Scenario and AAR Hondeghem 27 May 1940

 

Battle of Hondeghem (27 May 1940) 

Scenario for Battlegroup Blitzkrieg 

The Battle of Hondeghem is one of the most famous small-unit rearguard actions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the historic retreat to Dunkirk. Ordered to hold a vital crossroads (Route D161) just outside Cassel, a scratch force of British troops found themselves directly in the path of the advancing 6th Panzer Division. The defense lasted for over eight grueling hours and featured vicious, point-blank street fighting, where British artillerymen were forced to fire their field guns over open sights at oncoming German tanks from distances of less than 100 yards. 

Scenario Terrain & Table Setup 

• The Table: Set up a standard 6' x 4' battlefield. A main road (Route D161) must run linearly from the German table edge straight through to the British table edge. 

• The Village: The central third of the map represents the village of Hondeghem, densely packed with European stone houses, walled gardens, and farms. Sightlines are extremely tight—treat all buildings as Hard Cover. 

• Objectives: One objective in Hondeghem town square exit to main road. German attacker places one other objective.  

Special Scenario Rules 

• Time is Pressing: The British are buying time for the main Dunkirk perimeter. Starting on Turn 4, the British player rolls a D6 at the end of each turn. On a 5+, a single reinforcement unit arrives from the rear British table edge. This rises to 4+ on turn 5 and 3+ on turn 6 and 2+ on turn 7 and autamatically on turn 8.  

• Stubborn Crews: The 18/25-pdr field gun crews from 'K' Battery will not abandon their positions easily. They are Elite for the purpose of unit morale Experience checks. 

• Inexperienced Searchlight Infantry: The British infantry support consists of green searchlight operators who are rated as Inexperienced. They must pass an Experience Test before they can an order. 

• Improvised Roadblocks: The British player may deploy two Roadblocks across the main thoroughfares within the village boundaries. Vehicles can pass a roadblock as dangerous ground. 

Orders of Battle (ORBATs) 

541pts  4 Officers and 2 scouts

British Expeditionary Force (BEF) mostly F troop K battery 5th RHA — Defender 

Battle Rating: 35 + 2D6   |   Command: 3 Officers 

Defenders  British deploy on table first

Forward HQ: Major Hoare (1x Officer in Staff Car) Artllery spotter special rule

'J' Troop, 5th Royal Horse Artillery: 2x 18/25-pdr Field Guns (deployed dug in) 

Searchlight Infantry Platoon: Platoon Command (1x Officer, 2x Rifles) and 3x Inexperienced Infantry Squads (Rifles + 1x Bren Gun each)  

Foxholes x1 

Anti-Tank Defence: 2x Boyes Anti-Tank Rifle Teams 

'F troop, 5th Royal Horse Artillery, 2x 18/25 pounder field guns with Morris prime movers.

Delayed Reinforcements (Turn 4+) from B squadron  1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry

1 HQ MkVIB Vickers light tank and 2x MkViB Vickers Light tanks 

Recce Patrol: 1x Scout Carrier Section  (with 2 Boyes AT Rifle), 1x Motorcycle Patrol 

German 6th Panzer Spearhead mostly 65 Panzer regiment— Attacker 

Battle Rating: 38   |   Command: 5 Officers 
Vanguard (Enters Turn 1 via Main Road) 

Forward HQ: 1x Officer in Panzer 35(t)

Artillery Observer team in Light Car

1x Reconnaissance  Sd.Kfz 247 

3rd Light Panzer Company: 

1 troops consisting of:

2x Panzer 35(t) and 1x Panzer 35(t) Troop HQ

and 1 troop consisting of:

2x Panxer II and 1x Panzer II Troop HQ 

2 Company  4th Infantry Regiment

Motorised Kradschützen Infantry Platoon: Platoon Command (1x Officer) in Kfz 15 car and 3x Veteran Infantry Squads on BMW motorcycles and side cars  

Motorised Schutzen Infantry Platoon: Platoon Command (1x Officer) in Kfz 15 car and 3x Veteran Infantry Squads in Medium trucks 

Main Body Reinforcements (Enters Turn 3) 

1 troops consisting of:

2x Panzer 35(t) and 1x Panzer 35(t) Troop HQ

Heavy Panzer Support: 2x Panzer IV (Short 7.5cm) 

Infantry Gun Section: 1x 7.5cm le.IG 18 Infantry Gun (towed by light truck) 

Artllery Support 1 battalion 76 Artillery Regiments 

1 battery of Light Panzer artillery (off table)

2x 105mm howitzers

Victory Conditions 

The game ends immediately when either side exceeds their Battle Rating.

