Dyle-Ehm Vor Moerdre - Belgium 1940

Having been back from our hols for just over a week now, I felt in the mood for a game of something or other. Not quite ready to sort out the final scenario for my Greco-Italian War 1940 mini-campaign, I needed something else and WWII appealed more than some Black Powder period shenanigans. Luckily my good friend Keith Flint had posted about a recent game, which can be found here, which piqued my interest. Unlike Keith, I decided to go full on 'Cold Turkey' and not have any vehicles in the game, which I honestly can't remember ever having done before. A nice challenge though and one I was looking forward to.

I chose to set the action in Belgium 1940, with the British having just moved up to the river Dyle, with only a day or two to get their defences set bfore the Germans attacked. In Hugh Sebag-Montifiores superb 'Dunkirk' book, the action near Gastuche that earned Lt Dick Anndand a VC seemed a good starting point, so after some scribbling of ideas, things were pretty much set.

Scenario Details

The 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment, had been sent North towards the river Dyle, as part of 4th Infantry Brigade. Their lines were stretched rather thinly and 'A' Company had been deployed near to the village of Dyle-Ehm and the road towards the town of Moerdre. Given the speedy nature of their move, they were lacking materiel support that they would expect, but were told some Artillery might be available should it be required.

For the Germans, some earlier skirmishes with the Recce Squadrons of the British 2nd Division had shown that the bridge at Dyle-Ehm would be contested. As a result, the 1st Battalion, Infanterie Regiment 19, 7th Infanterie Division was given the task for seizing the crossing with all possible speed. Artillery and some Luftwaffe support was at hand too.

The Game

An overview of the table, with the British on the left, the Germans on the right.

The village of Dyle-Ehm.

The British have concentrated their defence in and around the bridge. They have tried to blow the bridge, but have only damaged it, not destroyed it.

Once again Francois le Fermier shows admirable 'sang froid'.

The Germand at their jump off points along the hills over looking the river Dyle.

A view from the German centre.

The damaged bridge.

The end of Turn 1. The Germans set off in the early morning mist, which may have covered their advance, as the British failed to react to any sound or movement.

The German left flank reahces the fence line, with their task to cross the river and outflank the British positions.

The German centre just fails to reach the fence line, as their main role is to provide covering fire to either flank.

The start of Turn 2 and the Luftwaffe arrives over the battlefield.

The end of Turn 2. Things hot up as combined fire from both sides sees units suppressed, with the British very glad to have had time to dig some good defensive trenches given the weight of fire they are receiving.

The German left flank comes under fire as they move towards the river.

Accurate fire from the British hampers supporting fire from the German centre as many of their units are suppressed.

The German right flank moves carefully through the cornfield to avoid being seen by the British.

The end of Turn 3. The Germans lay smoke to help cover their assault by the bridge, with both sides beginning to take losses.

The German left flank reaches the river.

The German right flank begins to rush across the bridge, covered by the smoke.

An overview of the situation from the British point of view.

The end of Turn 4. Suppression and losses continue to mount for both sides, with the Germans struggling to get over the bridge in the face of concentrated fire from the British.

Still stuck at the river, but at least they British Infantry that have been shooting at them have been KO'd.

It's getting a bit tricky at the bridge for the Germans.

The German centre is forced to move up in support of the assault on the bridge.

The British defensive line is beginning to look somewhat threadbare.

Luckily the RAF arrives but fails to really have the impact the British would have liked, only adding the odd hit, but no suppression nor any units KO'd.

The end of Turn 5. Finally the weight of the German fire takes its toll, leaving only the British Mortar unit intact, as the last Infantry unit is virtually hors de combat.

At last the German left flank is across the river, but has taken quite a hammering from the British.

A lone German Platoon is across the bridge.

The other German units provide covering fire and also wait to cross the bridge.

A view from the untenable British position.

End of the Game

And suddenly it was over, with the British having ceased to exist as a fighting force, but they had made the Germans pay a high price for getting across the river Dyle.

The Butcher's Bill, with British losses on the left, Germans on the right. The Germans also had two units at over 50% losses, as shown by the two units at the back with the white dice by them

Post Game Thoughts

That was a good game and one that took about 1 1/2 hours to play, so perfect as something to get back into the swing of things with. As always some musings on the game in no particular order:

• Having gone full 'Cold Turkey' with this game in temrs of not having any AFV's on the table, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and also how different a tactical challenge it gave me as a player. I'm sure I will try and do more fo this sort of game in the future.
• Once again a solo game allowed me to set up this very assymetrical game that, on paper, looked incredibly one-sided, but this didn't prove to be the case at all. The British really made a fist of it and at one point I did wonder if the Germans would have enough fighting strength left to be able to force the crossing.
• Somewhere in my notebooks I have a mini-campaign sketched out based upon the actions on the river Dyle, but like so many things, I need to paint some figures and AFV's etc before I feel ready to undertake this. Maybe this will help focus my mind a bit more?
• As always the familiarity with the BKCII rules made the game very easy to play, ditto coming up with the scenario and forces involved. Sticking to my core set of rules is, and has been for many a year now, a wise decision on my part.
• Even though the Germans had a numerical and materiel advantage, having the British dug-in in trenches more than off set that, certainly ealry on in the game. The 'force multiplier' effect was more than I'd expected, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.
• Having random or minimal air support for both sides worked well, ditto having some artillery for the British, but sadly it never arrived for them (requiring an 11-12 on a 2D6 roll).

What Next?

Well as mentioned before, it is Colours Wargames Show next weekend, which always marks to return to the gaming season as it were here for me. Certainly the very welcome rain here the past few days has made it feel like Autumn is on its way, alongside the nights noticeably drawing in.

Having played this game, I now know I need to add some horse drawn transport to my German forces, which I've never bothered with before, but of course most of the German Army relied upon this for all of the War. I have some bits I can use already but need to order some from Pendraken for use with the heavier bits of Artillery etc.

Some painting would be nice for sure, as with the incredible heat of the Summer now past, it will be possible to go to the games room and paint, without everything drying before I can get it to the figures! So a bit of organising and refreshing of my memory on this front is required first.

Well I think that's more than enough waffle from me! As always, thanks for reading and any comments are appreciated.

TTFN.