BKC Solo Game of Juno Beach

Started by holdfast, 21 January 2021, 12:32:35 PM

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Big Insect

I like the allotments - very nice idea  :D
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

holdfast

The allotments first saw the light of day for a 1866 Nachod game and have been mega useful thereafter.

holdfast

For the sake of completeness I will bring this solo game to an end. I soldiered on with it but the weather got better and I was redeployed onto the garden, cutting back laurel that hadn't been touched for 25 years. Today was a rest day so I was able to decipher my notes.

holdfast

West.      In the west the Canadians have a mixed tank and infantry group duelling with a PAK 88 and one Sdkfz 222 at the foot of the hill. The German Battn Comd is on the hill with a FOO and two SP arty behind the crest. The second company is mopping up a bunker and the third company is moving up the beach.
The new arrivals get clear of the beach, the bunker is mopped up, and the tank/infantry group advances under cover of smoke. The Germans on the hill fail to inflict any damage on the tank/inf group. The PAK 88 gets 3 hits on the lead Crocodile, all of which are saved. Photo of this moment.
Next move the Canadian FOO calls down fire onto the hill which suppresses the German FOO but misses the PAK 88. In desperation the German battn commander orders the SP arty to advance in order to engage the Canadians with direct fire, but fails his command roll before they can open fire.
Finally the two trailing Canadian companies fail their command roll. Between them they have advanced off the beach and stormed one bunker. The tank infantry group moves into the attack, blinding the PAK with smoke. The lead crocodile is now poised to flame the PAK, when a Command Blunder is rolled which moves the HQ back. The German FOO calls down artillery fire onto the crocodile and suppresses it.
The Germans have just held on here, but the two crocodiles are now so close that the battalion commander will pull out everything he can. The crew of the last PAK 88 will have to abandoned it and withdraw on foot.

holdfast

Centre      All three Canadian infantry companies are fighting into the town. They greatly outnumber the Germans, but the defenders have pulled back. Over the next two moves the defenders manage to eliminate two Canadian squads; the Canadians suffer a command blunder, but they persevere, killing a German MMG and a squad. Finally, the German survivors fail their command roll which is interpreted as a strong hint to surrender. The Canadians were lucky in that the Naval Gunfire at the start took out one strongpoint and the second and third waves to come ashore got up the beach to reinforce the lead company quickly. Photo Town at end.

holdfast

East      The Germans have already lost most of their force here. The remnants have pulled back to the wood; just one company HQ, an FOO and a Sdkfz 222. But the Canadians have no way of knowing that the opposition is so depleted. (Rules rather vague and overgenerous on spotting I feel),
One Canadian infantry company is advancing on its own, the second company has joined in the fight for the town, while the third company is taking its time (failing command rolls) getting off the beach. The Canadians use fire and movement to advance, but the German FOO brings down artillery fire onto the, which eliminates one squad and suppresses the remainder. Photo Arty onto Company.
The Canadians press on, suppressing the cheeky 222. The German FOO gets lucky and brings in more artillery fire, but this drifts and the Canadians aren't even suppressed. They are joined by a single Sherman and with that support they storm the front edge of the wood. The Germans retreat off the board, and the Sherman moves towards the centre to join the tank battle. The lead Canadian company has done well and has achieved its objective with almost no support from the follow-on waves.

holdfast

The Centre Rear; the Reinforcements Battle      At the end of the previous period the Canadian armour, a group of 6 Shermans, was south of the town poised to make an end run down the tree lined road and off the board. A single STUG and a weak infantry company barred the way. However, the armour group only managed to move once and fire, to little effect. The German opportunity fire suppressed a pair of Shermans. The German reinforcement dice roll delivered the goods, just in time. Three Panzer IV rolled onto the board. They were allowed a Command Roll and managed a double 1 to give them two actions. This enabled them to move unseen into the hedge line and open fire. Photo Panzer IV arriving. One Sherman was knocked out, two were suppressed. The Canadian opportunity fire smoked two Panzer IV but the third Panzer IV and the STUG managed more suppression. This left three Shermans suppressed, one burning and two still in the fight. A kindly umpire might have allowed the Shermans to make smoke and pull back a bound, (but the rules don't allow it and it was a rules tutorial, so we soldiered on.)
The next Canadian move had 5 Shermans, three of which were suppressed, in the open, facing three Panzer IV and a STUG, all in cover. The two active Shermans managed to suppress one Panzer IV and a stray 222. Not enough. The German opportunity fire brewed up one of the Shermans. The one active Sherman left then fired at a Panzer and missed. The Canadians removed their suppression and hoped for better times. The Germans started their turn with two Panzers and the STUG active. Their fire suppressed three Shermans. Canadian opportunity fire from the remaining unsuppressed Sherman was ineffective. The Panzers fired again and got enough hits on two of the suppressed Shermans to knock them out. The two surviving Shermans pulled back under smoke to regroup.  They would have to summon the other remaining armour, grip the FOO until artillery support was forthcoming, link up with the infantry and then plan and mount a deliberate attack. All of which would take time.

