Saturday, October 24, 2015

Flames of War Battle Report 8; Heer Grenadiers vs Desert Rats Lorried Rifles

Our local Infantry/Mech is still going strong and I was able to take some pictures of my most recent game in it.

This time, I would be playing Germans against the slowly-growing British force of one of our local players.
We're in the second round of our league, which means 700-point games where Support Platoons are allowed but can't capture or contest objectives.
Keep that bit in mind; it'll be relevant.


This is the battlefield we'd be fighting over.
The mission would be No Retreat.



Here's my force, all of them Confident Veteran Grenadiers using the briefing from Atlantikwall.

Grenadierkompanie (Heer) - Confident Trained
HQ: CC Panzerfaust SMG, 2iC Panzerfaust SMG
Grenadier Platoon: Cmd Panzerfaust SMG, 6 Rifle/MG
Grenadier Platoon: Cmd Panzerfaust SMG, 6 Rifle/MG
Grenadier Mortar Platoon: Cmd SMG, 6 8cm mortars, 3 Observer Rifle teams (I forgot one of the Observer teams)
StuG Platoon: 3 StuG II G

My opponent's force, from Overlord:

Lorried Rifle Company (7th Armoured Division) - Reluctant Veteran
HQ: CC Rifle, 2iC Rifle
Lorried Rifle Platoon: Cmd Rifle/MG, PIAT, Light Mortar, 6 Rifle/MG
Lorried Rifle Platoon: Cmd Rifle/MG, PIAT, Light Mortar, 6 Rifle/MG
Carrier Patrol: 3 Universal Carriers
MG Platoon: Cmd Rifle, 4 Vickers HMG
Field Battery, Royal Artillery: 2 Cmd Rifle, Staff, 4 OQF 25 pdr, Observer Rifle, OP Carrier
Auster AOP

My opponent decided to go for a night attack.
He hadn't tried any of those before (although he had faced them in a recent local tournament) so this was a bit of an experiment for him.


This was my defensive deployment. The other Grenadier platoon was in ambush.


This was his attacking setup after Recce and Spearhead moves.
The Rifle platoons would be advancing around the hill, with the HMGs following close behind.
The Carriers would be threatening my left flank.
The artillery would, of course, hang back and hope that their observers could call in some targets for them.

The AOP wouldn't appear for a bit since it's currently dark.


The first few turns are just the Brits moving forward and not shooting anything.
The arty observers couldn't spot any targets either.
No German reserves either.


On the German turn 2, the second Grenadier platoon sprang their ambush.
They would be supporting the defense of the forward objective while also trying to cover the back objective.


British turn 3, the last turn of guaranteed darkness, would be when the Desert Rats launched their charge.
Unfortunately, they failed to even pin the German defenders.


Still, defensive fire failed to drive the assault off, partly because of the cover of darkness.
The bursts of MG42 fire did claim some casualties, though.


However, a flurry of grenades and SMG fire eliminated some of the defenders, who didn't feel like contesting this particular bit of round and fell back.


This put the Brits awfully close to the objective with the second platoon still waiting to launch their assault.


No casualties here in defensive fire, but the first wave of attacks from the British infantry all miss as well.


The German counter-attack was a lot more effective.


Their resolve hardened by the fate of their comrades, the other half of this British platoon proved a lot more effective at close quarters combat.


At this point, the German defenders decided to back off and cut their losses, whatever their platoon leader's opinion on that was.


In fact, the soldiers of the second Grenadier platoon had had enough in general.


German turn 3, where things got light enough to see properly.

The German Company Commander and the remnants of the first Grenadier platoon were still on the objective and tried to dig in.
Unfortunately, the ground here proved to be unsuitable for quickly digging some foxholes.


It wasn't all bad news, though; a platoon of StuGs had shown up as backup.
They immediately opened fire at the Carriers, hitting one but only bailing it.

Obviously, the crew ended up remounting in the next turn before driving off.


British turn 4.
The 25 pounders finally struck, taking out several of the Grenadiers desperately trying to dig in.


The HMGs added even more casualties.


And then the infantry fire dealt even more damage.


The ensuing assaults easily rolled over the remaining German infantry (that being the Company Commander and observer) and took control of the objective.


The German Company Morale check was passed, but there was no real way to contest the objective at this point.
The StuGs might have been able to get there with an assault, but they wouldn't be able to contest it since they're a support platoon.

That makes this game a British victory.
All in all, a pretty textbook night attack.

Overall, this was a pretty interesting game that got completed pretty quickly as well.

Next week, our league goes into its third and final month, where we scale up to 900 points.
Hopefully, I'll be able to get up some more battle reports then.

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