D-1: First Flames of War Game

Earlier this week I played my first full game of Flames of War. It was a blast!

I pitted my 101st Airborne and Glidermen newly dropped into France with a few tanks and artillery pieces that had rushed up from the beaches against a Beute StuG company from the 21st Panzer division.

We played on a great table full of wonderful Normandy appropriate terrain, a free for all battle that I ended up losing 6-1, due to losing a couple platoons. Well onto the pictures and what little I can remember.

Such great terrain, this is the village I defended. 

The whole table, with both parts of the village the Germans held the left side with a large number of cobbled together big ass guns on small tank treads. Easy to knock out with anything of substance but they hit like a truck. I think they have PaK 40 guns on them. 

 One of my paratrooper platoons and glider anti tank guns next to a few gliders they attacked the village in. Loved those gliders, such great touches on the board.

The brief hurrah of my Shermans, rushing up to face off the tank horde coming my way. They knocked out a couple but lost two and failed a morale check and ran off. 

Beute StuGs and armored cars rushing onto my flank after the Recon Jeeps disengaged. 

 The aftermath, I created a line of wreckage along the river but couldn't get past the German defenders without more anti tank assets.

The 101st couldn't get beyond the Germans, but at least they tied up those mobile anti tank guns before they could reach the beaches and slaughter US armor.

Lessons learned.

Flames of War is a tank game first, I need more ways to kill them. Deployment is key. And while infantry are rock hard when on defense, they are vulnerable on the move. I need to get more games in and get some more tanks, and figure out where I can get anti tank assets in the force I've chosen.

Also, the US forces have a lot of depth and use a lot of the same units across forces, I get some tank reinforcements and I could easily have a tank company.