• German Victory: The German player wins if they force the British force to break or successfully exit three functional vehicles off the British table edge before the game ends. 

• British Victory: The British player wins if they hold the crossroads, force the German force to break, or survive until the end of Turn 8 without losing all the 18/25-pdr field guns. 

 AAR

 

 

Scenario and AAR Crete Campaign Turn 2 Battle 3 Vlakheronitissia

 

Attack-Counter Attack at Vlakkheronitissia

Campaign day 1 Turn 2 Meeting Engagement Attack / Counter attack 

DUKE Forces Officer 1 BR17 Scouts 2 

1 Infantry Platoon (Regular)

1 Platoon command section 

1 2" mortar team

3 Infantry rifle sections ( 1 in reserve arrives from  turn 5)

1 Vicker Heavy MG and loader team

1 battery off table 2x 3" mortars 

Pre registered target point (Village chapel)

Timed 3.7" mountain howitzer  4x3.7" mountain howitzers (PRTB  corner field SW corner)  

1 sniper with spotter 

5 Cretan Irregulars (Elite)

5 Cretan Irregulars patrol (Veteran)

German Forces  Officers 3 BR 22 Scouts 2 

1  Fallschirmjaeger  Sturm Platoon  (Elite) 

1 80mm mortar team 

1 sMMG MG34

1 Forward Artillery Observer team

1 Timed Air strike by Ju-88 

1 sniper 

1 Fallschirmjaeger Foot patrol

 

We are making movement with counters on a hex map of northern Crete and then fighting out the engagements as they occur. The second turn includes the German second lift and the movements of the  troops dropped into the island at dawn in the first turn .  The German paratroopers are moving around the south side of Hill 107 whilst the New Zealand forces move to defend the key locations 

The relevant part of the campaign map. Arrows indicate to movement towards the battle

Cretan Irregulars prepare to ambush the advancing Germans with shot guns and old rifles

The 3.7" mountain guns open fire on a map reference east of the village

Cretan Irregulars cross rough ground toward the center of the village

A British infantry section advance past a crashed glider.

A Sniper and his spotter pin down the advancing paratroopers behind a stone wall.

Cretan irregular in the village main street. Capture an objective (marked with a drop canister) . There irregulars have just eliminated the advancing Fallschirmjaeger squad in close combat.

The Luftwaffe arrive to turn the tide of the battle. The Ju-88's  medium bombs didn't cause much damage  but the Battle Rating loss was key to causing the New Zealander to withdraw.

