Firestorm Overlord continues - open to new players and old hands

[barca]

Pics Uploaded:

D-Day Battles
https://it.thislife.com/QEmRWPdX

Firestorm-Overlord-Setup
https://it.thislife.com/teyUe8ft

Firestorm-Overlord-Turn0
https://it.thislife.com/fvThkSCM

Firestorm-Overlord-Turn1
https://it.thislife.com/1Kj3Wdsa

 

[ZEKE]

I am planning on bringing 2nd armor div tomorrow.

[barca]

Additional Warriors available on Turn 1:

Allied Warriors, US Sector:
Turnbull (US)
Cota (US)

GERMAN WARRIORS, BR Sector
Von Luck (In Kubelwagen or PzIVH)

[barca]

Updated this post - 22 June 2015 - 06:58 PM - with additional warriors and details of Firestorm units.

[panzerkyle]

Apologies for late notice, but I won't be able to make it tonight - got called to work. I'm interested in playing one of the Brit/Can matches if someone is available before 3pm Sat or anytime Sunday.

[barca]

panzerkyle

I can make Sunday.Earlier better than later.

But I have none of the troops for this front, so I would have to borrow Brits or Germans.

 

On Sunday, GG opens at noon. If we start shortly after that, we could be done before the heat is too oppressive.

Let me know if that works for you and I will reserve a table.

[ZEKE]

American Sector:

 

With Last nights operation underway, the German defenders are digging in and the going is getting tougher.  With the help of our reserves and enough supplies coming in, we only managed to take the vierville sector. The towns of StMere Eglise and Carentan are still in the hands of the krauts.More fighting needs to be done to secure and link the two beaches. 

[panzerkyle]

Noon Sunday sounds good, barca. See ya then.

[barca]

I'll see ya there.

 

Made reservation for a table 12:00-3:30 PM.

[lazarus]

wish i could make Sunday but i have a training deal to go to.

[barca]

Had a game Sunday: panzerkyle, lazarus and myself.

This is the battle we fought::

2) From SWORD Beach, south: BR Firestorm attack bypassing 716 (GE) ID.

Allies: Base force = BR (inf or armor) @ 1250 points, plus 2 Firestorm units

- 27 (BR) Armd Bde: 2x Sherman V, Firefly VC

- Priority Air, BR Typhoon 1B

Germans: Scattered defenders, 1250 pts, NO Firestorm units

Terrain = open farmland

 

Hans von Luck made an appearance again, and continued to be annoying.

Despite that, and the nastiness of STuG's and and a pupchen, at the cost of many Allied tanks, the Brits pushed out of SWORD Beach,

and flanked the German 716th Infantry Division.

It was a close battle, and the Germans defended respectably. The Allies just won "by a whisker", but the ground is now ours.

The British Firestorm unit - 27 (BR) Armd Bde - survived, but just barely.

 

Next battle, which should be fought on Thursday, 2 July, will be:

3) From JUNO Beach, south: BR/Canadian Firestorm attack bypassing 716 (GE) ID.

Allies: Base force = BR/Can (inf or armor) @ 1250 points, plus 1 Firestorm unit:

- 2 (Can) ARM BDE: 2x Sherman V, Firefly VC

Germans: Scattered defenders, 1250 pts, NO Firestorm units

Terrain = open farmland

[generalripphook]

Would I be able to play battles up here in Bellingham to help/aid the campaign?

[barca]

Short answer is yes, you are welcome to join.

lazarus and I work out the Firestorm strategic moves face-to-face here in PDX.

 

But for the tactical/tabletop battles, so long as you have one or more opponents on your tabletop there in Bellingham, you could pick one of the battles posted here, and play that out in Bellingham.  We would just need a brief battle report ASAP after the battle.

 

We would be glad to have you participate.

 

You should download and read the Firestorm Overlord doc here:

Firestorm: Overlord
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4495

 

If you so desire, you can track the campaign by setting up your own copy of the map and tokens, but that is not essential.

