Part 8 - Remote commanders WWII D-Day game

Turn 5 and the end of the game.

The previous days action had seen some gains and losses. American forces had captured the airfield, but struggled with the Village of Arret de Cheval. The road to the town had been costly. The battle so far was in a delicate balance, German reinforcements were starting to take a toll and blunt the American attack.

The Village of Arret de Cheval.
Yesterday the village had seen considerable action, mechanised forces under Lemone had initially done well. Supported by Halls tank destroyers they had made to the edge of the village. The German commander Prille had been bolstered by the arrival of Lindermann and Halls M10s moving away.
McBride ordered his reserve into action, Capt. Gunson had sat idle all the previous day and now was his turn for action.

Gunson's company assault the town.

The first the German Captian Prille know about the flanking American reserves was when his command unit was assaulted. He was killed in the ensuing battle and what was left of his command died with him. Next to face the attack was Lindermann, the well dug in assault pioneers came under heavy fire from inside there own perimeter. American soldiers swept through the town, quickly subduing any resistance.

Prille and Lindermann is lost, the village was now liberated.

Lemore contributed little to the final assault on the village, his forces made their move after the battle was finished. What had lasted all of the previous day was over in minutes.

Von Bock had little information from his commanders in the VIllage, last radio transmissions were garbled and sounded bad. He had to assume that the village was lost. He ordered Schorner and Fressner to move up with all speed. Both commanders reported back the village was lost and swarming with American forces.

Schorner and Fressner make one more push to capture the Village but to no avail.

Putting the situation at the Village to one side Von Bock took one last chance to attack the Airfield. Supported by Hass' Stug company Von Bocks veterans launched one last counter-attack. The famous assault guns poured fire into the rangers holding the airfield, Panzer-grenadiers launched a series of swift assaults but all were pushed back and the rangers held.

The assault guns move into a good firing position and engage the rangers at long distance.

For Burnshaw the morning of the 8th was brutal experience, he was bracketed by enemy assault gun fire and increasingly devastating small arms fire from the forests. His rangers had been fighting for two days now, with little rest, food and ammunition. What remained of Tylers armoured company trundled onto the airfield with battered looking formations of infantry behind them. Despite all of this Van Gurk had been accurately bringing his 105s down all morning, keeping the German attack pinned down and broken up. As quickly as it had started the attacks stopped, fire from the woods become sporadic and the German assault guns rolled back from their firing positions.

As Tylers Shermans moved into the Airfield the German attack halts

Counting his losses, Von Bock was dismayed, nor was he blind to his men's suffering. The forward hospital in the Town was overflowing with casualties. He had manged to contact some elements of High command. It was becoming obvious now that the invasion of France was well underway and his dwindling forces could do little to stop it from here. He reluctantly ordered a fighting withdrawal, knowing his men would rally later, re-equipment and with fresh food in their bellies be ready to fight again.

McBride led a column of his mechanised troops into the town of Murs Blanc. The overjoyed people lined the streets, waved flags and opened long hidden bottles of wine. Only wounded Germans remained in the town, left to be cared for by the advancing allies. The fighting over for now, his men could rest here tonight and be ready to move on-wards in the morning, his losses were considerable but that did not dampen his soldiers celebrations.

The end.

Part 7 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day game

The Road - Turns 1 -4

Events on in the center of the line could be overlooked, the Road to Murs Blanc (designated Road 6 on the maps) swung south east past the Airfield and eventually on to the town itself.

Soon after the battle at the Village of Arret de Cheval had started, Captian Schorner the garrison commander of Murs Blanc was alerted to American movement on the main road leading to the town. He ordered his Nashorn platoon to take up a good firing position in the town to cover the road. The german gunners waited patiently for their targets to get into optimum range.

An Infantry half-track is the first victim of the German 88s.

Since landing on the Beaches Captains Kelso and Tyler had been effective at moving together, the Tanks ready to take on enemy strong points and the Infantry ready to support the tanks. As the approached the Airfield they could see the town in the distance. Both Tyler and Kelso were very awar of the bocage near their flanks and proceeded with caution.

As they moved down the road they could see a large smoke screen obscuring the airfield to the Southeast, that was the signal for the rangers to assault and them to provide armour and infantry. Baker Platoons half-tracks were hit badly buy a yet unknown enemy, smoke and confusion hindered any chance of spotting the shooter. The transports crew tumbled out of the wrecked vehicle surprisingly unscathed. Tyler's tank commanders scanned the woods and town for any sign of German Anti-tank weapons nothing could be seen.

