With the City of Caen more or less secured the Canadian forces (with the help of Polish and British forces) decided to spear point an attack south and attempt a link up with US forces and thus complete an encirclement of the German army in Normandy.
We would attempt a segment of this scenario over 3 separate days of wargaming. I would command German forces while my friends Bob and John would command considerably more Canadian forces.
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View of the field of battle from the Canadian side. |
The German forces consisting of elements of 89th Infantry division, and 12 SS Division position themselves on the high ground at the end of the table. A screening forces of German infantry set up just south of the ruined church.
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German infantry set up at a stone wall. The Panther in the top of the photo is a wreck from an earlier aerial attack. |
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2 Panthers on the hills with a supporting Tiger I holding the road. In support were 2 Mk IVH tanks and a couple of Wespes. |
Most of the heavy German weapons were further back with the exception of 2 Pak guns halfway across the field hiding in some ruins.
The Canadian attack begins with elements of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade moving forward.
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As the Canadian armour advances around the church ruins the German infantry get quickly overwhelmed. |
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The German infantry managed to knock out a Firefly tank with a Panzershreck but soon had to fall back through the orchard. |
My mistake was keeping the German infantry too long in the forward position. I ended up losing most of the infantry force positioned there. The Canadian mechanized infantry started a successful running battle through the orchard. My 2 Pak anti-tank guns succumb to 25 Ib'r artillery fire.
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On the other side of the table the Canadian armour starts to bunch up and waits for the right time to launch the attack. |
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A Panther in over watch position. |
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My opponents don't like what they see and decide to lay down a smoke screen to hide their advance. |
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So far so good for the Germans. The Canadian attack on the right is losing steam. |
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Eventually the German right starts to crumble. A Mk IVH brought up to support the retreating infantry gets nailed. Another Mk IVH had it's main gun knocked out and attempts a retreat out of the Canadian advance. The Panther on the hilltop suffers the same fate and starts to back up. |
The German right starts to give way. The Canadians lose 5 tanks in the advance but manage to get into position to roll up the German defensive line.
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On the German left the other Canadian armoured column starts forward and feels the sting of the Tiger's 88. |
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The Canadians managed to start rolling up the German line on the German right. A Firefly and M10 Achilles ignore a Panther that has it's main gun knocked out and concentrate fire on it's sister. The remaining Panther does get knocked out but takes the M10 with her. |
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With the German right dissolving the Canadian armour on the German left makes a dash for it. A Panzershreck takes out a cresting Sherman while the Tiger takes out another Firefly. |
The Germans were eventually overwhelmed with the Canadian attack and had to give ground. We decided it was a Canadian tactical victory.
If you didn't notice in the photos the plowed fields changed appearance. I was using cut up floor mat for them but decided to replace them with Hot Matz ones I found on the internet. The rules used were my homemade ones. The gaming scale is 1 figure = 1 man, 1 vehicle = 1 vehicle. The figure and vehicle model scale is 1/72.
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