Tide of Iron: Eastern Front

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I was a pretty long, ugly winter here and now that spring has finally arrived, what better way to celebrate than fighting it out in the snows of Moscow in Tide of Iron: Fury of the Bear?

I picked up the base game and all the expansions except for Days of the Fox (Brits in N. Africa.  Wanted it but it wasn't available) last winter during FFG's clearance sale.  I've only had a few chances to play the game but I've found it to be a lot of fun to play with fairly accessible rules.  I like the fact that the developers tried to make it a modular system by adding in several different types of card decks, variable activation rules, and different victory determination rules so that scenario designers could tailor the rules and decks to better suit the theme and feel of what they were trying to portray.  I think it generally works quite well but it can lead to issues remembering what rules are in effect as well as which scenario specific rules exceptions. 

The biggest drawback to the game is the setup time.  There are a huge number of components to sort through (you'll usually only be using 5-10% of what's available) and digging all the appropriate stuff out can be a bit of a chore.  Assembling all of your squads can also take a fair amount of time as you have a variety of unit types available from regular infantry, officers, MGs, mortars, etc.  Each squad stand consists of 4 peg holes and you have to slot each figure in manually.  The scenario we played had a total of 25 stands to assemble (10 for the Soviets, 15 for the Germans) and took about an hour to get the map set up and the squads assembled.

The scenario we decided to play is called "Meat Grinder".  It's a fairly straightforward scenario that sees the Soviets attacking a German defensive position.  The only oddity in this scenario is the weather.  There a snow squalls which means that each turn one player rolls a d6.  On a 4-6, squalls are present and line of sight drops to 3 hexes, otherwise LOS works normally.

I played as the Soviets.  It was ugly....


Scenario description and setup:

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

As the Soviets had initiative and had to set up first, I decided to gamble and place my armour up close.  I figured that I'd get to activate two units right off the bat with initiative and I could hopefully knock out or suppress any German threats.  On the right flank, I placed two T-34s close to the southmost objective.  I placed the SU-122 on the Soviet objective marker in the top right corner.  The SU-122 is very capable against enemy infantry and I thought it would be able to annihilate anything on two legs that got within range.  I was wrong....  The infantry on this side of the map all started under cover in a balka.

On the left, I threw two squads onto the backs of the T-34s with the intent of blitzing forward and grabbing the objective marker in the top left of the map.  I put the KV-1 on the ridge in overwatch in case the squalls died down.  All the infantry deployed on the reverse of the slope.

The Germans deployed next and adopted an all-round defence with their Pak 40 guns entrenched and facing off against the T-34s and their Panthers further back in the town.  They also placed their anti-tank squad in entrenchments facing off against my SU-122.

Initial deployments:





The Soviets started with two special ability cards.  One allowed their infantry to ride on the back of tanks.  The other was Katyusha rocket support.   They also started with two cards which could be drawn from either the Soviet reinforcements deck (available to the USSR player only) or the Winter Tactics deck (available to both sides).  I chose to draw two cards from the reinforcements deck.

I drew a heavy weapons reinforcement and a battalion reinforcement card.  Both are decent but they require a fair number of command points to activate (I started with zero points) so they wouldn't be any use during the first turn.



The Germans had started with Elite formations (gave squads much better firepower when they acted independently) and two cards from either the Morale deck (German only) or the Winter tactics deck.  The Germans drew one from each deck.




Finally, we rolled to see if squalls were present this turn.  Luck was on my side and they were.  This meant line of sight extended only 3 hexes.  This would give me more freedom to maneuver.  The Germans now had the opportunity to place any of their units in overwatch.  With the limited line of sight, they declined to do so.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I was most worried about that Pak 40 75mm AT gun facing off against my T-34s in the lower left so I used the combine fire rule to let me activate both tanks simultaneously for 1 activation and I opened fire on the AT gun.  Turned out the be a bit of overkill and the gun was blown apart.



