Massacre at Maltot

 Enthused by his initial wargame, Ben requested another game before he had to head off home.  We chose a Normandy scenario based upon the operation to secure the village of Maltot near to Hill 112.

Maltot village, held by elements of 272 Infantry Division and supported by 10th SS Panzer Division in reserve, was a key objective for the Allies, in order to secure the high ground over looking Caen, Hill 112.

Here is the centre of Maltot, with German defences extended forward into the hedgerows and buildings.

On the British right flank are the Churchill tanks of 9RTR, supported by 5 Wilts and a 25pdr battery in direct support.

The Germans have infantry, anti-tank guns and machine guns in defensive positions.

A feature on the German right flank is the Chateau, held by elements of 272 Infantry.

The British left flank consists of more tanks from 9RTR, 4 Wilts and another battery of 25pdrs.  There are also some Royal Artillery M10 tank destroyers and an air OP.

Ben kicks off with and armoured push straight into the village.

Unsupported, one of the M10s falls victim to a Panzerfaust fired from the buildings:

The same fate falls upon a Churchill that gets too close to the infantry in the hedgerows.

And a second M10 is taken out by a Panzer IV lurking behind a hedge.

Two Tigers from 10 SS rumble forward on the German left and make short work of another Churchill.

And further Churchill burns in the village.

Having rallied, more Churchills enter the village, having driven out the German infantry in the large building.

Attention shifts to the German right flank as 4 Wilts begin their advance:

German infantry destroy a Churchill at close range:

And the Tigers take out the last of the 9 RTR tanks on the left flank.

A third Tiger edges through the streets and scores a hit, destroying another British tank.

Just as things were going well for the Germans, Typhoons streak over the battlefield, however instead of attacking the German Tigers, they make an attack on the infantry in the Chateau, forcing them to retreat.

A second RAF attack takes out a Panzer IV by the Chateau.  It is clear that Ben is making a concerted effort to attack the German right flank.

In the centre, the 10 SS Tigers drive the British out of the village, destroying another Churchill in the process.

An artillery strike destroys the last defenders of the German right hedgerow:

And one of the Tigers is taken out, but it is too late, the British are forced back and Maltot remains in German hands.

The British commander draws out the mess Webley and goes off to do the decent thing....

A very interesting game, with some stark lessons learned.  Unsupported tanks do not fare well in close country, and the Allied airpower should have been directed at the Tigers.  The British artillery could have been better used to soften up the hedgerows.  As in real life, Maltot was a really tough nut to crack, but I am sure the same mistakes will not be made in the future.

The game was played using modified Memoir '44 rules, a mix of mostly Airfix figures and Roco tanks.

The Churchill tank memorial at Hill 112, Normandy

New Blood?

 My grandson, Ben, came to stay for the weekend and he wanted me to show him an example of a wargame.  I set up a small game based in WW2 using adapted Memoir '44 rules.  The game was based on a German attack to secure a river crossing and an iron works being held by Soviet forces.  

The objective. German tanks have already crossed the river further upstream in a picture taken towards the end of the game:

I played the Germans and began my attack in true blitzkrieg style, with a massive armoured assault, supported by Stuka dive bombers and artillery:

Massed German armour pushing up the left flank is visited by a pair of Soviet Sturmoviks, causing some damage:

At the same time I push some tanks across the river using a ford up on the right flank:

On the left, a well defended hill, with tanks and anti-tank artillery proves to be a hard nut to crack:

In a counter stroke, Soviet armour advances up the right flank, supported by a well sited anti-tank gun:

The Germans take out many of the Soviet tanks but casualties are mounting and the headlong charge is proving to be very costly, with damaged tanks being pushed back or destroyed:

German artillery helps take out the Soviet guns, but are soon out of range of the deeper targets:

As in real war, the rapid advance of the tanks soon outstrips the slower infantry; the tanks attack slows down as casualties mount.  With well over half of the German tanks out of action and only a few infantry units available the germans call off the attack.  The battered Soviets retain control of the road bridge and the Ironworks.

Importantly Ben really enjoyed the game and is considering getting some tanks and figures for himself.  A new recruit perhaps!

A Poke in the Eye - Tank Action

 With a spare hour or two, Will and I decided to play a quick WW2 armoured engagement.  Sides and units were decided by dice throws. I sniggered inwardly as I got a German force and even more so as I was given some Panzer IVs, a Stug III platoon and some heavy armoured cars.  Will ended up with the Soviets, mostly T-34 76s, some amoured cars and a handful of T-34 85s.  This should be a walk over methinks.

