The game was a quick drawing together of some ideas I had had of a US attack onto a German position. It had a bit of licence in the construction of the forces, but would really be as close to historical as I could kriegspiel the game.
An aerial picture of Deadmans Corner, showing the junction of the road to Carentan. Terrain for the game was very close, but I put in a lateral road/lane to the main road layout.
The basic game plan was for a US force to motor up the lane and seize the crossroads. The US force consisted of the following,
Battlegroup Command in M3 1/2 track
Forward Air Liason in M20 utility
2 x Platoons of 4 M4 Shermans
1 Platoon of Armoured Infantry in 4 M3 1/2 tracks
Recce force of M5 Stuart Command, M8 Greyhound and Jeep with .50Cal
One of the Shermans in one platoon was equipped with a dozer blade.
Also, the Hawker Typhoon would be making an appearance if an aircraft chit was drawn.
The German side was definately outnumbered and outgunned.
A platoon of Grenadiers, each section armed with 2 Panzerfausts
A Flak 88mm with no tow
A Pak 40 75mm with no tow
2 x Marder III
Sdkfz 222
Quad 20mm on 1/2 track
2 minefields 9 inch x 4 inch
1 roadblock
All guns are dug in as are all the infantry sections. The infantry have reinforced cover i.e. covered positions with log roofs, with alternate positions.
No one had any offtable artillery, but the US had organic 60mm mortars with the armoured infantry.
The US would deploy first, with no Germans on the table unless spotted. The roadblock was put down halfway dowm the main road, with one of the minefields just beyond itand the other minefield deployed in the field to its right in the middleof the field toprotect against outflanking the roadblock.
The US rolled 3 to start,and brought on the Battlegroup command and 2 elements of the Recce force.
Sorry for the angle. US forces have moved onto the table, the 2 tank platoons, the remaining Recce jeep and a 1/2track which has driven down the road to the roadblock. The tanks heading up the table to the right of the road are lead by the dozer tank which will breech the hedgefor the wheeled Recce vehicles to proceed on and through the orchard. The tanks to the left of the road have moved onto the table into an orchard.
View down the road showing the 1/2 track stopped at the roadblock, with the command 1/2 track lurking behind a hedge offroad in the orchard.
The infantry dismounted from the 1/2 track into the orchard to move up the road, as the Dozer leads the way up into the orchard. No Germans have been spotted, but they also have not been observed for either. Things are about to get hot for the US as they have been fully observed.
On the other side of the road, the tanks have moved out of the orchard into the field. However, the tanks will remain on the other side of that hedge and not move forward all game.
A more complete view of the US showing a section moving up through the orchard, with further 1/2 tracks moving up the roadblock and debussing. All the US are nowon table.
The Germans have not shot or revealed themselves.
The US move on up observe the hedge line, spot German infantry, fail to hit anything and wait to receive the inevitable backlash. 2 Panzerfausts are let off and the Dozer starts to brew up. The MG42 starts up and the infantry in the orchard are starting to look vulnerable.
The infantry from the 1/2 tracks has debussed and one of the sections has moved to the left into the field. It moved into the minefield set to stop any outflanking. This did indeed stop any troops outflanking the road in this area. The US takes 3 casualties.
The Grenadiers in the hedge let rip at the infantry section with suppressive fire. Initially not effective, but with the MG42 supporting, the infantry are suppressed. The Grenadiers then move to their alternate position the other side of the gap in the hedge to keep up the pressure. Shermans are trying to get up and remove them but even with hits they are passing concealment rolls. The MG42 does not survive.
The US pushes the debussed infantry up the road to flank/pressure the Grenadiers at the top of the orchard, but the GI's walk into the minefield on the road. The Grenadiers continue to be able to pour suppressive fire into the section in the orchard and survive the return fire of the Shermans. They had also been resupplied with Panzerfausts. The US infantry caught in the minefield in the field move out but have to take another hit from the minefield as they move further into it. 2 more casualties and with a failed morale test, they withdraw and are removed from the table.
The Grenadiers then fall back to the crossroads to avoid being wiped out. With the US infantry suppressed from the minefield on the road - they lost 5 men, failed their morale test and were suppressed - the quad 20mm on the 1/2 track rolls up to have a few shots at them as well. The PaK 40 then opens up on the stationary tanks in the field, as does the 88mm. 2 shots giving 2 kills.
With morale chits for the Germans totalling 2, and the US totalling 15, it was a resounding German victory. The Marders and 222 Armoured Car had played no part and to be honest I wasn't going to give him any of the Marders to start with as I thought he had enough to hold.
US losses - 3 Shermans, 2 sections of infantry
German losses - 2 Grenadiers and a MG42 team
Thanks to Mike ( US ) and Ian ( German ).
Battlegroup Command in M3 1/2 track
Forward Air Liason in M20 utility
2 x Platoons of 4 M4 Shermans
1 Platoon of Armoured Infantry in 4 M3 1/2 tracks
Recce force of M5 Stuart Command, M8 Greyhound and Jeep with .50Cal
One of the Shermans in one platoon was equipped with a dozer blade.
The German side was definately outnumbered and outgunned.
A platoon of Grenadiers, each section armed with 2 Panzerfausts
A Flak 88mm with no tow
A Pak 40 75mm with no tow
2 x Marder III
Sdkfz 222
Quad 20mm on 1/2 track
2 minefields 9 inch x 4 inch
1 roadblock
All guns are dug in as are all the infantry sections. The infantry have reinforced cover i.e. covered positions with log roofs, with alternate positions.
No one had any offtable artillery, but the US had organic 60mm mortars with the armoured infantry.
The US rolled 3 to start,and brought on the Battlegroup command and 2 elements of the Recce force.
The Germans have not shot or revealed themselves.
The Grenadiers then fall back to the crossroads to avoid being wiped out. With the US infantry suppressed from the minefield on the road - they lost 5 men, failed their morale test and were suppressed - the quad 20mm on the 1/2 track rolls up to have a few shots at them as well. The PaK 40 then opens up on the stationary tanks in the field, as does the 88mm. 2 shots giving 2 kills.
With morale chits for the Germans totalling 2, and the US totalling 15, it was a resounding German victory. The Marders and 222 Armoured Car had played no part and to be honest I wasn't going to give him any of the Marders to start with as I thought he had enough to hold.
US losses - 3 Shermans, 2 sections of infantry
German losses - 2 Grenadiers and a MG42 team
Thanks to Mike ( US ) and Ian ( German ).
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