Up Against the Wall - 1944 Scenario AAR

The problem with having a lot of figure collections is not being able to use them very often, I try and get round most of the stuff I have at least once a year but my 6mm WW2 has been away too long (April 2016) so it was about time we continued our journey from D-Day to the Assault on the Rhine.

Scale 6mm, Rules Homebrew based on Korp Commander by Bruce Tea Taylor, figure scale approx 1:4.

Based on a scenario from the book White Star Rising, scenarios for Spearhead published in 1997.

A King Tiger waits for its prey on the edge of the village

Historical Background

12th Sept 1944 near Aachen Germany - it's been just three months since the landings and after a slow start it's been a wild ride to get to here but things have been slowing down. Montgomery in Holland and Patton against the Vosges Mountains.

Here in 1st Army sector the going is easier, the plan to punch through the lightly held Siegfried Line and maybe even reach the Rhine, after all the Germans haven't got anything left..... have they ?

The table is 8ft x 6ft and is shown above, you should be able to see all the main features.

Germans set up hidden anywhere to the left (as viewed) of the line of hill, field, hill, field hill on the far right (apologies for adding humour) of the table. Germans set up on numbered counters with 1 blank counter for each real one.

Americans enter the table anywhere along the right table edge.

The Westwall runs along the left hand side of the table.

The game is decided by a points count up after 15 turns.

American Forces

The game will be decided on points you will receive 5pts per town sector held at the end of the game. 2pts for each AFV destroyed and 5pts for any enemy Battalion routed.

Initial Wave consists of 2 Tank Battalions (Morale 5) each with,

BHQ 2 x M4A3E8 Str 5, Recce Company Inf in Jeep Str 3
Gun Co M8HMC Str 3 and a Mortar Company M21 Sgt 3
2 x Tank Companies with 3 x M4A3 Str 5
1 x Tank Companies with 3 x M4A3E8 Str 5
1 x Tank Companies with 3 x M24 Str 5 (Second Battalion has M5s)
Attached 1 Tank Destroyer Company with 3 x M36 Str 4

2 x Armoured Infantry Battalions Morale 5

BHQ in M3 Str5, Recce Company Inf in Jeep Str 3, MMG Coy 3 x MMG in M3
Gun Coy M7 Priest Str 3, Mortar Coy M21 Sgt 3, AT Coy 2 x 57mm AT & Tow Str 5
3 x Inf Companies each with 3 x Inf mounted in M3 Str 6

On table Art 3 Batteries of M7 Priest Str 6

Off table Art, 1 Battery of 8" How Str 6 and 3 Batteries of 105mm How Str 6

Reinforcements

Any remaining assets from a standard US Armoured Division at the time so 1 Tank Battalion, 1 Armoured Infantry Battalion, Recce Battalion, Engineer Battalion, Artillery Battalion (2 Companies left) at a rate of 2 Companies per turn anywhere on the US baseline. Once a Battalion is committed all of its companies must be activated before another Battalion can be selected.

Air Power

Each player rolls 1d20 and any score over 15 will bring a supporting flight of aircraft. Roll a second dice on any success with a 50% chance of receiving a flight of rocket armed Typhoons if not a flight of CAP arrives over the table, they will remain over the table for 6 turns and may perform 1 gun attack on a ground target as they leave.

German Forces

The German player scores 2 points for each enemy Rifle Platoon Killed, 1 point for each Tank Platoon Killed, 10 points for each enemy Battalion routed.

81st Korps Tank Reserve Morale 8
1 Company of 3 x Tiger II tanks Str 4
1 Company of 3 x Jagdpanther Str 4
2 Companies of 3 x Jagdpanzer IV/70 Str 4

48th Volksgrenadier Regt Morale 5

RHQ Str 5 in Horsch Car, Recce Company Inf on Bicycle Sgt 3
Gun Coy 120mm Mortar Sgt 8, Engineer Platoon 3 x Engineer in Sdkfz 10

2 Battalions each with
BHQ Str 4, 81mm Mortar Str 4 and 75mm Infantry Gun Str 6
3 Companies each with 2 x V Gren Str 7

Set up as described above, there is no off table artillery, all German players will receive 1 roll of a d20 per turn with the Luftwaffe turning up on a 20. Roll for type as American.

