A 6mm I Ain't Been Shot, Mum game played at GigaBites Cafe September 2022

This was the second part of the Rots June 11, 44 game.

This was the actual assault into Rots by A and B Troops of the 46 RMC along with 2 and 3 Troops and the HQ tanks of the Fort Garry Horse.

The town was defended by elements of 4 Kompanie, 12 SS PanzerGrenadier Regiment and the grenadiers of 1st Kompanie PanzerGrenadier Regiment 26 of the 12th SS Division.

The attack would come from the NW and west side of the table (the near side) The village of LeHamel and the River Mue are off table to the west also.

Mark Luther

John and William looking over Rots

John played the Germans and he was told that the British & Canadians are to the north and NW.

William (in the beret) could bring the Commandos in from the roads on the west edge and we went with their historical route of the Chemin de la Cavee, which he is eyeballing.

B Troop moves in

We played this pretty historically with B Troop and the supporting 2 troop of FGH getting on table before the A Troops.

They came in along the Chemin de la Cavee from Le Hamel.

A Troop would come in 3 turns of the 'Time' card later to their left.

B Troop splits to both sides of the Chemin de la Cavee

William hoped to get into Rots as quick as possible.

2 Troop FGH arrive

The Firefly is in the rear. The tanks advanced cautiously-really hoping the Commandos could precede them into the village.

Small arms fire from the left

John had 1 platoon (these were small 2 section platoons) of the grenadiers open up on William's left hand troop. Meanwhile his right hand troop kept advancing.

The high walls would require 2 APs to cross. The fresh units all had 4 APs to begin with. The Commandos also had large subsections of 12 men. 2 subsections /section and 2 sections per troop.

HQ troop of the FGH moves in and fires to the left

The 2 Troop moves up to the T intersection with a subsection of Commandos to their left.

Pak 40 under fire

This ATG had displaced from Le Hamel and set up to cover the T intersection in Rots. But the Commandos came in before John's supporting grenadiers could stop them. First encounter goes to the RMC.

A Troop arrives

I got to play in this one and I took the A Troop and accompanying 3 Troop in on the road from the NW edge. There was a lot more open ground here and I was planning on rushing across aa soon as all my men were ready.

B Troop drives off the Pak

A Troop, Section 1 moves up under cover of the FGH

My idea of a quick advance fell victim to my movement dice and the cards not coming up and a pair of active snipers.

2 Troop takes the T section

B Troop flanks the road.

Grenadiers retreat to the church graveyard

This was the platoon that started the firefight with William's men. After taking hits from the Sherman's 75s they fell back to the church where they could cover the right flank and my A troop.

Panthers appear

And take out the 2 Troop leader. John had 2 groups of 2 PzVs in support. One group was at the south end of the table and the other group was at the north end. Pre game stonks had knocked out one of their radios and caused some track damage to another slowing it down by 2 pips/dice.

Panthers here also

Making their appearance known by KOing my lead M4.

Defenders on the north edge

One shot was enough to destroy 1 Sherman

Time to change the route

With my A Troop going so slow in the open I decided to swing right and use some walls and hedges as cover against the fire from the Panthers

Hidden from the Panther approach

My 2 Section hugs the hedges and heads into the center of Rots

B Troop across the Rue Froide

Meanwhile one of the M4s tries to outmaneuver a Panther

Panthers on the move

One stays at the north intersection and the other heads south to head off my A Troop advance.

Another Sherman knocked out

It also fell victim to a PzV. A Troop moves to their right to find a more sheltered route into Rots.

Stalking the green beret boys

Now if we only had another troop to come in on the northern edge we might get somewhere

Overhead view of the Rue Friode T intersection

John had concentrated his units to the north of the T intersection. He had 2 more platoons and the HQ section in the houses just south of the town square.

Panthers covering the south edge

After a failed close assault by William they were leery of any Commandos sneaking up on them. Their infantry was not very near since John had placed them in the center of Rots.

Firefly tries to take out a Panther

William's Firefly made several shoot and scoot attempts but nothing penetrated the PzV. The smoking M4 in the street was blasted in the butt early. These are vey narrow roads so we would roll to see if there was any damage sustained when trying to squeeze pass another vehicle.

Shoot out along the Rue Froide

The Commandos are at the top (south) of the pic and grenadiers in the buildings at the bottom (north). William tries to lay some smoke but it is off target. His B Troop leader is one of the casualties.

A nest of SS

The grenadiers are joined by a Panther and B Troop is getting hit hard.

1 Troop Firefly lands a hit on the Panther

But still no damage.

A Troop prepares to move into the fray

The plan is to neutralize the SS platoon in the graveyard and swing into the orchard and the back side of the Germans pinning down B Troop.

2nd 2 Troop M4 is out of action

It lost an uneven fight with a Panther. But a close assault on one of the SS occupied buildings wiped out a grenadier section of the 3rd platoon. The Commando survivors had to retreat back quickly though.

Panthers creeping up

Their second M4 victim is barely visible between them

Commandos starting to get the upper hand here

A Troop fire from the large barn/warehouse is wearing the 2nd platoon down in the graveyard.

A Troop finally getting sorted out

Except for my 2 Subsection of 2 Section which is still pinned down by snipers!

PIAT team laying in wait

At the south end of the table along the Rue Froide

Overhead of the Panthers

Knife fight in the village

Heavy casualties between B Troop and 1 Kompanie. All firing at short range and lots of automatic weapons. B Troop was down 20 men and their Troop ldr. !st Kompanie down 16 men ( but started with 54 only).

Hiding among the tombstones

This platoon was going to get the full weight of A troops firepower next but we were out of time.

I was disappointed that they had to call it a day. The Germans had reinforcements of 2 more Panthers and 2 sections of grenadiers coming in from the south and another troop of FGH was due in along with more Commandos from the Le Hamel edge of the table.

The SS defintely had the upper hand at this point with their Panthers shrugging off several hits from 75s and 17 Pounders.

Rots church

This was scratch built around the Leven Mare St Eglaise church. I could not bring myself to make it as destroyed as the actual Rots church was during the June 11 battle.

The square and church

View from east side with the Rue Froide running left to right and the Chemin de la Cavee from Le Hamel coming in from the top.

View from the southeast

Much more open around here.

Town square and church

Lots of high walls made movement very constricted. Room for 1 tank only on most roads.

View from the Northwest looking south

View from south of Chemin de la Cavee

Good idea of how dense this little village was and what a nightmare it was to coordinate movement.

View from the west

B Troop came in from this edge and Chemin de la Cavee.

And view from the north

Woods and the Mue river are off to the right (west)

A fitting drink for a Normandy game

GigaBites Cafe has a great assortment of beers and ciders.