First foray into the Western Front in 28mm (updated 27 08 23)

[TacticalPainter]

Finally managed to get the new figures into a game. This was a small scenario on a 4x3 table using the Lardies 'Through the Mud & Blood' rules. It was set in Pozieres in 1916 and published in the Lard Magazine 2021. It's a fairly small game with an Australian platoon (1 Lewis section and three rifle sections) against three German rifle sections. All the rifle sections on both sides had bombers so apart from them and the Lewis Gun this was a fairly simple order of battle.

I don't have any 28mm terrain to make up a village in ruins but I do have an awful lot of 20mm terrain and, at a stretch, it could be made to work for this scale. It did mean at times the buildings were a little crowded but overall it made the game playable.





The Australians managed to successfully evict the Germans but not without a struggle. A perfect sized game for a club night.

[monk2002uk]

Lovely figures, as usual. The smaller size buildings still work visually.

I don't know the Pozières scenario from the Lard Magazine. Were the Australians entering into the village or did they start within the buildings? Was there a preparatory barrage? The Australians had a slight tactical advantage numerically. Did the Germans have the tactical advantage of defending? I am wondering how the latter advantage was overcome during the gameplay. Thanks.

Robert

[TacticalPainter]

 The Australians enter on blinds, the Germans have two sections on the table (as blinds, on one side of the crossroads) and one entering the table. They have the advantage of concealment plus two dummy blinds and defending good terrain. No preliminary bombardment the Australians are already in the village and the scenario has them winking out the remaining Germans. Initial German success came from overwhelming one Australian section that pushed too far forward. Australian success came from concentrating firepower and overwhelming individual German sections. The Germans probably played a too forward defence which paid dividends early but ultimately cost them. It was really about close quarter infantry fighting - suppression with the Lewis and then in with the bombers.

[TacticalPainter]

Another new addition, this time a 7.7cm Feldkanone and crew, once again from Great War Miniatures. That lead pile is slowly getting smaller!

[Driscoles]

Nice pics from a nice gaming table!
Great gun model too.
Thanks for sharing!
Björn

[monk2002uk]

...suppression with the Lewis...

Thank you for the extra information. I will check if the Lewis gun was used in close quarters fighting in a built-up area. Did you find that it gave significant extra firepower?

Robert

[TacticalPainter]

Thank you for the extra information. I will check if the Lewis gun was used in close quarters fighting in a built-up area. Did you find that it gave significant extra firepower?

Robert

I’m not sure if what remained of Pozieres at the time would qualify as a built up area, more like piles of rubble where once there was a village. The Lewis added some additional firepower, but not a ‘significant’ amount.

[monk2002uk]

I’m not sure if what remained of Pozieres at the time would qualify as a built up area...

There is no doubt that the town had been devastated by the bombardments during the weeks before the Australian attacks went in. This was a recurring pattern across the many towns and villages of the greater Somme battlefield. Each example, including Pozières, posed a different sort of tactical challenge from attacking an isolated pillbox or MEBU. The rubble was piled up, interfering with line of sight and movement. Cellars were commonplace in the villages. These were often hardened by the German defenders in the preceding months and were often linked together with tunnels. I have just completed a detailed review of the German and Canadian accounts of the fighting for Courcelette, which happened slightly later than Pozières but mirrored the nature of the fighting. I will look out the details for Pozières now.

What strikes me, in general terms, is when this type of fighting is replicated on-table and involves roughly equal size attacking and defending forces resulting in a 'win' to the attacking forces. Please, this is not a criticism of the game you played.

Robert

[TacticalPainter]

.

What strikes me, in general terms, is when this type of fighting is replicated on-table and involves roughly equal size attacking and defending forces resulting in a 'win' to the attacking forces. Please, this is not a criticism of the game you played.

Robert

The objective for the scenario was for the Australians to force two German sections from the table. The Germans need to cover both sides of the road which means one squad on each side and the third arriving as a reserve to reinforce a key point. Australians held one squad with one of their sections on one flank, which was mauled in the process but did their job, while the other three sections concentrated on the other flank. They overwhelmed the squad there and the reserve squad that was fed in to try and hold the position. The German player may have done better conducting a fighting withdrawal and a defence with more depth. Keep in mind this is designed as a small scenario focusing on low level infantry tactics. The Australians don’t retake the village, at best they drive a weak German platoon back from one of their positions.

[monk2002uk]

The scenario about Pozières is designed to simulate close quarters fighting in a BUA during the Somme battles. It is helpful to understand more about the scenario details, thank you. With regards to the acronym 'BUA', I am not wedded to it in any way so if there is a more suitable term then we can use that in this discussion.

What follows is not directed at the scenario specifics or to the way that the game was played out. The key things were to get those lovely figures on the table and to have a good time. Ultimately, that is what wargaming is all about. What I like about such games is the way they can prompt further historical investigation. I have just completed a detailed investigation of the Battle of Courcelette, which occurred after the Battle of Pozières. Courcelette is just along the road from Pozières, which is why it has been interesting to shift focus to the latter.

