Epsom Linked Campaign Game 2

This month we played the second game in Gary Martin's linked campaign on the Epsom offensive. This campaign is available on the Battlefront website.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=572

The first game in this campaign was played in March and resulted in the Scots gaining a narrow win and penetrating the 12 SS defences. This result affected the set up for our next game, the attack by 11th Armoured Division on Hill 112. Due to the rapid advance of the initial attack by the 15th Scottish troops the SS units defending atop the hill were caught deployed but not dug in.

The forces involved were

On Table 12 SS Division

1 Platoon Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers - full strength

1 Platoon SS Anti-tank guns - 3 x PaK 40

Reserves

1 SS Panzer Company HQ - 2 x PzIVH

2 SS Panzer Platoons - 8 x PzIVH

On Table 11th Armoured Division

1 Squadron HQ - 2 x Sherman V

2 Tank Troops - 6 x Sherman V & 2 x Sherman VC Firefly

Reserves

2 Tank Troops - 6 x Sherman V & 2 x Sherman VC Firefly

1 SP Anti-tank Troop - 4 x M10 Achilles

1 Motor Platoon - Full strength.

The map shows the terrain and initial set ups. Given the openness of the terrain, we set the SS troops as "stealthy" to reflect their excellent abilities at camouflage. This required them to be spotted even when in open terrain. Two objective were placed by each player, with the German objective placed just behind the wood on the left flank of the German set up zone and the British objective just to the left of the wood.

Once the Germans were set up on blinds the British armour deployed. Given the position of both objectives the British units would look to assault the German left flank. The cover of the hedge line on the British left flank was used to set up the Squadron HQ and both Firefly's to over watch the attack by the six remaining Sherman's. The Pak40s were a considerable threat as the British armour prepared to roll out across the fields and they got the first shot in, lightly damaging two Sherman's of the assault group and badly damaging the 21c Sherman in the command group.

The picture below shows the initial attack going in. The two blinds next to the objective hex proved to be dummies. The real threat came from the wood on the right containing Panzergrenadiers and a PaK40.

The only chance for the British armour was to get onto the objective quickly before the German armour showed up. The Germans guns had fired first, so now the British tanks concentrated their fire towards one gun in particular that protected the German left. It was a difficult shot which even after a successful hit gave the gun team a save throw of anything but a ONE on a d6. The German commander then managed to conjure up a ONE. However the gun team counted as a foot group and was intermingled with other Panzergrenadier foot groups, so a "My Choice" dice was required to see who, German or British commander, would determine that choice. The result went to the Brits. The picture below shows the knocked out gun with the German objective marker tucked in bend the wood.

Below is the other side of the wood with other units that were unable to immediately stop the British attack.

The only gun that could possibly stop the British tanks getting onto the objective in turn 2 was the third PaK on the corner of the orchard which could get a flank shot in on the next turn. The British Command tank took care of this threat by placing a well aimed smoke round adjacent to the gun thus masking off the British attack.

At the start of turn 2 the British armour were set up in the fields opposite the German left flank.

Would they be able to get onto the objective, and once there hold until the start of turn 3 to seal the win?

Both sides were busy rolling for reserves and taking mission resolve checks between turns, with both sides forced to wait another turn for reserve arrivals.

The British tanks moved onto the objective, forcing the German commander to consider counterattacking with his infantry in the open to clear the British tanks. However the Sherman's got the drop this time and badly damaged the Platoon Commanders halftrack that had tried a couple of potshots with its 3.7cm gun.

The start of turn 3 found the British tanks still firmly ensconced on the objective and able to claim a win, all be it a narrow one following the German fire placed on other British units on the table. This caused considerable damage and further failed mission resolve checks.

We decided to play the next three turns to see how things might have turned out, and look what turned up on turn 3, "gulp"

The German reserve die rolls proved more successful than the British with two Panzer IV platoons appearing for only one Sherman troop. The result being a lot of burning Sherman's at the end of turn 6, with a small conciliation of the PaK40 platoon failing its third and final mission resolve check and leaving the field.

So the game ended in a British win, but only just. Wellington would have summed it up as a "close run thing". The score for the campaign is 8 vs 6 to the British after two games, so all to play for in the final game, the German counterattack by 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions.

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, I left the camera at home so we used Nathan's phone to capture the key events.

