Firestorm: Red Thunder

After two crushing losses Gandri was allowed to pick the mission played. Both of us have played countless Flames of War games but we are very new to Team Yankee. He also got to pick which of our previous lists I played.

Gandri picked Free-For-All so in the story context this was the first battle the US forces met prepared. Our lists were:

T-72 Tank Battalion

HQ

HQ – T-72 5

FORMATION UNITS 45
Tank Coy – 4x T-72 17
Tank Coy – 3x T-72 12
BMP-2 Motor Rifle – 4xAk-74, 3xRPG-7, 4xBMP-2 8
BMP-2 Recon Plt – 4xBMP-2 6
SA-13 Gopher SAM Plt – 2x SA-13 2

SUPPORT UNITS 10
MI-24 Hind – 4x Hind 10

M1 Abrams Armored Combat Team

HQ

HQ – M1 Abrams 8

FORMATION UNITS 32
Tank plt – 2x M1 Abrams 16
Tank plt – 2x M1 Abrams 16

SUPPORT UNITS 20
2x M163 Vulcan 3
2x AH-1 Cobra 7
2x A-10 Warthog 10

Set-up was pretty straight forward, the Warsaw pact made two assault groups to go for either objective and the Hinds were ready to support either one, while the infantry covered one of the NATO objectives to prevent a sneak attack.

The small Warsaw Pact units were vulnerable to concentrated fire and the US forces gained the upper hand on the southern flank were their forces were slightly stronger. The A-10 made two appearances and there is little to stop maverick missiles if the Air defenses fail.

On the northern flank however the Warsaw pact overwhelmed the US defenses and won the game.

The field was littered with burning tanks and downed aircraft. The Warsaw Pact had lost their formation commander, a T-72 coy and all the BMP-2 from the Motor Rifle Coy as well as two Hinds.

Yet it was the Hinds that were the stars of the battle. They had managed to take out three M1 Abrams by the end and survived a hailstorm of flak from the Vulcans. I earned great respect for these tough flying fortresses.

Our best game so far and only a marginal victory for the Warsaw Pact forces.