Dust Warfare 250AP Axis vs SSU

So this was the first SSU game for me. Managed to rope in Jyue for a 250AP game. I played my usual 250AP list.

Battle Builder:
Eliminate the Enemy
Close Engagement

SSU brought 2 midwalkers, 2 large units of 11men with Commissars, 2 Platoon Command, 1 Sniper Team and 1 Rifle team. A balanced list. Basically Jyue wanted to test out the Battle Squads of 11.

I had no idea going in what to expect so I deployed conservatively. I hid most of my close combat stuff in my right flank as the containers gave them a lot of hiding space. Other than that, I deployed my Ludwig in the most centre position to threaten both his walkers. Held the left flank with my Flak Grenadiers.

Both Battle Grenadiers squads held the middle ground supported by the Heinrich

Both Platoon Commands had Improved Commands hence I have 6 men per squad

Melee all hid in the containers. Deployed the Laser Grenadiers up front

Jyue had big squads and elected to use body mass instead of cover

First salvo took out 2 men from the opposite field

SSU Snipers are deadly with their special ammo. Lost my Heinrich in Turn 1

Continued the barrage

Jyue moved his walker up to try to kill them

Laser Grenadiers fall back closer to my lines. I did not have enough firepower to thin this squad out fast enough.

I am finding Laser Grenadiers to be a little underwhelming. With their higher points cost, I find the tactical flexibility provided by Battle Grenadiers to be a little more productive as I am "forced" to use Sustained Fire in order to get mileage out of them.

I brought up my Platoon Command up to support the Laser Grenadiers

Flak Grenadiers kept on firing into the battle squad. Now only 4 remained with a walker bearing down on my left

I was taking quite a lot of losses on the right flank. The Zombies had already been destroyed giving Jyue 2 Kill Points

By Turn 3, I knew I had to advance to take out his other Platoon Command

After combined effort from multiple squads, his battle squad was finally reduced to 1 man

Now that the SSU snipers were out of the picture I turned my attention to killing off the walker on my left flank. Miraculously it survived with 3 wounds remaining

I pushed up my right flank now that there was less opposition

Finally took out his walker on the left flank

Since this was a KP driven game, I hid my Laser Grenadiers and Command Platoon to deny Jyue the points. 

My army started shifting to the right now to tackle his last squad and walker

Lobbed a few shells at his Walker who again survived. 5 wounds. Tough nuts

At Turn 5 this is what the table looked like

Combined all my fire to take out his last squad

I was finally able to take out his Walker. 

At game end I took 8KPs and Jyue managed to take 4KPs from me. An interesting game with a totally different dynamic since SSU utilised more bodies than the Axis or Allies. A good learning experience.

Soviet Mortar 82-BM-41 squad painted.

Just a quick post up of more painted Russians. Next up is gonna be a huge Late War Strelkovy infantry horde.

My Dust Warfare Army - 250AP

Took a few photos of where my Dust Army now stands. The lighting was pretty bad but I have only 2 more units to paint. 

The Battle Grenadiers and the Heinrich

Dust Warfare 250AP Axis vs Axis

Just came back from a long holiday over in Jordan so was itching to play a game of Dust. Our usual Monday group seem to have chilled a little so I had to squeeze some time out of one of the regulars instead on Wednesday. 

Abdullah fielded his Germans this time and man it was a nail biting game. I'll let the pics do most of the talking. 

Used this list yesterday. I am planning to use this list until I am familiar with it's ins and outs.

Faction: Axis ( 250 / 250 )
--- Sturmgrenadiere Platoon (189)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: Kommandotrupp (25)
1st Section: Heavy Flak Grenadiers (26)
2nd Section: Battle Grenadiers [Upgrade] (20)
3rd Section: Battle Grenadiers [Upgrade] (20)
4th Section: Laser Grenadiers (21)
Support: MPW II-B "Ludwig" (40)
Support: LPW I-A "Heinrich" (20)
Support: Sniper Grenadier Team (12)
--- Blutkreuz Platoon (61)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: Sturmpioniere (25)
1st Section: Axis Zombies (19)
Support: Sniper Grenadier

Abdullah used 2 platoons. First containing mainly the Strumpionere units. 2 Battle Grenadiers, 1 Recon Grenadier, Sniper, Ludwig, Heinrich and the Command unit. 2nd Platoon had 3 units of apes. He used Markus as his HQ supported by two units of Gorillas.

My plan was to snipe away his unit of apes so I chose to deploy using the refused flank method, forcing him to walk the field so I can get more shooting in.

Deployment. I hid my Zombies behind the containers to counter his units

While the rest hunkered up left field

2nd Platoon hid behind this broken tower.

Abdullah moves up mid field quickly. I manage to take out one Ape

I then realise that I would be better off shifting my Zombies further back closer to the support units of my Sturmpionere Platoon

While Abdullah moves up

My sniper on my left then took out his spotter

And in return Abdullah took out the sniper unit in his 1st Unit Phase

Feeling lucky after taking both my snipers out, Abdullah advances his Battle Grenadiers

The sniper roost was toast!

Still trying recover, I regrouped all my units in the crater

After managing to take out majority of his Battle Grenadiers using both the Flak and my Battle Grenadiers, I started my advance

During my 3rd Command Phase I advance them up into terrain to start earning me more KP. 

While his apes were advancing really quickly

So in previous turns I hid in the crater, hopefully drawing him into the 12" zone

In my 3rd Unit Phase I launched my Zombies to attempt to kill off his Apes

And failed me they did. After Zombie melee, 1 Ape remains alive from the first unit. Wow they are tough. So I moved up my HQ unit to try to zap the remaining Ape

So I advanced from my left flank to support the Zombies

And zapped him they did. In hindsight, with that much firepower, I should have targetted the ape unit with Markus

It was really bloody at this stage. We both had taken tremendous losses

Markus goes to work with his 18" march and assault. He went for my Laser Grenadiers instead. 

And managed to wipe not only the Laser Grenadiers but the HQ unit and the last 3 zombies. Youch

The amount of death! 

In the last turn, Abdullah hid his Apes behind the crumbling tower while I had to move up to get as many guns into his lines as possible. 

I advanced my Command Sturmpionere unit up and unleashed all their shots into the Battle Grenadiers in the open. I needed that last KP to draw otherwise I lose.

And the Ludwig seals the game for me by taking the last shot! Killed the last two and it was a draw

This is the closest game I've played so far. Either Abdullah knows this army better, suits his playstyle better otherwise the Germans are just a stronger list with longer ranges and more tactical options. 

Gotta get more games in to find out. 

I am hoping to get a 150AP game next week either with Abdullah, Jyue or Nigel who is a new player.