 

Here is a brief report by another group that played out the campaign.
Firestorm: Overlord Event Report
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4184

 

I will continue to update the turn action here, and add more strategic and tactical/tabletop pics to the ThisLife website.

If you have a place to post pics, that would be awesome, but not required.

 

I will extract the minimum essential communucation requirements and post them this evening.

I swear that I can keep the communication instructions (Battle Report) to less than a page.

[barca]

Brit/Canadian players: Plan on bringing a Warrior team to your next battle.

 

If the Allied CinC does not get these guys into battle soon, they will be calling their powerfully "Fine Chaps" back in the UK, and bust my chops:

(Also, the Alllies get penalized on Victory Points if we don't get them into battle).

 

These warriors are available, and do not count against the Firestorm limit of 2 FS units per battle arrow:
Allied Warriors, BR Sector:

Hollis (UK)
Pine-Coffin (UK)
Lovatt (UK)

Young (UK)

[ZEKE]

I am trying to work the Utah Beach & extreme right flank of the invasion area, using 4th ID, 2nd AD and the now independent 325th GIR.

 

Since the airborne failed to secure landing zones for the gliders, the 325th GIR is forced to land by boat on the beach behind 4th ID.  Historically, a portion of the 325th did just this, it was called Task Force Howell.

[lazarus]

cool the more who contribute the better.

[barca]

generalripphook,

 

FIRESTORM: OVERLORD Battle Report

NOTE: All page numbers refer to the Firestorm: Overlord pdf document, unless stated otherwise.

1.0.    Before the battle:
        1.1. Tactical (tabletop) Commanders coordinate with the General on who will fight which battles.

        1.2. CoordinateDetermine the mission: See page 16.

        1.3. Determine the troop lists.
               1.3.1. Core force:
               -- 1250 points, unless both players agree on a different number.
               -- Core force identity on each side should reflect the unit token (Usually Division or Brigade), if there is one on the map for this battle.
               -- If no unit token is shown (e.g., for the Germans, this means “Scattered Defenders”), then players are free to select any company in the Overlord and Atlantik Wall Books

              1.3.2. Firestorm Units: Three sources
               1) Both Germans and Allies: As assigned by the Generals.
               2) Both: Under General Points, page 7: German Fortified Sectors, Allied Beaches
               3) Germans: Scattered Defenders (pp. 7-8): ...in a Flames of War battle, roll a die on the Scattered variable troop table (see page 17 "German Variable Firestorm").

2.0. After the Battle:

       2.1. Calculate the Victory Points

       2.2. Determine whether the Attacker gained the sector they invaded.
               -- See p. 6 of the Firestorm Overlord campaign book, under “Gaining Sectors”.
               -- When defending, a German Player must win 5-2 or better in order to retain a sector.  If the Germans win 4-3, they still lose the sector, being driven back by the superior Allied numbers.

2.3. Report on the battle:
               2.3.1. WHO:
               -- List player’s names and/or avatars.
               -- List Attacker’s nationality and company type.
               -- List the Defender’s nationality and company type

               -- List firestorm units, and if they were destroyed (p.16, "Tournament Game Roll to Destroy")
               -- List Warriors used, and whether they were killed or captured

               2.3.2. WHAT:
               -- List the mission played
              
               2.3.3. WHERE:
               -- Sector the attacker started in (can substitute with photo of campaign map and tokens).
               -- Sector that was the target of the attack (can substitute with photo).
               -- Basic terrain type.

               2.3.4. OUTCOME:
               -- Winner
               -- Victory Points

3. EXTRA: post pics, brag, taunt, invite players and/or spectators to the next game.
 

[barca]

Zeke,

lazarus informed me that you have painted up a company of Rangers.

 

If you want, we can incoporate one of the Ranger Battalions as a Firestorm Unit in the campaign, and we can have a Turn 1 battle that involves them.

 

I can make a custom unit counter for them and put them at either

Pointe Du Hoc (2nd Bn), or

on UTAH Beach (5th Bn), poised to retake Vierville.

