Operation Jupiter 21 - Counterattack at Maltot; 20mm WW2 battle report

Introduction

This is game 21 in replaying the scenarios from the Briton Publishers Operation Jupiter skirmish scenario book.  Links to previous games are on this blog page.

Rules used

I am using a variant of my 4x3 grid rules without grids and sections are 3 person units rather than 1 base. I have changed them a little and now if within 3” are fighting in melee but all have cover modifiers. Also activation is now (mainly) 2 section/vehicle per side per player turn. 

Scenario

The Germans have six turns to capture the British Battalion HQ. The British must avoid this.

Troops

British

1 Platoon

    1 platoon HQ (1 figure)

    1 PIAT team

    1 Section (3 figures)

1 Vickers MMG

1 17 pdr ATG

1 105mm battery mission (poor availability)

British are all regular except the PIAT team and 17pdr crew that is veteran

Germans

1 Zug

    1 Zug HQ (2 figures)

    2 Gruppe (3 figures each)

3 Fire missions of 80mm mortar (average availability)

2 Tigers

Germans are all regular

Deployment

Deployment

This game is at very short range. The deployment zone constrains a lot on where the British can setup.  The Tigers cannot really make it thorugh the buildings so will enter as support, hopefully out of the range of the 17pdr and PIAT. The British Artillery has little chance of turning up but will be very useful if it does.  The short timeframe for the German’s to reach the objective will mean they cannot dally with suppress and movement and may need to take risky moves.  All up it is likely to be short and random. Random due to small units, artillery chances etc.

The Germans enter the board on turn 1 from the southeast corner in the woods.

Game

The Germans enter the Tigers first to provide fire cover for the infantry.  This may or may not be a good idea.  The Tigers will move just far enough to be able to fire on the objective building.  They can’t take the building so in this scenario they are effectively very expensive expendable units.

The Tigers both fire at the objective building but only cause one suppression.

Tigers on the table!

The British retaliate by firing the PIAT (only chance they may have!) and te 17pdr can just see the far Tiger but will call it as being in hard cover.  Likely the only time the British will be able to take out the tanks.

PIAT: Missed.

17 pdr: Hit (rolled a 6, the only score that would hit) and then subsequently penetrated and destroyed the Tiger.

Tiger destroyed (top right)

The remaining Tiger fires but misses the objective, a Gruppe moves on but fire is mostly ineffective.

The British retaliate with the PIAT at the Tiger and the MMG at the newly brought on Gruppe.

Intense fire across the road

The Tiger tries again and the HE hits and suppresses everyone in the objective.  The other Gruppe enters at manages to supress the Vickers MG.

More firing across the road

In the British turn they roll amazingly well and unsuppresses everyone that was suppressed!  The Germans were hoping to rush in and take advantage of the suppression but seems not to be the case.  Next turn the Tiger suppresses them again and the Gruppe charges the MG (range is less than 6 (about 50m)) so the MG only gets 1 dice compared to the Gruppe’s 3.  The Vickers is destroyed at a cost of 1 figure from the Gruppe.  They occupy the building.  

Germans charge the MG in the building at close range

The British 17pdr crew charge the building.   They lose one figure but the Germans are both suppressed and retreat to their former building across the road.  The Germans in the other building try to rally but 2 figures rout!

What is left of the Germans

The turn limit is up, the Germans are at half strength and I do not see them getting the objective building in the next turn or two, even if I did keep playing.  They were so close!  

And just realised I forgot about the artillery and I did not bring on the German HQ of 2 figures!  Let’s play two more turns.

The Zug leader arrives, unsuppresses a Gruppe.

Zug leader arrives

The British unsuppress but then the German artillery is successfully called onto the objective building and the British are all suppressed.  The Germans charge across the road into close combat.

Germans charge into close combat with the objective building’s occupants

The Germans lose one figure, as does the British.  The British are all suppressed so need to retreat.  The Germans now have the objective and win!

The Germans own the objective

Verdict

If I had remembered the artillery earlier the Germans would have had a much easier time of it.  It was still touch and go and easily could have gone against them.

Operation Jupiter 20 - Secure the Village. 20mm WW2.

Introduction

This is game 20 in replaying the scenarios from the Briton Publishers Operation Jupiter skirmish scenario book.   Links to previous games are on this blog page.

Rules used

I am using a variant of my 4x3 grid rules without grids and sections are 3 person units rather than 1 base. I have changed them a little and now if within 3” are fighting in melee but all have cover modifiers. Also activation is now (mainly) 2 section/vehicle per side per player turn.

Scenario

The British have 8 turns to capture the objective building. The British player enters from the northwest road on turn 1. Although the Germans have a small force, they can concentrate their firepower in a narrow lane. The British must not become channelled by the road.

Troops

British

1 Platoon HQ

    1 figure

    1 2" mortar

    1 PIAT team

3 Sections

    3 figures

1 MMG

British are all regular

Germans

1 Zug HQ

    1 figure

2 Gruppe

   3 figures (with panzerfausts)

1 MG42 team

Germans are all regular

 

Deployment

The German’s deploy one Gruppe in the objective building, one Gruppe in a building opposite and the MMG in the building that has a good view up the road and the building along the British entry road.

German deployment

The British have no choice in coming on the road but will quickly pivot off the road to the right and get to the objective.  Time is tight.

Game

British enter 2 sections.  The first section comes under MG fire and 2 figures are out of the fight.  Already.

Germans MG lining up the British

The British run as fast as they can out of the line of fire, using the buildings to block LOS to the MG.

British run to cover

The remaining British enter – the Vickers MG to a building that has LOS to the objective but not in LOS for the German MG.  The third section enters with the Major and support (PIAT and 2” mortar), the German MG fires at the third section and two are suppressed (unlucky).

The remaining British enter

The first (and single figure) section and second section move into the woods and spot the Germans in the building opposite.  They fire, suppressing one.  The Germans fire back and suppress the first section that retreats.

Germans and Brits clash

The Germans in the building fire at second section in the woods, KO’s one and the other two are suppressed and forced to retreat.  The MG fires at the far building but inflicts nothing.

Germans force the British to retreat further into the woods

The British third section in the building rally one figure and one other is now OK. The rest of the unit (including the major and the 2” mortar) move towards the woods.  The Vickers MMG can see (just) into the German Gruppe in the building and cause two suppressions.

British fire and movement

The Germans attempt to rally their Gruppe in the building. Alas, even with the commander present, one routs and the other two figures remain suppressed.

The British concentrate on the building on their side of the road

A bit of fire and rallying with the result that the second platoon (2 figures) in the woods is unsuppressed, as is the German Gruppe in the building.  Two more turns of trading fire saw one German figure in the building rout, and the British infantry in the woods advance but then retreat again suppressed.

The British just cannot make headway

The turn count is up and the British have not managed to take the objective.  A win for the Germans!

Verdict

That was good fun!  Two things from the game:

1. I seem to have rediscovered my art of being able to play a turn or two (5-10 minutes to play and write some notes) and then come back some other tie, even days later.  I lost this several years ago, glad it is back.

2.  I have overused the word vignette but I find these games are like vignettes of a larger battle and are very tactically challenging with a small number of units and a small battlefield.

It was never going to be easy for the British.  They only had one more section than the Germans and the German MMG was going to be tough to avoid.