Our Campaign of Market Garden

[MartinKnight1333]

We here is brief run down.
D-Day
1st Airborne,
Some drop zones changed all 1st Arirborne dropped in two drops on first day this is key ( we disregarded the Amercian General in charge and did what the R.A.F wanted to do, so we take the ferry and the two bridge, the one that blew was west of Arnhem we will have to repair that one. A few counter attacks put in but beaten off by the paras, the 1st airborne artillery dropped on the island where we have a new Supply zone.
82nd Airborne raced for Nijmegen bridge but part blew, two counter atttacks put in by the Germans (this game played in the USA by military guys) one at Wyler and one at Mook.
101st Airborne
Not much change in the drop zones, and also beat off a counter attack by two battalions of infantry.
XXX Corps
Breakout earlier than history as we had two drops as mentioned, their attack delayed by two hours due to fog in England, the 07:00hrs drop was late at 09:30hrs
D+1
Stronger attacks put in on all airborne all beaten back, XXX corps reach Nijmegen at 18:30hrs, rest and maintain the armour over night.
D+2
Heavy German counter attack by 107th Pz brigade, this was beaten back near Mook, but caused a lot of concern to the 82nd paras.
D+3
Two heavy attacks going in this week, both east of Nijmegen, XXX Corps repairing the bridge, estimate to do so 15-20 hours
One attack on the island aimed at the airborne arty and supply dumps.
German artillery moved forward to put the Hells Highway under interdiction fire.
That is for now guys

[Steve J]

Sounds good and any pics you can share?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sounds like a lot of fun.

[fred.]

Sounds interesting - looks like your Day 1 changes would deal with a lot of the issues with the original plan.

But Nijmegen bridge being blown might just put everything back to the original schedule...

Does your campaign offer attacks from the east of Nijmegen (i.e. from Germany) as the US 82nd deployed a lot of troops to screen against this eventuality. And while during MG there were some attacks from here they were fairly light, I do wonder if these hadn't been repelled then more forces would have been funnelled to here.

[MartinKnight1333]

Sounds interesting - looks like your Day 1 changes would deal with a lot of the issues with the original plan.

But Nijmegen bridge being blown might just put everything back to the original schedule... only one span the railway bridge blew fully

Does your campaign offer attacks from the east of Nijmegen (i.e. from Germany) as the US 82nd deployed a lot of troops to screen against this eventuality. And while during MG there were some attacks from here they were fairly light, I do wonder if these hadn't been repelled then more forces would have been funnelled to here.

........... the germans are using heavier attacks against 82nd Airborne each day more arty is arriving

But it is interesting, we allow planes to take off in fog but land elsewhere if needs be on return, an Air Commodors nightmare. the key was two drops on day 1.

[toxicpixie]

Sounds cracking! Love to see some pics

[MartinKnight1333]

id love to but the error says file too big for upload?

[toxicpixie]

Ah, the site only takes tiny images - otherwise you need to host them somewhere else and then link to them!

[MartinKnight1333]

ttps://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wargaming%3A%20operation%20market%20garden&epa=SEARCH_BOX

see if this works

[MartinKnight1333]

