Sunday, November 25, 2007

Scotland Again

I wanted to try an airborne assault scenario as well as the night fighting rules so I moved the Third World War action back to Scotland for Thursday evening’s scenario. Carrying on with the narrative established at Dunny, I thought I’d have a whole battalion drop at night at another, more important, bridge further down the Black Dunny Water. Also carrying on with the toilet humor I broke out my Scotts Gaelic/English dictionary to look up the word for toilet as inspiration for a Scottish town name on the Black Dunny Water. There wasn’t one. I tried to look up every word I could think of along that line – water closet, outhouse, crapper, biffy, dunny, shithouse, excrement, defecate, urinate… you name it – not in my dictionary… Mind you it is a small dictionary probably for travelers. You’d think that an important thing for travelers, should they run into someone in Scotland that ONLY spoke Scotts-Gaelic, and really needed to… well… anyway… The, rather uninspired name for this evenings scenario was…

Dunnymuir, Scotland, 0200GMT 5 May 1988

SITUATION

While the 1st Company, 2nd battalion, 119th Parachute Landing Regiment, 106th (Tula) Guards Airborne Division was landing further down the road, virtually unopposed, at Dunny, the entire 1st battalion was landing at the more vital bridge/crossroads at Dunnymuir.

While this was a surprise attack, the worsening political situation with the Soviet Union prompted the MOD to up the readiness status of the armed forces – TA units found themselves regularly being called up for “readiness exercises” (with live ammo!). The Dunnymuir just happen to be on one such exercise, holding the bridge and crossroads at Dunnymuir, on the night of the invasion.

SCENARIO

The VDV would have ten turns to secure two objectives – the bridge at Dunnymuir and the high ground on Ben Dunny, over looking the bridge. For each objective held at the end of the tenth turn the Soviet player would score a minor objective (two minor objectives=one major objective). The British minor objective would be to prevent the VDV from taking either objective, the major objective would be to break the invading force.

FORCES

Soviet

1st battalion, 119th Parachute Landing Regiment, 106th (Tula) Guards Airborne Division

CO
2x Air Defence Unit (SA-7)
2x Support Unit (ATGW-Spigot)
FAC
1x Aircraft Unit (SU-25 Frogfoot)

3x Parachute Companies, each with:
HQ
8x Infantry Unit
2x Infantry Upgrade (RPG-16)

British

P Company (RHR), 5th Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers (TA)
CO
HQ
8x Infantry sections
1x Support Unit (SF-GPMG)
FAC
2x Aircraft units (Harrier)

I then game the British an optional reinforcement either:

B company, 3 Para
HQ
9x Infantry (Paras)
3x Infantry Upgrade (Carl G)
1x Support Unit (SF-GPMG)
1x Support Unit (ATGW-Milan) – not that they were allowed to fire on the towns buildings….
5x Transport Unit (UH-1 Iroquois) – borrowed from the Americans and ready to air assault

OR

C & D Coys 42 Commando
2 companies each with:
HQ
9x Infantry (Marines)
3x Infantry Upgrade (Carl G)
1x Support Unit (SF-GPMG)
1x Support Unit (ATGW-Milan)

THE GAME

Gary was the only one who showed up and so we diced for sides – Gary ended up with the British again and myself with the VDV. We then diced for air superiority and I won… HUZZAH! …for all the good it did me… I did only have PARTIAL air superiority…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

(Sorry about the quality of the photos, it WAS at night so I had to use night-vision equipment…)


The peaceful town of Dunnymuir at last light, 4 May 1988, just before the Black Watch TAs arrives for their town defence “exercise”.

TURN ONE

Russians


0200GMT Soviet Russian Air Assault troops have landed on the nearby moors.


3rd Company with the battalion HQ and support group landed Northwest of town with orders to take the bridge.


1st Company landed Southwest of town with orders to take the highgroung atop Ben Dunny.


The Scottish TAs in Dunnymuir. They weren’t allowed to initially deploy in the buildings as…welll.. there were people still living in them and there wasn’t yet a war going on when they arrived. Beyond the town, to the east, the Soviet’s 2nd Company was landing.


2nd Company, landing there to try and take the other side of the bridge.

Beyond landing the 1st company did three moves towards their objective, the 3rd company made one. The Battalion HQ and support group were busy sorting out their equipment and getting their bearings and there was some confusion as to what or where the 2nd company was as contact with them could not be made (they didn’t move either…).

