Operation Greenline / Hill 112 / 2nd Battle of the Odon ...with PzGr Deluxe

 As teased yesterday, the Normandy game with Panzergrenadier Deluxe went ahead today.

 Though seemingly heavy going - the rules actually play seamlessly with players who know which buttons to push, and make a lot of sense. In fact, some early teasers for what might follow in 'O-Group' (also by Dave Brown) in there?

  

A lot of the pics below speak for themselves and the models and terrain look super with the guys' hard work clearly evident.

 'Operation Greenline' is part of the hill 112 battles, involving units of 21st ss PzGr regt. See more here. ...but a ready excuse to get a great game in Normandy, with fantastic terrain and superbly painted minis and fine hospitality (from the Steves), should never be turned down.

The game was a tightly matched face-off, with British attacks with armour bogged down on the left, with considerable gains made on the right and one objective seized. Although unfinished, the call was made for a draw, as the Germans still have a few units with which to defend their right flank, and British armour, though led by stalwart Churchills and a few 'plucky' Shermans, could still be stymied on the flank. ...and there was still at least one Tiger I meandering about the table...

British troops on the start-line

Early Fire Mission

Pop smoke

British infantry making its way through the corn

Esquay on the British left - heavily defended with German armour later

Attacks toward the objective on British right

...then the Pak 43 showed up on the hill

...and did I mention the Tiger?

Well defended by Jerry

The 17 pounder would make a good account of itself vs the Tiger, before running low on ammo

A lot of allied armour - would fare ok, but would face significant losses during the day

There seem to be a lot of defenders sir!!!

1st brew up

Looking north to south (left to right)

Churchills get damaged, pushed back, but it becomes an infantry action in the centre

...with a few successful fire missions

The threat of flame-throwing rapidly turns the Crocodile into a target

Tiger vs M10 - only ends 1 way

Stymied on the left - making good progress with street fighting on the right

...pushed too far...

The town taken - one objective down

A great game with the guys. Some great action with these rules once more.

Pre-Hill 112 pics

 In preparation for a big Normandy 'Hill 112' game tomorrow with the guys - some pics from the game set up.

Rules will be Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier Deluxe.

These figures, fantastic terrain and vehicles from Stephen's collection; absolutely superb.

(The full game report to follow...) 

 

'O-Group' with Stephen

 With face to face gaming in vogue once more, I had a chance to be taught 'O-Group' by Dice Demon Steve.

With time in short supply, I hadn't even had a chance to read these rules, then quickly discovered, that in order to get the most from the game, you really need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of your force/nationality.  This is probably the biggest plus-point and/or innovation in the game.  These aren't simply 'traits by nationality', each force has a distinct national flavor based upon historical methodologies re. fighting battalion level battles.

So for instance, British pop smoke, US use marching fire, Germans are great equalisers and Soviets have numbers but are relatively inflexible; yes, these are simplifications of what is a very comprehensive and demanding system, but certainly it's worth some attention in terms of further gameplay. The fact that it is historically accurate, or Dave Brown has at least striven to make it so, should be reason enough to pursue this one further.

The system is orders driven, and I found my British being bogged down in the centre, whilst the artillery chewed my infantry, while my armour was exposed to long range fire  -  it's a different way of thinking for this one... though it's certainly an operational way of thinking, and to echo Stephen - 'you need a plan'. If you don;t have one, you lose focus on the battlefield, and are sure to find yourself without enough orders to rectify the situation.

Early deployment.

'pop smoke!!!'

Measuring range for the PAK40 on the hill. British artillery swamped it, but not before it had done some damage.

Bloody German ATGs - even a 50mm - ruin the allied day...

On the British right, despite early hopes, MG42s mow down repeated infantry assaults.

British armour on the left suffers horribly, for even suggesting that a flanking action might be in order...

British infantry bogged down and munched by artillery in the centre.

British armour on its last legs...

A really well honed system - which needs more attention.