We have played a battle of World War II. Germany (Abe, Roland, Kevin and Joost) had the village and the Americans (Justin and Erik) and English (Sander and Latok) had to expel the Germans from the village. American paratroopers and English Commandos would later enter the field.
The allies
The Germans manned the village, the fallschirmjägers would enter the field as reinforcements.
The Germans
The armies face each other
The first turn was for the allies and they immediately attacked, tanks rolled steadily forward supported by the infantry that used all the cover they could find. Multiple tanks and artillery pieces opened fire and the Germans ducked away behind the protection that the village offered and in the whole village grenades exploded, dust and debris flew through the air. Patton (Justin) took a position behind the farm as American infantry placed themselves in the farm and in the nearby field where the cadavers of several cows still laid that had not survived the earlier bombings.
The Shermans opened fire on a German antitank gun and with a deadly salvo they managed to destroy the gun. The field artillery was the last of the allied weapons to be fired. Much to the astonishment of the Germans they did not fire explosive grenades but they placed a blanket of smoke in front of the German lines, the English and half of the American army were almost entirely covered by a blanket of smoke that was laid down with great efficiency.
The Germans emerged from behind their save positions and they opened fire on the allies. Most of the German troops could no longer see the enemy thanks due to the smoke and the Germans opened fire on the farm and field that were visible. The Americans hid behind the fences, walls and cow carcasses but an artillery shell struck in the middle of the field. Pieces of cow and American flew through the air, the first American unit was destroyed.
The German artillery, also hit the British units of Latok, several soldiers and a unit snipers fell victim to this deadly fire. Thanks to the smokescreen the amount victims was limited.
The allies now also found hindrance from the smokescreen that they themselves had put in place, the troops and tanks moved forward at full speed but the anti-tank guns, tank destroyers and most of the tanks had nothing to shoot at. Out of sheer desperation the Shermans shot on the hidden SS troops inside the buildings but they did little damage. The British Achilles (Sander) fired through the smoke on the German Hetzer but missed hopelessly. A British Matilda II tank opened fire on a German Stug but this tank also missed.
On the other side of the village Lovat and his British commandos (Sander) moved onto the battlefield, using a forest as cover they moved forward. On the left side of the commando’s the 101st US airborne (Erik) also entered the field. Two Jeeps that pulled artillery moved forward at full speed under the assumption that they would reach the Hill that would allow them to attack the Germans in their back. The Allied artillery, opened fire on the Town Hall and many SS soldiers were killed, fanatical as they were the unit did not break.
British commandos
US 101st Airborne
The Germans were prepared for this move, German Falmschirmjäger under von Flokkenstufen (Roland) moved onto the table to the right (just below the American airborne), also a complete Division of grenadiers were unloaded from the Hanomags (Halftracks) reinforced by a Puma, Panther and Stug. Now all these troops opened fire on the two Jeeps that drove in the direction of the German lines. The jeeps dodged grenades and bullets as they drove forward. The Commander of the Panther (Abe) waited until the right time and then opened fire with its heavy cannon, the first jeep was hit and the power of the grenade changed the jeep into a fireball. The second jeep was finally disabled by German infantry. The German artillery inflicted multiple casualties among the allies.
The Hetzer (Roland) returned fire on the Achilles (Sander) but missed (this would be something that Roland did a lot this battle). Joost opened fire with a tank and anti-tank gun on the Matilde II (Sander) but all the shots missed. From the Town Hall the SS of Kevin shot with a Panzerschreck and took of the tracks of an American Pershing tank (Erik) which was rendered immobile.
Hetzer opens fire
The smoke now also began to irritate the allies, out of sheer desperation a British Churchill tank charged forward towards a German unit that hid behind the walls of the churchyard, the Germans responded by shooting several panzerfausts at the oncoming tank, a grenade broke through the extremely thick armour of the Churchill and the ammunition room was hit, the crew did not have time to bring themselves to safety, with a huge bang the tank was torn apart. From behind the smoke several tanks moved forward but the fate of the Churchill brought the English advance to a halt, the other units remained hidden behind the smoke. The American airborne took position in the forest, and opened fire on the German Falmschirmjägers, many Germans were mortally wounded but they held their position. Lovats commandos (Sander) opened fire on the Germans that stood in front of them, they made several casualties, and a German Hanomag was disabled. Deadly American artillery fire, landed in the Town Hall, several German soldiers were killed and a SS unit was destroyed. The British artillery also blasted the troops in the cemetery and here too many Germans fell.
