Operation Overlord Batrep #4

Le-Molay-Littry

The Attackers

Sierra's British 6th Airborne parachute co. (1500) Overlord pg 23

HQ with 3 Piats

2 Full Strength Paratrooper Platoons and 1 Sniper

Airborne Armoured recce platoon with 3 Tetrarchs

Airlanding Anti tank Platoon with 4 6PDRs

Battery of 8 25PDR Arty

Limited Tyhoons

Kieths 11th Armoured Recce Squadron (1495) Overlord pg 83

HQ with 2 Cromwell IV and 2 CS with a ARV

2 platoons of 3 Cromwells each

Recce Stuarts x3

M10s X4

Rifle Platoon with Piat, Light mortar

Battery of 8 25PDRs

Defenders

Rob's 2nd Panzer Div. Fortified Panzergrenadier Kompanie (1500) Atlantik wall

HQ  SMG/Fausts and Schreck

2 full strength Panzergren platoons with Trucks

4 Minefields and 2 MG nests

sdkfz 10/5 AA x3

Puma Patrol with 2 Pumas

2nd Puma Patrol with 2 Pumas

Panzer platoon with 3 Panzer IVH

15cm Nebs x3

8.8 with ROF 3.  1 Gun

Daniel's Schwere SS Panzer Kompanie (1500)

HQ Tiger (ROF3 and For The Fatherland)

2 Tigers

2 Tigers

3 SdKfz 7/1

SS Panzer Pioneers with 2 Squads in Halftracks

For this battle we decided to try something a bit different and used the Total Victory Mission from Normandy Battles book by Battlefront.  One of the main reasons was that we could set a time to end and just tally up the points to find the winner.  For the game we used two tables.

 

 

This is the view from the Defenders side.  Plenty of Bocage and roads.   A nice village with a Cathedral.  Sierra and Keiths combined 16 gun battery of 25 pounders in the distance!  Each side starts the game holding 2 Objectives in their own deployement area.  There are 2 more in the center up for grabs. 

 Sierra deploys only half her force on the table.  All her Paratroopers and Tetrarchs are in reserve and as per the Total war rules can arrive on either their own side or behind the enemy!

I found a beautiful spot for my 88!  Covering an objective along a road with Grenadier support.

 Turn 1 was pretty much alot of Advancing for the Allies.  No Reserves arrive.  However Sierra swooped in and tried to take out the German AA.  It didnt go well for the Typhoons... 

 On the German turn Rob gets a platoon of reserves and elects to bring on a Puma patrol in Sierra's Artillery park.  This would be like shooting ducks in a barrel!

 15cm Nebs open up on some M10s in the open

Popping one and bailing another as they try to cross the train tracks headed to one of the center objectives.

 Keith trys to get his Stuarts around the flank but Daniels Tigers dont agree to that and make quick work of them at long range.

 Sierra's 25 pounders turn 180 and open up on the sneaking pumas!

DOH!  forgot about the turntables!  Runaway Runaway!

 Robs Panzer IVs and the 2nd Puma Patrol which had just arrived from reserves make for an un contested objective in the center. 

 Keith gets over the tracks with his M10s though and manages to snag it first!

 Nearby his Cromwells are not faring as well.  A minefield blocks their path and the only way around is through bocage or over train tracks.  Luckily my 2IC with his Faust is just out of range!

Pumas decide to try and thin their numbers.

The Germans manage to hold a 3rd onbjective for 2 turns giving them a comfortable 2 point lead.

 But the tide begins to turn and Sierra finally gets her reserves!  Here they come charging towards the German rear.  All that stands between them and capturing an objective is an MG nest and a pair of 10/5s.  Under cover of a smoke barrage as well as several HE bombardments the Paras surge forward.  The 10/5s are destroyed by Artillery and rifle fire. 

 Pumas race back to try and help the lone MG nest but smoke and the Bocage keep them from making a difference.

The MG and the Pumas manage to gut the Paras who are now in assault range.  They unpin and rally to the Assault.  At the same time Tetrarch arrive from reserve to back them up.

 

They storm the MG nest and take it out,  down to only 3 stands the Paratroopers with the Tetrarchs hold the objective and stay on!  

 Meanwhile behind the 15cm Nebs Sierra's other Para platoon has charged up from behind and begins slaughtering the poor gun teams

 The Panzer Grenadiers farther up and too far away to help can only listen to the screams of their comrades over the radio.

The Horror

 Firmly in control of a 4th objective

 During the bloody assaults Keith and Rob had a good tank slug fest for another objective.  The Germans came out on top but the only Panzer IV to survive was Bailed out and couldnt get the point for the objective!

This meant that the Germans didnt collect any points on the final turn.  Bringing the Allies up 2 points and Tieing the match! 

DRAW

It really looked like the Germans were dominating early on.  I think we needed to push harder though.  We had a Panzer grenadier platoon that just sat in a forest and was a complete waste.  Likewise the Allies also had a Platoon of infantry that played no part.  The Airborne and Recce platoons being able to arrive from either table edge was the game changer.  Sierra had very little to do most of the game except drop 8 gun bombardments on everything.  But once those Paras arrived it was a blood bath.