Warlord Games D Day Campaign Event Batrep 1

Testing The Waters at La Fiere

     In preparation for the forthcoming D Day Campaign event, Richie and I played a try out game for both our forces. While I am happy with my force as is (see previous post), I wanted to see how it fared on the tabletop and as Richie is still undecided on whether to go with US infantry or US 82nd Airborne we thought it would be a good excuse for a themed game with some narrative thrown in for good measure. This would allow us to get our commander's named too and give them some combat experience; vitally important if you like that sort of thing....and we do. So Richie's 82nd Airborne platoon commander became Lt Dick Shaft whilst my Panzer R35 zug was commanded by Leutnant Gunter Schute and the Panzer Grenadier element was led by another Gunter, this time Leutnant Gunter Hurt, formerly a dentist in civvy street but now enrolled into the infantry.

     As I may have mentioned once or twice before I am taking a force based on the Panzer Abt 100 and to get a feel for them; which company was involved in the attack, what were they equipped with etc, I did a wee bit of research online about the Wehrmacht's use of Renault 35s in Normandy and found a few useful links including one describing the battle of La Fiere Bridge between elements of the Panzer Abt 100 and the 82nd Airborne (this was written from the American perspective so very little detail about the Panzer Abt 100). From all accounts it was a very bloody small unit action fought over the possession of a small but significant road bridge west of St Mere Eglise. Another site, Missing Lynx, went into a detailed piece of detective work scanning after action photos of this particular clash in an attempt to figure out what AFVs the Wehrmacht had employed in the battle and he does a really good job of it too. Also included in the material I had unearthed online were a contemporary aerial photograph of the area around the  bridge and using this we managed to set up the terrain in a manner fairly reminiscent of the actual battle field.

Area in general

Objective in detail. The Bridge at La Fiere

Our interpretation. This is taken from the German
end of the table

Terrain  As you can see we played the length of the table with the 82nd deploying half their units in their 24" deployment zone and their reserves becoming available from turn 2 onward. The Germans came on from the bottom edge of the table using an Advance or Run order when they deployed. We added a ford in the river usable only by troops on foot and a second road to give another axis of advance for the Germans. The treeline at the top of the field we counted as hard cover whilst the copses and wood on the bottom half were classed as dense terrain.

Forces We both had 1000 points each as per the event pack and chose the following

Germans: Armoured platoon of Three Regular Panzer 35R (Commander Leutnant Gunter Schute) , Regular Panzer Grenadier platoon consisting of platoon commander, 2nd Leutnant Gunter Hurth and runner, 3 panzer grenadier squads, an MMG, a medium mortar with spotter, two Opel Blitz trucks, both with MMGs and a Kubelwagen with an MMG mounted on it.

United States: Airborne platoon consisting of 1st Lieutenant, two squads of US airborne infantry, one Engineer squad, a light mortar, a sniper, an MMG, a light howitzer, two bazookas and a jeep with an MMG mounted on it. All of these were Veterans.

Objective; Seize the crossroads and bridge and destroy the enemy where possible.

     So let's see how these Lieutenants, Shaft, Schute and Hurt and their men got on at the Battle of La Fiere Bridge

      An aura of calm had descended on the farm in La Fiere but it was a calm before the storm as the young paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne knew. After a fierce fight to capture the bridge west of the crucial town of St Mer Eglise, the small German garrison had been defeated and the Airborne were now in possession. Appreciating the importance of the bridge but with their forces stretched thin, the US Airborne had only been able to leave a small but potent force to defend the bridge. Crouched behind the farms front garden wall, PFC Dwayne Wayne, his platoon bazooka man, lit his third Lucky Strike cigarette in ten minutes "Gee Dwayne, go easy on those smokes, we don't know when we'll next get a resupply" said  his loader, PFC Mack Machonokie "and I'd sure hate to be left with only those lousy Kraut cigarettes to smoke; did you try one? Jeez but they're bad.If I was a Kraut and they gave me cigarettes like that I'd.." "Shhh!" said Wayne, throwing down his half smoked cigarette "Shh! Can you hear that? We've got company". Machonokie stopped talking but kept his mouth opened like he had been taught to do when listening for the enemy. Faintly at first but getting louder he heard the rumble and squeal of tank tracks from across the bridge. Turning, he scurried to the end of the farm and stuck his head around the corner and shouted to the assembled men there "We got company!! Krauts on the way; Tanks!"  