Result of 107th pz bde and infantry assaulting 82nd airborne and guards at Wyler East of Nijmegen.
Martin -- Here is the report from Friday's game.
According to the brief, the Allies had two parachute rifle battalions of the 82nd Airborne Division defending the open polder land north of the town of Wyler, supported by a Guards armored battalion from XXX Corps and off-board artillery. Attacking them, the Germans had three mixed battalions of infantry (the remnants of the forces previously engaged near Wyler), reinforced by the Panzer battalion and the Panzergrenadier battalion of 107. PanzerBrigade, both of which had been weakened in the previous fighting at Mook, and supported by off-board artillery.
Objectives: The Germans were ordered to drive through the Allies and keep going toward the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen (about four miles away, through similar terrain). Thus in the game, the Germans would win a major victory if they could capture and control a route to the Allied baseline. A German tactical victory would be capturing the brickworks in the north and a key road intersection in the south; a draw would be capturing only one of these objectives. The Allies want to hold their ground. Both sides also want to cause enemy casualties while limiting their own.
Allied Deployment: A Company, with two para rifle platoons, was deployed dug into the polder fields in front of the brickworks. One platoon of British tanks deployed behind them, using the cover of an orchard and a hedge. B company, with only one para rifle platoon, dug in behind a dike in the southwest corner of the table, in position to cover the objective at the intersection. This platoon was backed up by the British motor infantry platoon dug in behind it. The other British tanks were held off table as reserves -- they would enter via the roads from the Allied baseline during Turns 2-4. The Allied artillery forward observer was off table to the south, on top of the Duivelsberg Hill -- the highest point in Holland -- which was captured in a previous action. This superior vantage point enabled the Allied FO to see anywhere on the table, as well as off the table to the German rear.
Action Report: On the northern end of the table, the FJ crossed the dike and took cover in the polder ditches. A battery of 15.0 cm artillery ranged in on the ground in front of the brickworks, and the barrage knocked out a Firefly. The Allies pulled their targeted platoon back into the brickworks to get out of the bombardment zone and responded with artillery barrages of their own, which killed a few Germans and pinned them down. This exchange of artillery fire continued with little effect. On Turn 3 the Panthers arrived and lined up along the dike. The surviving Firefly hit two Panthers but they made their armor saves and were only bailed out. The two Sherman 75s shot smoke at the other Panthers to block their return fire. In the German turn, the bailed Panthers remounted and the other Panthers moved from behind the smoke. Their return fire knocked out the Firefly, and the remainder of the British tank platoon, despite being Guards, failed their morale check and withdrew. Fortunately for the Allies, a reserve tank platoon, followed by the two HQS tanks, arrived over the next two turns to give the Allies some ability to counter the Panthers, which were still on top of the dike on the German baseline.
On the southern end, the Heer company moved forward and occupied the crossable portion of the stream that ran between the two dikes, where it began to be harassed by one battery of Allied artillery. The column of recon halftracks and PzIV/70s advanced along the road on top of a dike. While the Germans were advancing, the Allies were able to bring forward another reserve tank platoon, which took up positions behind the hedges near Wercheren. Immediately after the leading German vehicles reached the objective intersection, they were brewed up by the British tanks, losing a PzIV/70 and three halftracks. This blocked the road, although the next PzIV/70 in the column was able to push the wreck off the road and engage the British tanks. At the same time, two more PzIV/70s turned off the road onto the dike that overlooked the US and British infantry position, using their machine guns to help pin the US paratrooper platoon. At the same time, the Heer company "went over the top" of the dike separating them from the Americans, and assaulted. Carnage ensued. The US and British defensive fire shredded the assaulting Germans and forced them back onto the dike, where they had no cover. On the subsequent turn, British tank fire claimed two more PzIV/70s, and US and British small arms fire caused further heavy losses to the Heer infantry, breaking two of the platoons. The final German turn saw the last two PzIV/70s pushing forward, and one of them claimed a Firefly. On the next Allied turn, the other Firefly knocked out two more PzIV/70s while the US paratroopers assaulted and mopped up the remnants of the Heer company. As the final act, two bazooka teams assaulted through an orchard to knock out the last PzIV/70. One lone halftrack at the rear of the column was the sole survivor of this German force.
While the action in the south was raging, the German commander in the north tried to invigorate his attack by committing the PanzerGrenadier company to the battle. However, rather than use their halftracks, they dismounted and entered the table on foot, moving into the polder behind the FJ company. At the same time a Panther platoon moved off the dike along a secondary road toward the brickworks. This platoon was met by concentrated British artillery fire and long range tank fire, and was swiftly eliminated. The German commander then tried to shift his remaining five Panthers along the top of the dike to the south, a move which presented the flanks of the Panthers to the enemy. The British commander seized this opportunity and surged all of his tanks forward to engage the Panthers, while the US paratroops unveiled their ambush of two 57mm antitank guns. The combined fire of the British tanks and US guns wiped out a Panther platoon, and the remaining two Panthers of the HQS platoon were forced to leave the table. With the loss of his last tanks, the German commander sensibly broke off the action and withdrew the FJ and PanzerGrenadier companies.
Result: An overwhelming Allied victory! Against the loss of one squad in each paratroop company, three Fireflies, and one Sherman 75, the Allies completely destroyed a Panzer company and a Heer infantry company, along with a recon patrol and one FJ platoon. In the campaign those lost companies represent entire battalions. The surviving Germans were driven back behind their start line, and would have to continue retreating for another 1200 yards, under continued artillery fire, until reaching the cover of the village of Leuth. We halted the game after nine turns, which represented three hours of campaign time.
In the final analysis, the German armored force was superior in equipment, but was less well trained than the British armored force. The Germans never massed all their panzers into a single effort, and the restricted routes through the polder led to the Germans advancing only their spearheads against the combined units of British armor. This made the leading German tanks easy targets for the few powerful Fireflies in the British force. Once the German tanks were lost, there was no way for the Germans to stop the British tanks from directly reinforcing the defensive positions of the Allied infantry, making them virtually impregnable.

