"Stemming the Tide 1943 - Mein Panzer" Topic

On Saturday, May 3rd, I hosted a game of Mein Panzer at Imperial Outpost in Glendale, AZ.

The scenario was "Stemming the Tide". In August 1943, after the Battle of Kursk, the Russians are going over to the offensive. A gap has been created in the German lines and the Russians are sending elements of a Tank Brigade to exploit the situation in order to continue the attack. The Germans send 2 Panzer Companies to try to seal the opening and reestablish the front.

For this game, I used the Mein Panzer rules by ODGW with 1/285th scale miniatures and terrain by GHQ.

There were 4 players for the game with 2 playing as the Russians and 2 as the Germans. Of the 4 players, 2 were completely new to the game, 1 had played once before in my December game, and the other had more experience but had not played in a while.

After getting everyone read into the game and the situation, I gave the Germans a pre-game move to get onto the map. We played 3 turns before a couple of the guys had to go. At the end of the 3rd turn we determined that the Russians were getting the upper hand in this one.

All the players seemed to have a great time and at least a couple were enthusiastic about playing again. I will be running this scenario at Sand Wars in Chandler, AZ in June.

Here are some pictures of the action.

WOW!!! I'm green with envy, that setup looks FANTASTIC! Every time I think I'm moving in the right direction I see something like this that makes me question everything; no joke man, that has 'the look' of modern (WWII to present) combined arms action. Great terrain, great models, and great troop density/spacing.

V/R,
Jack

Well poo….I was in Scottsdale that day with not much to do…had I known I would have dropped in.

Nice looking game

Dave

Great looking table.

Looks like a great game, Cap'n!

I really like the look of your terrain -- rolling hills, mostly grasslands but many small wooded copses, several paths across the table, some water obsticals with a few bridges. Lots of maneuver to go with the fighting.

Of course, given the quality of your painting the vehicles and the buildings always look great, but the whole layout is what catches my eye in this case.

Still it's worth commenting on the quality of the painting of the individual pieces -- some of those low-angle views are really quite eye catching. This is the kind of visual quality that fires up my imagination the way that only miniatures wargaming seems to do.

Overall a very inspiring post. Thanks, Pete!

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Great minis and terrain – thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much, Just Jack! I am glad you liked it. I take no credit for the troop spacing in this one. That was all on the players although 6mm tends to make for more wide open games.

PzGeneral. Thanks very much! If you live in the greater Phoenix area, I will be happy to let you know when I am hosting again. I will be running this game at Sand Wars on June 7th in Chandler.

Thanks very much, 79thPA!

Mk 1. Thank you very much and I'm glad you liked it. I veery much appreciate your kind comments.

The players had a great time and at least one of my newbies is anxious to play again. He came all the way from Oro Valley down near Tucson which is about 2-3 hours away.

I do strive to acheive the whole immersive effect as much as possible. I try to give the players some terrain they can use and try to make it visually appealing.

Although the game only went 3 turns due to a couple players needing to be elsewhere, everyone had a lot of fun and that is, in the end, what it is all about.

Pete, this is EXCELLENT!

And heck yeah….."at least a couple were enthusiastic about playing again."

Wowser -

What strikes me – of course the models and terrain, but the amount of terrain, avenues of approach, and blocking hills and woods. You outlined the battle problem above, but the bigger battle problem is very much there on the board – in the terrain complexity presented.

THIS is the Eastern Front!

Wow! Thank you very much for that, FlyXwire! I am not sure what else to say but I am very moved by your kind words.

I do strive to give both sides some terrain they can work with as well as terrain that can present interesting tactical problems to be solved.