AAR - Germans vs British in the desert ...... somewhere

Greetings Troops,

Thursday evening I was able to get a FOW game with my friend Steve and his friend Sean.  Once again Steve's gentleman nature shined true by treating me to dinner.  Always awesome gaming at Steve's.  I am treating next time we play for sure !

Sean is learning the basics as am I.  Sean was the British and I was in command of the Germans.  Of course Murphy's law applied and I forgot the memory card to my camera.  You can see some photos of the game at Steve's blog What Would Patton Do?

The following AAR is after action transcripts and radio traffic researched from German archives.

Theater of Operations: Somewhere in North Africa

German reaction force consisted of 2 Panzergrenadier platoons (Confident Veterans), 3 Panzer III Ls and 1 battery of 10.5 cm.

British infantry, Grant tank platoon and Artillery batteries, as reported by our forward observers.

1st platoon of panzergrenadiers were assigned the eastern flank.  2nd platoon of the panzergrenadiers was assigned the extreme western flank.  Foward observers were assigned to the battery and had excellent observation points throughout the engagement.  The 10.5 cm battery was also in the extreme eastern flank while the Panzer III Ls were in the middle of the board for rapid deployment via the road system.

British forces of infantry occupied two groves of olive trees, 2 batteries of artillery occupied a hill near the west flank and 3 Grants stationed nearby the west flank as well.

Round One 

Initial movement by our infantry in both east and west flanks was set towards buildings to offer decent coverage and fields of fire.  East flank overlooked the woods which British had dug in troops along with  an objective site.  West flank buildings overlooked one of our objective points as well as fields of fire towards British artillery and Grants.  Our 10.5's opened up on the British batteries with no kill effect although the British were pinned X2.

Round Two

The British were able to unpin 1 artillery battery.  Their forces continued to be dug in for round 2.  The Grants began to move towards the front of the hill occupied by their batteries.  British tanks fired into our positions on the western flank with no results.  German 10.5s opened up once again on British battery positions, pinning the unpinned battery once again.  This time 1 British artillery piece was destroyed.

Round Three

Again, British artillery unpinned and attempted to range in for attack on our artillery.  No successful range was made.  Again British infantry concealed in the woods and did not move. Our eastern platoon moved just outside of assault range to attempt to push on British objective point.  Panzer III Ls moved into the British's left flank to assist with the assault. Our artillery once again opened fire on British artillery positions (scoring 8 hits ! and 2 killed)  British artillery was pinned once more.

Reports from this point on were not as detailed due to major action by both sides.  Reports of brutal hand to hand fighting in the eastern woods was documented by both sides.  The 1st platoon of German Panzergrenadiers took major losses and eventually fell back and ceded from the field of battle.  German artillery continued to pound British artillery positions and took out one battery and 1 artillery piece from the other battery.  British Grants attempted a double time maneuver in the middle flank to attempt close in on a German objective.  Panzer III Ls saw an opportunity and hit two Grants from behind, 2 kills.

At this point, further action is at a standstill.  No further reports of hostile action noted.

After thoughts

It will not take Sean long to learn from his mistakes.  He was taking notes and learning the game at a great speed.  I made a double time error in my first game and had the same results.  I doubt Sean will make that error again.  The other note I know Sean learned is not to bunch units up.  His deployment of artillery on a hilltop allowed my gunners to range in and continuously pound his artillery into submission.  Both of these examples were mistakes I made in my first games and I as well learned from them.  My artillery dice seemed hot once again ....... nailing 5 to 8 hits at times.  But the kill shots were lacking at times.  Still I love my artillery ....... King of Battle follow me !

I had a blast playing.  Sean is a great sport and will be a fine addition to our Central Virginia FOW group.  I thank Steve for allowing us to game and for the great dinner he provided once again.   Steve ... I am treating next time !

Please check out Steve's blog (link provided above) for some pictures from the battle.

Be safe

Joe