 

In the campaign and tournament for D-Day, two Ranger Battalions are listed (p. 29), and their Insignia is shown on the campaign Map at Pointe Du Hoc, but there is not a token for them in the tokens pdf.

 

My sources indicate that the 2nd Ranger Battalion was fighting on 6, 7 and part of 8 June, and possibly some elements up to 10 June.

That would put them in Turn 0 and Turn 1.

 

The 5th Battalion was engaged from 6 June up to 10 June

That would put them in Turn 0 and Turn 1.

 

Here are my sources:

SMALL UNIT ACTIONS - POINTE DU HOE, 2d RANGER BATTALION, 6 June 1944
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-pdh.htm

Cross Channel Attack
Gordon A. Harrison
http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-4-1/index.html
Chapter 8
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-4/7-4_8.htm
Chapter 9
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-4/7-4_9.htm
Endnotes:
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-4/end-IX.htm

      Footnote [46] The 116th Infantry with the 2d and 5th Ranger Battalions attached spent 9 and 10 June mopping up.

The U.S. Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion: Beyond D-Day
Alissa Marie Quistorf
http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3989&context=etd

[ZEKE]

I have my collection of 325th Glider Co.

 

Except for paratroopers, US infantry is pretty universal in their appearance, So, a US infantry platoon can be used for either straight infantry, glider infantry, or ranger infantry.  I was thinking of trying out a ranger company for this campaign but have decided to work out the 4th inf div & 2nd armor div sector instead.

 

Also, battle report for last thursday:

 

2.3. Report on the battle:
               2.3.1. WHO:
               -- List player’s names and/or avatars. ZEKE and LAZARUS
               -- List Attacker’s nationality and company type. US LIGHT ARMOR COMPANY
               -- List the Defender’s nationality and company type GERMAN PANZER GRENEDIER COMPANY

               -- List firestorm units, and if they were destroyed (p.16, "Tournament Game Roll to Destroy") US 4TH ID INF PLT, US 155 ARTY BATTERY (NON DESTROYED)
               -- List Warriors used, and whether they were killed or captured VON LUCK (SURVIVED)

               2.3.2. WHAT:
               -- List the mission played
              
               2.3.3. WHERE:
               -- Sector the attacker started in (can substitute with photo of campaign map and tokens). UTAH BEACH
               -- Sector that was the target of the attack (can substitute with photo).VIERVILLE
               -- Basic terrain type. FIELDS SMALL TOWN & SOME BOCCAGE

               2.3.4. OUTCOME:
               -- Winner GERMANS WON THE GAME, BUT LOST THE SECTOR
               -- Victory Points 4-3

[generalripphook]

So for turn 0 what battles are left?

 

Or For example if I said British unit A attacked sector B then turn 0 would be ammended for that attack?

[barca]

Choices, decisions, adjustments, your request might be do-able..

1.

If lazarus agrees, you could "re-do" one of the Turn 0 battles (see section 2, below).

If no redo, or you are not set on turn 0, then a choice of turn 1 battles (section 3, below)

 

2.

Technically, turn 0 is over and we have moved on to turn 1.

At the end of turn 0, follow-on units landed on the beaches, and the Germans moved.

 

However, if you wanted to do the turn 0 battles that we did not play on the table - other than Omaha and Sword - which we did at GG on 6 June - then we could adjust.

Although JUNO was abstracted, we cannot redo that, since turn 1 units are attacking from there for the last 2 tabletop battles of turn 1.

Although 82nd Abn and 101st Abn battles were abstracted, we have already moved units based on those non-historical outcomes.

 

These were abstracted - played out at the end of turn 0 as "General's Battles", BUT could be "redone" on the tabletop, as tactical battles, with the least disruption to turn 1:

Utah Beach/Brecourt Manor

Gold Beach/Battle of Breville

Pointe Du Hoc

 

I'd like to get confirmation from lazarus (The German General) that this would be something we could manage.

