"KG Klink, France, Game 3" Topic

All,

It's 0730 on 14 May 1940, and 7th Panzer Division has crossed the Meuse River and defeated a French counterattack on the bridgehead. Seeking to outflank French forces in the area, the division begins to flow around the village of Haut le-Wastia. As part of the southern prong, Kampfgruppe Klink's Panzer Company is leading elements of the 25th Panzer Regiment when they encounter elements of the French 25th Tank Battalion, 2nd Demi-Brigade, and elements of the 37th Tank Battalion, 1st Demi-Brigade, both of the 1st French Armored Division (1DCR) in the French countryside.

The KG is on a road march, with the Armored Reconnaissance Company in the lead. Luck is with the French as the German recce elements speed along the road south, and the French armor arrives on the scene, catching the German Panzer Company still on the road.

The opposing forces:the Germans have 3rd Panzer Platoon (Pz Mk IIIs), 4th Panzer Platoon (Pz Mk IVs), and the Panzerjaeger Platoon (PzJgr Is), along with the Panzer Company Commander. The French have 3 Char Bs and 3 H39s.

Overview, north is up. Germans are on the road at right, travelling south, while the French have an H39 and two Char Bs in the southwest (bottom left) and two H39s and one Char B in the northwest (top left).

The fight devolved to a bloody, close-range brawl, and the Germans managed to carried the day despite knocking out only one of the French heavy tanks, with Sgt Graebner, hero of the fight in Haut le-Wastia, once again distinguishing himself.

For the whole fight, please check the blog at:
link

The game was fun, but next time I want to try fighting out the battle over the length of the table, not the width. I don't like how the ranges closed so quickly; don't misunderstand, it has to end up that way, it's what the Germans did in real life (when they had to, i.e., they didn't use Stukas or arty), but I think they should have to go farther to get there, and so that's what I'm going to do next time I have an 'armor only' fight.

I'll look to get another one in this weekend.

V/R,
Jack

A rough outing for the French!

Jack,
I appreciate your posting these campaign AAR's. Very interesting reads and pics.
I am unfamiliar with the 5core company commander rules and was wondering what you like about them, and what, if anything you substitute house rules for. Are they complete for various nations? Do they just treat all tanks alike or are there differences based on speed, armor and gun sizes?
I was confused about your statement…<Once again I gave the Char B 2K 2S, failed to roll a single 1 or 6). Return fire pinned this Char B as well (I gave Otjen's vehicle 2S,>
are the rules ambiguous on what dice to use and when that you had to make this decision?

I am looking for a ruleset where infantry stands are squads (or small teams) and individual tanks. So for anyone reading this if Jack cant answer, how does 5core CC compare with Battlegroup panzergrenadier?

thanks
(and I dont really mean to hi-jack your thread)

Cheers, author here.

The rules are generic, covering pretty much all of the 20th century, so they do not include gun and vehicle ratings.

Since it's an infantry game with armour in support, the way the system works is that a given gun versus a given target is rated as either "threatening a target", A "kill shot" or "overkill".
You make those decisions as the player.

For example, in a 1940 battle, a Panzer III and a British Cruiser tank have kill shots against each other, but an anti-tank rifle might only threaten.

Essentially, it's the view from the infantry commanders boots: Does the tank kill our tank pretty well, does it kill it for sure or does it bother it a bit?
Not for gearheads in that sense.
Some people really prefer this approach and others want concrete lists, so that'll help you decide if it's a game for you :-)

Gameplay wise, I think the closest comparison is something like Crossfire.

France? When did you start France? Last I looked you were still in Poland! I've got some catching up to do.

Thanks guys.

Tgunner – Yeah, but I was hoping it would have been worse ;)

Buckeye – Hopefully Ivan got you squared away. Let me know if there's anything else.

Commie – Thanks for the assist.

Wizbangs – Yeah man, time and the Kampfgruppe marches on ;)

V/R,
Jack