[Steve J]

Sounds an excellent battle but sadly I can't get the Facebook link to work .

[toxicpixie]

Well chaps, keep it up and we'll be eating Xmas dinner in Berlin!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Wow, quite a report

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Good stuff

[MartinKnight1333]

Next Game;

XXX Corps forcing the Nijmegen bridge, orders to link up with 1st Airborne HQ at Elst. 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sounds like XXX Corps is almost being successful!

[MartinKnight1333]

Our Market Garden campaign continued with the Battle for the Road Bridge at Nijmegen.  We had five players in this very large game.  To fit the table and number of players, we scaled the game so that one company in the game represented one battalion in the campaign.

The British brief stated that at 1600 hours on 19 September, 2nd Guards Armored Battalion (The Grenadier Guards), along with 129th (Wessex) Brigade and supported by engineers, would storm the Road Bridge over the Waal River at Nijmegen.  After establishing a bridgehead in the town of Lent on the north side of the river, this force was to continue moving north for another six kilometers, until linking up with 1st Airborne Division at Elst.  Two regiments of SP artillery were in support. The German brief provided a rear area security battalion, the 10th SS recon battalion, and the 9th SS panzer grenadier battalion to defend the bridge and the north bank of the river.  The Germans had been holding this position for three days and would be well dug in.  Two battalions of artillery were on call for support.
Special Terrain Effects:

The Road Bridge was very high above the river and the land below it, and that affected how teams on top of the bridge could be seen by teams below.  Teams under the bridge or within 4" of it could not see the top at all (and exerted no zone of control onto the bridge).  Teams 4-16" from the bridge could only see teams that were in the lane on that side of the bridge.  Teams 16-24" from the bridge could see teams on that side of the bridge as well as teams in the center lane of the bridge.  Teams beyond 24" from the bridge could see any teams on the bridge.  And vice-versa for teams looking down from the bridge.  Also, the sides of the bridge provided cover from incoming direct fire, and ranging-in indirect fire onto the bridge was more difficult.

The ramp coming down from the Road Bridge was very high with very steep sides.  Thus the sides of the ramp were impassible to vehicles -- the ramp could only be exited at the bottom, when it reached ground level.  The high railway embankment is similarly impassible.

The river could be crossed using the engineers' small boats (totaling 26 historically), depicted with five boat models.  Each of the three larger boat models by definition carried a platoon, and the two smaller boat models marked the two ends of the line of boats as they crossed the water.  After reaching the far shore, the infantry would disembark the next turn between the two end boats.  Boat models could move 8 inches on land (carried) and/or on water (paddled).  Boats also drifted one inch downstream for every two inches of movement on the water.

Boats could be shot at by small arms and artillery.  Unsaved small arms hits would be marked with dice placed next to the boats.  Any artillery hits on a boat would hit three infantry teams, and any unsaved hits would be similarly marked with dice.  Upon disembarking, each platoon removed the number of lost teams corresponding to the dice next to their boat.  For every ten teams lost while in the boats, one large boat model would be lost (thus unavailable for future crossings).  Empty boats could move to the south shore with their inherent crews and pick up additional platoons.

