Battle Report: Demo Game!

Recently I was able to get a Flames of War demo game in with a buddy of mine who's been wanting to play some tabletop wargames but never had anyone to show him the ropes. Luckily he was down for some Flames of War, so we began with a straight-up tank battle. This game proved that demo games can still be nail-biters!

Claus von Slaus rides to war!

I just made a rough calculation of these lists, so please don't get on my case if the points don't match exactly or if the lists weren't exactly legal. I gave my friend command of Claus von Slaus, my imaginary German tank commander who has to hide his Eastern European ancestry by going balls-out against the Russians! He led two platoons of StuGs (one with 4 tanks and the other with 3) and a platoon of 3 Panthers. I had Ivan Ivanhoe leading the Soviets with two platoons of 7 T-34/85's each. We played on a 4x4 table with no objectives, just some good 'ole fashioned dice rolling.

End of his first movement phase. I have the other platoon on my right flank, out of frame.

He rolled out and said "bogging checks be damned!" and plunged his tanks into cover. His first turn of shooting helped him understand the value of AT 14 guns on the Panthers! Between their fire and the shots from the StuGs I had two tanks destroyed and two bailed.

My apologies for the lack of smoke.

On my turn my tanks un-bail (with a little help from the 1iC) and both platoons move out in an attempt to execute a classic pincer maneuver. 

We fire many shots into the fascist pig-dogs, but Hen and Chicks ruins our day. The left flank platoon brings down but one StuG...

While the platoon on the right flank has more success, killing one and bailing another! Luckily for my friend the platoon passes their morale check to stay on the board.

Yes, I know, they're Ersatz StuGs, deal with it.

Blood has been shed on both sides, and everyone is looking for revenge. The Panthers are now in the perfect position to wreak a terrible vengeance on the left flank platoon. But all is not going to plan, for not only does the bailed StuG stay bailed, but another StuG bogs!

The Panthers have simply had enough of this messing around, and they pour fire into the left flank platoon, needing 3's to hit:

Not a good day for Ivan Ivanhoe

The subsequent firepower checks send 4 tank crews to heaven (or hell, since they're communists) and bail another. At the end of the shooting phase the platoon breaks, dragging the 1iC along with it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the board, the Germans managed to bail two Soviet tanks.

I promptly re-mount my tanks, but the battle is slipping away. In their turn they manage to send one StuG platoon fleeing off the board, and they bail another StuG from the other platoon.

The Panthers and remaining StuGs return fire and gut the T-34/85's, but unlike their cowardly compatriots these tankers pass their morale check to stay in the game. But it really isn't looking good for them.

With just four operational tanks left, the Soviets pour all of their fire into the closest StuG platoon. In a miraculous turn of events, Stalin's tank crews kill all three!

Suddenly it is the Germans who are staring a Company Morale Check in the face! With the game in the balance my friend summons all of his dice-rolling skills and scores a 4, keeping his German in the game.

 Panthers on the prowl

The brave commander seeks to end this right now!

The Panthers and von Slaus kill two T-34/85's and bail another, once again forcing a platoon morale check. How Fearless are they??!!

Oh...I guess they've had enough

And with that roll, what started as a laid-back demo game concluded as a hard-fought, nail-biting battle that earned my friend his first Flames of War victory, hopefully the first of many.

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