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Firestorm: Stripes

The Team Yankee Global Campaign

Polish Tanks attempt to breakthrough in the Hof Corridor

60 POINTS
Warsaw Pact
Blackwolf75
VS West German
Toby Farmer

Forward

Mission: Breakthrough
Points: 65

2nd Battalion, 35th Tank Regiment, 15th Polish Mechanized Infantry Division... It had been pushed into battle twice so far in this conflict, and though victorious in both encounters, it had paid a large price in men and machines. But high command were not concerned with the losses, not yet anyway. They just wanted victories. A victory in the Hof Corridor would go along way in stopping the NATO forces driving into East Germany. So the 2nd Battalion was thrown back into battle, tasked with breaking through a screen of West German troops on the flank of a major NATO push. Could it be done? High command certainty thought so.

65 points of Polish Tank Battalion
And 65 points of the enemy... West German Armored Company
The battlefield. The Polish would be attacking out of the below left quadrant
Deployment

Early Stages

There weren't many West German units to be seen so the commander decided to rush the Battalion forward as fast they could go. The T-55 units dashed down the right flank, knowing that Leopard 2's could ambush from the tree line at any moment. The T-72's, tasked with driving on the nearer 'centre' objective guarded by infantry, closed in more cautiously. The Hinds spotted a Leopard 1 platoon lurking behind the far tree line and flew straight for them. 2 missiles found their mark and brewed up 2 Leopards instantly. The survivor was brave, and stuck around.

Hinds find their mark

Luckily for the West Germans some reserves arrived in the form of Gepards, who blitzed on to the battlefield and acquired the Hinds on their radars. The infantry's Marders had no viable targets so dashed up behind some woods to lend support to the infantry dug in on the centre objective. As predicted a unit of Leopard 2's appeared in the tree line and opened up on a T-55 company approaching down a road. 4 of the 5 T-55's were destroyed while the surviving crew bailed out, then fled the field. The surviving Leopard 1 took aim at another T-55 unit, hit the lead tank, but failed to penetrate. The Gepards loot loose a hail of fire at the Hinds, but remarkably only brought one down, the second Hind shaking off the AA fire. The dug in Milan teams got a bead on some T-72's that had snuck up behind some trees and let loose a volley of missiles. 1 found its mark and killed the T-72.

A T-72 falls to a Milan missile
The T-55's rush forward. The 5 on the other side of the hill fall victim to the Leopard 2's ambush
The surviving Hind overlooking the Leopards in the tree line

With one T-55 unit already wiped out the other two knew they had to close in on the Leopards quickly, or they would meet the same fate as the others. The lead unit approached the the surviving Leopard 1, firing as they moved, but couldnt find their mark. The second T-55 unit dashed behind a hill, trying to stay out of sight of the Leopard 2's. On the other side of the battlefield the T-72's closed in on the dug in infantry, though the commander got stuck in the trees trying to move forward. The Shilkas rounded the hill to take aim at the infantry also. The Hind knowing it was doomed, called in an artillery bombardment on the Gepards and Leopard 2's, but despite some hits, none of the vehicles were damaged. Fire from the Shilkas and the T-72's 125mm guns smashed into the West German infatnry's position, killing all but one section of troops.
The West German response was quick, with more reserves arriving as a platoon of Leopard 1's showed up in the flank of the T-72's, taking up position behind a fence. Firing on the T-72's, they killed one and bailed another. The survivor stuck around. The Marders moved forward, intent on dealing with the Shilkas. They sprayed 20mm fire into them, bailing 3. The lone infantry team fired their ATGM into the 4th Shilka, blowing it. The bailed crews decided not to stick around and abandoned their vehicles. The Leopard 2's fired on the lead T-55 unit, killing 2, while the surviving Leopard 1 couldn't hit, even at such close range. The Gepards finally brought down the last Hind.

The T-55's continue to push forward, losing 2 more to the Leopard 2's
More Leopard 1's sneak up behind the Poles, but only kill a single T-72
The Shilkas pay the price for their aggressive tactics

Mid Stages

The first of the WarPact reserves arrived when the scout BMP-1's showed up right behind the Gepards. Poor firing only resulted in bailing 1 out. The newly arrived Leopard 1's were targeted by the T-72's and not surprisingly met their end. They just hand't caused enough damage on their opening volley to survive the return fire. One T-72 was able to get a shot off at the lone infantry team, obliterating their foxholes and killing the team. Both units of T-55's continued to close on the Leopard 2's, killing the last Leopard 1 as they drove by.
The West Germans were looking desperate in the centre of the battlefield. The Marders positioned themselves between the objective and the approaching T-72's, but wouldn't be able to hurt them. Their hope now was for an airstrike to show up, but it looked like the Tornados were delayed. A Gepard fired on the BMP-1's killing one outright. The Leopard 2's maneuvered closer to the second objective, but one tank bogged trying to cross the tree line. The other 2 Leopard 2's fired into the flanks of a T-55 unit, but surprisingly only bailed 2 tanks!

