To Stop a Steamroller

 As the USMC took back the Grunbrucke bridge other elements of the Corps moved to head off the Soviet thrust. What follows is a clash along the road to Grunbrucke.

The Soviet artillery barrage hits first putting morale tokens on many of the Marine elements.

The flanking LAV recce vehicles are unaffected.

Here come the Ruskies, T-80U tanks and BMP-2s, oh! and a Hind helicopter.

The Marines spend much effort (activation tokens) rallying and their M1A1 tanks destroy a T-80.

Another dies in the carpark.

And some more on the road.

It isn't all one way traffic though. 

As one then another Marine tank brew up.

This T-80 gets stuck crossing the hedge.

BMPs fire their ATGMs with little effect.

The stuck T-80 is an easy target.

The M1 tank fire is very accurate.

And they take out a BMP too.

A Hind pops up on the flank and destroys a M163 AA  vehicle.

And an M1 is destroyed by a T-80, the explosion is so bad that two nearby LAVs take morale tokens!.

The BMPs race downhill to get into the cover of the hedgerow, but one gets killed by an Abrams.

The hind pops up again and kills the Abrams.

Where is the Anti Air?.

The M163 breaks cover.

But the Hind pops up again and takes it in it's sights.

The M163 rolls to react and three good die rolls destroy the Hind.

The Marines now make use of a card to bring a T-80 out of cover.

With predictable results.

With the demise of the last tank on the Marines left flank the M1s roll are unleashed.

The LAV-25s use a platoon move to advance to threaten the Soviet BMPs.

The Soviets try to react to the threat.

But the arrival of an M1 bodes ill for the Soviets. 

And the LAV firepower combined with an M1 causes havoc with the BMPs.

A resounding defeat for the Soviets and another cracking game.

Happy days!.

Grunbrucke bridge part two.

 After being repulsed by the Soviet VDV the USMC sent a platoon of their new M1A1 Abrams tanks to help the remaining Marines to take the bridge.

Moving up through the village.

Another brace of tanks await the order to attack.

And the Marines prepare to advance up the right flank.

The Soviets took the pause as a chance to redeploy.

After a preparatory bombardment the Abrams move out. However the Soviets manage to rally from the fire quickly.

The Marine carriers dash to cover.

While an M1 takes a shot...

And takes out a BMD, the explosion causes nearby units to keep their heads down.

The other M1 takes aim at another target.

The ASU-85 crew fail to react and the vehicle is destroyed.

A "Hind" helicopter gunship arrives to shoot at the Abrams.

But only causes the crew to duck.

Another Hind pops up.

And manages to destroy the M163 anti aircraft vehicle.

The other M163 moves to protect the tanks but suddenly explodes.

As an ASU-85 reacts to the movement and shoots.

A VDV squad advance to engage an M1 but are coming off worse when the M1 blows up...

The culprit is another Soviet Hind gunship. The Marines had some success when they destroyed a hind with a Stinger!.

Things have gone a bit awry for the Marines so they make a bold move by storming forward over the bridge.

They destroy the Soviet command vehicle and engage the infantry.

Another Hind takes out the lead tank.

The second tank onto the bridge gets into a fierce battle with the paratroopers, RPGs and ATGMs from the helicopters fail repeatedly to defeat the M1.

A Marine APC comes racing up the road only to be destroyed by another Hind.

At about this point I ran out of camera space, a real slog took place around the bridge between the tank supported by a squad of Marines and the Soviet infantry, helicopters and an ASU.

There was even a failed Soviet airstrike, as the marines held on to the bridge.

Eventually though the tank was destroyed by a helicopter. I uploaded the camera and took some pics after the game.

USMC taking on all comers.

The Marines amidst all the carnage still holding the bridge. Semper Fi.

Technically the USMC had reached their break point but their magnificent defence of the bridge gives them victory in this battle. 

Another cracking game with Seven Days to the River Rhine.