Lieber Himmel ! Ein Liebster!

Lieber Himmel ! Ein Liebster !

(or Achtung! Englander!  ...Aaaargh?)

"Gefreiter!  Zu Befehl, Herr Oberst!
Der OKW haf dezided zat you have earned an award in ze field of battle!
Really, Herr Oberst. Der Eizen Kreuz, Herr Oberst?  Der Ritter Kreuz?
Nein Gefreiter! Der LIEBSTER!"

Slightly awkwardly, Liebster translates as "Lovey or Beloved":

It has (no kidding) German origins – the word “Liebster” has several definitions: dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, welcome, sweetheart and boyfriend (really?)

Joking aside, many thanks to Paul at "Red Dog of War" who nominated my blog. The Liebster Award is a nice way to acknowledge and promote blogs in the blogosphere. In our case, the sharing and promotion of our beliebster miniature worlds of wargaming.

You nominate eleven blogs (usually with less than 200 followers) to answer eleven questions.
Those eleven then nominate another eleven, and so on, like a chain letter, giant pyramid or Ponzi scheme of mutual back patting and shameless blog promotion. Great, innit?

You also get a snazzy "award" logo to stick up on your blog that links back to the person who nominated you. All in good fun!
         
 My answers to the Eleven Questions:

1. Why did you start blogging ?

I have always been reasonably good at writing. I love history, gaming, painting and modeling. I love militaria, photography and aeroplanes, and in fact everything that flies.(Birds included)

Our wargames club (Kapiti Wargames Club) here north of Wellington seemed doomed to suffer an ungraceful death due to a confluence of circumstances. Steps were taken re-organise and to promote our club. One of the decisions we took was to create a club Facebook and Web presence. Several of us undertook to start putting articles together, and next thing I was one of those members writing for the club, and an admin for the blog and FB pages. So I needed to learn how to blog.

Getting a bit embarrassed at blowing my own trumpet on the club page and blog, I  decided to start blogging on my own too: "Trouble in the Border Provinces", was my first blog

At first I blogged on both Fantasy and WW 2 on one blog, but soon realised that not everyone appreciated the mix, and separated the two: So enter: "Wargames Obsession!"

Ok...there is one more: Aircraftnut; about my love for aeroplanes.

Just like painting and gaming, blogging becomes an obsession too...(sigh)

2. If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be?

Commercialism feeding hard core competitiveness and vice versa.

For me there is no fun to play against someone who wants to win at all costs. Competitive I am, but it is all about the fun element for me. Bring your toys and I'll bring mine, we'll agree on a rule-set and have fun.

For me it's NOT:
 " Lets see how we can make you buy more expensive models, as we have dreamed up a new model with some amazing stats that is going to make this model the Wunderwaffen that will make your opponent's list so strong that he will OVERKILL you every time, and if you want to remain competitive you will have to invest in a similarly expensive model, and by the way those expensive models you bought last week, they are now obsolete!"

For a while I bought into the arms race created by the you-know-who's of the analog gaming world, but I am becoming more and more disenchanted as we go along. Hence back to garage hammer and my roots in a way. Brought out the old 20 mm figures, affordable and a history that can not be changed at a whim...
the PzKfw VI Tiger I is NEVER going to become obsolete (well between 1942 and 1945, anyway)

3. What is best in life?
The joy of living. Every day as it comes. I enjoy my work and my hobbies, my family and friends. I am able to afford some of the toys that almost seemed out of reach as a kid.

4. Do you want to live forever? 
No, but some more time for gaming and my other hobbies would be nice. Living long enough to clear that hobby pile of shame (un-built kits) under my work-space would be nice.

5. Fame or Fortune?
Neither. I'd like to fly below the radar. Comfort and recognition maybe. Being an established professional in a relatively small community being known and recognised is not always fun.Sometimes I quite enjoy being invisible in the crowd. I really pity those stars and social climbers who end up having no privacy due to their  fame or fortune. They are welcome to it ! Recognition by my peers does give me a little satisfied glow, be it in the form of a Liebster, a hobby "nice model or paint job"  or professional pat on the back.

