We had a great game of Battlegroup Overlord today, two players per side with me acting as partially impartial umpire- Can't help myself, I always barrack for the British ;-)
Denis & Daniel travelled over from Launceston and joined in with James & Ben. The British forces were jointly commanded by Denis & Ben using my figures etc., the Germans by James and Daniel using James' collection. The British used a 500 point list from the British Infantry Division list; the Germans a Panzer Division list - both taken from the Battlegroup Overlord book.
Denis & Daniel kindly brought over some extra terrain to help supplement my stuff - the extra roads were especially helpful.
I won't attempt to give a fully comprehensive report, but I did take quite a few pictures which should give you an idea along with their captions. In the end the British won, but it was a near run thing. We didn't get to play until the battle rating totals were reached due to time constraints. In the end I think the Germans lost 15 out of 27 BR and the British 10 out of 31. There was a desperate scramble for an all objectives held victory towards the end. It was unusual not to see more vehicles destroyed, in the end I think just one kubelwagen was written off or abandoned. A couple of infantry squads/sections were exterminated- the Germans lost two squads and a recon team, the British lost a section plus a casualty here and there.
First up some pictures of the terrain/battlefield setup:
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| The cow represents an objective marker, & the lone telegraph pole another. |
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| In the bottom left hand corner there is another cow objective marker outside the farmhouse. |
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Another objective marker is a small cart (not quite visible) next to the smaller
of the two outhouses at the back of the terraced cottages. |
And so it begins.....the Recce phase
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| Humber IV tentatively heads for an objective |
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| British sniper team in position. |
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| 2nd Sniper team in the shrubbery |
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| German Armoured car thinks about racing down the open road, but doesn't. |
Deployment of the main forces:
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| Germans concentrating for deployment |
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| German armoured car shelters behind bocage. |
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| The Humber IV by the farmhouse has just taken an objective. |
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| The café owner keeps some pigs out the back. |
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| Puma lurking |
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| Carrier team on recce |
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| Sniper and his spotter, hiding, but not well enough... |
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| There's that Humber again. |
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| German squads move out across the fields. |
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| The Puma sees the spotter from the sniper team and blasts him to oblivion. |
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| British on the move. |
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| British platoon command squad in immediate foreground. |
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| Humber goes on ambush fire, but in the end this achieved nothing. |
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| I think that section is all AB Miniatures |
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| The empty battlefield? Well, apart from the cow... |
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German recce team deployed upstairs in one cottage having already taken a
casualty in the far end house. A British sniper team sneakily deploys in the closest cottage. |
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| German comms halftrack |
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| An overview of things on the move. |
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| British sections spreading out. |
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German squads sprint for the big bocage covered hill, get shot at by the Humber IV
on the way, but it does no damage. |
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| The Germans deploy their Pak 40 with a nice view up the main road. |
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| This British section is steadily making their way to the area around the farmhouse. |
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| Churchills were pushed out two per flank. |
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| Successful German mortaring pinned a number of British units - the PIAT team... |
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| ...and platoon HQ |
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| Churchill, 2 inch mortar team and Forward HQ. |
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| Pak 40 on Ambush fire. |
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| The Tiger appears! |
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Churchill loiters by the garage - perhaps the crew wants to pick up the latest
Michelin Guide? |
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| A game of cat & mouse. The Puma ducks behind the barn away from the Churchill. |
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| German squads scramble through the dense bocage and down the embankment. |
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| A better view of the objective by the small outhouse. |
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| The Germans, just out of the bocage, get hit by a mortar stonk. |
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| The kubelwagen is written off in a mortar stonk. |
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It took many attempts for the British to finally deal with the German recce team.
Here you see the last man standing. |
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| British section pushes up to the hedges by the farmhouse, but they are doomed! |
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| German squads and HQ halftrack. |
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British section thinks about getting into those houses, but in the end after taking
some casualties, moves away to the crossroads. |
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| A German squad has occupied the end cottage- right of picture. |
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| The German squad in the end cottage is about to be blasted by the British. |
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| A German squad makes its way to the farmhouse. |
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Oh dear here's the Tiger! The Tiger attempted to blow away the Humber IV
but missed. |
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| German recce team is finally wiped out. |
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| German MG team gets behind the hedge. |
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A German squad has moved up to occupy the backyard of the café - move over porkers.
This squad blasted the British section down the lane by the farmhouse, causing casualties and
a pin. |
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Germans occupy the large farmhouse- who left the back door unlocked?
The British section, in top left corner with pinned marker, gets wiped out. |
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British section engage German squad, as does the Churchill. The German
squad is eventually wiped out, but they hung on to the last man. |
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A last ditch effort, a German command halftrack attempts to give the British a
hail of lead- to no avail. |
Thanks to everyone who took part, heaps of fun.
