Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Dawn on the eastern front!

      John Paul and I get together for another WWII miniatures battle using the NUTS! rules from THW. This time on the eastern front as I bring out my glorious defenders of Mother Russia to face John Paul's dreaded Germans!

     It is dawn on the eastern front. The German has been advancing rapidly all along the front leaving encircled pockets of Russian resistance in their wake. My platoon has been decimated leaving just a hand full of men who have sought cover in a small farm. Stuka dive bombers took out our T-34 and pounded the farm buildings. We can hear the revving of a half tack as the Germans close in to finish us off.


      In this game I would be defending a small group of farm buildings and I would need to hold out for 10 turns. John Paul's soldiers would be coming on from random table sides and he would also be able to get reinforcements. My men were encircled and no help was on the way, they were on their own. I divided my soldiers into 3 groups and marked down on a sheet of paper where each group was hidden in the buildings. This was so John Paul wouldn't know where they were and would be advancing his troops into the unknown. I put my LMG with a rifleman and my Cpl with a SMG in the 2nd story of the main house. My leader with an pistol, a private with a SMG and a rifleman  were hidden in the small building to the south. I realized after the game had started that this was not a great spot to put them as the small building on had one small window that was looking directly has a steep rocky hill. This gave them only a very small field of fire and made them basically useless for defending the farm. I was going to have to move them immediately if they were going to help repulse the German attack. My 2 remaining riflemen were hidden in the bombed out building to the east.


      A German halftrack comes in from the northeast and 3 soldiers get out. The half track is armed with a dreaded MG-42 HMG so my two riflemen in the bombed out building sneak out the back door into the courtyard and hide behind a car. With the half track on the field I felt it was now too late to move my poorly placed men in the small house. It's HMG made it too risky to go running into the open so I decided to leave them hidden there and hope to maybe spring a trap if the German were able to make it into the courtyard.


      As the dismounted Germans advance through the field one of them spots my LMG in the 2nd story as he is setting up his weapon to engage them. (John Paul won the insight test) They open fire on the 2nd story causing my HMG to duck back. (you can see 3 of my soldiers near the two story building in the picture. These are the men that are actually on the 2nd story. I placed them there so that John Paul could see what I had in the building now that insight had been completed) Reinforcements arrive for the German and enter from the south on the rocky hill.


      My rifleman on the 2nd story attempts to engage the men advancing over the rocky hill only to face heavy return fire. This set off a string of gunfights as my men behind the car also attempt to slow the German advance from the south. John Paul rolled really well and continually forced my men to duck back and hunker down and his tough Germans stood calm under fire.


      The dice started to go my way as my LMG was finally able to get his gun into the window (I think John Paul was able to get him to duck back or hunker down at least 3 times without me getting a clean shot off) With a burst of LMG fire I was able to knock the closet German out of the fight only to of course duck back again! Yes again! as another burst of SMG fire from the German Sgt hit the window.


      
      The dice were still on my side however as my Cpl let loose with his SMG from the next window and killed the German Sgt!



      After seeing two men go down the halftrack races into the action and lets loose with its HMG into the 2nd story causing everyone to dive for cover.    



      Heavy fire from the rocky hill and a grenade into the bombed out building from the lone survivor of the half track squad cause one of my men to panic and flee over the wall (only to be stopped by a strange blue Nazi secret weapon!) and the other man to hunker down. I may have taken down two Germans but now all of my men have hit the dirt and are under fire!


      The squad from the hill splits into two groups and advances into the court yard. Two of them grab cover and put fire onto the 2nd story when my men there try to engage them. The other two advance towards the small building where my remaining 3 men are hidden. It is time to spring my trap!


      A vicious close quarters gunfight ensues as my SMG private kicks open the door and lets loose with his SMG only to miss from point blank range! The German in the door fires his rifle killing the private only to have my rifleman return fire and knock him out of the fight! At the same time my leader fires his pistol out the small window and kills the German Cpl!!!!


      With both their leaders dead the Germans pull back under the cover of their halftack and leave the field of battle. My men may won the fire fight but it would prove a hallow victory as they were doomed to face relentless Stuka and artillery attacks as the Germans wiped the farm off the map.

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