Pre-Game
Sgt. David Miller appreciated the small things in life. Growing up on a farm where you had to earn everything you had did that kind of thing to you. He always had a certain kind of empathy for the city boys and Yankees that could never truly understand. Miller never liked to admit that he thought that nothing could get more technologically advanced then a Radio when he was younger. He wished with all of his country heart that he could go back to those days of blissful ignorance. The price of progress one of his COs once said. He had no idea what that meant, but he guessed it sounded pretty smart.
With the Axis landings over and their forces joining up, it was time for the main Axis objectives to be met. This portion of Operation Babylon was responsible for capturing ancient ruins in an unusually luscious portion of the desert. In order to get there, Rommel and his forces would need to cross vast portions of desert with the sun pounding down on them. Water rations were going to be of the utmost importance if they were going to make it without dropping from dehydration. Once they got there the unusually green area would provide what they would need for their temporary occupation of the ruins.
The remains of Sigrid's Blutkreuz and Florentine's Luftwaffe ground forces would scout out the ruins ahead of the main force while the NDaK would seek out water from local oases and towns. Christoph was sent to investigate one such oasis. Machette Mack and Bazooka Joe were painfully aware of the need for water and knew this situation presented a good opportunity to batter the Axis once more before the big showdown. Unfortunately, their forces were split up to cover more ground and Christoph's group would have a local numerical advantage.
The Devil Dogs would force march over the night in order to get to the ambush locations. The night would be cold and the lack of sleep would make fierce fighting the next day near unbearable. If any of the Marines had an issue with this they sure as hell didn't say anything.
The desert air whipped across his face as he watched the trucks drive on the hardened sand. His position on top of the Barking Dog gave him a good view of the force as a whole, and he thanked the Lord Above that he only had to worry about his one team. Being responsible for so many people, many of them his friends, would just be too much for a simple man like himself. With the entire battlegroup traveling through the night to some oasis the Krauts wanted he was amazed that so much Allied gear could be brought together so quickly. He knew he should catch a bit of sleep, but that just wasn't his style when he knew what was coming.
Corporal McKellen poked his head out of the truck containing his squad to roll his hand in a circle and bite his thumb for Sgt. Miller. It was their own form of communication when shouting wasn't polite or intelligent. He thought about what he must have looked like on top of that tank with his BAR nestled in his lap. He figured he must look like some kinda movie star. He smiled at the concept of his family spending the money to watch a motion picture with him in it. He couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud at the idea that they would use what they had on something so "wasteful and stupid" like his grandad used to say. Some news boy taking the time to put something like him on a reel of film just seemed stupid. He nodded to the Corporal to show he understood and watched him crawl back in. "Trees on the horizon Dave, you sure you don't want to catch a few winks?" said one of the tank crewman.
"Nah, I would hate for someone with a camera to catch me sleeping on the job. Figure that is what they would send back for one of them movie shows."
Game 5 - A Mighty Bad Thirst
Axis 100 vs Allied 85
The Octagon must be getting used to winning, but I still thought it prudent to ask Master Sergeant Kara about the coming battle's army.
"The Axis troops surprised us with a strong force coming at us. We hunkered down in a desert oasis trying to hold them off and prayed for a sand storm. Here are the troops I brought for this game. I wasn't able to build what I wanted due to the points limitation."
Separately:
Bazooka Joe
Blackhawk
Machete Mack
USMC Fire Squad
USMC Demolition Squad
USMC Rifle Squad
USMC Close Assault Squad
Barking Dog (Light) x2
USMC Heavy Mortar Squad
USMC Heavy Machinegun Squad
After some losses I decided it was time to get back to business. That, and it made sense that the NDaK would be the ones to have to lug the water around. I doubt Sigrid would be volunteering for something as "simple-minded" as logistics. The NDaK army I made was going to be based on the Kampfgruppe Christoph platoon. I have found the entire army having scout is just a fantastic boon and easy to exploit with most of the NDaK units. The enemy was going to be behind trees and I knew that being able to smack them after a march was going to be a necessary tactic if I wanted to be able to do damage before I got hit back.
NDaK Kampfgruppe Christoph Platoon:
Command: Christoph
Combat 1: Grenadier Security Squad
Combat 2: Hermann Tropical
Support: Tina and Hyane, NDaK Heavy Mortar, Grenadier Recon Squad x 2, Loki Tropical, NDaK Grenadier Observer Squad, Ludwig, Prinzluther, Lothar, Grenadier Battle Squad, Grenadier Command Squad, Anti-Tank Grenadiers.
This is my first time using one of the walker halftrack-inspired transports. I absolutely think the German halftracks were some of the coolest things in World War II, and now they have legs. I can't describe how excited I was when I got to use this thing.
The scenario is for the Allied forces to be able to hold out in the "Oasis Area" in the middle of the trees and prevent any Axis units from getting inside of it. At the end of the 4th turn, whoever has more units in the area would win. Master Sergeant Kara and I both looked at each other and the army point totals and knew that this was not going to be the case unless the dice gods truly demanded it. It was going to be a blood bath and we just hoped we would be on the winning side of it.
The Table and Game
Turn 1
Axis win the roll to go first, but give the first turn to the Allies to force an activation. No sandstorm at this point, but we know it is coming. Allies move Bazooka Joe and the Marine Fire team southwest to get in position in order to be in position to remove any Axis that may occupy the tree on the outskirts. The Axis Loki decides to attempt to remove this premier threat early in the game and jumps into the tree and blasts the same unit. 3 wounds are dealt to Joe and the Allies realized that their previous move may have been a mistake. Master Sergeant Kara realized she wasn't able to "make it to the shelter of the tree."
