WWI battle report form the FatWally HQ reposted form the lardie yahoo group not yet on Fatwally's site.
The scenario pitted the front end of a British Company (two platoons) plus support from two armoured cars. They were following up a Gereman force, retreating to their main position some miles further back. What they didnt know was that the communications node and aid post that the scout pilot had spotted had been turned into a hedgehog and mg nest.
The Brits bombarded the village as they moved up, ignoring a series of blinds that I'd posted in front (they assumed that these were a bluff and that the Gereman main position was in the hamlet). They wouldnt know what the results of this shelling was until any units were revealed. They then began what can only be described as a cautious advance.
The two Austin armoured cars moved up the road trying to spot the blinds to their front. These turned out to be four plots of hastily layed wire, obstructing the access to the town. To the German right was a small rise, on this was a small bunker that overlooked the road. This was to cause a significant problem for the British as the game unfolded. In this was an mmg. To the left rear of the German held hamlet they had a small trench in which a 37mm gun and granitwerfer had been dragged up, supported by the German F/O and a rifle section. Two bomber sections, a rifle section and an mmg were in the remains of the hamlet. Luckily for the Germans, they had survived the bomardment with only light casualties and the slow advance (rubbish movement dice) of the Brits gave them time to recover.
Astride the armoured cars, the Brits two forward platoons moved up, with their CO and staff section having ridden up a central hill to try and spot but under intermittent sniper fire. The Brits rolled for spotting and firing terribly and, as a result, suffered as the Germans pinned them in the woods and wire. They used their lewis and rifle grenades well but were unable to cause enough damage to the forward elements to allow a penalty free movement across the open ground in front of the hamlet.
In front of the bunker, the British platoon hardly moved at all (we were playing without section cards, just moving on the platoon leaders) as their cards came up so rarely. After a while, the staff sergeant lost his rag and grabbed the first platoon bombers and riflemen and push across the field. Their inexperienced lieutenant focused on his support sections attempting to silence the defenders.
The major managed to contact the artillery and layed it on the bunker. This not only took a great deal of time but the combined effect of the bunkers defences and the actions of their junior leader removing shock, this remained a thorn in the British side until the last stage of the battle.
The fighting became hard and close fought as the Brits closed up to the German defences. The armoured cars tried to move in the face of heavy mmg and anti tank gun fire. Badluck stayed with them as minor hits and then bogging left them stuck in the centre of the battle. Eventually the Germans hit their lieutenants car twice, damaging a turret then killing him. Only the 2nd platoons' officer sprinting over and taking command restarted their forward movement.
The Major decided to take matters in his own hands too and pushed the stalled second platoon towards the bunker whilst it was being bombarded. They were luckily, suffering few casualties from the MMG fire but were hesitant at rushing the post whilst it remained in operation.
At this point the players had to go. The Germans had achieved their objectives of stalling the British advance. They were suffering heavy casualties though and were going to struggle to disengage without suffering more.
I decided to play on today. I took a more aggressive approach and both platoons pushed forward to their objectives. The first platoon managed to break into the hamlet whose depleted defenders were battered. They were luckily with cards and got quickly into close combat, driving the survivors out. Hard work by the Brits had whittled away the remnants of the MMG section and these eventually ran. Using this gap, I was able to push up the lewis section under the staff sergeant. Suffering (amazingly) no casualties as they ran up, they took the front building. The last German bomber section tried to counter attack but were just not strong enough and were forced back with heavy losses.
The major continued forward to the bunker, the occupants were able to fire until the last second, killing many of the lewis section that was trying to flank them. This sacrifice allowed the rifle section to reach the bunker entrance and the battered Germans surrendered. (Whether they would make it back alive after their resistance is another matter....)
With little organised resistance left, the German commander slipped away, confident that the depleted Britons would be too weak to follow up. To help them in their decision making, he fired off SOS rockets, hopeful that this would hold them for a while longer.
A bit of a compressed scenario but a change from our usual WW1 games. I was using my new, teddy bear fur terrain, representing the more open fighting of 1918.
I've posted some piccies in Max's WW1 Game folder.
Cheers
Max
Pictures to follow below when I can wrinkle the right ones out of the lardie files.....
Ginger
