D-Day 6th June - Juno Beach - Advance On St Croix-sur-Mer

After a longer period than originally planned, I managed to get the next game in of my French-Canadians in Normandy narrative game played this morning, which was nice. Coming back to it slightly fresh was also good, as it gave me time to tweak a few things having re-read some of the history in the fresh light of dawn as it were.

Background 

Having successfully cleared Juno beach and securing Le Buisson and Vaux, the French-Canadian 11th Demi-Brigade turned their attention towards their next objective, St Croix-sur-Mer. Once again the Voltigeurs de Quebec would be in the vanguard, supported by the same units as before, but with the addition of a Recce Squadron from the Argentuil Rangers, to lead the way.

Scenario Details

The 11th Demi-Brigade had two objectives, namely to take and secure St Croix-sur-Mer, but also to push on past as fast as possible, to reach Cruelly before nightfall. The Germans had had little time to recover from the shock of the Allied landings, so St Croix-sur-Mer was only held by HQ elements from the II Battalion, 726th Infantry Regiment. Unknown to them, a Panzer Training Kompanie was on its way to the airfield at Caen, when it was diverted to support the left flank of the Infantry Regiment.

Voltigeurs de Quebec Regiment OOB

1 x CO - CV 9

4 x HQ - CV 8 (3 with attached FAO's)

1 x FAO (RN)

9 x Infantry (Veterans)

1 x MG

1 x 3" Mortar

1 x Wasp

1 x Sherman Firefly

2 x Shermans

1 x Sherman Crab

1 x Churchill AVRE

1 x Churchill Crocodile

1 x Centaur

1 x Humber A/C

2 x Stuarts

1 x Carrier Platoon

3 x Priest 105mm SPG (on call)

1 x HMS Fury (on call)

1 x Typhoon (roaming at large)

HQ Kompanie, II Battalion, 726th Infantry Regiment OOB

1 x CO - CV 8

2 x HQ - CV 8

3 x Infantry (Fortress)

1 x MG 

1 x 81mm Mortar 

1 x Pak 35/36 with Stielgranate

1 x Pak 38

1 x 105mm Artillery 

1 x 150mm Artillery

1 x Ft-17 (MG)

2 x Ft-17 (37mm)

1 x Panzer IV Short

Barbed Wire

Mines

The Table

As always, the game was fought on a 4' x 4' table, with the general layout and details seen below.

An overview of the table, with St Croix-sur-Mer in the middle. The French-Canadians would arrive from the left hand side and any German reinforcements from the right.

The main approach road for the French-Canadians.

The approach to St Croix-sur-Mer is mined.

A dug-in 105mm Artillery piece that had been shelling the beaches.

Likewise a 150mm Howitzer.

Barbed wire covers the other approach into the village.

Poor old Francois le Fermier is aobut to get another shock!

A dug-in Pak 38 covering the main approach road.

The Germans in and around the centre of the village.

The Panzer Training Kompanie.

The Voltigeurs de Quebec and supporting units.

The Game

So without further ado, onto the action!

The end of Turn 1. As the French-Canadians advanced towards St Croix-sur-Mer, they came under attack from the dug-in Pak 38 and 105mm Artillery, suppressing an Infantry unit and Sherman.

The Argentuil Rangers push forward to try and get past the village.

Coming under fire there is not doubt that the village will be hotly contested.

The end of Turn 2. The Naval FAO gets through to HMS Fury which brings down a heavy weight of fire onto the village and the Pak 38, suppressing it and some Infantry units too. The Regt de St Hyacinthe artillery lends their support too, suppressing the dug-in 105mm Artillery. The Argentuil Rangers fail to advance, but elsewhere units push forward as further Infantry arrives.

The Germans under fire from HMS Fury.

The Infantry edge forward, but remain hidden at present.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons move to the cover of the hedgerow.

The end of Turn 3. Once again HMS Fury is on call and KO's an Infantry unit and suppresses the Pak 38. As the Argentuil Rangers advance, a Stuart is KO'd by the 105mm Artillery. The Infantry and Shermans advance but fail to hit anything! With perfect timing the German Panzer Training Kompanie arrives and promptly KO's another Stuart! 

'Hobart's Funnies' arrive and look like they will be needed to help take St Croix-sur-Mer.

A nice gun line that can't hit anything at present!

Stuart's burn as the Carrier Platoon look on rather nervously.

The might of the Panzer Training kompanie. In Normandy, every tank was a Tiger😉!