The jumping off point for the boat crossing could be any area of the table on the south side of the river that offered concealment from the north side, or from anywhere along the table edge south of the river.  The boats would be carried from the JOP to the river, and then paddled once in the water.  Land and water movement of boats could be combined in a single turn, up to the 8" total allowance.  The British commanders had to secretly designate the location of the JOP after seeing the German set up, and also determine on which turn the crossing would begin.

Objectives:  To win, the British must capture the Road Bridge and cross the river, and then establish a secure bridgehead north of the river, with both tanks and infantry incorporated into the bridgehead.  If possible, the combined British force is to then press on to the north to link up with 1st Airborne at Elst.  Full darkness is at 1940 hours, so there are only 11 game turns to accomplish this.  The German objective is to stop the British.  For both sides, killing the enemy is also desirable, but one's own casualties are less of a consideration -- this is a win at all costs mission.

German Deployment:  The Germans emplaced both of their Security platoons and their three SS PzGd. platoons, along with their HMG nests and 20mm AA nests, in trenches along the top of the dike to guard against a river crossing, with a few teams in each platoon dug in behind the dike.  These platoons stretched nearly the length of the river, with a few small gaps between them.  The Germans cleverly placed two HMG nests under the Road Bridge and one HMG nest under the Rail Bridge where they would be invulnerable to indirect fire.  One SS 75mm PaK40 was placed in the bunker by the dike with a view of the eastern side of the Road Bridge, and the second PaK40 was held in ambush.  The SS Pioneer platoon and the Panzerschrek team were deployed at the bottom end of the ramp, with some teams dug in and others in the nearby houses of the town.  The Security company's PaK38 was placed behind the chicane on the ramp, their mortar platoon was deployed in and behind the Hof van Holland fortification, and their 88 was dug in on top of the rail embankment where it could hit the bridge at long range.  The two PzGd. platoons in the SS recon company were on the road at the rear of the table in their vehicles so they could rapidly deploy.  The tanks and armored cars were off table in delayed reserve and could enter on any roads from the German baseline.  The Germans placed one FO in the church tower, one FO in the bunker on the rail embankment, and the mortar FO on top of the rail embankment.

British Deployment and Plans:  The British deployed one mortar platoon on the road embankment and one on the bridge embankment.  Two HMG platoons deployed in the buildings along the Nijmegen waterfront.  From these locations, the mortars and HMGs could provide fire support for the river crossing, which was planned to jump off from behind the waterfront on Turn 2, in the central sector of the table.  One infantry company waited off table to form the first wave of the crossing, and a second company waited to the left of the first company to form the second wave when the boats returned, further downstream.  The crossing of the bridge was to be led by the three WASP flame carriers of the engineers; their immediate task was to eliminate the Flak nest and the ATG at the other end of the bridge.  Close behind the WASPs would come two tank platoons, followed by the motor platoon, then two more tank platoons.  The third infantry company waited behind the armored column to cross the bridge on foot once it was captured, with their HMG carriers and towed ATGs at the rear of the column waiting to move forward and secure the bridgehead.  The British FOs occupied the tower of the Belvedere and the high tower of St. Stephen's Church, while the FO Shermans waited at the rear of the column to cross the bridge.  Everything was thus in place for a set piece attack in the center.


After Action Report:  The first British turn only consisted of conducting a preliminary bombardment with all guns, on preregistered targets along the dike on both sides of the bridge.  This bombardment killed a few teams and pinned the defenders.  On the German turn, all their platoons unpinned (there was one fewer team in the Security platoon!), and awaited the coming onslaught.

On Turn 2, the bombardment continued as the British attack began.  The WASPs led the armored column across the bridge as a smoke screen landed across the far end of the bridge and over a portion of the dike on either side.  (Smoke screens in the game stretch in a line for 16 inches.  Smoke screens provide cover, and units cannot see more the six inches through smoke.  Each artillery and mortar battery may fire one smoke bombardment per game.)  The smoke screen across the bridge provided some protection for the boats, which came running out of the streets of the city, across the quay, and into the water.  More crucially for the boats, the repeated bombardment left the Germans with more dead along the dike, and two pinned platoons at the point of the crossing.  The German fire at the boats was thus diminished, and thanks to some good saving rolls, the British only lost one team.

