Operation Battleaxe - Game 1: British Attack on Pt. 208

The first game to be played was the attack on Point 206. by the 6 RTR Group. This consisted of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment (newly-equipped with Crusader Mk. I), with support provided by 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, the 11th Hussars and 12th Anti-tank Regiment. Artillery suppoort was also available (2x off-table 25-pounders, 4+ Comms Test). The German defenders could count on a solid core of defending Shützen with support from numerous anti-tank guns, including PaK38s and 8.8cm FlaK, and some defences.

Pt. 208, the Hafid Ridge...or at least the first ridgeline. The British would be attacking in a slightly modified High Ground mission. They deployed their Motor Infantry and observers as a probing force, leaving the tanks to come on in the second wave. The Germans forces deployed a thin screen of infantry with plenty of MG, plus a pair of PaK38s and a single 88.

British bottom left, Germans top of the ridge.

A timed airstrike kicked off proceedings, successfully pinning the 88 but not much else.

The British infantry probed forward...

...taking a few casualties from MG fire. Sporadic 25-pounder stonks did little.

British reserves arrive as the Crusaders roar forward. A few Germans fall to long-range Bren and rifle fire.

The attack is split into two...will it work?

A German timed 8cm Mortar barrage strikes near the (far-too-clumped-up) Crusaders and succeeds in pinning one and knocking-out a second!

On the left, the German ATGs open up to deadly effect...half the British armour burns.

Retaliation is swift as 25-pounder rounds bracket the PaK36 and 38, causing several casualties and eliminating a few infantry as well.

On the right, the British succeed in eliminating the 88, but lose another tank in the process while the other breaks-down. A German HMG, down to a single man, keeps the British infantry in place with heavy fire.

On the left, the last Crusader is KO'd by PaK38 fire, but artillery strikes then eliminate the PaK38s and the PaK36 and inflict serious casualties on the German infantry to which Bren and Rifle fire adds more. The German forces take a beating, but they've stopped the armour: can the British force the position with infantry?

As it happens: no. The last British vehicle breaks-down (but eliminates that damned HMG!) and the infantry cannot get moving in the face of MG fire. The British attack is called off: the DAK defense has held...just, with only ten men left un-wounded on the entire ridge!

Again, another cracking game of Battlegroup. Despite losing most of their armour, the British still managed to inflict considerable damage in return but it proved too little, too late. The first British attack on Pt. 208 has thus failed, and they must take Pt. 206 in the next two games to have any real chance of damaging the German defences.

CdlT