So after the last game which didn't go well for the British to say the least, here is the sitrep for the next scenario:
SitRep
The Germans 2nd Kompanie having made a tactical withdrawal, has now re-grouped and is once again taking up defensive positions across the Utrechtweg. Their aim is to delay the british for as long as possible, but at all costs avoid being flanked and cut off. To their rear defensive positions are being prepared.
Lt-Col Fitch has now been joined by 'C' Company as well as his integral heavy weapons in the form of an HMG and 3" Mortar. Artillery support is not yet available, nor is his 6pdr ATG. 'A' Company is barely combat effective, but is still in the fight, although only just.
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| An overview of the table, with the British approaching from the top edge, with the Germans deployed astride the road and below the top road junction. |
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| The German postions to the right of the road. |
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| And on the left. |
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| 'A' Company and HMG on the British right flank. |
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| 'B' Company in the centre and 'C' Company on the left. |
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| The end of Turn 2. The British struggled to get moving and only by Turn 2 did they make contact with the Germans. 'B' Company reached the road and as they crossed it, they came under fire from the MG in the house by the telephone kiosk. After some intense firing, the Platoon was lucky not to be KO'd. |
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| 'A' Company slowly move forward. |
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| 'B' Company come under fire. |
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| 'C' Company move forward undetected by the Germans. They don't have enough troops to cover the whole front. |
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| 2nd Kompanie are taking casualties too. |
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| The end of Turn 3. 'A' & 'C' Companies continue to advance, as 'B' Company continues to come under fire, losing the Platoon on the road. Combined fire sees the Germans have Platoons suppressed in the house across from 'B' Company as well as in the woods. |
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| 'B' Company loses a Platoon by the 2nd Kompanie MG is suppressed. |
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| The German Platoon suppressed and lucky not to be KO'd. |
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| The Platoon on the German left pulls back to make sure it is not at risk of being cut off in the right flank is turned. |
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| 'A' Company moves forward as the HMG deploys to cover the road. |
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| The end of Turn 4. The British continue their advance but cannot quite turn the Germans right flank, falling frustratingly short as orders fail to get through. Seeing the precarious nature of their position, 2nd Kompanie start to withdraw, but not all units receive the order. |
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| On the right flank the German Platoon makes an Initiative move back to avoid the British that were closing in. |
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| The MG unit fails to receive the pull back order. |
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| 'A' Company cannot get the momentum going to threaten the German left flank. |
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| The end of Turn 5. Failed orders mean that the British cannot exploit their favourable positions, but do at least KO a German Platoon. Using smoke from the Kompanie 5cm Mortar, the Germans manage to pull back in the nick of time to avoid being encircled. |
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| The 2nd Kompanie manages to extricate themselves from their precarious position. |
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| Smoke covers their withdrawal but fails to prevent the loss of a Platoon. |
End of Game
The British couldn't quite get going when it mattered, allowing the Germans to escape the closing net at the last possible moment. The Germans got slightly the better of the engagement, as both sides lost a Platoon each, but 'B' Company has a Platoon on 4 hits, the same as 'A' Company.
Post Game Thoughts
Well this went better for the British, but frankly it couldn't have got much worse compared to the first game. A few thoughts as usual:
- Having an almost full strength Battalion helped Lt-Col Fitch to quite quickly evict the Germans from their positions.
- In this game the terrain helped the British, as 'C' Company could advance unobserved from the off, allowing them to quite easily turn the German right flank.
- The British 3" Mortar didn't really get into the game much, due to failed command rolls and its limited ability against BUA's. However it did just enough to help suppress and KO a German Platoon.
- Both sides tried using smoke, but fortuantely for the Germans it came good just at the last moment, allowing them to exit stage right. Without it I think they would have have lost all but one Platoon.
- The British really need heavy weapons in the form of Artillery, as they simply do not have enough firepower to really threaten the Germans when in BUA's. Given that they are not approaching the German defensive line, this could be telling...
- Luckily in this game the Germans did not have access to their mortars, but they will next game. This could spell doom for the British given the weight of firepower they can bring to bear...
- Both sides had their fair share of command failures, but it certainly hampered the British more than the Germans, as when 'C' Company couldn't quite reach a position from which to enfilade the German right flank.
What Next?
At least I now have all the figures painted that are required for this campaign. Having this 'deadline' was a nice way to focus finally finishing off my US Paras. I do need some Jeeps though as tows, which I think I have somewhere, which will be the icing on the cake. I won't have them ready for the next game but I do have a nice stand in instead...
Hopefully the next scenario will be played by the weekend, given that it is still wet and miserable here. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.
This year I promised myself not to get distracted by potential new projects, but on Disney+ they have just started showing 'Shogun', based upon James Clavell's novel. Having enjoyed the 1980's tv series, the first two episodes of this series really grabbed me and I've already begun having thoughts on possible Samurai forces. Will this temptation never end...😉?
TTFN.
A good narrative and the need to fall back and need to press and advantage is nicely balanced by a sometimes unforgiving engine when it comes to command failures - it is nice the that ability of the Germans to just automatically pull back, is taken out of the players hands to a goodly degree … the player should be holding their breath on such rolls :-)
ReplyDeleteAre surviving units carry all of their hits over into the next game?
Thanks Norm! Given that this is a campaign and both sides have goals they need to achieve, you are always taking this into account during the game. No Pyrrhic victories here! I certainly was holding my breath when I rolled for the smoke to cover the German retreat, that's for sure.
