MW 1710pts Canadian Tank Coy vs German Aufklarungschwadron in Breakthrough

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MW 1710pts Canadian Tank Coy vs German Aufklarungschwadron

 

Today I got together with Quentin for a 1710 point Mid-war game - I was using my Canadian Tank Coy from Italy and he was running a German Aufklarungschwadron. The mission we rolled up was Breakthrough.

 

The Canadian Tankers

 

 

The Forces:

 

Canadian Tank Coy (CT)

 

IC Sherman w/.50cal



2iC Sherman w/.50cal

x1 HQ Sherman w/.50cal

 

x3 Shermans w/.50cals

x3 Shermans w/.50cals

 

x3 British Scout Carriers (CV)

Full British Motor Platoon (CV)

x4 Royal Horse Artillery Priests (FV)

 

 

German Aufklarungschwadron (CV)

 

IC/2iC SMG Panzerknackers w/Halftrack

 

Full Aufklarungschwadron  Platoon

Short Aufklarungschwadron Platoon

x2 Pak 38's (Attached to Aufklarungschwadron platoons)

x2 Pak 40's

x2 88's

x3 Pz IV G's

x4 10.5 cm Guns

Limited Stuka

 

 

Deployment

 

 

Canadian Deployment

Germans sight their Arty and 88's



Full Aufklarungschwadron dug in and supported by Pak 40's to prevent movement toward the Objective

 

Given how open the terrain was and how many guns I would be facing, I chose to place my 2iC platoon in Reserve and try to overwhelm the defenders with the rest of my force. There were a few 'ok' firing positions from which I could fire away with Semi-Indirect fire and pin the German platoons in place while I wait for my reserves to arrive behind them.

 

 

Canadian Turn 1

 



Canadians advance through the town

 Due to how open the table was and how well Quentin had sighted his guns, I chose to take a risk right off the bat and clump up First platoon behind the large building in the centre of the town. I was trying to keep out of line of sight from his 88's as well as stay concealed from his Paks. This much I had accomplished, however, this also left me vulnerable to his Stukas, so I kept my tanks close to the building to at least make him range in.
I also advance the Infantry to the far end of their building, ready to move into the field toward the 88's and arty in future turns.

Second platoon and the Carriers advance toward the only firing position on the left flank

 With first platoon providing a tempting target for aircraft, second platoon hugged the board edge, keeping them 'just' out of range of the 88's. The carriers advance to the wall.


The priests Smoke off the 88 that could see 1st platoon

German Turn 1

 

Gulp...

 Quentin starts his turn off getting air support as expected, but then rolls up 3 planes! Roh row!
At least he still has to range in...

Short platoon begins its move toward the objective

Quentin dismounts his short platoon and starts footslogging it toward the objectives, keeping the halftracks behind to help fend off the Motor platoon


Arty pins down the Motor Platoon

 The Germans sight their guns on the Motor platoon to slow their advance. No casualties, but they are pinned

Paks open up at long range

 Then the Paks open up at long range on the Concealed tanks of 1st platoon and score 2 hits!

Paks Destroy one and bail another

2 failed saves later and one Sherman is burning and another is bailed, reducing AA fire if the Stukas range in.

 

Stukas range in!

And do they ever range in! The 2 active tanks drive off one stuka, but the remaining two stukas do a number on the tanks, wiping out all of 1st Platoon, leaving the OC bailed out and by himself!

 

Canadian Turn 2

 

The Infantry unpin and continue their advance, Covered by the Priests

Thankfully, my OC stuck around and managed to remount. The infantry also unpinned and continued their advance across the field. We now had Paks to fire at since they had given up their positions. With all of 2nd platoon up on the road and the OC firing with Semi-indirect fire, we scored a couple of hits, but between good gun saves and failed firepower tests, we didn't score any casualties.

 

The advance is now in danger of stalling and the reserves haven't gotten close to arriving!

 

German Turn 2

 

Not again!

 The Germans begin by successfully calling in air once again, but this time only 1 plane breaks through. Between AA and rerolling hits, no damage was done.

Panzer IV's arrive from reserve

 ...That is until the Panzer IV's show up from reserve. They didn't have shots this turn, but are in position to fire on my Shermans once they come over the ridge.

Short platoon continues toward the objectives

The small platoon continues to move toward the objectives to get into position before the 2iC platoon arrives.

Arty continues to bombard the Infantry

Arty continues to hammer away at the Brits. No casualties again, but still gets the pin.

 

The Paks get a hit on the OC and take him out. Where's the 2iC when you need him??

Canadian Turn 3

The 2iC platoon arrives!

 Huzzah (or is it Hussar...?)! The 2iC luckily shows up, giving the Canadians some small ray of hope.

They prep for the Assault

 They crash the woods and blaze away at the infantry on the objective, but don't cause any damage or even get a pin.

Brits remain pinned and Dig in

 The Brits, now without the OC to yell at them, decide the 'Bloody Colonials' can handle it themselves and dig themselves some holes for a tea break.
2nd platoon continues trying to score hits on the Pak 40's, but keep failing firepower tests to dig them out.

Arty Shifts fire to try and get a pin on the short platoon

 The priests swap rounds and fire an HE mission down on the short platoon to get a pin.

Pinned!

 Success!

Cowards...

The 2iC assaults but his accompanying Sherman bogs on the way in. The Canadians do manage to score a hit, but the Germans counterattack and score a hit with their Panzerknacker... and it bounces!
Unfortunately, the experience was too much for the 2iC and he falls back, leaving the bogged Sherman to be captured.


German Turn 3

Make it stop...




The Germans continue sending air support and they receive 3 planes yet again! Not good for the Canadians. 3 hits, 3 kills. It's all on the 2iC now.



Germans falling back to the objectives en masse

With the Panzers covering their movement and the Stukas coming in, the German forces fall back to take care of the 2iC.

Canadian Turn 4

2iC laying it all on the line

In a desperate attempt to win the game, the 2iC moves to the woodline to fire on the short german platoon. I noticed they were 1 casualty away from a platoon morale check and if they failed, there would be no one close enough to contest before my next turn.
The 2iC manages a kill, but the Germans pass their platoon check.

German Turn 4

Game over

This turn the germans open up on the now exposed 2iC with their Pak 38's and end the game.

6-1 Germany.

Conclusion

A nicely sited defense from Quentin had me on the back foot from the get-go... and I was the Attacker! I talked before the game with Quentin about putting my Infantry in reserve as well as my 2iC, but in a move of over confidence, I chose to deploy them and make a run at his backline. It was an experiment that filed miserably. Thankfully, I have now learned that lesson and won't make the same mistake twice.

The german air power was bang on this match too. I put a lot of faith in dice rolls to keep my tanks alive and it really didn't pay off for me. Given the terrain, I'm not sure what I might have done differently with 1st platoon in the town - my options were air or 88's, and vet 88's are tough to smoke when gone to ground. If I could have passed a couple of firepower tests on the Paks, it might have been a little bit less one-sided, as I could have moved my 2nd platoon of Shermans up to engage the panzers or the platoon crossing onto the objectives, but as it went, they spent all game trying. unsuccessfully, to dig out Pak 40's and wound up getting bombed for their trouble.

Lots of Lessons learned that I'll look to put build off of in the future.