6. What miniatures are you most proud of having painted? 
I'm pretty happy with my ever expanding plastic and lead hordes, and how my painting skills (still lacking) have improved over time. If I had to single one out, it would have to be a Fantasy Confrontation (Rackham) Rag'Narok Orc Hero/Lord/Chieftan, which I built a year or so after getting into WHFB and 28mm models for the first time. I think it marks my painting skills turning a corner.

 Since then I have painted several themed armies that I am quite proud of: Empire Talabheim/Talabecland, Daemons of Chaos (Again a Rackham model as a Khorne Lord/Hero) and My GW Nurgle Daemons (Specifically Epidemius and The Drones of Nurgle) and then of course, the only army that has seen formal competition- My Dark Elves!

In 20mm WW2 I'm really chuffed at how I am starting to get uniforms and armour right.
German Erbsenmunster and Eichenmunster and both German and Allied Paratroop Camo would be up there. My K-rad Zug (Italeri) seems to hit the spot with fellow gamers. Achieving a uniform look for my armoured units is also satisfying.

7. How do you deal with burnout?

I keep switching between genres and armies. When I get sick of Warhammer I swop to FoW and vice versa. Building terrain also helps, and also helping my youngest daughter who has recently discovered she can make her own Barbie Doll furniture and accessories. Dad has helped make a spa pool, a lounger etc. Quite proud of her, chip off the old block! Second chip actually, with my 15 year old son taking out a painting prize second year in a row at our club's Golden Griffon painting competition.

I also indulge in my other hobbies,sea fishing, travel, photography and bird-watching, and sometimes help out in my wife's catering business.

8. Why is a raven like a writing desk?
 Corvidae, the Ornithological order that ravens and crows belong to, is one of the few bird orders that can do barrel rolls and loops. If you try really hard you can also do this with your writing desk. Specifically the older types with an inkwell and a top that lifts up. Do try it.

9. Star Wars or Star Trek ? Either, actually, but only the first 3 Star Wars movies and up to Jean Pickard in Star Trek. After that it just seemed they were flogging a dead horse and some of the magic just was not there. Jarjar Binks was funny-bleh!, the special effects good but they killed the story. Hmmm...Jedi Knight, YOU not make. Lets not mention cartooning it.
Like Paul, I also enjoyed Battlestar Galactica. Does anyone remember Space 1999 ?

 10. If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on, which one would it be?
For my current purposes Plastic Soldier Company. They seem to understand the need for affordable, simple and quick to build kits for wargaming with enough detail, and multiple units in each standard pack. A+ for PSC ! If only their website could navigate a bit easier! Also liking Valiant, but a very limited range.

11. What is your favourite takeaway? Fish and chips; closely followed by Chinese from our local Cantonese restaurant. Struggling to find a good curry in Kapiti now-days.

So there ya go. My penny's worth on the questions.

And my eleven blog nominees are:

Mike Creek at Bunkertalk
- blogs on his love for plastic soldiers of all scales, current events and history

Steven Beat at Kitnoob
- 1/72 gaming and modeling

Tim Gow at Megablitz and more
-" Toy soldiers, wagames and modelling madness"

The Hoodling at The Hoodling's Hole
- Warhammer Fantasy Battles

Steve at Bleaseworld
- Wargaming Ancients, Medievals, WW1 and 2, WHFB, 40K and Iron Cow

Sam and Fern at Napalm Elf and Rebel Scum
- WHFB, Warmahordes, FoW, and then some!

Jossy at Plastic krak
- WHFB, current GW gaming news and 40K

Nick Jebson at HMS Distraction
- WHFB, FoW, History and Militaria

Rex Foote at The Dice Odyssey
- WHFB

Thanos at Miniatures and Terrain
- WW2 from a Greek perspective, great hints and tutorials

Will McNally at Will's Wargames Blog
- WW2 1/72 and more. Excellent tournament pics
-

D-Day Landings Part 3: Ouistreham Harbour, Riva Bella Casino and German Observation tower

 D-Day Landings Part 3: Ouistreham Harbour, Riva Bella Casino and German Battery Observation tower

The French Commando Kieffer attempts to liberate Ouistreham

Ouistreham was a town situated just behind Riva Bella on the Normandy coast; close to the mouth of the River Orne and the Caen Canal. The area was strongly defended in 1944. 