Lindermann had already moved his infantry off to protect the town but he did leave his Anti-tank guns to cover the road. As the Americans moved closer the gunners opened fire, scoring a hits on a second half-track platoon.

Kelso ordered his troops to alight from their vehicles, it was clear to him that the road was covered by German AT guns. Tylers Sherman's moved forwards to protect the Infantry, this proved to be a fatal mistake. The Sherman's ran head long into the combined fire from 4 PAK40 guns and a Platoon of Nashorn tank destroyers (hidden in the town). With great determination and courage the Sherman's mamged to take out the PAK40s, but were left open for the deadly German tank hunters

Schorner's Nashorn crews wasted no time, the seen the Sherman's break formation and go after the PAK40s in the woods.

Tyler pushes forwards after a brief firefight with a German PAK 40 in the woods.

 Within minutes the German anti-tank fire had reduced two platoons of Sherman's to burning wrecks. Kelso was unable to do anything other than watch as his fellow Americans were shot apart. Desperately Tylers gunners fired at the town, tying to land any kind of shots to dislodge or disrupt the incoming fire but to no avail.

As General Von Bock arrived in the town this situation on the road was the least of his concerns. The airfield had fallen and the Village stood ready to be overrun. Despite Schoner's action holding the raod he needed his subordinate to reinforce the village. News was coming to him that more American forces were spotted in the area. With that German fire from the town ceased and Von Bock moved to the Airfield.

Unsure of what had happened to the German guns, Tyler and Kelso could now complete their mission and support the Airfield battle. The had been caught in the open on the road and that had slowed them down all day, casualties were high and morale low.

Gunson Deploys his company and approaches the village from the north

McBride now throws in his reserve, Gunson deploys his mechanised formation near the village on Road 1. as the battle rages in the east and west now the American commander comits to the final attack. This will either break the German resistance or be sacrificed on the accurate and deadly German guns. Either way the battle will be over by the 8th of June, the butchers bill will be counted later.   

Next up,  Turn 5 and 6. Battle is really heating up now.

Part 6 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day Game

Airfield Turn 1-4
While the battle for the Village of Arret de Chaval raged, American forced push on across a wide front. The drive to establish a foot hold in Normandy was relentless. This Next part will cover the Airfield.

With the sound of battle to the west disturbing the quiet morning, Major Burnshaw readied his Company to assault the air field. The Rangers and their engineer support units had been in action since the 6th, they had not stopped moving inland until they reached the outside perimeter of the Airfield. Burnshaw waited for support, Armour from Tyler and mechanised infantry showed on the road to Murs Blanc he signaled to Van Gurk to call artillery smoke onto the main airfield buildings.

Burnshaw advances on the outlying defences

The bulk of German garrison on the airfield was made up of Eastern-European conscripts. Captain Rendulic had at first glance a very defensible position. Two pillboxes covered the airfield, one facing north and the other Southeast. the surrounding buildings all had ready built trenches for air-raid cover. From his position he could see the main road to the Airfield and the town, it looked like the Americans were massing for a attack down the road. He knew that this approach was well covered by Anti-tank guns in the town and surrounding woods. His first contact was a large bombardment of enemy artillery fire creating a smoke screen.

Rangers storm the wire and into the airfield buildings

 Once the Smoke screen landed action started immediately, the Rangers and Engineers rushed the defenses. The Czech garrison fired wildly into the white blanket of smoke. The close up and brutal assault did not last long. Burnshaw's forces routed and scattered the garrison. Even Rendulic's HQ was surrounded, the fighting was swiftly over for the garrison. With nothing left to do Rendulic surrendered hoping to spare his men from further deaths.

Unsupported Wesp pays the price for moving too close.

As the Airfield was quickly captured Burnshaw, was forced to wait for the rest of the support coming along the road before moving on to the town.
By this time though General Von Bock had eventually arrived in Murs Blanc. The forces under his command were scrapped together from falling back or isolated units from the previous days actions. He quickly ascertained that the airfield was overrun and he send his best units forwards to counter-attack and push the Americans out. After some confusion some of he leading elements got too close and were ambushed by rangers from the airfield, losing his SPG platoon was a blow before even getting into position.

Von Bock has a good view of the airfield despite losing his Wesp.

