WRG 1925-1950: Race to St. Leger II

After completing the Race to St. Leger scenario as the British, I then swapped sides and had a go as the Germans.

British

Royal Dragoon Guards:
2 troops of 2 x Sherman M4 and 1 x Sherman Firefly VC

Green Howards:
1 company of 3 rifle platoons (each platoon has a PIAT team, and 2 have a 2" mortar)

Germans

352 Fusilier Bn:
1 company of 2 grenadier platoons (1 with 3 squads, the other with 2 - all squads have a single Panzerfaust 30); and 2 x HMG belonging to the Coy

21 Pz Div (detachment):*
3 x PzIVG


*it should by StugIIIFs, but I couldn't find them, so I substituted PzIVGs instead.


I didn't use the Threat Generation System on this occasion, as I am not entirely convinced that as designed, it does brilliantly for generating attackers against a fixed defence.  So I used the following system:


I would roll randomly for each platoon/troop-sized element in the British force.  The first sub-unit so selected would then have another die rolled for it, and this would generate where along the baseline it appeared (the baseline was simply split into 6 evenly sized sectors for this purpose).  If infantry appeared before tanks in a sector or adjacent sector, the tanks would be co-operating with the infantry; if tanks were generated before infantry, the tanks would push on rapidly to try and punch into the Germans' depth.  I thought this would generate some interesting variation and make it impossible to either predict the attack or make the attack so disjointed as to be unviable.


The Battle:

The empty battlefield.

And with the German defenders.  The PzIVx are located by the road (bottom), by the hedge (centre) and by the orchard (right); the infantry is concentrated loosely around the central hedgeline

That was a surprise! The British begin by sending a troop of RDG Shermans towards the orchard on the Germans' right flank.  Since they have turned up first, they will race ahead to try and punch through.  They have found the one spot not really covered by observation!

A wider view

Action!  The PanzerIV knocks out the advancing Sherman

But is itself quickly knocked out by the other tanks in the troop; the German infantry are in a good position to ambush the Firefly with their Panzerfaust...but totally miss at close range!

HE and machinegun fire suppresses then routs/destroys the German squad defending

Another Panzer IV engages...and totally misses!

German infantry observes a British infantry platoon advancing on the other flank

There is an intense exchange of close-range fire; the German Landsers will prove tough enough to suppress the attackers and stop the attack

Sherman tanks from the second RDG troop advance through the centre, supporting the British riflemen

The RDG Shermans neatly dispose of the second Panzer IV (see the appearance of the third plume of smoke!) and proceed to drive into the Germans' depth!

The third Panzer IV opens up and brews up the leading Sherman!  (It is hidden in the hedge, near the right-angle (centre)

I was hoping that this would force a retreat, but British morale is still strong

Return fire from the Firefly knocks out the last Panzer IV!  The road to St Leger is open

Game Notes:
A fun game, and not the less so because my AI system neatly found the weakest point in my defences and ruthlessly exploited it!  My shooting was no better than the Germans in the previous attempt - well done to the RDG for boldness and skill!!

I think my decision to use a different system was justified, not because I think that the TGS is poor, but just because it was designed with a type of game and type of ruleset in mind.  Sometimes war isn't all that omni-directional.  I know that the TGS weights the probability so that more enemies will appear in the frontal arc, but actually the chance of things not appearing in the frontal arc are pretty high too. This seemed a good way of keeping the unpredictability but increasing the focus and concentration of the attack.

No comments about the rules, everything worked fine.

Figures and vehicles by Baccus 6mm and GHQ.