The Germans have swept around the allied lines and are poised to march on Tobruk, but the heart of the British defenses remain intact!
Hi all, in this installment we move into the middle of the three rounds of Firestorm Gazala! In our previous installment the German attack got off well but only rolled 4 battles for the first round. In this next section, the allies have a much better chance at winning the initiative and thus the Germans need to move carefully. Here is the map at the start of the turn:
Another change for this round is our player base has grown a fair bit. Thus we decided to extend the round to 6 games midway through round 2. For the first battle the Germans win the initiative again and we are off!
Game 1: American Victory (6-3)
The allies get their first win as the Panzers vs Grants slugfest goes the allied way. Crucially the germans lose one of their panzer firestorm units while the allies initially lose a grant unit but then recover it using the special campaign rules!
Game 2: Soviet Victory (8-1)
A few hours before this game I learned half my list couldn’t actually assault and I was playing it wrong in my last campaign. Always a fun feeling. Also I learned that night attacks can suck when half your army cant leave the deployment zone lol. Sadly (for me) I got smoked by the soviets here but managed to prevent any Firestorm units from dying.
Game 3: British Victory (7-2)
The Germans continue to win imitative but again stall out against a horde of Crusader tanks. However the Germans again do not lose any Firestorm units.
Game 4: American Victory (6-3)
The axis keeps winning the initiative but little else. The allies were out of suppl and low morale but the Rangers just did not care! I failed 5 3+s of various types in a row to break and lose on the last turn!
Game 5: British Victory (8-1)
The turn appears to be on repeat with the Allies can’t win initiative but manage to keep the Axis at bay, even when out of supply. Despite some luck (clearing 3 6 lbers with MGs the Axis can’t punch through.
Game 6: German Victory (8-1)
The Germans finally pull off the perfect duo of getting both the initiative win and the game win as they finally clear B5 on the last battle. Furthermore the Allied luck gets worse as the German player destroyed both Firestorm units and the fortifications! Interestingly at this point both teams have won 5 games. The only limit on the allies is an inability to win initiative.
Firestorm Gazala – Round 2 Wrap up
Here is the map at the end of the round after reinforcements and strategic moves!
The Germans are on the cusp of taking Tobruk but the allies have managed to put up fierce resistance. The next few battles will be the deciding factor for this campaign!