PFCs Wayne and Machonokie keep watch

The farm at La Fiere, dominating the crossroads and bridge
over the Merderet River

Forces stretched thin. The farm was garrisoned by two bazooka
teams, the light mortar, the light howitzer and the sniper team ..
Richie has done an excellent job on these Charlie Foxtrot
buildings

Whilst the tree line to the right of it was manned by the MMG
team and a rifle squad. We counted the tree line as hard cover,
figuring that tree lines like this often grow on small bunds or
embankments

The rifle squads await the Germans attack 

The bridge and the road through La Fiere to St Mer Eglise

     Perched on the hatch of his Panzer R35, Leutnant Gunter Schute peered through his binoculars at  the bridge and the adjoining farm buildings. He caught sight of men dashing around the building into what he assumed were defensive positions; obviously the Amis paratroopers he had been briefed about. Speaking into his radio mic he gave the order to advance to the other two R35s under his command and at the same time signaled with his hand to the truck and Kubelwagen parked by the roadside behind him. He didn't relish the thought of going into battle in the R35s; small, undergunned and under armoured but right now they were all that could be found to attack the Amis till the regular panzer divisions arrived, whenever that would be. Judging by the reports and rumours Schute had heard there was a huge flotilla of ships off shore, unloading troops onto the beaches all along the peninsula. He couldn't do much about that  right now but his small force still had enough muscle to defeat these Ami parachutists. Schute and Leutnant Hurt, commanding the panzer grenadiers accompanying his tanks had been ordered to retake the bridge and crossroads at La Fiere and Schute was confident they could do it.

      Across the river to his right, one of his R35s followed by an Opel Blitz carrying panzer grenadiers into the battle made their way towards the cross roads. Beyond them, a mortar team was setting up their weapon in the tree line when a shot rang out from the farm yard and the mortar team were wiped out, their mortar cartwheeling across the road between the R35 and the truck. This might not be so easy after all, thought Schute, clambering down into his R35s turret.

Behind the R35 and the Opel Blitz the medium mortar team
can be seen setting up just before they were wiped out...bugger!

Still, orders are orders; advance!!

The light howitzer crew high five each other after their
first, very accurate shot. Meanwhile, PFCs Wayne and
Machonokie coolly watch the tanks advance 

Playing cagey and making use of the cover the R35s move forward

Meanwhile, the paras start receiving reinforcements, in this
case a squad of engineers but without much in the way of
engineering equipment

The Airborne's MMG putting the hurt on the Germans

The German attack continues withe Kubelwagen being
destroyed by MMG fire. The German MMG fire was also effective
 a rash advance by the MMG totting jeep left it prey to the MMG
mounted on the back of one of the Opel Blitzes  

Schute's panzer, fortunate not to be hit by the bazooka, reaps it's
revenge by wiping out the bazooka team. It was then subjected
to two close assaults by a rifle squad, the second one pinning it
enough to cause it to pull back 

The third R35 sets of to cover the left flank of the German
assault

As it pulled back, it was fired at by the second bazooka team
but like the first bazooka team, they missed and paid the
ultimate price

