The Adventures of Kampfgruppe Klink

[bigjackmac]

All,

Ambush at Abbeville, #7
1200 28 May 1940

Following the fighting in and around Flavion, KG Klink was briefly pulled out of the line to rest, refit, perform maintenance on their weapons, machines, and equipment, and bring in a few replacements.  They were actually parked outside the Dunkirk perimeter when they were called back to action; further south, German forces had forced a crossing on the Somme.  At 0600 27 on May, the Allies counterattacked the German bridgehead, striking the German 57th Infantry Division southwest of Abbeville, in an attempt to reach the encircled Allied troops at Dunkirk.
Unbeknownst to the Germans, the French French 4e DCr (or 4th Division Cuirassee, 4th Armored Division) arrived in the battle area that evening.  The French force, heavily armed with Char B1, Somua S-35, and Hotchkiss light tanks, immediately set about reorganizing, preparing to attack on the morning of 28 May.

But KG Klink moved all through the night in order to reach the battle area. arriving at approximately  0500 on 28 May.  The plan was for KG Klink to counterattack down the Blangy-Abbevile Road, hoping to flank the French 2e DLC (2nd Cavalry Division), maybe even cut all the way across and in behind the British 51st Highland Division, cutting off the British 1st Armored Division.  With that, KG Klink set off, passing through the German 217th Infantry Regiment, launching its attack down the Blangy-Abbeville Road.  KG Klink passed through Villers sur Mareuil, then Huppy, and were moving towards St Maxent en Vimeu, when they encountered trouble near the three (fictional) villages, Dujour, Deture, and Toujour, on the River Bleu.

The first fight saw Colonel Klink lead the 1st Grenadier Platoon, supported by Stugs, in the attack on Dujours.  Repulsed, they were reinforced by the 4th Grenadier Platoon and drove the French force back onto Hill 44.

The second fight saw 1st Lt Tausch, lead his 3rd Grenadier Platoon into the assault on Hill 34.  The attack stalled in several locations, but the Lieutenant's skillful leadership maneuvered his troops until they were able to unhinge the enemy's defensive line.

The third fight saw the Reconnaissance Company Commander, 1Lt Wehner, seize the bridge at Deture after some very heavy street fighting.

The fourth fight saw Colonel Klink go down in a blaze of glory atop Hill 44, the remainder of his Stugs and 1st Grenadier Platoon chewed to pieces, though still able to force the French off the hilltop.

The fifth fight saw Major Schultz, the Kampfgruppe Executive Officer, lead the assault into the French village of Toujour.  The attached panzer platoon was roughly handled, and the infantry didn't fair much better, with Major Schultz wounded while leading a close assault to secure the village.  However, no sooner was the village taken then strong enemy forces appeared, forcing not only the 4th Grenadier Platoon to fall back from Toujour, but also the Reconnaissance Company to abandon the bridge at Deture.

The sixth fight saw Captain Bohm led the better part of his Panzer Company to counter the enemy's armored thrust, and it was chewed up handily.  However they did fight the French armored thrust to a temporary standstill, enough for the remainder of the of the company and the Panzerjaeger Platoon to be brought up.


The overall area of operations, and that stupid north-seeking arrow at top right is incorrect, north is to far left...  The three villages are, from left to right: Dujour, Deture, and Toujour, and the hills are, from left to right: Hill 34, Hill 44, and Hill 54.  The River Bleu runs east-west down the center of the table.

My intent is to play a series of battles on a 6' x 4' layout, using small pieces, maybe 2' x 2' with 10mm troops.  I've gone back to my old standby, Ivan's "5Core Company Command."

The seventh fight sees a second clash of armor, as the Germans seize the initiative and charge the French heavy tanks, which have just finished refueling and rearming just south of Toujour.  The German Panzerjaeger Platoon and 2nd Panzer Platoon (Pz IIIs) are on the attack.


It all comes down to this...

