D-Day 6th June - Juno Beach - Advance On St Croix-sur-Mer

After a longer period than originally planned, I managed to get the next game in of my French-Canadians in Normandy narrative game played this morning, which was nice. Coming back to it slightly fresh was also good, as it gave me time to tweak a few things having re-read some of the history in the fresh light of dawn as it were.

Background 

Having successfully cleared Juno beach and securing Le Buisson and Vaux, the French-Canadian 11th Demi-Brigade turned their attention towards their next objective, St Croix-sur-Mer. Once again the Voltigeurs de Quebec would be in the vanguard, supported by the same units as before, but with the addition of a Recce Squadron from the Argentuil Rangers, to lead the way.

Scenario Details

The 11th Demi-Brigade had two objectives, namely to take and secure St Croix-sur-Mer, but also to push on past as fast as possible, to reach Cruelly before nightfall. The Germans had had little time to recover from the shock of the Allied landings, so St Croix-sur-Mer was only held by HQ elements from the II Battalion, 726th Infantry Regiment. Unknown to them, a Panzer Training Kompanie was on its way to the airfield at Caen, when it was diverted to support the left flank of the Infantry Regiment.

Voltigeurs de Quebec Regiment OOB

1 x CO - CV 9

4 x HQ - CV 8 (3 with attached FAO's)

1 x FAO (RN)

9 x Infantry (Veterans)

1 x MG

1 x 3" Mortar

1 x Wasp

1 x Sherman Firefly

2 x Shermans

1 x Sherman Crab

1 x Churchill AVRE

1 x Churchill Crocodile

1 x Centaur

1 x Humber A/C

2 x Stuarts

1 x Carrier Platoon

3 x Priest 105mm SPG (on call)

1 x HMS Fury (on call)

1 x Typhoon (roaming at large)

HQ Kompanie, II Battalion, 726th Infantry Regiment OOB

1 x CO - CV 8

2 x HQ - CV 8

3 x Infantry (Fortress)

1 x MG 

1 x 81mm Mortar 

1 x Pak 35/36 with Stielgranate

1 x Pak 38

1 x 105mm Artillery 

1 x 150mm Artillery

1 x Ft-17 (MG)

2 x Ft-17 (37mm)

1 x Panzer IV Short

Barbed Wire

Mines

The Table

As always, the game was fought on a 4' x 4' table, with the general layout and details seen below.

An overview of the table, with St Croix-sur-Mer in the middle. The French-Canadians would arrive from the left hand side and any German reinforcements from the right.

The main approach road for the French-Canadians.

The approach to St Croix-sur-Mer is mined.

A dug-in 105mm Artillery piece that had been shelling the beaches.

Likewise a 150mm Howitzer.

Barbed wire covers the other approach into the village.

Poor old Francois le Fermier is aobut to get another shock!

A dug-in Pak 38 covering the main approach road.

The Germans in and around the centre of the village.

The Panzer Training Kompanie.

The Voltigeurs de Quebec and supporting units.

The Game

So without further ado, onto the action!

The end of Turn 1. As the French-Canadians advanced towards St Croix-sur-Mer, they came under attack from the dug-in Pak 38 and 105mm Artillery, suppressing an Infantry unit and Sherman.

The Argentuil Rangers push forward to try and get past the village.

Coming under fire there is not doubt that the village will be hotly contested.

The end of Turn 2. The Naval FAO gets through to HMS Fury which brings down a heavy weight of fire onto the village and the Pak 38, suppressing it and some Infantry units too. The Regt de St Hyacinthe artillery lends their support too, suppressing the dug-in 105mm Artillery. The Argentuil Rangers fail to advance, but elsewhere units push forward as further Infantry arrives.

The Germans under fire from HMS Fury.

The Infantry edge forward, but remain hidden at present.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons move to the cover of the hedgerow.

The end of Turn 3. Once again HMS Fury is on call and KO's an Infantry unit and suppresses the Pak 38. As the Argentuil Rangers advance, a Stuart is KO'd by the 105mm Artillery. The Infantry and Shermans advance but fail to hit anything! With perfect timing the German Panzer Training Kompanie arrives and promptly KO's another Stuart! 

