BGK 600 pt Bridge Head Breakout scenario

Today's game saw us play the bridge head breakout scenario from the Battle Group Kursk (BGK) book. I choose 600 pts from the Russian Tank Corp against my Dad who picked the same points from a German Infantry division. My force was

X 2 T34 platoons

X 1 Motorised rifle platoon with a Maxim mg and 76.2 mm anti tank gun

X 1 Forward HQ

X 1 Forward Signals truck

X 1 Supply column

X 2 T-70

X 1 SU 122

X 1 Quad MG Anti aircraft truck

X 2 82mm Mortars off table

X 1 Pre registered target point

X 1 Timmed 122mm barrage and a timed Sturmovik attack

X 1 Reece infantry unit

The Germans consisted of

X 2 Grenadier platoons one mounted in trucks

X 1 Stug G platoon

X 1 Ferdinand

X 1 88mm 

X 1 Sdkfz 222

X 1 Forward HQ

X 1 Forward signals unit

X 2 1st priority 

We rolled 3 objectives, one was the bridge which the Germans were in control of,the Russians placed their objective in there half of the table central next to the road, while the Germans placed the final objective in front of the hill in their deployment area. I placed my target point in the field near the bridge and destroyed panzer objective, the timed barrage was to hit the bridge on turn 6 and the Sturmovik would hit on turn 8 in the open ground in front of the river on the German left, I was hopeful that the Germans tanks would attack this way. we both only started the game with a couple of units on the table,the Russians got the first turn.

For the first few turns in the game the Russians struggled to get there reserves to arrive only arriving in dribs and drabs, I brought the t 34's on and used the Stal Stal order to get them advancing quickly, the Germans claimed the bridge and panzer wreck objectives quickly as the did the Russians with their objective.o

German Stug's arrive from reserve supported by infantry crossing the river, the units in the field were hit by 82mm mortar fire losing one unit to a direct hit pinning the unit, and then managing to fail the pinning test save with a roll of a 1 which put the unit bellow 50% while already pinned.(my dad always rolls a 1 when saving from a area fire shot you can be guaranteed this!)

T34's claim the wrecked horse and cart objective

Russian forward signals truck helping guide in the mortars

The big cat arrives in the form of the monstrous Ferdinand tank, in the back ground the Timmed 122mm barrage hits home killing the German HQ who was observing from the house and pinning a Stug behind be house

T34's Stal Stal forward firing their area fire shots at the 88mm in the wood, but fail to pin which would lead to grave consequences!

Russian reinforcements finally start to arrive on Mass, the infantry dismount from the truck 

Russian forces pour forward towards the bridge

After surviving the erratic fire from the T34's the 88 ko two T34 which resulted in a mine strike been drawn. I placed it on a German transport truck fully loaded with troops and proceeded to roll a one allowing my dad to replay the mine strike on one of my T34's and destroying it, three of the four t34's on that flank were now on fire...no wonder the civilians were running to hide in the church!

The Strumovick swooped down for its timed bombing run, unfortunately my dad hadn't really attacked on this flank, however a squad of grenadiers were unfortunate to find them selves rite under the target area, three of the four bombs scored a direct hit....ouch...needless to say this was the last we saw of them

German troops dismount and take the High ground

A view down the battlefield 

Another morale chit drawn by me see the successful arrival of a PE2 dive bomber who drops his payload on to the crowded hill, pinning four units but missed any direct hits, the Ferdinand remained unaffected and thanks to the supply truck fully reloaded.

Refugees flee to the safe haven of the church as T34's burn around them

The eyes and ears of the Russians, my Partizan infantry i use for my reece infantry, used to spot for my mortars

The 88mm concealed in wood accounted for a lot of the Russian armours destruction.

