Flames Of war Early War Fench v German Tank Battle

Escadron de Combat v Czech Panzerkompanie

I decided to give my French tank company a run out today in an early war game against a German Czech tank company. We decided to play a free for all so all the troops would be on the table at the start of the game, I've managed to amass a French army of 1900pts (so far) so this is the points total we used. The armies were as follows;

FRENCH

• HQ Somua

• COMBAT PLATOON X 4 SomuaS-35
• COMBAT PLATOON X 4 SomuaS-35
• LIGHT PLATOON X 4 Hotchkiss H-39 (One long barrel)
• LIGHT PLATOON X 3 Hotchkiss H-39 (all Long Barrel)
• 25mm Anti tank guns X 3
• Fusiliers Portes Platoon (full strength)
                                                     

• RECONNAISSANCE PLATOON X Panhard ADM-35
• 105mm C mle 1935 howitzer platoon x 4 guns
FIGHTER INTERCEPTION AIR SUPPORT                                     
 GERMANS
• HQ Panzer 38t B x 2
• COMBAT PLATOON X 4 Panzer 38t B
• COMBAT PLATOON X 3 Panzer 38t B X 2 Panzer I
• PANZER PLATOON X 5 Panzer II C early
• ANTI AIRCRAFT PLATOON X 2 88mm extra crew
• KRADSCHUTZEN MOTORCYCLE PLATOON
• PRIORITY AIR SUPPORT (STUKA SCHWERPUNKT) 
• RECCE PLATOON X 2 8-Rad          
              
   I placed both the objectives in my opponents right flank and the objectives i would be defending were on both the left and right flank, the Germans started the game:

 The first turn saw the 88mm targeting a platoon of Somuas scoring a direct hit and destroying one of them, this was the side of my army which would be making a push for the objectives.

                               

The Panzer II c platoon pushes forwards supported by the motorcycle platoon who seek the cover of the hedges

 
My 105cm Battery (on the table edge out of camera shot) drops a smoke bombardment onto the 88mm stopping them from shooting as my attack advances, my Panhards manage to KO a 38 t B tank

 
The first of the Luftwaffe make an appearance easy getting past my fighter interception, however the bombs from the stuka don't penetrate the Somua armour this time! The 38 t b platoon return fire destroying a Panhard, the 88mm with no target try to dig in but fail.

 
My 105cm guns fail with there smoke bombardment so the 88mm have a clear line of sight to my advancing tanks, with this in mind one of my Somua platoons goes through the woods to try outflank the Germans guarding the two objectives and keep out of sight of the 88mm. The Panhards again shoot the 38 t B panzer's knocking another out, the rest of my left flank pushes into the town, one Somua bogs down on the hedge.

 
On my right flank my Hotchkiss platoon advances shooting with their MGs at the motorcycle platoon who disengage quickly retreating behind the hill out of range, in doing so they loose a stand. The25mm play cat and mouse with the 8-Rads in the woods failing to cause any damage on each other.

 
The Stukas show up with more success and destroy a Somua in the village after successfully ranging in and the 88mm and remaining 38 t b tanks destroy a further two Panhards, the remaining Panhard fails his morale and retreats from the table, however the 88mm failed to dig in again which will leave them vulnerable to MG fire if i can get my Somuas into line of sight.

 

Both my Hotchkiss platoons advance leaving the long gun to support fire but cause no damage to the Panzer II c platoon, the 25mm fail to dig in

 

The Stukas switch their field of attack and target my HQ which is guarding the objective, the bombs miss their target, however the 2IC 38t b and panzer II C platoon are more successful and KO three Hotchkiss tanks causing the remaining Long barrel Hotchkiss the flee, one of the other Hotchkiss platoon is bailed.


 
My Somua platoon breaks from cover and dashes towards the objective, a combination of 105cm bombardment and MG fire destroy the 88mm guns with their command stand running away, a 38t B tank is destroyed but crucially pass their morale, the infantry dismount and enter the town heading towards the objective.