The end of Turn 4. Retribution is swift, as HMS Fury and the Regt de St Hyacinthe KO both the Pak 38 and the 105mm Artillery, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons get their range and KO the Pz IV and both Ft-17's (37mm)! The Germans can do nothing in reply due to the losses and lack of LoS to any French-Canadian units.

Relief for the Argentuil Rangers as the Panzers brew up.

At least they made an impact, if all too brief a one!

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons finally get their eye in.

'Hobart's Funnies' are in no hurry it seems.

Another Infantry Company arrives to try and take St Croix-sur-Mer from the flank.

The Germans struggling to take up meaningful positions in face of the weight of Allied firepower.

The end of Turn 5. As the last Ft-17 is KO'd by the Recce Stuart, the Infantry come under sustained MG, Mortar and Artillery fire, with three Infantry units suppressed. In response 'Hobart's Funnies' play a blinder (rolling double 1's twice in a row) and advance to the edge of the minefield and quickly dispatch a German MG unit. The Pak 36/36 with the Stielgranate hits the Churchill Crocodile, that barely notices it!

The Argentuil Rangers consolidate.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons move past the village and leave it in the capable hands of 'Hobart's Funnies'.

The Infantry await the tanks to do their work before advancing.

That's an awful lot of firepower to face!

On the left flank the Infantry close in on St Croix-sur-Mer.

The Pak 35/36  faces off against the Crocodile, as somewhat one sided affair.

The end of Turn 6. The Argentuil Rangers move off to the road that leads towards Creully, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons take up and all round defensive position outside of the village. The Crocodile makes light work of the Pak 35/36. The Germans simply have nothing they can respond with or have LoS to.

The Argentuil Rangers on the move.

The Shermans for a defensice laager.

The Voltiguers de Quebec move forwards now that 'Hobart's Funnies' are in such a commanding position.

Where have all the Germans gone?

The Infantry reach the orchard ready to enter the village.

The remnants of the German defenders.

The CO and a Mortar unit.

End of Game

At this point the game was pretty much up for the Germans, as they were more or less surrounded and with nothing that could really stop the French-Canadian armour or Infantry. So the only realistic option left was to surrender, which they did.

French-Canadian Losses

At the close of play they had lost two Infantry Companies and two Stuart Troops from the Recce Squadron. Whilst relatively light, the Voltigeurs de Quebec were almost down to half-strength now and the Argentuil Rangers would have limited ability to perform the Recce duties, which could impact the advance on Creully.

Post Game thoughts

Well that was nice to get this game in as part of my narrative campaign, after a long delay. In all the game took about 2 1/2 hours, so not bad and as always, it was great to be playing BKCII. Some thoughts on the game and campaign in no particualr order:

• HMS Fury and the weight of firepower she could bring to bear really helped the French-Canadians from the off. I think she may have bee a too bit overpowered, but need to reflect upon this for future games. Certainly without this and suppressing critical Germans units from the Start, such as the Pak 38, then the French-Canadians might have ahd a much tougher and bloodier task on their hands.
• Taking BUA's you really do need a lot of firepower, whether it be Artillery or the likes of 'Hobart's Funnies'. Now that the French-Canadians are moving out of Naval support range, this will become tougher for them I'm sure.
• 'Hobart's Funnies' once again proved to be deadly and vital to the ability to take and threaten BUA's. As the advance continues at pace now, they will most likely be left behind to move into Brigade or Divisional reserve. Time will tell.....
• With the Voltigeurs de Quebec now down to nearly half strength, it will be a much tougher ask for them moving forward. Certainly they will have to husband their resources and hope reinforcements are on the way from the beach, as they will start to face elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division.
• I'm a bit of a sucker for units such as the Panzer Training Kompanie, but they are great fun to deploy on the table and certainly add to the narrative, as they did here. I'm sure the AAR from the units involved will say they face Panthers or Tigers!
• The Typhoon had no chance to make a show as any targets of opportunity were quickly dispatched. However for the next phase and FAC will be available and so a cab rank system will be in place.
• For the next battle, the French-Canadians will need to push on with all speed before night falls, so that they can try and secure Creully. I need to think how I can fit this into a scenario alongside the elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division arriving. Much to think about.
• Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I think I could have placed a few German units more effectively, to help with LoS for the 81mm Mortar and the dug-in 105mm and 150mm Artillery units. Ditto the MG unit. C'est la guerre and all that!

What Next?

Well for this campaign I certainly need to paint up quite a few units, both German and French-Canadian. Alongside this new river sections are underway which again will be needed. I also have some new buildings to paint up too, so plenty to be getting on with, if time allows and I can concentrate on doing them all!