British

The Scotts took no action this turn. At least that’s what I wrote down. I think they made no successful command rolls. I seem to recall the TA’s MG section firing upon my 1st Company, but I can’t remember if that was opportunity fire or if it was initiative fire…?

With all these failed command rolls on the first turn we were starting to wonder if anyone would be able to do anything. I was still wonder at the end of the game…

TURN TWO

Russians


During the Initiative Phase infantry sections of the 1st company returned fired on TA’s SF-GPMGs, silencing them. Then took no further action this turn.



The 3rd company took off towards town. One their first orders a number of them moved, other fired on and caused some casualties within one of the sections of TAs along the riverbank. The second order saw move moving and occupying the buildings on the Northwest corner of town, while firing from others finished off the section of Scotts. A third set of successful orders saw VDV troops assaulting out of the building and wiping out another section of Scotts behind a barricade on the edge of town before retiring back into the building to take stock of the situation and consolidate their hold on the buildings.


3rd Companies approach to the town from the Northwest.


The 2nd Company got themselves together and made two moves to the tree line opposite the village.

The Battalion HQ and support section were still sorting out their equipment and so remained static once again.

British

No reinforcements arrived this turn.


The FAO called in some Harriers that were on standby and bombed the 1st Company as they tried to advance. Some causalities were taken and two sections suppressed.

The CO then rolled a command bonus and did some shifting of troops within the town – mostly occupying buildings where practicable. The platoon on the East end of town then started pouring fire down on the 2nd VDV Company knocking on section out of action.

TURN THREE

Russians

Those of the 1st VDV Company not suppressed by the Harriers continued to make their way slowly around Ben Dunny to find a scaleable slope. Both the 2nd and 3rd VDV companies took no action at all this turn. there was some confusion among the ranks as all tried to assess the situation and enemy strengths in the dark.

The Battalion HQ and support section finally got underway, though not in a great position one of the SA-7 sections set up where they landed to help cover the force against any further Harrier attacks. The other SA-7 section and the two Spigot sections began making their way towards the town.

British


The first company of Marines (J Coy) arrived. This caused some worry among the VDV support units!


The FAO called the first flight of Harriers in on target. The SA-7 fired (along with the 1st Company’s HQ) and scored three hits! HUZZAH! Blew them out of the sky! …. No, wait, the Harriers get a 4+ save and saved ALL THREE. Well….

So they strafed the VDV causing more casualties but nothing significant enough to slow down these elite troops


The second flight however was a bit off target (BLUNDER!) and dropped bombs on the village causing hits on the CO, FAO, one section and a building! Only the CO, however, was suppressed by all this!

TURN FOUR

Russians

My FAO was finally in a reasonable position with a nice juicy target (J Coy, RM) – but he was unable to get any support. The air force was busy up and down the glenn and indeed all over northern Scotland.

The 1st VDV Company continued to make their way slowly (1 move) around Ben Dunny. There was something seriously wrong with the 2nd VDV Company because they continued to take no part in this action. The 3rd VDV Company did some firing and repositioning of troops on the Northwest end of Dunnymuir, suppressing some Scotts.

The CO issued one order. Move the support units! This drew opportunity fire from J Coy which KOed the SA-7 and suppressed the two ATGW sections. Having no further units to issue orders to the Russians called it a turn.

British


More Marines arrived (K Coy). They charged on to the table and made two further moves beyond that, seriously threatening the 1st VDV Company’s position.


J Coy assaulted forward twice taking out the remaining SA-7 section and finishing off the ATGW sections. This brought them startlingly close to the back end of the 3rd VDV Company!


Some very effective coordination between ground and air elements saw the 1st VDV Company take further casualties from some extremely accurate Harrier attacks. They lost their HQ and had 4 sections suppressed. (We realized afterwards that we had forgotten that HQs were only hit on sixes…. Whoops…)


The TA got another command bonus and tried to leave the bridge (they had moved there during their previous command bonus on turn two). Opportunity fire KOed one section and suppressed the other. At the other end of town the TAs made better use of the command bonus by taking out another section of the 2nd VDV Company. They probably would have killed more but there was only one left within LOS as the rest were still sitting in the woods or beyond hedge rows having done nothing for the last couple of turns.