For my second activation, I selected the SU-122 to use HE rounds against the German panzer hunter team in the top right of the map.  The SU-122 throws 10d6 against infantry.  I needed a 5-6 to hit and they only got 2d6 for cover, needing a 5-6 to cancel any of my hits. I rolled poorly and only managed to roll 3 hits, two of which were blocked when the German rolled boxcars on his defence dice.  His squad took one casualty.




Germans went next with their first two activations.

Seeing the T-34s with infantry on their backs and not being a complete idiot, my crafty opponent sent one of his Panthers to cover the victory objective in the top left.



For his second activation, he selected his panzer-hunter team and opened fire on the SU-122.  While I was aware that he had that elite formation card, it didn't really dawn on me just how devastating it could be.  Even one man down, his firepower was only slightly less than that of a Panther.  He got to roll 11d6 against my my 5d6 of defence, each of us needing a 5-6 to hit and him needing 4 hits to knock out the SU-122.  Not much you can do when he rolls like this...



My SU-122 was destroyed which was doubly painful because it was the only unit I placed up in that corner of the map.  It also happens to be where one of the Soviet objective markers is located and, as I wouldn't have it occupied at the end of the turn (I really didn't think the SU-122 would go down that easily), I wouldn't be able to claim it and I ended up screwing myself out of 2 of the 4 possible command points I could have had.  This means that those reinforcement cards I drew at the beginning of the turn will take at least turn turns to activate.  Grrrrr!!!!!

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I moved over to the other side of the map and activated my KV-1 and one of my T-34s next.  They both moved up towards the objective and took potshots at the Panther than moved in to cover them.  I didn't expect much while firing on the move but my T-34 did manage to lightly damage the Panther with a flank shot from point blank range.








The Germans responded by activating their remaining Panther and moving it up to point blank range of my T-34 and blasting it.  It took light damage and the squad on the back was forced to bail.




My remaining T-34 moved up and fired but didn't manage to hit anything.







The remainder of the turn consisted of my infantry moving into the woods and his mostly holding in place (but one did move into the neutral objective building in the middle of the map).

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

End of turn one and things are already looking grim for the Soviets.

I only managed to secure one Soviet objective marker, gaining me 2 command points whereas the German grabbed all of his plus the neutral one, gaining him 5 points.


I couldn't use my points to activate any of my cards so I decided to save them.  I could have used them to try to secure initiative (it passes between players each turn) but I would have to spend my points first so the German, with 5 points, could easily have outbid my two points and still had some left over.

He spent one point bidding for initiative and then spent another point to activate Icy Conditions, meaning all my units would have one less 1MP next turn.  He banked the other 3 points.


We each got to draw a new card.  I chose from the winter tactics deck and drew Out of Ammo.  Good card!  It only costs one point to activate and, because it has a little red cross symbol in the bottom left, it means that I get to draw an additional card.  I drew Subzero.  not a bad card normally, but against his elite formations, limited usefulness in this scenario.






He drew Rally Cry, making it harder to pin his units.  No point in using supressive fire then....

[MengJiao]

Beautiful!!  So lovely that I made budda-budda sound-effects mentally while viewing it!

[JasonPratt]

Dakka dakka dakka!  \m/

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Turn 2.

The overall picture.









The snow squalls abate and visibility goes back to normal. 



The Germans start with the initiative this turn and activate their two Panthers and open up on the T-34s at point blank range.





The T-34 that was previously hit brews up.  The other takes light damage and the squad that was riding on its back bails out and is pinned and goes to ground.




In response, I activated my KV-1 and fired on the damaged Panther.  I got a lucky roll and managed to knock it out.  next, I did something that was tactically unsound but curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't help myself.  One of my squads (the one that was riding on the back of the T-34 and bailed last turn) was a specialist saboteur squad (marked with the old timey fused bomb marker).  I'd never used the sabotage rules and I really wanted to give it a whirl so, for my second activation, I selected the saboteurs and used their special ability against the German victory marker.





