Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 28th:
Spearhead Division #15 - Dillenberg
When German tankers lose their nerve
Author dricher (India)
Method Face to Face
Victor Britain, India
Participants unknown
Play Date 2014-01-17
Language English
Scenario DeRa039

This scenario was played as a team event by my gaming group. I act as moderator and facilitator for each game, and I do not participate directly as a player. My listing of “winning” is based on the PG HQ site cannot support a neutral role in AARs.

In this scenario the Germans must exit forces and maintain a corridor across the map or destroy four of six British artillery emplacements. The British/Indian force begins dug in along the length of a ridge in a relatively thin line of defense. We played this some time ago, so I can’t recall all the details and will summarize the battle.

The German forces mass against the extreme right flank of the Brits, leaving the strung out line a large distance away from the action. The Germans punch through the thin red line, and their tanks rush up the ridge. British tanks close to near point blank range, and an ineffective tank duel begins. The swirling sands prevent good spotting, and both sides continuously miss each other. There is finally a break in the sandstorm, and the Germans react quicker and blow the British tanks into burning hulks.

The time spent in the tank battle gives the Germans a chance to begin forming a line perpendicular to the British line, but also gives the Indian left and British center troops time to pull from the line and head to the right flank. One lone British 2lb gun creates havoc among the Germans, and the Germans don’t seem to be able to take it out. It forms the British pivot point, and the British and Indian transports work furiously to shuttle troops to the new line.

German tanks advance on the artillery park, and the British choose to send minimal reinforcements to the area. Instead, they advance on the German step-off point where German mortars are protected by a light screen. The German tanks advance on the artillery park, and seem poised to smash the British guns. Then, for some reason, they lose nerve and hesitate. During the hesitation the British advance on the German support location blows through the screen and wrecks the German mortar position. The German commander completely loses nerve and withdraws the attack on the artillery park, gathers his force, and pulls back to leave the British/Indian force victorious.

This was a good scenario, and earns a three. But it didn’t stir folks enough to reach a four status. If the Germans hadn’t lost nerve in the tank attack, or had any amount of supporting infantry to support the tank attack, this could have been a German victory. The German losses would have been significant against 25lb and 18lb guns, but probably would have succeeded. One significant issue with the victory conditions that lowered the possibility of a four rating is the Germans just don’t have enough force to exit the required steps and maintain a corridor unless the Brits leave a gaping hole (which the Brits did do, but the Germans were then too tied down to exit and minimize losses) and are unable to inflict a handful of losses on the Germans (explaining the attack on the support base). Attacking the artillery seems the best bet up front since German losses are immaterial once four guns are destroyed, and British victory conditions seem very soft if the Germans attempt the exit condition.

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