DeleteAll units carry there hits over or can merge with others to have less units but at full strength. Again knowing you have no reinforcements focuses the game play massively. There is a slim chance that Fitch might get another Company and Krafft has no idea that the 9th SS is sending reinforcements his way; as far as he's concerned he's the last line of resistance.
Another excellent, and plausible, game Steve. The activation system sounds good. Bloody frustrating for the Brits.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris! It is unfolding in a very plausible way for sure and really highlights the issues the Paras faced soon after landing. Their cause was not helped by poor maps either:(.
DeleteThe Germans slip away to fight another day. Next project Feudal Japan? Cool! Temptation never ends…I pulled my Great Italian Wars collection out for a parade and a quick assessment and immediately began tallying what is needed for expansion. I will sleep on it and, perhaps, place an order tomorrow. Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteA lucky escape for the 2nd Kompanie in this action. Reading some of Ryan's book, the British were surprised and knocked off balance by the intense and short German hit and run tactics. One must remember that this was, for many Paras, their first action, so it must have come as quite a shock.
DeleteIt never ends indeed. I spent much of last night looking at some options for rules and size of games, but need to put my sensible hat on today and re-visit this when that initial 'shiny moment' has passed...
Where does one buy a “sensible hat”? Asking for a friend…
Delete'Tis a mythical chapeau I fear;)!
DeleteA fascinating second action in your campaign Steve ⚔️⚔️ The British regrouped and, with the addition of a few much needed reinforcements, pressed ahead to face the Jerries again - the Germans had fallen back and would presumably be trying to slow down the British advance and “play for time” in the hope that their own reinforcements arrive sooner rather than later. At least the British were more fortunate in this action (albeit the Jerries did manage to successfully extricate themselves), but surely the Brits must be aware that the enemy will be gathering their own reinforcements…
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading how things progress with the next battle. FWIW my uncle won the Military Medal as part of the British forces pushing towards Arnhem to help the beleaguered Paras. Sadly I don’t know anything more than that and all my relatives of that generation have passed away.
Cheers,
Geoff
Glad you enjoyed it Geoff! From my readings the British really didn't expect to face much opposition on their way to the bridge, being told they would only face a few old and second rate troops. There is the oft debated topic of how much the Allies knew about the 9th & 10thSS being in the area, how combat effective they were and how quickly they would react. Certainly on the latter point, both Divisions had been trained in how to combat airborne landings, so knew what to do and executed it extremely effectively as we know.
DeleteNice bit of history re: your Uncle and his MM. I imagine of you know the unit he served with etc, you could find the citation relating to his award? Would be fascinating to find out for sure.
Sadly, I don’t know which unit he served with. I vaguely recall it was a Yorkshire or “northern” regiment but, with no surviving family members to ask, I don’t have anything terribly specific to search for via Google. I don’t have a place location or date. He might have been a Corporal or possibly even a Sergeant (although that rank might have been even later in the war). All I have is his name - George Barker.
DeleteA quick search came up with George Arthur Barker, Royal Engineers, who was a Corporal at the time of the award, but this was in North Africa 1943, where he won the MM.
DeleteUnfortunately there are considerably more of us Barker’s than anticipated. According to my best recollection, from 50+ years ago when I was a mere teenager, uncle George was an infantryman in a regiment with a Yorkshire connection (yes, he came from Sheffield in Yorkshire but I appreciate that wouldn’t necessarily have dictated the regiment in which he would have served). He may, or may not, have been either a Corporal or Sergeant at the time he won his MM - but, then again, the rank may have been obtained after his medal, which was said to have been in the advance toward Arnhem. Sadly it’s all rather short on detailed, specific information (when, where, what regiment etc).
DeleteI also tried a search, but gave up when I saw the sheer volume of “potential” results. Thanks for giving it a try Steve - it’s much appreciated. Cheers,
Geoff
It was interesting just seeing what info is out there Geoff, not all of it available easily or complete.
DeleteYes agree, the actions and sequence of events in this campaign so far are totally believable and reminiscent of parts of a Bridge Too Far, Steve - very entertaining indeed!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith and from my perspective, it all feels perfectly plausible, which is good.
DeleteLovely stuff Steve, obviously I’ve already been bitten by the Samurai bug 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt! I think ever since seeing 'The Seven Samurai' and other Kurosawa films, I've always been interested in the period, but never really done anything other than scratch the surface.
DeleteGreat report. Your analysis seems spot on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard and nice to see you concur with my thoughts.
Deletelovely table again (i see the poles!) and AAR. How many games in this campaign?
ReplyDeleteTV will do that to a wargamer. Any half decent series starts a new collection. 😁
Thanks Stew and I tried to make sure there were a few poles in the shots just for you;). In theory two more games, but I fear the British will lack any offensive capability after the next game...
DeleteA good book or tv series quite often leads to the flap of the butterfly wings, but would we want it any other way;)?
When Stew said he saw the poles, I thought ‘I missed have sloped a few days, they didn’t arrive until later’ 🤦♂️
DeleteChris/Nundanket
Very good Chris!
DeleteGreat looking report sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal!
DeleteVery interesting post, the British are doing better but still not quite good enough, my cousins dad was an early para, training in North Africa and seeing action in Italy, he got his MM in Normandy because he said he was one of the few left alive, he also said all his friends were dead by Normandy, we forgot how green these units were when they went into action. My uncle lost his leg , brewed up in a Sherman on the way to Arnhem, I look forward to further updates!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Glad you enjoyed it Iain and yes, the Brits need to up there game. Interesting to read about your relatives and their experiences during the War. Certainly the Airborne units were pretty green compared to the units they came up against, hence one argument I read to use 6th Airborne, but political interference pushed for 1st Airborne.
Delete