I set up the next play test of D&B as an attack of German Volksgrenadiers against the US south shoulder at the beginning of the Ardennes Offensive. Unfortunately, my two American players did not make the game, so I had to make a quick adjustment with the forces I had at hand. So, a quick switch up and we had a German counter attack out of the Westwall against the British south of Nijmegen!
The fight would be a straight attack defense game using infantry forces. The British would set up first, anywhere on the table, outside the first 12″ from the east board edge. The objective was to stop a German breakthrough or at least hold a majority of the towns in play. The Germans could deploy anywhere outside of 12″ from a British unit. Alternatively, the Germans could enter from the board edge. This would give the British the key decision of how far forward to defend and position their forces to counter the German moves.
The British forces included two infantry brigades of two battalions each. They would start emplaced, camouflaged and with registered artillery. Each Brigade had one regiment of field artillery in direct support. Starting on turn three, a new regiment would be added to the British every turn, as more of the corps artillery would become available to support the defense.
The German force would include two regiments of Volksgrenadiers. One regiment of two battalions and the other of three battalions. This force was supported by three companies of the divisional AT Battalion. It was also supported by two battalions of field and one battalion of heavy artillery.
The British decided to deploy line abreast with their four battalions and cover the most forward positions on their left flank and midway on their right flank. The plan was to shift one of the two center battalions, once they understood the Germans main point of attack.
The German plan was to feign a wide front attack and then concentrate on their right and center. The deployed their smaller regiment on the right, with larger regiment covering the center and left flank.
The German attack began with all units moving forward to their jump of points, with the smaller regiment jumping on the forward exposed British battalion on their right. These initial attacks ran into heavy British fire and had to fall back, as the Brit player used their command points to pile on the extra fires.
The right flank attacks continued, as the central battalions moved into position and joined the fight. This enabled the Germans to put four of their battalions against two British. The attacks ground forward slowly putting heavy pressure on the British. The other brigade held position for a little too long, but finally started to move forward to help with holding the center. This was supported by the ever growing artillery support landing amongst the Germans forces as they advanced.
The Germans seeing the commitment of the British to the center decided to try to move forward with their flanking left battalion to take on the isolated British holding that front. This proved fool hearty, as the British position was more that strong enough and had not problem throwing back the attack with heavy casualties.
In the center, the British reestablished their positions and were able to grind down the German attack, driving it back. It would take a few hours to rally the those battalions before they could attack again.
The story on the right was looking a bit brighter for the Germans, as the flanking British battalion took horrific casualties and had to pull back quickly. The attacking Germans were worn down themselves, but had enough to move forward. The British were forced to commit their Brigade headquarters elements into the defense to hold on by their teeth.
The game ended after six hours of fighting (six turns), with the weakened British holding a new line a kilometer back from their starting positions. They had only just held off the breakthrough, but still held a majority of the towns. The game ended as a British victory.
I implemented new artillery rules, in addition to the changes from the previous game. This made the artillery effective in the game and better suited to represent their appropriate roll on the tabletop. The early rule made the artillery too weak, as it did not produce the suppression results desired. The overall changes worked as I had hoped, as the defender was able to muster a defense against a superior enemy, making resource allocation being more important than just outnumbering. For the next game, I may need to think about finally going with a large tank fight!
- Manteuffel