D-Day 6th June - Juno Beach - Advance On Creully

Somewhat later than planned, the next game in my narrative French-Canadians in Normandy campaign was played today. Details as follows:

Background

Having quickly taken St Croix-sur-Mer, the Voltigeurs de Quebec Regiment are ordered to push on towards Creully with the aim of seizing it before nightfall, thus achieving the Elm phase line objective. Unbeknown to them, Kampfgruppe Meyer has been sent to try and find a gap between the French-Canadian and British bridgeheads between Juno and Gold beaches respectively. The Kampfgruppe has taken significant casualties as it moves towards Creully, but so have the Voltigeurs de Quebec, who are at half strength in terms of their infantry.

Scenario Details

• The scenario lasts for 8 Turns, starting in the afternoon and ending at around dusk. The last two Turns will have reduced visibility as a result.
• Typhoon air support is available, but this represents the rear area interdiction that happened on D-Day. The Typhoon is available on a roll of 8+ on 2D6.
• The French-Canadians start 20cm in from the table edge, with the Recce units 40cm in, to represent their speedy advance from St Croix-sur-Mer.
• The Germans arrive from Turn 2 using mobile deployment, to represent their struggles moving forward across the British front and in broad daylight.

Voltigeurs de Quebec Regiment OOB

1 x CO (CV90

3 x HQ (CV8)

6 x Infantry (Veterans)

1 x MG

1 x 3" Mortar

1 x 6pdr ATG + tow

1 x Humber AC

1 x Carrier Platoon

2 x Shermans

1 x Sherman Firefly

3 x Priest 105mm SPG

1 x Typhoon

Kampfgruppe Meyer OOB

1 x CO (CV8)

2 x HQ (CV8)

3 x Infantry

1 x MG

1 x 81mm Mortar

1 x Pak 38 + horse tow

1 x Sdkfz 251/10?

3 x Stug III

The Table

An overview of the game below:

Creully sits in a valley, represented by the hills on both sides of the table. 

Creully itself having taken some battle damage already.

The French-Canadians begin to push on towards Creully. One Company of Infantry is allowed to ride on the tanks.

Francois le Fermier gives valuable intel to the Voltigeurs de Quebec CO, but also some Calvados too!

The Germans arrive by a random dice rolls, with the Infantry and Stug III's on the left flank.

The CO arrives in the centre.

Another view of Creully.

The Game

As is the norm now, some annotated photos will give an idea of how the game unfolded:

The end of Turn 2 (In Turn 1 the whole French-Canadian force failed to move, due to the Calvados me-thinks!). Despite the tardy start, soon the Voltigeurs de Quebec had crossed the bridge into Creully and began to take up defensive positions. As they did so Kampfgruppe Meyer arrived and as they came under fire, they managed to KO one Sherman in quick order.

The Trois Rivieres Dragoons come under deadly fire, seeing a Sherman brew up. Not an ideal start. At least the Infantry have debussed and begin to occupy Creully.

One the left flank, a Company from the Voltigeurs de Quebec can only reach the edge of the woods.

The German half-track seeks cover having come under fire from the Humber AC.

The Germand Infantry spread out and advance towards Creully.

The end of Turn 3. The Voltigeurs de Quebec try to consolidate their positions ready for the anticipated German assault. As the Germans push forward, they lose a Stug III and their Infantry come under fire from the churchyard.

The Germans try to advance, but the enemy has taken up strong positions that may be hard to shift.

The churchyard is the setting for the initial firefights.

the humber AC and 6pdr ATG have taken up defensive positions in and around the orchard.

The left flank Infantry move more slowly than their CO would like.

An overview from the German point of view.

The end of Turn 4. So far there has been no sign of any Typhoon support, but a Company HQ manages to get through to the Priest SPGs and call in a devastating stirke right on top of the Germans. Once the dust has settled the Infantry are no more and the Stug III's are burning wrecks!

The German threat has gone up in smoke!

The left flank Infantry cross the stream to come and provide support, which is no longer needed.

The German CO can only look on and ponder what might have been.

End of the Game

And so suddenly it was all over! The artillery had simply been devastating, catching the Infantry in the open as well as the Stug III's. Against so much firepower they didn't stand a chance.

