AAR 1945 Germany: The Reichswald by Mark Luther

The battleground

Good overall view of the table. This represented one of the small villages in the area in a cleared tract of land. The attacking Brits came in from the top edge and could start up to about 8 inches in-including in the thick woods. The Germans could set up from just outside of the woods at the top edge to the bottom edge.

For the thick woods I broke out my foam woods blocks that I did a while back and sprayed them a darker colour to get the look closer to the dark forest typical of the area.

Centre of the table

In the centre of the board I set up a scattering of houses and farms and hedges that had drainage ditches alongside. There had been some pre-game artillery strikes in the area so we had some pretty messed up structures on the table to start.

British starting area

Brian could bring his units on anywhere on this edge up to about 8 inches in. There was a shattered woods and destroyed string of buildings along the road. The road itself was lined with drainage ditches and a hedge. The Churchills had a chance of bogging if they crossed the ditch. They did provide good cover though.

View from the defenders' side

Looking from the back left side of the German area. Rob had laid out some defensive works already on the other side of the hedge and road.

Right flank of the defenders

In addition to dug in positions, Rob could also place a few wooden road blocks. You can see more of his entrenchments in this pic. I didn't give him any mines but hinted to Brian that he might encounter some.

Rob sorting out his troops

The Germans had a pretty thin line, but plenty of excellent terrain to defend. The counterattacking force consisted of two Marder IIIs and an infantry platoon. The FO was not allowed to call in any targets until he knew the units would be arriving.

You can see Brian's blinds moving up through the woods and deploying on the road.

Churchills and infantry

the 1st troop heads up the road and a platoon of infantry advances to their side. Brian's 4 stonks made for a great deal of rolling before he moved out. Because I didn't want this game to be decided by dice rolls before any one even moved, I halved the damage that these stonks caused. This left the Germans with loads of shock, but hardly any KIAs. One Big Man was knocked out of action but otherwise, nothing nasty.

Wide road with narrow passage

I really needed to make these road a bit less wide. That's what happen when you do a few 15mm games before getting back to 6mm. But the path is still not very promising for the Churchills. I told Brian that sure, he could knock those wooded post down, but they could be booby-trapped. So he opted to turn right and cross the ditch and hedge, losing a dice of movement and risking getting bogged.

First real action

Churchills fire at the dug in grenadiers to their left front who in turn open up on the infantry on the other side of the tanks.

Race for the ditch

The first platoon makes a dash for cover as the Churchills put some HE on the Germans to their left

Action in the centre

At this point, only one troop of tanks, and one platoon of Brian's has shown up on the board. He has come under fire from a platoon of grenadiers. But he has noticed that there are quite a few other blinds on the table (and probably many more hidden). His other two platoons and a troop of Churchills were suppose to be moving out of the woods to his right. But, alas, they seemed to have gotten lost - or at least had some really crappy die rolls.

Shift right

Seeing no sense in getting any closer to some undoubtably Panzerfaust-armed Germans, the Churchill troop moves off to their right. Meanwhile, the first platoon is still under fire in the ditch behind a hedge.

Pak opens up

After finally getting rid of all its Shock points, the Pak38 takes a (difficult) shot on the troop of Churchills moving off road. Rob had to move one of his Big Men to this gun to remove the shock that had accumulated in the pre-game stonks.

Hit

And a lucky hit it was. The Pak shot had to thread through assorted blocks, hedges and then penetrate the Churchills thick armor, but it managed to take out its target.

German reinforcements

We are actually skipping a few turns here. The other two platoons of the Brits had finally cleared the woods and their appearance prompted the left hand platoon and MMG of Rob's to open fire. One of the buildings has also managed to catch fire (random event).

The reinforcements consisting of two Marder IIIs and a platoon of infantry were under (unrealistic) orders to retake the buildings at the British start line and had to move in that direction until they had a good reason to halt their attack. Their FO has done nothing but relocated a couple of times.

Take the House

The 1st Platoon makes a run at the large house. No Germans in there at this point, but they do take some fire from across the road at their left flank. I believe that the first Brit Big Man went down at this point. He would be the first of many.

Marders deploy

They spot the Churchills across the fields and try to even up the odds. The vehicles trade some iffy shots and the Marders come off the worse for it with the lead SPG getting a solid hit that knocks its gun out.

The 2 inch mortars are laying down smoke on some of the dug-in Germans. And the new platoon of reinforcements is having trouble deciding if they really want to re-take the buildings at the far edge the table.

Big Charge

The 3rd platoon and the Company CO head across the open ground to take the German works to the right of this picture. The 2 inch mortar is doing its job and the 1st platoon is also throwing some fire in support.

The other side of the road

Meanwhile whats left of the the right hand grenadiers has fired off a couple of faust at long range to no effect. (except to keep the tankers from getting closer). The German FO has is the upright Blind card in the building on the left. He has had no luck getting the battery to act. There are also a MMG and a Pak38 on this side of the table waiting for something to emerge from the shattered woods.

Churchills slowly clanking forward

Moving very slowly. Looking out for any more Paks and engaging the SPGs makes for some glacial movement. One Churchill also had some track damage from the Pak firing.

Marders drawing more fire

This is pretty much the end of their involvement in this game. the remaining untouched SPG takes a hit that puts their main gun out of action also. Time to vamoose.

Successful assault

The melee was won by the attacking Tommies, but the Company CO was one of the casualties. Evicted Germans are to the right.

Germans re-take their works

Rob quickly threw in his new platoon to drive the Brits from their recently captured positions. A very one-sided affair that sent the Tommies scampering back.

Another troop of Churchills

It took them twice as long as anticipated to journey through the woods, but they are ready to eliminate any remaining German opposition.

The Marders have not yet decided to get off the table (with no working guns, why stick around) and staying at maximum Panzerfaust range means that they heavy tanks are currently safe from harm (too bad I didn't notice the turret ajar before I took this pic).

You can see the where the survivors of the 3rd platoon have fallen back to the ditch and hedge to the tanks' left.

Rob's counterattack continues

Despite losing their SPGs, the counterattacking platoon heads to the road to see if they can fulfill their initial orders. They already wiped one unit of the British so maybe luck is with them.

Back to the rear

Well, nevermind that idea. The Churchills are just too threatening to ignore so Rob moves the grenadiers to close to their entry point and takes cover in the ditch. Those Marders really need to run.

Last turn

Man, I really need to check those little turrets! At this stage their is little point in continuing. The platoon CO left in the center just got hit leaving only one Big Man left for the Brits. His platoon is behind these Churchills in the hedge at the woods' edge. So not a lot of initiative left for the PBI. Still five Churchills running (despite the one on the left here looking otherwise).