Thanks to Nathan for fun game

Jon

Morning of the 902nd, 11th July 1944

The second game in the mini-campaign from the Skirmish Scenarios book "Heroes of Omaha and Panzer Lehr" was fought this weekend which picks up from the first game where Battlegroup Heintz had held off the US 3rd Armoured Division whilst waiting to be relieved by the 902nd Panzergrenadier Regiment, Panzer Lehr.

The campaign position is even with both sides gaining five victory points in the first battle. The hill position at Hauts Vents in visible in the lower right corner of the map.

Panzer Lehr arrived at Point 91 in the early hours of the 11th July 1944 and prepared immediate plans to assault the US lines in the hours of darkness to enable their forces to close with the Americans, hoping to take full advantage of the confusion and intermingling of the opposing troops and thus avoiding US air attacks when the daylight came.

Steve, taking the role of Oberstleutnant Welsh, commander of the 902nd Panzergrenadiers, having the option to delay the attack until dawn, followed the historical plan and opted to attack at 0400 hours in the dark.

This decision meant that the action took place at very close range, no more than 240 yards (four hexes) and very often more likely to be at 60 - 120 yards (same to next hex).

The table and set up map show the starting positions and the objectives buildings at the top of the picture that Panzer Lehr had to capture. If they also took the manor house seen right at the extreme top of the picture on the North edge, they would gain four attachment credits, which would come in very handy for the next game. In addition because the US forces in the Hauts Vents game failed to capture their objectives, the Panzer Lehr have an optional flank set up area on their right flank.

The German battle group was very powerful with two armourd panzergrenadier platoons backed by mortars, tanks, SP guns and flamethrowers. In addition Steve managed to get the Recce platoon as his additional attachment enabling him to scout ahead of his main force.

The US forces represented the infantry of the US 120th Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, who had been battling in the hedgerows for several weeks since D Day. They were thus subject to an attrition die roll at the start of the game to represent this state, forcing me to remove a stand on a die roll of 1-2. This removed six groups including an HMG before a shot was fired. In addition, because Steve opted for the night attack option, my M10 TDs and additional recce platoon would now arrive in d4 turns as immediate reinforcements. It was obvious that with this reduced force I would not be able to defend the whole position and so I looked for obvious choke points such as gateways and enclosed fields where I could set up all round defence and turn neighbouring fields in to kill zones.

As expected, the Lehr recon platoon lead the intial probing of my defences. We had all un-spotted units recorded on the maps, or as blinds on the table until they were confirmed as troops. This gave the uncertainty that the actual commanders had to deal with when fighting in the bocage at night. In the picture above can be seen the Company commander and 2IC vehicles parked up on hill 91, with the two Grille SP 105 sIGs supporting the following Panzergrenadiers

The Grilles probed a bit too far down the road and one vehicle was disabled and the crew abandoning it after a shot from one of my defending M4 Sherman's.

The picture below shows one of the Panzergrenadier platoons that came on on the US flank deploying and carefully approaching the field my US platoon were holding.

I had placed the Sherman's in the corners of the field so they could contribute to any fire from my infantry. The US Company CO can be seen in the centre and off to the left are some Panzergrenadiers finding the only hex of mines placed to cover the gateway on that flank

The picture below shows the German positions at the bottom of the field. The terrain and darkness made it difficult to maintain command, and the US infantry were able to hit this platoon the hardest causing them to fail two mission resolve checks, without quite being able to break them with a third failure

With the Panzergrenadier section stuck on the mines and losing a casualty, I opted to close assault them taking them out but losing a casualty myself on my own mines. The casualty markers are testament to this battle. The Lehr platoon leader has moved up to clear his casualties in an attempt to stop his unit breaking.

Meanwhile on the other flank the main Lehr force was labouring across mud and bocage to turn the right of the US positions. I could only use my Tank Destroyer platoon to delay the inevitable and try and exact a toll on the advance. The burning Panzer IV was one success and caused the German armour to stop and wait for the infantry to catch up with them and lead the assault into the objective buildings.

With the arrival of the Panzergrenadiers the full armoured force was ready to assault the manor complex.

By turn eight and only one turn to go before checking for game end or an extension, the US forces were being forced back into the buildings. The Sherman's added their combined firepower to keep open the road back to US lines.

