Somewhere In Germany, Spring 1945 - Part Two

So with the scene all set, I managed to grab a few hours this afternoon to get the game going. Annotated photos will hopefully give you an idea of how things played out.

The end of Turn 1. Night, visibility 10cm. The Germans could hear movement to their front, but could not see anything nor make out exactly where it was coming from, due to British counter-measures. Two infantry companies advanced forward, led by their assault pioneers and supported by Churchill tanks.

The assault pioneers in position to blow a path through the dragon's teeth.

The Churchills move forward towards the gap created by the RAF during the night.

At the start of Turn 2, a scheduled artillery stonk hit the BUA, KO'ing the Stug III.

The end of Turn 2. Monty's Moonlight, visibility 25cm. The assault pioneers blow the gap in the dragon's teeth and the infantry move forward, supported by the Churchill tanks, both coming under fire as they do so. On the right an infantry company moves into the damaged building, losing a platoon on the way. The Sherman crab arrives ready to begin its work.

 

The Crab in position.

The infantry move forward and come under fire. The Pz IV by the wall engages in a firefight with the Churchills.

The Churchills struggle forward through the cratered road and field.

The end of Turn 3. Dawn, visibility 50cm. The British struggle to maintain momentum, coming under fire from all quarters. The Crab has cleared a path through the minefiled but the Churchills struggle to get through to exploit the opportunity.

The Churchills engage the dug-in MG unit by the barn, but fail to do much damage.

The infantry cannot really move forward at present.

A traffic jam ensues as Hobart's Funnies arrive, as stout German resistance holds up the advance.

The dug-in Volkssturm in the orchard cause problems for the British infantry.

The Panther duels with the Churchills, only managing to suppress one.

The end of Turn 4. Daylight and full visibility. The British FAO fails to get through and so even without the support of the artillery, they manage to KO the Pz IV and MG unit by the barn as well as assaulting the Volkssturm in the orchard, KO'ing them in the process. The German response is limited and they fail to inflict much damage upon the British.

As the Pz IV burns, the infantry take the orchard after assaulting the Volkssturm, ably supported by the tanks.

It's still a bit of a jam in the centre, but things are beginning to move forward a bit.

The stubborn MG nest is finally overcome.

The Churchills with some excellent shooting manage to suppress the Panther at the end of the road.

At the start of Turn 5 the RAF arrive and easily KO the Panther, much to the relief of the Churchill tank crews.

The end of Turn 5. Progress is steady as the tanks and infantry edge forward, with the infantry losing a platoon in the orchard, but the Churchill Crocodile makes short work of the Volkssturm in the BUA to its front.

The infantry push forward but come under fire, losing a platoon.

Hobart's Funnies easily KO the Volkssturm in the BUA.

The Churchills edge forward, wary of the Pak 40 to their front.

A view from the German positions.

The end of Turn 6. Even though the artillery and air support fail to arrive, the infantry and tanks push forward, with the Crocodile once again making short work of the Fallschirmjager platoon in the BUA.

The infantry occupy the BUA near the centre of the village.

The Crocodile clears out the FJ platoon.

There is little movement on the right flank, as they provide supporting fire to the other units.

End of the Game

By the point the Germans were well beyond their breakpoint, which they easily failed and so withdrew from the defensive positions. Even if they'd stayed put, the weight of numbers combined with the AVRE tanks would have quickly made their positions even more untenable.

Post Game Thoughts

Well I was a bit rusty on the rules front as it's been quite sometime since I played these rules, but most of it came back to me pretty easily. The game provided me with plenty to think about and I need to re-read a few bits just to get some things clear in my head. But as always a few musings on the game in no particular order:

• Scheduled artillery is an absolute must in a game like this, as you really need to keep the defenders under pressure whilst you advance. This can be a mix of HE and Smoke, using both in many of my games. A creeping barrage would be good, but really only suitable in a bigger game I think.
• Night, Monty's Moonlight and Dawn all worked well in terms of limiting visibility, helped the attackers but at the expense of some CV penalties.
• In advance of the game I was looking at attacking BUA's and how that works in BKCII. To be honest I've never really been happy with this, but there are some options out there in BKCIV as well as the original CWC rules. Something I need to have a good think about for sure.
• Hobart's Funnies/AVRE's really made a big difference for the British, especially the Crocodile which is just devastating as one would expect. 
• Even though it was fun playing on a 2' x 2' table, which helped speed up game play and allowed a lot of action in a small space, it did hamper both sides somewhat, forcing them into a frontal assault. Moving forward a bigger baord would help give space for the attackers to develop their attacks and for the defenders to have more depth as well as the ability to manouevre their reserves.
• The Germans never quite got going in the game and couldn't quite knock out any of the tanks early on, which might have changed things a bit. Losing the Stug III in the first artillery stonk did hit them hard.
• Churchill tanks are tough! I thinnk if I'd used Shermans then there would have been more smoking tanks on the British side quite early on.
• It was fun to get out my dragon's teeth and minefields, which I rarely do. Maybe some more games using them in the future would be good, certainly as part of a mini-campaign.
• It's been a long time since I used the Close Assault rules and I think I got it right, but again this is something I need to double check in my post game reading.
• Both sides dice rolling was pretty poor, especially for the British, often just getting a single '6' when rolling 12 dice!
• Whilst I enjoyed the game, these late War attritional battles aren't as much fun as ones where there is more room ot manouevre. I can see why 1945 is rarely gamed, or at least so in my experience. 

What's Next?

Well having scratched that itch so to speak, it is now full on focus for the CWD, both in terms of painting, scenario creation, QRS and OOB etc. I'm still not sure if my gaming chum can make it but, if not, I have enough for a smaller game, so not all bad.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

TTFN.