Morning of the 902nd
Played 22/01/2005
Date: 11 July 1944, 0430
hours
Location: Slightly north
of Hauts Vents, Normandy.
History: On 10 July,
attacks by Task Force X, of Combat Command B (3rd Armored Division)
were halted just short of Hauts Vents by a determined final stand of
Kampfgruppe Heintz. That evening, 3rd Armored units withdrew to their
camps while the 30th Infantry Division was left to hold the line until
morning and the re-initiation of the Allied drive. For the
Germans, the delaying action of Kampfgruppe Heintz allowed just enough
time for the 902nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, Panzer Lehr, to enter the
line after dark on 10 July.
By 0400 the 902nd was prepared to advance to the north in attempt to
move from Hauts Vents to Le Rocher (about 1km north of Hauts Vents).
The Commander of the 902nd, Oberstleutnant Welsch was assigned
supporting armor for the assault and the combined force formed together
as "Kampfgruppe Welsch". The German forces would attempt a pre-dawn
break-up of the expected US advance (Combat Command B, slightly to the
east, was preparing a final drive in concert with the 119th Infantry
Regiment) to delay the US juggernaut for another day. The German
forces are
already exhausted, have been in the line too long without sign of
relief, and under constant air and artillery attack.
German Orders: Capture
two of the three objective houses (identified on map).
German Exceptional Victory:
Capture two houses and the Manor
US Orders: Prevent German
victory conditions.
Game Length: 12-15 Turns.
A summary account of the battle, with rolling presentation, is available on the 'Battle Presentation' link immediately below.
Notes
The huge main main column that formed the armoured attack by Panzer
Lehr caused immediate consternation and despair to the american
tactical commanders. An impressive number of main battle tanks,
motorised support, and hanomag infantry poured down the main road and
then split at the fork in the road to form a pincer attack to take the
objective houses to the north.
The attack went in just before dawn, thus using Night modifiers for
fire. The americans had set up a flexible forward defence, which could
fall back to further lines to the north. Their Shermans and MMG were on
'Tripwire' to take out german forces that strayed onto their
sights. Bazooka teams were pressed forward to thwart the main
attack. These were fairly unlucky not to cause more damage than they
did. The lead panzers took several hits but kept on rolling forward.
Overwhelmed, the defending Sherman to the west was repeatedly hammered
by AP shot and was eventually destroyed having slightly detained the
westerly attack. The eastern Sherman sought to use the bocage blocking
LOS to shake off acquisition attempts and preserve itself to maintain
the defence. It brewed up when surrounded by Mark IVs as it backed away
firing.
The M10s had arrived from the North on Game Turn 4. They deployed south
of the Manor to hold the line and dueled with the lead panzers. They
managed to immobolize one Mark IV and destroy another, before they
themselves were overcome. Had they been luckier in the placement of
their shot they could have had more of an impact. They seemed to find
the best points of armour protection on the german tanks and succeeded
all too frequently in scoring glancing hits that failed to destroy
their opponents.
The american infantry fought doggedly, with the notable exception of
the odd unit that repeatably failed to Rally. Faced with a range of
heavy support fire and well equiped panzer grenadiers the americans
were worn down by the ferocity. The arrival of the Mk III Flampanzer
was perhaps the last straw. As the flames licked into the objecive
house they broke and ran to the north easterly house only to be
destroyed by tank HE fire. Throughout, the american 2nd squad, which
had
arrived by truck on Game Turn 5, continued to loot the northerly manor
house, filling the truck with antiques and emptying the wine cellar.
They dissappeared with their swag as the game ended before the manor
could be assaulted.
The Disposable
Heroes
rules worked exceptionally well. They are a real find!
The capacity to execute a 'sneak then fire' simulated well ambush
attacks from bazooka teams as they sought to blunt the armoured attack.
There was some thought that the vehicle rules made it too hard to
destroy a vehicle. The combined percentages when you factor in acquire,
fire, location, weapon penetration, and penetration table die rolls
meant that you had, cumulatively, limited scope to really 'one shot
destroy' a tank. It was insightful that as soon as daylight arrived
(about game turn 9) vehicles started to brew up as they were more
quickly hit. It's also fair to say that this observation came from the
americans as they failed to consistently penetrate german armour with
the weapons they had been given. The M10s were unlucky.
There was also some discussion that, compared to Arc of Fire rules, the
infantry were easier to spot when in prepared defence. To a degree this
is true, however the capacity to use move and fire options also enabled
the infantry to spend time out of the firing line to re-emerge to
continue fire. The interaction between movement and firing was seamless
and flowed well. I also included a 'hidden deployment' rule that meant
that the defenders didn't have to reveal themselves on the table unless
enemy infantry were within 12" (snap fire range) or within 3" of enemy
tanks.
The infantry game was chartless and swift. There were only a few
counters on the table to denote 'pinned' results of fire. Activations,
penetrating hits and acquisitions were all noted on an 'activation
sheet' and force sheets. The uncluttered table thus stayed gorgeous,
unlittered by chits and counters.
Players commented that the rules helped deliver a battle that 'felt
right'. I cannot think of a better accolade! We'll be continuing
to use the rules in subsequent games.
The tactical map below shows the main thrust of the Panzer Lehr attack
and the position of the american support elements.
The game was a victory to the germans, who made
good use of their superior numbers and rode their luck. 'Panzer Ed' was
particularly aggressive, fearlessly charging forward throwing AP and HE
to left and right. The americans played skillfully. Unlucky not to
cause more damage, they made best use of terrain to try and leverage as
many opportunities to hit the enemy. Night conditions hampered
them more as they had less units to fire, and their weapons were
generally less effective than their german counterparts.
The game looked gorgeous (see presentation above), was played in a good
spirit, with a set of rules that showed great promise, and provided a
believable outcome that did all the players justice.
Victory Points
American KIA = 35 (9 in vehicles)
German KIA = 17 (3 in vehicles)
American VPs = 17
German VPs = 40 (plus 2 attachment credits)