Last night we tried out the boards for the first time (minus the extra sea tiles and alot of other bits, but we have a playable game). We used the 'Atlantic Wall Defence' and 'US Amphibious Assault' lists from the new Normandy book for 'Battlegroup', with 900 points aside.
The US had the tough task of taking the Vierville Draw off the Germans, with three objectives being placed. One was on the road below the bluffs, another was WN-72 and the third objective was the dual
MG bunker at the top of the draw. A tough assignment. The German forces placed first and little could be seen as virtually all their troops were hidden away in bunkers. The US forces have to come on in three consecutive waves, one after the other. First though the US rolled to see the sea conditions, and with a throw of '6', they got a 'millpond' result, something that would later prove critical.
The first wave ashore consisted of two, of the three, infantry boat teams coming ashore on the far left of the US flank with an Armoured Bulldozer helping out. The US landing craft hit the beach and the men stormed ashore, the demo teams heading
fo the first line of hedgehogs to lay charges to clear gaps, while the rest of the infantry rushed ashore. The bulldozer lumbered through the water and cleared a path through the hedgehogs. In response, German defenders rushed to their positions and three Tobruk pits opened up (for the first two turns the German force only get a single unmodified
d6 for commands). The mass of fire (with each Tobruk having a 'Loader Team!) pinned down one rifle squad, cut down several men in two others, and in what looked to be a disasterous start, shot down one of the Shore Artillery
OP teams. Luckily a nearby medic rushed to their aid and one of them was saved.
Wave two hit the beach at the opposite end of the US line, coming ashore directly infront of the WN72 complex. A single boat team landed, along with a
DD-tank and the US beach commander and his communications team. They got ashore without loss and were luckily out of the line of fire for now. At the other end of the beach, the Demo Teams charges blew and a large section of the hedgehogs were now cleared, so they ran onto to deal with the second line as the US infantry tried to keep going towards the sea wall. US 4.7" gunfire proved ineffective against the German defences, but a pre-planned barrage of 14" naval shells proved of more use! Sadly the German response was yet more
MG fire and more soldiers dropped down as the US sprinted for the sea wall.
Next Wave three came in, consisting of two
DD-Tanks. One floundered in the sea but managed to get ashore (thanks to a re-roll granted by the 'Millpond' sea conditions. They headed for the gaps in the obstacles as the remaining US infantry blew the German wire with a banagalore and surged to the wall. Opposite WN72, the US advanced into the obstacles and made their way forward. The Gap Team starting to wire up the hedgehogs to allow the
DD Tank through. This time though the US felt the full impact of the German defenders. On the left
MG fire and mortar fired cut down men all over the area, with both flamethrower teams and both artillery observers also becoming casualties. Opposite WN72 the US found themselves on a German Registered Target Point and some artillery came in on top of them! But the US reactions was the opposite of the left flank (thanks to three 'Beyond the Call of Duty tests) and the US jumped up and ran to the wall of WN72. This surprised the German defenders and they now lacked anything to target, though the US Gap team were cut down before they could blow the obstacles, which left the
DD tank stranded.
Now the battle for the beach reached its close action phase. With US troops scrambling up the sea wall and onto the road, they sheltered in the blindspot of the Tobruk
MGs. Their supporting
DD tanks came forward, trading shots with the 88mm or giving covering fire to the infantry with their
MGs. But at WN-72, a lone flamethrower team, under cover of the
DD tanks
MGs, leapt round and flamethrowered the embrasure of one of the
AT gun bunkers killing all the occupants and allowing one of the rifle teams to get inside. In response the Germans had some infantry in the trench outside but they failed to get back in and were then caught as more US troops advanced and shot them down in the trench line. On the left flank though the German
MGs did muderous work, finishing off the stragglers still on the beach.
The
DD tanks on the left flank finally reached the road, and a slow advance began with the tanks moving up the road and sheltering the survivors from the first wave. At the other end, the US troops now stormed the 88mm bunker and after a long drawn out fight, got inside to leave no survivors. German troops rushed to try and shore up their falling flank, but had to leave their defences to do so and were hit by salvo's of 4.7" shells, and without their defences suffered heavy loss. The US and Germans threw all they had to try and push the draw, and the
DD-tanks got past the roadblock and brought the
MG bunkers under fire. As they did so, yet more naval gun salvos came in and killed the rest of the Germans trying to reinforce their crumbling flank. With these losses the Germans finally broke, but the US had suffered massive casualties and were themselves only a single point from breaking!
It was a great game, very exciting and played really well. Was a very tense affair, with lots of heroes made and lost... Cracker of a game on such stunning terrain.
