Direct from Detroit
Played 27/02/2005
Date: 11 July 1944, 1645
hours
Location: Slightly north
of Hauts-Vents, Normandy.
History: By late morning
the attack of Panter Lehr's 902nd Panter Grenadier Regiment and its
supporting armor had been stopped by determined effort by infantry and
attached armor of the 30th Infantry Division. Though
slightly delayed, the attack of Combat Command B (CCB) would proceed.
By 1600, Task Force Z of CCB was advancing through the reckage of
Panter Lehr's pre-dawn attack and moving south toward Hauts-Vents (atop
Hill 91). Elements of the 902nd Panter Grenadier Regiment scraped
defensive positions and prepared for the assault they knew would be
coming. It had already been a long day for Panter Lehr; the commanding
officer, General Bayerlein, was concerned that the men had not had a
decent amount of sleep since before 9 July. The rapid advance to the
front, the immediate night attack on the morning of 11 July and the
intensive US artillery bombardment of Lehr's position throughout the
night would put immense strain on the tired veterans of Panter Lehr.
German Orders: Prevent US
victory conditions.
US Orders: Capture two of
the three objective houses (identified on map below).
Game Length: 9-11 Turns.
A summary account of the battle, with rolling presentation, is available on the 'Battle Presentation' link immediately below. Many thanks to John Wolstenholme for providing so many great photos to choose from.
Scenario Notes
The game had two main challenges. For the Germans there was only a
small force to work with, for the Americans there was the solitary
bocage bordered road for their vehicles to travel up. Both proved
challenging. The M8 sped through the German lines revealing the
location of a number of units before quickly succumbing to the sole
Panzer IV tank. Panzer Ed was on good form quickly acquiring and
destroying his target. The loss of this tank early on to artillery fire
was significant, as this mobile gun platform could have dueled with
American Shermans and M3 halftracks.
It was unfortunate that the Pak 40 AT gun in the orchard failed to
assert itself on the battlefield. A series of failed acquisitions and
wild shots merely held up the Shermans for a couple of turns as they
traded HE and AP shells across a field.
As the battle progressed it became clear that the road was going to be
a death trap. Panzerfaust fire effectively clogged the road,
which
also had burning German vehicles. With the limited number of German
defenders the American
infantry were able to move through the Orchard and assault the
remaining objective houses.
It would have been interesting if the Germans had had another infantry
squad to cover the orchard area. As it was they still inflicted
losses on American armour in the dense bocage. The US crews were fairly
lucky escaping with
minimal casualties, though the lead Sherman up the road exploded. The
US halftracks were once more used as mobile MGs while their infantry
edged up to their targets in the orchard.
The tactical map below shows the main area of action. The American
attack advanced from the top of the map to the bottom. Note the
constricted route for the vehicles as the bocage prevents flanking.
Rules Notes
The game once more used the excellent Disposable Heroes
rules. We shall be using these for the next three scenarios. One of the
great things about these rules is that they help the game to flow so
effortlessly. I haven't picked them up since our last game, which was a month ago, and
everything simply fell into place. We hardly had to refer to the book
at all. Excellent. I find it helped to create force and
activation sheets to give players everything they need to know.
The MGs on the Shermans proved extremely effective once they had
acquired
their targets. Tanks using their pintle mounted MGs exposed commanders
to possible retaliatory fire, so we have used a simple
buttoned/unbottened optional rule.
It was also fun seeing the germans trying to take out Sherman tracks
with the 2cm cannon on the halftrack. The rules really add nice detail
and flavour to the vehicle combat.
The game was a victory to the Americans.
Victory Points
American VPs = 33 (+2 attachment credits = 5 credits for next scenario)
German VPs = 10 ( 1 attachment credit left for the next scenario)