The Platoon HQ captures' another objective in the filed outside the village

The Grmans end with 18 BR out of a total of 22

The New Zealanders and Cretans reach 18 under combined mortar fire and air attack. and withdraw back up Hill 107.  Battle for the Village of Vlakkheronitissia and Hill  107 I began by deploying my scouts, sniper team, and Cretan irregulars in a stone outbuilding and surrounding rough ground within the German deployment zone. Their mission was to ambush German troops as they entered the table. What I had not anticipated was that the sniper and his spotter would eventually have to conduct a desperate close-range defence of the building, as I had inadvertently positioned them directly on the Germans' most likely route of advance towards the village. The main New Zealand  force advanced from the hill overlooking the village to the north-east, intending to seize the objectives represented by parachute supply containers. Each side had placed two objective markers. The Germans deployed their scouts within their own deployment area, covering what would become the main axis of their platoon's advance. The Ne Zealanders quickly established their Vickers machine gun and light mortar on the slopes overlooking the village. Two infantry sections then advanced: one towards a large building at the northern end of the village and the other towards the crossroads in the centre. The lieutenant and his headquarters section moved behind these units, intending to seize an objective located in the open ground. The Cretan irregulars were positioned to support the attack on the village centre. The German response was swift. They brought forward a mortar team and observer, supported by a heavy machine-gun team and an infantry section. The machine-gun and infantry units pushed through the rough ground toward the northern end of the village while the mortar team established a firing position to support their advance. The German mortar proved highly disruptive. Its harassing fire repeatedly pinned British infantry and significantly slowed the advance. However, British off-table artillery and New Zealander's 3" mortars eventually targeted the village centre, driving off the German observer and inflicting casualties on advancing Fallschirmjäger attempting to capture the same objectives. Despite the barrage, the Cretan irregulars pressed forward and contested the central objectives. Advancing through intermittent mortar fire, they successfully launched close assaults against German troops. In hindsight, I had placed these irregulars in an excellent position but failed to exploit their ambush capabilities fully by not issuing them enough orders early in the battle. As a result, German infantry were eventually able to pin them down and destroy them in close combat with grenades and machine pistols. Even so, they accounted for a German sniper and helped disrupt the German advance. Meanwhile, my sniper and spotter, stragglers from a British Indian Army unit proved extremely effective. From his concealed position he delivered enfilading fire against advancing German troops, repeatedly pinning them and preventing significant progress along the southern edge of the village. The New Zealand infantry experienced mixed fortunes. Some elements became pinned in olive groves near a crashed glider, but others successfully reached the village. Supported by accurate Vickers machine-gun fire, these troops launched close assaults that forced German defenders to retreat or surrender, allowing the British to secure another objective. However, the Germans continued to apply pressure through mortar fire. Eventually, a particularly accurate barrage struck the objective at the northern end of the village, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing the New Zealand infantry to withdraw following a failed morale test. This setback coincided with the arrival of a Ju 88 bomber, whose attack on the slopes near the village centre further shook British confidence. Recognizing that the battalion would be unable to hold it's territorial gains, the New Zealand commander ordered a withdrawal to the north-east. Until the arrival of air support, German progress had been limited. Once the Ju 88 entered the battle, however, the Germans gained their first significant foothold at the base of Hill 107. The capture of Hill 107 was a crucial objective. Controlling the hill would secure the landing ground at Maleme, enabling German reinforcements to arrive during later turns of the campaign. Though the British withdrawal denied the Germans a decisive victory in the village itself, the battle marked the beginning of a dangerous German advance toward one of the most critical objectives on Crete.

Scenario and AAR Forwards the Guards 4 Evening Assault on Cagny

 

Battalion Size Game 

Forwards the Guards 4 Evening Assault on Cagny

Background 

 By the evening of of June 18th it was becoming clear that the British had failed to break through anywhere. A determined German defence had held them. In Cagny the town was still in German hands. The Coldstream Guards where planning there attack when unexpectedly Grenadier Guards attacked across the fields from the south west. 

Cagny was heavily damaged by the mornings heavy bomber attacks this has cratered the area and choked the roads with rubble. Most houses are damaged. The town is not held by the Germans in strength. So the British Motorised infantry dismounted and supported by tanks pushed forward. Major Von Luck had re-enforced the defenders with 21st Panzers reconnaissance battalion. The battle raged through the long summer evening and by nightfall the Grenadier Guards had cleared the town and the German defenders had fallen back toward Frenouville to the east. 

Airphote of Cagny on 18th July 1944 after bombing. town and church bottom right. Guards attack from left

Game 

Attack Defence game 

The defenders deploy all their forces in and around Cagy at the South of the map.   The Grenadier Guards deploy 2 platoons of the Motorised infantry in the deployment area north of the town. As well as any reconnaissance elements which maybe deployed anywhere outside the German deployment area. The Grenadier Guards keep the Sherman tank squadron in reserve it may deploy after turn 5. The Grenadier guard take the first turn . The German player may place 1d6 unit on ambush fire before the game.

Place all Pre-registered targets and    

British Forces

from  Grenadier Guards Battle Group from 5 brigade Guards Armoured Division 

628pts  BR 45 Officers 3   Scouts 1 

from 1 Grenadier Guard battalion 

2 Motorised Infantry Platoons each with 

1 Motorised Infantry platoon command  5 men with 2" mortar and PIAT in M5 half track 

3 Motorised Infantry section 8 men with Bren gun and M5 half track

1  3" mortar teams  in Bren carrier

from 2 Grenadier guards battalion

Sherman Tank Squadron

1 M4A4 Sherman HQ Tank  

1 M4A4 Sherman Tanks  

1 Sherman Firefly 

1 Cromwell Mk V

FAO Team in Bren carrier

1 Motorcycle Dispatch Rider  

Off table 4.2" Mortar battery 

Pre-registered Target Point 

1 timed airstrike from Typhoon IIb

add any Motorised Infantry units that survived scenario 2 add 3BR per half track 

(for our campaign add one platoon)

German Forces

From 21st Reconnaissance Battalion, 21st Panzer Division and 16 Luftwaffe Artillerie Regiment

