Firestorm Gazala – Turn 3

Well here we are the final battle for turn 3 of Firestorm Gazla.  If you want to see what happened in Turn 2 you can here and the video laying out the Turn 3 moves is here.

If you are just joining in now check out the turn 1 article here that has the rules.  Then come back here for the battles for this turn.

Please note there have been questions about whether firestorm troops count as points when it comes to calculating wire and minefield.  They do not, just use the normal base points of your force.

Battle 1 – B6 into C6

The Germans are attacking and are reinforced by the following Firestorm Troops.

Panzer Regiment 5 – 21^th Panzer Division – 
Reinforce your company with a Panzer Platoon with three Panzer III (short 5cm) and one Panzer III (long 5cm).  Equivalent to 22pts.

Panzer Regiment 8 – 15^th Panzer Division – 
Reinforce your company with a Panzer Platoon with three Panzer III (short 5cm) and one Panzer III (long 5cm).  Equivalent to 22pts.

The Allies are reinforced by 

4th Armd. Bde. – 7^th Armoured Division  – Reinforce your company with a Grant Armoured Troop, with three Grant tanks, equivalent to 18pts

Hurricane Tank Buster Flight – Reinforce your company with a Hurricane Tank Buster flight the equivalent of 9 pts

Battle 2 – B7 into A7

The Germans are attacking and are reinforced by the following Firestorm Troops.

JU87 Stuka Dive Bomber Flight – Reinforce your army with a JU87 dive bomber flight equivalent to an extra 9pts.

Ernest Rommel –  All of your Formation Commanders have their Command Leadership range increased from 6″/15cm to 8″/20cm.  If you win the game you gain one extra Victory Point.  If you lose the game you lose one Victory Point.

The British player is defending with the following firestorm troops.

2nd Armd. Bde. – 1st Armoured Division  – Reinforce your company with a Grant Armoured Troop, with three Grant tanks, equivalent to 18pts

1^st Artillery Regiment 2^nd South African Division -Reinforce your company with 4 x 25pdrs the equivalent of 14pts

The German player attacked Tobruk which is has defenses however they have been neglected and are not as effective as those on the front lines.  Therefore the British player may add a minefield and barbed wire  
(rules detailed at the end of the article), for every 50 points or part of in the battle (not including Firestorm troops). This is for all missions.   If the mission being played already uses minefields the defending player does not gain any extra minefields.  Put simply, the defending player will always have minefields and barbed wire in this battle so long as they pick defend.  If the defender picks anything other than the defend stance then they get no bonus.

Battle 3  – C4 into C3

The German player is the attacker and has the following Firestorm Troops.

Infantrie Regiment 200 – 90 Leichte Afrika Division – 
Reinforce your company with an Africa Rifle Platoon with 4x MG34 teams, 1x 2.8cm anti-tank rifle, 1x sMG34 HMG and 1x 8cm mortar. In addition, they have the card Softskin Transport. This is the equivalent of 11pts.

27° Divisione ‘Brescia’ – Reinforce your company with a rifle platoon of 9 x Breda MG & Carcano rifle teams and use the card Legions of Rome the equivalent of 7 points.

The German player is out of supply, at the start of the game roll a dice and apply the following result.

1. Morale reduced – all morale based rolls have a -1.  So a confident 4+ unit becomes a 5+ for motivation.  This also reduces affects such as British bulldog and protected ammo.

2-3. Low on fuel.  Any time a vehicle team moves or takes part in an assault roll a dice.  On a roll of a 1 it runs out of fuel.  When out of fuel a vehicle can’t move for the rest of the game.  It may shoot as normal.  It may fight in an assault if assaulted but with -2 to its assault value.  Eg if veteran 3+ it’s assault would now be 5+.

4-5. Low on ammo.  Whenever a unit (unit not team) fires roll a dice.  On a 1 that unit becomes low on ammo and for subsequent shooting will always use its moving ROF.  A unit low on ammo may not fire a bombardment.

