Operation Martlet – Push through Fontenay

This is the second game from the Too Fat Lardies Operation Martlet campaign. 

The photograph shows the game layout after the patrol phase and with the jump off markers deployed. This was going to be a brutal fight for the Orchard and farmhouse in the centre of the table.

The British deployed their first section into the Orchard in front of the farmhouse hoping to capture it before the Germans woke up.

Unfortunately the British had map issues or a late breakfast and managed to turn up long after the barrage to soften up the German had ended. So the Germans were now ready and waiting. However the supporting Vickers in the barn opened up killing one of the loaders of the MG team. 

The Germans deployed another section against the farmhouse wall hoping to hold off the British attack. 

In true stoic fashion the British threw grenades and charged.

Charging Panzer Grenadiers in cover was not going to be easy and after rolling a bucket full of dice each, the result was a lot of casualties, or in this case a very quiet battlefield. Both sides force morale dropped to a worrying level at this point.

As the Germans managed to get a double turn they deployed their Mark IV hoping to get a double shot at the Sherman that had deployed earlier. The first shot missed and the dice gods were not with them as none of the dice would allow the tank to activate on the second turn. All that could be done was to bring up the senior leader to bolster the defences in the farmhouse.

The Sherman fired back at the Mark IV and hit, causing to driver to panic and refuse to do anything. At the same time the bow gunner hosed down the farmhouse in preparation for the next assault.

Having not leaned the previous lesson the British went in again with the bayonet and managed to wipe both themselves and the German occupiers of the farmhouse out. At this point the British force morale plummeted to 0 and they were forced to retire from the game. Casualties on both sides were heavy due to the two infantry assaults on the farmhouse and as such the German hold on Fontenay may be tenuous at best. 

One of the other games…..

Simon was apparently conducting some market research for Lancaster University into a game called  Dungeon Saga, produced by Mantic Games.  Enough said.....

Operation Market Garden

Report and Pictures by Fred.

This June, we will be doing three linked Market Garden scenarios for our annual Club WW2 day. Last weekend saw us play-test the "middle scenario" in which elements of the Irish Guards and Wessex Infantry Division tried to clear a route to Arnhem after the capture of the Bridge over the Waal. 

The Germans deployed an 88 and Pak 40s with pockets of supporting infantry.

The Brits immediately ran into trouble as they probed down the left-most road and ran into a PRT which was subjected to a hard-hitting 120mm mortar stonk.

Not to be put off, our resident "Marshall Ney", Tony, decided to push forward with as much armour as possible down a single road rather than try to stretch the Germans by using the rest of the road network. One bren gun carrier went off the road and bogged down in the soft Dutch terrain straightaway.

The lead M5 got smacked in the side by a pak 40.

Rather like the breakout scene in A Bridge Too Far, the British spearhead was heavily exposed as it moved in column down a single narrow road. German Panzer Grenadiers armed with Panzerfausts tussled with the hard-pressed Wessex men in ditches along the side of the road (I'll need to make these for the big game in June - on Sunday we just counted any infantry within one inch of the roadside as in hard cover).

A battery of Stugs entered the fray.

The crossroads in front of the village descended into a wild melee.

But the Germans were not having it all their own way. Their squads were being gutted in their attempts to knock out British AFVs whilst one Stug fell victim to well-placed off-board artillery.

Hell's Highway indeed.

In a final throw of the dice, the British sent a second group of tanks down the middle roadway, including two fireflies which somehow failed to knock a stug with several side and rear shots.

To add insult to injury, one firefly then took a side shot itself from the 88 and went up in flames.

At which point we called it a day after 6 action packed turns. Although the British had taken a real hammering and did not secure their objective of exiting vehicles off the German edge of the board, they were only 3 points closer to their BR total than the Germans, who had less points (800 v 1100) and were therefore more brittle. So it ended up a close run thing.

The key might have been to have thrown two spearheads down opposite ends of the board and prevent the Germans from concentrating their forces. By going down a single road, the British ended up in a tight vice and their attack ground to a halt - rather like the real battle.

Battle of Britain

As a prequel to the Winterton-on-Sea Chain of Command game, we played another game of the PSC Battle of Britain game. Despite Simon donning the correct RAF headwear, the RAF sadly lost this game.

The Luftwaffe struggled with some challenging early missions, but a wealth of Me109 escorts quickly cut a big swath through 11 Group. This enabled the Luftwaffe to then mount some effective, lightening raids, devastating Canterbury, Bristol and Birmingham.

Special mention must go to Tony's 5 Luftflotte, who managed to tie up 13 Group and half of 12 Group, by fruitlessly trailing up and down the North Sea!

Winterton-on-Sea, 1940, Chain of Command

From our intrepid reporter from Picture Post reports, “somewhere” on the coast of Norfolk.

"Yesterday saw a remarkable battle between the elite Hun Paratroopers and our own intrepid Home Guard.  Although shrouded in secrecy we have learned that a crack force of German Fallschirmjager had been despatched to rescue a shot-down Luftwaffe bomber crew. Vey strange, but the military are tight lipped about the true facts.

We have heard from some of the civilians caught up in the fighting that the Germans advanced quite rapidly through the gardens parallel to the main street, leaving one squad covering main street from the hedgerow near the churchyard.

Things looked bad for our boys as the Germans managed multiple activations without a chance for reply.  Eventually the British Lieutenant rallied some men and they rushed out to take cover behind their hastily prepared barricades and pour rifle and Lewis gun fire into the German ranks.  But these Germans were a tough nut to crack and difficult to kill. 

They also had formidable firepower with MG34 machine guns, MP40 machine pistols plus rifles. The volume of fire seemed overwhelming.  Eventually the our gallant lads also managed to take over a house that enfiladed the German position in the gardens.  Slowly we whittled away the German numbers although it is reported that one of the Home Guard squads was wiped out.  The Luftwaffe crew decided to make a break for it but were cut down in a hail of bullets.

The German squad by the Churchyard eventually decided to enter the fray and walked arrogantly up the high street towards another British unit defending barricades thrown across the Street.

In a fit of anger they turned their weapons on the civilian population and the much respected Miss Pugh-Critchley was cut down in a hail of bullets. Beastly behaviour!  Further up the High Street the Home Guard decided to unleash their secret weapon , an improvised armoured truck with armed with a Lewis gun.  As it moved into position disaster struck.  German rifle fire cut down the crew of the Lewis gun thus ending its ability to fight.

Things were looking decidedly sticky for our chaps as the Germans finally pushed through our defences in the Gardens rushing the survivors in a hail of hand grenades and cutting them all down. The Lieutenant decided discretion was the better part of valour and he retired to sensibly lead the defence of the other units in his force.  The German senior officer was wounded by sniper fire although he still managed to give orders.  The Village cricket team reportedly entered the fray by finishing their tea in the pub early, picking up their rifles and pouring fire into the German unit on the High Street. Not terribly effective but that unit had lost many men and appeared pinned down in the road.  Just desserts for men who fire on innocent civilians!

At the end the Home Guard were battered and bruised but the local top brass were highly pleased with the performance, and especially the successful interdiction of the Luftwaffe.  We understand the Lieutenant has been recommended for a gallantry award and several others have been mentioned in despatches.

The German prisoners were accorded their right under the Geneva Convention and their dead will be buried with full military honours.”

Baden, Extra Pics

The British watch the Saxon advance.

Artor's somewhat impetuous charge on the British right.

Bor's more cautious but remorseess advance on the British left.

Kay holding the British centre, not long before being forced from the hill and cruelly slain by the Saxon invaders.

The moment of Artor's death, as a Saxon counter charge crashed into Artor's exposed flank!