In between they maybe some more OHW scenarios or something along those lines. I do have an idea for the next one in the book, but need to have a good think about it first.

Real life and a holiday beckon these next few weeks, so it may be sometime before part three of the Normandy campaigns gets played. At least whilst on holiday we are planning on visiting the Museum of the Vendee, which will probably rekindle some thoughts on playing this conflict on some shape or form. As always, so many ideas, so little time!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

D-Day 6th June - Juno Beach - The Landings

So having set the scene as it were last post, time to crack on with the action. First some photos of the table, to give a sense of it's place in relation to the other beaches etc.

Love Beach. Mike Green Beach is at the top of the table, with Vaux off table top right. La Riviere and Gold Beach are off the bottom of the table.

Le Buisson is the hamlet top centre and the objective for the Canadians, as just past it is the 'Yew' first objective line.

WN33a surrounded by wire and mines. I didn't have enough wire, so used some tank traps in lieu of these. Oh the shame😉!

The view along the beach, covered by the Pak 40 in the bunker.

The MG Tobruk and Infantry in a trench.

The Panzerturm and HQ, with Infantry in Le Buisson.

MG, FAO and 81mm Mortar positions.

The view of the beach, which is eerily quiet...

The Canadians all ready to go.

The Action

As always, annotated photos will hopefully give you an idea of how things unfolded.

H-Hour -1. The pre-invasion barrage opened up, with the Landing Craft Rocket saturating the T-junction defences, causing immense damage. HMS Venus targeted WN33a, but failed to knock it out, as the concrete was too tough. 13th Field Regiment's Priest opened up from their Landing Craft, targeting the T-junction also. The weight of fire did not knock out any positions, but did cause them to be temporarily suppressed, which was the main aim for when the troops began to land.

The way off the beach looks open, as the wire and mines have been severely damaged, but are still a threat, albeit less than before.

The end of Turn 1: H-Hour. The first wave landed successfully, with the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons Shermans pushing forward, but the Voltigeurs de Quebec Infantry stalled on the beach and failed to move forward, possibly as a result of failing to get through to the St Hyacinthe Priests assigned to them. As the Germans recovered their senses, the Mortar opened up on the Infantry, but luckily the German FAO was off the mark with his Artillery, which fell amongst the Shermans, causing no damage. The Panzerturm opened up hitting a Sherman, but they returned fire, quickly knocking it out.

The Infantry stall and come under accurate Mortar fire.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons make light work of the Panzerturm.

The knocked out Panzerturm.

The end of Turn 2. The second wave arrives, but 'Hobart's Funnies' are late, but look set to land next Turn. As the Infantry land, they manage to suppress to Mortar as they call in support from the St Hyacinthe Priests. Likewise the Priests provide support, managing to suppress the MG Tobruk and cause the Infantry in the trench to break and run. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons come under fire from WN33a, which manages to suppress the Sherman, who in return pour fire into the Bunker, managing to suppress it before it can cause more damage.

The Shermans of the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons engage WN33a.

The Infantry still fail to move forward.

The second wave infantry make slow progress up the beach.

The German Infantry breaks under the weight of fire.

The end of Turn 3. The thrid wave arrives and thankfully the Mortar is once again suppressed by fire from the St Hyacinthe Priests. 'Hobart's Funnies' arrive and push forward, closely followed by a Company of the Voltigeurs de Quebec, who assault WN33a and knock it out, a major blow for the Germans. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons, seeing the threat from the Bunker neutralised, move carefully through the damaged minefield to began to try and break out from the beach head. The Germans fail to have access to their 105mm Artillery, but the MG Tobruk manages to suppress an Infantry platoon.

WN33a is knocked out in close assault by the Voltigeurs de Quebec.

'Hobart's Funnies' move forward, ready to try and clear the minefield.

The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons begin to push forward and off the beach.

The third wave Infantry ready to follow on.

On the left the Infantry are struggling to make headway.

The end of Turn 4. The minefield by WN33a is cleared and 'Hobart's Funnies' advance throught it, whilst the Trois-Rivieres Dragoons overrun the MG Tobruk and close in on Le Buisson. The German Mortar and MG continues to inflict damages on the Voltigeurs de Quebec, but the former is finally knocked out and the latter suppressed. The Germans manage to access their 105mm Artillery, which causes some casualties to the Infantry.

The way through the minefiled is clear.

The Infantry reform in the shelter of WN33a.

The demise of the MG Tobruk.

The Shermans close in on Le Buisson.

The dreaded Mortar is finally knocked out.

