Sunday, January 29, 2012

Rush to capture the town.


We decided to try a scenario of Allied armour trying to cross a few bridges and capture a small Normandy town. The Allies had as usual vast amounts of armour while the German forces had 3 MkIVH's, 2 Stug III's, and a Panther. Also in the German OOB was a Pak 40 and Pak 38 anti-tank gun and 3 squads of infantry.
One of the bridge crossings across from the town. The other crossing is far to the left.
The Germans didn't want to expose their armour trying to hold the bridges so they decided to set up defensive positions further back.
The other crossing. No resistance yet.
The Allied OOB has a Canadian force attacking with about 10 Shermans from the left while and American force of roughly the same size attacks from the crossing directly in front of the town.
The view from the German side showing the Canucks crossing. The Germans are about to start defensive firing.
The Canadian armour was surprised the crossing was unapposed but a short distance down the road the German forces opened up. The Stug III on the hilltop was in excellent position to slow them down. The Panther was there too to add support while the remaining Stug III waited off to the left in reserve.
The fighting starts.
The most effective units on the German side where the Stug III on the hill and the Pak 38. 2 Shermans were knocked out and one immobilized. A German squad in the shelled out building added to the carnage with a Panzerfaust. The Canadian response was immediate. The Panther was surprisingly ineffective. The Canadians moved up infantry to take out the Pak 38. The Panther had it's main gun knocked out so it quickly backed out of the area with a panicked crew. The Stug III on the the other hand had to deal with the remaining 7 Shermans and was soon knocked out.
Canadian armour moves past.
The reserve Stug III can't maneuver in time and is quickly taken out.
The German right was torn open. The infantry squad that was in the ruined house fell back. They had nothing to stop the armoured onslaught.
At the American crossing again the Germans allowed them to cross.
A traffic jam at the bridge crossing.
At this crossing the Germans had a Pak 40, and the 3 Mk IVH's. The American infantry stayed off the bridge and crossed the river at a ford to the left.

Waiting for the Allied rush.
As the American Shermans rushed across the bridge the Germans fired everything they had.
4 Shermans are knocked out and the German infantry in a nearby building pins the American infantry at the treeline.
The Pak 40 fires as fast as it can but it's support of 2 MkIVH's don't last long.
The American forces at this time realize that the only resistance left is infantry and the Pak 40.
The Pak 40 is overrun. The town is soon under Allied control.
The Mk IVH in the distance was soon knocked out.
The game ended with about a 3rd of the Allied armour knocked out. The Germans fared worse. All their armour was destroyed with the exception of the Panther. It managed to exit the board. Both Pak guns were destroyed too. One of the three German squads was lost.
The game lasted about 4 hours with 4 of us playing. We used my home grown rules. The scale of the gaming material is 1/72 and the rules use a 1 figure = 1 man set up.
The end of the game.