 
The mixed German Panzer platoon of 38tB and Panzer I tanks and C-C move through the wood to open fire on the Somua platoon, they managed to destroy one and bail the other two, I managed to pass my motivation test to hold there ground all though i was no longer in control of the objective, the panzer's used their stormtroopers move to go back into the wood for cover and a Panzer I bogged down. In my turn i failed to remount one of the Somuas so this stopped me from moving so my infantry advanced onto the objective, the gun fire from the Somua finished off the remaining 38tB tank destroying the platoon. (my Somua platoon which had started the flanking move had managed to bog itself down and were finding it hard to get unstuck allowing the Germans to leave the other objective undefended for the moment to defend the objective under attack from my infantry and Somua platoon.

 

The motorcycle platoon dismounted behind the hedge and started to make a flanking move around my right flank and the Panzer II platoon failed to cause any damage onto my Hotchkisses who in return destroyed two Panzer's, In my firing phase i also killed a stand of infantry with my HQ.

 
The German tanks once again came out the cover of the wood to contest the objective and destroyed a Somua which lead to the remaining Somua abandoning his tank and fleeing! The infantry came under fire from the Panzer I's twin MG killing two stands.

 
After finally freeing them selves from the wood the Somua platoon headed towards the objective guarded by a 38tB and panzer I, all my shots missed and in return a Somua had been bailed, in the German next turn Stukas showed up destroying my command Somua tank which meant that the Somua platoon been leaderless would now not be able to move for the rest of the game.

 
The Germans now made a push for my objective the panzer II C platoon moving forward as did the infantry platoon, the only casualty caused from shooting was a bailed Hotchkiss.

 
The Hotchkiss managed to remount in my following turn and combined fire from the Hotchkiss platoon and my 25mm anti tank guns who had a target managed to destroy three panzer II C and the HQ killed another infantry stand. The remaing Panzer II C passed his motivation test.

 
With my attack on the German objectives petering out i dug the infantry in around the village and my remaing Somuas who cant move destroyed a 38tB panzer tank, the Hotchkiss platoon fell back to cover the objective with the HQ from the closing German infantry platoon. My 105mm battery failed to find a target for the 3rd move in a row and with that the game came to an end. I had come very close to capturing the objective with my Somua platoon and infantry but with my flanking force becoming bogged down in the woods  it allowed the Germans to reinforce the objective, never mind a cracking game in which i really enjoyed using my French tank company especially now been able to move and fire with my tanks with a +1 to hit factor. Both sides retire from the field leaving behind many burning tanks across the battlefield.
Result No winner (STALEMATE)
 

       
                         

Flames of war Early war 2000pts Encounter Mission

CZECH ARMOURED TANK COMPANY V BRITISH ARMOURED TANK COMPANY WITH FRENCH ALLIED PLATOONS 2000PTS

Well for this weeks game we decided on fighting an early war tank battle. I took control of my Germans as i now have my new 88mm models and Panzer 1s painted and ready to go.  Also i was able to use my Dads Panzer IV D which he has just purchased and finished painting. Facing me today was a mixture of British armoured tanks company and allied French who were picked from the Escadron de Combat Tank company with a points value of around 680 pts. The mission we played was Encounter.

My force was as follows:
General Major Ewrin Rommel in a Panzer 38t B
Company HQ Panzer 38t B
Panzer 38t B x 3 and Panzer I x 2
Panzer 38t B x 3 and Panzer I x 2
Panzer II C x 4
Panzer IV x 2
88mm with extra crew x 1
Lieichte Pioneer platoon x 2 squads
Sd Kfz 231 8 rad x 2
Priority Air support

I decided to Kampfgruppe the Panzer I from both Czech Panzer 38t B platoons with the 2ic leading them to give me a total of 8 platoons.

I deployed my 88mm on the hill on my left flank to give it a clear line of sight across the battlefield with the Panzer II C platoon deployed in front of them, these 2 platoons would guard the objectives. Next to the Panzer II C's i placed a 38t B platoon accompanied by Romell. On my far left flank i placed my 2nd 38t B platoon just behind the hill, the rest of my platoons were to be held in reserve. The British deployed both Armoured companies of A13 Cruiser tanks and light Mk VI C tanks and also its divisional cavalry of universal carriers, the french were held off in reserve. The British started the first turn....

