Astral Claw – (Secessionists) – Brooks

Nova Marines (Loyalist) – Kevin

Sector 2

Battle 1,500 points using Planet Strike Vanguard

Captain Aadok of the Nova Marines watched intensely as the jaw of his Chapter Master continually tightened.  The Chapter Master had been staring at intelligence reports on the communication facility located on Verkruz for several minutes.  Captain Aadok knew he didn’t have to speak the words needed to be brought out into the air.  “The facility is guarded by elite troops of the Astral Claws”.  Reports indicate that the Astral Claws Chapter Master has positioned himself there along with heavy armor, terminators, sternguard, and assault vanguard.  Without look up the Nova Marine Master simply said “I’ll go”.

The Nova Marine scouts had worked themselves into a building which would allow them to support the attack with their sniper rifles. They watch the first of the drop pods fall with it retro rockets firing to slow its decent.  He’s too early thought the scout sergeant without the support of the other marines they would be sitting ducks. The pod crashed to the ground releasing the marines.  The marines disembarked with skill only known to their chapter. One marine stepped forward and leveled his melta gun at the nearby land raider igniting its weapons storage into a ball of flames.  Caught by the surprise attack the Astral Claw terminators struggled to free themselves from the wreckage. Within seconds the air glowed as a second marine squad materialized within striking distance of a key communication array.  

The Astral Claw Frigate responded to their Chapter Master’s call for orbital bombardment.  The Captain reading off the firing coordinates with skill expected of the seasoned veteran.  Lieutenant Phani's heart stopped was it 00556 or 00565?  He must have said 005657 as the lance bean cut through the atmosphere.  With his focus on freeing himself from the burning land raider the Astra Claw terminator gasped as four of his brother were vaporized. With power weapons blazing, the Astral Claw Vanguard squad crashed into the Nova Marines seeking revenge for their brothers.  However, the near miss of the lance battery disrupted their attack and they were unable to wound any marines.

As the battle progress the remaining Nova Marine and terminator squad lead by the Chapter Master and dreadnought entered the battle.  With limited target the shooting was ineffective.  Both armies quickly found themselves locked in close combat.  With the help of the remaining Astral Claw terminators, the Vanguard squad was finally able to destroy their initial Nova Marine target only to have the Nova Marine Terminators and Chapter Master end their reign of terror.  The Nova Marine Scout move into a better position to take control of one the communication arrays.  With all squads locked in close combat the Astral Claw Sternguard had no targets to shot.  The Nova Marine dreadnought found a creative way of disrupting the third communication array.  Faced with destroying the landing pad, he simple opted to walk under the building to unplug the wires from below.  Unable the shoot at the dreadnought the Astral Claw were helpless when all communications from their array stopped.  The Astral Claw Chapter Master found himself and his squad locked in battle.  Through a battle of arbitration the Astral Claw Chapter Master was thrown to the ground.

As the smoke cleared the Nova Marines were in control of two communication arrays with the third one disabled.  The battle lines had shifted that day as remaining Astral Claws retreated carrying the limp body of their Chapter Master.

Games Results: Nova Marine Victory - Nova Marines 12 points and Astral Claws 5 points

One shot wonder as land raider goes up in flames

Brooks Orbital Bombards his own terminators

The Second Failed Assault on Grief

The Loyalist forces amassed an armada to try to force a breach to the surface on Grief.  After a brief naval skirmish, the loyalist forces landed to assault out-posts and fortifications.  During the assault the Tau and Chaos forces decided to intervene on the side of the Loyalists (giving Huron even more reason to loathe the lowly worshipers of greed).  The assault was fended off in a lengthy engagement where both sides suffered losses.

Here are the current standings as of today at 1:30 p.m., from all of the reported battles to date.  There were other battles fought, but I do not have reports on them.

sector	Loyalist CP’s	Secessionist CP’s	Required CP’s
Sector 1	0	0	25
Sector 2	32	18	70
Sector 3	12	72	100
Sector 4	0	0	100
Sector 5	2	0	50
Sector 6	2	14	40
Sector 7	0	0	10
Total	48	104	395

Happy gaming!

M

Flames of War - more photos!

Here are the Italian tanks assaulting the village held by the French Foreign Legion.  The Legion held out for a short while, but the concentrated MG fire from the Italian tanks was too much for the Legion and they pulled back into a corner of the town to try to hold on to a part of the objective for as long as they could.  The Italians lost an entire Bersaglieri platoon in the assaults while the platoon of the French was reduced to half of their initial strength. 



