Capturing Caesar's Camp: Action 05 - The Chateau on the Hill

Okay, next action in the TooFatLardies' Capturing Caesar's Camp pint-sized campaign, featuring the 51st Highland Division's counter-attack towards Abbeville in the summer of 1940 to try and stem the German tide...

 

As regular readers will know, the Scottish infantry have previously proven themselves masters of those indispensable elite military skills of  'being lucky' and 'rolling sixes'. Let's see if they can continue to demonstrate this peerless mastery... 

 This is the last action for the Camerons in this campaign, as they attempt to seize the high ground on the Seaforth's flank. Should they succeed, it is very likely that the main attack will be successfull and the German bridgehead at Abbeville will become untenable.

I should apologize for the images here. The sunlight/shadow divide somehow looks a lot starker in these images than it did whilst I was playing. Hopefully it will still be clear enough to follow. 

 The Set-Up: 

This part of the ridge features a chateau. The trees lining the road to the left (top-half of the board) are the top of the ridge, and block LOS completely. The Camerons are approaching from the right.

The Battle:

The Camerons approach - they have been reinforce by an extra section in this one, as well as with a FOO, a Bren carrier and a Vickers MMG.

The Germans ready to ambush them at the junction of hedge and trees! One of the weaker squads, as a result of previous actions.

Very much first blood to the Germans - six Highlanders are felled in the first few moments. The Platoon Commander brings up the Vickers MMG and one of the reserve sections to restore the situation. Meanwhile, the other section goes right flanking (top of the road)

Feeling this is a bit too obvious, and the odds a bit too stacked, the German squad retires to the far side of the road before any fire can take real effect.

And poof! Like spirits, they disappear into the green, leaving the Scots shooting into nothing

After dusting themselves off, the Camerons bring themselves up to the hedgeline, then recommence their attack, going right-flanking (top)

Once they are going, the remainder of the platoon moves up to the other side of the road

This move works out really well though - they catch the Germans in the open, trying to move back forward! They are quickly gunned down.

Meanwhile, the right-flanking section are working their way around the flank...

and run into a German AT gun!!

The Bren carrier is brewed up in short order! The German crew are then eliminated or driven off by the fire of the accompanying infantry at short range though.

The British flanking movement continues towards the chateau. Now because of the light and the terrain, this is hard to spot, but another German squad is around in the centre - they are in a concealed position (good) but the British advance has them pretty much cut-off - they have no possible uncovered escape routes.

As the British infantry probe forward, a German flamethrower team prepares for action (left)

Sometimes the boldest moves just pay off! Covered by th platoon support weapons and reserve section, the lead section rushes the chateau.

Apologies, these Germans are really difficult to spot in the trees and shadows, but they are there - and do open up on the British - without much effect.

A shootout ensues, but not with any great effect.

There is a brief fight with the German flamethrower team. A couple of British casualties are caused (the ATR team).

But rifles and grenades quickly eliminate the Germans.

Feeling the situation isn't going to be restored, the German platoon commander withdraws, as he has spotted the rest of the Camerons moving up to the edge of the treeline opposite.

Game Notes:

Well, this action proved that the Camerons hadn't quite lost their touch, although it was a little touch-and-go. In both of the 'initial' elements of the fight, the Germans actually got the drop on the Highlanders (the ambush on the lead section, and the destruction of the Bren carrier). But where the Germans lost out was in a couple of really dismal activations, one squad being gunned down in the open and another effectively trapped. This meant that the Germans needed to be lucky themselves in activating sufficient troops around the chateau to make that more of a fight, which didn't quite happen. Losses for the British 4 KIA, 6 WIA; losses for the Germans 5 KIA, 13 POW (all the WIA were taken prisoner in this action).

 I think the game might have been improved by two things - firstly Rod's suggestion of an additional element (at least) to guard the support weapons, which would have made a more interesting fight after the Bren Carrier was destroyed - not least because the German squad would have been in a much more useful position than it actually activated in; and secondly, objectives might automatically have an additional activation card chosen for them (this was how the British were able to take the chateau prettyt easily in the end). Nuts! has a better system I think, which I will now use, which makes buildings themselves 'activation points'.

 

As ever, figures by Baccus 6mm, and models by H&R. I 'think' the building is Timecast, but not totally sure. Rules are 'the Farquhar Version', Wargames Rules for Armoured Warfare 1925-1950. 

