Tuesday 10 December 2013

[FoW] Panzered!

So I was keen to get some more practice against a different German list. I had asked around and Josh was available. He has a truly fearsome list containing;
HQ, Pzkfw IV x2
Tank Platoon, 4 Panther
Tank Platoon, Pzkfw IV x4
Assault Gun Platoon StuH x4
Recon Platoon 8 rads x2
I'm pretty sure they were confident Vets or something.
Josh did a great job setting up the table and I showed up late as usual. I hadn't prepped at all and was running my exact same list from last week.

Sherman Spearhead Ninjas strike!

We rolled Hasty Attack and I took that to heart. Despite the fact that I was facing a ton, or rather tons of Jerry armor! I ninja moved my Sherman's up and they pounced on the StuH's holding the center.

CO and XO loitering on the left flank
My Armored Recon Platoon was on the right, cowering. My TD's were unpopped in the center waiting for the big tanks to take the Sherman attack as bait.(?!)

Oh my that is a lot of tanks
The Panthers were in Immediate Ambush and Josh popped them in the center, just behind his StuH's

The German Commander surveys the killing fields
The two HQ panzers were forcing my right flank recon platoon to rethink, "why we fight.'

Which way to run!
Oh shit! Wait, remove gone to ground or something... Whatttt!?

Not according to plan!
We pop one StuH and bail another. Not he effect I was hoping for, but honestly I shouldn't have expected more... In return we get caned, but it takes a bunch of shots. Both platoons have to shoot at the Shermans and one survives

The Germans counterattack!
My air support refuses to show up setting the precedent for the rest of the game. One aircraft found the battlefield... all game.80

Killing a panzer IV with armored cars! Woot!
Coolest part of the game for me! Killing tanks with armored cars! Well a second tank with an armored car. If I knew then that it would be my last kill I would have drank more heavily!

There's no place like home, there's no place like home...
My tank destroyers realize that since no one else is showing up they had better get shooting! Plus, you know Panthers!

StuH bags an M20
Trying to broaden the deployment possibilties for the TD platoon an M20 goes for broke.

The Combat Engineers finally show up after the M10's appear.
 Unable to get the flank, all of our shots bounce... we know the return fire won't bounce. (I hit them five times?) Arrgghhh!

In the distance you can see the light tanks on an objective...
Finally reinforcements! The light tanks show up and charge for the objective. We hope that all the shooting in the center will delay any reaction so they double. I also mistakenly think that they are out of maneuver and shooting  range.
They are in range of Josh's StuH's which charge through the woods and engage destroying the entire platoon easily. Then the Panthers obliterate the M10's!
I knew it was coming. But I keep juking around hoping that air or arty will work. But nothing.
In the end it's the Combat Engineers and the 105's holding off the Panthers and two Armored Recon platoons shooting it out at point blank range with the StuH's and Panzer IV's.
Good game Josh! Well played and I just didn't have any luck, and versus this list I needed a least a bit.

6 comments:

  1. I find luck to be a major factor! Great looking game.

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    1. My favorite quote from Napoleon, 'it's good to be lucky!'

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  2. Not an easy match up for a force built round M8s and Stuarts!!!! In the real world it would definitely have been a case of "Run away!"

    Those kind of match-ups are my favourites though as you are up against it and really learn a lot of lessons about what to do and not to do.

    Josh's list IMO is the perfect lat war panzer force!

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    1. Yeah I've got a bit of practice against these kinds of lists, but this was my first all armor situation. I was hoping on getting a few kills at least.
      I got two tanks. Two, total.

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  3. So..... is it possible to have Naval Gunfire Support with your Recce? :P

    That list is a really harsh matchup, I can commiserate as Chris W always ran it's 1500 pt cousin vs me.

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    1. Lol nice.
      Yeah Chris and Josh might be related...

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