Today’s post is another one of our ongoing Market Garden campaign battles. According to the brief, the Allies had two parachute rifle battalions of the 82nd Airborne Division defending the open polder land north of the town of Wyler, supported by a Guards armored battalion from XXX Corps and off-board artillery. Attacking them, the Germans had three mixed battalions of infantry (the remnants of the forces previously engaged near Wyler), reinforced by the Panzer battalion and the Panzergrenadier battalion of 107. PanzerBrigade (both of which had been weakened in the previous fighting at Mook), and supported by off-board artillery.
To fit the game to our table and only four available players, each historical company was represented by a platoon. We also did not use the weakest of the German infantry battalions and 2/3 of one of the US para battalions — we just assumed they were mutually engaged off table to the south.
Thus the forces used in the game were:
Allies:
US Parachute Rifle Company A (Fearless Veteran):
HQS
Rifle Platoon with two attached LMGs, two bazookas, 60mm mortar
Rifle Platoon with two attached LMGs, two bazookas, 60mm mortar
Anti-tank Platoon with two 57mm ATGs in ambush
US Parachute Rifle Company B (Fearless Veteran):
HQS
Rifle Platoon with two attached LMGs, two bazookas, 60mm mortar
Anti-tank Section with one 57mm ATG in ambush
British Guards Armored Squadron (Confident Veteran):
HQS: Two Sherman 75s
First Platoon: Two Sherman 75s, two Sherman Fireflies
Second Platoon: Two Sherman 75s, two Sherman Fireflies
Third Platoon: Two Sherman 75s, two Sherman Fireflies
Motor Infantry Platoon
Off Board Artillery (Confident Trained):
Three batteries of Sextons (25 pdrs.)
Germans (all rated Confident Trained):
Ersatz FJ Company:
HQS
FJ Infantry Platoon 1
FJ Infantry Platoon 2
FJ Infantry Platoon 3
Heer Training and Replacement Company:
HQS
Infantry Platoon 1
Infantry Platoon 2
Infantry Platoon 3
Recon Patrol of five 20mm armed halftracks
107. PzBde Panzer Company:
HQS: Two Panthers
Platoon 1: Three Panthers
Platoon 2: Three Panthers
Platoon 3: Three PzIV/70 (V)
Platoon 4: Three PzIV/70 (V)
107. PzBde PanzerGrenadier Company:
HQS in halftracks
PzGd. Platoon 1 in halftracks
PzGd. Platoon 2 in halftracks
PzGd. Platoon 3 in halftracks
AA Platoon: Three Triple-15mm armed halftracks
Off Board Artillery:
Two 10.5 cm batteries
One 15.0 cm battery
(Using the Flames of War V.3 books, this was about 4000 points of Germans against 3000 points of Allies.)
Terrain: The terrain was determined by the historical G.S.G.S. map of the area. The playing surface was about 10 X 5 feet, with the long axis running north-south. The northern end of the table was bordered by the impassible Waal River. Most of the table was covered by open polder fields enclosed by numerous wet ditches (the ditches are not depicted on the table — they are just assumed to be there). The polder affected both vehicles and infantry. Vehicles would have to make a difficult cross check in order to move in the polder, and the maximum movement allowance would be six inches. Infantry could use the ditches as bulletproof cover if they moved half or less of their movement allowance while in the polder. A few secondary roads and tracks crossed the polder, which were good going for vehicles. Several dikes crossed the area. Per the G.S.G.S. map, these dikes were about ten feet high, and were only about ten feet wide at the top. Thus vehicles could only move up or down the side of a dike via a road, and movement along the top of a dike was limited to a width of one vehicle. The Erlecom Brickworks industrial complex was located next to the dike along the river (in the game the large brickyard was represented by rubble). The small hamlet of Wercheren was on the Allied baseline. A stream (the northern part of which was impassible) flowed off the southern end of the table between two dikes, and an impassible marsh was in the northeast corner. A tree line along one dike, a few small orchards, and some hedges were the only other terrain.
Objectives: The Germans were ordered to drive through the Allies and keep going toward the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen (about four miles away, through similar terrain). Thus in the game, the Germans would win a major victory if they could capture and control a route to the Allied baseline. A German tactical victory would be capturing the brickworks in the north and a key road intersection in the south; a draw would be capturing only one of these objectives. The Allies want to hold their ground. Both sides also want to cause enemy casualties while limiting their own.
Allied Deployment: A Company, with two para rifle platoons, was deployed dug into the polder fields in front of the brickworks. One platoon of British tanks deployed behind them, using the cover of an orchard and a hedge. B company, with only one para rifle platoon, dug in behind a dike in the southwest corner of the table, in position to cover the objective at the intersection. This platoon was backed up by the British motor infantry platoon dug in behind it. The other British tanks were held off table as reserves — they would enter via the roads from the Allied baseline during Turns 2-4. The Allied artillery forward observer was off table to the south, on top of the Duivelsberg Hill — the highest point in Holland — which was captured in a previous action. This superior vantage point enabled the Allied FO to see anywhere on the table, as well as off the table to the German rear.