531 pts BR27  Officer 2 Scouts 2

 1 Forward HQ Major Von Luck

1 Forward signal unit 

Panzer Grenadier Platoon  consisting of;

1 Platoon HQ  5 men with 1 panzerfaust

3 Panzer Grenadier Squad  each with 5 men with MG42 and 1 panzerfaust

3 Medium machinegun teams each with 3 men with MG42 machine gun

1 combat medic

1 MG42 sMG with 3 crew and loader team of three men 

1 50mm light mortar with 2 crew 

1 Sdkfz 234/1 Armoured Car

1 Sdkfz 250/10 Recce command with 3 men

1 PaK 40 with 3 crew 

1 81mm Mortar Team and loader team 

off table 2 81mm mortars 

Add any Pak 43 guns that survived scenario 1  and add 2BR per gun 

(for our campaign added 2 88mm Flak 36 guns with Luftwaffe crews)

AAR: Evening Assault on Cagny

Setup & Deployment

We laid out the table to depict the flat, rather sparse terrain east of Caen where Operation Goodwood took place. The destroyed village streets—filled with rubble—occupied the top right of the table, flanked by surrounding orchards, a single long hedgerow, and a couple of small woods.

I played Major von Luck's German defenders holding Cagny, while my opponent commanded the Grenadier Guards. The German forces deployed first. I chose to place my main 88mm anti-tank guns along the hedgerow for clear lines of sight, with each gun supported by an infantry section and an MG42 team. The remainder of the infantry deployed in and around the outskirts of the village. Meanwhile, my support element—two armored cars from the reconnaissance company—lurked behind one of the woods as a mobile reserve.

Opening Engagements

The game got underway with the Grenadier Guards pushing down the main road toward Cagny in M5 Halftracks, deploying quickly to assault the infantry in the hedgerow. The British push started well, but my forward headquarters utilized Major von Luck's Tactical Coordination ability to unpin an MG42 team. The 88mm on the left of the line found itself out of ammunition. The team immediately laid down suppressive fire, pinning the British infantry assault in its tracks.

The British infantry then found themselves bracketed by mortar fire directed from the village; heavy casualties forced one section to flee the field while the remaining two scrambled for whatever cover they could find in the open grass. A Cromwell reconnaissance tank arrived along the hedgerow to support the attack with its main gun and machine guns, but the stubborn MG42 team lived a charmed life, resisting all efforts to flush them out.

Despite initial reinforcement delays, the Guards slowly whittled down the infantry defending the hedgerow and protecting the anti-tank positions. In response, our 88mm gun knocked out a Sherman tank, and mortar fire destroyed an M5 Halftrack, but the sheer weight of British fire gradually forced our front line back.

Artillery, Air Strikes, and the Turning Point

The British offensive was bolstered by timed artillery strikes and air support, primarily targeting the area around the village. The British artillery made excellent use of a harassing barrage, pinning down all but two of the German units. This forced me to spend a considerable amount of command effort unpinning units just to avoid an automatic loss from being unable to issue orders (Battlegroup's pinned loss condition).

This barrage was rapidly followed by an airstrike on the crossroads near the village. A Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB scored direct hits with two bombs, obliterating two machine gun teams.

Between the massive loss of Battle Rating (BR) caused by unpinning from the barrage the devastating airstrike, and the pinpoint bombing, my Kampfgruppe was left in a perilous state. I ordered the two armoured cars forward to provide covering fire, allowing the few surviving infantrymen to retreat from the hedgerow. However, a highly accurate 4.2-inch off-table mortar barrage—called in by a British artillery observer—bracketed the 88mm gun. The strike destroyed the gun and wiped out several crew members. The resulting BR loss broke the German force, forcing a rapid withdrawal toward our lines.

Post-Game Thoughts

After some initial frustration over their armored infantry's inability to punch through the front line, the British player used artillery and air power with historical accuracy to break our defense. It was a well-earned victory for the Guards.

If I were organizing the defense again, I would place fewer units on the front line and thicken the second line—perhaps placing an 88mm gun and more infantry further back. A single MG42 team almost single-handedly delayed the British advance until several Shermans and multiple infantry assaults finally cleared the road. Placing more infantry in a secondary defense line would have given the British far more trouble.

Overall, it was a great game. The British victory was decisive: they lost only 8 BR (though they drew two special counters), while the German force accumulated 32 BR loss, exceeding our overall Battle Rating limit by two.