As the Lehr closed in for the kill, and a final lunge to capture the manor turn nine ended and a d4 was rolled, with 1-3 indicating an extension of that number of moves, and a 4 ending the game. The die gods took a hand and a four was duly rolled. The game ended with 8 victory points to the US and 10 for the Germans, but the manor was not taken. One Sherman and one PzIV were knocked out and one M10 and Grille were disabled and abandoned. The US infantry executed a textbook withdrawal in the face of the enemy losing eight stands of infantry, and surviving two mission resolves at below 50% strength, also losing their platoon commander in hand to hand fighting. Likewise the Lehr platoon that suffered on that flank were in on the objective, taking out one of the annoying M10s with a well directed barrage of Panzerschreck shots.

And the next game will be on the same table but with the full weight of US 3rd Armoured Division looking to counterattack and roll back this prong of the Panzer Lehr assault.

Thanks to Steve for a great days wargaming, good times.

Jon

Hauts Vents 10th July 1944

Not being avid Royal watchers, Steve and I got together on Royal Wedding Day to kick off a mini campaign based on the Skirmish Scenarios Book "Heroes of Omaha and Panzer Lehr". As a display of loyalty to the Crown we did take a moment to toast the happy couple, several times as I recall!!
The particular campaign chosen is the Lehr Counterattack campaign of six linked games that recreate the attempt by Panzer Lehr to counterattack American forces threatening to engulf St Lo in early July 1944.
Having suffered 30% casualties facing off the British in front of Villers Bocage, Panzer Lehr were rushed in to bolster the front in the US sector. The first game "Hauts Vents" features the German Kampfgruppe Heintz (see orbats below) in front of Hill 91 which overlooks St Lo attempting to hold back a thrust from US 3rd Armoured Division, prior to the arrival of Panzer Lehr. The next two scenarios are also fought on this map, so Steve and I plan to carry on to the next game taking the consequences of the result of this one. As this was a linked game it was important to both sides not to take a heavy loss, as this might impact heavily on the prospects for the entire campaign.

The map shows the terrain with north at the top. The table represents a valley in between two ridges, the highest being the Hauts Vents village on top of point 91 at the south map edge. The Germans were able to occupy all the ground except the six hexes in the top right corner, the US entry area. In addition the US armoured infantry had the option to enter from the top left four hexes. The two buildings in the valley floor were the American objectives.
The table threw up several challenges for both sides but principally the US having to attack. The buildings and bocage were considered "closed terrain", requiring massed firepower to kill enemy groups in those hexes. The long table enabled the Germans to position OPs and AT guns on hill 91 and be able to see US units maneuvering and cover large areas of open terrain. These problems together with muddy ground due to recent rainfall, causing wheeled vehicles to bog, and a pesky German PaK 40 on the eastern board edge able to fire at US vehicles ending their movement in open fields on that flank, forced the US troops into prepared killing zones and required a level of circumspect before moving.
The Germans were set up with full hidden placement, and fortunately the US were able to field two mobile recon platoons that enabled them to spot these ambush sites more effectively.

The table below shows the German held hill 91 in the foreground with the US entry and objective points marked.

The picture below shows the Manor and neighbouring houses. The Manor was particularly important for the US as it was a three story building on the north ridge which gave a panoramic view of the German positions allowing the US mortars to play their part.

Picture below shows the outskirts of Hauts Vents on hill 91. The hill and three story building in the foreground were the highest points on the table and in German control.

US recce soon established that the US objectives were strongly held with a platoon of infantry, the Company HQ, HMGs, wire and mines

The US recce and armour were forced to deploy together and so commenced to shoot up the German platoon holding the Manor complex. They had to proceed carefully because the Armoured Doughs deployed on the other road, so the armour was very wary of panzerfausts.

The massed fire of tanks, armoured cars and recce halftracks soon had the barn on fire and started to cause casualties.

Meanwhile, below, the Armoured Doughs edged in from the other flank "brassing up" the house in the foreground with the Halftrack MGs. The infantry dismounted and prepared to assault, only to shoot up the house with a bazooka group and knock out the two remaining rifle groups.

The German platoon commander was forced to pull in the perimeter and with two morale failures already, loosed off a barrage of rifle and MG42 fire at the Doughs on the road, wiping out the assault section. The commander then set to clearing casualties and removing pin markers in preparation for pulling back down the road to the Company MLR.

The Germans looked like pulling off a masterful withdrawal after bloodying the US advance only to fail their final moral check on the turn end and rout back behind the lines.