Post Game Thoughts

Well what can I say except that that was extremely quick and very brutal! It was shaping up to be possibly a tough fight for the French-Canadians, but as was often the case, the Artillery came through to break up the German attack. As always a few musings:

• It was nice to get back to this narrative campaign, even if it took longer to set the game up that actually play it!
• As a one off game, this would have been no fun, but as part of a campaign, it just adds to the story, which is what makes campaigns so much fun.
• I possibly gave the French-Canadians too much Artillery for this scenario, but they did have loads on call, as they knew that the ground they would be fighting over was crucial to both sides. In fact they had correctly predicted that this would be the main centre for the German attacks and so it proved to be.
• I did forget that the Germans were on high ground too, so that their 81mm Mortar could have hit the Voltigeurs de Quebec left flank as they left the woods. It wouldn't have affected the outcome of this game, but in campaign terms it might have if the game had lasted longer.
• Playing with a familiar ruleset really does make a difference, as it allows you to tweak things to suit the scenario and the campaign setting. You sort of know what will work most of the time, which just makes things so much easier right across the board. 

What Next?

I certainly need to paint some more AFVs for both sides, given that the next action in the campaign will be against lead elements of the 12th SS 'Hitlerjugend' Panzer Division. There is quite a lot to paint, but with the need to get them ready for the next game will hopefully act as a good incentive and keep me focussed more than normal!

Aside from that, in the run up to Xmas, I'm not sure how much gaming time I will have, but of course some more 'toys on the table' actions would be great, no matter the period.

Thanks for reading and as always any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.

Of Battles, Books & Butterflies

A bit of a pot pourri post, as recently I've had plenty of time to ponder a few things hobby related, especially during a long drive to Norfolk last week. Nothing ground breaking I'm sure, but I thought I'd jot them down anyway!

Battles

Despite having quite a few core forces for most of the periods I like to game, I still seem to struggle to get a game onto the table or even to maintain some momentum for my mini-campaigns. I think 'oh, I'll just paint up that unit or some terrain for the next game', but then nothing happens and it all stalls, with weeks or months going by with no progress. Despite having a dedicated games room, it had become a bit of a mess, which didn't help matters!

So a bit of a tidy up has helped and a desire to try and get more games in, given that I have plenty of choice as already mentioned. Not having cluttered surfaces makes a bit difference and it is much easier to get to stuff, in advance of a planned game. My lead pile is still too big and I still need to really have a good sort out and probable cull, which will help matters I'm sure. 

At least this mini tidy up has resulted in a game all ready and set to go, which is great, so an AAR should appear soon.

Books

With my recent birthday just gone, I once again bought a few books as a treat, and my family know to leave me to order what I want! A win for them and a win for me;)

I saw this by chance when searching for something to buy and, given my interest in mid-19thC Europe, this more than fitted the bill. I'd read his book on 'Glubb Pasha and the Arab Legion' many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm just getting into this and his prose is easy to read and full of little snippets too that are perfect for us wargamers. Given that Warlord Games have just released a supplement for the Crimea, I can see this conflict getting more coverage in due course.

Having enjoyed the 1st and 3rd books, I manged to find this for a very good price on ebay. Of course I don't really NEED this book, given I have plenty of others on the Eastern Front, but it is one of those nice things to have and always has some nice ideas contained therein. The rules in the others have been far to detailed for me and are a product of their time, and I imagine the same will be true here. But a nice addition to the library nonetheless.

I'd not heard of this book before until it popped up on the Pendraken forum and was mentioned in passing in a post. The Little Wars TV chaps had done a nice video with Bruce Weigle a few years ago on this invasion and I had seen the game at Colours too. Given I have a love for the invasion of Crete (still yet to game!) as well as that of Kos and Leros in 1943, this seemed to be one worth adding to the library. Luckily the Naval & Military press had it on sale, so I snapped up a copy. I've only flicked through it but it looks perfect for us wargamers and maybe one day I'll get to game a part of it. Afterall I can use my Italians, Fallschirmjager and some T-34's, so what's not to like?!

Butterflies

Well the Malta 1942 book certainly got the old butterfly to flapping its wings, that's for sure! Alongside this my mind wandered to my 'Glorious Glosters' in Normandy campaign that has stalled for nearly a year now, as well as a long planned AVBCW mini-campaign that was first thought about years ago. I'm not short of ideas that's for sure, but my problem is I struggle to keep focussed on a project, as something always seems to catch my eye and draw me off in another direction! First World problems and all that, but I do need to try and maintain focus a bit more.

What Next?

