Sunday Battle Report Announcement

Battle Reports written Saturday will be posted on Tuesday, January 6th. I apologize yet again for the delay. As well, my new army (which some of you may have been able to figure out from the last Holiday Special) will fight this weekend for the first time. Please stay tuned, as it should be very interesting. (The report will most likely be posted Sunday afternoon) but this week there will be a new battle report, a matchup you guys likely haven't seen yet.



There is no Battle Report for Sunday. But, all of Team Truman is going to get together on Saturday for a few games which we will post.

Thanks for reading,
Team Truman

Bogged Down Sherman vs German Forces

Yesterday, I was unable to meet with the team, so I had to play the special against myself, after staying up until 12 the night before and playing through the mission at 9:30PM last night. As a result, it was not as interesting as it could have been, as I was simply too tired to move anything. I apologize for the inconvenience, and next week Team Truman will get together and redo this scenario. For now, please enjoy this scenario. A Sherman 76 has bogged down while foolishly crossing a thick forest, trying to rendezvous with the rest of his platoon. A platoon of paras with a squad of engineers stumbles across the crew trying to free their tank, as German reserves gather. The Sherman tank can shoot, as the crew is still in the tank and the engineers are now trying to free it from the ditch. German forces arrive in the form of reserves, the first turn rolling one dice, the second turn rolling two dice, and so on until turn 4, where if the Sherman tank is not destroyed or all the paras killed, the US win and reserves arrive on the field in the form of a new army that I have not yet been able to use. The Sherman can fire its weapons at multiple platoons per turn. On a roll of a 1, 2, or 3, the reserves that arrive are an infantry platoon. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, the reserves that arrive are a single StuG G. After arriving, the Germans roll one dice to determine the motivation and another to determine the skill of the newly arrived reserves individually. On a roll of 1 or 2 for the first dice, the motivation is reluctant. On a roll of 3 or 4, the motivation is confident, and on a roll of 5 or 6, the motivation is fearless. Similarly, for the second dice, on a roll of 1 or 2, the skill is conscript. On a roll of 3 or 4, the skill is trained. On a roll of 5 or 6, the skill is veteran. Infantry also rolls after this to see what they are armed with. On a roll of 1 or 2, they have rifles. On a roll of 3 or 4, they have rifle/mgs. On a roll of 5 or 6, they have machine guns. They then take a roll to see if they are armed with panzerfausts. On a roll of 1, 2, or 3, they have no fausts. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, they are all armed with fausts. If a single StuG arrives and is bailed, it has to take a platoon motivation check. I know with all the explaining of rules, you are all probably bored, but below is the battle report.

The Board

 Paras stand guard for the Sherman

German Turn 1

A StuG comes on, and 2 5s reveal it is rated as fearless veteran. The StuG fails to hit the Sherman.

US Turn 1

The Sherman skillfully hits the StuG, who promptly fails its armor save, leading to the destruction of the StuG.

German Turn 2

Bring on a StuG rated as Reluctant Conscript, and an infantry platoon armed with MGs rated as Reluctant Veteran.

The MGs gun down 2 stands of the paras who die bravely defending their tank, but the StuG fails to hit the Sherman. Again.

 

US Turn 2

The paras successfully dig in around the woods. The Sherman only manages to bail the freshly recruited StuG crew out of their vehicle, but it kills 2 stands of infantry, including the commander. The mortar barks and claims 2 infantry stands. The paras split fire, and the right side fails to hit the infantry, but on the left, the CiC of the German Company is sniped by one of the paras.

German Turn 3

The StuG fails morale (predictably) and quits the field as well as the infantry, but two more StuGs come on, one rated as Reluctant Conscript again, and the other as Fearless Trained. An infantry platoon also comes on, rated as Confident Veteran armed with MGs. The infantry score one hit on the paras but their save is made, and the StuGs fail to hit the Sherman. Darn.

US Turn 3

The Sherman hits both StuGs, one being bailed and destroying the other.

The mortar ranges in on the first attempt, but the Germans make all their saves, and are pinned. The Sherman hits 2 infantry stands who both fail their saves, and the paras kill 2 more stands. The 2iC is hit twice, but makes both his saves. Wow.