The Barking Dog moves south past the treeline to alleviate the Axis of its armor and blasts the Loki into a ruin with its main gun. The Anti-Tank Grenadier squad sprint through the open desert and jump into the tree line in order to remove the possibility of the other Barking Dog from doing the same thing as his comrade. Tina demands that Axis armor be left unmolested! They launch all their panzerfaust 100s and manage to get one in an uncomfortable spot on the tank. The explosion is glorious and satisfy.
The Close Assasult Marines light their flamethrowers and charge the nearby Grenadiers. They see the hyena and know that it must be taken care of. They run into the treeline and cook the Grenadier's position with flamethrowers and shotgun shells. 5 wounds are dealt with Tina absorbing them all to keep the squad healthy.
Christoph sees the opening to remove the Allied leader and charges into the breach. With a shout of "victory for Germany!," Christoph and his men use their flamethrowers to completely demolish Mack and his Rifle Squad. The attack leaves a large dent in the Allied force, and it catapults the game towards a forgone conclusion.
Allies pass to try and find a better target before they use their precious activations. The Battle Grenadiers run in from the south and level their machine guns at Joe's team. After the frantic activity of bullets and shouting, Joe's unit is killed and Joe himself is sent packing. Another powerful hit to the Allied force. The Allies try and even the score with the mortar moving into position to blow up the Battle Grenadiers, but don't manage any damage with their boom booms.
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| Sad Day for the Allies |
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| Sadder Day for the Allies |
One of the Recon Grenadiers moves in from the north after they spot the heavy machine gun through the tree line. They sprint as fast as possible and manage to get to the machine gun and destroy it after it fails to reactive. Especially annoying with its advanced form of reactive fire. Allies pass once more. The 2nd recon squad charges in from the south to keep up the pressure. They charge into a waiting demolition marine unit who reactive sustain everything into the recon grenadiers. Unfortunately, no grenadier manages to walk away from that one.
Allies pass one more time since they can just kill my guys on my turn. The Hermann moves in from the south to shoot the aggressive Barking Dog. The lasers must have been recently cleaned since it just lightsabers through the allied tank. Revenge for his dead tank friend. His cheer of joy is cut short however when the Allied Blawkhawk launches some form of nuclear bomb and absolutely annihilates the victorious Hermann.
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| So much death.....so much sadness |
Observer Grenadiers sprint to the trees to get ready to support the Heavy Mortar and Lothar. The Lothar moves in from the North and barrages the marines harassing Tina's troops. It was a very danger close type of experience. 4 marines go up in smoke.
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| Many Boom Booms |
The glorious panzerprinz moves in from the north to command the attack. Their state of the art radios and equipment will give them the advantage they needed to get cheeky reactivations. They use the walker's guns to remove the last marine from the blown up squad.
The Grenadier Heavy Mortar moves in from the south to set up in the wreckage of the Axis Loki. They use their submachine guns to shoot at the enemy mortar since it is too close for comfort. They mange to inflict 3 wounds on the team. The Ludwig comes in from the south and does its usual miss everything form of combat at the Blawkhawk.
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| A real one trick pony |
End of Turn 1
It isn't looking good for the Allies. Most of their Armor is gone and their marines are thinned. They lost their heroes and the Axis forces are closing in. It is going to take some serious digging in order to turn this one around.
Turn 2
Axis get the first turn and a sandstorm finally comes up. Christoph moves along the treeline to get shots at the Demolition marines. The marines spot them too late and can't get the reactive fire off this time, and die to the torrent of flame that pours of the squad. The Blackhawk loads and fires into Christoph's squad to stem the tide of death coming from the unit this game, and it only manages to get 2 wounds on Christoph even with the grenade rule ignoring cover.
The Grenadier Mortar squad continues the gun fight with the Allied mortar. It inflicts 4 wounds, surely one of them will kill the team? Nah, it keeps on going and survives. The Ludwig sustains and continues to fire into the Blackhawk, continuing its streak of missing every single shot.
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| It seems like a simple enough shot. I must be missing something. |
Allies pass looking for a better target. The Battle Grenadiers sustain and unload everything into the mortar and blast it away. The Recon Grenadiers charge and punch a single wound off of the Blackhawk. The rest of the game can be summed up with everything running forward and punching the Blackhawk to death. Tina manages to do it after being reactivated by the Panzerprinz.
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| It refused to be punched to death, I obliged anyway. |
End of Game
Conclusion and Thoughts
The Allied army is wiped out, and some honor is salvaged for the Axis from the previous game. Kara knows she made a few mistakes pertaining to the use of the treeline and line of sight, but this was another rough scenario. I already went over my thoughts on that whole thing in the last post so I won't repeat myself, but it's an issue. Fun game if not a bit short, but it made the campaign a close game. This campaign only has 6 games so it opens up the possibility of causing me to come up with a 7th scenario for a tie breaker if necessary.
The next game is a very large game at 165 points each, and we both excited for it. We actually did the scenario when we first started playing since Kara was eager to try out a few of the bigger tanks so this game will actually be a rematch that I was barely able to win back then. Now that Kara is even better at the game I admit it will be a real slug fest.
Master Sergeant left a note in the oasis that had this to say.
"This match went sideways very quickly. Bazooka Joe headed out early on and did not quite make it to shelter. This forced him to be taken down quickly. In hindsight, I think I should have hunkered down within the oasis and waited for the Axis to come to me. My boys fought hard and we will give those Axis the boot in the next round!"
Anything come up that just wills you into commenting at me? Why is this part of the world so flat? Tress are not flat! Well thankfully terrain building has begun! So much work needs to be done! Well keep dishing out the boom boom guys and subscribe and follow the blog for more content in the future.
Axis 3 - Allies 2
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| Commissar Loki is just disgusted with Kara's loss. |
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