WW2 20mm West Front Goodwood mini-Campaign Game 4

Introduction
I have 1/2 a table tennis setup and am playing a 7 game mini-campaign set over 2 days at the opening of Operation Goodwood. This is game 4.  Game 1 and some more background, see this blog post.  I set this game up and then a few days later got a call from a friend who needed a place to stay from that night.  The only spare place for a bed is where the gaming table was temporarily setup.  I played the game in a hour, including taking notes! Note sure when Games 5 to 7 are going to get played.


Scenario 4 - Evening assault upon Cagny
Grenadier Guards tanks supported by motorised infantry attack Cagny; the latter defended by an ad hoc collection of Panzer Grenadier troops.

The story so far.  Germans won the first two, the British the third.

Troops
Germans
1 Panzer Grenadier HQ
3 Panzer Grenadier squads
1 Pak 40
Sdkfz 250/9 (supposed to be a 234/1 but I do not have one)
80mm mortar
And I add the surviving 88 from game 1 (1 of them) as per the mini-campaign rules.


British
1 Squadron
    3 Shermans
    1 Firefly
1 Motorised unit
   1 Infantry command in M3 half-track
   3 Infantry squads in M3 half-track
   3 PIAT teams

1 FAO in Bren Carrier; dedicated off table 3 x 3" mortars


Scenario changes
Game is supposed to be on a 6'x8' but I am playing on a 4.5'x5'.  No changes to accommodate this, it will just be cramped!
 
I realise it is game 4, but I looked up what a squad is in Kampfgruppe Normandy and the Battlegroup series.  Turns out a Panzer Grenadier squad is 5 men and a separate MMG (the MMG is the MG34/42 that comes with the squad).  So when the scenario has 3 Panzer Grenadier squads and 3 MMGs, that is really just a squad of ten men in my rules (as I have scaled them up and a squad = a company).   But a German company would often have been allocated some MMGs from the Support Company so will make each "Panzer Grenadier Squad" 6 men and an MMG.  Luckily it has made no difference to the game so far.

I put in a Jack card into the deck - if the card before was a moving vehicle, it is now bogged (the scenario notes mention bogging).

Normally I would use 1 halftrack with 3 passengers but due to space restrictions I will go with 10 figures to one halftrack.


Deployment
The British deploy on either side of the road with the objective to race to the first town and take it.  The Germans are in an staggered defense from the first objective back to the one in the rear. The Sdkfz 250/9 is in reserve near the rear.  AT Guns are near the rear tow with good fields of fire.

British deploy in their designated area.  Germans may setup anywhere to the right of the village and the village.

A view down the road - the British need to basically take everything you can see to get to the church at the far end.

Game
First card is out for the Germans and chose the AT guns.  88 fails to spot but the Pak 40 hits a halftrack, destroys it  and the passengers bail with 3 casualties and subsequent retreat through the woods and are pinned.

Half track KO's the remaining parts of the unit retreat through the woods and are pinned.

 Second card is the Brits that advance a halftrack up to the first building (Allies cannot close than  9" from suspected enemy) and unload the 11 passengers.

Another squad gets into the first building.

 Third card is for the Germans and i attempt to call in the mortar but fail.  This game is more exciting in three cards that some of the other ones.  I hope it continues. Two minutes in and interesting things happening already.

The British infantry unit that retreated managed to advance up thier right flank.  They got halfway up the table but were never anything more than a nuisance.  If the Germans had held on longer, they would have come in very useful.

The squad that bailed from the destroyed halftrack advanced up the right flank and ended up quite near the far village before the game ended.

 Axis response fails to damage the Brits out of the building (very bad dice rolling) but the allies maange to kick them out of the building; and then to add insult to injury manage to set alight the building they had retreated to with the indirect mortars!

The second building from the left is cleared and the third building set on fire by indirect HE.

 Infantry advances and another halftrack comes up and unloads in the now vacated house.

Building hopping.

 They continue hopping across the road and back to the other side, losing a few casualties but eliminating two more Panzer Grenadier squads along the way.

More building hopping

Still more building hopping

 

OK, this was the last of the building hops

 After 3 attacks by the guns and not doing any damage, both took out a Sherman!

One Sherman gone

...and another in the same turn by the very next shot with the other AT gun

Eventually they took out the Firefly before the Pak 40 succumbed to indirect HE.  And the 88 succumbs as well a few turns after.
 

All that is left of the German defense.

The Germans are now down to 50% their starting units and fail the morale and pull back.  The British win the scenario.

Overview shot at the end of the game.  The British lost 4 tanks all told.

I forgot I had a Sherman HQ.  The trees were blocking it as I was playing from the side facing the line of trees.  I only noticed it when I was taking a few end game shots!

The extra Sherman that never left the start, never fired - it was never actually seen by me until the end of the game!

Verdict
I really enjoyed this game.  I don't do many house to house clearings and it may not seem so from the report but I had lots of decisions to make as the British about when to commit the tanks and how safe it was to actually move form house to house.  The rules stood up just fine, another British win but it was close.  Here is to Game 5 sometime!