Historical background: 177 Frenchmen of the 1st Batallion of Fusiliers Marins Commandos landed there on 6 June 1944. The French under Commandant Kieffer were integrated into the N°4 British Royal Marine Commandos. They were granted the honour to set foot on Normandy soil in the first wave. The Commandos left about forty casualties on the beach and moved inland. Commandant Kieffer was wounded but went on with his troops. 

Troop 1 suffered heavy losses in front of the casino strong-point. They eventually obtained support of a tank of the 13/18th Hussars of the 27th Armoured Brigade. The German blockhouse was neutralized and  Ouistreham was liberated at the end of the morning. The Germans in the Artillery Observation tower next door survived completely surrounded and barricaded in for 3 days before surrendering to a platoon of Royal Engineers. Ouistreham was a small coastal harbour, but none the less useful to the Allies, as it was the gateway to the road to Caen, and the Orne river and canal.

Ouistreham harbour on the morning of 6 June 1944. Defended by a garrison of 716.er Inf. Div Germans, an HMG pillbox, twin 20mm guns on the harbour wall. A Quad Vierling AA gun was provided to protect against air attack. When the Germans saw the allied invasion force on the horizon a HMG on a tripod was also brought up and mounted on the harbour wall outside the harbour master's office and the water tank. The exposed fuel dump was particularly vulnerable to attack.

Our Alternate Battle:

Allied attack goes first. Preliminary bombardment spared the harbour, and concentrated on the Merville battery further up the coast and inland from OPuistreham. The commandos decided to split their forces, and attempt a sea-borne landing and assault on the harbour with half their force, while the balance landed in the second wave on Lion-sur-Mer beach, and attacked the Casino Riva Bella and the Artillery Bunker-tower there. Keiffer commanded that assault himself. The battle is descibed in the preceeding post. 

Unlike the real battle, where Kieffer was only wounded, he was killed outright during the assault, and the Sherman tank reinforcements did not have any significant effect on the entrenched defenders. This had a serious knock-on effect for the Commando commanders, as half their forces were trapped on the beach at Lion-sur-Mer, and could not out-flank the German defenders as they had  planned. 

Wild Cards: Both generals rolled +1 on their reinforcement rolls.

Well before dawn allied bombers and transporters droned overhead, laden with Allied Airborne troops, on their way to the bridges over the Orne river and canal. The commando's huddled against the sea spray in their landing craft. A number of them slipped quietly into their cockleshell canoes, and started paddling towards the harbour, a dark silhoette ahead of them. Searchlights swept back and forth across the harbour approaches. The plan was to capture the harbour and link up with the Paratroopers who were dropping down behind enemy lines.

photo Roly Hermans

A RAF rescue launch dropped a number of the advance party near the harbour entrance. They slipped silently onto the shore under the cover of darkness. The sappers set about cutting through the barbed wire defenses. Then the probing Nazi searchlights found them...

A siren wailed, and simultaneously the German MG gunners opened fire, a sound almost like canvas ripping, but far more deadly: MG 42's firing! The commando's hit the deck in an attempt to make themselves as small as possible. The element of surprise was lost. Even though the Germans had started pinned down, the platoon that had started making the assault was in serious trouble.

Turn 1: The platoons of Commandos that have successfully landed start attacking the pill-box and 20mm gun emplacements. The German defenses are well thought out, and the commandos are caught in a murderous cross-fire. Rank after rank fall to the Heer machine gunners, specifically picking out command platoons with unerring accuracy. (Or shall I say lucky rolls) The commando officers appeared to be particularly suicidal on the day. Commandos do not avail of the British bulldog rule, but can act independent teams. Small consolation. Not a single German unit failed their pinning test, and the Commando forces took heavy casualties. Only a single platoon was left standing by the end of the German 1st round. 

(another Roly photo)

View of the harbour with defenses, the Orne river to the right and the Canal to the left. In the distance a Horsa glider and the Canal bridge, fated eventually to become known for ever as "Pegasus bridge+, after the emblem of the 6th Airborne. German reinforcements are making their way to the harbour at left. Barely visible at the far left is the Merville battery.

