Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Chain of Command Operation Martlet

Last night at the club, we played the second attempt by the 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers to break past the German screen of Defenders during Operation Martlet.

The Germans were impeded from deploying by Bombardment, whilst the British forces were dealing once again with the Fog.

This time the allies went for a push of jump-off points along the East side of the field, close to what was now a strengthened building. They had a slow start however as initially a lone Senior NCO deployed.

The Germans were able to deploy 2 squads quickly. It then became a race to see who would reach the fortified building first.



The first full squad appears & deploys tactically with overwatch.


German squad making for the building.


The following turn another German squad deployed in the other fortified building.

 The Allies brought a Churchill AVRE onto the table & managed to damage the fortified structure to make it unsafe to remain in.

The British then began moving forward


Where they came under rifle fire from a Grenadier team hidden in the orchard.


 One of the last German units to arrive was the Panzer IV, which after missing the first shot, managed to get a KO onto the Churchill. Sorry for the blurred image. The lighting at the club isn't very good & trying to take photos can be a bit trying without a tripod. Though I could blame the concussion from the blast.


The British did land smoke onto a couple of the German units, blinding them. As they moved around the building, they ran into MG fire which finished the rifle team. At the loss of the Churchill & limited forces, the Scot's withdrew. I did not see the after action report from Dave, so cannot state the actual number of men lost in the skirmish.

The Gunner of the Pzr IV will receive the Iron Cross 2nd class for his service during the past two encounters. 

It's possible that the Royal Scots Fusiliers may have 1 more push in them, before having to hand off to the 7th Duke of Wellington Regiment.
 

2 comments:

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    1. Thanks Michael, the British force had some pretty unlucky dice at important moments. This time around the Germans actually had a couple double phased actions which certainly didn't help.

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