The village has much the same layout today as it had back in 1914. Basically there is a line of houses along each side of the main Albert-Bapaume road, with a T junction. The branch of the T goes off towards Thiepval. This road has a line of houses on each side as well. As noted above, the houses had been hit many times by the frequent bombardments over the preceding weeks. General Smyth drew a sketch based on the action on 22/23 July 1916, when the Australians first attacked the village. It is not clear how accurate the sketch is but it should be noted that many photos of Pozières were taken later or, such as the photos that include Gibralter (the armoured lookout tower) were not actually taken in the village itself:



Irrespective of the state of the houses themselves, the big tactical threat they posed related to the inter-connected cellars. This was typical of so many villages and towns in the Somme. The Germans created the connections, as well as strengthening the overhead cover. This gave ready access to any part of the village, essentially, whilst moving underground. In other examples of fighting in this type of terrain, Germans would even appear behind attacking troops and shoot them. The Australians were prepared for this problem. The Battalion Order No. 1 issued on 22nd July 1916 to the Australian 3rd Battalion noted:

"The garrison of POZIERES consists of the remnants of Battalions which have lost heavily in the recent fighting. The cellars of the village are occupied and connected underground."

The garrison had, in fact, been replaced only a few days previously. The exhausted 'remnants' were relieved by elements of the newly arrived 117th Infantry Division. Specifically, 157th Infantry Regiment took over the Pozières sector. It is the only one of the three divisional regiments that published a regimental history. In mid-1916, the regiment contained three battalions (I., II., and III.). II. Battalion was subordinated to the command of the 20th Bavarian Infantry Brigade and was held at Le Sars. III. Battalion was placed in reserve at Courcelette. This meant that there were only 4 infantry companies defending from Pozières to 'east of the Pozières-Contalmaison road' (my translation).

The regimental history goes on to note that the 'very strong enemy attack (Australians) with superior forces... pushed into Pozières and attacked 4th Company/157th Infantry Regiment in the rear'. This indicates that, due to the dispersal of IR157, Pozières was defended by a company-size element. It was attacked by at least 4 Australian battalions, not counting the battalions that were more focused on attacking OG-1 Trench on the right flank of the Australian attack.

The Australian objectives stopped short of capturing the whole village. IR157 attempted to counter-attack with III. Battalion but this was beaten off with MG fire and artillery. The second major assault on the rest of Pozières took place on 25th July. The parts of the village still in German hands were only defended by 3rd Company/IR 157. The regimental history records:

"25th July: Renewed all-out attack against 3/157 at 4 am [German time was one hour ahead on the Western Front]; 3/157 was pinned in the flank and rear. It was crushed by the enemy's superiority. Leutnant der Reserve Roske fell in close combat."

I will deal with the preparations for and execution of the Australian attacks in another post.

Robert

[FreakyFenton]

Nice pictures of well-painted miniatures, thank you for sharing!

[monk2002uk]

Quick side note - IR 157 lost 16 officers and 907 men in the 4 days of fighting before it was withdrawn.

Robert

[monk2002uk]

FWIIW, here is the sketch from the German official history of the Battle for Pozières. It comes from the chapter covering the period from the 21st to 31st July 1916:



Robert

[monk2002uk]

The second important German source on the Battle of Pozières comes from the Schlachten des Weltkrieges series. Specifically, it is volume 2 of Somme-Nord (The Northern Somme Sector), subtitled Die Brennpunkte der Schlacht im Juli 1916 (which translates as 'The key highlights of the [whole Somme] battle in July 1916').

Here is the battle map for 23rd July, when the Australians first attacked Pozières:



It illustrates very well the tactical challenges faced by the Australians. Only the southwestern end of the village, facing down the main road towards Albert, was directly occupied by German defenders (4th Company/157th Infantry Regiment). Even there, the German defenders were in a trench line, which Smyth illustrated in the sketch I posted earlier. The trench line then continued to hook around outside the village to connect up on the northeastern side with the OG-1 trench. 3rd Australian Brigade was tasked with taking the trench line outside the southeast-facing side of the village. It was enfiladed from the Australian right flank, however, causing a major tactical issue not least because OG-1 was at a higher elevation.

The map shows how the Australians broke through the junction between 4th Company/IR 157 and 10th Company/Reserve Infantry Regiment 77 (newly arrived as part of 117th Division). RIR 77 did not create a regimental history so there is no more detail about what happened to this unit, not even in the official history. Once the Australians broke into the southwestern end of Pozières, they were able to take out 4/157 as noted in the previous post. The rest of the village contained the headquarters' elements of III. Battalion/RIR 77 and II. Battalion/IR 27 (I am waiting for IR 27's regimental history and will post any relevant material once it arrives).

"Panzer T." on the map stands for Panzerturm (literally 'armoured tower'), which is known as 'Gibraltar' in the English literature.



Robert

[monk2002uk]

...10th Company/Reserve Infantry Regiment 77 (newly arrived as part of 117th Division).

Apologies but this is not correct. RIR 77 was part of 2. Garde Reserve Division and it did leave a regimental history. I have ordered a copy but it will take a few days to arrive from Germany.

Robert