Tonights Battlegroup: Fall of the Reich game was a clash of forces between a British Battlegroup, with freshly painted Comets, and a German Battlegroup with freshly painted Panthers! With both getting their first outing, it looked to be bloody for both!
The British recce made the opening moves towards the village, coming under some ineffective mortar fire, while the German response was to return fire with a very effectove sniper, who would not only live for the entire battle, but somehow managed to keep various infantry sections pinned down all through the engagement. However a good reinforcement roll saw the British rush onto the table with the three Comets storming down the road followed by the Crocodile.
The Germans second turn saw them follow suit with another good role and on rolled the Panthers and a Tiger I. But this was not all… The Germans had a scheduled artillery attack for the turn, which consisted of a shot from a railway gun somewhere miles away. The target point chosen pre-game, happened to be between two of the newly arrived Comets… However this big 340mm monster gun only gets two dice, and needing a six for a hit that will cause damage, the Germans hoped at best to perhaps pin down two of the Comets. The dice rolled. Up came a double six… When the smoke cleared, bits of the two Comets littered the road and the surrounding area. Things looked bad for the British already! One lone Comet remained, and undettered, put a shot through an approaching Tiger to knock it out. To add further insult the British whistled up a battery of 7.2" guns that dumped a payload on the Panthers and gave the Germans a scary few moments…
The battle for the town now started to begin as both sides infantry probed forward. The German Panthers supporting the attack, though one was immobilised by the Crocodile with a long range shot and the British mortars kept up a constant 'stonk' on two of them to somehow manage to keep them pinned down and out of the fight for much of the battle… Though a break in the mortar fire saw the German Panther Ace take out the last Comet. But despite hitting it with round after round, the Croc refused to catch fire, and returned fire, scoring two hits that glanced off a Panther. It was an ineffective duel that would last for the day!
With the tanks out of the picture, it now fell to the infantry to decide the day. The Germans made the town first and took up positions in the houses, opening fire on the approaching British. Some British soldiers managed to take position in an old barn, but came under heavy fire and were eventually assaulted by a German unit and the remains of the section taken prisoner. With losses mounting on both sides, the Germans poured fire into the British units pinned down along the garden hedgerows and fences, with the German commander finally managing to get hold of some artillery support for a turn and dropped a few 150mm shells amongst the poor sods.
With their men pinned down across the table the remaining Germans pushed over the road and with MG teams occupying the buildings caught the remaining two British sections in a nasty crossfire as more Germans moved up. This finally broke the back of the British and their Battle Rating was exceeded and they withdrew. But although british losses had been heavier the Germans were in just as dire straits. As the British left the field the Germans were revealed to only have a single point of their Battle Rating remaining… It was a very close run thing!
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