'Hobart's Funnies' arrive and look like they will be needed to help take St Croix-sur-Mer.

A nice gun line that can't hit anything at present!

Stuart's burn as the Carrier Platoon look on rather nervously.

The might of the Panzer Training kompanie. In Normandy, every tank was a Tiger😉!

The end of Turn 4. Retribution is swift, as HMS Fury and the Regt de St Hyacinthe KO both the Pak 38 and the 105mm Artillery, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons get their range and KO the Pz IV and both Ft-17's (37mm)! The Germans can do nothing in reply due to the losses and lack of LoS to any French-Canadian units.

Relief for the Argentuil Rangers as the Panzers brew up.

At least they made an impact, if all too brief a one!

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons finally get their eye in.

'Hobart's Funnies' are in no hurry it seems.

Another Infantry Company arrives to try and take St Croix-sur-Mer from the flank.

The Germans struggling to take up meaningful positions in face of the weight of Allied firepower.

The end of Turn 5. As the last Ft-17 is KO'd by the Recce Stuart, the Infantry come under sustained MG, Mortar and Artillery fire, with three Infantry units suppressed. In response 'Hobart's Funnies' play a blinder (rolling double 1's twice in a row) and advance to the edge of the minefield and quickly dispatch a German MG unit. The Pak 36/36 with the Stielgranate hits the Churchill Crocodile, that barely notices it!

The Argentuil Rangers consolidate.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons move past the village and leave it in the capable hands of 'Hobart's Funnies'.

The Infantry await the tanks to do their work before advancing.

That's an awful lot of firepower to face!

On the left flank the Infantry close in on St Croix-sur-Mer.

The Pak 35/36  faces off against the Crocodile, as somewhat one sided affair.

The end of Turn 6. The Argentuil Rangers move off to the road that leads towards Creully, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons take up and all round defensive position outside of the village. The Crocodile makes light work of the Pak 35/36. The Germans simply have nothing they can respond with or have LoS to.

The Argentuil Rangers on the move.

The Shermans for a defensice laager.

The Voltiguers de Quebec move forwards now that 'Hobart's Funnies' are in such a commanding position.

Where have all the Germans gone?

The Infantry reach the orchard ready to enter the village.

The remnants of the German defenders.

The CO and a Mortar unit.

End of Game

At this point the game was pretty much up for the Germans, as they were more or less surrounded and with nothing that could really stop the French-Canadian armour or Infantry. So the only realistic option left was to surrender, which they did.

French-Canadian Losses

At the close of play they had lost two Infantry Companies and two Stuart Troops from the Recce Squadron. Whilst relatively light, the Voltigeurs de Quebec were almost down to half-strength now and the Argentuil Rangers would have limited ability to perform the Recce duties, which could impact the advance on Creully.

Post Game thoughts

Well that was nice to get this game in as part of my narrative campaign, after a long delay. In all the game took about 2 1/2 hours, so not bad and as always, it was great to be playing BKCII. Some thoughts on the game and campaign in no particualr order:

• HMS Fury and the weight of firepower she could bring to bear really helped the French-Canadians from the off. I think she may have bee a too bit overpowered, but need to reflect upon this for future games. Certainly without this and suppressing critical Germans units from the Start, such as the Pak 38, then the French-Canadians might have ahd a much tougher and bloodier task on their hands.
• Taking BUA's you really do need a lot of firepower, whether it be Artillery or the likes of 'Hobart's Funnies'. Now that the French-Canadians are moving out of Naval support range, this will become tougher for them I'm sure.
• 'Hobart's Funnies' once again proved to be deadly and vital to the ability to take and threaten BUA's. As the advance continues at pace now, they will most likely be left behind to move into Brigade or Divisional reserve. Time will tell.....
• With the Voltigeurs de Quebec now down to nearly half strength, it will be a much tougher ask for them moving forward. Certainly they will have to husband their resources and hope reinforcements are on the way from the beach, as they will start to face elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division.
• I'm a bit of a sucker for units such as the Panzer Training Kompanie, but they are great fun to deploy on the table and certainly add to the narrative, as they did here. I'm sure the AAR from the units involved will say they face Panthers or Tigers!
• The Typhoon had no chance to make a show as any targets of opportunity were quickly dispatched. However for the next phase and FAC will be available and so a cab rank system will be in place.
• For the next battle, the French-Canadians will need to push on with all speed before night falls, so that they can try and secure Creully. I need to think how I can fit this into a scenario alongside the elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division arriving. Much to think about.
• Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I think I could have placed a few German units more effectively, to help with LoS for the 81mm Mortar and the dug-in 105mm and 150mm Artillery units. Ditto the MG unit. C'est la guerre and all that!