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LHuoKW4XC5k/XUdMLH8JFYI/AAAAAAAAriY/V5VQG9M5_iYUDcGS1alpnujCKS9hVCqDQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7174.JPG[/img]
A cheer goes up from the German Landser atop Hill 44 (of camera to top right) and 34 (off camera to bottom right) at the sight of the Kampfgruppe's remaining Panzers streaming south down the Blangy-Abbeville Road!  Lt Loeb leads his platoon (and Cpl Otjen's vehicle) up the road as Sgt Dittrich's PzJgr Is split left (top left), looking to get into supporting positions atop Hill 44.

Yes, that is all the armor left in KG Klink at this point.


The PzJgrs begin moving up the slope of Hill 44, but they've gotten careless and skylined themselves.  From Toujour (off camera to top right), a Char B1 fires; shocked infantry look on as the French anti-tank round totally wrecks the PzJgr I (center), killing Sgt Taube and his entire crew, whilst pinning Cpl Hamburg's (yellow bead).


The CO (bottom center) looks on as German artillery lays smoke to mask the German approach.


And the panzers are flung across the river...


As the German PzJgr Is, atop Hill 44 (bottom left), fire on the French heavy tanks (top center and top right).

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2019/08/kg-klink-france-game-14.html

The seven-fight operation totals:
Germans: 210 casualties, 3 Stug IIIs, 1 Sdkfz 222, 2 Panzer Is, 4 Panzer IIs, six Panzer IIIs, six Panzer IVs, and one PanzerJaeger I destroyed
French: 215 casualties, 80 POWs, 4 ATGs, 2 FGs, 3 H39s, 2 Somuas, and 3 Char B1s destroyed

Thus ends Kampfgruppe Klink's tour of France, circa 1940.  As always, I'll do a campaign epilogue.  Then the unit will undergo some changes, with promotions, departures, and reorganization, then it's off for a brief stint in Greece in April 1941.

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Super report (as usual !), Jack.

I think that nice Herr Klink should have said..." 'Tis but a scratch", like the Black Night in Monty P and The Holy Grail. 

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Blimey Jack

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

" 'Tis but a scratch", like the Black Night in Monty P and The Holy Grail. 

Can I take it that there is no "k" in the Welsh Language Phil ?  (Night !!!!!)

[Techno]

OOOPS !! 

I must have been humming a certain Deep Purple song when I 'tryped' that.

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks everyone!

Just a flesh wound...

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

Time to get KG Klink back into action! Following their blitzkriegs through Poland and France, they've been up to a whole lot of nothing. They're lost combat action was May of 1940, stemming an Allied counterattack near Abbeville; after that they pulled back to refit, then sat on the perimeter of Dunkirk as the British pulled off one of the most successful (if not the most successful) retrograde actions in the history of warfare. They held fast on the coast for awhile, then moved south for the parade through Paris. After that they prepared for Operation Sealion, but it never came, so mostly they've been sitting on their butts, chasing dames, drinking too much, and getting soft.

But the Kampfgruppe is once again gearing up for war; in October 1940, their Italian Fascist allies invaded Greece and, being Italian, were quickly stymied, and a Greek counterattack in March 1941 was causing some real embarrassment for Il Duce, and thus, the German dictator. So Operation Marita was dreamt up, a German invasion of Greece to bail their Italian cousins out of trouble. KG Klink was tabbed to be a part of that, and so they're on the move, leaving sunny France for frigid Bulgaria, where they will soon be pushing south into Greece, to face British, Australian, and New Zealand troops hoping to stem the tide.

So, I'm doing things a bit different this time: rather than play out my 'normal' string of somewhat linked games in a linear-timeline fashion, this time I'm going to play out a mini-campaign inspired by Peter over at his blog, here:
https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/2019/08/ww2-mini-campaign-begins.html

So, copying Peter's style, I went and made myself up a handy-dandy mini-campaign map:



Here are my German (blue) and Commonwealth (red) 'counters.'

