My initial thoughts:
With the lines between one sector that player was controlling and the next blurred, all I can say is I had a lot of fun (even after a para drop behind our lines) and managed to push the Allies back and control most of the board.
Close to 50 Shermans were destroyed (Jared Lynn accounting for most of them), I lost a platoon, nearly two. Ian Poade dealt with the Paras and British that had to be flushed from strategic buildings. Along with another Monday Knighter (Adrian Stacey) I faced the stoic J.P. and Ara Harwood, who didn't give up when the line started to crumble.
Breakdown of the game (using Flames of War ruleset):
- 6 players + 1 GHQ player per side
- ~7000-8000 points a side (we each controlled a 650 point infantry force of our own miniatures plus pooled divisional support choices)
- 32 foot wide table
- Total playing area of about 296 square feet!
I guess I'll just try and tell it like it happened on the day. Jared and I managed to get there about ten minutes before 0900 hours, full of coffee and vim, and Mike Parker and the Peninsular Praetorians were in the final stages of preparing the table.
Firstly, can I say it was friggin' HUGE. Secondly, the amount of terrain on there was very, very noice. Just the scale of the battlefield and terrain made you want to stop and stare at it for ages.
It looked like there were 14 of us ready to play as Germans and Brits, with Generals Pete and Wal rolling up and introducing themselves to the field officers. I'm not sure how things went on the German side (it all looked very serious to me), but on the British side we all relaxed into our roles, cracked jokes about the British armour, and giggled with delight when we were informed that some British gliders would be attempting a landing behind the enemy at some stage of the battle.
It has to be said, we didn't really think that much about deployment, we thought we'd send the infantry in first and wait for the British armour to show. Oh boy, what a mistake.
For Captain Jean-Paul and myself, just looking at the amount of enemy activity on our flank, which was to be the holding flank while the main thrust came down the other side, we thought we better bring some 6 pounders and Shermans up and place them in holding positions. As that enemy activity turned out to be a shiteload of Panzer IV's and StuGs, we realised that the 6 pounders and lone platoon of Shermans wasn't gonna be enough.
The first few turns became a series of desperate calls for more divisional support from our General, and we got some air (which was shot down), some artillery (which missed) and some reinforcements (which raced to the first defensible ridgelines and was subsequently wiped out). By this stage, Captain Jean-Paul was starting to look dejected.
In the centre flank, meanwhile, Kapitan Jared of the Croatian Light Infantry battalion - given run of the middle as much of the fighting took place on the flanks - decided to advance his men and grab a destroyed bridge as a holding point.
Finally the British gliders landed - right behind the advancing Germans (who were supposed to be defending, might I add). The paratroopers promptly gained control of an essential road, while one poor old platoon was holed up in a wood surrounded by Tigers.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited thrust on the British right petered out as the Shermans were blown away by a wave of more Panzer IVs, Marders and StuGs.
This is when Brigadier-General Wal, in true Montgomery style, refocused his attack to the middle. Little did he reckon on the stubborn resistance of the Croatians. 30 Shermans, yes 30, were subsequently wiped out by some glorious shooting from our Croat friends.
Brigadier Wal started to realise that his armoured push was going to be stopped before it even had the chance to get started...
On our flank, the British were reduced to hiding in the woods, as they were slowly surrounded by more and more of Herr Karsten's tanks, reconnaisance vehicles and StuGs.
A squadron of motorbikes came tearing down the road from the German lines, much to the chagrin of the British infantry, as they were subjected to even more fire.
Finally the order to retreat was passed down the British lines, to my surprise as I thought we could have at least lasted another turn or two... Under the cover of darkness (or under the shadow of empty pizza boxes... well, empty except for the vegetarian ones) the Brits slogged their way back to their own lines, badly beaten.
Nevertheless, like they had through the entire war, the British would learn from this battle, and come back ready to try again.
Afterwards, the newly promoted Fieldmarshal Pete and demoted General Wal discussed the assassination of der Führer (hence the Fieldmarshal's attempts to hide himself) in a secret location.
Even nine years on, the game really has left me with a lasting impression. It was epic and it was a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment