Commemorating the Vimy Battle at EWG

George, reached out to me earlier this year saying he wanted to commemorate the  Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge during the club nights of April. Agreeing it would be a great idea, he was off to the races.

As the dates grew closer & it was becoming crunch time, I got this facebook message from him.

Thing were looking good for the club event! Good thing he is retired!

So for our first of 2 events we had 3 Canadian Players (Julien, Chen & Craig), while Colin & I played the Germans. George ran the game.

The ruleset we would be using is Zero Hour by Gripping Beast. Not the fanciest cover & it was a ruleset none of us have played.

A view from the Canadian side.

And from the German (pretty much a wall of Arty approaching). Time to dive into the deep bunkers!

The Canadians (PPCLI) had 3 company's up & 1 in support. 10 figures represented a platoon.

The movement of the rolling barrage & troops was timed. So it was a flurry of activity for the Canadians to keep up with the barrage. 3 dice were rolled with the highest being the movement of the barrage & platoons.

Overtime the rolling barrage got separated with some arty falling ahead. The wire defences are getting obliterated. At least on the flanks.

With the passing of the barrage, the German forward units emerge from the bunkers & are immediately charged by the approaching Canadians.

Its a death struggle, with 1 of the German platoons succumbing to overwhelming attackers (on the right flank). The centre platoon was holding with the attackers still wading through the wire. The German platoon on the left held & repulsed the attackers. But this was a brief delay.

The rolling barrage continues onto the 2nd line of defence where the concrete bunkers are located.

Meanwhile the Center German unit was about to be destroyed.

The rolling barrage is getting further ahead of the attackers!

Once the rolling barrage hit the 2nd line of defence, the Canadians opted to switch it to a normal barrage to pummel the defences. With the 1st line secured, the advance to meet a new batch of German defenders.

Even though they suffered some heavy losses, the Canadians pressed on & they were able to take the 2nd line of defences.

Checking the clock, we were forced to call the game at this point due to the store closing in half an hour. As was historical, the Canadians had won through. If I recall, the reserve company had yet to be committed. There were another 3 platoons of Germans remaining to hold the red line.

Thanks George for all the work you did for this event. We will get to play again next Wednesday in another part of the Battle of Vimy Ridge!