As Burnshaw knew that his men were about to face a counter attack, his early success in capturing the airfield had now drawn attention from German forces in Murs Blanc. The rangers and engineers used the existing defenses and readied for the attack. Moving to the edge of the woods the German panzer-grenadiers set up a good field of fire on the airfield. almost immediately they came under sustained attack. They traded fire with the Rangers to little effect, they also managed to deploy their PAK 40 in good position, giving the gun cover of the road and airfield. This additional firepower started to tell and the Rangers were forced back away from the outskirts of the airfield.

As the day drew to a close, the sounds of battle rattled on in the direction ov Arret de Cheval. More concerning for the rangers was the unmistakable sound of German Armour moving up from the south east.

Von Bock could do little but hope that his reserves would arrive in time to play a part in the battle as his current situation was looking critical. He had received news that a Stug company under Captain Hass was in the area for re-fit when the allies landed. His forces were en-rout at all speed to the embattled area.

Next time, The Road to Murs Blanc.
 

Part 3 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day game

The Germans

Jim will be commanding the Germans. He is another veteran war-gamer, who has played Blitzkrieg Commander for years, as well as many other games. Remember he cant see the table and has only a map and my reports to go by. He will be tasked with countering an overwhelming American attack and perhaps even scoring a victory of his own!
This German force represents the kind of throw-together battle group seen in Normandy. scattered units with no orders from High-command, rallied by a single commander. The forces are of varying quality representing the ever desperate German position in 1944.
Soon I will hand over to Jim to tel you about his plans and tactics in his own words.

German Kampgrupp Von Bock

A* - German CO - General Von Bock, leading a mixed formation consisting of; Company of Grenadiers, PAK 40 ATG Platoon, a Battery of Wesp SPGs and a Anit-air unit of Sdkfz6/2s
B* - HQ - Colonel Fressner, leading another mixed formation consisting of; Company of Green Infantry supported by a Machine-gun platoon and 75mm Field-gun Battery. Also a Platoon of Panzer IV tanks with Veteran crews.
C - HQ - Captain Prille, leading a Company of Heer Infantry supported by a Machine-gun platoon
D - HQ - Captain Rendulic, leading a green Czech Company supported by a Machine-gun platoon
E - HQ - Major Linermann, leading a mixed formation consisting of; two Assault Pioneer platoons, two Heer Infantry Platoons and a PAK 40 ATG platoon.
F - HQ - Captain Schorner, leading a mixed Formation consisting of; Two Heer Platoons, one Machine-gun platoon, one Motorcycle recon platoon all of which are Veterans. The are supported by a platoon of Tank hunter Nashorn SPAT guns.
* These two formations are in reserve and are not available for Jim until turn 2

OK, over to Jim to highlight his plans for battle

D-Day + 1.

As the allies desperately try to expand their bridgehead to include any airfields they can capture. The Germans are facing their own problems. General Von Bock has a large area to defend with troops of mixed quality. He has guessed that an airfield in his sector is an objective of the allies. He has placed a poor quality infantry company as a temporary garrison. He has placed a decent quality company in Arret de Cheval to guard the crossroads . a mixed company is in a wood between the two locations to support either. A mixed company of infantry and tank destroyers is in Murs blancs in reserve. Two companies are held back as a counterattack force.

Jim. 

Jim's Deployment, NOTE he is completely unaware of the Sneaky rangers Tony has placed in the woods and fields.

Unknown to Jim, he actually will be reinforced as the battle unfolds. An additional German formation will be available to him from Turn 3 on-wards. This represents, scattered German forces forming up and attempting counter attacks.

Surprise reserves

HQ- Captain Hass, leading a StuG III company supported by a Mechanised Platoon of Grenadiers, Recon 233 and Mortar platoon.

Next up. Some game mechanics 

Part 2 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day game

The Americans

Tony will be in command of the American forces, He is a veteran war gamer who has played WWII and many other types of War-games since the 80s. Relatively new to Blitzkrieg Commander he has played a few against me and at the club before. Remember he will literally not be able to see what is going on with his forces and relying on me to report it as it happens.
 I will be handing over the to him soon to tell you about his plans and tactics in this game. But first a look at the Forces available to him

This mechanised force is both mobile and packs plenty of punch.