Well in terms of focus, post the tidy up of the games room, I've set up the next action of my 'Canadians in Normandy' campaign, which has waited too long to get to the table. Even though the planned terrain and troop additions have failed to materialise, I can still use what I have and some Fallschirmjager can make a guest appearance until such times as the 'correct' troops are ready.

Thanks for getting this far and as always, any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.

Closing The Ruhr Pocket, Beringhausen, 28th March, 1945

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go somewhat awry, and this was the case on Tuesday. I was due to meet up with friends to play a game of Keith Flint's Startline rules, but the night before my wife luckily spotted a nail in our car's tyre, which was only a week old! I was able to get it to the garage to pick up on Tuesday morning, but would not be able to make it for the start of the game, which was a real shame. However I did arrive just before Midday as Turn 2 was nearing its conclusion. With the game in full swing, I chose to observe rather than take part, as I wasn't up to speed and didn't want to slow things down. This was fine as it was interesting see the game unfold and how the playtesting was helping Keith refine things.

So rather than an AAR, there are just photos of the game with some notes that might help give an idea of how the game progressed before I had to leave.

A Combat Command of the 3rd US Armoured Division is advacning from the left towards the village of Beringhausen, which is defended by a German Kampfgruppe.

Germand infantry dug-in and supported by Stug III's.

Loads of US tanks, with the infantry following on behind, some way back it must be said.

A mix of Shermans and Pershings.

I'm not sure what took out these Pz IV's as they were already brewing up when I arrived.

All the toys were from the collection of Roy Boss, with some bits from Keith I believe.

German reserves or reinforcements that would arrive from Turn 4 on a die roll of 4+, then 3+ etc.

German AA half-tracks, which did sterling work driving off most of the US air attacks!

They arrived and then flew off due to the heavy flak.

A mortar strike KO's a US tank destroyer.

US tanks begin to overun the German positions, but they stubbornly refused to die or surrender despite being heavily outnumbered.

Sod's Law and the King Tigers and Panthers arrived on Turn 4, just in time for the Germans but a real blow to the Americans.

The half-tracks arrived the next Turn too.

US tanks try to flank the German positions.

The Germans still hold on.

They didn't even fear the Pershings!

A view along the German defensive lines.

The Panzergrenadiers debus.

The Americans still struggle to get round the German flank and take hold of the important objective markers.

The Panthers move to meet the American threat to their right flank.

Despite being rather menacing, their shooting was shocking at this point!

Infantry move up to try and KO the German infantry and to seize the objective markers.

End Of The Game

Well by the time I had to leave, the game was still being played, with things nicely in the balance. In the end Keith declared it a minor German victory and the Americans could not gain control of enough objective markers for an outright victory.

A few thoughts in no particular order:

• It was great to meet up with the chaps and have a great time watching them play and exchange plenty of good natured banter. Let's hope next time I can make if for the start!
• I'd suggested we meet up at the Big Battles centre in Cirencester rather than Keith's house, so that we didn't impinge upon Jane, plus we would have plenty of space to play, which we had in spades. However it was the coldest day of the Autumn with frost on the cars and was rather cold inside. What was I thinking! Next time only play in late Spring to early Autumn;).
• I think the game proved useful for Keith to clarify some points, to consider others etc. Certainly playing very late War was of course a different kettle of fish to say Poland 1939, plus we all had slightly differnet views on some points or were in agreements on others. Having this variety of opinion is what a playtest is all about.
• It did highlight the importance of playing with rules you know and are comfortable with, as it soon became apparent that the German decision to dig-in in front of the BUA's was maybe not the best choice. I think it was a bit of a steep learning curve for all of us and with hindsight, the deployments would have been rather different.
• Getting the Germans out of the BUA was a real challenge and hadn't been completed by the time I'd left. This has always been a challenge for me whilst playing BKCII, as you want a balance between game play and historical accuracy and so far I've not found an easy answer. 
• It's been mentioned before, but the WRG rules that Startline are based upon, made infantry somewhat superfluous to the game, given their very slow movement rates compared to the tanks. I know even in BKCII, it can be hard to make the infantry keep up and be part of the game, but you need them to secure an objective, which armour can't. How you solve this for Startline/WRG I'm not sure. Maybe giving them increased movements rates, having the in half-track or as tank riders or making them the only units able to contest an objective might help?

Eye Candy

Next to our table the Big Battles chaps looked like they had a table set for a game, and very nice it was too. The buildings looked to be a mix of scratch built and shopt bought MDF ones. So here are some shots for your delectation!

I hope you enjoyed this post and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.