German Turn 4

The RC StuG quits the field, but they bring in two more StuGs and two platoons of infantry. The StuGs are rated with the left one as Reluctant Conscript (again) and one Confident Veteran, while the infantry are all armed with rifles, the left one Fearless Trained and the other Reluctant Trained.

No hits on the Sherman (again) and the infantry fails to hit any of the paras. With this, the US win.

US Turn 4

The tank is freed from the clutches of the forest by the skillful engineers, and reserves arrive, ready to smash the Germans...

RT Volksgrenadiers ambush a column of CV British Armored Tanks

In another holiday special, we decided to have a company of tanks in a town with walls on both sides of the street get ambushed by trained infantry all armed with fausts. The game ends at turn 4, and if the Germans are not completely eliminated, they win, as the advance has been slowed long enough to allow the main defenses to organize and prepare. There are no hit modifiers for the Shermans to hit after the first turn, as the infantry would be in the open after assaulting. The grenadiers do not have to pass tank terror the first turn. At the end of the game, a break-off turn is held where the Shermans see if they can eliminate the last of the Germans as they try to break away. If they break away successfully, it is considered a 5-2 victory. If they do not, it is a 4-3 victory. Also, I will be looking to purchase a green mat for terrain, which means you no longer have to look at the stone floor. Also, the battle report for today will not be posted until tomorrow (Probably) I'm sorry I am running behind but I have had a lot to do this week. Seeing as this event was not very well planned on my part, I also had to spend time with the rest of the team coming up with ideas for the next engagement. I hope you all don't mind too much, and I assure you that next year there will not be this sort of problem. Please enjoy the following report.

After Deployment

German Turn 1

Since the infantry start as having not moved, concealed, gone to ground, and do not have to charge to be in assaulting range, the tanks do not get defensive fire the first turn. Using this, Platoon 1 (Left Side) assaults the weak M-10s. The M-10s are struck hard by the surprise assault and loose both vehicles.

 Ambush!

Platoon Two (Top Right) assaults the 3rd row Sherman Platoon. Again, taken by surprise, the Shermans are assailed by a multitude of infantry armed to the teeth with panzerfausts. The commander is killed and the firefly is bailed in the initial charge.

Now realizing their situation, the two remaining Shermans swing back to deliver payback to the Germans, and manage to kill one stand.

The Germans are persistent and come back into the fight, with the platoon commander leading the way, and destroy the remaining two tanks, and capture the firefly, which they blow up.

Platoon Three (Bottom Right) assaults the HQ Shermans, and they dispatch both.

The massacre at the end of Turn 1

British Turn 1

Now realizing they have fallen into a trap, the Shermans of the second row realize they cannot escape due to their shattered friends behind and to the front of them. Seeing no other option but to fight, the platoon launches a devastating hail of fire (16 shots total) into Platoon 3, and eliminate 6 stands.

The commander of Platoon 3 somehow managed to escape the hail of withering, bitter fire unharmed.

German Turn 2

The commander of Platoon 3 sticks around on the field to fight to the death against their enemy. Unfortunately, his comrades are not as brave as him. Only Platoon One passes tank terror to assault. But, the Shermans, now aware of the enemy, are alert, and batter the attackers with a terrible barrage of fire. Surprisingly, the platoon takes no casualties pulling back.

British Turn 2

The Second Row Sherman Platoon is hungry for revenge against the Germans, as they are the only surviving members of their company. Again, they turn their turrets to do a terrible deal of damage to Platoon Two, and succeed in their objective. 5 Stands of Platoon One go down to the Second Row.

German Turn 3

Platoon One decides to stick around. Platoon Two launches an assault, but is pushed back in defensive fire from the stubborn Second Row, and they take 3 stands dead.

British Turn 3

The invincible Second Row, having survived so far, still have not satisfied their hunger for revenge. The crews turn their turrets back towards Platoon Two, and eliminate 3 stands of infantry.