 

Capturing Caesar's Camp: Action 04 - La Ferme de Caubert

The next action in this TooFatLardies' pint-szied campaign, Capturing Caesar's Camp, features the attempt to capture Caubert's Farm, the jump-off point for a subsequent assault on Mont Caubert. It features the same platoon from B/4/Cameron Highlanders as in the last action...

 

This time the platoon has the support from its trusty FOO and his mortar men, a Vickers team from 1/Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment, a scout car from 1/Lothian & Border Horse, and, most importantly, another French Char B1 bis.

When I played this game, the real weather conditions changed a lot, so some of the lighting/appearance of the game changes quite a lot also. For this, my apologies! Hopefully the narrative can guide you through.

The Set-Up:

The overall battlefield. The Scots are advancing from the South.

 

A slightly closer look at the farm and its environs

Another perspective

The Battle:

The advance begins, two sections up.

Hopefully you can spot the Scout Car advancing through the gap? And then the Germans in the treeline beyond?

A wider view - the other section is working around the right using the cover of the treelines

A better view of the German squad behind the treeline

As the British section moves up to engage - the Germans had gotten the worst of the initial exchange and pulled back - when they see a flamethrower team set up in ambush!

A wider view - note that the French armour support (another Char!) has turned up

The flamethrower team is eliminated, but not before they had destroyed the British platoon's mortar team!

A wider view - note the scout car by the junction (left) and the pulled back German squad can be seen at the second treeline (just!)

Okay, whilst the action is happening on the left flank, maybe the right-hand section can get up to the farm.

The British left section also goes flanking, preceded by the scout car and supported by the Char. It is taking the Vickers MG team with them too.

A wider shot, so you can see the British Pl comd controlling the final section and the platoon support weapons as a base of fire, if needed.

A bunch of Engineers are helping out the German section

Ouch! the right-flanking section walks into a well-concealed German ambush!! (It is well concealed too - you can just make the German squad out at edge of the hedgerow, top)

Okay, the fight by the farm got a bit weird - the British section managed to get close enough to launch their own ambush on the first German squad and eliminate a rifle group and the engineer group. But it turns out there was another squad concealed at the top tree line, in some kind of all around defence. The British have the firepower advantage with that Vickers though.

A few minutes later: about half the Germans are casualties, a few are still in the fight, a few have escaped back into the farm.

The wider perspective

King Kong arrives. Wait, what?

The French tanks have outflanked the Germans and are adding their firepower (top, by crossroads)

Over on the other flank, the British are heavily suppressed by the Germans. Unfortunately for the Germans, this is where they had sited their AT gun though...(right)

Okay, sensing the moment has come, with ony a couple of MG34 teams still holding off the British, the remainder of the British platoon advances a bit (bottom)

The British call in 3" mortar fire onto the farm complex

The British platoon suffers a couple more casualties in the advance, but the Germans have pretty much shot their bolt in the centre; more of their troops have become casaulties as some of the farm buildings are hit (note the fire in the near building)

Some of the reserve section go to help out the isolated British right-hand section

The stalemate has persisted on the othe flank - seeing the game is up, the Germans withdraw

The withdrawal carried out successfully.

The British advance on the farmhouse - all goes very quiet

Game Notes:

A fun and interesting game, although the British seemed to get the upper hand quite early and the Germans were never quite able to wrest any real initiative back. Their deployment against the British Right was in a very dangerous spot, but on the Left they kept on getting outflanked - the position just wasn't that great and probably needed to be held a little further forward...although against a French tank, that probably wasn't going to work either. And then the final German squad was activated in a really annoying place (for the Germans) - they ended up being in a horrible, enfiladed position.  OTOH, a more straightforward British attack up the centre might well have ended in a horrible defeat as they would have ended up in the enfiladed killing zone instead. But with the British superiority in firepower and support, the Germans were always going to struggle here, despite putting up a decent fight. The British lost 2 KIA, 6 WIA, the Germans rather more: 5 KIA, 5 WIA, 6 POW (although half of these were not part of the platoon core, so this platoon is still reasonably operationally effective).

 

As always in this campaign, rules used were Wargames Rules for Armour and Infantry 1925-1950. Most of the infantry was from Baccus, with a smattering of GHQ; the vehicles were from Heroics and Ros. the buildings are from Leven.