Firestorm: Stripes

WINNING THE GAME:
A player wins if they start their turn with a Tank or
Infantry team within 4”/10cm of one of the Objectives
placed by the opponent, and end it with no opposing
Tank or Infantry teams within 4”/10cm of that Objective.

We decided to give ourselves a 15min time limit per man, per turn. to try and speed ourselves up a bit. (Me and K.R. are normally quite slow, we end up spending too much time, just talking and joking around)
In the initial roll off I became the attacker.
i decided to roll on the Random ToD table; Dusk
Roll for who gets to start; he won, had severe consequences for the remainder of the game.

Erich´s War Part 1: firestormstripes.warconsole.com/battles/cryofrost-vs-k-r-knudsen-1521213273

A few days later, and a day after having spent almost a day in his hometown of Munster on frontnahe Auffrischung, after the Brits fought their way out. Hauptman Erich Graf and his unit were back in the action. They were positioned at the outskirts of Linau, some 30 kilometers east of Hamburg, preparing for a move East. Erich wasn’t too sure about the value of pushing east, but he had no choice in the matter, and the major who briefed Erich that afternoon, made it quite clear. – I know you don´t like it, but you’re a soldier and thus you don’t have a choice in the matter, the battalion will be on the move at 04:00 hours, tonight, verstanden? Erich returned from a relaxed stance to attention – Verstanden. The major, half-way through his turn to walk away, stopped and turned his head towards Erich – oh ja Graf, Ihr Neue Panzergrenadieroffizier, Junker. The major made a gesture towards a leutnant walking close by, then completed his turn and walked away.

Graf returned to a relaxed stance and called for the Leutnant – Hey, you there, you´re Junker, right? The leutnant made a few quick leapy steps towards Erich and as he stood in front of Erich replied – Ja, und du bist Hauptman… Graf, right? Erich still in his relaxed stance replied – ja. A few moments of silence passed where Erich tapped his thigh a few times, until Junker asked – Graf? That´s not that common of a name, you´re not by any chance related to Oberst Otto Graf, 6. Panzergrenadierdivision? Erich stopped tapping his thigh – Ja, das ist mein Vater. – Oh really? I trained under him and I was under his command, only a few weeks ago, yeah…. before dieses Scheißding. Junker said while drawing a small smile, that quickly vanished. Erich, who hadn´t heard from his father since shortly after the outbreak of war, asked. – so, you´re a Sleschwig-Holsteiner, how´s the old man holding up? – Ja, genau. Junker replied to the first statement before continuing - I don´t know, the fighting in Sleschwig-holstein, and the following fighting in Dänemark, and the retreat was sehr hektisch. I ended up cut off with some Engländer near Hannover. A moment of silence passed between the two men before Junker continued – don’t worry, he´s a great man, the best officer I’ve ever met and I´ve heard some rumors about soldiers in-hiding, in Dänemark, who have taken up arms against die verdammte Kommunisten, so he is probably up there fighting with the Danes still. Erich thought to himself, that would fit the old man´s character. But Erich replied – I, don’t believe in rumors… another short moment of silence passed, before Erich continued – well, we´ll be here for some time, if you set up your guys in the white farmhouse, eastern end of town, and then be back here in an hour, by then I’ll brief the Kompanie on what will follow the next few days. Junker made a quick change of stance from ease to attention and back, which was mirrored by Graf. Junker was about to walk away, when Erich recaptured his attention with a lighter tone. – with all the praising of my father, you do know I’m the black sheep of the family, right? Junker had a lightly puzzled expression – No, what do you mean? Erich continued – my father, Panzergrenadieroffizier, mein Opa, Panzergrenadieroffizier, mein Groß Opa, Infanterieoffizier, mein kleiner Bruder, Fallschirmjäger, und dann ich, the tanker. Junker started shaking his head slightly from side to side, with a smile on his face. – what! Don’t be so fucking hard on yourself, du idiot, here for a moment I thought, you were about to tell some sob story about, you wanting to be a painter or some shit, or that your family didn’t want you to follow in your father’s footsteps. Junker turned around and started walking off, while still shaking his head and loudly exclaimed. – But you´re all fucking Soldiers, get a grip. Erich drew a smile from his lip, while he watched Junker walk away. Pfeiffer who, recently promoted to Oberleutnant, had walked up behind Erich, while Erich was talking with Junker, Pfeiffer now stood slightly off to Erich´s left and expressed in a playful tone. – So, you´ve met Junker I see. – Yeah…, I like him. Graf thought to himself, that this Junker guy and him, might become good friends when this “Scheißding” is over. Pfeiffer continued. – Yeah of course you do, he´s your type. Silly but with a strong dienstgefühle. – Oh, shut up. Erich switched his mind back to business. – so, how are the boys? Pfeiffer replied still in a playful tone. -You mean, apart from the scorch mark on 1-2?

