Panzer strike Western front 1 - first playthrough

 

As we made a bunch of photos during our first play-through, here's a quick battle report.

We used no scenario, and just picked our forces similar to what we would field in let's say Flames of war. I was the German, with a single Tiger I, a platoon of 3 Panthers, a platoon of 3 PzIV's, a pair of Hetzers, and a pair of T38's, making the total of about 93 points.

Zoey was the Brits, and she fielded about 3 platoons of 3 shermans with a single firefly in each, a platoon of 3 stuarts for about 100ish points. 

We deployed in opposite corners of the town, and decided to make the deployment zones 10x4. In retrospect, they could have been much smaller, but we should have had multiple zones to deploy, as the terrain density pushed the main clash down the middle of the board, with the flanking forces being next to useless as they took their sweet time to move up the board.

The two trams the game comes with we set up down the middle, not having the slightest idea how much impact their cover will provide during the game.

Zoey's brits push on in two main groups, with the first using the tram for cover, and getting the crew of one of the shermans injured (the crew markers were not setup for this first game, so we used the immobilization ones instead). The other group was yet unsure weather to pursue the flank, or to reinforce the middle, expecting high losses there as they see what awaits on the other side.

The Germans split into 3 groups, with the middle one (on the tram tracks) being the smallest. The intent was to flank the enemy on both sides.

The middle road starts to open up a kill zone, while the trams end up as a perfect cover.

The tiger is already making a mess down the middle road. The panthers decide to join the middle clash. The shermans are unable to score a hit.

The carnage at the center of the town.. 

The brits decide to try and push the flank, and manage to destroy a T38. A firefly kills a panther from the front.

The flanking pzIV's end up useless as the game was over by the time they got a line of sight to anything.

The final turn sees the flanking Germans trying to reach the enemy.

Another panther gets killed by a firefly on the flank. In return, the hetzer manages to destroy one of the flanking shermans.

We decided to end the game after turn 6, which shouldn't be the case in this game. The allies lost most of their vehicles, so they decide to retreat, while the axis lost 2 panthers and a t38.