Game 11 : A Sort of Arras

This was an outing for the newly arrived British contingent. The kit now available includes two infantry divisions, an armoured division, an armoured brigade, their supports and some odds and ends. This game was a sort of Arras-Arras! I designed the battlefield to allow a British Inf Div to deploy with three brigades in such a way that the battlefield ended with three natural sectors. The flank sectors were big enough to do a type of Arras ambush.
The British deployed hidden and the Germans arrived in columns along the roads. They had a restriction that no armour could be on table until the action started. The first two piccies show the terrain.

 

 

This is taken from the north. One British brigade centred a defence around the village with a German column arriving from the East (left). This ambush proved to go off with a whimper. British light armour was observed by the head of the column, so only this part suffered any hits. The remainder deployed quickly



This is again from the North with the East to the left. The Germans used all three roads to arrive, with no initial armour. The Germans pre-selected which roads the armour would use when the ambushes were sprung.

This is the Southern flank ambush. A German Flak Btn had advanced down the road with infantry to its front and rear, oblivious to the British in cover until they opened fire. This ambush worked in that it delayed the German advance. The downside was that the troops that had already moved past the ambush point quickly engaged the British further along the road so that this initial force was never reinforced and so was eventually subdued if not quite eliminated.

Above and below are two pictures of the fight in the north. The Germans received random air support, in numbers, quantity and time. The aircraft are a new addition and are the correct scale and the Russian air force has also arrived but has yet to see action. The British, in this sector, were effectively corralled into the village, tying up the best part of two battalions.

The piccy below in from action in the centre. Here, the British adopted an open prison mentality. The whole brigade deployed in the village and its immediate area. This allowed the German to squeeze the flanks and start eliminating the enemy in a piece meal fashion.

Last, but not least, the happy gamers. We had one new player this time, Tim on the right is a Senior Lecturer in Mech Eng (I think). Anyway, in between trying to kill Germans we now know that the concrete around Spaghetti junction is rotten and decaying. Should bolster the economy with some engineering projects!!!



 

All in all, an interesting game because the British infantry can be as good as their German counterparts. This is an extra challenge for the Germans as overall firepower can be matched.

Next, Napoleonics!