The first action has the Guards "A" company defending the bridge on the outskirts of Herbillion against an advance force of tanks and armoured infantry.
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| "A" Company and supporting units (5 units in all) |
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| Panzer Grenadier forces (5 units) |
| Section from campaign map |
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| Tabletop layout using the campaign map as a guide. |
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| Turn 1 - Guards defending the outskirts of Herbillion |
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| Turn 2 - German forces move swiftly forward. |
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| Turn 3 - Germans are taking casualties but still advance across the bridge |
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| Turn 4 - Germans focus their attacks on the AT gun |
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| Turn 5 - German casualties are mounting while the AT gun is eliminated |
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| Turn 6 - In a last desperate bid German tanks force there way across the bridge, but quickly retired the next turn. |
Action at Rouge Farm
The action on the other flank saw a weakened "B" company with supporting mortars and M10/Achilles was tasked with defending Rouge Farm.
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| Panzer Grenadiers - 3 armoured infantry and engineer unit |
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| Guards - 2 infantry platoons, 1 mortar and 1 M10/Achilles unit |
| section of the map to guide the tabletop terrain setup |
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| Tabletop setup |
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| Turn 1 - The Geman attack moves forward targeting the fields |
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| Turn 2 - Armoured infantry start taking hits from the M10/Achilles unit supported by mortars positioned behind the fields |
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| Turn 3 - The Guards suffer the loss of a platoon who were holding the field. While the Germans lost their engineering unit in the assault. |
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| Turn 4 - The German assault continues. Two of their 3 armoured infantry units are now operating as infantry, the M10/Achilles shooting was particularly effective. |
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| Turn 5 - The mortar unit made a quick exit as German units advance |
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| Turn 6 - It was time to retire |
Both these actions were played over 6 to 7 turns and took 30 minutes or thereabouts to play. From a campaign perspective the action at Herbillion bridge was a definite success for the Guards with just the loss of an AT gun unit, and may hamper the Panzer Grenadier advance or force it towards the centre and where the bulk of the Guards units are. On the other hand, Rouge Farm proved costly with the loss of their mobile AT unit and "C" company reduced to that of one platoon.
The next post will cover the next round of campaign map moves.
Completing two actions in 30 minutes each is really astounding. I like these smaller engagements very much and your operational map adds so much to the narrative.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
The smaller engagements are great fun and easily done in an evening, even a busy evening. The operational background provides the context to the small games, which if just played on their own without this background would have limited playing appeal after a while.
DeleteGreat stuff. Forgive me if you have already posted it, but what determines when forces withdraw? Is there a 'break level' or is it your call as the player - or maybe the former for the Hun and the latter for the plucky Brits?
ReplyDeleteFor the withdrawals the Guards are determined by me as the solo player in this campaign. The Panzer Grenadiers have the general rule to keep pressing ahead until only two units are left.
DeleteThe way I am approaching the tabletop games is similar to the map campaign and capturing a series general rules to be applied. I will post these more towards the end of this campaign.