Firestorm: Stripes

My first turn started well as Able platoon moved up to assault the garage on my centre-left and Baker moved up to clear the Gas Station and the woods on the right. The Abrams also moved up to possibly assault although one got stuck trying to cross the hedge.

I intended to use the minimum amount of fire necessary to pin both target Soviet infantry units before launching the assaults so as to minimize return fire in the darkness. Luckily my FIST rolled well for its spotting distance and I was able to lay a M109 barrage down on the Commies desecrating the McPizza King, pinning them down. On the right my M106 mortars failed to range in but fire from the advancing infantry teams and the .50 cals on the tracks was enough to pin those Soviets.

For his first turn Chuck chose to deploy his ambushing Storm unit in the centre hills. He also failed to unpin his leftmost infantry behind the gas station or dig them in whilst the centre infantry simply re-deployed slightly and continued to ravage the McPizza King building.

Both Able and Baker platoons continued to assault the Soviet Infantry whilst the Abrams unit moved behind the garage out of the way of the Storms. Unfortunately the bogged down Abrams bogged down again in the same spot. I fired the Copperheads, one of the Dragons (mounted on an M113) and my Scout's M901 missiles back at the firing BMP-2 unit but only got two of them.

Chuck succeeded with one reserve roll on T2 and decided to bring on his Shilka unit to backstop his dwindling infantry forces. Unfortunately the lone survivor of his left-hand unit failed its Last Man Standing test and their 4 BMP-2 also fled. His Storms chose to fire at my advanced M113 track unit but only got one kill for their troubles. His remaining motorised infantry stayed gtg but his BMPs poured revenge fire into the McPizza King and managed to kill another SAW team. Also, his Acacia unit managed to range in a bombardment behind the garage, catching my bogged-down Abrams under the template!

Chuck didn't succeed in rolling for Dawn on his turn but did get two reserves, for which he chose his last Motorised Infantry unit and the Hinds. The infantry moved up to secure the rear objective and the helicopters positioned themselves just inside 20" of my Abrams. Meanwhile, he continued to pour fire into the McPizza king and got another SAW team, leaving them with just the four Dragon teams.

Now that dawn has broken, I moved up my Stingers to get closer to the Hinds and charged with my Abrams against his rear objective. Unfortunately, the Abrams charge took them just a little too far from the AA umbrella as i was to discover next turn! To make matters worse, a full volley of Stinger fire against his copters scored 6 hits but failed to down anything! In the meantime, the Abrams did obliterate the Shilka unit with an accurate volley of fire.

I used the Copperheads to destroy his Observer and Command BMP this turn. The remains of Able platoon whittled down the supporting BMPs with Dragon fire whilst my M113 tracks, the Mortars and Baker platoon concentrated against his motorised infantry. Baker launched an Assault against the infantry but unfortunately failed to motivate for a counter-attack! However, combined with the all my previous fire, a third MotInf unit was in trouble!

For T4 Chuck received his Carnation unit from reserves, leaving only his Gaskin AA and BRDM-2. More fire gets poured into my exposed infantry, and the Acacias destroy my formation commander who relocates to in front of the garage (substituting for a Baker platoon SAW team). His Hind unit edged back to escape AA fire from all but one Stinger team and let loose another missile volley against my Abrams in the open.

In a major blow Baker platoon didn't un-pin despite the old man's exhortations and so I didn't assault the weak Soviet defenders again this turn. Concentrated fire did destroy his Formation Commander but my units were also holding on by their fingernails!

In Chuck's turn he poured everything he had into my infantry, including redeploying his Hinds to use their rockets. Altnough the Rockets failed to range in, both the Carnations and the Acacias laid down effective fire, forcing both of my infantry platoons to check morale. I elected to join my Commander to Baker platoon but rolled a "two", and Able platoon rolled a "three"! All of my infantry left the board, along with their tracks!