10mm WW2 – Epaignes Part 2

Deployment

The Germans’ deployment covered half the board’s width, their six rifle platoons spread roughly two each to the left flank, right flank and centre. HMGs were deployed one on each flank and the Panzerschreck platoon was split up and attached to selected platoons. The PaK40 was on the German left flank.

The British could deploy over a quarter of the board’s width and placed their three infantry companies one each to the left, right and centre. each of these was supported by a troop of three Churchill tanks plus another tank from the squadron’s headquarters, including, to the right and centre, close support variants with the 95mm mortar. The forward observer for the battalion’s mortars was in the centre and the carrier platoon was off-table in reserve.

All of these deployments were made using hidden marker cards.

Combat

The British opened their attack on the right flank and immediately came under fire from a German platoon with a HMG attached. The Churchill troop supporting this advance quickly moved up but the leading tank was knocked out. In the ensuing firefight, the British attack faltered under effective German fire.

The British then attempted to advance on the right but again the Germans had all the approaches covered and the British struggled to gain ground, forcing the British CO to commit the carrier platoon to strengthen the attacking firepower. Again, the supporting Churchills came under anti-tank fire but lost no vehicles although a Universal Carrier full of troops was hit by a panzerfaust round and destroyed.

When the third British company began its advance in the centre, the Germans were able to disrupt it with artillery fire from a battery of 10.5 cm light field howitzers but it made progress gradually and reached the outskirts of Epaignes. From there, it brought effective flanking fire against a German infantry platoon, neutralising it before turning its attention to the defenders of the village. Now with the battalion’s 3” mortar platoon giving fire support, the centre, comprising C Company, 2Glosters, put in successive assaults against the village. This sustained pressure coupled with weight of numbers bore fruit and the village fell, giving the British victory for achieving their objective.

Conclusions

Despite the apparent strength of the British force – three infantry companies against two with some twelve tanks in support – the Germans were able to make a fight of it and were no easy pushover. Good terrain, that made lines of sight short, coupled with a solid deployment by the German player meant that the British could rarely bring overwhelming force to bear. Being defenders, the Crossfire rules helped the Germans by allowing them to ambush often and steal the initiative from the British before the British could build any momentum.

The game was fast paced, the initiative swapping between the players at an astonishing rate and the action switching between flanks and centre almost as fast. The German player commented that he never felt overwhelmed but the steady pressure of three, alternating, combined arms advances made it difficult for him to control the game. The British player similarly found it challenging to dislodge the Germans from their positions. This was a thoughtful game, one rooted in historical fact, that showed how enthralling it can be to play infantry battles where armour plays only a small part and canny use of fire support is much more effective and important.

Below are some photographs taken during the game.

T.A.G.

P.S. The historical accounts indicate that Battaillon Schleue gave a very good account of itself and resisted several attacks from 2Glosters before being defeated when the armour of 9RTR was eventually committed.

 

Armour advances on the British right flank. The leading tank was soon knocked out.

The British infantry became pinned by fire from mortars, a heavy machine gun and rifle platoon.

The battalion’s carrier platoon was committed on the left flank but still progress was slow.

The decisive assault was in the centre where the British were able to outflank some of the German defences and use smoke to screen the attack.

Fighting in the village was intense and again a stiff German defence made life uncomfortable for the British.