A - The CO of the American forces, Colonel McBride.
B - HQ. Major Burnshaw, leading a mixed Rnager and Engineer force that landed on D-day and has since pushed inland ahead of the fresh troops that arrived after them. This force is mixed and is almost at battalion strength.
C - HQ. Lt. Hall, leading a company of M10 Tank destroyers.
D - Capt. Tyler, leading a company of Sherman Tanks.
E - Lt. Van Gurk, commanding the off-table artillery, he has three batteries of 105mm howitzers at his disposal
F - Lt. Niles, acting as the Forward Air Controller, he will be directing P47 fighter-bombers supporting the American advance.
G - Capt. Kelso, leading Blue Company. Blue company is supported by a Machine-gun and Mortar platoon.
H - Captain Lemore, leading White Company. As with blue company they are supported by a Machine-gun and Mortar platoon.
I - Captain Gunson, leading Red Company. Red Company is over-strength and has the battalions anti-tank guns platoon attached.

OK now Over to Tony for some of his thoughts an plans. (this is his exact and colourful writings. So don't judge me)

From the memoirs of Colonel Hugepants McBride....

.....was it really so long ..all those years ago...Hell it seemed like only yesterday Uncle Sam was winning the war in Europe and saving those limeys asses again...but first there was a little bar room brawl at place called Normandy. It’s still there just the way I left it.....She floated down the stairs, her dress coming with her...it was designed that way...man she had legs that went all the way up until they met in the middle and were a matching pair. I liked that on a woman...her lips were red like they had been sucking the berries from the bushes all day and still had suction left in them...suction that would put hairs on a man’s chest or suck em right off if he already had them...now those lips were moving , they were saying Colonel McBride...McBride...McBride....Colonel McBride wake up we’ve landed....damn it was Valvetron my aide...we had landed at a place called D Day... I stepped out onto the beach , swatted an 88mm shell away and lit a cigar....he was out there ..I was sure of it...Oberst Helmet Chafe...I had first went toe to toe with him in Tunisia...he had a mean streak and a fondness for small furry scurrying animals the crazy son of a bitch...

......the morning after I was given the orders to break out of the beachhead, take a Kraut airfield and secure routes past the town of Murs Blanc...I wondered if this where Chafe was skulking...the woods seem devoid of small mammals as I looked at the map..

Burnshaw s Rangers were already opposite the airfield and I gave them orders to hold and observe until I could cover any advance on the airfield with smoke and support them with Tyler’s armour and Kelso infantry up the main road. The plan was to quickly over run the airfield and press on to secure the road to the East of Murs Blanc.

On our right flank I ordered Lemores infantry and Halls Tank Destroyers to clear the small village of Arret de Cheval. I didn’t expect too much opposition here and they were ordered to push past the village and secure the road to the west of the town. We didn’t want to sit on our heels for too long and to that end we had been allocated airstrikes to help deal with any stiff resistance and enemy armour that could slow down the operation...Gunson with his strong infantry force would be held in reserve just down the main road.....we could let the guys coming up behind us deal with Murs Blanc...shame as I had a feeling that Chafe would be holed up somewhere in the town......
 Tony

The plan! Two Mechanised formations move on supported by the Tanks.

Next up - The Germans!

Part 5 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day Game

This report will be broken up into areas where the fighting is thickest. Fist up is the Village of Arret de Cheval.

The Village Turn 1-4

The Village of Arret de Cheval to the Northwest of Murs Blancs was initially held by a single German company. Commanded by Captain Prille this company had a good defensive position and could cover both roads to the North and Northwest. Prille's company was further supported by a Machinegun platoon. By mid-morning American mechanised formations under Captain Lemore started to push towards the village, having no dedicated anti-tank weapons other than short ranged panzerfausts the German garrison was forces to wait as the Americans moved in. Making matters worse for the Germans was a M10 tank destroyer company lead by Lt. Hall. This combination of Tanks and mechanised infantry was to make a potent threat to the garrison.

The fighting started quickly, with and overwhelming attack on the village. a combination of Half-tracks and M10s opened up causing havoc in the German positions. With very little effective resistance the Americans push on the outskirts of the village

German forces were pinned down and pushed back by the weight of fire

  The German commander immediately tried to redeploy is forces in the village and radioed to his superiors of his desperate position. Lt. Hall suffered a massive failure with his radio equipment and acting on his own initiative decided to move further south to attempt to flank the town and cut-off any retreating German forces. As the American tanks moved way the village was quickly reinforced from the German centre (south east) A mixed formation of German Heer soldiers and assault Pioneers slipped quietly and unseen into the town. With his armoured support moving off Capt. Lemone decided to push on. With enemy fire sporadic, he was confident his forces could capture the village little de he know it was being reinforced the entire time.

