Advance of the 11th Armoured : Operation Goodwood

For our next 6 mm battle in Normandy we wanted something tank heavy. Goodwood is the obvious option.....as far as I know the largest AFV battle to take place in the Western European Theatre. Monty looking to finally break out around Caen and/or tie down (depending on whose history you read) the concentration of Panzer divisions  facing the British so the Americans further west could break out into France.

Cromwell tanks preparing for Goodwood

Unlike further west the ground was open, 'good' tank country with good visibility, the allies have an almost unlimited supply of tank and vehicles, total air control, overwhelming artillery support from naval vessels offshore. What could go wrong ? The Germans facing the Goodwood attack were of course some of the toughest armoured fighting units at any point during WW2. With limited supplies they still had some of the best weaponry available. Tiger Tanks and the infamous 88mm antitank and converted flak guns.

Would the overwhelming numerical superiority of the allies simple roll over the thin German lines. Prior to the tank attack lead by the 11th Armoured Division the Germans had been subjected to one of the largest (at the time) bombardments from sea and air, unfortunately this has fallen short of some of the key objectives of the attack.

Due to scale I have had to compress the battlefield, but have included the village of Le Mensil Frementel which the allies captured early in the morning. This overview of the way the key elements of the 11th Armoured Division advancing as they did on the day. The 23rd Hussars towards Cagny a key objective, the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment pushing across open ground towards the Bourgebus Ridge.

The ground was very open not boccage country and ideal for German antitank weapons.

The Germans have 88mm flak guns dug in, in the orchards and woods around Cagny

They also have strong 88mm batteries on the Bourgebus ridge itself. They also have anti-tank units in many of the small villages in the area.

The objective for the allies is to sweep across the open ground to capture the villages and push the Germans off the ridge. Using Blitzkrieg Commander we have given the allies a numerical advantage.

The battle begins, but as soon as the Shermans and Cromwells cross the railway line they come under long range 88 mm fire. Some are immediately brewed up others become suppressed.

The allies have additional air support in the form of Typhoons armed with ground attack rockets. When they strike these are devastating even where the Germans are dug into villages.

The advance slows but is able to fire back at the gun batteries in and around Cagny. They are lucky and knock out he majority of the guns. The Germans immediately bring up the heavy Tiger tanks of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion which move into the village.

More allied tanks begin to smoke.

The focus of the battle becomes Cagny itself, and the 2nd F&F Yeomanry are brought across the support the Hussars. The remnants of the RTR can be seen burning in the foreground.

The Typhoons continue to pound the village of Cagny but casualties on the allied side are gradually mounting up, eventually they reach breaking point and are forced to pull back. The Germans have held the line but it has cost them valuable resources which can't be replaced.

A victory then for the Germans but just. With the scenario set up the way we did there was always going to be a strong chance that history would repeat itself, as it did. The battle continued into the 19th and the 20th we will be back for some more soon 😀

Battle for Cambes en Plaine : June 1944

The second in our Battle for Caen Campaign. Later on the 7th June (I have seen several different dates for this ?) the 12th SS Hitlerjugend had captured the village of Cambes en Plaine. The 2nd Royal Ulster Rifles were tasked with re-taking the village as part of a wider counterattack by the 9th Canadian Division. The Rifles were supported by tanks of the East Riding Yeomanry, Divisonal artillery support, Naval artillery from HMS Danae and Royal Engineers.

This was going to be a tough scenario for the Allies with the Panzer grenadiers dug in in the village and supported by a strong battery of 88mm guns.

The start of the allied advance, the Royal Ulster Rifles entering form the North (right) through village of Anisy, their challenge is to get across the relatively open ground to Cambes en Plaine where the SS are dug in. For our scenario the Royal engineers, who according to the accounts I have read fought more like an armoured unit, have been formed into a separate independent battalion and have moved to cover the right flank of the attack. They have various armoured cars and a couple of Cromwells. The Germans have set up a strong mortar presence behind the village and can fire straight down the road at any advancing units.

The Canadian division is supporting the attack with an anti-tank unit who have moved to a position to give covering fire form the left flank. This proved far to vulnerable to attack and they should have taken the extra time to move into the fields where they would have benefitted from over.

A closer view of Cambes en Plaine, the main village is behind the road, in front of the road are a series of isolated buildings and small wooded areas. We allowed the 12th SS to set up, up to the road and to dig in all the 88's, making them very hard to hit.

After a couple of very poor command rolls early on the Royal Ulster Rifles finally get in gear, they are split into two units supported with heavy machine guns, mortars, some Bren gun carriers and a couple of Churchill infantry tanks for support.

Anything on the road immediately comes under fire and two of the East Riding Yeomanry are brewed up. The tanks immediate drive off the road to the west.

Having set up half the German force we allowed Pnazer Meyer to bring the rest of his force on as reserves, excellent German leadership brought them on straight away, more Panzer Grenadiers are being sent down the German Right flank, towing even more anti-tank guns, in this case 75mm Pak 40's I think.

In the far distance Panzer IV's have pushed onto the battlefield, the Rifles are continuing to double time down the road, but are paying a high price to the mortars which proved very effective, somehow they were able to target the heavy machine gun units !

A shot from behind the village (above) the Yeomanry outgunned by the Panzer IV's has pulled back towards the village, whilst the Royal Engineers hugely outgunned take up a covering position in the distance, hoping if nothing else to delay the Panzers from completely outflanking the attack.