TURN FIVE

Russians

The 3rd VDV Company did some initiative fire on TAs in the village. That was it for action taken by ground forces this turn. None of the CHQs or the BHQ(CO) successfully issued any orders this turn. (The HQ for the 1st VDV Company was being replaced… so... he had an excuse..). I think it’s time to start incorporating some NKVD Commissars into my Russian units to execute inefficient or ineffective commanders…


The FAC, however, did his job this turn. A flight of SU-25s were called in on the advancing K Coy and caused some disruption in the unit.

British

The British FAO was unable to call any air strikes in. Probably all the Migs escorting the SU-25s chased them off.

In the wake of the air strike K Coy’s rapid advance stalled – while they took stock of the damage and prepared to evacuate casualties.


J Coy, however, carried on over running one unit from behind (above) and carrying on further towards the town to relive the TAs valiantly defending the village and bridge.

Some of the TAs in town tried to move again – The section on the bridge was suppressed again but the one behind the barricades in the street opposite the buildings occupied by the VDV successfully made it into the better cover of the adjacent building.

TURN SIX

Russians


Three sections of the 3rd VDV Company attempted initiative moves to either turn around and/or move into cover. Because I am an idiot and forgot that they COULDN’T – the marines of J Coy suppressed all three of them with opportunity fire! DOH! That might have changed things a bit as they would have all been able to fire on the advancing marines and hopefully suppressed some of them and blunted their onslaught. Also one would have been in hard cover instead of the open on the British end of this turn. Ah well, live and learn – won’t forget that one again.


The 1st VDV Company finally dispersed a bit, to hopefully limit the effectiveness of further air strikes. They also started picking up the pace a little (2 moves), making their way up Ben Dunny to join the FAC who had been already been there for a couple of turns.


The 2nd VDV Company finally got moving (one move) which got some more of their sections up to the front edge of the woods where the Scottish TAs could then kill some more off one by one and the VDV would be unable to reply (they were within the initiative range of the “flexible” British – but the British were not within their initiative range… Perhaps once K Coy was dealt with and the 1st VDV company was securely on Ben Dunny I could shift the attacks of the SU-25s to the east side of the village to soften them up for the slow motion assault the 2nd Company was sure to carry out…)

The only unsuppressed section in the 3rd VDV Company shot up the Scotts still stuck out on the bridge, suppressing them once again.

I some how didn’t manage to get a picture of it, but the Russian FAC called in another strike on K coy still all bunched up – 9 hits, 5 suppressed, 2 KOed, including the HQ (again I think we forgot about the only hitting on sixes for HQs here – comes around, goes around I guess…).

British


Despite being all nice and dispersed, and the air being thick with Russian aircraft, those maniac Harrier pilots got a couple of runs in on the VDV climbing Ben Dunny suppressing three sections.


J Coy started the turn with a command bonus. Supremely controlled and aimed firing KOed three sections of the 3rd VDV company. Then the marines moved. Then they did more firing KOing another section. Then they rolled ANOTHER command bonus 35 firing dice only managed 4 hits and no suppression, so they just ran in and assaulted anyway, taking out yet another section of VDV.


Here’s where everyone was when the dust settled after J Coy’s amazing assault. That’s the VDV’s CO and the 3rd VDV Company’s HQ with their cheese hanging out in the wind there… All that remained of the 3rd VDV Company were two sections of infantry, which were on the other side of the building….

Oi…!

If that weren’t enough the TAs then went KOing one of those remaining sections of the 3rd VDV Company – which was in a building!? They also suppressed two sections of the 2nd VDV company – you know, those guys creeping around in the bush, in the dark, east of town that hadn’t fired a shot all game….?

Yeah…

Things were looking pretty grim and Gary had to skedaddle so we called it a night. I thought about playing out another turn or two just to see, but things were looking rather hopeless for the VDV at this point so I just packed things up…


The overall situation at the end of turn six.


The town, as seen from Ben Dunny.


Another view of the town, still, more or less, securely in the hands of the defending Scotts.

CONCLUSIONS

I thought the -1 command penalty for darkness created an acceptable amount of static. Sure makes you appreciate well trained units with experienced and competant commanders. The limited visibility worked out okay too. I thought perhaps it could be limited a bit further, or perhaps there could be an additional penalty for shooting at units particularly at longer ranges. Gary and I thought perhaps a -1 die for shooting at targets over half range…? Maybe artillery and air strikes could add an extra deviation die at night?