A view of the French defense in depth of the roadway toward Marseille.  You can see the Italian air support attacking the French Mortar platoon which has been harassing the Italians at range all game.  The French mortar platoon pinned down and eliminated several Italian stands and was by far the most effective thing the French fielded this battle.  For sheer enemy commander harassment they rated a 10.  The Italian commander went out of his way to try to neutralize them - without effect until late in the game!



Here is a view of the Italians holding the heights of the hills surrounding the river valley with artillery and AA guns in the anti-armor role.  The Italians did not have the 90mm gun on truck in 1940, but they did have a 102mm gun on truck - so we rated it as an Anti-Tank of 10 because the gun did not have a solid core projectile, merely a very large HE round to lob at targets.  They did their job, buy only just.  They were instrumental later in the game for halting the French beginnings of a counter-attack cold.



Another view of the  battlefield showing the Italians moving across the shallow river following the Bersaglieri and tank assault into the village toward the ruins and Marseille.  The forest immediately to the left in this photo is filled with French Foreign Legion in WWI uniforms where they have dug in to hold the line.  They will prove critical in later stages of the fighting.



A view of the Italian left flank showing the difficulty in forcing the roadway to Marseille.  A platoon of Char B1 bis tanks hold the high ground flanked by dug in Foreign Legion troops.  They are also bolstered by French metropolitan troops holding a ruin on the heights.  The light green patches are vinyards or orchards which provide cover and block line of sight through them, but are otherwise of no consequence.  The lone Italian tank on the high ground is the lone burning vehicle of an entire platoon which attempted to force the high ground and found out how deadly the Char B's guns were at close range.  The one Char B which is smoking is due to the Italian AA on the opposite ridge.



This is an odd view for the Blog, because I didn't rotate the photo.  This is a lengthwise photo of the battlefield.  The bottom of the photo shows the Italian left flank, while the top of the photo is the Italian right flank.  The Italian artillery, Semoventi and Carri platoons and infantry platoons are shown occupying the orchards and burned out village south of the river.  The Italian AA guns can barely be viewed in the top right of the photo.  The French dispositions are shown clearly with a defense in depth with dug in infantry and artillery supported by two platoons of Char B tanks.



RIGHT THERE!!!  The Semoventi assault guns are playing a game of cat and mouse with the Char B tanks.  The Char B's are virtually impregnible to the Semoventi's gun at this range, but there is a remote chance the French will be bailed out.  The greater threat to the Char B's is the AA guns on the hill out of view.  The Italian 100mm guns are bombarding the Char B's and would have engaged them in a direct fire duel if they could have seen through the orchard!  A tenuous position for the Italians.




The Italians charge forward after their sniper silenced the French HMG team in the ruins - much to the disappointment of the French player.  The Sniper team was subsequently removed for being too close to his own troops.  (Most likely he just picked up his weapon and joined the infantry in the charge for the ruins!)  The Italians would not last on the hill for very long!



Here we see the beginning of the collapse of the French defenses.  The Italian light tanks have broken through and are heading into the French infantry positions chasing off the French Mortar platoon and parts of the infantry platoon.  Without any anti-tank capability (or pioneers) the French infantry are at the mercy of the Italian tankers and the Char B tanks are in no position to assist them as the Italians are too quick and can rapidly move out of the line of fire.  The French fire was ineffective as you can see the French split their fire into several platoons - doing NOTHING except bailing out two Italian medium tanks.  The light tanks were missed completely, leaving them in a position to secure the roadway and harass the French infantry all the way back to Marseille.

In the end, it was an Italian minor victory.  They were able to secure the town (most of it and would have secured the rest in short order when the remainder of their infantry came forward.  The French mistake was taking too many of the brute Char B tanks and not enough artillery and anti-tank support.  (which is of course my fault as I built two of the French lists for players to flesh out the French army - it was also a way to show case to all of the players - mainly Warhammer 40K players - that combined arms is the way to win battles in historical games like Flames of War.  No single arm is capable of winning the battle.  Here the Italian commanders had a robust force of infantry, light and medium tanks, assault guns, artillery, AA guns and air support.  All of them did their duty well (for Italians that is!) and they were able to penetrate the French defenses and then halt the French counter-assault before it even materialized.  The Char B is a great defensive tank, but not so good without support in the attacking role.  I hope you enjoyed the report - I will try to do a better report next time (when I'm not supervising a 40K campaign, a 10 year old, and teaching 3 players how to play the game!).

Italy invades France! News at 11!

