WWII Campaign in Normandy, Operation Jupiter, July 1944

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Tiptop game Jack!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it, and hope you're enjoying them.

And it's "Daddy, can we have another battle?" 

I should have the next one posted tomorrow evening, need to get the table set for Saturday morning.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

We are now upon the fifth fight in Operation Jupiter, the British assault on The Ridge.  So far the British have successfully evicted the Germans from their initial defensive positions at and around the Chateau de Fontaine, and now the Germans are falling back on their next defensive line at and around the village of Eterville.  Between the Chateau and Eterville, the 4th Company of the 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung Sauer und Krauthammer, commanded by Captain Eireserb and his 2iC Lt Tokapiksee, is manning an outpost line on an unnamed ridge.  It falls to Major Phillips' D Company, with Lt Canham as his 2iC, of the 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG), to clear the path into the village of Eterville.

In real life it's 10 July 1944, and it's 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 130th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division vs remnants of the Panzergrenadier Regiment, 1st SS Panzer Division.  In real life the Brits very quickly overran the ragtag German outpost line, encountering almost no resistance.


British (foreground) taking heavy fire, having a hard time getting off their start line.  The Firefly returns fire on the enemy emplacements on the ridge line.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/02/operation-jupiter-batrep-5-ridge.html

Well, I'm caught up on batreps for now, at least.  Five games in and we're still going strong, having a great time.  I had a little negative look at doing this before I started, with knowing how it would keep me from making progress on campaigns I've already got going, as well as painting (all my spare time is playing and writing these up), but I'm glad I did this, the boy and I are having a great time.

More to come.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Fireflies only had 17 pounder a/tank ammo....

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Otherwise great report!

[bigjackmac]

Sorry, I'd read that the Firefly always had an HE round, even reading that one of the testers (in 1943) 'nearly jumped out of the tank' as apparently the flash and recoil of the HE was even worse than the AP (not that that makes any sense to me).  I'd read they had HE rounds in Normandy, which were up to 75% of the rounds fired there, but they were terrible, and that even when they got an improved HE round (in "Firefly vs Tiger" they called it a HEAT round, though I'm not sure I believe that either) in 1944 it was still inferior to the 75mm's HE performance.

In any case, my 76mm Shermans masquerading as Fireflies have HE rounds.  And they're supposed to be Churchills anyway 

V/R,
Jack

[Ithoriel]

You're right Jack though the HE shell was apparently not very good.

Wikipedia says:

"The 17-pounder's superior anti-tank capabilities notwithstanding, it was regarded as inferior to the regular Sherman's 75mm gun against soft targets such as enemy infantry, buildings and lightly armoured vehicles due to its lack of an effective HE round. As the war in Europe neared its close, the Allies found themselves encountering these more often than heavy German tanks. Allied tank units therefore typically refused to completely switch to Fireflies. A good HE shell only became available in late 1944 and even then was not as potent as the standard Sherman 75 mm HE shell"

However since it was a Churchill, disguised as a Sherman, pretending to be a Firefly I think we can allow a little artistic license :-)

Nice game and good batrep, as ever.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

I lie corrected! Too much flames f war in the past! Sorry.

[Techno]

Super report, Jack !

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks fellas, and no sweat on the HE.

We got one fight in this morning: SPOILER ALERT, the boy got me!

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

No, no, no, no.....NO !

The phrase is....."The boy done good". (sic) 

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

I didn't say he did good, I said he beat me. 

Traitor!   

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

We are now upon the sixth fight in Operation Jupiter, the British assault on The Ridge.  So far the British have successfully evicted the Germans from their initial defensive positions at and around the Chateau de Fontaine, and now are attacking the next German defensive line at and around the village of Eterville.  As the British push to the outskirts of Eterville, it falls to the 1st Company of the 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung Sauer und Krauthammer, commanded by Captain Sorensen and his 2iC Lt Weidthaus.  In the attack we have Major Dillon's A Company, with Lt Cooman as his 2iC, of the 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG).  In the opening attack of Operation Jupiter, Major Dillon's company evicted Captain Sorensen's from the Les Duanes Farm Complex.

In real life it's 10 July 1944, and it's 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 130th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division vs 1st Battalion, 22nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, 10th SS Panzer Division.  In real life the Brits were bombed by their own air force, but quickly regrouped to fight into the center of town, relying heavily on the Churchills and Crocodiles to shoot the place up.


British infantry push forward into the town, looking to close assault a German halftrack, but a nearby Panzer Mark IV react fires, hoping to drive the Tommies back and save his comrades.  The fight in the town devolved into a horrendous melee; to see how it went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/02/operation-jupiter-batrep-6-edge-of-town.html

Well, we got three fights in this past weekend, and they were fantastic.  This is the first of them, two more to come.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nicely done you two

[Techno]

Excellent !

Cheers - Phil.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I'm working on the next one.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

During the initial attack on Eterville, the Brits fought their way into the village, but were stonewalled and forced to fall back after incredibly ferocious hand to hand combat.  However, the ensuing air and artillery barrage and follow-on tank-infantry assault easily brushed aside the few remaining defenders.  This left B Company, under Major Travers and with Lt Rownan as his 2iC, of the 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG), to push the attack through to the next objective, the Chateau de Eterville.  The chateau is defended by the 2nd Company of the 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung Sauer und Krauthammer, commanded by Captain Keipers and his 2iC Lt Teigner.

In real life it's 10 July 1944, and it's A and B Companies of 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 130th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division vs 2nd Battalion, 22nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, 10th SS Panzer Division.  In real life the Brits were able to take the Chateau, capturing the battalion surgeon and aid post for the German 2/22 PzGren Regiment.


Surrounded by pinned and suppressed troops and Bren Carriers, and with a knocked out M4 Sherman, M10 Wolverine, and Bren Carrier nearby, an M10 (bottom left) fires on the German Panther (top center).  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/03/operation-jupiter-batrep-7-chateau-de.html

The boy is in good spirits, having won one of two fights this weekend (so far).  But we played a third, and the rubber match was another knock-down, drag out fight.  I'll post it as soon as I can.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Well played that boy!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Lemmey!

I'm typing.  But I can't maintain this pace; baseball season has started again, and I'll have some business travel soon that's going to screw everything up...

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Great stuff again, Jack !

(At least the PC was a bit faster this morning, so I could finally read it !)

Cheers - Phil