If I were to do something similar again I would have given the Soviets ONE objective with 8 turns to take it or a major victory and 12 for a minor victory (just as suggested in the book). I’m also not sure I would give them the option of two reinforcing battalions – maybe just one which may or may not be airmobile…

As this was the first time I was using air strikes with gen-u-ine AAA on the table I went through the procedure step-by-step the first time Gary called in his harriers – it was only then did it occur to me that the SA-7 had to DEPLOY before being able to fire… whoops… I should have also spread the SAMs and ATGWs out among the companies instead of keeping them grouped with the CO… ah well, live and learn.

The first of my BMDs arrived Thursday - they immediately went to the top of the “to be assembled” pile! Expect to see them dropped on Scotland soon!

I also want to make some terrain. More hills and mountains, and a bunch of houses with removable roofs and room inside for stands – just so it’s a little more clear who is in what building and facing which direction, for the purpose of firing out and assaulting in… also ruined versions for when they get destroyed by guns and bombs! HUZZAH!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Retreat from Capuzzo

At the end of Operation Battleaxe the 22nd Guards Brigade had to retire from Fort Capuzzo, which they had captured only two days before, as they were in danger of being surrounded and cut off. I thought I’d run a scenario loosely based on this as a follow on from my Operation Battleaxe scenario from a few weeks back.

North Africa, 17 June 1942

SITUATION

Operation Battleaxe has failed to relieve the Australians at Tobruk. In the previous days engagements the 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades lost over half their tanks and have fallen back. In danger of being cut off and surrounded the Guards brigade must retire at once!

SCENARIO

Similar to the Pursuit scenario from the Blitzkreig Commander book except that the British had to deploy anywhere on the German half of the table. As the table was 2m the closest the British (and Scottish...) could deploy to their table edge would therefore be 1m – so I decided to give them 10 turns to get off the table rather than the 8 turns in the standard scenario.

FORCES

The British

22nd Guards Brigade

HQ (brigadier I. D. Erksine)
2x AT Platoons (2 Pdrs) + attached trucks
1x FAO & 3 Batteries of 25 Pdrs (2 HE assets each)
1x MG platoon (from Divisional MG Battalion?)

2nd Battalion Scots Guards
1x HQ
9x Infantry Platoons/stands (4 companies of 3 platoons)
1x Mortar Platoon (3”)
1x Carrier Platoon (recce)

7th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (attached in direct support)
1x HQ
3x Matilda Troops


The Germans

CO
1x Armoured Car Patrol (Sdkfz 221 – from 33rd Reconnaissance Battalion)
FAO + 3 Artillery Batteries (105mm)
FAC + 1 fight of Ju-87 “Stukas”

2 battalions of 104th Rifle Regiment, each with:
1x HQ
9x Infantry Platoons
2x MG Platoons
1x Mortar Platoon

Elements of 8 Panzer Regiment
2x HQ
6x Light Panzer platoons (PzkwIII – short 50mm)
2x Medium Panzer platoons (PzkwIV – short 75mm)


THE GAME

I took the British forces and Gary took the Germans. I planned my scheduled assets and then we all set up. I basically planned my barrage to come in right where my infantry started the game – except on turns four and five – guessing that that’s when the Germans would get there. It they weren’t quite there by then – that’s okay, hopefully it would act as a deterrent to proceed for a turn or two giving my lads a couple of turns to skedaddle!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

The British line at the start of the game.

TURN ONE

Germans


The Germans rolled onto the table. The dismounted infantry moving further than the motorized troops…?


General positions at the end of the German turn. If you can’t tell the thin line in the foreground are the British. They have to get off the table edge at the bottom of the picture. Beyond the British are the Germans in hot pursuit!

British

The tanks trundled off in the general direction of the Suez Canal for one move…and that was it for the British… No artillery. No successful orders from any of the other HQs. Not a good start.

TURN TWO

Germans

Everyone advanced again. Stukas began their screaming dives at the retiring tanks successfully suppressing one platoon. Artillery was called in as well suppressing a whole company of Guardsmen. (Dang-it! I forgot to bust out the KRUMP markers again!)

British

The commander of the shattered remains of 7RTR called out to his men something like “Come on, lads! Pip-Pip! Tally-ho! Last one back to Alexandria’s a rotten egg!” The tanks scored a command bonus and tore off into the desert with as big a cloud of dust as Matilda could churn up!

The bulk of the Guardsmen, however, decided to remain where they were. Taking that give noe ground/never retreat thing abit far if you ask me! The CO, however, successfully directed the Brigade and divisional assets (AT and MG Platoons) and one company of Guardsmen to the rear for a couple moves.


The general situation at the end of Turn Two


The British begin a staggered retirement.