With the Germans ejected from the Manor, the US prepared to assault down the road into the valley (see picture below). However it was important to get the Company CO up in the Manor in contact with the mortars to either shell or smoke off German guns and strong points before closing in. This proved a frustrating exercise as it took the CO two moves to get into the building, only to discover the mortars were out of range and required a move to get on the table.

Despite getting a two move extension to the game on the random die roll at the end. The US forces had to be content with the ridge in their control.

So the game ended in a German win as the US failed to secure the objectives in time, but as the casualties were even and no US armour was lost, the Germans do not get attachment credits (credits can be used to effect the chances of getting a particular unit in the next scenario orbat) but will get set up benefits in the next game.

Victory Points were awarded one for each group or vehicle destroyed (not routed, unless captured) German casualties were 3 Rifles, 1 LMG and a sniper. US losses were 3 Rifles, 1 Bazooka and 1 HMG group (Sorry Steve I missed the sniper off the list yesterday). Which gave 5 VPs to each side.

So the Campaign Score stands at US 5, Germans 5

Thanks to Steve for a great game and lots of laughs.

Happy Bank Holiday and best wishes to the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge.

Jon

Bay of Pigs April 2011

Here they come.

Jeepers Tanks !

Look Bulldogs

CRA High Tide

Whilst the rest of the club lazed about in the Sudan, Chas and I took a trip to the island of Cuba.

Luckily the Adder had knocked up a few hundred troops in his lunch hour, so we decided to re-enact the Bay of Pigs using FOW rules and the Vietnam supplement.

Leading my intrepid counter revolutionaries were CLA paratroopers who had established themselves in a village near the beach.

It wasn't long before some CRA militia came into view and a fierce firefight started, with the paras withdrawing to the other side of the village. A platoon of T 34's consolidated the gains for the CRA, as a lone T 41 Bulldog shot it out with them. Three versus one is not good odds and it was soon burning.

With both sides receiving reinforcements things stabilised in the village, but the T 34's broke out on their right and a vicious hand to hand battle saw bazookas and a/t grenades send them packing.

Chas was not done, as a platoon of T 54's brought the other flank under pressure. Luckily my artillery took out one and an last ditch assault into CLA infantry in a wood proved to be a step too far for Castro's men.

A good bash and the Vietnam rules played well.

Next time the Yanks can keep their Bulldog's and aircraft !

Vince

They don't like it up em in the Sudan

Hi all,

This months club meeting featured a game hosted by Nathan and took us to the Sudan in the 1880s using his lovely collection of 28mm figures. The rules were Too Fat Lardies, "They Don't Like It Up Em!" which are a card driven set and really help capture the flavour of the period.

The photo above shows the opening positions, Brits in red and the Sudanese in blue. The British punitive expedition, four units of Imperial infantry and one artillery unit (2) top left are returning to the Nile pick up point via the small village (4) in the centre. I have marked the village as Sudanese held because although to the British players it appeared to be held by Egyptian troops, it was in fact in Sudanese hands, one unit of Ansars and two artillery pieces,ready to ambush any unlucky British advance guard.

The Main British force (1) consisted of two units of Indian infantry, two units of Naval infantry, Bengal Lancers, two units of the Camel Corps, one Gardner one Gatling gun and a heavy artillery piece. These were in the process of landing before setting off to meet the raiding force.

The Sudanese hidden units were at (1) three units of light cavalry, (2) three units of Ansars, (3) four units of fanatical Fuzzies

As the British main force formed up, the Bengal Lancers set off to inspect the defences in the village, whilst the gunboat attempted to spot out trouble close to the shore.

Meanwhile our brave lads marched via hilly terrain, keen to make the safety of the village but ready for any trouble on the way.

The Egyptians in the village transformed into Ansars and opened fire with canister and rifles from the defences, stunning the Indian lancers, who were then hit by a charge from the hills to their left by Sudanese cavalry who pushed them further back.

Meanwhile the Imperial infantry became an island in a sea of screaming fanatical Mahdists, with the Highland and Coldstream Guards defending the hill at the centre of their positions.

Following the ambush at the village and the sound of mass musketry beyond, the British main force formed up and prepared to march forward to the relief of their beleaguered colleagues. Would they get there in time?

As the final shot shows there would be no force to rescue, with only a few Imperial troops left making a desperate bid to reach the main force. The Sudanese turned to face the new enemy in support of their village garrison. That was where our game ended.

Thank you to Nathan for a great scenario and fun game.

Winter War Finland and 12th SS Normandy next month

Jon