Turn 2 and 3 saw wave after wave of commandos in landing craft and canoes land. The second wave was able to get a gammon bomb through the gunner's slit in the pillbox, and silenced it. The link-up with the troops from Lion-sur-Mer did not happen, and the German defenders did not have to defend their flank as well as the frontal assault they now faced.

As a result the second wave was also caught in the cross-fire. Several platoons were able to make it into the open area beyond the harbour wall defenses. To their dismay they walked straight into 3 platoons of infantry hard up against the perimeter wall, thoroughly dug in! With disbelief they saw the 4-barreled antiaircraft level it's 20mm cannons at them. Then they were no more.

As dusk fell, the commando attack petered out. A single canoe made it's way back to the RAF rescue launch. The waves continued to lap up against the shore as the evening tide came in. It was 12 hours since the attack had begun. Not an inch of ground gained.

The German commander walked onto the harbour wall, and looked down on the heaps of khaki clad bodies piled below. "Brave men", he thought, "A full frontal assault! Foolish. Did they not learn anything from Dieppe? " 

The last blog post on this battle, the Airborne landings will follow Mon Petit Generals!

D-Day Landings Part 2: Sword Beach Re-fought: Lion-sur-Mer and Hermanville-sur-Mer

D-Day Landings Part 2: Sword Beach Re-fought: 

Lion-sur-Mer and Hermanville-sur-Mer

La ville d' Lion Sur Mer, Hermanville-sur-Mer farms in the distance.

L to R: Artillery observation tower/bunker, the Riva Bella casino (German HQ)

Dug in 716. Inf.Div Troops, HMG Bunker, HMG Pillbox, LMG dug in

Heer Artiller and Luftwaffe 88mm guns in place.

An uneasy dawn broke over Lion-sur-Mer in Normandy. It is 6 June 1944. English and Americans ships had bombed the area significantly since midnight...

Surely they would not launch an attack in such foul weather. Surely this is just a diversion, as everyone knows their attack will come at the Pas de Calais...

At 0300, the Allied air forces bombarded the German beach defenses for the final time before the amphibious invasion. A few hours later, British warships bombarded German gun batteries and other strong-points along Sword Beach. At daybreak, British destroyers closed in and fired at short range. At 05.10 hours, Royal Air Force aircraft laid a smoke screen to shield the invasion force, but the smokescreen was used by boats of the German 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla to attack, firing 15 torpedoes and scoring one hit, sinking the destroyer Svennert. 

At 05.30, soldiers began embarking landing craft. At 0600, LCA landing craft began sailing for Queen Red and Queen White sectors, joined by waves of various landing craft every few minutes. 

Sword Beach from the Air at low tide

Wildcards: Both teams rolled an extra +1 to reinforcement rolls for armour.

The winner would be the Army that held the objectives (Bella Riva Casino/Observation tower) and Road to Caen.

Turn 1: 

As the landing craft closed, LCT(R) vessels fired a total of 1,064 5-inch rockets, knocking out some beach obstacles, 2 troop units of infantry. Shortly after, at the range of 7,000 yards, self-propelled guns of the UK 3rd Division began to fire from their vessels to knock out beach obstacles. 

At the distance of 5,000 yard to the beach, 40 duplex-drive Sherman tanks of the UK 13th/18th Hussars were launched; historically 31 of them would make it to the beach successfully. By this point, all German guns were firing at the landing craft, and the Allied formation began to break up...

The D-day assault on Sword Beach was in full swing 

First Wave of Allied troops land: 2nd East Yorks Engineers/sappers supported by DD M4 Shermans

Several Higgins boats have already refloated 

DUKWs bring in weapons teams bearing mortars in the 3rd wave.

07.25 hours, the infantry arrived on the beach, which quickly attracted fire from machine guns and other small arms. The UK 2nd East Yorkshire sappers which landed on Queen Red sector, experienced a tough fight as they attempted to dash across an area bombarded by 88-millimeter and 75-millimeter guns inland, while being raked by HMG and LMG machine gun fire. 