Turn 3 saw the WASPs roll through the renewed smokescreen and engage the Flak nest and the PaK38 with their flamethrowers.  The nest succumbed immediately, but the ATG saved the flame hit!  The gun crew then unpinned and in the German turn knocked out one WASP.  This was a serious check to the British plan, because the 2-inch "zone of control" of the gun blocked the passage through the chicane -- nothing could pass through until the gun was eliminated.  Meanwhile, the boats reached the far side of the river.  The smoke screen was extended to cover the dike in front of the boats, which only lost two more passenger teams to German fire.

Turn 4 saw continued British frustration on the bridge.  The remaining two WASPs hit the ATG three more times, and it again made every save (and saves against flame hits require two successful rolls -- the odds of saving four flame hits are less than 4%!).  The ATG in turn KO'd another WASP.  The river assault was going somewhat better.  A Company disembarked and First Platoon successfully assaulted the SS platoon to its left, gaining a foothold in the enemy trench.  Second Platoon passed through a gap between the SS and a Security platoon, and occupied some houses near the dike, and part of the trench.  Third Platoon's assault was repulsed by the defensive fire of the pinned Security platoon, along with the fire of the two HMG nests under the bridge.  Third Platoon was pinned and had to fall back to the water's edge.  The boats started making the return trip across the river to pick up B Company.  On this turn, the smokescreens lifted, and the German 88 on the rail embankment to the west and the Pak40 in the bunker to the east started firing on the bridge.  Fortunately for the British, it took these two powerful guns a few turns to find the range, and no tanks were hit.  German artillery was better aimed, and destroyed a halftrack of the motor platoon on the bridge with all of its passengers.  The Germans got their first unit from reserve and chose to bring in the SdKfz 222 platoon on the far right end of the dike road.

On Turn 5, the British dismounted the remaining teams in the motor platoon, and assaulted the die-hard ATG, finally eliminating it and opening the passage through the chicane.  On the dike, the British infantry continued to expand their enclave, mopping up light opposition in the houses, assaulting and eliminating the Security platoon from the landward side, and pushing down the trench line to the west.  The British had no intention of attacking toward the west, but wanted to get all their teams into hard cover, as German artillery had started to fall on them.  In the German turn, the Germans avenged the fallen gun crew on the bridge by dropping artillery on the dismounted motor platoon, killing half the remaining teams.  The 88 and the 75 continued to miss the massed tank target on the bridge.  To contain the British infantry at the river, the Germans dismounted and brought forward a PzGd. platoon from the recon company, and the SdKfz 222 armored cars sped along the dike road to engage the British left.  The Germans also began to pull the two PzGd. platoons back from the dike on their left, starting the long walk through the orchards to the town.  Both of these platoons had been weakened by the earlier bombardments, and they would suffer more casualties as they got closer to the action.  (The German Security platoon on the far west end of the dike apparently thought they were much safer on that side of the railway embankment, and never joined the battle.)  Lastly, the Germans brought their PzIVs in from reserve and they took up positions in the town, anticipating a move by British tanks down the ramp.

That move did not immediately happen, because the British commander on the bridge spent Turn 6 reorganizing, pulling back the last WASP and the motor platoon survivors and pushing Shermans up to the chicane and both sides of the bridge.  Recognizing that infantry would be required to take the town, the column commander ordered C Company to start crossing the bridge.  Tank fire knocked out the PaK40 bunker, and the 88 was brought under mortar fire but was not knocked out for several turns.  The British infantry on the river also had a slow turn as they brought massed artillery fire onto the newly arrived panzer grenadiers to their front.  This fire rapidly reduced this exposed platoon.  Meanwhile the second wave of infantry had started across the river, shot at by the German HMG nests that were still under the bridges, as well as German artillery, and losing four teams in the crossing.  The German 88 finally started scoring hits on the tanks on the bridge.  The last reserve of two 8-Rads entered the table on top of the rail line, which was an odd place for them to be.  The other German actions continued.

