Normandy 44 - LCMs and Sherman’s

The next top is for a planned beach assault game for this years D Day anniversary . I have added in 6 LCMs and 3 Sherman’s with deep wading kits . This lot will be transport for the engineering and beach clearance teams .

I have also picked up this . Not exactly the right scale , but it will do service for now . We are working with Pendraken to get some 15mm MDF LCTs on the books! 

Normandy 44 - Attack on St Martin L’Eglise - part 2

We left things with Martin & James having cracked the German line .. but of course there was the inevitable counter attack element to sort out.  This consisted of two Panthers and a Panzer Grenadier platoon .

The Panthers produced the expected  “oh shit “ response .. as they advanced and picked off a couple of tanks each . The Panzer Grenadiers and thier Panzerschrecks started firing , but not overly effectively however! Drat! 

However a US airstrike on the church had knocked out the main artillery observer who had the best lines of sight , which was limiting barrage options 

The American paras were intent on killing the HMG teams in the centre and having done one painful assault, withthe help of a couple of Sherman’s they  did it ..but it was costly . 

One of the Panthers was flanked by M5 Stuart’s and some M8 Greyhounds (that has turned up on the right flank as a result of a string of random events ) , and was knocked out . 

A Cub ,airborne spotter turned up , braving the flak and started calling in revenge on an 88. 

The Germans were left holding on to the last building before the main village ..

\

American firepower and extra numbers was beginning to tell . And the lack of German infantry numbers in the end saw the German armour retreat and the artillery start to limber  up and bug out .. 

The village of St Martin L’Eglise was left to the US forces . Though we nicked all the booze and cheese on the way out .. 

It had cost the US forces a platoon of paratroopers (mostly all 2nd Platoon, and 4 armoured vehicles ) 

The Germans lost a Panther , an 88 , a Pak40 and two out of 3 infantry platoons overall .

It’s been a good few nights gaming ,, away from the hassle of day job Covid  .. . 

More soon

Normandy 44 - Attack on St Martin L’Eglise - part 1

We ran the first session of the virtual game yesterday. We are using Zoom ( we have paid account so it doesn't drop out). I had set up two camera feeds into Zoom using ipads on small tripods and the guys could view what was going on and ask me to move around.

The US commanders were given some initial aerial shots of  the battlefield and planned a pre bombardment - some was very effective , some less so . James had the armour - Martin the infantry - in this case US Paras ..I need to paint up more just bog standard infantry .

I had the Germans set up on a hidden deployment and they were revealed as spotted or firing (once on table they stay on)  - there was a real sense of danger from the US forces I thought - they didn't know what I had or where it was - just that it would be nasty!

Jump off right flank

 

Through the woods - keep out of the open

The front line German defenders are thinly spread.

Avoid  the roads said the armour commander! bound to be mined and under AT view

Is that German armour down the lane?

 

Pak 40 dug in

Stuarts and infantry edge forward - blazing away at hedge lines that "might"contain bad guys.

 

German OP in the church

I set this game up with more German artillery than we normally play with - but a thinner infantry screen - think that came as a bit of shock - especially as one US platoon got really blasted by the Nebelwerfers , while a unit of 105's was hitting another one . Twice US platoons decided to head backwards rather than stay under the fire or advance .



The view into the valley below



Air mission arrives

Armour and infantry advance on the left

We used our usual support point/ random event generator system driven by collection if the green tiddly winks dotted around. The US players collects these as they progress , and they can be spent  for calling in heavy artillery or air missions. They also generate rolls for a random event which can affect both sides.



Blasting HMG positions



HMG positions knocked out - a worried Sherman commander thinks he saw a Panther up the road

2nd Platoon walk into "Moaning Minne valley" it wasn't pretty



Nebelwerfers dishing it out ...



88s defend the village

The initial front line German defenders are just about overwhelmed at the end of turn 4 - but the US infantry has taken casualties and is well behind the pace in the centre of the table. the flanks are doing better . May be time for the counter attack.

the Germans further up the hill slope might be an altogether more interesting tangle...



German gun line - working hard 

Part 2 is scheduled for Thursday night..

 

 

Normandy 44 - a bit of virtual gaming

Having finished some stuff recently I have decided to set the table and invite some friends for a spot of virtual gaming this week .So it’s a US attack into bocage country .

Planning for the attack is under way . James made this diorama for me .. it’s a great piece.

Attack along the table and up hill to “St Martin L’Eglise”

The table 8x4 , with a ridge line at the far end . It uses polystyrene packing under the mat the raise the height gradually. I even had some spare hedges .. reckon it used about 40 feet of it .

The centre . Still need the guys to choose support options

View from the left side of the attack

View from the right side 

Normandy 44 - Anti Tank Guns and Panzer Grenadiers

I managed to get another decent session in this week so finished up a couple of Pak 40s and a platoon of Panzer Grenadiers . I picked up the ATGs second hand as part of a job lot that was unpainted that also included a few extra resin bases . I thought I would use one of these for a Pak 40 - it’s come up ok I think

Another platoon and Hanomags on the table next 

Normandy 44 - 88s

Finally managed to grab some hobby time this week. Again working on my 15mm Germans . Of course any WW2 German Army is incomplete without the ubiquitous 88s so here are a couple .

Normandy 44 - German Armour

Having completed a whole load of US army kit it is now time to do some Germans . The US army didn’t fight that many of the Panzer divisions until very late on, but did dog tangle with Panzer Lehr Division , so I deduced to do some Panthers for them .

It’s been about 25 years since I last did stuff like this , and with doing 11 together I decided to break out the airbrush ...

In addition I have some Jagdpanthers  which only appeared very late in the Normandy campaign , these will be used for later games 

German infantry next up I think