Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 29th:
Spearhead Division #16 - Final Accounting
St Mauvieu
Author dricher (Germany)
Method Face to Face
Victor Germany
Participants unknown
Play Date 2006-03-15
Language English
Scenario BeNo002

First round of Beyond Normandy, the action was in northern France as the Brits attempt to push into Caen. In this case, on 26 Jun '44, the Brits have launched another offensive to drive to the city. Initial results are good, but not complete. In one localized area the 6th Royal Scot Fusiliers and the 6th Kings Own Scottish Borderers, with some armor support from the 19th, managed to take St Mauvieu. The Germans attempted a counterattack in the early afternoon, but were pounded by British artillery. Waiting until they could scrape together some more force, they tried again just before evening. In reality, the arty kept them from retaking the town, but they managed to establish positions just outside of it. Our game required the Germans to have control of 3 of 5 (60%) hexes of the town. The Brits had to stop them and inflict losses.

As a note, we played the terrain as we interpreted from the rules. There are some substantial differences between the BN specific terrain in the rules and the final “official” interpretations. This cost the Brits 2 Bren units and 2 ATGs, yet saved some Brit units in a town from a significant unleashing of firepower. In all reality, the change in results would have probably been slightly more German bloodshed to achieve the same overall (but perhaps less specific) result.

A drive by the 6th Kings Own Scottish Borders and 6th Royal Scot Fusiliers, with armor from the 19th, had taken St Mauvieu in the morning. The 6RSF occupied the southern end of the town, and extended a defensive position further south. The 6KOSB did the same on the north end of the town. After successfully repulsing a German attack early in the afternoon, the British had worked to further consolidate their gains, digging positions in and around the town. By morning only a massive effort would drive them out. The rain had picked up and was making work more difficult. At least the rain should slow any further attempt by the Germans to move again on St Mauvieu.

The German tanks rolled eastward through the downpour. Vision was less than optimal, a big help in letting the Germans move towards the town unseen. SS-Standartenführer (Colonel equivalent) Kunze split to the north with half the force, sending the other half south. Of the southern group, part would engage the British while the rest would move around the flank. His northern force would drive against the British right.

The town was now in view, just barely. Even more importantly was what else Kunze spotted. The British were still in some disarray from his previous assault, apparently not expecting another drive so soon. Six Achilles tank destroyers were sitting in the open north of the town. He looked to his PzIVs, who had obviously also sighted them and were maneuvering to engage. Their muzzles flashed, and six Achilles burst into flames. He heard the report of more PzIV cannons to the south, and heard report of Shermans and Brens burning to the south. Things appeared to be going well!

Lt Col Brown heard the shots and saw his armor erupt in flames. The rain was too heavy to see what was shooting, but the Panzers he repulsed earlier had obviously come back. The radio crackled, and he heard one of his forward officers requesting artillery. Explosions ripped the hillside just far enough out of view to see the target. But the radio reports were ecstatic. His Lieutenant reported five out of eight Panzers on fire. [Oops, misread #X result for arty against armor! Shoulda been check at M. This makes up for the two Bren and ATGs mentioned above.]

SS-Standartenführer Kunze was furious. Losing an entire platoon of tanks to artillery just as the attack stepped off! The southern force was no longer strong enough to engage to the front while circling to the flank. This also meant less stress on the British left, so the right would stay stronger. As the axiom of no plan survives contact with the enemy became horribly true, he decided to change the entire strategy. Now he would engage at range, then rush the town.

German armor continued to beat apart British tanks and APCs, while infantry and artillery tried to soften up British soft targets. Responding British artillery kept the Germans from making a concerted advance. The rain began to let up, allowing both sides a more open field of fire. Finally, two platoons of PzIVs on the north began a drive towards the town. German grenadiers started to move to the British right flank. And the last of the 22 British tanks exploded into flames. The remaining three PzIVs on the German right also succumbed to British artillery. [And again misreading X on arty vs armor.]