The Germans returned fire in their turn, and picked off a surprising number of English command teams. It may be due to the fact that many wore their officer's caps and carried swagger sticks, making them easily identifiable to the German gunners.

Turn 2: 

Shortly behind the initial wave were 24 landing craft carrying British Royal Marine commandos. The commandos landed on the extreme western end of Queen White sector and moved toward the German strong-point at Lion-sur-Mer, which would serve as the link-up between Sword and Juno Beaches. The first target of the commandos was the casino at Riva Bella, which had been turned into a formidable fortress of interlocking bunkers, trenches, wire entanglements, and minefields, and housed the German HQ. 

Leading the attack on Riva Bella was French Captain Phillippe Kieffer, commanding officer of two groups of French commandos attached to the British Royal Marines, thus making this attack a purely French effort. Kieffer attacked Riva Bella at two locations from the rear with small arms, personal anti-tank weapons, and grenades, but the commandos were soon stalled by the German defenses proving to be difficult for Allied weapons to penetrate, with well dug in infantry. (Objective 1)

Kieffer found a duplex-drive Sherman medium tank, and persuaded the tank to assist the assault on Riva Bella. The Sherman tank failed to knocked out the defenses, trapping the commandos on the beach, exposed to a cross-fire between two pill-boxes. (Contrary to the real history)

To the east, British commandos attacked the German gun battery at the mouth of River Orne from the sea, in an attempt as ill-fated as the Dieppe raid. (More about that in a different post.) 

Machine gun nests, tank traps and minefields protected the battery. In the center of the battery was a 56-foot high concrete tower that housed the control and ranging equipment for the coastal guns; though not a defensive structure, German troops made effective use of the tower's height to observe British movements to relay down to the defenders on the ground, meanwhile throwing grenades down at close-by British commandos as opportunities presented.This gun battery, with its concrete tower, would remain in German control for a days to come. (Objective 1)

The German battery at Hermanville-sur-Mer received the co-ordinates for the beaches from the observation tower, but to their dismay found that their shells fell short, and failed to inflict any damage on the enemy.

Only the coastal defense 88mm and 75 mm guns were able to put some Shermans out of action and pin the sappers down. A bitter lesson learnt - make sure your artillery is within striking range of the target!

Heer Artillery: LeFH18 with 20mm Quad Vierling mounted on half-track: The initial landings were out of their range, and they could but idly wait for Allied forces to move to within striking range.

Second Wave: More Sappers and LCTs disgorging  M4 Shermans. These were eventually successful in destroying the pill-boxes, but not the concrete enfilade bunker. A high cost was pain by the sapper units, particularly amongst their officers. Thank goodness for the British Bulldog rule and the good ol' NCOs. Lesser men would have crumbled.

DD Shermans come ashore as more M4s with Firefly VC Command tanks land from LCTs

Turn 3 saw yet more troops land, this time with mortars. The heavy weapons proceeded to rain destruction on the 716.Inf Div troops, who took shelter, and survived the onslaught dug into their trenches. A Typhoon flight took out numbers with their rockets in 2 separate attacks in turn 1 and 3, but were apparently intercepted by the Luftwaffe in turn 2. There was no German aircraft to be seen whatsoever. The Allies had complete air superiority. The huddled troops in the embankments paid the price. But there was no-where to run too. Feldmarschall Rommel's displeasure would be worse than any Tommy's bayonet!

Turn 2 saw Oberst Leutnant Fischer's 21.er Pz Div Stugs arrive. They barrelled down the road towards Lion-sur-Mer, but diverted towards Ouistreham when the radio message was received that the bridges and lock over the Orne River was under attack from Allied airborne and commando troops. 

The defense of the coastal towns was thus left to the gun emplacements and dug in infantry. 

Word had also been received from the east, where it Pz IVs were ready to engage the enemy.  

Photo Roly Hermans

Typhoons unleashing 60 lb rockets on the dug in 716. Inf. Div: 

A payload equal to that of a Lancaster bomber! 

