On Thursday, September 22nd, Bill Waddell fought Mike Stanton in a Flames of War game!
The conditions were the
same as for the large four-on-four FoW game several
weeks ago. Mike played the Russians, with half his force in reserve and
the other half deeply dug in on the hill, protected by minefields and sections
of barbed wire. Bill played the German attackers.
Bill’s force consisted of
eight Panzer IV ausf H organized into three platoons,
a platoon of three SdKfz 7/1 Flakvierling
(quad 20mm AAA on halftrack) and a kubelwagen, and a
single Ferdinand self-propelled 88mm anti-tank gun. Mike’s force on the
board at the start of the game consisted of two batteries of artillery, two
squads of infantry, and three machine gun trucks.
The Germans line up in preparation for their advance on the
Russian defenses:
The Russians, having already lost two 76mm guns to the
pre-assault bombardment, await the enemy:
Russian machine-gun trucks race around the German
flank. In the distance, the first German casualty – a Panzer IV – can be
seen burning:
Another shot of the first German casualty, a victim of the
Soviet 57mm anti-tank battery:
A second Panzer IV is taken out by the 57mm battery, to
which the Ferdinand’s armor proves impervious:
The battery of Flakvierlings burns
after being subjected to massed small arms fire from the entrenched infantry:
The Soviet machine gun trucks have successfully flanked the
enemy, but are ineffective against the German armor:
Red infantry watches helplessly as the German armor
maneuvers past the minefields and threatens the Soviet flank:
Two platoons of Panzer IVs, having bypassed the static
defenses, prepare to roll up the Russian flank:
The trap is sprung! A company of Soviet T-70 light
tanks emerges from concealment behind the German armor:
The Bolshevik infantry charges from their trenches to engage
a lone Panzer, a contest the Panzer will lose:
Despite being caught by surprise, the Panzers turn to engage
the new threat and savage the much lighter T-70s with 75mm fire:
Forced to turn once more to defend against an infantry
charge, the German company commander’s tank and the 2iC’s tank are hit in the
rear and disabled:
Red infantry charges the two of the three surviving Panzers
while three others burn. Surrounded on all sides and forced to hold the
objective, the Germans face certain defeat:
An overview of the battlefield as the Germans concede
defeat; only three Panzer IVs and the Ferdinand survive:
Another overview of the battlefield at the end of the game,
from the German lines:
Despite losing eight of his nine T-70s to superior German
firepower, the Soviet commander celebrates victory against the Fascist invader:
Russian artillery prepares to fire against the German armor:
The mighty Ferdinand, despite having survived unscathed,
proved less than effective against dug-in artillery and infantry:
BIG THANKS to Bill Waddell for taking these pictures and
providing the captions! Excellent
work!