 |
| PaK 40 platoon watching over the main axis of advance. |
This Flames of War after action report is for a battle fought at the Battlefront Europe HQ at their weekly game night, where my Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadiers took on Anders' Canadian Armoured Recce in a 1780pt game using the Breakthrough scenario. This game was actually fought on the 4th July, and was my first experience of playing the Breakthrough mission. As with the previous game, this will be reported for WWPD's Operation Overlord campaign.
This time around there are a few more pics, so it should be a bit more visually interesting. The lists we used are the exact same as for the previously reported game.
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie
Headquarters:
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie HQ, 2 x Panzerfaust & 1 x Panzerschreck - 90
Combat Platoons:
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadier Platoon with Panzerfaust - 190
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadier Platoon with Panzerfaust - 190
Feldherrnhalle Heavy Platoon, 4 x MG42, 2 x GW34 mortars - 200
Weapons Platoons:
Feldherrnhalle Anti-tank Gun Platoon, 3 x 7.5cm PaK 40 - 155
Panzergrenadier Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon, 3 xSd Kfz 10/5 (2cm) (armoured) - 115
Divisional Support Platoons:
Feldherrnhalle Panzer Platoon, 3 x Panther Ausf. G - 560
Half-tracked Panzerspäh Platoon, 1 x Sd.Kfz 250/1, 2 x Sd.Kfz 250/9 (2cm) - 115
Rocket Launcher Battery, 3 x 21cm NW42 - 125
Total:
1740 points
Canadian Armoured Recce
Headquarters:
2 Sherman V, 2iC has a 0.5 cal
Combat Platoons:
1st plt: 3 Sherman V, 1 Firefly
2nd plt: 3 Sherman V 1 Firefly
Weapons Platoons:
Recce patrol: 2 Stuart VI
Support Platoons:
1st Infantry Platoon With Defrocked Priests
2nd Infantry Platoon With Defrocked Priests
Rocket Launcher Battery: 4 Land Mattresses
Total:
1780 points
Deployment
We were playing Breakthrough, so I would be defending as I'm playing an infantry company. The table was quite heavy on terrain, which will hopefully slow down the armoured assault. I opted to deploy in the north west and south east (bottom left and top right corners in the photo above). Anders placed his objectives within the south west table quarter on the other side of the river, and deployed in the north east quarter with the two buildings.
As I would be using mobile reserves, I had to nominate one of my three vehicle platoons to remain on the table, while the others would arrive later on. I decided to keep the Panthers on table. The general plan was to cover one flank with the Panthers and the other with the PaK 40 platoon, thus ensuring I had adequate anti-tank cover on both sides. This scenario uses Prepared Positions, so everything would start the game dug in and gone to ground.
 |
| The table after deployment viewed from SW corner |
The HMGs were combat attached to the two Panzergrenadier platoons, and one platoon was deployed in each quarter. The PaKs were deployed on and around the hill in the south east corner, with the Panthers in the tree line of the north west corner, just behind the river. The mortars were deployed behind the PaK hill.
 |
| The table after deployment, viewed from SE corner. |
Anders opted to keep the Land Mattress Battery, one platoon of Infantry, a Sherman platoon and the Stuarts on the board. The artillery deployed amongst the rock formations to the rear, with the Shermans, Defrocked Priests and Stuarts along the road line out of sight of the Panthers.
As he was attacking in this scenario, Anders took the first turn.
Canadian Armoured Recce Turn 1
The Shermans moved up to cover the road, moving slowly so they remained gone to ground (and thus impossible to hit at long range). The Stuarts meanwhile moved south along the edge of the plowed field. The Land Mattresses opened fire on the PaK 40 platoon on the hill, pinning them along with the Panzergrenadier Platoon, though luckily it didn't cause any casualties. The Defrocked Priests climbed the rock formation on the east side of the board, though one bogged down in the process.
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie Turn 1
The PaKs unpinned at the start of the turn, The Panzergrenadier platoon in the north west corner moved south, with the aim of taking up positions and digging in on the objectives before Anders' reserves would enter the board. The Nebelwerfers opened fire on the Sherman platoon, despite needing a six to range in, they managed it, and managed to destroy two Shermans into the bargain!
Canadian Armoured Recce Turn 2
The Shermans slowly moved south, keeping gone to ground. The Defrocked Priests continued to move south in support, though the bogged vehicle did not unbog. The Land Mattresses opted not to fire, reloading so they could fire at full effect next turn. The Stuarts moved south again, keeping to the edges of the field and opening fire on the 8cm Mortar Platoon, killing one team.
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie Turn 2
The Panzergrenadiers to the south west continued to advance on the objective, with a couple of teams entering the building to keep an eye on things from a better vantage point. The PaK on hill fired on the Stuarts and missed. In hindsight I probably should have left them alone, as now the PaK no longer counts as Gone to Ground.
Canadian Armoured Recce Turn 3
No reserves arrived this turn. The infantry in the bogged Defrocked Priest decided to dismount and advance on foot when the Priest again failed to unbog. The Shermans formed a line on the edge of a wood and opened fire on the nearby Panzergrenadiers, pinning them but not causing any casualties. The rest of the infantry dismounted too and took up positions behind the Shermans. The Land Mattress Battery opened up on hill again, using the PaK that fired last turn as an aiming point. Their bombardment destroyed a PaK and a Panzergrenadier team, and pinned the PaKs, Mortars and Panzergrenadiers.
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie Turn 3
Once again the Panzergrenadiers near the objectives moved to take up better positions. The PaKs failed to unpin, as did the mortars and Panzergrenadiers. Realising that the Panthers were going to be of no use in their current position, they started to peel away south to support the infantry on the objectives. At this point, the plan was to hope the enemy forces in the south east quarter could be delayed enough so that they would have no effect on the main conflict for the objectives.
 |
| Shermans and infantry preparing to assault the Panzergrenadiers in the woods. |
Canadian Armoured Recce Turn 4
No reserves arrived this turn. The infantry dismounted and moved up to support the assault by the Shermans. The Land Mattresses fired on the hill again, hitting and pinning everything and killing the PaK platoon leader. The Stuarts opened up on the Mortars, killing the last one. The Shermans and infantry assaulted the Panzergrenadiers in the woods, killing two teams.
Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadierkompanie Turn 4
It turns out I had completely forgotten to roll for my reserves all game, so we agreed to bring them both on this turn. The Panzerspäh and FlaK platoons moved to the south towards the objective. The Panthers moved south again, while the Panzergrenadiers on the object failed to dig in (!).
It was at this point that we realised we had run out of time!
Final Result
As we had run out of time, I would have considered the game a draw, but after consulting the 'Ending the Battle' section on page 274 of the rulebook, it appears as though the defender wins because the attacker didn't achieve their objective.
A very interesting game, though a little slow-paced. I seemed to spend a lot of time trying to work out where to deploy which I guess would become quicker with practice. All in all, it was a fun first game of Breakthrough, even though we didn't get to finish.
Lessons- My two biggest threats were the Panthers and the Nebelwerfers, but I deployed both on the same flank so they were very easy to ignore - this was a very bad idea!
- Being unable to finish a game because of running out of time was not great, next time I will concentrate on deploying more swiftly.
No comments:
Post a Comment