This is a made up battle fought approximately D-Day +7. It is a British attack of a German held village inland from the Normandy beaches. This is NOT a historic battle but was a lot of fun!
Armies
British
1 Squad HMG
1 PIAT Squad
1 Paratrooper Squad (1x Infantry, 1x PIAT, 1 x HMG)
2 Universal Carriers
2 Infantry Squads
5 Cromwells
4 Churchills
2 25pdr guns
Heavy Mortar Squad
German
2 Stug III
4 Panzer IV
1 Tiger I
2 Sd Kfz 250
2 Infantry Units
1 Heavy mortar squad
1 HMG Squad
1 Panzershreck Squad
2 PAK 38
Battlefield overview
The forces set up within 12” of the longer sides of the table. With the exception of the British Para’s (Red hats!). We used the rule that they could setup anywhere on the table as long as it was not in the German deployment zone.
The Germans were generally in the village making the most of their built up position. Fred decided to spread the British line a little more with the bunker at the crossroads a clear focus for him. He even put his PIAT from the Para’s just next to it.
The church in the centre of the board is on a hill which makes visibility a challenge. Along with the ‘bocage’ (high hedges common in Normandy) this battle always had the likelihood of ending in close quarters.
Turn 1
The British moved up all along the line. The challenge for Fred was that until they reached the hedgerow, they really couldn’t see much beyond it. The Para’s moved up to the hedge row through the fields on the left flank and the daring HMG made a dash into the damaged building (blue circle) on the edge of the town, hoping to lay down some supressing fire to cover the rest of the paras.
The British firing saw some mortar and 25pdr fire which failed to cause any damage.
The Germans advanced into cover along their line. The Stugs on the left flank took up a position to fire on the bunker and cover the crossroads. The infantry advanced into the woods and the Panzers in the middle moved up to the hedgerow on their side of the road. In the village the other infantry unit and an HMG and Panzerschreck all took up positions in buildings. The SD KFZ 250 advanced on their right flank to defend against the advance of the Paras.
Generally not much success with firing yet again. Mortars failed to range in and the Stugs both missed the bunker. The one success was the lone Tiger I which managed to unload it’s 88mm into the damaged building now containing the brave British HMG. This destroyed the building and the HMG were not able to escape.
Building Rules:
We have created some simple rules for destroying buildings. It is similar to armour in that there is a roll to hit, to damage, and to save.
To hit is the normal roll with a -1 modifier (eg if normally 4+ it becomes 3+) because buildings are big and don’t move!
We consider all brick buildings to have medium armour and all stone or concrete buildings to have heavy armour.
Finally to save you must roll:
Concrete/Reinforced 2+
Stone 3+
Brick built 4+
Wooden/temporary 5+
If (like in our game) there are units inside the building, we use a flat 5+ save for the units and roll for each squad individually. We would only roll to save the inhabitants if the building fails it’s save and is destroyed.
Turn 2
This turn saw the British move their tanks forward into offensive positions on their right flank. One Churchill broke to the right of the manor house to take up a position against the stugs who were in control of the crossroads. One Churchill remained in the woods on the top of the hill which gave it a more commanding view over the German forces down in the village.
The two Cromwells in the centre of the battlefield took out the lead Panzer IV and the mortars and 25pdrs both ranged in over the remainder of the Panzers but without causing any damage.
The Germans advanced into an aggressive position against the bunker on their left flank. They also withdrew their Panzers in the middle to avoid the artillery markers sat over the unit. The tiger moved towards the centre of the village.
Both Stugs hit the bunker this turn and the advancing infantry also peppered it with fire. They managed to pin the PIAT inside but were not able to do any damage. The retreating Panzer IV’s did manage to land one shot on the Cromwell by the church and it burst into flames. On the right flank the Sd Kfz 250 halftracks unloaded their crew and they all let loose into the para’s on the other side of the road. They managed to destroy 3 squads but para’s being paras, they held their ground (we give paras a 2+ morale role).
Turn 3
The remaining Paras withdrew on the left flank, back into the cornfields to meet up with a British heavy weapons detachment and attempt to draw the German halftracks out into the open. The British Cromwells and Churchills advanced aggressively to fill the space left by the withdrawing Panzer IV’s
On the British right flank the Churchill that had been hiding behind the manor house appeared and put an almost point blank shot into the side of the Stug III destroying it. The other Churchills fired but with no success. The central Cromwells continued their success. Three of them fired into the Panzer IV’s, destroying another one. The mortars and artillery once again ranged in on the two remaining tanks. The fourth Cromwell managed to get a shot off against the Tiger I which hit but just bounced off the tanks superior armour.
The Germans retaliated. The remaining stug reversed into a defensive position and landed it’s one shot on the Churchill, destroying it. The infantry, preparing to charge the bunker, unloaded 16 dice worth of shot into it first and the pinned PIAT was no more. The Panzerschreck attached to this unit also managed to hit the side of one of the Cromwells. While the shot made a big bang, it didn’t destroy the tank. It was however enough to make the British crew bail out.
Centrally the German Infantry moved from the rear building to the building now right in the mix of the battle. The two remaining Panzer IV’s destroyed another Cromwell but the remaining two passed their morale test. The Tiger also retaliated by firing at the Cromwell by the church. Much to the crews relief, it missed.
Turn 4
Fred had seen that the British had a half chance of pressing home and advantage near the crossroads. In contrast on the left flank the British had been pushed back and had little chance of advancing beyond the road. With this in mind he decided to sit back with his heavy weapon and para unit and move the rest of his forces to support the fighting near the crossroads. 3 Churchills, one Cromwell and a unit of infantry all advanced on the crossroads and fired on the German infantry and heavy weapons. In a hail of dice the entire unit was destroyed. One remaining Cromwell got a shot off between the buildings at the Panzers but it missed. The heavy mortars had now moved their attention to the halftracks on the German right and managed to destroy one of the vehicles.
In spite of the British seeming to regain the advantage this turn; The Germans were far from done. The tide started to turn when the remaining Stug destroyed the Churchill by the bunker. This caused panic in the remaining two Churchills which failed their morale test and headed for the hills! The German mortars also managed to take out one of the 25 pdrs. The half track loaded up their troops and headed to reinforce the German centre. Finally, the Tiger destroyed another Cromwell, causing the remaining Cromwell to also fail it’s morale test and head back towards British lines.
Outcome
Well we could have played the game out to turn 6 but with all the allied armour in retreat (and it was Fred’s home time!) it seemed fair to call it a day. The Germans had convincingly repelled the initial British attack. I have no doubt that reinforcements would arrive and the Brits will try again. Maybe the results will be different next time.
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