The second British attack on Point 206 was launched from east of the position by a battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (marked 3/11 on the map) and a detachment of Matildas (SQ-B, i.e. 'B' Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment).
The combat points here were more even, thus both sides would field 400 pt forces and play the same mission on a slightly altered table: another German strongpoint needed to be taken in another sector of the Pt 206 defences.
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| The German defences, slightly strengthened with a couple of minefields placed on their left. |
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| The British *again* attack on a broad front. 3" Mortars wipe-out the German Artillery FO on turn 1! |
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| PaK38s vs. Matildas: the tanks take hits and some are pinned, but the armour proves pak-proof for the moment. |
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| Highlanders push up the British left, but in the centre progress is slow as German artillery pins and inflicts a few casaulties. |
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| A lone Matilda, having just wiped out a PaK38 crew, now moves on to the PaK36. |
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The British flank attack arrives, this time on their left...another platoon of Highlanders and a Vicker Mk. VI b.
The PaK36 is quickly eliminated. |
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| The Luftwaffe arrives! The Germans successfully bring in a Stuka (cunningly disguised as a Bf 109 here...). It bombs the British attack and a direct hit on the Matilda near the wire sees it knocked-out. |
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| A second PaK36 arriving from reserve then KO's the Vickers light tank and MG fire thins out the British infantry. Artillery at the rear immobilises a British Matilda, while another breaks down on the far right, leaving just one tank mobile! |
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| A Rifle section bayonet charges the nearest trench, but both units break after taking severe casualties. British Morale is taking a beating. |
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The RAF makes an appearance and bombs some German infantry.
More German chits to draw....things are getting close! |
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The last British Matilda is immobilised by a breakdown counter while HMG fire from the bunker wipes-out a Rifle section and pins another. British Morale at this point is 32/34 BR...
In the British turn, the tanks can see nothing, the strafing run by the P40 fails and the 3" mortars contribute little. It's up to the infantry: accurate long-range Bren and Rifle fire wipes-out another German infantry unit. |
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Commeth the hour, commeth the (Scots)man: the Rifle Platoon HQ bayonet charges the last survivors in the German trenchline. Taking two casualties on the way in they roll two 6s for saves and wipe-out the defenders!
The German force breaks! |
A much closer game: the British forces took a beating and were almost done, but some last-minute accurate gunfire and a heroic charge saw the Germans reach their break point first.
The result is a Minor British victory and sees the 6 Oasis Bn destroyed entirely while the 33. Panzerjäger unit degraded. Remaining German forces must retreat from Pt. 206, but I'll cover that later when detailing Turn 2 of the campaign.
CdlT
This campaign looks really fun!
ReplyDeleteCheers Richard: so far so good. With Pt 206 falling the German Panzer reserves are released for counterattack...now the really interesting part will begin.
DeleteCdlT
I saw that several of the Matildas broke down, how did that happen and what does that mean in this game?
DeleteThe German player pulled a Breakdown Chit from the bag: these can be used to breakdown opposing vehicles: a roll of 1 does nothing, 2-5 means the vehicles is immobilised and a roll of 6 means the breakdown is severe and the vehicles is lost. Immobilised vehicles cannot move (unless repaired by a recovery vehicle), but otherwise may function as normal, i.e. they may still fire.
DeleteIn the desert, wear and tear is more severe, thus any special marker drawn from the bag may be used as a Breakdown marker if the player wishes.
A few Matildas were also Immobilised by enemy fire: if you hit the vehicle with a weapon that could potentially damage it you roll 2d6 on the AP penetration table and if you roll 2 (i.e. double 1s), the vehicle has suffered a hit to tracks, engine, suspension, etc. and is Immobilised. A Morale Check roll of 1 after taking the hit will see the crew abandon the Immobilised vehicle (a bit like double-bailed in FOW), but otherwise they may keep fighting from a stationary position.
Immobilised vehicles can be repaired if a repair vehicle is around (two attempts may be made over two turns, a 4+ roll successfully repairs the damage, otherwise you're stuck).
Related, for a good explanation of Battlegroup chits: http://www.wwpd.net/2017/09/battlegroup-rules-how-to-win-with-chits.html
CdlT
Cool, thanks!
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