What Next?

Well for this campaign I certainly need to paint up quite a few units, both German and French-Canadian. Alongside this new river sections are underway which again will be needed. I also have some new buildings to paint up too, so plenty to be getting on with, if time allows and I can concentrate on doing them all!

In between they maybe some more OHW scenarios or something along those lines. I do have an idea for the next one in the book, but need to have a good think about it first.

Real life and a holiday beckon these next few weeks, so it may be sometime before part three of the Normandy campaigns gets played. At least whilst on holiday we are planning on visiting the Museum of the Vendee, which will probably rekindle some thoughts on playing this conflict on some shape or form. As always, so many ideas, so little time!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

OHW Scenario 19: Blow From The Rear

With the third heatwave having finally broken, I managed to snatch a free few hours whilst SWMBO was out, to get another game of Honours of War in. Having had it set up for nearly a week, it was nice to finally have the time and motivation to get it played.

The Scenario

This is based upon the Battle of Krefeld 1758, but has been tweaked for the OHW rules, with further tweaks made by me to try and make it work for Honours of War.

The Blue General is defending two river crossings from what he thinks is a numerically inferior Red force. His complacency will be shattered when an additional Red force arrives in the Blue rear area.

Victory Conditions: The Red Force will win if there are no Blue units within 3" of either river crossing at the end of Turn 8.

OOB Austrian (Red)

2 x Infantry Brigades, each - 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery

1 x Light Infantry Brigade - 2 x Light Infantry

1 x Cavalry Brigade - 2 x Cavalry

- 50% of the army starts to the North of the river.

- On Turn 3, the other half of the army arrives on the Western table edge.

OOB Prussian (Blue)

2 x Infantry Brigades, each - 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery

1 x Mixed Brigade - 1 x Light Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery, 2 x Cavalry

- 1/3 of the army is in reserve and cannot move until Turn 4.

- The army is in a defensive posture and cannot move North of the river

The Set Up

Once again the game was played on a 3' x 2' table, with deployments etc seen below:

An overview of the table. Blue is to the left of the river, Red to the right and the top.

One Blue Brigade defending the bridge, saddled with a Dithering commander, requiring the General to be in attendance.

Another Blue Brigade defending the ford.

The Blue Mixed Brigade in reserve.

The Red Cavalry Brigade, ready to act to pin some Blue units in place, just by their presence.

A Red Brigade ready to contest the ford.

The Red Light Brigade ready to move through the woods and into the Blue flank, with a Dashing commander to aid speedy progress.

A Red Brigade ready to advance into Blue's rear area, saddled with a Dithering commander.

The Game

As always, the captioned photos should give an idea of hos the game played out:

The end of Turn 1. Red made an Admirable move to the river, allowing them to deploy, as well as gaining the fire intiative. This saw Blue lose a Line Infantry unit, which had to fall back to reform. Both sides took further hits but to limited effect.

Blue already pushed back from the ford.

The end of Turn 2. As the Red Cavalry moved to the flank to try and get out of artillery range, both sides exchanged some devastating fire, each losing a Line Infantry unit. The ford was in danger of being lost by Blue already.

Blues' Line Infantry that had just moved forward is routed, leading to the Artillery unit having to limber up and retire to try to reform.

But Red had also suffered an early loss, but was in a better position than Blue by the ford.

The end of Turn 3. As Blue began to pull back from the ford to try and form a defensive line, the Red force suddenly appeared on their left flank, with devastating consequences. The Blue right flank began to try and react to this sudden appearance by Red, but the Dithering commander was not quite sure what to do.

The Blue Dithering commander begins to try and move to meet the threat on his left.

The Red Line Infantry appear from the corn.