The 21.er Pz Div Stug Abteilung decided to detour to try and counter the Paratroop attack on the Orne river. The commando teams landed to the left were decimated by accurate and sustained Spandau fire from the pillboxes, and failed to reach their objective, despite assistance from the DD Shermans

 

Herr General der Infanterie Division inspecting

 the 21.er Panzer Div. Stug Abteilung as they arrive on the table

More Shermans land as LeFH 18 artillery shells fall harmlessly in the water

All too soon dusk fell, and we had to call and end to the battle. The invasion forces were still firmly trapped on the beach. Mine fields, tank traps and barbed wire had prevented the tanks from making inroads, and the sappers had failed to clear the defenses. 

The Commandos were left leaderless, with Kieffer himself succumbing on the sand. 

Both objectives were still in German hands. Had the battle had continued for more turns the tide would eventually have turned, but in this alternative battle the German forces were the victors.

More photos:

Red Dog of War

Dressing the Lines

Battle Report: Sword Beach D-Day: Luc-Sur-Mer

Battle Report: D-Day Sword Landings Part 1: Luc-Sur-Mer

Dawn broke on the 6th of June 1944. The German lines at Luc-Sur Mer had taken a beating from Allied bombers overnight. One of the multi-story buildings on the waterfront had been all but destroyed, but the Ost Truppen huddled in the trenches and the bunkers remained unscathed.

" Herr Leutnant! Englischer Schiffe!" The junior officer visibly paled when he brought his binoculars to his eyes. As far as he could see the horizon was packed with ships. The next moment naval shells screamed overhead.

 " Es fingt an..." -  It has started, he said. Here's to hoping these Ost Truppen will hold!

Luc-sur-Mer at Dawn 6 June 1944: German occupation troops dug in, 

88mm Bunker and 75mm Tank Turret to theright, at left, Pillbox HMG and LMG, 

rocket launcher battery and Pak 40s in fields beyond

The gamers rolled first for wild cards- the Luc-sur-Mer (LSM) sector of the board rolled improved skills for the Infantry: Went from reluctant trained to confident veteran, a useful roll. Allies rolled for extra armour support (+1 to rolls for armoured reinforcement landing)

Turn 1: The allies went first (as per the real battle): First a preliminary naval bombardment, which took out one of the Flak Vierling AA guns protecting the rocket launcher battery set in the fields beyond LSM.

The landing craft arrived, disgorging sappers on the beach, and calling in a flight of Hawker Typhoons. 3 aircraft made it to the area, and attacked the dug in troops in the trenches facing the beaches. The dug in Ost Truppen (now confident veterans) lost some platoons, but held, ready for the coming onslaught

The first British wave to land: Sappers of the 22nd Dragoons (3rd Inf Div)

Their task to destroy the beach defenses to allow the tanks to move into LSM

Germans returned fire, taking out the lead sapper command group with their machine-gun fire and fire from the trenches. The sappers were unlucky enough to be just within the range of the nebelwerfers, which then proceeded to unleash a hail of death upon them. The survivors of the first wave were pinned down on the beach, and failed to reach the minefields and tank barriers they were attempting to destroy, to allow the masses of tanks in LCTs approaching in the second wave of landings.

The Nebelwerfers dug in near the town's water supply unleash their deadly barrage on the beaches:

Ost Truppen and 88mm AA gun protecting their flank and frontal arc respectively

Turn 2: More sappers land and a flight of Typhoons deliver more death to the German trenches.

Well fortified and dug in, they survive the ordeal, but radio for AA support.

 Where is " Der verdamte Luftwaffe? "

Turn two saw some allied tanks make it to the beach- a unit of DD Sherman tanks. These waded out of the water before opening fire on the German emplacements. A heavy MG nest was taken out by this assault. The second wave of landing craft also deployed more sappers, who hurried up the beach, only to meet the same fate as those landed in the first wave.

These however had learned from their compatriots' misfortune, and stayed out of range of the rocket launchers. A single surviving troop of the first landing made it to the beach defenses, and started preparing the way for the next landing of tanks. The dug in static German Infantry, in trenches and buffed up to confident veterans withstood wave on wave of attack, with minimal casualties.

The Germans brought up a 37 mm AA gun mounted on a half-track to defend the infantry from the incessant harrasment by the RAF, only to find the fiendish pilots changing their flight path to avoid the German shells.