6.  The unit will fight to the death.  It is +1 to its its morale value.  Eg a fearless unit with 3+ motivation is now 2+.  This also applies to specific rolls such as protected ammo and British bulldog.  

The British player is the defender with the following Firestorm troops.

^1st Regiment D’Artillerie 1ERE Brigade Francaise Libre – Reinforce your company with a 25 pdr Field Troop with four 25 pdr guns. Technically the Free French used their 75mm mle 1897 gun. But since there is no card for it just play as if it is a 25pdr.

Fortified – Due to the area being fortified the british player may add 5pts to their force OR deploy 2 minefields (regardless of mission and in addition to any others allowed by a mission).

The German player attacked over a line of minefields.  Therefore the British player may add a minefield and barbed wire  (rules detailed at the end of the article), for every 25 points or part of in the battle (not including Firestorm troops). This is for all missions.   If the mission being played already uses minefields the defending player does not gain any extra minefields.  Put simply, the defending player will always have minefields and barbed wire in this battle so long as they pick defend.  If the defender picks anything other than the defend stance then they get no bonus.

Battle 4 – A4 into B3

The British player is attacking and is reinforced by the following firestorm troops.

^7th Battalion RTR – 32^nd Army Tank Bde – Reinforce your company with a Matilda II Armoured Troop, with three Matilda II tanks the equivalent of 18pts.  Please note this unit is one that Battlefront accepted as a fan made card if you don’t have any then just use the points for another unit or substitute valentine tanks.

22^nd Armd. Bde. – 1^st Armoured Division – 
Reinforce your company with a Crusader II Armoured Troop, with three Crusader II tanks the equivalent of 5pts.

The Germans (Well Italians) are the defenders and are reinforced with;

101° Divisione Motorizzate ‘Trieste’- reinforce your company with a Italian Rifle Company consisting of 9 rifle/mg stands as well as either the softskin transport or Motociclisti command card, the equivalent of 10pts.

JU87 Stuka Dive Bomber Flight – Reinforce your army with a JU87 dive bomber flight equivalent to an extra 9pts.

The Germans are out of supply at the start of the game roll a dice and apply the results.

1. Morale reduced – all morale based rolls have a -1.  So a confident 4+ unit becomes a 5+ for motivation.  This also reduces affects such as British bulldog and protected ammo.

2-3. Low on fuel.  Any time a vehicle team moves or takes part in an assault roll a dice.  On a roll of a 1 it runs out of fuel.  When out of fuel a vehicle can’t move for the rest of the game.  It may shoot as normal.  It may fight in an assault if assaulted but with -2 to its assault value.  Eg if veteran 3+ it’s assault would now be 5+.

4-5. Low on ammo.  Whenever a unit (unit not team) fires roll a dice.  On a 1 that unit becomes low on ammo and for subsequent shooting will always use its moving ROF.  A unit low on ammo may not fire a bombardment.

6.  The unit will fight to the death.  It is +1 to its its morale value.  Eg a fearless unit with 3+ motivation is now 2+.  This also applies to specific rolls such as protected ammo and British bulldog.  

Barbed Wire

Barbed wire is represented by a marker the same as a minefield (We suggest using a different colour to your minefields) with a 2 inch diameter.  Infantry teams wishing to cross or move into barbed wire must pass a skill test or immediately stop on the edge.   Tanks treat it as difficult terrain.  Infantry may clear wire if they start their turn in it exactly as they would a minefield.

Well thats it for turn 1, all that left now is for you all to play the games report back.  Good luck in the field and may your dice be 6s (unless you are playing British, then roll 1s  ).

Have at it

There you go 4 battles for you to play and enjoy.  The Axis are up against it here, they badly need to take Battle 1 its worth 30Vps and also not allow the Italians to be pushed out of B3.  Remember when attacking the french position its fortified therefore the only way to take it and claim the VPs is by destroying that Firestorm unit when we play out the results.  Therefore the bigger the victory the better the chance.  Go 8-1 lads, Avanti!