Later that afternoon, while Erich, Pfeiffer and their men where preparing the Leopards for the move east. *Radio Cracks* “Eisen sechs, Das its Hengst eins, Neue Aufgabe; Scouts have spotted an armored vanguard element. They are coming your way. Defend Linau. Over” Erich, who was half on his way out of his seat, sat back down and replied “Hengst eins, Eisen sechs, Verstanden. Ende.” Erich knew this was not going to be easy in any way, he was light on the ground, The Gepards and Spärtruppe he normally had attached were at Battalion, hopefully they would be sent his way. Erich knew the intersection was key, it was thankfully close to where Junker and his grenadiers had already dug in. The road leading into Linau from the east, would be vital for the battalions planned move. Erich queued up the company net and in very few words, briefed them. Junker was to stay put and hold the white farm and the intersection. Jäger and his Jaguars where to take up position in the southern field, they would be able to overwatch the road. Pfeiffer´s Leopards where to watch the northern flank, from positions around the red, two-story, house. Graf would position His Leopard with Pfeiffer´s.

The Leopards had barely gotten into position before, suddenly out of a small wood block to the north-east, four T-72s came rushing towards the Leopards. They opened fire. One round struck 1-2 right on the scorch mark, it went right through and moments later an enormous, loud and violent jet of flame lifted 1-2´s turret off the hull. Another round hit 1-3 right on the front, it resulted in strange blipping and scratching on the radio from 1-3. Erich knew that this sudden burst of hell erupting around them, would had scared the living daylights out of Pfeiffer, like it did to himself. Erich also knew he had to act quick before panic took over. “Pfeiffer, time for payback” Pfeiffer didn’t reply, but he didn’t retreat either. Moments later 1-3´s radio returned to normal. Erich ordered his Leopard to reverse to get line of sight on the attackers. And now Pfeiffer replied on the radio “time to kill these arseholes” this was followed by Pfeiffer and 1-3 opening fire on two T-72s, one grinded to a sudden halt. The other kept rolling for a few meters before a burst of jittering flame spurted out of all openings. At the same time Erich had gained eyes on the remaining two T-72s he ordered his gunner to fire on both, one suffered from a catastrophic ammo detonation, that lifted the turret off and sent it backwards. The other deployed a smoke screen and disappeared. In the meantime, Junker had ordered his Unteroffizier to fall back with the Marders, across the intersection, to watch down the road. Junker, unlike what Haas had, preferred to stay on the ground with the grenadiers.

Moments later three angrily fizzing balls of fire came jittering out of the same wood block, as the T-72s had came from. Missiles! they danced rapidly through the twilight air towards Pfeiffer and 1-3. The first one dipped into the ground a few meters in front of a low wall, which 1-3 and Pfeiffer were positioned behind. It detonated sending grass and a plume of dirt flying into the sky. The second hit the wall, cracking the brick work and mixed dust with the dirt. The Third went high, flew over Pfeiffer’s tank and hit the corner of the second floor, sending a plume of dust and rubble out, that rained down on the two Leopards.

Junker reported in, he had spotted a lone T-72 moving through the field east of his position. Just as he reported it in, it opened fire sending two shells towards his position, luckily He and his soldiers were well dug-in and hidden, so the shells missed. But they did make a mess of the farmhouse lawn. Not that it really mattered since the grenadiers had already been digging foxholes in the flowerbeds and parts of the lawn. Junker Ordered his Marders to rapidly advance, he needed all the fire power he could get. Moments later the lead Marder and Junker´s two Milan teams all sent missiles towards the T-72. They sent streaks of light through the twilight sky, that made the wheat swirl wildly in its wake. Three fizzing booms came from where the T-72 was parked. At first it looked like nothing had happened. Then suddenly a roar of jetting flame erupted from the tank, lighting up the field. It looked like someone had started a huge bon fire in the field.