The 21st Panzer Army's Stug IIIs arrived from Caen, and moved towards LSM, to the cheers of the Heer artillery, who found that the clever Tommies stayed well out of reach of both the Nebelwerfers and LeFH18 fieldguns. The ruins of LSM also prevented the 88mm guns from drawing a bead on the tanks on the beach.

To relieved grins the 21. Pz Div started moving down the road towards the beaches. This time Allied Aircraft were intercepted on their way in, and did not arrive at the scene of the battle. More smiles from Herr Oberleutnant Rhyn von Rheenen zu Fischer, commanding the Panzer column:

Turn 3 saw the Allies land several more M4 Shermans from LCTs and also  2 Churchill AVRE bunker busters, as well as a Churchill VII onto LSM Beach.

 They made short shrift of the 88 mm Gun emplacement and the 75 tank turret bunker guarding the beach approaches. Both went up in flames. They also carefully stayed out of reach of the rocket launcher range. The Germans in their turn successfully brought up a platoon of reinforcement PzKfw IVs from the direction of Caen, and went hammer and tongs at double time to try and get to the beach head, but it was a very looooong way from the back of the board !

The deadly bunker-busting AVREs

Turn 4 saw the Allies still on the beach, though the beach defenses at LSM had now broken, all that stood between the allies were the trenches of the Ost Truppen of 716. Infanterie Division. Luckily these held, not withstanding another rocket attack by 2 typhoons, this time from the Lion sur Mer side of the beach, clearly to avoid the 37mm AA gun now parked near the trenches. The Allied commander landed more Shermans, and a unit of Wolverines at LSM, ready for the punch that would take them into the town, and beyond to the rocket launcher unit. All that stood between them and that objective was a thin grey line of dug in troops (in bullet proof cover), 3 PzKfw IVs, 2 Pak 40s, and 5 StuGs, who now seemed to be heading towards Ouistraham and the Orne River bridges.

Allied Armour about to crush the entrenched Germans, bunkers burning fiercely as shells start exploding in the German fortifications...but saved by the end of play. 

The sun set all to soon, with the Allies still on the Beaches, and the objectives still in German hands. Technically a victory for the Germans, as the Allies were still trapped on the beaches. Given another turn or two a totally different outcome may have transpired. Pity we had to vacate the hall. Things were just getting interesting...

Tune in again  for part 2 of our 3-part D-Day landing story: Lion-sur-Mer and Hermanville.

What did Herr General Oberst learn?
1. When you have artillery dug in to attack a beach, make sure that they are within reach !
2. We were limited in setting up our boards and terrain due to net getting access to the hall the previous night. The terrain was not entirely what I had planned or envisaged as a result, but it worked ok. We lost 2-3 hours' playing time, and couldn't finish our game due to the time constraints this causedt. The day went well though, despite all of this.
3. As an exhibition game it went well, giving several newcomers their first taste of wargaming, and for some a first time away from WH 40K:

Visiting 40K playes getting their first taste of FoW

photo: Roly Hermans (nicked off his great blog: Clicky)

Break-through on LSM Beach about to happen, tightly clustered armour from an inexperienced  gamer offering a tempting target for the old hands, also now within range of the Nebelwerfers, and 

3 PzKfw are about to come charging around the corner of the double-story holiday villa at right. 

And then the sun set. Drat!

D-Day at Last: Kapiti Wargames Club Open Day

D-Day: Sword Beach at Kapiti Wargames Club Open Day 2014.

We are barely 3 weeks out from the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings on 6 June 2014.

I have been preparing for several months for a large-scale 20mm Flames of War game. The boards are painted and flocked, most of the troops, armour and planes ready, bar some national markings that got left off. Anyhow we loaded the boards and miniatures and headed off to Paraparaumu. Unfortunalely quite a few of our Generals, experienced and otherwise had to pull out either due to business or family commitments.

Les could only make it for the opening volleys of the game, and had to leave early. Others could not make it at all. Suitable replacements were found, never the less, and a great day of gaming was had by all!

