Grandcamp
Played 26/06/2004
Date:
8 June 1944,
1400 hours
Location:
Just past the
east bridge, 600 meters east of Grandcamp.
History: By
late morning
of 8th June, the 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry
Division was moving on Grandcamp, the next objective along the Normandy
coast west of Point- du-Hoc. This time the advance was lead by 3rd
Battalion. Defending the
approaches to Grandcamp were elements of the German 1st Battalion,
914th Infantry Regiment, part of the battered 352nd Infantry Division.
The 352nd had been in combat non-stop since the morning of June 6th and
was beginning to show signs of the
strain.
Many elements
had lost communications with division headquarters and most
were
running low on all types of supplies. With all these strains, the 352nd
was far from beaten, it would continue to fight for
some time.
German Orders:
Prevent
US victory conditions.
US Orders:
Capture the
house or exit 18 soldiers off the west board
edge.
Game Length:
12 Turns.
Three American squads with command, two jeeps, Mortar FO, MMG team, and one attached Shermans, were to push west and capture the house. It was not to be their day.
The American tactics were to advance squads in a broad front through the North and South field systems. The Sherman and MMG team were to provide support to the West thrust along the northerly field systems. The road was ignored as being too dangerous.
The American attack began and
immediately took fire. The concealed and well prepared German positions
to the North and South
of the road opened up on the American infantry as
they emerged onto the edge of the bocage. The Xs above show the main
aiming points of German fire.
Sara's Fireteam and LMG consistently made their TAC rolls to spot the
Americans, and immediately undertook opportunity fire and continued
volleying whenever possible. The fire was extremely accurate, putting
the Americans into Confused Mode and causing mounting casualties. Once
in Confused Mode, the Americans struggled to get to a point where they
could pin down where the German fire was coming from.
The picture was similar to the
North. Simon's MMG and John's Recon team laid down continuous fire on
the emerging American infantry. The American MMG team were cut down
before they could deploy their weapon. The Sherman, buttoned up,
couldn't see anything. It tried some desultory suppressive fire to no
effect. Torrential rain on a random event made bogging much more
likely, which might have hampered the Sherman. The Sherman commander
emerged, desparately attempting to locate German fire but was still
unable to see the enemy.
As deployed on the wargame table, the distance between the forces was just greater than 10". This proved crucial in preventing the Americans from spotting the enemy as they tended to fail their TAC rolls.
Meanwhile, two American jeeps hurtled down the road and disembarked infantry in the road NE of the German fireteam. They took some fire from the German Fireteam and John Recon Team. This was the first and last time that the Americans actually got to see their enemy.
Well done to Simon for getting the
basic planning right. Deploy with maximum force to pin the Americans as
they deploy to attack. John and Sara obliged with some effective
marksmanship. It makes a change for them not to be on the receiving end.
Ed's Pak 38 AT gun at the house was never troubled. Ed could only look on at the victory taking shape to the East.
Victory Points
The game was a decisive German
victory, seeing off the Americans after 2 game turns. The Americans
took 7 KIAs and many wounded. The Germans were not particularly spotted
and never accurately shot at.
American VPs = 0
German VPs = 17
The Germans win the first campaign and go into the next one confident of more victories.