Big Game = Big Table. Lots of photos

2 versus 2. 2 Soviet Tank Company's face off against a German Infantry Company and a Hungarian tank Company (me). After creating a long table with terrain (2 x 6x4 end to end with about a foot and half left at each end for dice, toys and books) we randomly rolled up surrounded with the Soviets Attacking.

I took an experimental list with..
1 x Tiger HQ
3 x Tigers
2 x Panthers
2 x Nimrod AAA
5 x Toldi II recon

Tigers in Late War...are they any good? This was my question. I soon knew the answer.

German Player had a list from Market Garden that contained an Infantry Horde with 27 teams. WOW! 2 x 88s, 3 x PaK 40, 3 x Training Tanks and an SS Infantry platoon. Oh and also a 6 gun Artillery platoon.
Soviets had a Heavy Guards Tank Company....Lots of IS-2 with an Infantry Engineer Platoon and the other player with 2 x T-34 platoons, a Stuart platoon and a big bunker busting assault tank platoon.

How did it go down? Some key points in the game.
My Tigers didn't last beyond around turn 2 or 3. They faced the might of the IS-2 tanks and they had good shooting. The Tigers didn't. No Tiger Ace Skills and no Storm Troop.
Artillery made a big difference as it contributed to the lose of a T-34 platoon, blew away the heavy Bunker Busting unit from above, and went on to get assaulted by IS-2 tanks but survived. The assaulting IS-2 tanks then got hit by long range shots from the 88s in gun pits, then when they where bailed got assaulted by infantry that didn't have the tools to pierce the tank (AT 2 vs Top Armour 2) but all we needed was a failed morale check which after some tense and exciting dice rolling happened.

Toldis and Stuarts traded shots with the Stuarts eventually destroyed by the Nimrods. The Stuarts had moved from one table end to a far Objective non stop. The T-34 Company was broken at that stage as the other T-34 platoon was destroyed by the combined shooting of 3 x PaK 40 and 2 x long range sniping by the 88s.

However the slow Soviet Steam roller eventually made its way to an objective. They cleared some buildings in brutal hand to hand and tank vs man combat. The objective was slowly cleared. Took 3 turns to blow up the Nimrod Platoon that was contesting it. However not all was running the Soviets way as the remaining Heavy Tank Company only required 1 more platoon lost to break as they had lost the Company boss. We fed as much as we could into assaulting the Infantry platoon but every time they rolled a break test they rolled high despite eventual heavy loses.
The Hungarian force had also lost their Boss so near game end they had to withdraw.

A skin of their teeth soviet win and already talk of a re-match.
It was a great excuse to get out my box of ruined building terrain and it made me apply a little paint on Saturday before the game on Sunday. I managed to get a couple of pieces clean up and undercoated. Pieces that have been on the 'TO DO' list for an age.

Enjoy the images and cheers from Brendon (The Kiwi)

Soviets approach the ruins with guns loaded and the safety off.

Some heavy hitters and T-34 ready to move forward!

Panther vs T-34. 1 Panther goes up in flames (of war).

Tigers await the approaching storm of metal. Artillery Observer keeps an eye out for juicy targets.

Tigers no more.

Ouch! Soviets counter assault dice all come up the goods.

The horde moves to the hot table side.

Objective (plane tail near the Tiger) is getting closer to the big green tanks. The tanks pointing to the bottom of the image had a shoot out with a Panther. The Panther lost.

The incredible assault on the bailed IS-2 platoon forced morale checks that they eventually lost so they sabotaged the tanks to avoid handing them over to the Axis forces.

The factory ruins was traded back and forth in brutal assaults. Axis tanks even busted walls down to control the ruin.

Brutality in the streets as the gutters run red with the blood of toy soldiers. This was very near end game.

Germans try for yet another assault on the Soviet Infantry. The Axis forces fail and must withdraw from this area.
The mighty Soviet war machine has advanced yet again and they will recover as many broken and
abandoned tanks as they can before they resume the assault on the Axis forces to end this war.