The Infantry stalled by accurate Mortar and Artillery fire.

The end of Turn 5. The Naval FAO manages to contact HMS Fury, which bombards Le Buisson and suppresses the Infantry unit in there. The St Hyacinthe Priests provide sterling support once again, supressing the remaining German MG. The Trois-Rivieres Dragoons overrun the German HQ, who flees off table, as well as closing in on Le Buisson, ably supported by 'Hobart's Funnies'. The Germans see that the writing is on the wall and surrender at once, as any further resistance is futile.

The Infantry finally begin to clear the beach.

The AFV's begin to envelope Le Buisson.

The German HQ is overrun.

The last Germans are suppressed and face the might of a Churchill Crocodile.

Infantry ove up towards Le Buisson, passing through the rocket damaged minefield.

On the left, the Infantry finally make it to the barbed wire.

A view from the German position in Le Buisson.

End of the Game

In the end a much quicker victory for the Canadians than I had expected. After a slow start and some stop start firing from the Germans, suddenly the Canadians were at Le Buisson and the game was all over bar the shouting. If I had played the normal Breakpoint rules for the Germans, then maybe by Turn 3 it would have required Break Tests, but that didn't feel right to me. In campaign terms the Canadians are off Love Beach more quickly than planned,  and have secured their 'Yew' objective line, so have a slight edge on the Germans in the next game, who will not have had as much time to respond to the landings.

Canadian Losses

So at the end of the action, looking at the hits spread across all 4 Companies, we have:

1 x Voltigeurs de Quebec Infantry Company

1 x Trois-Rivieres Dragoons Troop

Post Game Thoughts

This game/campaign has had a long gestation phase and, despite a whole toolbox of spanners in the work in the week, it was nice to finally get the first game played out. I did enjoy it and as always, a mix of post match thoughts in no particular order:

• I was happy with the visual look of the game. The Geek Villain beach mat worked a treat, even though the beach section is really too deep for 10mm games using BKCII. Something that would be easy to address for future games, but you don't know these things until you give them a try.
• Even though I'm very happy and comfortable with BKCII, trying to translate the historical pre-invasion bombardment into game terms was tricky, coupled with how tough or not to make the defences. In the end I think I got a good balance. I felt both sides had a decent chance to 'win', which would have meant inflicting more casualties for the Germans, which they could have done if they'd had another round or two of Mortar fire or if WN33a had another bunch of shots at the Trois-Rivieres Shermans. 
• I realised that as I was setting the game up that I really needed loads more barbed wire, but luckily had some tank obstacles to hand that could make a decent visual stand in, even though of course they were not used on Juno Beach. The sources I used all had slightly different takes on where and how much wire and minefields were used. In hindsight the Germans could have made use of slightly more depth for the defences, but that might have unduly unbalanced the game. Yet another tricky balancing act.
• Translating the Canadian OOB was very easy, as it is basically a standard Battalion, but with most of the organic support arriving later. For the Germans this part of Love Beach was just defended by a single Platoon, so I had to be a bit creative to give them a fighting chance and to make the game worth playing, so it wasn't just a parade off the beach. Hence including Le Buisson as part of the defence as well as on objective to fight for. In a sense this took on a similar role to that of Vaux that was attacked by 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade.
• As this is a small and narrative campaign game 'inspired' by the action of the aforementioned 7th Brigade, the whole action felt a lot more important and involved than if it were a standalone action. Taking the losses into account is part and parcel of this and really adds to the flavour and decision making moving forward.
• Reading the historical accounts and the casualties suffered seem about right, in the sense that they were inflicted by Mortar and MG fire. At the end I though the losses were higher than they were, so was rather relieved that the Voltigeurs de Quebec were still very much combat effective.
• This game worked well as a solo outing, as I could make reasonable calls and assumptions as the game progressed. If it had been face-to-face, then as the German players it wouldn't have been much fun and with few choices to make, other than roll some dice.
• I'm really enjoying playing this fictional French-Canadian Brigade, rather like I have with the South Gloucestershires. At some point it would be nice to add a bit more detail, ie commanders names etc, plus some unit labels to help with the narrative in the AARs. 

What Next?

Well aside from planning the next scenario, which will be and is always fun, I need to try and paint up some German ATGs, plus some British/Canadian ATGs and SPGs. Nice to have some focus and of course a sort of self-imposed deadline to work to. The next game won't be for another few weeks due to family commitments next weekend with Father's Day etc. Hopefully that will give me time to really crack on and get these new toys painted.

Well I hope you enjoyed that AAR and well done for getting this far! As always any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.