Thursday, October 30, 2014

Modern Battlegroup Game 3: NATO Defend in Sector (Lots of Pictures!)

I played a very, very quick game of Modern Battlegroup (Battlegroup: REFORGER) to test out some theories that we were tossing around over the weekend.  

This battle began with all units starting on the board (something I've always wanted to try) and was a NATO defend mission with a platoon of M60 tanks and 2 sections of mechanized infantry defending the same ground from our Attack / Counterattack mission this past weekend.

The Warsaw Pact threw 2 platoons of T-72s against NATO.  They had no infantry, air, or artillery support, so this was in a hasty attack of sorts for Ivan.

I wont go into much detail regarding our recommended changes to the system as I will post an upgraded quick reference sheet in a follow-on post soon.  I just thought everyone would appreciate some nice eye candy.  These are my hastily painted Petner Panzer T-72s (huge models! not a good scale for 1/100 or 15mm) and my Command Decision M48s cleverly disguised as M60s!!

NATO tank crews scanning for targets!

APCs pull up to their battle position.
 The action started straight away with 1 T72 mobility kill at long range!  Scratch one tank from Ivan's force!  Good shooting yanks!



Pinned and immobilized.  

Warsaw Pact T72s move forward!


Kill!  Ivan KOs an M60 

Business end of a T-72 platoon!  (still somewhat unpainted)


Infantry dismounts (Israeli from quality castings serving as replacements lol)

1 APC packs up and heads for the objective to ambush the tanks in case things go badly on the line


Brutal exchange of fire goes NATO's way eventually, at the cost of 2 M60s.  Also a Dragon gunner from the tree-line opens up on the T72 on the road and this T-72 is history!

And a pinned tank turns into an abandoned tank as the Pact crew bug out of this fight!!!

Final dispositions of the battle - the Pact has no more unpinned units.  NATO was holding on by their fingernails on this one with only 1 serviceable tank left and 1 squad at full strength!  

love this shot!  burning pact tanks in the background


This crew is pinned and suffered heavily from the T72 on the roadway 
Another great game!  And a sorely needed win for NATO that's for sure.  Out of the last 3 battles, the Reds have won 2 and NATO forces continued to give ground until today with the results coming down to the actions of 1 tank crew and 1 mech infantry squad against a Soviet tank company!  I held my breath for each shot between those T72s and the M60 in the woodline.  The Dragon ATGM actually worked well against the early T72's armor as well.  Thank goodness they had one!

I will need to post the new quick reference sheet with WW3 modifications as well as some new vehicle cards (T72 and M60 MBTs).

I'm supposed to work this weekend but will be reading up on the "Sails of Glory" rules in the hopes of getting a small game in one evening.  Maybe even Axis & Allies Naval.  It will be a nautical weekend for sure, Matey!

6 comments:

  1. Excellent pics.

    Love to see those venerable M60s...and vs some decent Soviet armour too.
    The more I see, the more I want to try this in 20mm - so digging out my older stuff - including cheap plastic M1s, lead M60s and cheap toy T62s (I like to plough round toy shops for cheap bargains).

    Rules due to arrive any day now, so will be setting up a scenario of two.

    Have you seen the old 'Fire Team' boardgame by WEG? I'm thinking there are some useful scenarios there.

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    1. Duke,
      I think you'll find it to your liking. It's an excellent rules set and handles modern action nicely. (it handles WW2 actions nicely as well. I have played more than a few solo games from the scenarios in the rulebook and they were much fun). The scale is a little small for my taste but the game is still quite fun and very exciting with the outcome of the thing in always in doubt.

      I have seen and read through fireteam and it's an excellent set of rules. Mechwar 77 also would have some excellent scenario material in it for this scale.

      I purchased the "Cold War Hot" scenario book for Force on Force as it features many games with a mechanized or armored platoon (4 vehicles) and their dismounts (3 to 4 squads and support weapons) which would make a nice "platoon level" game for Battlegroup.

      I know exactly what kind of bargains you're hunting for. There was an old Toy Soldier bag in the cheap dollar stores here in the states with a plastic 1/100 scale Chieftain MBT!! If only I could find those again - I would purchase a ton of them and start my BAOR forces!!

      I was frankly surprised NATO hung on in this game. I thought for sure those T-72s would rip right through them.

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    2. By the way Steve, have finally emailed you the scenario scans that I had promised months ago - a link will be in your email box.

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    3. Thank you sir! Received!! Who knows - a "Battlegroup: Sinai" and "Battlegroup: Golan" could be in the works!

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  2. Nice wee AAR. Great to see these reports. I would just use those M48's as M48A5 types, Basically a M60 with the same sized gun.

    Nice Reforger National Guard unit.

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    1. It was a great game and a good time, Paul. I love any chance I can get to break out those M48s!
      I was thinking as I was playing the game it made sense to have them as a Guard unit.

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