Battle of Breville June 12th 1944 - Battlegroup Overlord

One of the three games run this month at the club was our first roll out of "Battlegroup Overlord". We first pre-viewed this system back in January this year when we played a pick-up scenario from the first release in this series "Battlegroup Kursk", which was an enjoyable romp on the Eastern Front.

The proof that I enjoyed playing the game was that I ordered up a copy of the Kursk book soon after and ordered up the new Normandy book plus the mini rules for collection at Salute from the Plastic Soldier Company. My collection of WWII 15mm figures is based on Normandy and thus I was keen to try out the rules for this period.

I prefer playing historically based scenarios, and so went for one of the historical scenarios in the book with my own adjustments. This scenario, based on the British 6th Airborne attack on Breville, had Marder IIIH's listed as the German supports. My copy of "Normandy 1944" by Niklas Zetterling suggests the 346th Infantry Division were equipped with StuGs and due to receive Marders. The photo below would seem to show they got Marder IIIMs not Hs, so I changed the orbat.

Marder IIIM plus other equipment from 346 Inf. Division knocked out in Breville

I decided to run the game using my figures as based for IABSM with multiple figures on a base. Any casualties not resulting in a base removed would be indicated with casualty dice markers. The assumption made was that a section commander would use his manpower to keep the light machine gun operating, and so riflemen would take the first hits on the unit.

The set up with objectives circled and British start line and FUP in top right corner

The table was set up as per the briefing in the book, and the orbat sheets were set up using the excellent software provided by Greg Farrell which makes this process very "pain free".

Greg Farrell Organiser Builder.

British Orbat

German Orbat

With the forces set up and the objectives highlighted the game commenced.

The set up from the German lines in Breville

The basic premise of the scenario is that a reinforced company of two platoons of British Paras, without a Company HQ, destroyed in a British artillery strike, supported by a troop of Shermans, 3"mortars and 4 x 25lbrs is to take three key houses in the outskirts of Breville, a village overlooking the landing grounds in the Orne River Bridgehead.
Holding the village is a re-forced company of two platoons of German infantry with three Marders, 81mm mortars and 76mm artillery, keen to keep possession of the place as a vital jumping off point for future attacks on the British landing zone.

The action takes place at night, with the limited visibility that implies.

Marder IIIM in "Ambush"

The German garrison had been subjected to a softening up barrage by British artillery, so they were naturally tensed up awaiting the eventual follow up assault. As the Marder crews scanned the darkness, British tanks could be heard clanking about in the night murk.

Two sections, a Marder and HMG guarded this objective

The first objective on the British list, a lone house alongside the main road into the village, was quickly occupied, and the German commander obliged by taking a Battle Rating Counter from the box.

Breville full of German defenders

The British were led out by their Recon team followed by their infantry sections and artillery OP. The tanks moved cautiously out into the fields behind the Paras, unsure of the perils that lay beyond.

HQ 6th Kompanie II/857 Infantry Regt, 346th Infantry Division

6th Airborne Recon move out cautiously towards Breville

"Hold your fire"

As the Airborne infantry closed in on the village proper, the first contacts occurred with both sides opening up with small arms and artillery support. As the casualties started to mount, so did the counters accrued by each side. Both sides were keen to overcome each others armoured support to allow themselves more room to manoeuvre.

In the armoured battle the British tankers soon gained the upper hand, despite having several near misses on their vehicles by 75mm shot. One by one the Marders started to burn.

"It's quiet Sarge, too quiet"

British Shermans supported the Paras in the hedgerows

6th Airborne close on the outskirts of the village

With the tanks in control of the situation the British felt emboldened to close on the German held houses. This was when their attack started to unravel. The Germans sitting still on the defence, pelted their would be assaulters with MG42 fire and repeated barrages of mortar and artillery fire.

German artillery starts to range in

The British were too spread out, unable to bring overwhelming strength to bear on one point, and with the early death of their OP finding it difficult to co-ordinate their artillery strikes with their advances.

As the firing increased, so did the casualties

The first attempts to close on the Germans were met by a hail of fire destroying the sections that advanced from the final hedge row. This forced a rethink from the British commanders who fell back to using their tanks to pour on masses of machine gun fire into the buildings.

The Shermans were on the top of their game knocking out all three Marders

The battle degenerated into a slogging match of massed machine gun fire and artillery strikes aimed at pinning and degrading the opposition. The stone buildings of the German defenders counterbalanced by British armour. However, woods and hedges were not enough cover for the Paras in the hell of artillery and machine gun fire, and thus it was the British who were declared the losers of our game as the day ended, being only eight points away from a Battle Rating failure.

So far so good

2nd Platoon HQ, 2"mortar and PIAT

The defenders held firm

The Marder teams searched the night for British tanks

The continual artillery kept heads down

The barrage was intense

The "high-water mark" of the British attack

The Marders start to get picked off

The British tanks start to "brass up" the village

Meanwhile the German shells kept coming

Suddenly all the Marders were gone.

The game was only our second in the club, so we cannot claim to be expert in their use. We found we made occasional mistakes as we went along but felt we had grasped the system pretty well by game end. I still like these rules with some caveats and potential house rules that I would possibly introduce. I will capture those thoughts at JJ's Wargames. Next month we will be playing Pegasus Bridge.

Thanks to Nathan, Andy, Ian and Tom for a very entertaining days game.

In the Kursk Saliant - Battle Group Kursk

Yesterday at the club we played a game of Battlegroup Kursk. I had been looking forward to playing this set of rules since their release late last year and having played an earlier reincarnation Kampfgruppe Normandy.

Our game set up was a "Meeting Engagement" with two forces composed of infantry and tanks approaching the battlefield from opposite corners of the table. The set up has four objectives identified which, possession of, determines victory and impacts the overall morale of the side that does not have control of them.

