Firestorm: Red Thunder

Tank skirmish match in the HoF. Battlegroup Wolverine reinforced with elements of the 50th national guard unit Jersey Blues 10 abrams tanks tackled three squads of T-72's at 7 strong each squadron

Successfully hassled the HoF today. Full write up to come later.

Man what a fun and frantic mad dash for the center of the table it seemed like. James had control of the Soviets while Paul and I teamed up on the new guy and his three squadrons of tanks. Pauls Abrams just couldn't seem to hit anything most of the time. But once the 72's closed to short range it was like a switch went off and his dice woke up. He lost three of his 5 while Team Wolverine squeaked by with no losses but a truck load of dead tanks. The final shot of the game was by the late arriving cobra who just bent the 72's over and spanked them like the red stepchildren they were. Final result was 3 VPs for the US as we still had both of our squads on the table with the cobra arriving as well on the last turn. Gave out pins to everyone and had lots of people comment on the board and the 40k players asking questions. Aside from the kid who spilled water on my stuff it was a very chill game and look forward to doing it all again.

Battlegroup Wolverines arrival at the outskirts of the HoF corridor was as sudden as their departure from Fulda. It wad no lie, NATO forces were overwhelmed and every chance to press an advantage meant another unit could have an impact on the future of the war. Wolverines chance came early enough. The most of the week on their way to HoF their infantry had been doggedly hammering the Soviets supply lines. Taking what they could and melting back into the countless forrest's around the area. Ivan, growing increasingly frustrated began to task T-72's with each convoy. While this meant the supplys had better protection from land attacks, the Russians began throwing tanks at every problem they encountered.

The battle began at dawn when the Soviets spotted two squads of Abrams, one bearing the telltale insignia of a wolverine eating a T-72. The other bearing the New Jersey national guard 50th insignia. The Soviets began their assualt charging headlong at each squad with two 7 tank strong squads. A third was radioed for support and would be an hour out. After the initial rush the Abrams of the 50th blitzed towards cover in a cove of trees, the Wolverines shot up the eastern flank, the command tank taking a lucky shot and destroying the lead 72. The 50th reported issues with their targeting computers, as most of their tanks were not yet calibrated. The Soviets continued to rush forwards, however the death of the lead tank left little room for the commander of squadron B to maneuver. Sending his tanks forwards while squadron A hit the 50th. One burning Abrams was a sorting sight. Wolverine pressed the attack, hitting the bottled in tanks in their rearmost 72's first with the command tank and two other Abrams. The last two popped one more 72 on the side armor. The fire and smoke were horrendous, later it was confirmed that the lack of maneuver room left them all entombed in a column of death. The Soviets began screaming over the radio for squad C, hitting the 50th again and again. Two more tanks down but the commander held firm, popping two more tanks in the middle of town. The remaining Soviets pushed west across the road, however the terrain was too rough and all remaining tanks ended up sitting out in the open begging for a shot.
Things looked bad to the Soviets however a small cheer erupted as squad C arrived, late but ready. A steady whupwhuping sound could be heard and an air cav cobra helicopter arrived in the area. The 50th acting as spotters with team Wolverine taking out three of the oncoming 72' s stared in awe as the cobra pounded the column of newly arrived tanks. The 50th began to hammer the bogged down 72's. The carnage was total and brutal with 21 burning T-72's three Abrams burning and a triumphant cobra.