A Quad Maxim mg searches the skies for the Lufftwaffe

With the game entering the 10th turn we ran out of time, the Russian attack had ground to a halt, I had been badly hindered by poor command rolls, rolling a double one when all your forces are on the table does not help, especially when the barrels of a 88 and a Ferdinand a pointing at you, so i was unable to push home the attack on the bridge despite one sole T34 managing to get there and contest the objective. Try as I might to pin the Ferdinand and 88 I was unable to and I payed the penalty for this, losing all my tanks bar one T34 and the SU 122, the only armour i ko'd was the Sdkfz 222,the Stug armour proved to strong despite some point shots from the T34s. The German fire started to take its toll later in the game when they started to find their target.

However when we tallied up the points the Germans had 29 to the Russians 27, this was more due to the fact that I picked 5 special counters than to what I had killed and the Germans had drawn two further tokens for coming under air attack and losing the HQ, however, no matter how small a victory it is still a victory so my battered Russian forces just edged the day...just

1944 Western Europe

Last nights game saw us return to the Blitzkrieg Commander WW2 game for a change as it had been a while.The scenario was to claim as many of the numerous objectives over the battlefield which would be worth either 1d6 2d6 or 3d6 depending there position on the battlefield at the end of the game. Much of the battle was fought over the middle ruined buildings were both sides suffered from heavy firing and on the left flank where a tank fire fight between the Stug III's and the Sherman platoon took place, the Stugs coming out on top with the aid of some rather impressive armour saving. The Tiger I and S-S infantry platoon on the other flank decided they had more important matters and spent most of the game ignoring orders and doing very little. The British off table artillery proved to be a thorn in the Germans side, regularly pining and inflicting casualties on the German forces, but the British were hampered by some blunders during issuing orders, hampering their progress. In the end both armies had 5 objectives each but the Germans just managed to claim the more important objectives and won 49 - 45 to win an enjoyable close game.

Sherman fire forces the StuG III to give ground back towards the cover of the wheatfield

British infantry take the building objectives

A view across the battle field

Sunlight shines down the road as the Stugs advance towards the building objective

German Heer infantry support the Stugs advancing into the buildings

British infantry head towards the buildings on the opposite side of the German held buildings with a Humber scouting the way

A Sherman and Firefly brew up under the deadly accurate fire from the Stugg

An are aerial shot of the battle for the ruined buildings 

The Tiger snaps off its only shots of the game at the M10 which results in one hit out of ten

German 10.5 cm guns start to barrage the British lines

A pre timed barrage falls on the British troops in the ruins which with the support of mg fire drives the Britsh out

A panzerschreck team moves from the wood to try a pot shot at the Sherman but fails its command roll

The British troops reinforced by a second platoon retake the ruined buildings and despite a piat shot pinning the Stug they fail to advance into the adjacent buildings to deny the Germans the objective

A smoke bombardment puts the a tiger out of the game and allows the M10 to escape out of view safely

The Heer infantry holed up in the building cling to the objective after taking heavy casualties

Despite the burning Shermans and a pre timed bombardment hitting the ruined building, the Brithish remain steadfast to there positions 

A day trip to Eden POW camp

With the sun out in its full glory (yes shock to the system i know) me and the better half and the little one fresh from our stay at the York Marriott where they very kindly upgraded to an executive room descended on to Eden camp just outside of York. My partner had been there a few times on school trips but this was my first visit and I was not to be disappointed. On arrival you are greeted by a spitfire and hurricane along with various other vehicles before you reach the car park and from there the real fun begins. Each one of the former camps 29 huts has been transformed into a certain aspect of the war, from the rise of Hitler and the Reich, to the inside of a u boat to walking through a street during the blitz..complete with smells and smoke. There is countless memorabilia on show from letters to photos to uniforms. We spent the entire day there and truth be known I could have done with a couple more hours, it was a great day enjoyed by all, and all for £6 entry fee you can't be robbed, great value for money and a return visit with my dad is been planned. I managed to take a few snaps of some of the vehicles and guns scattered around the camp, starting with the very impressive T-34 with my daughter stood in front if it :-)