Turn 7 saw the first British push down the ramp.  A smoke screen blocked German fire, and four Shermans assaulted two dug in pioneer teams at the end of the ramp.  One Sherman was bailed by PF fire but the other three carried the position.  In the German turn, the Pak40 in ambush was revealed in the orchard to the east of the ramp, and one PzIV charged through the smoke to get a flank shot on a Sherman.  Only one Sherman at the base of the ramp was bailed, much to the Germans' frustration, but an assault by the rallied SS pioneers pushed back the two operational Shermans and the two bailed tanks were lost.  The pioneers then reoccupied the two houses that controlled the ramp exit.  More British tanks on the bridge were lost to the 88.  There was little progress by the British infantry at the river, as the halftrack mounted panzer grenadiers had moved forward to face them.

Turn 8 saw a fusillade of Sherman fire that resulted in the PzIV platoon being eliminated along with the PaK40 that had ambushed.  Two more Shermans on the bridge were lost to the 88.  C Company and two Sherman HQS tanks moved forward to prepare for the next assault on the town.  A and B Companies exchanged fire with the Germans to their front, and the direct route to the town was uncovered.  British artillery engaged targets of opportunity in and near the town, and German artillery failed to range in on the looming threat on the ramp.

On Turn 9 two C Company platoons moved into assault positions, but a blunder then occurred.  Due to mis-coordination between the two British commanders, the planned smoke bombardment did not arrive.  Thus C Company would have to assault the town without any cover.  The first platoon attempted it, and was riddled by accurate German defensive fire and pinned down.  The second platoon then thought better of it, and did not attack.  This left both platoons massed in the open and a prime target for every German in range.  Both German artillery batteries ranged in, and many small arms hits were attained, and the "poor bloody infantry" were removed by the handful.  The only small ray of sunshine for the British this turn was seeing the 88 finally knocked out by the mortars.  Meanwhile, both the British and Germans were starting to move troops from the fighting by the river to get closer to the fighting in the town.

As the day drew late on Turn 10, the British had no choice but to try again, this time with the smokescreen and the support of the last WASP, but with only half of the original assault troops.  The assault was a success, and the few remaining SS pioneers were eliminated, save for one last HMG.  One tiny British platoon consolidated into the two key houses as the Germans fell back.  However, in the German turn, the panzer grenadiers from the recon company that had moved toward the town during the previous turn were able to assault and retake the houses.

On the final turn, in the gathering darkness, one platoon from A Company and one platoon from B Company finally reached the edge of the town and prepared to assault.  British prep fire was accurate, killing some of the few remaining German teams, and a "Golden BB" rifle shot took out the last German HMG.  Everything was set for a belated British victory at the end of the day.  Then another mis-coordination occurred.  The last three teams of the Guards Motor Platoon in the armored column launched the first assault from the ramp, losing one team on the way in, and damn them, they won!  The Germans were forced to pull back from the two critical houses.  However, that left nobody for the full-sized infantry platoons of A and B Companies to assault, and they were thus unable to make a consolidation move after combat to occupy the objective houses in strength.  (One could just about hear the Wessex soldiers grumbling about the Guards hogging all the glory, and resentfully saying, "Well then let them have it!")  This enabled the last of the hard-core SS recon grenadiers to rally one more time and then smash the last two teams of the motor platoon, retaking the houses at the end of the final turn!

Aftermath:  With the ramp exit still in German control, the British could not fulfill their victory condition of linking up their tanks and infantry on the northern side of the bridge, and thus the game ended with a very hard fought, somewhat lucky, and by-the-slimmest-of-margins German victory! At first light the next day, the British tanks would be able to recross the bridge and get off the ramp.  The British tanks and infantry, along with any reinforcements, then could continue advancing to the north, to eventually link up with the British paras on "The Island" (the land between the Waal and Rijn Rivers).  The success of the next day's fight will depend on what reinforcements each side can commit to the battle, and I don't know what other forces they have, so we will have to see!

[Steve J]

Great AAR of what sounds like a cracking game .

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

That sounds awesome

[MartinKnight1333]

Next battles;
1. XXX Corps joining up with 1st Airborne.
2. 85th ID attacking 101st near Schindel and Veghel to cut the highway.

once XXX Cross a unit into Arnhem campaign ends.