The way saboteurs work is they get a number of sabotage cards (4 in this case).  They can attempt to sabotage any victory marker at a range equal to or less than the number of cards remaining in their hand.  They then place one of their sabotage cards facedown on any of the decks usable by the enemy.  The enemy then must draw and play the sabotage card if they wish to utilize that deck again in the future.

I selected the "Partisans" card and placed it on the German Morale deck (facedown).






 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I forgot to take photos of the next couple of German actions so I tried to incorporate them into the pics of the Soviet actions.  The result is a bit of a mess but hopefully you can still follow it.

The Germans activate their Pak 40 AT gun next and blasted my KV-1.  They heavily damaged it and it's now immobilized but can still shoot.

For their other activation, they used one of their mortar teams to try and suppress my saboteur and other squad up with the T-34s.  They're successful and manage to pin the saboteurs and disrupt the other squad (pinned means you can't do anything for the remainder of the turn unless a squad with an officer in it rallies you.  Disrupted means you can't do anything for 2 turns.)

Next, the Soviets (me) activated their remaining T-34s. They loaded HE rounds and fired at German infantry occupying buildings with victory markers.  (He rounds used against infantry in buildings get a concussive effect and can knock squads silly and possibly drop the building down around their ears).

Both tanks land hits.  One squad takes 50% casualties while the other (a MG squad) is wiped out.  Good job tankers!!




The Germans respond by moving their panzer-hunter team into the spot formerly occupied by the MG team.  their put their other MG squad into opportunity fire mode in anticipation of my squads in the woods moving up.  A squad in op fire mode can interrupt the movement of any enemy in their LOS and fire at them.  Regular squads can only fire once and then they are exhausted for the turn.  Squads with MGs can conduct op fire repeatedly throughout the turn provided only the MGs fire.  Bloody annoying!!!

I oblige the Germans and move two of my squads up through the woods, using fire and maneuver.  Not surprisingly, their fire is ineffective.  The return fire from the MG isn't and each Soviet squad takes a hit and loses 1 figure.

(I also added the fire from the Pak 40 that occurred earlier in the turn.)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The Germans use their remaining mortar team to lob some rounds into the treeline where the pesky Russians just appeared but they don't manage to do any damage. (Added the mortar fire from the other team to the photo as well).

They also put another squad into op fire mode (marked with red circle) in anticipation of a push from my squads currently hiding in the balka.




I move my next two squads up through the woods and use suppressing fire on the Germans in overwatch and direct fire into the victory marker building. Damned icy conditions card is really hampering my movement.  I get very lucky and both squads land hits.  The squad in op fire gets pinned down and loses their op fire marker.  The squad in the building gets mowed down and dies.




(Forgot the German turn again).  The Germans, seeing their defence starting to crack, rush two of their reserve squads into the victory marker building.

I then send two of my squads from the balka rushing forward to engage the pinned squad.  Due to the icy conditions limiting my movement, I can't actually assault their position but have to content myself with using SMGs at point blank range.  I manage to kill two of their men.





The Germans use their final two activations to open up on the pinned saboteur squad.  They land two hits and knock the squad down to 50% strength.




I use my remaining activation to reposition my final squad in the balka.  My mortar crew is still hiding behind the ridge and has yet to contribute as I haven't been able to spare a squad to act as forward observers for them.


That ends turn 2.  I gain another two command points and the Germans get another five.  I spend all four of my CPs on the Battalion Reinforcement card.  This lets me bring two fresh squads of regular infantry on to the map.  Nice, but the Germans get three squads and two more Panthers as reinforcements on turn 3.





The Germans spend 4 CPs to activate two cards, Rally Cry and Take Cover.   Then we both drew new cards.  Curiosity got the better of my opponent and he selected the morale deck because he wanted to see what the sabotage cards could do (he also got to draw a regular card and got Preparations.  It had a red cross on it so he got to draw another card (not in photo), Desperation.)



