A 6mm IABSM game played at Gigabites Cafe in Feb 2010, based on the attack by 3rd Monmouths to clear a bridgehead on the Maas R on Nov 30ty 1944.
The German defenders were part of 6 Kompanie II Fallschirmjaeger Rgt 20 (I have no 6mm FJ, so used my camo'ed Germans).
The British force consisted of a company of infantry (with 2-inch mortars and PIATS), four sections of pioneers, three Sherman Crabs. A troop of Cromwells from C Sqd 15/19th Hussars were to lend fire support along with two Vickers MMGs and a battery of 25 pdrs. The Cromwells could not move out into the open until they felt all direct fire ATGs were silenced.
The defenders had a platoon with extra LMGs and plenty of Panzerfausts and one Panzerschrek team and one MMG. There were also 82mm and 120mm mortars on call. A PaK 40 and a FlaK 38 20mm AAA were also on the table. They also had some help from 88s across the river (off board: on the German Blind card we rolled a D4 and subtracted two to see how many shots the 88 got). The defenders also had a 12" belt of mines and 18" of barbed wire.
It was going to be a tough assault for the Monmouths htrough the mines, wire and HE.
![Overview of the table The British assault would come from the trees on the left. The Germans could setup in the town of Broekhuizen and to the right of the roads. Off the top edge of the table was the Kastell: a large manor home surrounded](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718895986-YEM2I7YRQIF1MKUFX7U8/4395947153_e95b923bb5_o.jpg)
![British Start Line The British got six pre-game stonks that they placed in the town. You can see the British forces arrayed on the table in the left corner. I normally don't expose the units like this but since this was a demo game at a shop, I](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718894537-UWEEO4PZ1FUYXF7TXRPZ/4396716160_768c681d44_o.jpg)
![Broekhuizen: Some Assembly Required The town wasn't actually as flattened as would appear in the game. I choose to represent it this way to catch the eyes of the WH40K crowd. It doesn't get much more apocalyptic looking than this. The pre-game st](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718894398-76EFA0E9MMIJC829FYN0/4396717892_eac689a78c_o.jpg)
![Crabs to the Mines The Sherman Crabs move to the edge of the minefield along with a couple of pioneer sections. The British knew where the front edge of the mines were but not the depth of the field.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718892899-4I3ZS922JVZOUXW6NV0Q/4396719836_8a84b47b61_o.jpg)
![MG42 Opens Up on the Pioneers They pin one of the sections immediately. They also knows that they was going to experience quite a bit of return fire. Most of the other defenders had pulled back from the front edge of the town to escape the pre-as](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718891792-LRDF1FL7OBLKFTGGVOZZ/4395954203_a7dfc4583a_o.jpg)
![One Section of Pioneers Getting Close to the Wire You can see some of the defenders have moved up and are about to pin the lead section of mineclearers. The British artillery is falling too far back at this stage and the 2" mortars can't seem to](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718890261-491K6P6ADS805MMSL2GM/4395955733_9d8bacb52c_o.jpg)
![One Crab Shelled The rightmost Crab is destroyed by 88 fire from across the Maas. The lefthand Crab has been temporarily immoblised by a Pak40 in the wood patch to its left front. They can clear up to a D4 worth of mines per turn.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718888811-W2CLR2K1OMLXYH3Z54Z4/4396724384_6f210a0be4_o.jpg)
![Monmouths Begin their Attack The Monmouths start one of the platoons through the path made by one of the sections. The paths are just wide enough to get a squad through. A Geman spotting round comes in right in their path.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718888096-2ZCD6L9OQDXLT8IDHFB9/4395958039_1923573943_o.jpg)
![Mortars Starting to Fall More of the Monmouths move out. No time to wait for their artillery to get the range on the defenders. The middle Crab has also taken a hit but flaills along. The Cromwells are shelling the woods where the PaK is firing f](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718886688-OJCWKUKP1I0JZNTAETKP/4395959595_bb3785a275_o.jpg)
![Engineers Make the Wire Its been slow going clearing the mines for the Pioneers and most sections have taken casualties. Mortars are pinning a lot of Brit units.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718885828-V51NYQF4O1QFBHMA6ZRJ/4396728594_a630dbe307_o.jpg)
![Smoke Finally The 2" mortars finally get some smoke down and some of the pioneers start to cut away the wire. Suppressive fire from the Vickers have had little effect so far.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718884574-YCABE9N6GSEIECYJ14LY/4396730318_37f1deaffa_o.jpg)
![More Artillery on the Way The FJ units have several batteries to call on. The most deadly are the 82mm and 120mm mortars. The spotters for the batteries are located in the remains of a 3-storey building close to the river.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718883717-8O56YZGTAK0XO11EXE0G/4395964173_2c06799330_o.jpg)
![Flails Make It to the Road Two surviving Crabs have beaten a path to one of the roads. The Cromwells finally silenced the Pak40 but a 20mm AAA in the same patch of woods is about to open fire on the flanks of the Shermans.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718881998-7G7JEMI50DJFL8AHMR74/4395965483_9bb272e626_o.jpg)
![The Attack Continues The flails move down the road only to get hit by a drifting mortar barrage. Meanwhile more defenders are moving about in the town. The FJ platoon HQ squad is in fall-back positions. The pioneers have managed to remove some of](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718881646-FNG9KFEVKDB9HNCYG4W0/4396735074_a1dbb008fa_o.jpg)
![Cromwells Join the Party The Cromwell troop quickly moves up through the beaten paths to find themselves getting hit by mortars and the 20mm AAA. The 95mm CS tank in the rear has been immobilised by the Flak gun to its rear.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718880676-DJ0OM4G5HTLFC587IPR1/4396736866_224754ff47_o.jpg)
![First Assault Repulsed The FJ squad just beat off a close assault by a couple of squads of Monmouths. Another couple of squads are pinned in a patch of unspotted mined ground on the other side of the cleared wire. And to add to their misery a sal](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718879640-8NU6EUC15RQUCAXNUP4U/4396738660_efc885ce43_o.jpg)
![Into the Town The Monmouths finally eliminate one of the defending FJ squads and move a platoon down the street. Meanwhile the 25 pdrs pound a corner of the town that contains the FO. The MMG has been silenced and the defenders are in pretty desp](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718878876-HI3JT23T84UI4PTAC0FF/4396740316_8569849be0_o.jpg)
![Ambush! The FJ platoon leader and his half squad blast the crap out of a Monmouth platoon that is moving down the road. The other remaining FJ squads are still firing at the Brits in the open.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718877610-H9M7V3WD2UV2110O11OG/4396742314_c34dc6a7f9_o.jpg)
![Game End Positions At this point, there were few troops left in the town and the artillery had gotten the range and the supporting guns on the east bank of the Maas are having trouble finding targets so we decided to call it quits. The Monmouths ha](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5406c773e4b087d8052ef58b/1443718877374-QCVRQOK2NWBB5H5178AU/4396744752_6d44123542_o.jpg)