1500 Early War strelk mob vs Polish cav/train! Neither list is particually "good", but both seemed really fun, and we're going to have the armies out for play at NOVA, so we figured we give them a shot. Mission is Fighting Withdraw with the Strelks attacking (since they did IRL).
The Polish list consists of 2 platoons of hooves, ex 37mm ATG, 4x 75mm arty, 5x Tankettes w/ Orlik, and a train with two light arty batteries. The Tankettes and 37mm begin in ambush, with one squad of hooves bypassed.
The Soviets have two full platoons of boots (37 stands each!), 5x T35s, and 13x T26s! Five T26 start on the board. Six more show up on turn 2, and the rest on turn 3.
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| The Soviets muster their forces |
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| A semi blurry iPhone shot of the Polish |
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| The Polish deploy the 75mm arty behind the hill |
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| And one squad of hooves dismounts into boots! |
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| One blob on the left... |
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| ...and one on the right... |
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| ...and the panoramic shot! |
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| Soviets with the first turn start moving up! |
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| 1 T26 bogs in the woods and the rest of the forces mosey on forward |
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| The train moves onto the board leaving the 75mm in a less than stellar position |
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| The 37mm ATG pop from ambush |
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| They kill 2 T26 and bail a 3rd, but they pass their morale |
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| Still moving forward. Chris needs some movement trays! |
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| The infantry ineffectively assault the train |
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| They lose two boots in defensive fire, but get to move about 8-inches forward as a result |
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| More T26s show up and bog down |
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| The cavalry on the right flank charge out of the woods |
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| But only two get into contact to swing. |
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| After some pushing and shoving, the assault cav are wiped out, but inflict a good amount of casulties |
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| The soviet right flank is stretched thin |
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| The left flank is looking much better! |
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| The left flank assaults the ATG and pushes onto the objective |
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| Some fearless command stand/objective contestor you are, Mr 37mm command stand! |
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| The right flank advances torwards the right objective |
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| The tankettes pop form ambush to hold onto the objective |
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| A tankette is bailed by rifle fire (lol!) |
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| Right side blob assaults the three remaining dismounted cav |
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| And move onto the objective for the win! |
There were a number of cool moments that didn't get photographed. The train wrecking the T35s with direct shots, and the bypassed cavalry coming in and assaulting the right flank in the rear. All in all, it's a tough mission for the Polish when they only have so many bullets! I might try to sneak in some Tchenkas to give the Polish a little more oomph!
This game was a total blast. I really love playing the Polish Cav/Train combo - just tons of fun. The strelk blob was interesting. Chris never got to use the wave attack rule, sadly, but he did fall victim to sabotaged tanks!
If you're swinging by NOVA Open this weekend, stop by the demo tables with a friend and try your hands with either of these forces!
