Flames of War - Battleground Prussia!

Inspired by Pritt Buttar's Battleground Prussia, this Sunday's Solo finds us travelling back 50 years in time to the East Prussian border, January 1945. This wintry, flat landscape of pines and lakes saw epic armoured fighting as the Red Army fought to enter the Reich. Four companies of T34-76s and T34-85s (88 points) of the Russian 2nd Shock Army are opposed by a half a dozen Tiger Is of the 507th Heavy Tank Battalion (72 points). The mission is The Crossroads from Bagration Soviet.

Given the peculiar nature of the terrain, the entire area is lightly forested but this has no impact on movement and the pines only provide cover to long-range fire. The lakes are frozen to an unknown extent so require a bog check. 

To provide that 'wide open wasteland' feel on my 6 x 4' table I played the game using 1:144th scale minis, mainly from Victrix.

Even so, the Soviet attacker deployment area felt quite constricted for 24 T-34s!

Still, as Comrade Stalin so wisely observed, quantity has a quality all of its own...

Especially when, with 40% of forces in reserve and a platoon of Tigers in Ambush, the only opposition on table was the solitary German commander's Tiger!

The Soviets, growing masters of the operational art, used Dash moves and Follow Me! orders to penetrate deep into the defender's half with the weaker T34-76s, hoping to position for side or rear shots later. The slightly more powerful T34-85s advanced tactically, issuing marching fire on the lone Tiger - with no impact!

When the T34-76s were able to line up for side shots, several hits only converted into a double bail. However the commander's crew had had enough and retreated bravely to the rear!

But by this point the German reserve platoon had arrived...

 and was itself lining up side shots!

With predictable results.

But knocking out a pair of puny T34-76s was a mere bagatelle - the Germans really needed to be bringing their superior firepower to bear...

Indeed the tankers of the 2nd Shock Army weren't dialing down the aggression...

Getting up close and personal! Fortunately for the Tigers their side armour is almost as think as the front!

Crisis in the village averted, it was time to get serious and spring the ambush with a flurry of side shots at close range.

This volley was not particularly effective, but the return fire was spectacularly successful - two Tigers knocked out!

As the decisive Turn 6 approached the Germans were getting desperate and bulled through the village to add their firepower to the fight around the objectives.

But in vain - come the end of their sixth turn the Soviets were in possession of both their and the German objective to win the game.