Photos from the game today! Italians with three carri platoons, semoventis and artillery support assaulted forward into France. France responded by sending a full three platoons from one of the Brigades de Chars de Combat of Char B1 bis tanks a metropolitan infantry company and two forward deployed foreign legion platoons. Quite a slug fest, but the Italians pushed forward and captured one objective.  Here you can see the assault forward of the Italian medium tanks on the heights held by the French in the face of a platoon of Char B tanks.  Two of the Chars are bailed out.  The remaining Chars would have a field-day and destroy the Italian platoon on their bound.  The Semoventi's in the left of the photo have already found out that they are no match in a gunnery duel with the massive French Chars!  The Italian infantry platoon on the bottom right of the photo will later ford the river and assault the woods filled with French Foreign Legion troops.  The Legion would do what it always did, it would die rather than retreat - and in this instance they killed all of the Italian troops in that Bersaglieri platoon in a heated close assault.

The Pursuit of the Raptors - two Kill Team Missions

 Game 1. 200 pt kill teams
Jeff: raptors
5 Tac marines
5 assault marines
Andrew: Executioners
10 Tac Marines "Semper Victorai"
Spc Hector McLaury Heavy Bolter, Relentless
Sgt Talor Gannick: Power Weapon, Furious Charge.
 After a failed assault on Grief, a squad of the fleeing Loyalists belonging to the Raptors were tracked to a ruined factorum on one of the planets Adeptus Mechanicus Enclaves. Scout Sgt Fredricks and his scout cadre had tracked them and, as ordered, reported their location and activity.
 Sgt Gannick and his squad, known as the"Semper Victorai,'' were ordered to prevent them from rejoining their chapter brothers. So Gannick deployed near the factorum and advanced on their last known position. Good fortune! They had caught the loyalist scum off guard.   
  As they began their assault, two of enemy astartes were cut down by bolter fire from the newest inductees into the Semper Victorai. Elated at his first kill, one private advanced too far forward, and an enemy Assault Marine jumped forward and spat flaming prometheum onto the foolhardy marine and he collapsed, smoke rising from his armor. Sgt Gannick roared forward as he charged the big brute of an assault marine, and began a flowing pattern of slashing and stabbing until the big warrior bellowed in frustration and lunged for Gannick. In that one fatal moment, Gannick leaped forward and pierced the marines 2 hearts and with a grunt, he fell dead.
  Bolter fire cracked in the distance and Gannick heard two of his brothers confirm their kills. He then heard Spc. Mclaury calling for aid. He looked over to see him being assailed by yet another Assault Marine, but luckily he was a skilled fighter and had managed to avoid the deadly edge of the marines blade. Gannick lept over the rubble seperating himself from Spc. Mclaurey, jumped again and slammed the blade of his power gauntlet into the back of the assault marine, the momentum carrying it through the mans side.
   The enemy astartes rushed foward engaging with Gannicks squad in hand to hand combat. Gannick saw his opportunity, and moved to aid his occupied brothers. And within  20 seconds had killed yet another two of the enemy marines one being the enemy assault squads Sgt. He then heard the jubilant yell of victory coming through his com system. It was Cpl. Killian, who had just struck down his opponent. Now free of his engagement Killian rushed over to end the life of yet another of the loyalist marines who had double teamed one of his brothers.
   As the last loyalist fell, Gannick took a tally. Only two battle brothers lost, and one intiate severely burned. The apothecary insured Gannick that he would recover in two weeks. It was a resounding success but for the casulties.
Battle 2: 200 pt killteams
Jeff: 10 tactical marines: 1 lascannon, 1 meltagun.
Sgt: Furious Charge and powerweapon
tac marine: lascannon, relentless
Andrew: 10 Tactical marines: 1 Plasma gun, 1 heavy bolter
Spc McLaurey: Heavy Bolter, relentless
Sgt Talor Gannick: Power weapon, furious charge
Pvt. Marko Killian: Fleet.
  With the success of their first engagement on Grief, the Semper Victai were organized into one of many Hunter Killer squads, and then dispatched to a particularly well fortified sector of the Adeptus Mechanicus  Enclave.
  While on patrol, they approached a bunker 3 kilometers north east of the foward position communications battery that was established in the Adeptus Mechanicus Enclave. A brother signaled that he had seen the metallic flash of a bolter struck by sunlight. At Talors command the squad jumped into action. Spc McLaury rushed forward and leveled his bolter at the first loyalist he saw. Gouts of flame and smoke rushed from the barrel of his Mk III Heavy Bolter, and round casings littered the ground. After the smoke subsided he could see the only damage he had done was to gouge a rut into the marines shoulder pad.
 Gannick led four of his marines, including the young Killian around the the left side of the bunker. He looked around the corner swiftly and realized he had caught the enemy off guard once again, he gave the order charge. Two of his marines blazed away with their bolters while Killian positioned himself with Gannick. Gannik bellowed as he charged forward into the nearest marine and decapitated him with a back handed stroke of his bladed gauntlet. The bolters felled yet another of the loyalist marines as well.
  On the other side of the field McLaury caught a bolter round to the chest and was knocked unconscious. In retaliation a victoria brother wielding a plasma gun leveled his carbine at the marine who laid low his comrade, with the hellfire scream of plasma, he reduced the enemy astartes to little more than ashes. The other victorai with McLaury, charged forward and engaged two of the enemy marines in hand to hand.
  Just a few hundred feet away the Raptor Sergent, seeing his men fall, was angered to the breaking point. He charged Gannick screaming like a madman, and slammed his shoulder into Gannick, knocking him off his feet. As he fell, the Raptor Sergent split him from shoulder to hip releasing his spirit to the empyrean. A raptor leveled his lascannon and dealt a grievous wound to an unfortunate Victorai before heeding his sergents call to retreat. As he turned to run, Killians fellow initiate, Pvt. Loruin, leveled his bolter, thumbed the switch to rapid fire and with a deadly accurate fusillade of rounds, ended the life of the fleeing astartes.

