Arnhem 'Tiger' Route - Reconnaissance In Force

Earlier today I played the first scenario in my planned mini-campaign. Details are as follows.

Sit Rep 17th September 1944

13:00 hrs. 1st Parachute Brigade begins landing to the North West of Arnhem.

13:40 hrs. 2nd Kompanie SS Panzer Grenadier Battalion begins localised attacks on the landing zones.

14:00 hrs. SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Krafft begins to organise a defence along predicted routes into Arnhem.

15:00 hrs. 3rd Parachute Battalion, 1st Parachute Brigade begins to move towards Arnhem along 'Tiger' route.

Uhtrechtsweg, around Hill Oek

Having disengaged from the attacks on the landing zones, 2nd Kompanie has been ordered forward along the Utrechtsweg, making a reconnaissance in force. Coming towards them are A & B Companies of the 3rd Parachute Battalion...

An overview of the table, with the Germans to the South, the British towards the North. The area is largely wooded with a small hamlet in an open area to the East.

The hamlet.

The Germans deployed either side of the Utrechtsweg, advancing carefully knowing that enemt troops are likely to be nearby.

Lt-Col Fitch with A & B Companies, deployed along the road to make best speed possible towards Arnhem bridge. (Note US Paras are standing in for British ones. Oh the shame of it!).

The end of Turn 1. The Germans push forward to the fence line and halt as they see British paratroops advancing along the road. Unaware of any enemy, the British push forward as quickly as they can.

The Germans deploy ready to ambush the British paratroopers.

A Company in the lead with B Company moving into the woods on the left.

The end of Turn 2. The Germans fail to activate, but as the British advance, the German MG opens up on the lead Platoon, suppressing it. At the sound of gunfire, A Company move off the road into the woods on their right.

The Germans spring the ambush.

A Company moves into the woods and out of sight.

B Company have managed to send one Platoon forward into the hamlet.

At the start of Turn 3, the leading Platoon of A Company is KO'd.

The end of Turn 3. After KO'ing a Platoon, the Germans have no further targets and so move a Platoon to their right to cover the hamlet. Shocked by the loss of a Platoon, both Companies fail to activate, but Lt-Col Fitch manages to move A Company forward to the edge of the wood.

The German Platoon relocates to cover the hamlet and their right flank.

A German Platoon lies in wait as the British A Company reaches the edge of the wood.

The end of Turn 4. With no targets again, the German HQ drops smoke from their 50mm Mortar onto the edge of the wood as a precautionary measure. The British manage to get B Company moving towards the hamlet, but they come under MG fire as they cross the open ground. A Company once again require Lt-Col Fitch to get them moving, aggressively crossing the road with one Platoon, which is suppressed as it does so.

Despite having lots of firepower, the British Platoon in the hamlet fails to do anything really to the German MG unit.

As smoke obscures the view on one Platoon, the other comes under fire as it crosses the road.

The rest of B Company moves towards the hamlet.

Turn 5 and another British Platoon is KO'd.

The end of Turn 5. Having KO'd another A Company Platoon, the German right flank begins to pull back in the face of the British B Company advance. The remaining A Company Platoon engages in a firefight with the Germans to their front, but ineffectual shooting leaves them open to opportunity Fire, leaving them suppressed and close to being KO'd too.

The Germans in firm control of the road junction.

The remaining A Company Platoon in a parlous state.

B Company occupy the hamlet.

The Germans begin to pull back to avoid the large amount of firepower coming their way.

End of the Game

Having done the job of locating the British advance and certainly giving them a very bloody nose, the German 2nd Kompanie decides to withdraw and fall back to positions that are being prepared to their rear. Lt-Col Fitch needs to await his C Company and heavy weapons support, as well as re-organising the remnants of A Company, that has all but ceased to exist.

Post Game Thoughts

Well I don't think that could have gone much worse for the British Paras! The certainly took a real pasting, whilst the Germans got barely a graze. So as always some thoughts on what happened and why:

• When the Paras had a chance to shoot, they simply didn't make it count, in comparison to the Germans who seemed to have above average dice rolls all the time. Even the superior weight of fire of the Paras didn't help them.
• The Germans certainly benefited from having an attached MG unit, which gave them greater range with which to engage the Paras, before they were in range to respond.
• The British HQ's didn't perform well, relying upon the CO to step in and at least get one Company moving forward. This stop-start movement allowed the Germans to focus on one Company each Turn, thus concentrating their fire as required.
• The British need to press forward as quickly as possible, meant they needed to sue the road to start with, thus exposing themselves to German fire early on. In contrast the Germans could play a much more cautious game, which they needed to, given that they had less troops here and could not afford to take heavy losses in this opening engagement.
• The Germans used fire-and-manouevre very well, shooting and suppressing troops, then pulling back out of sight and relocating to a new, unobserved position.
• The use of 2"/50mm Mortar smoke worked well, something that I took from the Pendraken forum. I allow each HQ unit to try and drop smoke once per Turn as an ordered action, with the stats of 1/40. 3"/81mm Mortars can do the same, but again I will limit this to once attempt per Turn, to avoid unrealistic amounts of smoke being used.
• Although this was a rather one-sided action, it did feel historically right and certainly gave me an insight into the challenges faced by the British Paras as they tried to push towards the bridge.

What Next?

Well it certainly looks an uphill task for the British now, given that they have effectively lost one complete Company in the first engagement. The only saving grace is that they will now have access to the MG and 3" Mortar units as well as C Company. The Germans are not yet near their defensive line that is being set up, but yet again the terrain will certainly favour the defence, as they can fall back slowly, fighting as they go. The British on the other hand need to push forward as quickly as possible. 

I have a few more units to finish painting, that may or may not be required for the next game, but whilst they are to the fore at present, it makes sense to try and finish them off. At least the Germans have all they need at present.

TTFN.