T-72's exact revenge on the flanking Leopard 1's
Marders attempt at a roadblock
Leopard 2's fail to kill any T-55's
Gepards and BMP-1's exchanging fire

late Stages

The bailed T-55's decided not to remount, while the other unit members closed to knife fight range with the Leopard 2's, but failed to hit with all of their flank shots. The other T-55 unit closed on the Gepards, but they also failed to find their mark. The Gepards were finally taken out by the BMP-1's. The T-72's closed in on the Marders, killing two with main gun fire, while the crew of the third fled the field. It was more important than ever that the Tornados showed up.
With the scream of approaching jet engines the Tornados streaked in low and fast. The avoided the SAM fire from the SA-9 Gaskins, and dispensed their cluster munitions on the T-72's in the centre of the battlefield. Despite numerous hits, only one tank went up in flames. The Leopard 2's maneuvered to try to keep the T-55's to their front, but the tank that got stuck in the tree line got stuck again. The other two fired into the T-55's at point blank range, brewing 3 of them up. A unit of 2 Luchs had arrived from reserve, but hung back from the fighting not wanting to get too close to the Tornados intended targets.

Leopard 2's blast the hapless T-55's
The Gepards fall to the BMP-1's, after surviving the fire from the T-55's
Tornados steak in, but only kill a solitary T-72

The T-72's drove up to the now unguarded centre objective, while a unit of T-55's stood still to fire on the bogged down Leopard 2 in the trees. When the smoke cleared the West German tank was a smoking mess. One of the bailed T-55's remounted and drove up the flank of another Leopard 2, but failed to find its mark. It in turn was obliterated by the Leopard 2's, along with the bailed out vehicle. A unit of Spandrels arrived from reserve, but failed their blitz move, so drove onto a hill where they'd be able to fire at the Leopard 2's next turn.The Tornados came back for another attack run. they need to kill the T-72's sitting on the centre objective. The SA-9 Gaskins were more successful in acquiring their targets this time, shooting a Tornado down before it dropped its munitions. The surviving Tornandos attack run was not successful, failing to damage any of the T-72's.
With the departing Tornado fading out of sight the Polish T-72's sat amid a scene of carnage, knowing their objective had been achieved. The surviving Leopard 2's withdrew from the field, determined to come back and exact revenge. For now, the 2nd Battalion, 35th Tank Regiment, 15th Polish Mechanized Infantry Division had achieved another victory, despite the almost crippling loses it had taken... again.

The Leopard 2's finish off a T-55 unit in a knife fight
The battlefield at the end. The T-72's in the centre hunkered down behind a hill so as not to attract Leopard 2 fire

Aftermath

Another slogfest. Another hard fought victory. Leopard 2's are so tough, I just try to swamp them with T-55's and try to get flank shots. Was not greatly successful in that regard today, but the T-55's did keep the Leopard 2's busy all game so they couldnt help out the fighting in the centre of the board where the battle was won. Numbers won the day. As the saying goes... "Quantity has a quality all of its own"

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7 Comments

  • Nabeshin says:

    A really well formatted report! Shame that West German formation didn’t stand a chance with the choices made. Commendations!

  • Jagdpanzer says:

    Nice report, but really with that list the NATO player is pushing #$%@ uphill vs the SPAM

  • recce103c says:

    I love you Poles for liberating our country.

    But don’t do that twice 😉 Nice AAR comrade and a nasty set up for the Germans (low Budget/points)

    Great Terrain (woods following road curves and hills)

  • CrazyIvan17 says:

    Well done Comrade! Congrats on your victory. A very well done AAR!

  • Stone says:

    I always find it funny to see the difference in force sizes, especially between West Germans and WARSAW Pact. Great AAR and love seeing the Polish out there.

  • Der Scholinger says:

    Nice AAR, with a cool table and awesome painted WP army

  • Storm Caller says:

    Hi Blackwolf,

    Good report, force select is a real challenge in these small games for NATO.

    Toby would be better served by Helo vs Aircraft and only using two leapared 2 and using the excess points to fill out the Leapard 1 or more Jaghunters