Second World War, Battlegroup Panzergrenadier, 20mm

This is more a story of blundering ineptitude than anything else. the British commander (er .. me) was ordered to press an attack through a French hamlet, in an attempt to re-open supply lines between Calais and Dunkirk.He had a fair amount of resources – a Reconnaissance Squadron (Scout carriers & Mk. VI Light Tanks), supported by an Infantry Company, a Squadron of Cruiser tanks (A9’s and A13’s) and a few other bits and pieces. My leadership style was laid back – any attempt to ask for orders was met with “Use your own initiative“, “Carry on“, or “More tea, batman“! Needless to say this “playing in character” led to a complete muddle!Surprisingly a determined attack by the Recon. unit cleared the outskirts of the village, which was strongly defended by the Hun. that’s them milling around in the photo above, while the cruisers redeploy to face a new threat – the quartet of Nazi tanks lining the railway on the outskirts of town. Despite some help from a passing Hurricane the German tanks were almost impossible to dislodge, and the British tank commander began to suffer.
Meanwhile the Germans kept on being pushed back through the hamlet, and a last minute group of reinforcements from Dunkirk (an under-strength squadron of Matilda tanks) proved a life-saver – at least in the arguments over what would have happened if the game had continued!This game was run as a rules sampler as much as anything else, which inevitably meant progress was slow. This wasn’t helped by some copious drinking on the British side, and the sheer number of players involved – I counted seven, ands that didn’t include the umpire! In the end victory was granted to the British, despite their lacklustre performance. As ever the rules we used were Dave Brown’s Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier. I supplied the BEF, while Dougie Trial fielded the Nazis.

Tags: Battlegroup Panzergrenadier