TURN THREE

Germans

The 1st Panzer Company, on the west side of the table – pursuing the Matildas, move.

The 1st Infantry Battalion, following the 1st tank company, move. Three times. By the end of this turn they’ll have gone twice as far as the lorried infantry in the 2nd Battalion.

The Stukas are called in and catch a single platoon of Guardsmen in the open. 10 attacks – did I mention they’re in the open? – 2 hits. I don’t think they were even suppressed…

The 2nd (lorried) Infantry Battalion debus. That’s all.

The 2nd Panzer Company rolls up and pounds the Guardsmen, still dug in, in their original positions. Three platoons are suppressed.

The German artillery also catches retiring guardsmen out in the open and suppresses two platoons of them as well as the CO!!!

British

The Matildas open fire in the Initiative Phase and suppress three platoons of panzers! Carrying on in the Command Phase, they shoot them up some more knocking out one platoon and forcing another to retire 9cm (SO CLOSE!!!). They then retired for two moves!

A few of the unsuppressed guardsmen did a reaction move away from the Germans in the initiative phase (“When are they going to give us the order to leave” – “EFF the order there’s a bloody German tank company just about on top of us, let’s go!”) and continued on for another move in the Command Phase.


The General situation at the end of Turn Three – Gary’s starting his moves for turn four already.

TURN FOUR

Germans


The 1st Panzer Company got in four round of firing. This wiped out one platoon of Matildas. The platoon that’s about to snuff it can be seen at the extreme right of the picture.


“Artillery caused havoc” – that’s all I wrote down for notes. I don’t recall exactly what happened, but I imagine it involved this lot of Guardsmen (in the picture above) being suppressed.


The 2nd Panzer Company continued to pound the Guardsmen to their front (above). They knocked out an entire company worth of them. I imagine, rather than dying to the last man as many wargamers might assume when three stands are taken of in such a situation, that after a short pummeling a few dying and a few more being wounded, the majority would have given up in this hopeless situation and began their long march into captivity.

The German infantry all moved forward a bit.

British

First turn or scheduled artillery comes down. This successfully suppresses the Germans FAO and a couple of my own Guards platoons and their HQ…

The tanks rolled a Command Blunder – it turned out to be “Pull Back!” – which wasn’t so bad – at least it kept them moving towards their objective, if only 5cm towards it…

The CO managed to retire the troops under his control a considerable amount. Maybe four of five moves worth, I can’t remember.


Here is the general situation at the end of Turn Four. At this point I realized the camera was set on ISO 800 – hence all these grainy pics in the first half of the game. CURSES!

TURN FIVE

Germans

A lot of moving took place. That’s about it. Well for the on-table units….


….the Stukas came screaming in dropping bombs on the Matildas again. Hitting two, suppressing one.

British

The second turn of scheduled artillery came in. Gary had conveniently moved his Germans up into the barrage zone thinking I couldn’t possibly hit the same place two turns in a row! Loads of stuff was hit. Two infantry, the infantry HQ, and the FAO were all suppressed. All units at the front of the advance, effectively slowing the Germans advance for the next turn (as they couldn’t advance through suppressed units).

That was all I wrote down for the British this turn. I assume they also did some retiring. But I can’t remember who exactly issued what orders and who went how far.


This, however, was the general situation at the end of Turn Five…

TURN SIX

Gary had to go. There were some rowdies making an awful lot of noise out in the street, so he decided to stick around and play out one more turn in hopes they would leave.


The Stukas, though called in could find no targets. The 1st Infantry Battalion assaulted some of the trailing Guardsmen. Unsuppressed Guardsmen. I don’t think Gary will be doing that again. Despite having two units in base contact with my one, and five or six units in support, I shot up the one that attacked my front on the way in and did a further three hits in the close assault for a total of six. Gary, out of all the dice he rolled, only scored four – if he had scored one less the assaulting units would have been wiped out and three quarters of his battalion suppressed! As it was one of the assaulting units was wiped out the other was suppressed and retreated into one of the supporting units directly behind it, suppressing it as well.

The Guards platoon used their consolidation to move just a touch closer to Cairo.

The hooligans outside had calmed down or buggered off so Gary took his leave. I decided to soldier on as the game was just getting to the exciting part.

British


There were no LRDG on the board but I thought the beret went more with my general scruffy-looking appearance of late…

The tanks made two moves towards salvation.