Lemore attacks the VIllage

Thanks to Lindermann's timely arrival The American assault would soon start to meet more stiff resistance. Forcing them back form the edge of town. The fresh German troops were difficult to deal with, they were fighting from a good defensive position and the Pioneers were equipped with more specialised close quarter fighting equipment. It was becoming obvious to Lemore that the village was more defended than he hoped, he was now facing two German companies.

Prille and Lindermann hold the village from repeated assaults.

 As night fell, the Village remained in German hands, both sides suffering losses but no ground was lost or taken.

Lt. Hall's attempt to flank the village was a disaster, with his command link lost he pushed round the fields and headed towards Murs Blancs. He was about to swing round and head north to encircle the village when he took fire from the south.

Hall moves round the village

Colonel Fressner had managed to deploy his forces to the west of Murs Blancs, his green troops were backed up by a veteran tank platoon of Panzer IVs. The veteran tankers made good use of cover, tactics and skills hard leaned on the eastern front. They spotted the M10 moving with their flanks and rears exposed. Even with the disparity of numbers the Panzer IVs caused havoc in the M10 company.

The Veteran Panzer crews pounce on the M10s

Soon Lt. Hall was taking shots from his flanks and rear, he tried to order his tanks to turn and engage. The best he could do now was to fall back to a nearby woods and attempt to rally his company. within half and hour his company was scattered an broken, not even sure of what had hit them all of his Tanks were knocked out or abandoned by their crews.

Hall moved back to the woods as they start to take losses.

Next time.

The Airfield.

Part 4 - Remote Commanders WWII D-Day Game

Some Game mechanics for you all to look at

Rules: Blitzkrieg Commander II

House rules:
I have allowed each American formation to take an attached Recce platoon. This platoon may only report to their own Commander. Also they will assist in spotting on the crib sheets I've made for this remote commanders game.

Opportunity fire Crib Sheet:
To keep me impartial I will us this Crib Sheet, its pretty basic but will do
 

Reaction to Movement:

Roll per enemy activation	Infantry/guns/soft vehicles	Recce/Armoured Recce.	Armoured Targets
In Range?	3+	6+	4+
Half range?	2+	5+	3+
Half Range and Flank/Rear shot?	Auto yes	NA	Auto yes

Reaction to Shooting:

Roll per enemy activation	Infantry/guns/soft vehicles	Recce/Armoured Recce	Armoured Targets
In range in OPEN	4+	6+	4+
In range in COVER	5+	6+	5+
In half range OPEN	3+	6+	4+
In half range COVER	4+	6+	4+
Half Range Flank/Rear OPEN	2+	NA	2+
Half Range Flank/Rear COVER	4+	NA	3+

Remote Commander spotting procedure.
This was a tougher prospect all together, I think that I have sorted away to give reports to off field commanders. Not perfect but will hopefully a keep them guessing and generally informed at the same time. Tricky.

1 moving = has an enemy moved into line of sight? – what they have seen move, Infantry, Artillery, tanks and other. Roll D6

1 = No report

2 = Report only enemy location

3 = Report location and direction

4 = as above but add Rough strength (rounding up!)

5 = Exact strength

6 = Full ID of enemy

Modifiers:

-1 on the chart for every full 20cm distance between spotter and enemy

-1 on chart if in light cover

-2 on chart if in heavy cover

+2 if any Recce unit is within 30cm of Enemy (max of 1 recce to help per roll)

2 shooting = has the enemy shot at you? – what is shooting at your forces, distance and direction. Roll D6

1 = Under fire from unknown enemy

2 = Under fire from enemy in direction x

3 = Under fire from enemy in direction and distance x

4 = Under fire from enemy and ID shooter

5 = Under fire from enemy, ID shooter and units under that same command

6 = Full report on enemy shooting strength, units and composition

Modifiers:

-1 if pinned

-2 if pinned and casualties

+2 if any Recce unit is within 30cm of Enemy (max of 1 recce to help per roll)

+1 if no casualties or pinning caused

3 assault = has the enemy assaulted you? – this will be situation dependent. If assaulted by the enemy it is assumed the report will be brief with only little detail. Type of unit and such.

Here is the map I made for both commanders, its not that great but will do!

Basic map I scanned into the computer and emails to the Commanders, they each printed 2 of them off.

Game time soon!