Protagonists at Sword Beach
Allied forces attacking Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches faced

German units of LXXXIV Corps under General der Artillerie Erich Marcks:

                                               716.er Inf Div. Insignia              21.er Pz Div Insignia

• 716th (Static) Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter. At 7,000 troops, the division was significantly understrength, and included Ost Truppen, Soviet PoWs who elected to serve in German Uniform rather than go to PoW camps.
• 736th Infantry Regiment
• 1716th Artillery Regiment
• 21st Panzer Division under Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger: Included 146 tanks and 50 assault guns, plus supporting infantry and artillery.

British and Canadian zones (The latter landed at Colville, ignored for purposes of this game)

Royal Marines Commandos attached to 3rd Infantry Division move inland from Sword Beach, 6 June 1944
Commander, Second Army (Britain and Canada): Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey

Overall, the Second Army contingent consisted of 83,115 men, 61,715 of them British. The nominally British air and naval support units included a large number of personnel from Allied nations, including several RAF squadrons manned almost exclusively by overseas air crew.

                                                     
                                                       3rd Infantry Corps Insignia

• British I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General John Crocker
• British 3rd Infantry Division: Major General Tom Rennie

• British 6th Airborne Division: Major General R.N. Gale
• 79th Armoured Division: Major General Percy Hobart

Facing the landing beaches from the sea: Ouistreham, Lion-sur Mer and farms outside Hermanville-sur-mer in the Distance. The German HQ is situated in the Casino Riva Bella, with the artillery observation tower at left (Allied and German objective) LeFH 18 battery at Hermanville, protected by Flak 38 and Pak 40, Vierling Flak on Halftrack. The road from Hermanville runs down the centre, with the road to Merville leading off the board to the left, Luc -sur-Mer to the right. Heavy MGs on Pillbox and bunker

Luc-sur-Mer, with artillery emplacement (88mm) and 75mm turret bunker (Right), Ost truppen dug in (The weakest link) Heavy MG in pillbox. Road to Lion-sur-Mer and Ouistreham to left, Colville to right.

Nebelwerfer rocket artillery in the fields beyong Luc-sur-Mer (substituting for Wurframen static rockets, as I have none), again supported by an 88 and a 37mm Flak on a halftrack.

Ouistreham harbour and fuel Deport (Objective 2) Protected by Light (bipod) and heavy (Pillbox) MG, 20mm twin AA gun  and Flak Vierling, Ost Truppen of 716 Div.

Rockets at the ready, some Ost Truppen to protect the artillery, and the Luftwaffe half-heartedly manning their 88mm Flak

Heer (Wehrmacht) Artillery. They accounted for more Allied casualties in WW2 than all the Tiger tanks put together. In this case LeFH18 (Light Field Howitzers) 105 mm guns.

The Guns of Merville Battery: Objective 3: 6th Airborne: Parachute brigade

Pegasus Bridge (Orne River): Objective 4: 6th Airborne: Air landing Companies 

22nd Dragoons Sappers (Demolition teams) are the first to land

RAF supplying areal support with Hawker Typhoons. Nick, the Supreme Allied commander rains rockets on the dug in Germans of  716. Infaterie Div.

AVRE Bunker-busters, Hobart's "Funnies" arrive at long last to swiftly clear the defenses at Luc-sur-Mer

LCVPs and DUKWs landing more sappers at Lion-sur-Mer. Unfortunately for them within range of the Nebelwerfers and the heavy machine-guns

Stugs of the 21. Panzerdivision arrive via Hermanville en route to Lion-sur-Mer, and Ouistreham

Yours truly deploying the 21.Pz Division Stug platoon

Sherman wade ashore near the Casino

The second wave of Allied Commanders achieve a break-through at Luc-sur-Mer. The Allies suffered an unusually high rate of casualties amongst both commanders and field officers. 

Supreme Commander Nick urging his generals to increased efforts. He ascribed the high rate of loss of field officers to the Germans being instructed to pick out the British officers.

Hobart's funnies, Shermans and Wolverines pouring from assaulting landing craft and into the gap created by the Dragoon Sappers, but too little, too late ?

Strange how games and history often reflect what actually happened given a well written rule set.
The Allies knew that the Germans would be a hard nut to crack!
Full Batrep to follow...

Generals Repose: Nick and Sam havin' a break at the end of the day