 

3.

If you were willing to play a turn 1 battle, then this is what we have left:

3) From JUNO Beach, south: BR/Canadian Firestorm attack bypassing 716 (GE) ID.

Allies: Base force = BR/Can (inf or armor) @ 1250 points, plus 1 Firestorm unit:

- 2 (Can) ARM BDE: 2x Sherman V, Firefly VC

Germans: Scattered defenders, 1250 pts, NO Firestorm units

Terrain = open farmland

 

4) From JUNO Beach, east: BR/Canadian Firestorm attack attacking 716 (GE) ID.

Allies: Base force = BR/Can (inf or armor) @ 1250 points, plus 1 Firestorm unit:

- 1 (BR) Corps Arty: Comd Rifle, Observer/OP Carrier, Staff, 4x BL 5.5”, AOP

Germans: Scattered defenders, Base force = 1250 pts, plus 1 Firestorm unit:

- 716 (GE) ID: Command Panzerfaust SMG, 6x Rifle/MG

Terrain = open farmland

 

Since we are playing one of those two on Thursday, July 2, starting at 6 PM, I would have to know your choice before then, or you are left with the last turn 1 battle, whichever that one is.

[generalripphook]

I was just using turn 0 as an example of a turn number but thank you for the clarification so no worries on any shenanigans there.

 

I think I can do 3) under #3. I'll get a confirmation back to you on that.

[generalripphook]

For Scattered defenders do we roll just a single time? Or until we have 1250 points?

 

Edit:oh it's 1250 plus a roll on the chart okay.

 

Yes I will play that on Tuesday.

[barca]

I look forward to the your report of the allies gaining ground and driving Jerry back to Paris (or at least Caen, for now).

 

Questions are quite OK.

 

Sometimes, the process of asking the question allows you to think about the issue in a different way, then gaining insight or understanding, perhaps answering your own question.

Happens to me, too.

 

Please use one of the British warriors. You don't have to stick his neck out. As long as he is on the battlefield, his "esteemed peers" will stay off my back (and the Allies won't be penalize for NOT using him) <Damned Monty!>

 

References:

Hollis (UK) - Overlord book, p. 55
Pine-Coffin (UK) - Overlord book, p. 21
Lovatt (UK) - Overlord book, p. 42
Young (UK) - Overlord book, p. 43

[barca]

Also, battle report for last Sunday, 28 June:
Turn 1 battle, battle arrow #7

2.3. Report on the battle:
               2.3.1. WHO:
               -- Player’s names and/or avatars. PANZERKYLE, BARCA and LAZARUS
               -- Attacker’s nationality and company type.
                     Independent Armoured Squadron (p. 128), including:
                         "A" Squadron, The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment)
                         Motor Infantry platoon from the 2nd BN, 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
               -- Defender’s nationality and company type GERMAN GRENADIER COMPANY

               -- Firestorm units, and if they were destroyed:
                  # ALLIES: - 27 (BR) Armd Bde: 2x Sherman V, Firefly VC (Not Destroyed)
                  # ALLIES: - Priority Air, BR Typhoon 1B (Not Destroyed)
                  # GERMANS: - variable firestorm unit =  Grenadier Platoon, (2 sec + Pak 40) (CT) from the 736. Grenadier Rgt/716. Infanterie Division (Not Destroyed)
               -- Warriors used, and whether they were killed or captured: GE=VON LUCK (SURVIVED), BR=NONE

               2.3.2. WHAT:
               -- Mission played: No Retreat
              
               2.3.3. WHERE:
        British Sector
               -- Sector the attacker started in: SWORD BEACH
               -- Sector that was the target of the attack:SE of Luc sur Mer, direction Caen (battle arrow 7)
               -- Basic terrain type. OPEN FARMLAND

               2.3.4. OUTCOME:
               -- Winner GERMANS WON THE GAME, BUT LOST THE SECTOR
               -- Victory Points 4-3