Forward the Guards Scenario 3 July 18th Emieville Charge!
Background
The Irish Guards are the left flank of the advance and have been drawn southwards toward Emieville as the Coldstream Guards shifted there advance to the right.
Emieville has been reduced to rubble by the morning heavy bomber attacks. The Irish Guards maneuver around it and advanced eastward
Heading for the main road at Frenouville. Ahead of the Kampfgruppe Von Luck has hastily thrown a PaK front of Pak 40 and Pak 43. They have not even had time to dismount them from there trailers. As the Irish Guards come into view the guns open fire.
As the battle intesifies Lt Gorman's Sherman "Ballyraggart" round a hedgerow and encountered at 300 yards King Tiger 122. Gorman open fire and began to maneuever Feldwebl Gerber commanding 122 traversed his turret but Gorman rammed the King Tiger immobilising both tanks.
This is an Attack/ Defence scenario There are 3 objectives in this game placed by .
British Force
The Irish Guards3x Tank squadrons each with 2 Sherman III and 1 Sherman Firefly
1x FAC in Daimler Dingo
BR 28 Officer 4
German force
2x PaK 431x German Grenadier platoon
consists of
1x HQ
3x Rifle squad with 2x panzerfaust
3x MG42 teams
Reserves arrive from turn 4
Konigstiger 122
BR 22 Officers 2
AAR
We place 3 Objective markers, outside of the deployment zones. They where placed by agreement in German player into the woods he intended to grab early on. The other in the central field and on the track leading to the wood
The Battlefield - German defenders deploy on the left and British attack from the right
Currently my colleague and I are playing through the scenarios of the Forward the Guards! An Operation Goodwood campaign from the old Kampfgruppe Normandy rule set from Warhammer Historical. Using the Battlegroup Overlord rules and the historical forces presented in those scenarios. I am playing the British in the scenarios and he is the German force opposing Goodwood.
The German PAKfront in the wood line
Panzer Grenadier deployed in the hedgerows.
More infantry lurk.
The British tanks deployed from the far board edge advancing on their left and 2 troops up the centre. The Firefly’s hung back on over watch whilst the Cromwell’s advanced shooting to suppress the AT guns which they did to all but one PaK 40. It’s return fire missed but the infantry creeping close using the hedge fired off there Panzer Faust’s - one Cromwell brewed up another was abandoned by its crew.
The german 88's join the carnage
Heavy MG fire pins the British tanks.
The others tanks pressed on. The Firefly’s lacking targets for their 17 pounders rolled forward and began to use their MG’s (they pnly have a coaxial MG!) to suppress the German infantry. This was difficult with the infantries cover and the need to keep out of range of Panzerfausts and close range MG fire capable of suppressing a tank.
King Tiger 122 arrived on time in turn 4 and immediately opened fire on the nearest Firefly. Missing it’s own close range shots. The King Tiger seemed in trouble caught in cross fire between two Firefly’s but a turn of terrible shooting left the monster still rolling and bearing down the Firefly it destroyed it with two well placed 88mm shots. A PaK 43 torn open a Cromwell on the left and things looked grim for the Irish Guards.
The big cat kills 2 more tanks
The Firefly tries to cover from the rear but the 17 pounder bounce off.
A firefly destroyed
Without artillery the Irish guard struggled to suppress the German antitank fire using just their 75mm cannons
A lucky tank approaches the treeline.
The German player unsuppressed his guns again and immobilised one firefly with a Pak 40 and destroyed the other with a PaK 43. With few tanks left and even less HE ammunition the Irish Guards decided to make use of the fast speed of the Cromwell and raced forwards to crush the nearest PaK 43 beneath it’s tracks. The German’s faced the danger of the Cromwell doing the same to the guns to either side. The whole German PaK front might go the same way!
A single German AT gun is crushed beneath it's tracks ...no HE left!
Irish Guards lost a lot of tanks to a masterful combined arms defence and a rogue Tiger.
Now the tactical flexibility of the split German infantry squads showed. Orders started to flow to the MG42’s in close support of the guns they opened fire on the tank pinning it with a last ditch rush by the nearest Panzer Grenadier squad. With all the other British tanks now immobilised by a breakdown or pinned the British player had to take a counter to risk unpinning his last tank a 4 took the British over their BR total of 31 by 2. With tanks burning across the filed the Irish guards remaining HQ and FAC withdrew abandoning their immobilised tank.