My Panzer II C platoon uses Rommels fingertip feeling rule to reposition itself before the start of the first turn.

In the first turn the British managed to bail a 38t which was attached to Rommel.
In my turn the stukas show up but only 1 arrives and fails to cause any damage. The 38t B platoon goes hull down behind the hill and manages to bail a A13.

The British light Mk VI tank platoon move forward behind the wood supported by the universal carriers and the A13 in the field advance on Rommel and his Panzer 38t B failing to inflict any damage, the 88mm destroys one of the A13 in return fire and the panzer II C platoon moves around the wood to face off against the on coming British light tanks and recce vehicles knocking out one of the MK VI Tanks.

My Panzer II C which moved  around the wood are fired at and suffer a destroyed tank and one bailed.

The British A13 platoon destroy a 38t B in the fire fight over the wheat fields

A13's view of the hull down Panzer platoon and guarding the objective.

The Stukas get through the allied fighter interception but fail once again to penetrate the armour of the British tanks.

After a couple of rounds of firing the 38T B platoon wins the fire fight against the British A13's, with two destroyed and one bailed the A13 platoon fails there morale opening up the way to the objective, the British are desperate for the reserves to turn up.

The British universal carriers successfully maneuver through the woods and open up on the 88 causing one hit, although i fail my save i had dug in the 88mm in a previous turn which saved it as the firepower test was failed to destroy it. The 88 returned fire destroying two carriers, although the remaining carrier managed to pass its morale test it was  forced to disengage. Rommel and the 38t B platoon pushed forward to the objective.

The panzer II C platoon having finally destroyed the  Mk VI Platoon moves back around the wood

A platoon of British light tanks moves from behind the white house ruins and hits Rommel and the panzer 38t B platoon in the flank missing with all their shots! Rommel and the 38t B push on to the objective ignoring the light tanks leaving the panzer II's and the newly arrived Panzer IV tanks to deal with them.

Finally the French start to show their faces and a platoon of Somua S-35s turn up but alas for the British they arrive on the left flank were they are least needed.

The Panzer IV platoon moves forward and behind the wood the 8-rad platoon arrived.

Finally the French entered the battlefield were they were needed, a platoon of 25mm Anti tank guns arrived and opened up on Rommel and the 38t platoon, this fire power and that from 3 supporting A13's and a Mk IV Light tank managed to destroy one and bail the other 38t. Despite the damage caused the 38t platoon passed its morale and stayed put.

The Somua S-35 platoon which is supported by MK VI Tanks are attacked by the 38t platoon with flank shots, two are bailed as a result.

At the start of this turn i managed to get three stukas to show up, i decided to take a little bit of a gamble and attack the A13 and CC Tank behind the hill to the right of the objective, this was a risk as if the 38t command tank did not remount his tank he would be with in 16" of the planes and they would abort..... thanks to the protected ammo roll he remounts and he and Rommel drive away across the field to allow the airplanes to range in on there target with devastating effect, all 3 A13 and the CC are destroyed by the bombs of the stukas. Also the remaing light tanks are destroyed by the panzer IVs

The French Panards showed up on the British left flank again were they are least needed.With the company CC dead and only one platoon from going below company half strength my Dad the British commander decided to call it a day leaving the Germans to win by 4 - 0 platoons securing a stunning victory.

Conclusion

Well that all went well for me in this game, my 88mm again proved to be a lethal weapon although i was glad i remembered to dig it in other wise it would have been destroyed by MG fire from the carriers, also although for the first 5 or so turns the stukas did nothing they proved there worth when the destroyed the CC and three A13's in one raid which was the straw that broke the camels back for the allied armies. My Dad had little luck in the game, not once did the RAF manage to intercept my stukas and his French reserves had read the wrong maps and turned up far to far away from the action and abit more luck in the shooting department and things might have gone different. However for the time being Rommel and his Czech panzer company continue to power there way through Europe defeating the allied armies who stand in front of him, till next time.....