The two forces were placed on a table of rolling open eastern European countryside.  

My plan was to bring my tanks up to a ridge and pick off his tanks as they emerged into the open ground. My Stugs sat poised behind the rise in front of them.

 The PZ IVs moved up in support:

My first success was the elimination of a BT-7 light tank, using my Stug tank destroyers:

As my plan unfolded my armour deploys onto the crest to take on the exposed soviets:

But my tanks are not shooting well and one of my Stugs is hit.

However, a T-34 is also taken out, but a PZ IV that joins the battle burns on the ridge:

Then things go bad for the Germans.  The dice gods are not friendly as round after round bounce off the soviet armour.  All the while German tanks are slammed by 76 and 85mm rounds. Soon the German defence of the ridge is defeated, with half of my tank force on fire and the Soviets continue to advance:

Suddenly it is all over, the Germans are defeated 6-2 and withdraw the remnants of the force to lick their wounds.  

All of the model tanks were Roco Minitanks, apart from some 3D printed Armoured cars.  The rules used were my own home grown 'Tank Action' rules, which I have explained elsewhere on this blog.

A Two Bob Battle - Eastern Front 1943

Yesterday Bob Black and his wife Sue paid a visit, and after a light lunch and extensive wargaming discussion the two Bobs settled down for a short wargame.  

I was keen to play test my 'Tank Action' rules, which are an adaptation of Charles Grant's rules from his book 'Battle'.  Movement and firing distances have been converted into hexes and and the whole armoured section is laid out on one side of A4. Here are the rules:

The battle takes place on the Eastern front in 1943, with the Soviets exploiting gains following the battle of Kursk.  The Germans are pulling back to a new defence line around the Dneiper river and seeing an opportunity, a soviet Guards Tank regiment is rushing forward to cut off the retreating enemy. They quickly outpace their infantry and artillery and hurtle headlong into a delaying force defending a low ridge. I played the Soviets while Bob controlled the Germans.

The soviet mission is to capture a small village, which is at the centre of the German delaying force position.

The Soviets advance towards the low ridge and the village objective is visible at the top of the table:

The Soviet force is made up of a large number of T-34 tanks of both 76 and 85mm variety and a lone tank destroyer.  In all there are 15 tanks.

The Germans hold the village  with a mix of Panzer IV tanks and anti-tank guns:

A major asset for the Germans is an 88mm gun hidden in a small wood, covering the road into the village:

The six German tanks are mostly concealed behind the low ridge:

Wishing to maintain momentum the Soviet leading tanks roar over the ridge to engage the germans, but quickly come under fire from two 75mm PAK 40s in defilade positions behind the ridge, the T-34s attempt to fan out and close in on the enemy, but are quickly taken out by the 88mm and flanking guns:

The initial soviet attack is blunted and their commander (me!) is shocked by the effectiveness of the ant-tank defence:

It was clear that small numbers of tanks would be picked off as they crossed the ridge and so the next few turns were spent bringing up as many tanks as possible in order to launch a mass attack towards the village:

Meanwhile, Bob brought up his Panzer IVs into firing positions along the high ground by the village:

As the Soviets shuffle into to position another T-34 is hit by a long range shot from the 88mm, which sits well out of range of the soviet tanks:

When ready the soviet tanks burst into view, coming under a hail of fire from the German tanks and anti-tank guns.  Another two T-34s go up in flames:

However, through sheer weight of numbers the soviets continue to roll through.  One of the German 75mm guns is destroyed along with a Panzer IV:

More Soviet tanks burst into the view and a close exchange of fire ensues (I only learnt from bitter experience how close the T-34s needed to be to take out the German armour).  More Panzer IVs go up in flames and I actually thought that the tide was turning in favour of the soviets.

The T34s roll towards the village and victory - or so I thought:

The 88mm firing along the road and the remaining 75mm firing into the Soviet flank soon  changed all this, as the exposed Soviet tanks suffer the same fate as those earlier:

Having lost well over half of their number the Soviet attack faltered and the survivors reversed back over the ridge.  It was a German victory and Bob and I retired to discuss the battle and the rules over tea. If the soviets had artillery and or infantry the outcome may have been different as the German anti-tank guns could have been neutralised.

The rules worked well, especially the observation/visibility element.  The final score was 9 - 4 to the Germans!

The vehicles, 88mm and tanks are all Roco Minitanks, with Airfix 75mms.  the game was played on a 5" hex board.