holdfast

The Losses:
Attackers:
The Canadian tanks suffered most, losing 12 Shermans and one Churchill out of 20 and 4 respectively, so fully 50% losses. The Churchill thicker armour came in handy.
The Canadian infantry lost 9 out of 27 platoons, and 3 out of 6 engineer platoons. Supporting MMG and Mortars were unscathed.
Defenders:
The German garrison of the entire beach front was lost, 9 platoons, 8 out of 9 MMG; one of 3 mortars and all 3 PAK 75. The two PAK 88 were lost, although one crew slipped away.
The German reinforcements fared better. Five infantry platoons turned up and barred the way until the German armour arrived, on a lucky dice roll, just in time.

holdfast

The Verdict:
I think missed chances for Opportunity Fire early on, as I was working my way through the rules.

The reduction in Command Value for units that had used Opportunity or Initiative Fire was not managed scrupulously, and I now understand much better the need to use different coloured markers to keep track of those aspects.

The decision whether to spread one's fire to try to suppress several opponents, or to concentrate it on fewer targets to try to destroy them is tricky.

I think the rules on spotting concealed units are overgenerous, and I will be more generous to the defender if he is in a prepared position. The Allies had a torrid time with concealed units in Normandy.

I now feel more confident about taking on a live opponent, hopefully with a seasoned umpire.

End of BKC Solo Game of Juno Beach

Duke Speedy of Leighton

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2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

Techno II

Sounds great fun.

Cheers - Phil. :)

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

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Lord Kermit of Birkenhead
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Big Insect

Quote from: holdfast on 23 March 2021, 10:05:23 PM
This left three Shermans suppressed, one burning and two still in the fight. A kindly umpire might have allowed the Shermans to make smoke and pull back a bound, (but the rules don't allow it and it was a rules tutorial, so we soldiered on.)

The Shermans can make smoke in as an Initiative action or as an Opportunity action - or had you already used these up?
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Big Insect

24 March 2021, 10:44:04 AM #73 Last Edit: 24 March 2021, 10:46:02 AM by Big Insect
Also - meant to say it is a cracking write up and a super game - well done mate, well done.

The concealment issue is one that dogs a lot of WW2 rules sets - if you are not 'generous' to the attacker (spotter) the game can bog-down and the attacker just gets picked-off by enemy defenders well hidden in cover. If you are too generous then concealment can be meaningless - so it is a fine balance.

NB: I thought your German armoured counter attack being so effective was very realistic - sounds to me like those Sherman crews got overly confident to their own cost!

I notice that some of your Germans fought to the last man in some instances.
I am always a little dubious about this, unless the units are fanatic types (SS) or are in a position where escape is not possible.
One thing you can do to replicate this is calculate the break-point of individual formations (often Commands) in a larger battle - so 50% of on-table units, excluding all command units & recce. Once you hit that level you can either start dicing for them (as per an army break-point) or you can set up specific actions based around dice - e.g. 1-2 they break, 3-4 they withdraw fighting towards baseline 5-6 they stay on fighting.
This sort of approach works well in a campaign situation or in large battles or big multi-player games.

But as stated above - some good learnings for sure and a great way to get to grips with the rules in a structured combined arms way. Nice to see the naval guns playing a part as well  :D
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

holdfast

Thanks for yours Big Insect.
I kept trying to find an excuse for the Germans in the town to surrender but couldn't make one up.
I think I might have diced for each squad once they were fighting fairly much isolated.
Turning to the Shermans popping smoke, they weren't within Initiative range so that wasn't an option. As opportunity, presumably the suppressed Shermans cannot use Opportunity action so I think they were hung out to dry.
As for the German riposte, it was what they were trained to do. The War Diary of 12 SS Panzer lists all the drills they carried out in April and May and the immediate counter attack featured heavily.
And of course the Shermans were on their first outing with unbloodied folk at every level. (Keller, commanding the Canadians, was a Captain in 1942 I think, and of course the Canadian Army was pitifully small at the start of the War so everyone was operating several steps above their comfort zone. As were the Panzers, but they were commanded by some hard bitten ex Eastern Front types.
A good learning exercise. I will now be a rules lawyer.