The key feature of this battle was the use of the German Panzer grenadiers. The orders for the Germans went first to the Panzerknacker in the rifle section they prevented a quick British advance to engage the AT guns and forced the British tanks to spilt their fire. The high RoF of the sections means that at close range they can suppress the tanks and force counters to be taken to unpin them. Once they closed the rate of fire that each German section meant that orders could now be given to the MG teams to defend the guns of the PaK front.
The armour has the glamour but the infantry won this battle for the Germans.
The Battlefield - German defenders deploy on the left and British attack from the right
Currently my colleague and I are playing through the scenarios of the Forward the Guards! An Operation Goodwood campaign from the old Kampfgruppe Normandy rule set from Warhammer Historical. Using the Battlegroup Overlord rules and the historical forces presented in those scenarios. I am playing the British in the scenarios and he is the German force opposing Goodwood.
This is the third game in the campaign and is based on the events south of Emieville where the Irish Guards ran into the PaK front commanded by Major Van Luck.
A couple of slight changes based on available models. The Irish Guards swapped there Sherman’s for Cromwell’s and the Forward Air Controller was mounted in a Dingo not a Daimler AC. Three troop of tanks (with Sherman Firefly’s) unsupported by infantry would take 2 PaK 40 and 2 of the fearsome PaK 43 supported by a Panzer Grenadier platoon and the rogue King Tiger 122 would arrive as reinforcements.
I decided to post this because it illustrates some of the strengths of German Infantry when used to their advantage. The German infantry left the British wishing for even a couple of carrier sections to be up with the tanks!
The Germans set up there AT guns in the wood line with the MG teams from the Panzer Grenadiers in support. The rest of infantry sections scattered into the hedgerows that criss-crossed the battlefield (a 6x6 table).
The British tanks deployed from the far board edge advancing on their left and 2 troops up the centre. The Firefly’s hung back on over watch whilst the Cromwell’s advanced shooting to suppress the AT guns which they did to all but one PaK 40. It’s return fire missed but the infantry creeping close using the hedge fired off there Panzer Faust’s - one Cromwell brewed up another was abandoned by its crew.
The others tanks pressed on. The Firefly’s lacking targets for their 17 pounders rolled forward and began to use their MG’s (they pnly have a coaxial MG!) to suppress the German infantry. This was difficult with the infantries cover and the need to keep out of range of Panzerfausts and close range MG fire capable of suppressing a tank.
With a German squad each part has enough firepower that under 10” it can suppress an enclosed AFV on a 6+. Add the extra bipod mounted MG and this rises to a 5+. This means that even 5 infantry men in a hedge can hold up a attack by tanks and this is what they proceeded to do. In the next three turns the Cromwell’s tried to pin the threatening PaK and roll forwards whilst the infantry squads played hide and seek in the hedges with the Firefly Sherman’s. The tanks dared not stay still and become a sitting ducks. Pinning a couple of Cromwell’s with close range fire and slowing there advance giving the PaK extra time to pick off a further 2 Cromwell tanks.
The German player unsuppressed his guns again and immobilised one firefly with a Pak 40 and destroyed the other with a PaK 43. With few tanks left and even less HE ammunition the Irish Guards decided to make use of the fast speed of the Cromwell and raced forwards to crush the nearest PaK 43 beneath it’s tracks. The German’s faced the danger of the Cromwell doing the same to the guns to either side. The whole German PaK front might go the same way!
Now the tactical flexibility of the split German infantry squads showed. Orders started to flow to the MG42’s in close support of the guns they opened fire on the tank pinning it with a last ditch rush by the nearest Panzer Grenadier squad. With all the other British tanks now immobilised by a breakdown or pinned the British player had to take a counter to risk unpinning his last tank a 4 took the British over their BR total of 31 by 2. With tanks burning across the filed the Irish guards remaining HQ and FAC withdrew abandoning their immobilised tank.
The key feature of this battle was the use of the German Panzer grenadiers. The orders for the Germans went first to the Panzerknacker in the rifle section they prevented a quick British advance to engage the AT guns and forced the British tanks to spilt their fire. The high RoF of the sections means that at close range they can suppress the tanks and force counters to be taken to unpin them. Once they closed the rate of fire that each German section meant that orders could now be given to the MG teams to defend the guns of the PaK front.
The armour has the glamour but the infantry won this battle for the Germans.
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