The sabotage card, Partisans, triggers immediately so I was able to place three squads of partisan infantry (using American figures as stand ins) on any Soviet reinforcement hex.  Sweet!  I'm able to jump on the victory hex that I never secured when my SU-122 got shredded on turn 1.




For my card, I drew another from the reinforcement deck and got specialized reinforcements.  As fun as a flame-thrower squad sounds, I think AT will be the better option.

[MengJiao]

AWESOME!!!

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Thanks.  Good to know someone's reading it.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Situtation at the start of turn 3.  No snow squalls this turn so visibility is unlimited. 






The Germans have initiative and are faced with some tough choices.  The Soviets are threatening in several spots but the Germans have only two activations.  As a free action, they put their MG team into opportunity fire mode in anticipation of my troops charging out of the woods. 

On their first action, they decide that the two T-34s in the lower left are the primary threat and activate their panzer-hunter squad to take a shot at one of them.  They aren't nearly as lucky as they were against the SU-122 and only manage to lightly damage one of the tanks.

For their second activation, they opt to use both of their mortar squads to engage the newly arrived partisans with combined suppressing fire.  While the partisans aren't really a threat, the opportunity to hit all three of them while they're clustered out in the open proves too great and my opponent opens up.

The suppression wasn't as effective as the Germans were hoping for.  They manage to pin down two of the squads but the third is unfazed.








On to my turn.  For my first activation, my T-34s combine fire and open up on the objective building with HE and score a massive hit.  The building collapses on the squads inside.  One is wiped out and the other is reduced by 50%.







I activate my remaining T-34 as my second action and take a point blank shot at the Panther.  I manage to inflict heavy damage on it.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The Germans activate again.  Their entrenched squad is down to 50% strength and facing off against two full Russian squads at point blank range.  They do have that damned elite formations card though and it makes them far deadlier than regular infantry.  They cut down one of my two squads and inflict 75% losses.

Their Pak 40 AT gun takes a shot at the damaged KV-1 and knocks it out.





I decide it's almost time to start acting like Russians and charge.  I need to take out that MG on overwatch first through so I have my mortar team lob a few shells at them.  I get lucky and manage to pin them down, thereby removing their overwatch ability.  I then have my MG team throw a few bursts at the PAk gun crew and score a few hits.





(Missed a bunch of photos here).  The Germans only have a few unactivated squads left at this point and they don't have LOS on the units at the bottom of the map.  They opt to shoot up the unpinned partisan squad and the saboteur squad.  They get good hits and reduce both squads down to a single soldier each.


I then have free reign of the map and all my remaining squads form up into a human wave and charge the German lines.  We concentrate our assault on the objective building and the weak spot between the objective building and the barbed wire and tank traps.





Both assaults are successful.  German defenders in the hexes are eliminated.  I take light casualties and push in.  First victory objective point taken and we're inside their lines!






For my final action, I have my saboteurs mess with the German decks again.  The Germans will get massively reinforced at the end of this turn so I throw this card into his morale deck, hoping he'll be curious enough to draw from it again this turn.






Sadly he doesn't take the bait this time around and his reinforcements arrive on schedule.  Two Panthers and three full squads show up to join the fight.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

We both spend command points and draw new cards.  I am now getting 6 command points to his 3 and he has to spend first.  I was really hoping to be able to use my points on more reinforcements or perhaps a barrage from the Katyushas but the Germans throw all their remaining command points into trying to retain initiative.  They now have a total of 5 points dumped into initiative bidding.  I really need to move first next turn so I'm forced to spend my points to secure initiative.




We then draw cards.  Neither of us gets anything too interesting.  I get two hardened veterans cards which might be useful if I take some casualties this round and need to bring a few squads up to strength. 





The Germans get All or Nothing which will allow them to activate a unit twice in a turn but they have no command points left to use it.




On to turn 4.