At this point, Maj Howard, leading the 6KOSB, ordered a counterattack. The PzIVs on the German left were caught unsupported by charging British infantry, and the few remaining Brens tried to flank the German positions. However, what looked to be a master stroke against the advancing German troops turned into disaster. German assault guns caught the Brens, and the charging British infantry was gunned down by desperate German tank gunners. To add insult to injury, German infantry joined the fray against the falling British infantrymen and chewed them to pieces.

Yet still, the clock was ticking, and the Germans had to take the town before nightfall. The 6KOSB counterattack, combined with the movement of 6RSF troops to forward positions, threatened the German timetable. While Kunze felt he needed another 15 to 30 minutes to continue softening the Brits, he knew time was not on his side. He ordered his forces forward out of defensible positions. He, along with SS-Obersturmführer (Lt equivalent) Freidmann, personally led two platoons of Hitler Youth grenadiers around to the British right. British artillery rained down on the advancing Germans. One massive barrage even caught SS-Standartenführer Kunze and company. Freidmann and half the soldiers broke and dove for cover. British infantry of the 6RSF led assaults against combined German tank and infantry forces. British soldiers in the town repositioned themselves to absorb what had to be an upcoming assault. But still the Germans moved on.

Suddenly, realizing time was of the essence, SS-Standartenführer Kunze ordered his infantry to charge the town. Having circumvented the British flank, Kunze noticed the rear areas of the town were devoid of defenders. Braving British fire, Kunze and his platoon broke into the British rear and occupied the northeast edge of the town. Seeing their success, the remainder of the northern group charged the British line defending the town. German troops moved into St Mauvieu, and ferocious close range combat saw a total collapse of the 6KOSB. With the entire north end of the town under German control, the German southern group drove into the British line. The 6RSF, however, was still a force to be reckoned with. Assaulting infantry slowed the Germans, and the three platoons holding the southwest end of the town pulverized German armor and infantry trying to enter the town. Unfortunately, the southeastern part of the town was open, and one force of German armor and infantry slipped through the defenses unengaged and made it into the town, effectively surrounding the defending British.

Lt Col Brown, just outside the German snare, managed to pull together about 75 men of the 6RSF and retreated back to the German lines. With half the 6RSF as casualties, and all remaining positions completely surrounded, the rest of the 6RSF surrendered. The 6KOSB was even worse off. Having suffered 85% casualties, there was effectively no 6KOSB left to surrender. The unit was annihilated. The Germans had control of the town in exchange for eight tanks and some grenadiers. However, there was one sour note to SS-Standartenführer Kunze's victory. SS-Obersturmführer Freidmann had fled the battle the moment Kunze had charged out of their position. Had he known Feidmann's fear at the time, or if he should ever find him again, he would personally execute the coward.

Observations – Nice little scenario forcing the German to attack against a timetable. British side could have set up better, leaving their armor in view for a horrendous hail of AT fire leading to a bloody end. Those tanks would have been very helpful when German infantry started to move up. Without them, little chance the Brits could survive against an aggressive German.

German player would have preferred more time to soften, but the scenario doesn’t allow all that much. Misreading X results on the arty table as destroying armor certainly hurt. BTW, the Brit arty is significant. Really forces the German to choose between a slow covered crawl or a quick and dangerous dash. As the game progressed, fear of friendly fire limited the effectiveness of the Brit arty, and most of it was wasted against near meaningless targets. All that arty takes guts once the forces are in close contact, and the Brit commander just didn’t have that level of intestinal fortitude.

British players also tended to get a bit aggressive. The counterattacks against German tanks certainly slowed the German advance, but bad die rolls combined with follow-up German infantry meant the Brits had little to defend the town with. Of the five town hexes, only one survived on the Brit side. It had three platoons and shrugged off anything the Germans threw at it.

Morale in BN is fascinating. The German morale makes risky moves possible as they can shrug off a lot of morale checks. Of course, rolling two consecutive boxcars for the SS-Obersturmführer and an SS infantry platoon was harsh. Luckily for the German player the preceding roll of 11 for the SS-Standartenführer was against an 11 morale. Meanwhile, the continuously decreasing morale for the Brits means every step/leader loss is a huge gain for the Germans. Eventually British formations collapse, and mere morale checks become deadly.

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