Looking North East the smoke in the distance is the remains of the Canadian antitank unit they proved far too exposed.

Another view from behind Cambes the 88's can far right through the village, no armour is able to stand for long on the road !

At this point the Ulster Rifles have made it to the near wood and have taken the first part of the village with the Sherman's of the yeomanry in the further copse, the casualty count is however completely unbalanced with something like 15 units knocked out against only 2 of the Germans !

Having knocked out the anti tank unit the fresh Panzer grenadiers remount and start to move in towards the allies left flank, despite coming under fire for allied mortars close to the road it is an ominous sight.

This was pretty much the high point for the allies, although they hadn't failed their break test they were now at breaking point. They are clinging onto the first parts of the village and the woods, the remained of the Royal Ulster Rifles are in a position to push into the village but they are looking over both shoulders with the risk of being outflanked on both sides. At this point the allies chose to call it a day and pull back......this is surprisingly not too different to what happen historically. But the SS also then pulled back to create a more coherent defensive front.

A really enjoyable but difficult game for the allies, I had several poor leadership rolls which hampered them from the start. I also miss calculated the naval artillery support and this put them at a big disadvantage. They will learn for next time......

Next up for Normandy at least........Operation Goodwood

Battle for Authie 7th June 1944 : Caen Campaign

The Canadian 3rd Division unaware of the recent arrival of the 12th SS Panzer 'Hitlerjugend' Division are pushing forward on the 7th June towards Carpiquet Airfield. Kurt 'Panzer' Meyer watching from the Ardenne Abbey launches a surprise attack right into the Canadians left flank.

The set up for the battle, the Canadians are in place strung out along the road, the Hitlerjugend will attack from the South (left) they will come on with mobile deployment and we allowed them to position their three 88mm guns up to 12" on the table !

A colour shot of the set up.....Authie in the foreground, Franqueville in the distance the objectives for both sides were to hold the two villages.

The Germans attack immediately knocking out two of the Sherman's on the road, they return fire and score a luck hit knocking out one of the 88's. The Grenadiers of the Hitlerjugend advance towards Cussy the village in the foreground, with a view to driving up the road to Authie.

The grenadiers have some limited anti tank capability as well as the dreaded panzerfausts

The Germans are expecting some additional heavy support but poor command rolls keep them off the table for the first couple of turns. Eventually though the Tigers arrive. ED : originally Meyer was in a staff car but we decided as per history a sidecar would be more appropriate. The gold dice represents a reduced command value which applied to Meyer after a double 6 blunder. In the early phases the Germans suffered really bad command problems, reflecting perhaps the interference of central command by OKW.

Having recovered from the initial surprise the Nova Scotia Highlanders have deployed into the fields and the remaining Sherman's of the Second Squadron of the Fusiliers have dug in behind hedges, they aren't able to move from here and eventually concentrated fire from the remaining 88's, supported by the Tigers, wipes them out to a tank.

Meanwhile in Franqueville Panzer IV's and the leading Sherman's are battling it out to get into the village. With neither side having sufficient mobile infantry the two armoured elements will blast each other for control of the village for several turns.

The Canadians have brought up some limited reserves in the shape of a squadron of Cromwells, they probe forward into the fields only to be attacked by the fanatical Hitlerjugend armed with Panzerfausts, deadly at close range !

The Highlanders have redeployed behind the cover of the boccage hedges but currently have nobody to fight.

The Grenadiers on the other hand are advancing between Cussy and Authie using cover where they can and knocking out any opposition.

The grenadiers have now made it to within striking distance of Authie which is only held by the remaining three Cromwells. The Nova Scotia Highlanders put down some covering fire but this is broadly ineffective. You can see Meyer leading the charge !

Having finished off the Sherman's in the middle distance the Tigers have redeployed and are looking to flank the village. Almost all the smoke you can see is Canadian tanks burning.

The battle continued at Franqueville, whilst the leading Sherman's are dug in, in the village they are being gradually whittle down by the superior Panzers. The Canadians do have some off table artillery support and they call this in just in time, risking being hit them selves they call in a ferocious concentrated barrage. This devastates the Panzers who are caught out in the open after yet another command blunder ordering them out of cover too early. In the end the Canadians hold Franqueville but it is a piric victory as they have only one Sherman left !

As the battle drew to a close the final Cromwells were holding on, in a desparate attempt to hold the village the Highlanders  have broken cover only to be cut to pieces. At this point the Canadians who had already passed one breakpoint test broke and retired from the field.

The Hitlerjegund had taken their initial objectives but at great cost.......which cannot be replaced.

Later in the day the 9th Brigade counter attacked at the village of Cambes and this will be our next battle........a really fun battle and a great start to our Normandy 6 mm exploits.

The Caen Campaign 1944 : 6mm

It has taken ages but we are finally at the stage where we can start our 6mm Normandy Battles. Initially these will be a range of scenarios covering the fierce fighting which took place in and around Caen. I am still working on the scenario specifics. As usual I will be somewhat free and easy with historical accuracy to create fun and balanced battles which we can get through in the evening.

First up we have the German counterattacks by the 12th SS Panzer Regiment under Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer. These took place in the afternoon of the 7th of June against the leading elements of the unsuspecting Canadian 3rd Division as they headed for Carpiquet Airfield.

The leading elements of the Canadian 3rd Division

These are the North Nova Scotia Highlanders supported by Tanks of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers......