Greetings
Today we played part 2 of our 6mm game of Operation Jupiter on 10 July 1944 near Caen using each unit/stand representing a platoon. I'll do a full write up in due course when I've got the umpire's notes (he kept a record by turn). A briefish summary follows.
The 6' x 4' table was set up to play lengthways with the British FUP at one end and their initial objective (the line of the current D8 road) about half way up the board. The slopes of Hill 112 rose beyond that to the orchards and fields of what historically was to become Cornwall Wood to the 43rd Wessex Division and Calvary Hill to 9 and 10.SS Panzer divisions. Beyond the crest the table sloped down to the Avenay - Eterville road more or less on the German baseline. The west side of the table rose to slightly lower elevations than Hill 112.
I commanded SS-Pz-Gren-Regt.21 (less the gepanzert battalion detached off table to my left around Esquay) with the forward companies of my two motorised Panzergrenadier battalions and their two PAK40 platoons (stands) dug in along the Etterville-Evrecy road (the current D8). Each battalion's reserve company (each rifle company was only 2 stands), the supporting 8cm mortars, 7.5cm infaltry guns and battalion pionier platoons (stands) were dug in on Hill 112 with the CO and HQs. The regimental pionier company was dug in at the back of the hedged field on the hill as a backstop. An FAO - dug in on the crest of Hill 112 - had the SP artillery of I/SS-Pz-Div.10 on call (a Hummel and 2 Wespe batteries). The gepanzert battalion and armour from SS-Panzer-Regiment.10 was potentially available as reinforcements.
The British commander had the three battalions of 129 Infantry Brigade ($ and 5 Wiltshires, 4 Somerset Light Infantry (SLI) and two squadrons of Churchills of 7 RTR as well as a Crocodile squadron of 141 RAC. Three FAOs could call on the three battery 94 Field Regiment and there was one turn's scheduled fire from 8 AGRA (23 dice). Brigadier Mole also had the potential to call on elements of 214 Brigade in divisional reserve.
The British orders - to take Hill 112 - started with all the three battalions plus the tanks being massed toward their right (west) in order to take the road on that flank and roll up other defences east along the line of the road before pressing up the ridge.
British progress was initially slow (until the British player changed his dice
) with Lt Col Lipscomb of 4 Somerset Light Infantry initially seeming a candidate for replacement. Luckily he found his mettle later on and 4 SLI actually did the most with least casualties of all the infantry.
The initial AGRA barrage stunned the defenders along the road (which was the German MLR) but not for long. British smoke was used to blank out the line of the road to mask enemy AT guns and observers (though this did not always arrive owing to some failed FAO rolls). The British advance in the open was punished by the German artillery when the FAO saw gaps in the smoke - they were firing 10 dice concentrations - and in early turns the dice were producing 5-8 hits, wiping out whole infantry companies at a time.
The Churchills moved on regardless, helping their weakened infantry onto the first objective which was cleared as much by tank fire and Crocodiles as by the infantry - Panzerschrecks merely delayed the inevitable. However German mortars and infantry guns were used to pour more killing fire onto advancing British infantry already caught by the artillery.
Meanwhile I (as the German regimental commander) prudently called for reinforcements against the mass of infantry and tanks in the valley below. I was not to see any until the beginning of the last turn we played when a number of Panzer IVs appeared behind Hill 112 having been released by division following Allied slow progress around Eterville (see last game) - my infantry reinforcement were apparently still held up by Jabos.
Having finally reached and largely cleared the line of the D8 the British player realised that he needed more infantry if Hill 112 was to be taken and 7 SLI [historically it was 5 DCLI] was brought forward in trucks however these lost about 5 platoons from an accurate German stonk before they debussed.
The game ended (at about 11.30 am on 10 July, after 14 30-minute turns) with the Germans still in place, unmolested, on the upper slopes of Hill 112, though smoke was being used to blind their FAO. The British were in force on the old German MLR, with AT guns being positioned against any potential counter-attack - but their main prize loomed above them.
The Germans had lost 7 infantry stands and 2 PAK40 - all from their MLR along the line of the road. The British armour was untouched (apart from some paint damage) but their infantry was in tatters with the main killer being artillery, infantry guns and mortars - the four British battalions could more or less field six or so companies between them compared to the sixteen they started with - 4 and 5 Wiltshires were down to a company each having taken 75% casualties in infantry.
We played 14 turns using BKC II (BKC I last time). While we've got a few niggles we thought it played fast. We'd done quite a lot of preparation and all had the rules - I'd also done spreadheets for all the forces and although the forces were tweaked a little by the owner of the figures (as he didn't always have quite the right ones) it was pretty close to the historic OB.
While we used historical OBs I did add it up from a points perspective out of interest. All infantry were costed as having IATW. The British fielded at the start about 7500 points (excluding the opening AGRA barrage) and got about another 1200 with the arrival of 7 SLI. The Germans initially had about 3000 points plus roughly 160 points of field defences with the unused but on table panzer reinforcements at the end adding another 750 points.
We play with hidden deployment on a map so the attacker's job is a bit more difficult. The Germans basically avoided giving their positions away if possible - basically everything the British saw they killed with tanks or guns. So the German CO, HQs and FAO on high ground dominated the table when they weren't blanketed in smoke - the mortars and infantry guns were on reverse slopes etc and the dug in units spotting for them did not fire or move themselves. The British blanketed the line of the road with smoke - easier because the road was already a registerd target from the initial scheduled AGRA fire - but they really needed more guns to do this properly (maybe they should have had 214 Brigade's guns as well). The German FAO really benefited from the +1 he got from being on higher ground and the smaller deviation also helped when engaging targets nearer the British start line.
The next game will probably return to 130 Brigade's flank for the afternoon of 10 July. Having written down a lot of SS-PzGren-Rgt.22 can a reinforced 130 Brigade take Eterville and then jump off from the Eterville - Evrecy road to break the German defensive crust, take Maltot and release 4 Armoured Brigade to the Orne? The untaken slopes of Hill 112 will loom menacingly on the western edge of the table and the remaining armour of I SS Panzer Korps lurks the other side of the smokescreen on the eastern edge. I get to play the British next game ...
Regards
Edward