German Deployment: The German start line was behind the dike along their table edge, and behind the more forward dike with the tree line on their left. The FJ company deployed on the right, facing the brickworks, and the Heer company deployed on the left, facing the objective at the intersection. The 107. PzBde. could enter from the German baseline on any of five roads. Because of the lack of north-south roads behind the German baseline, arriving via the northern roads would be delayed. The German commanders chose to have their two platoons of PzIV/70 tank destroyers enter on Turn 1 via the two southern roads to support the Heer company, forming a column with the recon halftracks. The Panthers would enter via the two middle roads on Turn 3 to support the FJ. The PzGrenadier Company would also enter via the middle roads, following the Panthers. No forces were allocated to enter via the northern road along the river. The German artillery FO was positioned in a church steeple in the village of Leuth about 1200 yards behind the German baseline. From there, the FO could see almost the entire table; however, 18 inches of dead ground behind each dike could not be observed.
Action Report: On the northern end of the table, the FJ crossed the dike and took cover in the polder ditches. A battery of 15.0 cm artillery ranged in on the ground in front of the brickworks, and the barrage knocked out a Firefly. The Allies pulled their targeted platoon back into the brickworks to get out of the bombardment zone and responded with artillery barrages of their own, which killed a few Germans and pinned them down. This exchange of artillery fire continued with little effect. On Turn 3 the Panthers arrived and lined up along the dike. The surviving Firefly hit two Panthers but they made their armor saves and were only bailed out. The two Sherman 75s shot smoke at the other Panthers to block their return fire. In the German turn, the bailed Panthers remounted and the other Panthers moved from behind the smoke. Their return fire knocked out the Firefly, and the remainder of the British tank platoon, despite being Guards, failed their morale check and withdrew. Fortunately for the Allies, a reserve tank platoon, followed by the two HQS tanks, arrived over the next two turns to give the Allies some ability to counter the Panthers, which were still on top of the dike on the German baseline.
On the southern end, the Heer company moved forward and occupied the crossable portion of the stream that ran between the two dikes, where it began to be harassed by one battery of Allied artillery. The column of recon halftracks and PzIV/70s advanced along the road on top of a dike. While the Germans were advancing, the Allies were able to bring forward another reserve tank platoon, which took up positions behind the hedges near Wercheren. Immediately after the leading German vehicles reached the objective intersection, they were brewed up by the British tanks, losing a PzIV/70 and three halftracks. This blocked the road, although the next PzIV/70 in the column was able to push the wreck off the road and engage the British tanks. At the same time, two more PzIV/70s turned off the road onto the dike that overlooked the US and British infantry position, using their machine guns to help pin the US paratrooper platoon. At the same time, the Heer company “went over the top” of the dike separating them from the Americans, and assaulted. Carnage ensued. The US and British defensive fire shredded the assaulting Germans and forced them back onto the dike, where they had no cover. On the subsequent turn, British tank fire claimed two more PzIV/70s, and US and British small arms fire caused further heavy losses to the Heer infantry, breaking two of the platoons. The final German turn saw the last two PzIV/70s pushing forward, and one of them claimed a Firefly. On the next Allied turn, the other Firefly knocked out two more PzIV/70s while the US paratroopers assaulted and mopped up the remnants of the Heer company. As the final act, two bazooka teams assaulted through an orchard to knock out the last PzIV/70. One lone halftrack at the rear of the column was the sole survivor of this German force.
While the action in the south was raging, the German commander in the north tried to invigorate his attack by committing the PanzerGrenadier company to the battle. However, rather than use their halftracks, they dismounted and entered the table on foot, moving into the polder behind the FJ company. At the same time a Panther platoon moved off the dike along a secondary road toward the brickworks. This platoon was met by concentrated British artillery fire and long range tank fire, and was swiftly eliminated. The German commander then tried to shift his remaining five Panthers along the top of the dike to the south, a move which presented the flanks of the Panthers to the enemy. The British commander seized this opportunity and surged all of his tanks forward to engage the Panthers, while the US paratroops unveiled their ambush of two 57mm antitank guns. The combined fire of the British tanks and US guns wiped out a Panther platoon, and the remaining two Panthers of the HQS platoon were forced to leave the table. With the loss of his last tanks, the German commander sensibly broke off the action and withdrew the FJ and PanzerGrenadier companies.
Result: An overwhelming Allied victory! Against the loss of one squad in each paratroop company, three Fireflies, and one Sherman 75, the Allies completely destroyed a Panzer company and a Heer infantry company, along with a recon patrol and one FJ platoon. In the campaign those lost companies represent entire battalions. The surviving Germans were driven back behind their start line, and would have to continue retreating for another 1200 yards, under continued artillery fire, until reaching the cover of the village of Leuth. We halted the game after nine turns, which represented three hours of campaign time.
-TJ