The Red Light Infantry move with ease through the woods...

... and pour a devastating volley into the Blue Line Infantry, routing them.

The lone Blue Artillery unit still pulling back to try and reform.

The end of Turn 4. The Red force from the West continue to push aggressively forward, forcing a Blue Line Infantry unit back to reform. The Red force North of the river forms into line to prepare to begin to cross, but the Cavalry fail to move.

The Blue right flank slowly forms into line and column to move towards Red.

The Mixed Brigade spurs into action.

The remnants of the Blue left flank.

The Red force North of the river ready to cross the ford.

A view from the West and the Red force threatening Blue's rear.

The end of Turn 5. The Blue right flank meets up with the few reamining left flank units, but the Mixed Brigade fails to move up in support. Red tries to push forward, which the Light Brigade do rather aggressively, whilst those North of the river struggle forward. Both sides have one of those 'barn door' phases on the shooting front.

Red pushes forward as the Blue line begins to coalesce.

The end of Turn 6. As the Blue defensive crust begins to harden, Red continues to push forward, but once again the 'barn door' issue raises its head!

The Red force North of the river tries to move forward to attack the Blue line in the flank.

The Blue 'defensive crust'.

The Mixed Brigade moves forward but is still too far behind.

The Red Western force struggles to find space to deploy as the Light Brigade engages Blue in the centre.

The end of Turn 7. With a rush of blood to the head, the Light Brigade commander charges forward with his troops into the Blue Artillery and Line Infantry, as both sides close up as best they can. In one of those 'MAD' moments, the Red Light Brigade is destroyed, but so are the Blue Artillery and Line Infantry! Yet again ineffective and desultory fire ripples across the front.

The charge and its effect...

... and the aftermath after the smoke has cleared.

The end of Turn 8. There is little movement from Blue due to holding a good defensive position, so Red pushes forward, but come under devastating fire (at last!), losing two Line Infantry units. In response all Red can manage is to rout an Artillery unit and force the Mixed Brigade Light Infantry to move back to reform. 

Losses on the right...

... and on the left.

The Red Cavalry Brigade finally begin to cross the bridge.

End of the Game

And with that the game was over after an exciting and eventful 8 Turns. Technically a Red victory as per the original scenario, given the Blue had no units close enough to either crossing of the river. However looking at the state of play, Red would struggle to prosecute the attack, with Blue working on interior lines. What might have swung it decisively for either side would have been a cavalry clash, with the winner certainly help gain control of the Field of Mars.

The Butcher's Bill was pretty even:

Red: 3 x Line Infantry, 2 x Light Infantry

Blue: 3 x Line Infantry, 2 x Artillery

Post Game Thoughts

Another excellent game of Honours of War, and certainly one with fortunes swinging one way and then the other! A few musings as always:

• Red got off to a flier on the shooting front, only for this good luck to tail off, with Blue getting that final effective volley in Turn 8 almost on the last dice throws.
• The Red Light Brigade's charge was certainly risky, some might say foolish, but I thought it was worth the gamble, which sort of paid off, but at terrible cost.
• The scenario was certainly interesting and another good challenge and in a sense nicely followed on from the previous one. I think it needs a tweak or two to make it work better, but maybe that's for another day.
• Having 'Dithering' commanders was fun again, but tied up both commanding Generals for most of the game. That random roll for all commanders at the start does add a wonderful level of friction and unpredictability, perfect for the solo gamer.
• When the game moved to the short table edge as it were, both sides really struggled to find room to manouevre, which caused a few problems and moved the game to one more of attrition, with no real chance to turn a flank etc.
• Both sides Artillery were less effective with this much more mobile battle, due to having to move so much. 
• My rivers are really too wide for these rules, but luckily I have some new ones in progress, which will make for a better game IMHO.

What Next?

Well I think that's it for Honours of War for a while. With the weather being much more conducive to painting and gaming, I hope to get more of the former in so that I can resume my 'French-Canadians in Normandy' mini-campaign. Life is busy on the 'real life' front, so it might be a few days before I can get things set up, but with SWMBO away for the weekend, I aim to get the next game in...

As always, thanks for reading and commentating, plus of course any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.