I'm playing solo using Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command, modified a bit.  I've bumped it up a level (using multi-based stands, not individual troops), I simplified fire and melee combat, and morale (5Core concepts, as always), as well as movement (I like dicing for movement, but it significantly slows things down for me).  I changed the CoC Dice so that it represents indirect supporting fires from Higher HQ, and I did away with the Patrol Phase.  I love the Patrol Phase, but it doesn't work for me playing solo, so what I do is designate an attacker and a defender; both sides start completely off table, using their Command Dice to deploy on table (as normal), but where it differs is that I basically give the defender a deployment area of half the table, and he can deploy anywhere in that area, even dug in, so long as it's at least 6" from any attacker.

If you're now wondering, then, why do I still call these rules "Chain of Command," it's because the entire game revolves around the use of Chain of Command's brilliant activation system (command roll/Command Dice), the use of leaders' command initiative, and the 'Force Morale' concept of declining Command Dice and morale to breaking.  To me, that's the heart of the system, and it makes for a fun game.

There's a bunch more data on the forces and the campaign rules I'm using here:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-campaign-plan-for-greece-april.html

And here are the first two campaign moves/turns, leading us up to the first fight of the campaign:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-mini-campaign-in-greece-map_26.html

So stand by, fight number 1 of 10 will be posted Monday.

V/R,
Jack

[paulr]

I'll be watching this with interest

The father of one of our regular group was involved in the campaign

We have fought a similar campaign at a higher level using the Spearhead rules

As I live in Wellington I'll be keeping a close eye on the progress of the "Wellington Company" 19th New Zealand Infantry Battalion

[Techno]

Looking good, Jack ! 

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Love the idea, await results with interest

[bigjackmac]

Thanks fellas, glad you like the concept!

Paul - No kidding!?  That's pretty cool!  But I have some bad news: in this campaign the concept is that they've already seen some heavy action and suffered quite a lot of casualties, so at this point they are a scratch force rear echelon types thrown together as a last resort.  I'm sorry man, that's just what I got out of scenario book; if I'd have known there was a personal connection I'd have made them the most powerful unit in the campaign!  And I can't change it at this point, I've already played all ten games.

If I recall correctly, they're only in one tabletop fight, probably the last one, and they give a decent account of themselves, for what they're up against.  A bit of foreshadowing for the campaign: the Germans win

V/R,
Jack

[Ace of Spades]

Good to see they're moving again.
Looking forward to follow their exploits again!

Cheers,
Rob

[paulr]

No problem Jack, the ANZACs are pretty used to getting the sh*tty end of the stick

[bigjackmac]

Rob -Coming up, right away!

Paul - Indeed!

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

Afternoon, 10 April 1941

Here we are, the inaugural battle of Kampfgruppe Klink's campaign in Greece.  A little background, first: the German invasion of Greece was known as "Operation Marita," and commenced on 6 April 1941, finishing up on 30 April 1941.  Following the Fall of France, KG Klink got to lounge around a bit in the French countryside.  Then, as the seaborne invasion of the United Kingdom (the proposed "Operation Sealion") was contemplated, they got to do some amphibious training and lounge about the French coastline.  As that died down they were given a brief home leave, then set about conducting an intense training program to prepare them for 'something big out east.'  As this was occurring, the Italians decided to up and invade Greece in 1940, and they were roughly handled, suffering greatly during the winter and into the new year, at which point the German High Command decided (was told) they needed to formulate plans to go pull Il Duce's chestnuts out of the fire, hastened by the UK's decision to reinforce Greece with Commonwealth infantry and armor in March 1941.

KG Klink was moved east, first to Romania, then on to Bulgaria, where they sat out the fighting in Yugoslavia.  They also sat out the initial invasion, the breech of the Greek defenses on the Metaxas Line, and then of the Commonwealth defenses at the Aliakmon Line, before being committed.  They fairly cruised along until reaching the area in and around Veroia, at which time they ran into strong, though hastily organized, Commonwealth infantry and armored elements which had re-formed there.  KG Klink's involvement in the Fall of Greece revolves entirely around the operations to break the Commonwealth defenses in and around Veroia, with the objective being the investment of Servia and its key mountain pass.

