killed the majority of the rangers before the survivors shot and punched Florentine for a wound.
The quieter eastern flank got much louder when the battle grenadiers sustained and removed any memory of the close assault marines in the area. A collective sigh of relief from the Axis that didn't have to deal with being cooked alive. The Blackhawk decides to get vengeance and blow the southern Hans into a million, billion instakilling pieces.
 |
| This Blackhawk is just always such an issue. |
The Fallschirmjager squad lands into an ideal tank killing position, and display that the missle wire got tangled up in something as the opportunistic shots misses the barking dog by a mile. The man not manning the gun takes some shots at the rangers that are saved by the cover. Mack leads a heroic charge across the channel into Florentine's squad to see them finally vanquished in the name of democracy, and all but the Raketentruppen machine gunner is killed in the resulting fight. The Hans on the northern flank is able to remove the pesky barking dog before more precious Axis armor has to feel its wrath.
The ranger assault squad decides it has looked at the Hetzer existing for too long and assault and flip it like a police car in a New York City riot. Cheers of hooo hooo hooo hooo can be heard from the smoking wreck of the tank.
Rolf finally lands on the eastern flank with his chosen squad of veterans and see the need to take on Mack before he can exploit the ever widening hole in the Axis line. Rolf springs infantry ace and hits the ground sustaining everything they have into Mack's squad while salvoing everything they have in the rocket launchers. If nothing else the excessive use of ammunition will make their ammo bags much lighter. Mack and his squad are completely wiped out with Mack making yet again another narrow escape to appear in another game. The tide is turning!
 |
| An impressive amount of firepower pours out of this little unit. |
The allied machine gunners pick up their gear move east due to a lack of targets. The anti-tank grenadiers jump into the canal to help push the marine demolition squad away from the armor. 3 marines fall to gunfire, and one of each squad dies in the resulting fist fight. The Mickey moves north and shoots at the only thing it can see due to the accursed trees, and manages a shot at the plane with its heavy machine gun! The rounds clip a wing, but the mighty bird stays in the air! The fallschirmjager tank-hunters come down from the sky to end the barking dog, but get tangled up in the landing and fail to remember to actually shoot their weapons.
 |
| Coming in hot! |
The Allies find a unit that was supposed to be deployed, buried in the sand! The heavy engineers appear like a ghost of legend. At the sight of reinforcements, Bazooka Joe leads a forced march north as the Axis seem to be developing a pocket of resistance on the other side of the canal. The fallschirjager RSO lands with a perfect lane of fire on the enemy Barking Dog. They land with grace and get the perfect snap shot off on the Barking Dog and enjoy the satisfying explosion. The other crew shoot and miss the ranger in front of the gun.
The heavy engineer marines charge the tank-hunter fallschirmjager and burn them alive with flamer throwers and blow them up with a bazooka. Damn impressive for a unit that was probably completely covered in sand.
Turn 2
Axis forces see the situation turning strongly against them, and they know they have to use their first turn to hunker down and do as much damage to the enemy. The decision is made to regroup in the northern pocket, and weather as much damage as possible before they can spring any kind of organized counter attack. The Raketentruppen machine gunner advances into cover to help cover the retreat of the rest of the force and kills a heavy engineer marine. The Micky has a fantastic turn of shooting down the Geist, wounding Rolf, and suppressing the surviving Raketentruppen.
The battle grenadiers on the western flank see a chance to peck at the flank of the enemy army while they focus on the building pocket. They advance and kill the nearby assault rangers as they fail to reactive fire at them. One grenadier is lost in the melee.The allied heavy machine gun sets up and kills two anti-tank grenadiers and dings the Hans in a hail of heavy machine gun and rifle fire. The last anti-tank grenadier pushes through the loss of his comrades and kills the last demo marine.
The heavy engineer marines walk up and put their flamethrower and bazooka into the last racketentruppe and miss with everything. They run in for the assault, and the heroic, badass german solider kills one of them and stays alive in return. Rolf sees the allies bearing down on their position and realizes that his squad can stand firm and kill Allies on the way down, or retreat to the northern pocket and hope their cover and tenacity lets them hold out with the rest of the troops for a concentrated breakout. Rolf told his boys to grab their packs, they were going to run to the canal in the north. Bazooka Joe finds his position lacking for targets, and marches north to force the Axis troops to hunker in.
 |
| Jeez, what a badass. |
The fallschirmjager missle team sustains and shoots with everything and manage to pelt everyone's cover. Unfortunately, no one was harmed by their attacks. Once the salvo was done, Diver shouted that the time had come for the fallschirmjager to fall down. Diver failed his infantry ace roll and advances to support Joe's attack by putting everything into Rolf's unit. The gamble to get behind cover semi-worked with Rolf getting severely wounded and two of his fallschirmjager comrades went down.
The RSO lines up a sustained shot into Diver's unit and the other crew gun down the ranger in front of the tracktor. The shot wounds Diver, but ultimately leaves the squad intact. The Bushmaster moves up to destroy the RSO before it gets a chance to shoot again and forces Rolf to keep his head down.
The northern Hans reloads its weapons and moves east to help the surviving infantry. The last rangers and the Blackhawk move into position for the inevitably pocket breakout.
End of Turn 2
Turn 3
The Axis get lucky and get the first turn even with Bazooka Joe giving the black ops advantage. It's not looking good for the Axis and results need to be made quickly. The surviving Hans sustains into the rangers and blows them all sky high. The Blackhawk returns the favor and sustains into the Hans resulting in a really cool and effective explosion.
Rolf sees the chance for the breakout and salvos and sustains into Diver's unit. The air is think with gunpowder, shouting, and bits of ass. Unfortunately, the results are only a sad two wounds into the unit, that Diver eats up for his team. The Bushmaster sustains and shoots into the missile team and remains of Rolf's unit.
End of the Game
Rolf grabs everyone that he can and leads them into the open desert to fight another day. The allies can have their win, it will only slow the inevitable. The first wave of landings has been botched, and Rolf hopes he can find allies who were able to land on target.
Axis 2 - Allies 1
 |
| That face you make when everything you love is burning around you. |
This game was a real roller coaster of emotions and could have gone either way in my opinion. Diver's unit was just able to survive and do too much damage to the Axis for a reverse in fortune. This was the first game that I got to play with the Luftwaffe faction, and I admit I really enjoyed it. I can see airborne and the fast movement being a real strength for the faction, and this game really helped me decide the direction I need to go with the army. I keep looking at Florentine and see an absolutely amazing model, but I just don't think her cost is justified with her lack of helpful rules. I am hoping that I wrong. Please give a comment if you think I am crazy and I am missing something obvious.
After the cheer in the operations room, a message from Master Sargent Kara hit the radio waves to this humble reporter. It said:
"There are not many times when I feel like all the stars and dice rolls align to help me win, but this game was one of them. The 135 +10 (my total point count was 143) point cap for this game really helped keep the Axis down. The Blackhawk always pulls its weight and did not disappoint in this instance. Bazooka Joe with the Black Ops is outstanding for winning those initiative rolls which helped me take out the most dangerous threats early in the first turn. The setup and deployment for this instance was also very helpful for my ability to get in there and kill. A fun game and it felt great to win!"
That is another one for the history books folks. What did we do wrong? What did we do right? Why isn't Dylan painting all of the models faster so that my eyes don't burn when I see the unpainted plastic? Who knows!? Please, give a comment and subscribe to the RSS for updates in the future.
Comments
Post a Comment