This left Zed and Lordybloke to show Cortez the ins and outs of Battle Group Kirsk...So over to Zed for the report...
Photos supplied by Lordybloke, who's only just got a smart phone and is still working out how to do things other than take calls from the wife on it...
We set up the table as per the Hold Carentan mission but played the standard attacker defender from the main (mini) rulebook. There were three objectives. Two were on the centre line of the table (diagonal deployment) the other was in a deployment corner which the British chose when they won the setup. There were roads connecting all four edges with trees and lots of hedgerows. The opposing sniper teams set up close to the centre of the table. The Germans won the first turn and the German sniper moved into the house, seizing the objective and gaining a superb view down the main road out of the British deployment area. There was a sniper duel without any effect. In fact neither sniper did anything of consequence for the entire battle. Back to sniper school the pair of you!!!
The Brit observer drops off the 6pdr. He later wishes he wasn't so close to enemy fire....
The German forces arrive, advancing with a pair of Panzer IV’s at full speed on the road out of their deployment area. A truck of grenadiers follows behind ready to occupy the farmhouse cleared by the sniper. A heavy mortar team setup behind a hedgerow at the edge of the battlefield and the Forward observer moves on to the road dismounting his Kubelwagen scanning the distance with his superior German optics
The British advance down the road with an M4 Sherman and the Forward observer offers a tow to the 6 pounder crew. The HQ element park up out of harm’s way behind the first objective claiming it. The 6 pounder unlimbers and opens fire but fails to get a shot on the enemy armour.
The Germans bring most of their reserves on in turn two but a low roll for orders (which continues for the entire game) means that only about half of the units can operate; a traffic jam starts to cause problems accessing the main road. Pz IV call sign 412 rushes to the crossroads seizing the objective an aircraft is heard in the distance. Call sign 411 advances to take a shot at the Sherman but misses
The Panzergrenadiers move into the farmhouse and setup their two MG teams in the remaining windows. They opened fire on the Observer, Sniper and 6 Pounder crews trying to pin them down.
Germans reinforce the main road junction guided by the burning hull of a Panzer...
The British armour continues to arrive with both an M4 and a Firefly moving onto the battlefield. The Firefly immediately engages and destroys 412 at the crossroads (I knew it was risky going for the objective). The Vickers team setup covering the road but realise too late that they don’t have the range and will advance to a better position when possible. A 3” mortar team set up and waits for a fire mission. The forward observer calls in his off table 75mm howitzers (priority 2+) but fails his comms check.
More Panzergrenadiers advance up the road ready to defend the crossroads but it would be a further turn before they would be in position. A bold move by the British would recapture the objective it isn’t openly considered. 411 opens fire at the Sherman and despite the relatively short range fails to hit. The Observer calls in a fire mission and manages to pin the British observer and 6 pounder. There aren’t enough orders to fire the second tube.
The British infantry platoon arrives and advance at the double behind the cover of a treeline. If they could coordinate with the tanks and artillery they would have a good chance of driving the Germans from the farm house (odds of 3 -1 in their favour) and capture the central objective. The Firefly with no easy target moves and fires at 411 but misses again; jittery crew. The 6 pounder fires and destroys 411 with ease answering the question of whether it was a good gun or not. The British take a chit and clear their pin markers.
The British double time toward the German occupied farm....
The second panzergrenadier unit reaches the crossroads, dismount, unlimber the Pak40 sighting it down the road. The Famo moves out to 411 with the hope of either repairing or towing the tank. 413 Advances up the road using the farmhouse for cover and fires at the Firefly without any effect. The MG teams in the farmhouse lay down heavy fire trying to pin the teams using the hedgerows for cover. Whilst the German Kampfgruppe hold two objectives and has good fields of fire the lack of orders was starting to tell. The British pull a low ammo chit and play it on the Pak 40. One shot left, better make it count!
The British call in a fire mission on the farmhouse but due to the hard cover only managed to pin the rifle team. Nothing can stop the MG teams from keeping a ferocious rate of fire. The Firefly moves towards the treeline for cover and to tries to get a shot on 413. Without HE to engage the infantry or gun and being just out of range for its single MG it is looking for that last German panzer.
The German FO calls in a fire mission and with very few orders I gamble on both heavy mortars. The spotting round deviates significantly away from the target but 3 direct hits on the M4, the Firefly and the 6 Pounder blunts the British offensive capacity pinning all three units. The MG’s in the farmhouse finally find their range and shoot up the British observer jeep destroying it and killing 2 of the team. But these are no ordinary British soldiers they are Marks & Spencer veterans and they carry on with the task at hand. The last shot from the Pak40 knocks out the M4 on the road. Heads are held in hands and lamentation is heard
The PAK40 moves up...
The British make a general advance and take a chit to for a beyond the call test to get FO back in action but the comms is once again a problem. They take another chit and clear the pins on their armour and pull an air chit from the pot, their second of the evening. Neither time did the aircraft manage to find the target area.
A supply truck risks the road to resupply the Pak40 next turn. The MG’s in the farmhouse pour fire onto the 6 Pounder killing 2 of the crew. The last man keeps the gun firing. The Famo repairs 411 who is put on ambush fire. The firefly advances and 411 knocks it out with its second shot.
German orders struggle to get through causing a vehicle park...
We call it. Count up and it is 21 BR for the British and 11 for the Germans. Down but not out. The full Para platoon could have taken the farmhouse I think. There was still artillery support.
Great game. A good intro I think. I did have some very good luck with the Mortars and the repair.
No aircraft in a game yet but we had a go after the game. They could be a real game changer. A lot of pinning potential. The mobelwagen I have is not up to the task a quad 20mm such as the wirbelwind probably is.
No comments:
Post a Comment