The first battle sees Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen Battlegroup advancing on a key mountain crossroads manned by members of the British Royal Engineers supported by Armored Cavalry from New Zealand.


Overview, north is left.  The Germans will be entering from the north and attacking south, where the Commonwealth forces will be defending, able to emplace anywhere from their baseline up to the east-west running road.  The road is improved (at least in terms of 1941 Greece), there is a small hamlet consisting of three stone buildings at center, a few patches of trees scattered about, but the dominant terrain feature is the hilltops dotting the countryside (clockwise from left): Hill 189 (left), Hill 234 (top left), Hill 320 (top right), and Hill 415 (bottom right).

I'm playing with very simple terrain so that I can lay it down and scrape it up as quickly as possible, to get in a lot of games as quickly as possible.

I'm playing solo using Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command, modified a bit.  I've bumped it up a level (using multi-based stands, not individual troops), I simplified fire and melee combat, and morale (5Core concepts, as always), as well as movement (I like dicing for movement, but it significantly slows things down for me).  I changed the CoC Dice so that it represents indirect supporting fires from Higher HQ, and I did away with the Patrol Phase.  I love the Patrol Phase, but it doesn't work for me playing solo, so what I do is designate an attacker and a defender; both sides start completely off table, using their Command Dice to deploy on table (as normal), but where it differs is that I basically give the defender a deployment area of half the table, and he can deploy anywhere in that area, even dug in, so long as it's at least 6" from any attacker.

If you're now wondering, then, why do I still call these rules "Chain of Command," it's because the entire game revolves around the use of Chain of Command's brilliant activation system (command roll/Command Dice), the use of leaders' command initiative, and the 'Force Morale' concept of declining Command Dice and morale to breaking.  To me, that's the heart of the system, and it makes for a fun game.


The opposing forces, with Germans on the left and Commonwealth on the right.

Battlegroup Freitag (AKA, 1st Schutzen): consists of the CO stand, two rifle platoons (a Platoon Commander and four rifle squads, each), a weapons platoon (Platoon Commander, two MG-34s, and two 80mm mortars), and a platoon of three Stug-IIIs.

The Commonwealth force: Royal Engineers and New Zealand Cavalry
Commanding Officer: Major Butler, R.E.
Armored Car Platoon from the New Zealand Cavalry (two w/Bren, one with 2-pdr gun)
British Royal Engineer Platoon (Platoon Commander and three Engineer Squads)
Weapons Platoon (Platoon Commander, two Vickers MGs, and two 3" mortars)

I'm playing these games in 10mm using figures from Pendraken and Minifigs UK, roads from Fat Frank, hills from Warzone, buildings from Crescent Root, rivers from Wargamers Terrain, and trees from Gunner at Signifer.


As German infantry move on Hill 415, a spotting round from one of their 8.0cm mortars fall a little short...


Commonwealth defensive positions in the village are under heavy fire from German heavy weapons and now the 2nd Germany infantry platoon is closing on them.


The Germans take the village!


While the Vickers MGs are engaging the Germans coming up Hill 415.


And one of the Stugs is knocked out!

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/03/kg-klink-in-greece-fight-1.html

Next up, Captain Freitag and his men are right back in the thick of it, taking on some Kiwis to take a bridge.

V/R,
Jack

[paulr]

Typical, those bloody poms have no bottle

And where's the RAF when you need them

[pierre the shy]

Fantastic stuff there Jack, as always  

Thought there was going to be a "Rourkes Drift" moment by those Royal Engineers in the central farm for a while, but they chose to head for the hills instead (mind you the Zulu's didn't have Stug III's in support..... )

I see from the completed map on your blog that you are saving the best for last.....the Wellington Company of 19th Battalion at Servia (square E8) are apparently going to be the rearguard?

Look forward to the next 9 games.....Kia Kaha (be strong).

All the best
Peter

 

[Techno]

Excellent, Jack !! 

Cheers - Phil

[Steve J]

Lovely looking game Jack . I shall follow this campaign with interest.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

That's a great report, really well written.
I thought the hill was going to hold after the initial burst!