Game 79 : Arras, sort of, France 1940

This game was a sort of Arras. Brits were deployed wherever they wanted and given the unusual intelligence of the German entry point, the only one!
The idea was for the Germans to just "travel" along the road to the far objective until they came under fire. This worked OK, maybe the Brits fired too early, but the fog of war produces these what ifs where decisions have to be made quickly.
The Brits were defending with 2 Brigades of Infantry, one Guards and a Brigade of Tanks plus 2 support battalions, one of anti-tank guns and the other a reconnaissance regiment.
The Germans had 2 Infantry Regiments supported by a reconnaissance & motorcycle battalions. The Germans also has 2 companies of armour.
The Brits would be reinforced by a Brigade of Infantry and a machine gun battalion. The Germans would be reinforced by a Panzer battalion.

The battle was fought down the main road that went through 2 villages, one after the other. The Germans are seen deploying after coming under mortar fire. The German issue is not to be outflanked by the hidden Brits. The Brits have to wonder if this is the main German force and so should they break cover?

British reconnaissance gingerly breaks cover to advance. The Brit Matildas rule the roost in this game but the mark I Matilda is so so slow!! The Germans have to rely on "critical hits" to do any damage. The Brit armoured cars are the reverse, motorised tin cans best describes them!

All, yes all the German armour moves down the road to try and support the German infantry into the outlying areas of the first village. This village would be the focus of the fighting for the entire weekend.

German infantry tries to open their right flank by attacking Brits in a wood that have limited numbers. This attack initially went well, but the arrival of Brit armour turned the tide and the Germans had to halt the attack just on the point of success. A flanking manoeuvre to the right of the pic would eventually allow the Germans to take this wood as the Brits retired to prevent themselves from being outflanked.

Three pics of the protracted fighting in the village. Brit Guards take forever to force back, but it was the amount of German support weapons, mainly the number of MMGs that allowed the Germans to eventually take the village. What was certain was that the Germans were in no condition to take the second village! It was a really fun gun. The troop density allowed manoeuvre, attacks followed by counter attacks, all to end up in a draw!!

Rogue's gallery. We also enjoyed the weather and the beer that was a necessity in these games! Next stop is Gettysburg!!!! Yes, the first ACW battle, many years in the planning. It is also in 15mm as a considerable number of 15mm figures existed when the project started. More on this when I post on the battle. It uses troops from three collections that have been put together and will use base Fire & Fury for mechanics; but with many detailed changes. We'll see what happens...……...