Today we brought out an old game...WW2 skirmish with my own rules. I was asked to provide the terrain and Phil provided some 1940 French to fight Lawrence's Blitzkrieg Germans. The Boche were to be run by my solo system.
The scenario was a French platoon trying to secure a road to allow the rest of the army to move down it.
I was given a section, supported by a Machine gun, on the French left.
Phil, our commander, deployed in the centre.
Lawrence with another section took our right.
The road we had to secure.
My men vaulted (well, les Voltigeurs did) over a fence and through a garden.
Phil moved behind a hedge, looking for any Boche.
Lawrence fed round the right, using a small wood for cover.
My Voltigeurs crossed the road and set up behind some bushes (the big counter was a possible entry point for any armoured support)
Phil crossed the field and observed.
Lawrence's Voltigeurs moved to cover the road while the rest continued to go round the flank.
My Voltigeurs attracted some Germans, who didn't spot my men...
...but then again, my men didn't spot them.
They stayed guarding the flank while the rest of my men went round the left.
Phil carefully probed forward scouting with his Voltigeurs too.
We were driving Portal Markers* back to the line of woods (*these can produce German troops)
Indeed, some Germans with a captured 25mm AT gun was there.
They were joined by some riflemen, who opened fire, killing one of Phil's Voltigeurs.
On the left, those Germans finally spotted my Voltigeurs and attacked!
We wounded one of them, but they killed one of mine, forcing me back from the corner of the field.
However, they hadn't seen Phil's men on their flank who...
... killed one of their number.
My men were still pinned down by all the firing!
Fortunately, the Germans with French outflanking them, decided they had to be somewhere else!
Phil's men moved past my still edgy Poilus.
On the extreme left, my men moved through a wood.
Meanwhile, Lawrence on the right met some German infantry supported by an MG34!
He had set up a mortar to support. This would prove very useful.
Phil's infantry started clearing out the Germans in the wood to his front.
Lawrence was spotted by the MG team and lost two men.
The survivors fell back to the far side of the hill while others from his section probed forward.
My men had reached the other side of the wood, where I stopped to observe.
Phil sent some men to outflank the Germans facing him.
Lawrence's men were suppressing the Boche, and things were looking good.
The Mortar was shooting, but only hurting trees!
The Germans soon got their mo-jo back and shot back effectively...
...very effectively!
Phi's outflank closed in on the 25mm gun crew.
Opposite me, a half section of Germans appeared.
I was waiting for the rest of my troops to catch up.
Phil's men stormed the gun!
He then sent most of his men to support the flank of Lawrence's beleaguered section.
Some more Germans appeared on the hill opposite Lawrence, but his mortar struck them.
The Germans in the wood now stormed the field, killing the last Frenchman there.
At this point a Panzer III arrived! Yikes!
On the right, Phil's men suppressed the MG, leaving Lawrence to deal with the Infantry.
The last two Germans retreated with their MG.
Lawrence's infantry drove off the German riflemen, who didn't put up much of a fight!
Lawrence's mortar, meanwhile, got another good hit!
Amazingly, the Germans got an armoured car arrive on table...on my side again!
Phil had moved up his anti-tank rifle team, who fired twice and hit the Pz.Kpfw. III!
Incredibly, he got a penetration, killing one crewman and wounding another!
A third round got another lucky hit - exploding the ammunition!!!
Phil had previously detached a Serjeant to get a tank, and he returned with a Renault FT-17...with a 37mm canon!
The brave anti-tank gun team were shot at, but kept their heads low!
The Armoured car now moved up to support their infantry.
My infantry had fallen back into the wood rather than face a tank!
However, the FT-17 was coming! Scary!
It was soon followed by another tank, and once again I diced up an FT-17! - this time a more normally MG armament. Still, a tank is a tank, or a Char!
On Lawrence's side, another MG34 and infantry arrived on their flank.
The French counterattacked with everything they had.
The Germans were soon under pressure.
However, the MG got a burst killing two more of Lawrence's men.
TYhe mortar again saved the day, getting a round on target.
Phil's infantry now hit them from the flank...the Germans were quickly defeated.
I moved the FT-17 forward and fired its little gun...
...I too was lucky, and blew up the Armoured car!
At this point, faced by tanks, we felt the few remaining Germans would have retreated, so it was a vary hard won victory for Les Françaises!, we were lucky!
Great looking game, must check out your WW2 skirmish rules!
ReplyDeleteHow do you take so many pictures, you're a machine, they fill out your AAR well!
Thanks! I remember at each turn end or if something interesting happens to take a picture, it took a while to get so - and my friends remind me when I do forget!!!
ReplyDelete