Now was the time, they had weathered the initial onslaught, night was falling quickly, battalion had called in, reinforcements were on the way, time for the counter attack. Graf, Pfeiffer and 1-3 did a rapid advance towards the wood block, through their thermals they saw the three BMPs that had fired missiles at them. The Leopards opened fire. The dark shadowy woodblock turned into a bright white flash of light, that lit up the surrounding area, as the three BMPs detonated. Two Gepards arrived from battalion, Graf ordered them to fan out northwards in the hunt for other BMPs, that might be lying in wait. Things for a moment seemed to calm down, had they won? Was this it? Erich´s doubts got violently confirmed, when a small ridge line got lit up and five streaks of light came, two towards Junkers farmhouse and three towards Graf and the Leopards. More T-72s had appeared, 1-3 got hit twice, an explosion inside ripped the turret off 1-3. Pfeiffer´s Leopard deployed smoke and retreated. At Junkers end, his lead Marder got hit, the resulting explosion shook the house, shattered any remaining panes of glass, that weren't already broken, and created a huge fire next to the house, that put their position at risk of being lit up. Erich knew that he needed to remain, even though he most of all wanted to call a full retreat. Battalion depended on him. He moved northwards, where he spotted a lone BMP. And where there is one there must be others. Erich hoped that Junker would be able to hold the town, and that he could distract the enemy by hunting BMPs for long enough, to let battalion mount a full counter attack.

Graf´s lone Leopard 2 opened fire on the BMP, destroying it. The T-72s from the ridge descended with a vengeance on Junkers position. Shooting as they advanced, tearing up the ground even more. Turning the once pretty garden, into a mini-Somme. Junker and his men tried to return fire, but the Panzerfausts couldn’t reach, only the Milans had a chance, they missed. The return fire managed to kill both Milan teams. One shell landed right in the flowerbed foxhole that one team had dug. Another flew through the once glass paned window, into the room where the other team had set up. It engulfed the room in fire, killing the Milan team and shaking the house violently. Plaster-dust and rubble was sent flying everywhere, billowing out from every opening in the house.

Graf spotted through the thermal, another lone BMP coming rushing towards his position, it came from a far wood block to the east, raced through the wheat field in front of him. The Gepards opened up, sending a swarm of red tracers into the wheat field. Turning the racing BMP into a burning hulk. Back at the crumbling farm house the T-72s had formed a firing line. Junker knew that he could not let them fire one more time, the house would collapse on his men. He threw a smoke grenade towards the tanks and charged. His grenadiers sat still in their position, for a short moment until they realized what was happening, and then followed suit. The T-72s were slow to react and all three groups made it to the low wall bordering the garden and wheat field. It was as if the crews of the T-72s couldn’t believe what they must have seen through their IR. Moments later they went over the top, but as with so many charges in world war one, they got mowed down by machine guns. Junker and a few of his men leaped back over the wall and ducked down. Junker threw more smoke to cover their retreat, he called for his remaining marders to pick them up on the other side of the house. When the smoke had billowed enough they ran like hell. Seconds later they almost threw themselves into the marders and rapidly retreated.

Meanwhile a flight of missiles flew towards Graf´s Leopard, all but one missed. The hit made all lights and screens flicker for a few moments before the tank powered down. Electric malfunction. Graf peaked out his hatch into the pitch blackness of night, and saw the Gepards sending sawm, after sawm of red tracers into the field. Followed by flashes of lights from explosions. He heard the Gepards move past him towards the small woodblock where they had first taken contact, but he had no clue why. Erich´s driver turned the ignition again, and the tank sprung back into life. Erich quickly stuck his head back into tank and looked through the thermal sights. Advancing towards him, what seemed like a horde of T-72s. the Gepards opened fire on the side of the horde. Managing to destroy one of the T-72s. Erich ordered his gunner to open fire, destroying another. He then deployed smoke, queued up the Company net. “Retreat!” he later managed to regroup with the surviving elements of his kampfgruppe. They weren’t many left, one luchs, Jager’s own Jaguar, Junker with one group of grenadiers and two marders, Pfeiffer´s Leopard, the two Gepards from battalion and then himself and his own leopard. Erich Graf came to learn that it was only him and the Gepards left when he called the Retreat.

Video by Andrew.
Pictures by K.R. Knudsen.
Graphics by Cryofrost and Battlefront.
Text by Cryofrost.

Im pretty sure we F´ed up the formation moral rules at one point or another, we had a bit of a peculiar situation and we were both rusty on the rules, but we made a gentlemanly agreement for the sake of keeping up the pace of play. if he got reinforcements in, we would continue. he did, else i would most likely had won after the counter attack.

15 minutes per man, do speed up our game, worth doing again, even though it does make each of us a bit more competitive.

T-72s, better than most people think, had so much trouble with their side-armor of 8. makes them immune to almost all NATO auto-cannons. where NATO tanks can still be penetrated.

for me this battle proved to me, that with my Leopard list, i need to put pressure on the enemy right away. which i would have been able to do as the attacker, if we didn't had to roll of for first turn.