Brits in the Bocage - 15mm WWII Late War Game

Another 15mm outing but not solo this time, but an FtF game with Andrew using his AS9 rules once again.

Andrew had set up a scenario and a deck of cards with 10 activations each side, two black aces representing German snipers and 4 face cards for "random events" When one of the latter was drawn, Andrew would role a d12 and consult a table of possible events - as the Brits started the game with six tanks to 3 Germans, 75% of the random events benefitted the Germans - only a roll of 5, 6 or 7 would give my plucky Tommie's a helping hand!

Initial table layout - it was similar, but not identical, to the previous outing. Once again, victory conditions were a mixture of points for capturing the two larger buildings adjacent to each road junction, points for enemy units destroyed and also for the attacking British, points for having more units on the German side of the road than the Germans did. The Brits would attack from the bottom table edge above.

My ORBAT for the game.

British positions after the first three or four initiatives. The Germans were all concealed but marked by the white markers - if a British unit had LOS, it could roll to spot, instead of shooting in the firing phase, needing the standard 9 to succeed. I had two specialist recce units (Bren Carriers) that got a +2 on a spotting roll.

And to ruin the suspense, here is approximately where everything turned out to be located!

Around turn 5 or 6, the PzKfw IV appeared on the German right flank.

And one of my recce units spotted the PAK guarding the road on the other end of the German line.

First blood went to the Bosch, as the PzKfw IV put a 75mm round straight into one of my standard 75mm Shermans.

Meanwhile, the Brits went on a flanking move on their right, with an Achilles SPATG just making it to the German side of the road.

The second Achilles stayed on the road leading to the church and the PAK. It spent several turns fruitlessly firing HE at the German infantry in the church on the far side of the road. (I did not record the fall of initiative cards, but like the Russians in my midweek game, the Brits had the best run of them, for sure)

Another PzKfw IV is revealed and moves up to engage the Achilles.

The British infantry, meanwhile, had debussed from their M5 carriers and two units occupied the buildings opposite the church, engaging the enemy infantry unit in possession of the building. 

After two or three turns exchanging fire, the Germans were on four hits and forced to retire 2 D6. They carried on for two or three turns, failing to rally, and left the field of battle.

A second German infantry unit and their CO were revealed in the field opposite the British infantry position. These two groups now engaged in an exchange of fire that lasted several turns.

The Sherman in view to the left of the image above also destroyed the PzKfw IV on the Brits left flank - good shooting old fruit!

On the British right, the leading Achilles was destroyed by the PzKfw IV - bugger!

But as the successful crew repositioned, the second Achilles sitting on the road put an AP round from its 17lb gun straight into the turret - strike another Panzer!

The first event card came up - and Andrew rolled a 5! The Brits got an artillery stonk on a couple of bases of German infantry, but the comms between the FOO and the gun teams 5 miles away were not good, and the barrage caused no loss to the targets - still, that's one of four Andrew doesn't get to potentially bring on more tanks!

German infantry occupying the target building on their right/Brits left flank.

One of the black aces came up and a sniper took aim, removing one rally point from my command team (below)

The second and third event cards came out in quick succession - the Germans received a reinforcement of a Panzerschreck team, and again, the Brits got an artillery barrage. Unfortunately, the FOO was unsighted and had no targets to call in - but again, it's another one used up that won't see any German reinforcements arriving!

With all the German assets now revealed, the Brits were safe to advance over the road in an outflanking move, secure in the knowledge that the only remaining Panzer is at the other end of the table!

To add to the fun, the Recce officer (a good fox huntin' man) cried "Yoicks, Tally Ho!" and ordered his driver forward onto the German side of the road (with an eye to victory points, I was getting as many vehicles across the road as possible!)

The infantry mortars, meanwhile, eliminated the PAK crew, as things went from bad to worse for the Germans.

The above looks worse than it actually was - the panzer closest to the camera was already knocked out! Nonetheless, my infantry unit were in a sticky situation, with an armoured assault, supported by the infantry on the other side of the bocage - a plus three on the roll..... but the Germans rolled low and were forced to fall back as the Brits won the melee!

And then my 75mm Sherman in the woods put a round into the last of the Germans armour, knocking the vehicle out.

In the centre of the table, the British infantry had pushed back their German counterparts, and the command unit, targeted from the British right flank by my Sherman Firefly, reached four hits and had to retire towards the table edge. Like the infantry unit from the church, the command group also failed to rally and soon disappeared off the edge of the world!

The second sniper card came up and put a hit on my command unit and the last functioning German infantry unit pushed the Brits back (bottom left above)

But with no German armour left, the British tanks were free to turn the German right flank as well as the left - there were now 6 British units across the road and only 3 or 4 German units left on the field!

Publicity shot of one of the victorious British infantry units!

The German infantry in the centre had assaulted the presumptuous recce carrier and although the result was inconclusive, Lt Sassoon decided there was merit in the old saw "discretion is the better part of valour" and beat a hasty retreat. The Germans then picked up the Panzerschreck team and headed towards the isolated Achilles, which now seemed somewhat vulnerable, with no infantry support nearby. 

Fortunately for the Achilles, the next card was the final British initiative of the game, and it was able to reverse out of range of the nasty Panzerschreck! But that left the way open for the Germans to reoccupy the church (remember, holding the two pivotal buildings would be worth victory points at the end of the game!)

There were now 5 or 6 cards to play, all German, bar one remaining random event,,,,, could the Germans pull something out of the hat at the eleventh hour??

NO - they could not! Andrew failed to get the infantry into the church, the Panzerschreck team failed to overcome the British FOO in close combat and then, the final random event card came out. Andrew rolled the D12 ..... and..... another 5, you little beauty! The FOO was almost danger close to his target, the infantry unit sitting on three hits adjacent to the church - comms were perfect this time and the barrage landed smack on top of the wavering German infantry, causing 2 casualties, and forcing them to retire! It was a fitting metaphor for Andrew's luck all evening - the random events were stacked 3:1 in favour of the Germans - and the Brits got 3 out of 4 of them!

Final view of the battlefield - British armour is clear and in the open on both flanks, with infantry mounted back in their carriers moving up in support. The sole remaining German unit clings doggedly to the large double story building by the lefthand road junction, but the British victory was clear and overwhelming - another great game (well, I enjoyed it, anyway!)

As always with Andrew, a well thought out and constructed scenario and a lovely looking table to play on - a very enjoyable way to spend a few hours!

If you want to comment, you will need to be quick, as tomorrow I am off to a game at mate Barrys, which will be something of a change, as we will be using Marks extensive First Carlist War collection (with my small contribution of a British Auxiliary Legion brigade!), so in 24 hours or so, I will be posting an AAR on THAT game! Cheers for now.