Saturday, March 26, 2016

AAR: Normandy Firefight: Just a Minor Engagement in the Bocage

 
   Being the last day of gaming for my wife, Kalissa and I in the month of March, we decided to play it out using Normandy Firefight. We had plans to play some Ronin, but due to some time restrains, we had to stick with the one game. No worries, because we had fun anyway! Vacation should be interesting even without any games.
    Onwards to the game! This ended up being a five on five action. It sounds like a porn, but this was going to be a fight between the U.S. 82nd Airborne and random German Grenadiers. This game was also going to be on a 3 x 3 table that is closer to what it is suggested to be. We had our previous Normandy Firefight games on a 4 x 6 tables. Though this is not a problem; it can take a moment to get into action. The closer the better with lots of terrain.
    As the list goes for characters:
   Kalissa's Airborne.
    1. Sgt. Larry Witokic with a Thompson Machine gun.
    2. Pvt.  Joe McDonald with his M1 Garand Rifle.
    3. Pvt. Peter Faulkner with his M1 Garand Rifle.
    4. Pvt. Fred Smith with his Thompson Machine Gun.
    5. Jaime Thomas with his M1 Garand Rifle.
 
   My Germans.
     1. Sgt. Fredrick von Strudel with an MP40.
     2. Pvt. Viktor Alderman with a KAR98 Rifle.
     3. Pvt. Michael Keital with a KAR98 Rifle.
     4. Pvt. Albert Kinder with a ST44 Assault Rifle.
     5. Pvt. Hans Vol with a KAR98 Rifle.
 
   As a side note, several people amongst my gaming friends have inquired why there is always a character amongst my Germans named Fredrick von Strudel. The history is fairly simple. He was a hero in a Flames of War game back in 2010. As it went, he was the command team of one of my German 9th SS Hohenstaufen infantry platoons. Somehow, my opponent at the time assaulted this platoon with three different units. He was the only survivor of the first assault, and survived the last two out of miracle rolling. The plan is that, maybe, there is a chance he will save the day in every force he is in. I am still on the fence on whether it really works as a "Good Luck" character. However, he did come through on this game!
   So on to the action! We rolled off to see who chose what corner to deploy from. I won and placed my Germans a slightly open field. With a hedgerow in the way, Kalissa's Airborne would have to cut through, giving time for me to set up a defense. Grenades in this game a deadly as much in real life. It takes two turns to throw a grenade which explodes at the end of the turn. On turn two, I had started the process with Pvt. Keital. The Americans moved in, but I had all of cover with a nice line of fire. I started firing as soon as possible.
   One of the first hits was when Pvt, Hans Vol came out and hit Pvt. Faulkner with a head shot at 90% damage. In the advanced rules with Normandy Firefight, Pvt. Faulkner would have been as dead as door nail! Instead, the head injury got to his head. Pvt. Faulkner charged the German who shot him in the head. At the same moment, Pvt. Keital threw a grenade in front of a Hedgerow to try to take out three Americans. This was surprise for my wife, since she planned on using a grenade from Pvt. Joe McDonald. I was a step ahead of her, but Pvt. Keital is killed after the grenade toss!
   By this point, half of the German team was shooting at Pvt. Joe McDonald who must want to buy the farm for running in the open. He takes two hits: one in the leg and one in the torso. Now, he is stuck with a problem of hold the Grenade and bleed out, or throw it.
   The first grenade from the Germans blew up right on target, but failed to effect the Airborne in a killing blow. Sgt. Larry Witokic, unfazed by the grenade explosion, tried to hose a hedge at full auto to get a German. That same German turned as shot him in the head killing him. Pvt. McDonald could not unpin, and is stuck, again, with the grenade in hand.
  Meanwhile, German Pvt. Hans Vol is locked into hand to hand with American Pvt. Faulkner. Faulkner is kicked away and takes another shot in the head. Pvt. Fred Smith tries to engage in the firefight and in also shot in the head, KIA! Pvt. Joe McDonald is killed and drops the unexploded Grenade. The Germans back away. Unlucky, Pvt. Jaime Thomas walks into the grenade radius. The explosion kills Pvt. Thomas ending the game.
   As side thoughts, I rolled really well for the last part of the game. There were a lot of luck shots for the Germans. There were a few times that Kalissa was off by one number to hit, and the pins did not help. Either way, it was still entertaining and fun. Below are the photos of this game. Enjoy!
 























 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

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