Pete Atack  - May 28, 2007 12:40 am (#18606 Total: 18607)  

Swift & Bold AAR (The Best Laid Plans)

Also posted on BGG and LnL Folder

Initial Survey of the Scenario - The German's have a firepower advantage
(2 STuG IIIs and 1 Marder 1), but poor leadership (only 1 leader); the
terrain looks to give the British some decent terrain to close in on
both the north and south end of the line. 

Setup 

Lord Holmes + 1 plt @ 16N5 and CPT McCloud + the weapons plt @ 16K4
(Vickers, 51mm MTR and a PIAT) are in the south ready to move into the
treeline; SGT Livingston is in the north with 1 plt @ 16C6 to try and
hold the German attention up north and the last plt is in the center @
16F5 to shift north or south as the fight develops. 

The Germans are well balanced with 1 squad and MG in the north (15M1),
center (15E3), and south (15G1)- each backed up by armor. 

GT1 

Under cover of a line of smoke shells (16H1 - 15E1) the Paras move
forward. Moving as fast as possible the weapons plt emplaces along the
heavy wood line and prepares to lay down suppressive fire. In the north
Livingston's men crosses a row of hedges and moves into another position
created by a series of additional hedges. To the south, plans stop
moving as smooth. Sniper and MG fire pins the bulk of Holmes men (16N2)
who quickly go to ground without suffering any losses. The center force,
still undecided where to support, slowly moves forward with one squad
using the smoke cover to close in on a suspected German MG position
(15G1). Anxious, the German infantry are reassured by the sounds of
their armor support repositioning. 

GT2 

Pushing ahead aggressively, several British units come into close
contact. Livingston is quick to commit his entire unit - as his PIAT
team moves up, a suspicious STuG crew backs their vehicle away as the
two remaining squads jump off in an assault. The initial fire pins his
right hand group but allows Livingston and his squad to close in on the
targeted house. As his men close in on the building, the German
assistant gunner quickly taps the right side of the gunner's helmet,
instinctively making the man pivot his weapon to the right. His initial
burst cuts down several men. A more well aimed second burst finishes the
job and quickly ends the melee. 

Lord Holmes advances his own positions in the south unaware of the
northern losses. His first squad quickly steps off into a cultivated
field when several rapid shots drop several of the men. As another shot
fells another Para, Holmes works to get the support weapons into action,
but even as mortar and MG fire batter the suspected sniper position, his
advance squad has ceased to exist. 

GT3 

Determined to break into town another of Holmes squads is able to
assault a pinpointed MG nest and overrun the defenders. In the confused
final moments several of the Landsers are shot fleeing out the back of
the building - including one carrying a scoped rifle. 

GT4 

As the fighting becomes more close ranged and hectic, nervous German
armored crews in the south and center move back from the edge of town as
supporting infantry is stripped away by losses. The northern
cat-and-mouse game continues between a PIAT armed squad and a STuG III
with neither looking to expose themselves, while just 150 meters south a
struggle between 2 Germans (LT Koch and a heroic soldier) and a Para
squad drags on to no end even when Koch is shot and wounded. 

GT5 

Over the constant small arms firing, CPT McCloud finally gets good news
as his RTO makes contact with the HMS Arethusa offshore. Within minutes
a heavy barrage ploughs into the ground around a solitary Marder (15E6)
as it holds sway over movement in the south of town. Through the smoke,
a bright flash and metallic ripping sound confirms the kill. The fight
should move quicker now... 

Still holed up in their initial position, a 10-man squad (15G1 with
MG42) has lost all contact with fellow units. Unsure of their flanks
after watching the nearby STuG pull away, the men simply remain in their
firing positions. Within a few minutes of hearing artillery land to
their southeast, a British squad, the second of the day, moves in to
assault their building. As before, as the attackers close in , the MG42
lashes out. Several grenades are thrown into the common area in the
front of the house to finish any survivors. In the brief lull that
follows, the determined defenders recover a 2d Bren gun from yet another
smashed squad of Paras. 

GT6 

With no leaders in the area, Trooper Chapman takes over. He directs a
half squad to clear several small buildings on the southern edge of town
(15B6) while single-handedly attacking a German strongpoint and killing
it occupants with just grenades and a Thompson SMG. As her surveys the
street outside, he watches a sister squad shoot down 2 stunned
crewmembers from the destroyed Marder before they move off the street
and into another building. 

With shocked curiosity the German squad leader watches as main gun and
MG fire from a STuG tears into the other half of the building that he
thought a fellow squad occupied (15G2). After hearing the British return
fire, he hastily gathers his men, breaks down a barricaded door
adjoining the two sections of the building. Taken by surprise, the Para
squad are all killed at close range by what is rapidly becoming a
veteran combat team. As he reforms his men he curiously looks over the
PIAT launcher lying on the floor, then glances out the window at the
STuG about 100 meters away and wonders how they both missed from this
range. 

GT7 

With losses high on both sides, the fight becomes a stalking match. The
south of the town is largely in British hands while the Germans, on the
strength of the 2 STuGs, barely hold the north. In the shattered center
position a final act of fighting flares as Lord Holmes and a rifle squad
bump into the resident defenders returning to their original positions.
In the hallways of the ravaged building the short exchange of fire and
deadly melee leaves both squads with catastrophic losses. All told,
about 20 German casualties lie alongside the dead and dying bodies of
over 40 British paratroopers. 

GT8 

as the will to continue seems to fade from both sides, the town goes
quiet. The British have captured all the buildings south of the main
road thru town (13 buildings), giving the commanders in the rear a
chance to declare victory even with British losses over 50% of those
committed to the fight. 

NOTES 

German positioning and use of armor was poor. The Marder in the south
never fired due to degrading / blocking terrain and the northern STuG
never tried to flush out the PIAT up north (flip over the PIAT - it's
numbers are pretty terrible compared to other AT weapons) & likewise
never tried to reposition to support the real fight in the south /
center. 

Brit Paras - poor FP, so try and get them close where the Assaulter and
melee bonus take effect. Even when firing with the Bren or Vickers it's
tough to hurt a German squad in a building. 

With just one play in hand, I'd say this scenario is pretty balanced
with a slight edge to the Brits if they can tale advantage of the naval
gunfire support.