Flames of War - COLD WAR

Greetings All,
Played a "short" Modern Flames of War game this evening after finishing up a major "real world" project in the basement having to do with the fireplace, chimney, wood stove and a few other things that took all day.

Game pitted 5 x T-80s and 4 x T-72A against 4 x M1A1 MBTs with an AH-64 Apache gunship in support.  What a good time that turned out to be, and the Apache gave a very good accounting of itself in my very first FoW game with helicopters.

Captain Bannon's Tank "six six"

First hit!  A Russkie T-72 bails out.

another destroyed!

T-80 breaking from cover and brews up.  

AH buzzing around.  You can see 2 x Burning T-80s in the background!! 

gratuitous shot of my T80s on line!

T-72 platoon is breaking from cover.  2 down, 1 bailed out.  Not looking good for Ivan

Anti Aircraft shooting from the T80s drives off the Apache.  Next turn the M1A1s swing down and exact a bloody revenge.  T-80 platoon wiped out.  Aggressive tactics really pay off.

The US Counterattack.  All flank shots and all kills.

Soviet T-72 sneaks around to the objective.  He is knocked out next turn...

Surprise!  T-55 fuel barrels are drying right now.  My next installment in my 15mm Arab Israeli gaming, this is a Khurasan T-55 with cement drying.  Next will be the "sand" basecoat.  That's a Quality Casting T-55 underneath him.

LESSONS LEARNED:
Bloody.  Flames of War was already an unforgiving game so if you're squeamish about the battlefield, maybe "moderns" isn't for you!  The Soviets go down quick but if you are aggressive, play to your strengths, and let's face it, are a little lucky, you can do just fine.  The stabilization of your tanks allows you to continue to shoot with 2 dice, and some "home-grown" rules from other modern FoW sites allow for easier gunnery without some of the punishing modifiers for long range, night time, etc.  This is, after all, a modern game.

Flank Modern Tanks: Modern tanks have sick armor ratings and it's best to flank them every time, practically guaranteeing a kill.

Use Artillery in conjunction with your kill zones.  If the enemy is channeled in, use the terrain to launch punishing artillery strikes at key points.

All in all a good time, albeit a VERY short game (probably 45 minutes tops, and that's with me pausing to help give the little one a bath and clean up our very sooty basement).  If you want to get the most out of your Cold War Flames of War, include infantry, recce, artillery, and of course attack aviation!

My M1 tanks were a mix of the Zvezda and "Johnny Lightning" tanks.  The Russians were a mix of Quality Casting and Zvezda.  I really need to paint up some modern US and Soviet infantry!