Second World War, Battlegroup Panzergrenadier, 15mm

This was one of those rare Sunday afternoon games, a small Second World War fight where we weren’t constrained by time. it involved French armour punching its way through a German defensive belt somewhere to the north-west of Metz, in the Lorraine countryside during the autumn of 1944. As usual the defenders were hidden, but for once the Allied commander decided to avoid the obvious killing zone. He avoided the road and the high ground  covering it to the south, and instead opted for a cross-country approach. The whole French armoured column laboured through the wooded hills just north of a small hamlet … and immediately ran into anti-tank barriers (dragons teeth) and minefields, cunningly hidden in the woods. Beyond that German machine guns in pillboxes covered the minefield.When the attack bogged down the French commander wisely decided to ignore my counsel (charge up the road and damn the consequences), and instead ploughed on – sending engineers to clear a path through the mines wide enough for a column of tanks to pass through. Covering fire was provided by the tanks, firing into the pillboxes and suppressing the occupants long enough for the engineers to do their job. The German defenders (including the unluckiest Panzerschrek team on the Western Front who consistently missed) were eventually forced back, forcing the German player to send in his small armoured reserve.What followed was a classic short-range tank engagement, and this time it was the Germans who came off the worst. Despite damaging or suppressing several French Shermans both Pz. IV’s were knocked out, as was a PAK 40 deployed to cover the main road. then the French called in artillery, which cleared the woods to the north of the French column of German infantry. The stunned survivors surrendered en masse.With that the French were through, and the road to Metz – leading off the far end of the table – lay wide open. At that point the German team (a father and son combo of Kevan and James Gunn) conceded defeat. It was just as well I wasn’t allowed to do my usual impetuous charge up the road – it was covered by 88’s, PAKs and dug-in infantry…. all of which were bypassed by the French cross-country approach. I’m glad not all armoured commanders are quite as rash as I am!The rules we used were Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier, which as usual worked like a charm. Despite being a big game on a small 6×4 foot table, with a lot of French armour and halftracks (at least a battalion-sized group) – the game flowed quickly. Although I prefer 20mm figures rather than 15’s, it certainly looked good, and everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves – even the German players whose perfect ambush was foiled by some cross-country manoeuvering!

Tags: Battlegroup Panzergrenadier