Firestorm Bagration – Final Turn Report

The Soviets are out of time! They need to capture the last few German cities while the Axis forces have scattered their forces to try and hold them off for one final turn.

Hi there, this the the next article covering my local gaming group’s battle through the Bagration Firestorm campaign, using a modified set of 3rd edition rules. You can see the past articles here!

Setup
Turn 1
Turn 2
Turn 3
Turn 4
Turn 5

For this round there is no bonus to the roll to attack so it will be a straight roll off. Here is the map at the beginning of the turn:

For this final turn we rolled up 11 battles.

Game 1: Soviets Attack Osipovichi (Soviet Victory)

Strategic game map showing towns Osipovichi, Zhlobin, Berezina, Lyuban, and Karpilovka; a red arrow points to Osipovichi near a fortress labeled Borusk and Soviet symbols nearby.

After briefing hold the territory on turn 1 the Soviets manage to wrest the vital railroad junction cutting off supplies to the majority of the German forces.

Tabletop wargame battlefield with a winding blue river, roads, fields, trees, and miniature houses and soldiers.

Game 2: Germans Attack Osipovichi (Soviet Victory)

Map section highlighting Osipovichi with a large red downward arrow, located between Minsk (northwest) and Bobruisk (southeast) with surrounding towns and blue rivers nearby.

The initial attempt by the Germans to retake Osipovichi falls just short leaving the rest of the flank in a worrying position.

Tabletop wargame battlefield with miniature buildings, roads, trees, and trenches laid out on a green gaming mat in a workshop setting

Game 3: Soviets Attack Berezina (German Victory)

Map excerpt showing the Bobruysk fortress by the Berezina River, with nearby towns and a large red arrow pointing to a location south of Berezina.

Dietrich Uthoff makes a name for himself as the wily german destroys two churchill crocodiles single-handedly stopping the New Zealander attack

Tabletop wargaming scene with tan armored vehicles advancing past a brick building, barbed wire, and a curved railway track on brown terrain.

Game 4: Germans Attack Orsha (Soviet Victory)

Tactical map fragment centered on Orsha with a bold red arrow from the northeast, blue river lines, rail tracks, and Soviet emblems near surrounding towns (Vitebsk, Rudina, Krasnoye).

Knowing that the Soviets are limited in their ability to take cities the Germans go for the knock out blow hoping to hold onto just enough cities to eke out a win. However a stiff Russian defense sees them off.

Tabletop wargame battlefield with ruined city blocks, narrow roads, and trenches on a printed mat.

Game 5: Soviets Attack Berezina (Soviet Victory)

Map snippet with labeled towns and rivers; a bold red arrow points to a location near Berezina in the Bobruisk area, near a fortress icon.

Berezina is encircled after a German Heavy tank company is swarmed by a tide of soviet forces!

Tabletop wargame battlefield with miniature tanks, infantry, and a central church on green terrain with roads and fields

Note: At this point our group of 5 players had thoroughly burned out and we decided to use the Generals game feature to resolve the remaining games rather then take another 2-3 weeks to resolve them all.

Game 6: Soviets Attack Bykhov (German Victory)

Strategic map showing river routes and Soviet fortifications; red arrow points west from Gorki toward Mogilev.

Game 7: Germans Attack Osipovichi (Soviet Victory)

Map segment highlighting Osipovichi with a red downward arrow, near Minsk and Bobruisk.

Game 8: Germans Attack Osipovichi (German Victory)

Map segment showing Minsk to Bobruisk rail route via Osipovichi, with rivers, towns (Lyuban, Berezina), and a red arrow pointing to Osipovichi; red hammer-and-sickle icons mark locations.

Game 9: Soviets Attack Mogilev (Soviet Victory)

Strategic map focusing on Mogilev, with nearby towns Bykhov, Gorki, Slavgorod, Chausy, and Berezina, blue rivers and rail lines; red hammer-and-sickle icons mark zones, and a large red arrow points to Mogilev.

Game 10: Germans Attack Mogilev (Soviet Victory)

Tactical map showing towns around Mogilev, with a red arrow pointing to the Mogilev fortress and surrounding rail lines and rivers.

Game 11: Germans Attack Slutsk (German Victory)

Map of a railway network around Slutsk, with a red arrow pointing to Slutsk and a Soviet symbol nearby.

By winning the final initiative the Germans didn’t have a particularly impactful attack to make and decided to go for the meme option (in addition one German player had been very adamant that Slutsk be retaken, having become agitated when it was lost).

Two-panel fantasy battle montage: a bearded man in armor stands by a river with a ruined, smoky city in the background.

Wit that it was time to total up the points for each team:

Table comparing German and Soviet counts: Cities 210 vs 230; Victory Locations 30 vs 0; Captured Units 0 vs 20; Totals 240 vs 250.

As the point values were within 50 points the result is a draw!

Parchment-style instruction card titled DRAW with two columns of text describing the campaign rules: a draw occurs if total Campaign Victory Points for both sides are within 50 points, followed by narrative notes about Stavka and the Gestapo.

Firestorm Bagration Conclusion:

Phew what a journey. Over the course of 6 months our group played nearly 60 Flames of War games. This makes it the longest campaign I have ever been a part of. While I think we are all ready for a change; it has been an incredible experience. I think I learned a lot as a player and a lover of history. Due to this campaign I finally have my Romanian army pretty much complete, and I am ready to not play another river crossing mission for a long time!

Sam

The resident Flames of War, Historical, and narrative gaming expert. I have been playing tabletop games for 20 years with armies for 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Horus Heresy, Age of Sigmar, Flames of War, Legions Imperialis, Battlefleet Gothic, and even Titanicus. I love narrative campaigns above all and dabble in customs missions too.

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