A German flamethrower (Roland) moved forward and sprayed deadly fire into the forest, a unit of American Airborne infantry (Erik) was boiled alive, von Flokkenstuffen (Roland) screamed towards the other German units in an unsympathetic way and the Germans opened a massive fire on the hidden Americans (Erik), despite the shouting and name calling by von Flokkenstuffen (thanks to an extremely lousy dice result), however, they hardly managed to inflict any casualties. German tanks and artillery fired on the allies but they also did little damage.
German Falmschirmjäger under von Flokkenstuffen (Roland)
The English (Latok) decided to launch a massive attack and an infantry unit rushed forward towards a German unit (Joost), this unit opened fire on the British but did little damage, several British artillery shells struck the German lines, Latok gave a last artillery piece the command to weaken the Germans further, the coordinates he passed, however, were not properly relayed, while the English infantry charged towards the German line an English officer heard the whizzing of a grenade, he gave the order to dive to the ground and thanks to this fast acting he managed to save some soldiers, most of his unit however, was wiped out by the impact of the British grenade that brought the British attack to a halt. The American Airborne (Erik), with particularly good dice throwing (usually not my forte) disabled a German unit and a second was severely weakened. The troops from the U.S. were now unloaded from their halftracks and U.S. infantry moved forward towards the German lines.
Troops leave the U.S. halftracks (Justin)
The English attack (Latok)
Thanks to an unexpected gust of wind the smokescreen shifted allowing the Germans to see multiple allied forces. From the City Hall, the Germans opened fire on the approaching Americans, a German flamethrower (Roland) destroyed the remains of a U.S. Unit (Justin). The Jagdpanther (Joost) hit an American M10 Tank destroyer that went up in flames. In the forests the airborne and commandos were fired upon but they stood their ground.
An American infantry unit (Justin) fixed bayonets and charged a unit of SS in the Council House, despite the artillery bombardments that they had had to endure the SS, covered in dust, received the approaching Americans with unprecedented skill they drove the Americans back, the US unit broke and the last survivors were mercilessly shot down. From the forests the allies fired all that they had on the Germans and a German Hanomag was destroyed. Von Flokkenstuffen furiously passed behind his troops shouting and humiliating his soldiers, this caused the immensely popular Heinrich (with flamethrower) to become irritated and disoriented. The Americans fired and the flammable gear of Heinrich was hit, a spark followed and Heinrich went down in a sea of flame. Von Flokkenstuffen could not be bothered but the German Falmschirmjägers were shocked by this great loss.
A strong wind stuck on and the smokescreen dissolved (this time Roland threw for the smokescreen). The Germans now had a good view of all the allied troops previously hidden by the smoke and the Germans opened fire on the approaching allies, and multiple units were again heavily weakened. The German tanks and cannons thundered but miraculously none of the nearby Allied tanks were hit. This was the best chance to destroy the allies. In the forests the fighting went on, von Flokkenstuffen (Roland) gave the order to his mortar team to bombard the Americans in the forest. Still irritated about the recent loss of the popular Heinrich the mortar focused incorrectly. The mortar shell flew high in the air and with a bow it came down again, however far removed from the Americans, von Flokkenstuffen looked up and saw the mortar shell falling towards him, he looked behind him towards his mortar team and the last thing he experienced was the grin on the faces of his mortar team. And so, with a huge bang, von Flokkenstuffen’s life ended.
The English artillery now also had good visibility and an anti-tank gun (Latok) opened fire on a Jachtpanther that had now become visible, the grenade hit and pierced the thick armour of this German colossus that was left behind burning on the field. Further Allied fire could still take a few Germans out but the Allies also did little additional damage.
The Jagdpanther is disabled
The Sun now almost went under and the village was still in the hands of the Germans, despite the heavy fighting neither of the armies were broken. The goal of the allies, taking the village was not realized, the allies decided to withdraw.
July 26, 2008, 11:43:34 AM