The FAO made the only successful roll in the entire game. I swear ta gawd this is what happened. He called in the artillery on the nicely packed together German infantry battalion immediately to his front (less than 10 cm to the nearest one, less than 20cm to the center of the mass!) A barrage wouldn’t have caught any significant additional Germans, but would definitely have caught some retiring Guardsmen so I figured I might as well call in a concentration… The guns wiped out five units (three infantry, one MG and one mortar) as well as the HQ! The other four units caught in the maelstrom of 25 Pdr shells were suppressed. No really, that’s what I rolled – they’re infantry in the open with 9 dice pounding them!

The Tanks rolled a command blunder (“CEASE FIRE!”), with no appreciable effect – other than to keep them from going anywhere this turn, and the CO got everyone under his direct control to move once.


The General Situation at the end of Turn Six. The little bunch of troops just to the left of center of with the little grey dice next to them are the shattered remains of the German 1st Infantry Battalion.

TURN SEVEN

Germans


With initiative fire some German infantry suppressed two platoons of Guardsmen. These were probably the ones that just survived the assault by the 1st Infantry Battalion.

1st Panzer Company made one move.

The 2nd Panzer Company got caught in a crossfire (Command Blunder!).

The FAO was finally back in action and called in artillery on some retreating Guardsmen, suppressing an entire company of them.


Stukas dive-bombed some infantry, suppressing them.

Finally the CO rolled another Command Blunder; “CEASE FIRE!” (No really, man! That’s what I rolled!)

British

The tanks and AT detachment rolled off the table this turn, as did the MG platoon. The rest were probably suppressed.


The general situation at the end of Turn Seven. Things looking hopeful for the British – if only they could have a turn where their infantry aren’t suppressed by German artillery…

TURN EIGHT

Germans


Initiative fire saw another Guards platoon KOed.


In the Command Phase the 1st Panzer Company made one move, fired on another Guards platoon suppressing them, the rolled a Command Blunder; “PULL BACK!” (all these command blunder for the Germans just after Gary leaves… it’s really got to make you wonder, eh?)

The 1st Infantry Battalion also made one move, fired on yet another Guards platoon knocking them out the action, and then proceeded to move some more.

The 2nd Panzer Company rolled forward twice, over-running the Guards HQ.

Artillery managed to hit two Guards platoons, but they soldiered on un-phased, the CO and FAO weren’t so lucky – they dove for cover and stayed there for a turn…!

The 2nd Infantry Battalion’s HQ failed to issue any orders this turn. the CO fired him and took over. He got the battalion moving. The moved once. Then they moved again. They he rolled a command bonus and they did a double move. Then they moved one more time…. They had finally caught up with the infantry that had started the game on foot!

British

The RTR HQ, which was still on the board – and the only un-suppressed command unit, issued one order to three Guards platoons to move… that’s it.


This is the general situation at the end of Turn Eight. Things were looking a little grim for the British. At this point I had six units off the board, seven units knocked out, and four still on the table. I needed to get two of them off to achieve a major objective! Of course the Germans only had to knock out two more to cause break tests….

TURN NINE

Germans


The tide of Germans washes in…


The 1st Panzer Company rolled up and blasted one Guards platoon out of existence.


Then the 2nd Panzer Company rolled up and pounded a second Guards platoon scoring five hits, but not one suppression!!!


The Stukas were called in and bombed another Guards Platoon to bits – there I am at my breakpoint….

The infantry all swarmed up, but took no further action.


Blurry though it is this is the situation at the end of the Germans half of Turn Nine…. Can I pass my break test? Will I get those two final units off?!

British

They pass the Break Test.


I made one initiative move away…. Still going to need orders to carry them off the table… success! Opportunity fire, however, knocked out one platoon and suppressed the other… I called it at that point, they weren’t getting away…


So close, yet so far. The final position of the last British unit on the table.

CONCLUSIONS

British Losses:
1 HQ
9 Infantry Platoon
1 Mortar Platoon
1 Tank Troop

German Losses:
1 HQ
1 Tank Platoon
4 Infantry Platoons
1 MG Platoon
1 Mortar Platoon

I’d call it a pretty clear victory for the Germans. Both achieved a minor objective, If turn ten had been played out the Germans might have gotten a major objective (if the British broke). The Germans definitely took out more stuff. Yeah, I’d probably have to call it a major victory for the Germans… (There! See?! Couldn't have been cheating that much if the Germans still won, right?!)

A cracking good game I’m really starting to get a handle on these rules.