Firestorm: Stripes

Taking Ivan’s measure

It was after three hours of standby that the radio finally crackled into life again.
“White Fox, White Fox, this is Baseplate, over.”
Col. Lotgering, suppressing his sudden nerves, thumbed the talk button.
“This is White Fox, go ahead!”
His staff looked expectantly at him. Was this the call for their first battle?

“We have a contact report from a Marine artillery unit. They were enroute to staging area 17 when they spotted Soviet armor. They haven’t reported any major pushes yet, but something is definitely up and we need you to go in and take a look. And covering the Marines is a plus as well Colonel.”

The rest of the conversation was receiving location and contact data, and within five minutes, his entire mechanized combat team was moving out. Time to meet and greet Ivan, and take his measure!

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50 pts Free for all – USA vs Warsaw Pact
It was me and my opponent’s (Marko) first game of Team Yankee (since a few games when it came out), so we were both anxious to see what our troops could do. Going all Abrams failed me the first few times, so I sought comfort in the good old infantry. It was after comparing our army lists that I realized my infantry couldn’t hurt his T-72s, and do nothing in close combat. But with quite a few TOWs and the Laser-guided projectiles from the M109s, I wasn’t too worried at first.

We also used the version 4 rules of Late War FoW (with rules for aircraft etc. from TY) instead of the unique TY rules. We felt it sped up most things, and was more Morale friendly.

Deployment
My deployment consisted of digging in both my mech infantry platoons on both objectives, with the VADS and ITVs covering both in the middle, and my artillery on the far right with the observer having a great view of almost the entire table. The Cobras would loiter first, to see where the Soviets would go and maybe act as Hind hunters as well!

My opponent only having one infantry platoon, dug them in on my left, and put his tanks on the right, leaving his middle empty. His Hinds loitered as well, and I had a sneaking suspicion where they would go.

We rolled of and it was Russia to go first.

Turn 1-3
Marko indeed dashed his T-72s onto my right flank, and I then realized that for the most part, I would have no anti-tank options there. And when his Hinds came in there as well, I felt I would lose the artillery there before it could do anything.

But being Concealed and Gone to ground saved the Marines and they only lost one M109! Their counterattack was sweet, using their Copperheads to destroy three T-72s, and when the combined fire of my VADS and Cobras shot down the Hinds as well, the right flank didn’t look that bad anymore.

Unfortunately, with my VADS now in the open, after having to move forward to the Hinds to get in range, meant they were now easy prey for the enemy. After losing three, the fourth one turned tail and fled of the field. The T-72 platoon that was still intact moved forward and got in range of the M109s, but once again, being Concealed saved them from destruction. It also allowed them to move out of the forest (failing only one Cross check) and fire into the side armor of the T-72s, killing two and bailing one (yes we made a mistake here, I thought the firepower of the direct fire shot was also 2+ and I rolled a one). This tank failed to remount and failed his Unit Last Stand test. Seeing a chance to go for the objective on the right, I send my infantry there forwards.

Turn 4-6
This move forced my opponent to send his infantry forwards as well, backed up by his BMPs, to go for the objective on my left. And we love infantry out in the open! After successfully ranging in, I managed to kill three infantry stands, while on the other flank, I called up the M113s to transport their infantry towards the objective.

Marko’s T-72 commander was still active, however, and would eventually kill two M113s and one passenger. The remaining infantry moved up through the forest, seeking cover behind the trees, while my other platoon thinned down the Soviets, and drove them of in Defensive fire when desperation drove them to an assault on the objective.
And when the Dragons and Copperheads accounted for all of his BMPs, both flanks looked rather empty of enemy forces!

Turn 7-8
With only his commander left and the Gremlin team on the other objective, it was a matter of killing one, or him failing his Unit Last Stand test, which eventually happened.

Game end
With only losing the VADS, it was a 5-2 victory for the USA.

Aftermath
Marko had some really bad luck this game. His T-72s could’ve wreaked havoc on my right flank, but failing to hit so many times in a row gave me time to set-up a counter. His anti-air fire did nothing, and he even lost a T-72 to a Dragon missile! And when he lost all of his T-72s bar one, it was all downhill from there.

Highlights
The M109s really won the game for me. They killed five T-72s, three BMPs, and three infantry stands. Copperheads are amazing, but direct fire into MBT side armor? Wow.

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Sergeant Lockhart prodded the body of a fallen Soviet soldier. His team was doing the same, making sure none were faking. When none responded, he hit his comm. “Left flank secured. We’re moving up to confirm enemy retreat.”

Colonel Lotgering watched them go, mounting their M113s and moving out. It wasn’t really necessary, their Cobra support already having confirmed what he knew, but it never hurt to be absolutely sure. They’d given Ivan a bloody nose and he had fallen back, but falling back didn’t always mean defeat.
Radioing baseplate to request another anti-air unit, the colonel could look back onto a successful first engagement. He hoped his success would last.