German Turn 4

The company passes morale, so the game goes to the Germans! Due to their sacrifice, a larger force was able to position itself in the way of the main advance!

Break Contact Turn

The Shermans of the Second Row are still burning red with anger, and their turrets follow the wounded Germans as they attempt to disengage. The Shermans are able to finish their duty, and splitting fire, massacre the remaining Germans. Although battered, the company remains intact, and have repulsed the assault. But, their advance has been halted long enough for a large German force to amass ahead of the battered column. The Shermans set about blasting away the buildings and walls and drive through them to get out, making their way back to base.

StuGs vs British Armored in a tanks only free for all

Team Truman has never done an all tanks battle, so we decided to do one on Christmas Eve. Yes I know it's late to post it now, but I didn't really have a lot of time these past few days, so the written report has been sitting on my desk until now. We rolled to see who would go first, and the Germans won. I had the Germans and my friend had the Brits. The Germans had 10 StuG Gs total, while the British Force had 8 shermans and 2 fireflies total. It didn't look very fair, but our list builder told us they were equal. If there's an error, feel free to comment and we'll re-do this battle.

The Board

After Deployment (To meet the supply of StuG Gs, I had to bust out my Sturmis)

 German Turn 1

Everything drives forward, led by the company commander. One StuG in right platoon bogs in the woods.

 

The Left Side

4 of the StuGs that can see light into the Shermans, and score the 2iC, and kill one and bail another tank of the Sherman Platoon. Ouch.

All platoons pass stormtrooper, so the StuGs that fired move back into cover. Unfortunately, 2 bog on the wall, including the CO. Uh-Oh.

This may go poorly

British Turn 1

The bailed Sherman remounts, ready to avenge the loss of his comrades. The wounded Sherman platoon plus the CO leaves their fallen mate behind to get side armor on the vulnerable bogged StuGs.

 The other Sherman platoon drives hard to the left, ready to flank the enemy. This was where my friend went wrong, I think, in splitting his forces.

The Sherman commander skilfully blows up the command StuG, while the other bogged StuG is bailed.

On the other side, a lucky shot from one of the flanking Shermans destroys a StuG from Right Platoon with a lucky shot.

German Turn 2

The bailed StuG fails to remount, but unbogs from the wall. The commander of Left Platoon moves forward to try and kill some Shermans, while the others move up to take care of the flanking platoon.

 The StuGs on the left kill the Sherman CO, and poor shooting only bails two of the flanking Shermans.

The Left StuG platoon stormtroopers behind the wall.

British Turn 2

Snake eyes for the motivation for the bailed shermans. The right platoon moves forward to engage the StuGs in support of the flanking platoon.

The wounded platoon kills one StuG, and the flanking Shermans bail one. Return fire will suck.

That dice is supposed to represent being bailed, because I was too lazy to get actual counters

German Turn 3

 The severely wounded StuG platoon (the ones in Finnish Camo) quit the field, but the bailed StuGs remount.

 The left StuG platoon moves to side shot the Shermans, while the StuGs stay put to maximize fire on the flanking Shermans.

Right platoon blows up a firefly and bails a regular Sherman

The sum of failed firepower rolls

Left StuG platoon side shots a Sherman like a pro

British Turn 3

The severely wounded Sherman platoon sticks around despite having 3 bails, but only one gets back in. The larger Sherman platoon moves through the rough forest to shoot up the left StuGs. 

 They are in front of a destroyed Sherman, so it looks like the firefly is dead but it is alive

One StuG is killed by a skillful sideshot on the left, while on the right a StuG goes down to the one remounted Sherman.

German Turn 4

The StuGs stay put to maximize rate of fire on the now severely depleted British tanks. The right StuG platoon kills 2 more Shermans and double bails the last.

Left StuG platoon finishes off the other Sherman Platoon, reducing the company to one double-bailed tank.

British Turn 4

The double bailed Sherman's crew quits the field, leaving behind a shattered company of tanks.

That was a really fun game full of movement and with plenty of sideshots. Both me and my friend were happy, and we decided to call a Christmas Truce for the holiday. Thank you for reading and merry Christmas (late) from Team Truman.