The campaign is going very well for the Allies, but where are my British, and this one looks like a walkover again with the firepower the Allies have available. The Germans though are Veterans and also well armed, although slightly lacking in numbers, but have some excellent Anti Tanks weapons.
The target is a destroyed Water Mill that is being used as a German Command post. This is on an island which can only be reached by two bridges one facing the village but the other is across very open field.
The American plan is to use their numbers to spread the Germans out. Tanks will arrive on both North and South roads, with all the infantry entering from the west, in the hope that they can rush the buildings and gardens near to this side. This will then offer cover to advance towards the bridge by the square.
The Germans leave one Platoon in and around the mill, with an MMG attached. The AT Guns will guard both bridges, with the monster Jagdpanther and the HQ in the square. The second Platoon will be in the houses to the north east of the square, the Panzerschrecks are ready to cover the roads.
Not much early action with the Allies blinds not spotting anything. This is the good thing about solo as I just play as though there is no one there, whereas in face-to-face you can see the dice roll, not much I agree. This had implications as the tanks decided the village was fairly safe to approach.
This was a bad move as in one turn three tanks were lost. Two to Panzerschrecks and one to the Jagdpanther, the ruins can be seen here. The nearer ones are the infantry victims whereas you can see the beast in the square ready for action
Now several of the American infantry platoons arrived and got into a fire fight with the German platoon, but not before the Church hiding tank killer was found and killed. The Germans were outnumbered in both locations but the extra LMGs certainly helped them.
The Sherman 76 then moved into position to try to put the Jagdpanther out of action. I really do need to get one of these models next time I go to a show! It moved into position, hit and managed to shock it but that was all as the Shermans then moved on the Armoured Bonus move.
The infantry fire fight was still ongoing as can be seen here, although the southern half of the village would soon be in the hands of the Americans.
The Americans move to consolidate the south of the village and also put pressure on the German units in the square. The German tank has already moved over the bridge to set up a killing field there.
To counter this, the Americans move into the buildings lining the square and open fire upon the Germans on the other side. These chimney sweeps are really in the house, I certainly need some more open houses as the ones I have are great for Napoleonics but not so much for WWII.
The only Germans in the village are in the second house on the right, but these are about to be attacked and destroyed by the Section you can see sneaking round the picture at the top of the screen.
The American 3rd Section goes in and totally clears the village.
With the village cleared the sides look at each other the bridge and pause to plan their next move. The Germans have the position but the Allies have the numbers.
The Americans quickly see the important position is the house near to the bridge. Impetuously though Lieutenant Charleston charges over the bridge with one section and is pushed back with just himself and one other survivor but the Germans are now very weak in the building.
The nemesis is finally destroyed by a flank hit from a 76mm gun. This was a gamble which succeeded well for the American. This Jagdpanther had destroyed five Shermans on its own and had seemed unbeatable.
With this flank now open Lieutenant Charleston leads his other Section across the bridge and this time the melee is conclusive and the building is taken with just one loss. Yes Charleston goes down in a blaze of glory at the moment of his victory. This is the theme of my games so far.
Then the fates then went against the Germans. A lucky American Artillery shell took out the officer in charge of the victory location building and then to cap it all both Anti Tanks pieces decided they had had enough after a very vicious fire fight.
This is where the game ended as the building had no chance of being held as eventually the forces against it would be too massive.
Another great game, broken up by a week in Austria snowboarding. The Americans had the numbers but the Germans the equipment. This is another theme of these games and so far the numbers are counting.
No German hero as there was no-one left for them. The American choice would certainly have been Charleston but an unlucky 1 on the dice saw to him so the choice is Jagpanther-killer Memphis.
So now it's onto Blenneville itself for the final attack, and at last I can use my British again!
Craig Ambler