Alsace Lorraine 1947, Wish you were here.

At the end of a small railroad, somewhere in Alsace Lorraine in 1947. Reports of allied troops having been airdroped brings two platoon of a Panzer Grenadiers Division to the area.

Forces (300pts, 301 for the allies)

Asocom platoon led by Ozz

Paratroopers led by Bazooka Joe

Panzer Grenadiers Platoon

Koniglothar's Protection Force

 Notes: the Laser Grenadiers were equiped with grenades, the 1st platoon got extra panzer support and the second platoon got ''Nebelwerfer Barrage'', the plan was to aim for 'Off-Target Shelling' and see how the allies could play with suppression.

Deployment: Close Engagement
Goal: Break the Line
Conditions: Off-Target Shelling

The Game

The Battlefield, somewhere in Alsace

Panzer Grenadiers deployed and on the move!

Entrenched in their building and in the forest, Asocom troops are wondering when the ''Dr.Manhattan'' (Fireball) will drop from the skies to help them against the incoming axis.

This is what we see from the forest...And it ain't looking pretty!

Paratroopers in the buildings are thankful they are in heavy cover just as the sound of Nebelwerfers is eared.

''Ludwig's 88 ready to fire! Awaiting your orders herr Commandant!''

The Ludwig's fire will prove devastating to the airborne troops stationed in the building. Joe is severly wounded (3 wounds) while two Grim Reapers die from the Flak Grenadiers burst fire.

In the meantime, having barely survived the Tankbusters' shots at it, the Sturmprinz delivers his cargo of Laser Grenadiers next to the forest.

''Lets go Laser Grenadiers! Throw some grenades at these allied dogs!''

Safely hidden behind the Sturmprinz, Lara and her Flak Grenadiers escort prepare themselves to be a second wave.

And as a huge shadow passed over the battlefield, axis troops saw a blue Fireball being droped in their area...real trouble was starting.

Roughly what the battlefield looks like, minus three grim reapers on the far right that are waiting for an opportunity to seize victory with their...victory machineguns.

The Sturmprinz not making it through the Tankbusters' second assault, Lara is left without any kind of cover...The hammers engage the group in melee.
In the meantime, the poor Laser grenadiers, doing no kills at all, loose all their squad members but one.

Battle Grenadiers on the left side try, in vain, to break the blue super heavy walker's armor with their panzerfaust and panzershrek. In return, they get drowned in a sea of napalm and machine-gun fire but manage to only loose to soldiers.

Done fighting Lara, the Hammers engage the Flak Grenadiers on the left side.

Panzerwalkerjaeger Hermann tries to scratch the paint off the Fireball...Misses his shots despite a sustained attack.

Things are starting to look grim for the Axis as infantry losses start piling up.

The Kommandotrupp, doing an excellent job at helping the soldiers fight through off-shell bombardment, is realizing with horror that the Grim Reapers just jumped into position.

Andrew's Grim Reapers unleashing their lethal ''victory'' fire.

Fanatic as he is, the lone Panzershrek Grenadiers continue his fight against the Fireball that is coming closer and closer.

Thankfuly for the Axis, some walkers are still operational and able to put some pressure on the allies.

''This is Panzerfuhrer Nils, we are being overrun by Asocom troops. I repeat..."

Now that the Asocom boys are doing their job, the paratroopers get finally a respite from the axis walkers.

And out of the woods the Hammers drop onto the Kommandotrupp...

...leaving no survivors from the defenseless axis.

The Fireball turns to face the Herman while the Ludwig explodes under the Tankbusters' fire.

Left without command and unable to act because of the off-target shelling, the remaining axis forces (a Heinrich and two Flak Grenadiers) fall back.

 You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.

Axis casualties.

Allies casualties.

Conclusion:

My worst enemy was my dice, I rolled 2s and 5s all night long when we play with 1s and 6s...Chessex dice are not great at all (but that I already knew) and just wish my Dust dice were there.

I also regreted leaving my Flamm-Luther in the display case as he could have put some real pressure in combination with the Sturmprinz-Laser Grenadiers assault...Hence the name of this battle-report.

Last but not least: Nebelwerfer Barrage...20pts of useless support if your opponent knows about it (which, being fair play, I always inform my opponents about incoming tricks like that)...The 'Close Engagement' deployment allowed my opponent to deploy everything but one squad fully into cover.

I still think axis can do something with ''Off-Target Shelling'' (in a zombie list of some sort), I really like the idea.

Oh and the Herman, without any kind of surprise, is definitely one of these rare ''useless'' models in Dust.
On a positive note: Laser Grenadiers with grenades and benefiting from a transport is a cool tactic that I really will use more in casual games.

Special Thanks:

Andrew for the game and very special thanks to Chris that airbrushed my models in that ''Zverograd's Autumn'' camo that I like a lot, thanks to him these pictures look way better.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, I sure did enjoy that game a lot!