February 15th 1945

We played a game taking place in the sodden Reichswald in February 1945 with the Coldstream Guards and 7th Seaforths taking on some stubborn Fallschirmjagers east of Kleve. Lots of bogging Churchills and Kangaroos and some ineffective close range antitank fire with the Commonwealth forces prevailing and capturing the village of Qualburg.

Qualburg -SE of Kleve

After moving through Kleve the 15th Scottish Division swung south of the Rhine to make their way towards Kalcar. The terrain was incredibly boggy and was a real detriment to maneuvering off road

It was a 3 player game with the Allies divided between the Churchill tanks of 2 Squadron, Coldstream Guards and the Kangaroo-riding infantry of B Company, 7th Seaforths.

The Germans had a weak company from the 2nd Fallschirmjager Regiment with two Panzerjaeger IVs (L48 guns).

Lots of rubble

Like most villages in the battle zone, Qualburg had been softened up by bombers and artillery.

Northwest portion of the table

The Scots came in from the right on the main road. Slightly off table is a railroad running parallel left of the road. The Germans (me) knew that the entry point was on the main road. Unfortunately the bridge was still intact and unmined, something that Allied players were rightly suspicious about.

I put one Jagdpanzer in the farm at the bottom of the pic and the other was in the main village area along with two sections of the 2nd platoon. The 1st platoon was dug in along the tree line in the center of the table, while the 3rd platoon was dug in along the walls of the farm to the right rear of the village. Each 2-section platoon had a panzerscheck and two fausts in each section. Each section also had extra automatic weapons and two LMGs. Plenty of firepower but not many bodies. They also had a FOO for a battery of 81mm mortars.

Allied player gets his column sorted

Bryan had the Guards’ Churchills, which consisted of three troops with a total of eight Mk IVs (one was lost pregame to a mine) and a HQ troop of a Mk IV and two MkV CS tanks (95mm) for a total of 11 tanks.

Jon was the Seaforth player, and he had the standard three platoon company with three sections each. He also had an assault engineer section (actually two small sections) and a FOO for a battery of 25 pdrs. These were in 11 Kangaroos.

The entry point was on the road, and because of the mud conditions all offroad movement was done with a -1 pip/die penalty. Any doubles would bog a vehicle. Unbogging would require die roll of 2 to 6 on one die: rolling a '1' would mean that it was stuck for the rest of the game.

Churchills on the bridge

They were pretty certain that something bad was going to happen but alas it was left unmined.

Churchills making headway

The 2nd troop went left and the HQ troop is next in line. 3rd troop was going right.

Firing from the village

A Jagdpz IV opened up from the houses. One of the Guard tanks on the right is bogged.

Jagdpanzer sniping

The SPG would take a shot or two and then pull back into the village.

Moving and shooting

It managed to damaged a couple of Churchills.

Limited field of fire

I was hoping the Fallshirmjagers could stop the Churchills coming down the road with ‘fausts or ‘schrecks, but those shots either missed or caused no damage.

Guards spreading out

The 3rd troop was dueling with the SPG in the village. The HQ troops moved to their left after crossing the bridge and engaged the dug in paras in the tree line. They fired a ‘schreck, scored and then rolled zero hits on 13 dice! Their reward was to come under fire from two troops of Churchills.

A mortar ranging round fell directly on the bridge but caused no damage.

So far the mud was the only thing slowing down the attack.

Duel between 3 Troop and the SPG

The Churchills failed to hit the panzerjager while the Germans put hits on a pair of Churchills.

Fire from the Churchills

Two CS tanks and two other Churchill really hurt the 1st Platoon of FJs. No Churchills were damaged by a panzerfaust at long range. The ‘schreck wiffed three times. The platoon commander was one of the casualties.

Overview of the tank assault

The Kangaroo with the engineers is back by the bridge. The right flank SPG managed to damage a Churchill.

German mortars land

Best roll for the Germans was the mortars coming in quickly and on target. One of the Kangaroos was hit and several men were casualties. 1 Troop waits in the trees while another troop headed to the right.

SPG keeps moving in the ruins

Smoke is placed in front of the village after AT rockets come from the buildings.

Right side Jagdpanzer

It had some trouble getting into position after temporarily bogging.

Churchills moving in and Germans moving out

The two platoons of FJs managed to fire all four ‘fausts to no avail and lost their commander too. Survivors of the two sections, the FOO and the ‘schreck team run to the rear.

Kangaroo brewed

It first bogged and was then was hit by the SPG. After this the Seaforths decided to stay in the center close to the Churchills.

Mortars continue

More Seaforths move up from their bogged Kangaroos. Five of the APCs were permanently stuck including all of 3 Troop’s vehicles.

More positions spotted and shelled

The third platoon of FJs were dug in along the wall. When the 1st platoon positions were overrun, they opened up on the Seaforths.

Stopping 3 Troop

The troop leader's tank was the only one still running.

Jagdpanzer pulling back

Knowing that the infantry had been run out of the village, I backed the left side SPG out.

Advance into Qualburg

The Seaforths move into the vacated trenches of the 1st platoon. The 2nd platoon of FJs has retreated out of the village proper and the 3rd platoon is taking fire from the CS tanks.

The 1st Troop is moving down the road through the village. 2 Troop is worried by the SPG on their left.

3rd platoon under fire

And their Commander is also a casualty. A bad day for German platoon COs!

In the lull, the FJs will pull back with the flanking SPGs providing cover and keeping the Churchills from running too far in front of the Seaforths.

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The Seaforths and Coldstream Guards capture Qualburg as they did historically, but they will wait for the follow on forces to pass through.

Total Fallschirmjager losses were 23 (of 54) with most in the 1st platoon. All 3 platoon COs were casualties. The Jagdpanzers were unscratched.

Four Churchills were damaged with one a total loss. The Seaforths had only six casualties, most in the bogged 3rd platoon. The Kangaroo really made a difference as in real life to keeping the infantry losses low. Five of the Kangaroos were stuck for the duration.

Another good demonstration of I Ain't Been Shot Mum: Although outnumbering 11 to 2 in AFVs and 5 to 3 in infantry, the Allies had a tough fight.

Mark Luther