Seeing as Brad Pitt was taking to WW2 this weekend, we'd thought we would follow suit and have a game of Battlegroup using the
Fall of the Reich supplement... my personal favourite for late war affairs as they tend to be very exciting, and often surprising, games. In this game we used a standard attack scenario with four objectives around the table. Both sides had balanced forces with tanks and infantry support and mortars off-table for supporting fire. The numerical advantage sat with the US, but the Germans had some heavy duty firepower... Both sides also had a single Pre-Registered Target Point (RTP) to fire their mortars on.
The game started with the recce troops arriving and getting into position. Sadly for the US M8 Greyhound, he happened to have parked on the German RTP and a crashing salvo of 120mm shells scored three direct hits (to get a direct hit you need '6' on a
d6... so on four dice he got stung badly!) and the result was unsurprising. One armoured car was a smouldering wreck. The Chaffee however pushed up to secure an objective for the US forces.
As the main forces began to arrive, both sides funnelled their troops towards each other, both weight the same flanks with tanks or infantry. German infantry used the railway cutting to advance while the US infantry moved around the reverse slope of the hill to advance towards them, both aiming for the small industrial complex. The tanks of both sides headed towards the church, the arriving German StuG battery facing off with the US Shermans, all armed with 76mm guns and led by a Jumbo. The German Tiger also arrived, and on its very first turn on the board, it had a 'Breakdown' chit played on it and promptly broke down. Soon a recovery vehicle would head towards it to try and begin repairs as it sat motionless behind a hill.
As battle joined the main action first centred around the StuGs and Shermans. The StuGs scored the first hits, but two rounds hit and glanced off the Jumbo. In the ensuing fight, rounds seemed to fly thick and fast, and after the smoke cleared, two Shermans were burning and two StuGs were on fire. But while this had been happening, on the other flank the infantry action had commenced.
The US troops had managed to get two .30 cal
MG Teams into the woods opposite the industrial buildings, covering the building over looking the road. As a German rifle squad ran in, they opened up and cut down all of the German troops. The Germans now began to hold back and moved into the rear factory building. The US seemed in a strong position, with the
MGs supported by Rifle squads and the platoon 60mm mortar. However, the Germans hit back. A mortar salvo directed by the recce team in the factory hit hard again (yup... three more '6's on four dice). One shell landed on the Artillery Observer, killing both outright, a second killed one of the
MG teams and a third killed half a Rifle Squad. To add insult to injury, a German MG42 on its sustained fire mount had managed to get into the factory, along with its Loader Team. The Loader Team give the chance of an extra shot, and of course the Germans got it! The MG42 tore into the US troops, felling more men.
The US now had no choice but to try and push the other flank, so the US infantry disengaged from the factory area and pulled back, as the US infantry and tanks on the other flank edged forwards, still trading shots with the last StuG, who by chance manged to pin the Jumbo due to a hit that failed to penetrate but caused the crew to fail a morale test. It was now the Germans saw a chance at securing the remaining two objectives and winning the game.
A mortar stonk pinned down the US 60mm mortar team who were trying to secure one objective and they were overrun by a very aggresive more by the remaining German recce troops. With nothing left on 'Ambush' fire the US had made a critical mistake and the last objective also fell to the Germans, giving them an 'All Objectives Secured' victory... though the US forces had by then lost three-quarters of their Battle Rating, the Germans on the other hand had lost hardly any. Best of all, in that last turn, the German mechanics finally got the Tiger running, after having tried, and failed, for eight turns. It did nothing for the whole game, but they didnt need it!
So sadly, no 'Wardaddy' win tonight, his Sherman was on fire after a StuG nailed it, a proper kicking form the Germans who just had all the luck tonight!
As always, a few more pics on our Facebook page...
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