Badab War Campaign Standings by Sector

Standings of the Campaign as of January 16, 2010 from all battles reported:

sector	Loyalist CP’s	Secessionist CP’s	Required CP’s
Sector 1	0	0	25
Sector 2	32	18	70
Sector 3	7	50	100
Sector 4	0	0	100
Sector 5	2	0	50
Sector 6	2	14	40
Sector 7	0	0	10
Total	43	82	395

 Come on guys - we need to get more battles reported and fought.  If you haven't fought a battle this weekend, take advantage and get one in - even a small skirmish!  Every point helps!

The Scourging of Verkruz

Astral Claw – (Secessionists) – Brooks

Nova Marines (Loyalist) – Kevin

Sector 2

Battle 1,500 points using Annihilation / Pitched Battle

Astral Claws: Captain, 10 terminators, 10 Vanguard, 10 scout sniper rifle, 10 space marines.
Nova Marines:  Captain & command squad, land raider crusader, dreadnought, attack bike, 3 units of 10 space marines.

Having consolidated their position around the power generator located on Verkruz, the Nova Marines began a series of recon missions.  Captain Aadok still recovering from his wounds directed Captain Shyam to recon, locate and establish a forward base in the Napf Valley. Upon arrival at the valley, the Nova Marines discovered the Astral Claws using the valley as an assembly point. 

The Nova Marines began to set up fire stations to strike at the Astral Claw's assembly point when they struck the Nova Marines positions in force.  Forward elements of Astral Claws scout snipers opened fire on the Nova Marines, drawing the dreadnought, attack bike, and one squad away from the main battle.   Astral Claws tactical marines and a vanguard assault squad launched their assault, but were quickly pinned down by the fire power the Nova Marines Crusader and dreadnought.  Knowing his army was out gunned the Astral Claws commander ordered the vanguard squad to assault the Nova Marines Landraider Crusader hoping to destroy it and its occupants, Captain Shym and his command squad.  The vanguards sold their lives as they absorbed the fire power of the Nova Marines and reached the Crusader with only a few men.  While the attack of the Vanguard was unsuccessful it was merely a diversion as a a full strength terminator squad teleported within assault distance of the Nova Marines Captain. 

Having dispatched the Astral Claws vanguards, the Nova Marines directed all fire at the terminators.  Four of the Astral Claws terminators were blown apart from Plasma Cannon fire.  With guns blazing, the terminators charged both the crusader and command squad.  The Nova Marines command squad was forged from blood and steel and weathered both the shooting and assault of the terminators killing several in return.  Anticipating the pending doom of their captain and his command squad the shaken Crusader repositioned itself to a better firing position.  Outnumbered the Nova Marines Captain prepared for the terminator assault.  Many blows were exchanged and both sides suffered losses, in the end the Nova Marines Captain laid broken and unconscious.  But as the dust settled, amidst the blood and carnage, a lone Nova Marines veteran stood.  With both sides bloodied, orders were given and both armies made tactical withdrawals to consolidate their forces.  

Games Results: Tie - Nova Marines 4 points and Astral Claws 4 points