The initial set also takes into account the amount of recon assets each side possess to determine the how far on the two sides can advance their lead units. The German force having a platoon of armoured cars and recon infantry in half tracks dominated the recon of the position allowing the Germans to occupy three of the objectives at the start of the game.

The German recon victory had immediate consequences for the Russians as the three objectives now occupied plus their loss of the recon move meant they had to draw four chits. These chits generally have a number on them from 1 - 5 plus a few with special events such as air attacks, vehicle breakdowns etc. The number on the chits indicate that number of morale points lost to that side. These chits are also drawn when units are destroyed, when unpinning friendly units or when an objective is lost to the enemy. Thus the end of battle is predicated by the events of battle and the Russians having just lost 14 points were off to a bad start.

The Battlefield - Komsomolets State Farm and the workers settlements

The success of the German recon also meant that the Russians would be advancing into an ambush zone set up by those same recon units, supported by German pre-registered artillery fire. In the end, as the T34s advanced on to their corner, it was the artillery that caused the first losses of a couple of T34s plus several pinned tanks. This was swiftly followed by an air attack from bomb armed FW190s who screamed in to add to the mayhem caused by the artillery.

The Russian tanks reeling under this barrage of fire responded as best they could by knocking out the armoured car platoon to their front. These pyres burned throughout the battle on the front line.

German Recon occupy the front line - the SdKfz 231s burn in the background as German artillery falls on the Russian tanks

The rest of the German recon infantry resolutely awaited their support units and watched as the Russian armour struggled to regain its composure to recommence their approach to the Farm. They were able to choose their moment to strike, as being recon units in cover made them difficult for the Russians to spot and gave them multiple ambush opportunities.

Ambush position on the main road

As the T34s now supported by infantry and T70s closed in on the Farm complex the first German reserves started to arrive led by a formidable Tiger platoon.

Enter the Tigers

Urra - The Russian Horde closes

It was now time for the Russian artillery to enter the battle and they reserved their greeting for the Tigers. The Russian CO obviously had connections as he calmly picked up the field telephone and requested support from Army. The big Russian guns responded promptly and large calibre shells started to drop around and on the Tigers in the fields close to the main road, knocking out one of these leviathans. The mayhem caused was compounded by the Germans having put Panzer Grenadiers on the decks of their Tigers who were now scrambling for cover in the barrage and getting themselves pinned just when their support was needed.

The Tigers are welcomed by the "God of War"

Despite the success of the Russian artillery, events were moving to stifle their advance. The German reserves were coming on thick and fast to consolidate the gains made by the recce. The Panzers and Panzer Grenadiers were spreading out to deal with any threatened Russian penetration of the front line.

German Reinforcements

Panzer Grenadiers in the wheat

The artillery fire rained down in the forward area

The Grenadiers move in to consolidate the position

Panzer IV's and a Flamm Panzer approach the Farm Complex

The Germans abilities in command and control were enabling them to build up their front line force quicker than the Russians could theirs, despite the distance across the table that the German units had to travel. The Russian force needed to break in to the German line quickly to regain the initiative or the front would solidify around the German positions.

Panzer Grenadier Kompanie HQ with AA protection

The Russians having now got a solid group of armour and infantry up to the farm complex now commenced their main attack. Their initial preparation consisted of firing along their front to pin the German infantry and tanks prior to their assault. Then using their special tactics of "Stal Stal" allowing their armour to pretty well move en masse they threw it in at the recon elements occupying the Farm Complex.

This attack resembled the tanks rolling into the buildings occupied by Sgt Steiner's men in that classic Russian Front movie "Cross of Iron". The fighting was close up and personal, but this time the Germans held. Throwing in dice and chits to unpin their supporting units, the Germans were able to throw back the Russian infantry following up their tanks.

The Panzer Grenadiers who had come up with the Tigers launched a counterattack on the Russian infantry throwing them out of some workers houses, before they themselves were thrown back by more assaulting Russian infantry.

"Where the Iron Crosses Grow"

The Russian armour was held and as the German armoured cars continued to burn with the occasional pop of 20mm ammunition, the smoke of battle started to shroud the carnage.

Russian Reserves

Thus ended our Battle at the Komsomolets State Farm on the road to Kursk.

My impressions of the rules and game:
I really enjoyed the flow of the game. These rules played faster as we got our head round the mechanisms and, with the chit draws, give a lot of the "unexpected" that many "IgoUgo" games seem to lack. As signed up members of the Too Fat Lardies IABSM club, the unexpected has now become the expected, and so these rules ticked a box. There is an element of the old school systems of recording ammo amounts for individual vehicles and ticking off usage that is slightly cumbersome, but I stress slightly. This is counterbalanced by the author including the use of replenishment vehicles and rear area support units such as medical teams and wire laying groups that can add "spice" to any scenario.

I suppose my only quibble having sat back and thought about these rules is the orbats themselves. The use of   three tank platoons particularly for the Germans and 5 man sections with one light machine gun nags at my historical simulation gene. I understand these are mechanics to make the game system playable, particularly with the German machine guns. Apparently two of these weapons in a section are not workable in the rules.

Would these be my turn to set of WWII rules? Definitely not. I'm afraid IABSM still hold that position.
Would I happiliy play this game system again? Definitely Yes. The rules give a fun game that seems to capture that movie element to WWII and I will get a copy of my own to play. I think for the Russian front these rules have some distinct advantages particularly when there are numorous units on the table.

I will certainly be awaiting the launch of the Normandy module (which is more my own personal interest area) with great interest.

Great game, good fun. Thanks to Andy, Jason Nathan and Gus for a fun day