     Lt Dick Shaft ran into the courtyard. To his right the light howitzer crew had lowered their gun barrel to the horizontal position and were firing at an unseen target. Holy crap, thought Shaft, the Krauts must be really close if those guys are firing direct. As that thought crossed his mind he heard a terrific clang but no bang and saw the gunners swiftly reload and aim again. The sounds of bullets striking the wall behind him and screams of pain, drew his attention from the gun. By the wall, the platoon sniper, Dead Eye Davies, lay in a pool of blood, clutching his shattered arm, screaming at the top of his voice as his buddy started dragging him out of the line of fire. Nearby but out of sight he could hear the clang thump of the light mortar firing and the chatter of the .30 cal. At least we're still in the fight. He headed for the open door of the farm, intent of catching up with Sgt Hartigen's squad. Bursting into the empty farmhouse he could see Hartigen's squad outside the farm, swarming over a tiny tank attempting to prise open it's hatches to get at the crew. The crew, in their panic, started backing away and Hartigen's men, leapt from the tank and fired their weapons at it in impotent fury. "Sgt Hartigen!" Shaft bawled "Get your men in here now!" Hartigen looking round wildly, his face twisted in anger, and seeing his lieutenant and catching his meaning, called on his men to pull back, just as bullets stitched the walls of the farm behind them. Two of his men fell to the ground whilst the others dived into the cover of the solid Norman farmhouse. "Jesus wept!" cried Hartigen " if only we had had something to penetrate that tanks hide. They were stitched up tighter than a duck's ass!!". "Okay sergeant, calm down, get these men into firing positions" said Shaft " Where are our bazooka teams?" Hartigen pointed out of the window "Dead, sir"... 

The Germans have established themselves on the bridge and crossroads but are
taking plenty of fire and pins. The squad by the bridge were incredibly lucky,
being zeroed in by the light mortar they lost half five casualties but Lt Gunter
Hurt managed to get them moving before they could be targeted again

     Grabbing the terrified Landser, Lt Hurt, dragged him to his feet and shoved him towards the hedge and turned and grabbed another but instantly let the dead man go. Gefrieter Buch, get your men over the hedge! Schnell! Schnell! Raus! Move!!" The dazed remnants of Gefrieter Buch's squad started moving towards the hedge, five of their number beyond moving now, dead from the mortar barrage. Ignoring the risk, Hurt and his runner had ran to the squad and started dragging and shoving them towards the hedge in a lull in the firing. With the squad now climbing and crawling through the hedge, Hurt dashed to the crossroads once more. His men were holding on and these small tanks, ridiculous looking as they were, were proving extremely effective against the Amis paratroopers. He didn't fancy their chances against the Amis other tanks; from what he ad seen of them in North Africa and Italy, they would make ziguener sauce of these armoured mice but right now they were proving a God send. He could see the Amis firing lessening already and shouted to his men to get ready to assault the farm. Overhead, unseen and unheard by Hurt and his men above the din of the battle, a flight of RAF Typhoon's had begun to dive towards them...... 

The American lines after Schute's R35 had been driven off but
before the bazooka team were wiped out

The R35 on the left, having FUBARd, fell back. As it was on
a road this amounted to a 9" move, putting it out of line of
sight of the light howitzer.
Schute was able to pass a leadership next turn and advanced up to
now empty farmhouse garden and hose down the howitzer crew 

      And that was that. The Germans had really put the hurt on the Americans by the end of turn 7. I hadn't really appreciated just how many MMGs I had in my force and practically all the firing by the R35s had been with their co axial MMGs. That was as much to do with the US Airborne's lack of armour; Richie, quite rightly in my book...and his, had gone for a historically themed force. Unlucky dice rolls by his bazooka teams and their subsequent loss left his men with only the light howitzer and their personal weapons with which to tackle the tanks with; a much more difficult task to accomplish.
     As ever in these games luck played it's part on both sides. Especially Gefrieter Buch's squad which was hit by three light mortar strikes but managed to crawl away, dazed but still in the battle.
     Overall though, it was a good, very narrative game and one that gave us both much to consider. The only thing I wish we had given a bit more thought to was the mission; we should have gone for an Envelopment mission with the Germans needing to get into the US deployment zone or better still, off the table as they drove towards St Mer Eglise; we should refight this game with that being the objective. However, my thanks to Richie for setting up such an excellent looking table and providing much needed coffee and biccies.

Till next time,
pip pip,
The General