How did we get on 

This is quite an interesting game with the Germans having all the Gucci toys but the Americans having all the resources. The Germans set their main line of defence down the centre of the table from the large wood in the foreground of the set up shot across the villages using the Armoured resources to form killing grounds in front of the terrain whilst the Infantry waited in Ambush in the cover.

Tigers spotted

The American Players, uncertain of the location began their attack with two main lines of attack. One against the hill nearest the camera on the set up shot, commanded by myself. My plan was to push forward in the centre with my tanks whilst rushing my APC borne Infantry round the wood to flank the hill, leaving my M36 Tank Destroyers on the hill behind on Overwatch. Let's call this the Left Column.

Left Column Advance

The second column pushed forward around the hill and woods in the centre of the American lines, the Infantry heading for the wood, the Tanks for the two section village. I will call this the Right Column.

Both columns came under heavy fire as soon as they broke cover, the Left by a Company of Tiger II, the Left by some Jagdpanthers on a hill and the JpzIV in the village.

Casualties were as expected quite heavy, especially on the right where the Americans were caught in the open as shown in the above. However the main German Armour had been located, it just needed the Air Force to turn up.

German AA waiting .........and waiting 

The problem was it didn't turn up enough and when it did it was CAP and not Ground Attack ! But that's the dice for you. The Luftwaffe wisely didn't turn up at all, it wouldn't have got anywhere anyway as there was around 20 Spitfires over the table waiting for something to chew up.

The American Infantry on the left got into the woods in strength driving out the Volks Grenadiers who had been holding out in there, this allowed them to start turning the flank of the Tigers. On the other side of the table the Americans had brought on their ACAV battalion and scores of Jeeps Greyhounds and M5s started to pour down the right flank.

The game ended after a couple of our evening sessions and all that was left to do was add up the points.

German Losses

6 Tiger II, 6 Jagdpanzer IV, 3 x Recce, 3 x 75mm Infantry Guns and 9 Infantry

24 points to the Americans for 12 AFV kills.

American Losses

Right Flank
15th Tank Battalion 2 x Recce, 27 M4A3, 15 M4A3E8, 9 M24
613 Tank Destroyer Btn 9 x M36 Jackson
9th Armoured Infantry 3 x 57mm AT Guns and 3 Infantry
86th Armoured Cavalry 1 x M5 and 33 M8 and 2 Infantry

Left Flank
69th Tank Battalion 14 x M4A3, 16 M4A3E8
40th Armoured Infantry 2 x Recce and 12 Infantry

17 points to the Germans for 15 Tank Platoon losses and 1 Infantry loss.

A good scenario, the Germans get to shoot loads of stuff but the Americans have the upper edge in numbers. Next up in our WW2 6mm games will be a Market Garden game whilst on the table we have the next instalment of our Op Compass Campaign.

"Onward to the Rhine" A WW2 Scenario Sept 44

A Rearguard Action Somewhere North of the Seine

A Company of Panther Tanks advance cautiously through a French village.

It's that time of year again for a crack at our continuing sequence of games following the action across Western Europe from D-Day to the end of the war. Last time we recreated the closing of the Falaise gap and not surprisingly, although it was a close run thing, the Allies came away victorious.

Historical Background 

Although the Normandy breakout is complete many units of the German Army are making their way East and when the terrain allows or a good Commander sees an opportunity an ad hoc defensive line forms and where possible precious reinforcements are thrown into the front line. Kampfgruppes and composite units must try to hold off an Armoured Division with Infantry support.

Allied Armour advances across fields.

Game Map & Set up 

The game is played on a 12 ft x 6ft table, using 6 mm miniatures. We use a home brew set of rules based on the old Korps Kommander rule set. Each model represents approx 4 vehicles or pieces of equipment and each base of Infantry is around 50 men.

The Allied forces enter on the bottom edge of the table, German Forces Set Up anywhere on the top two thirds of the table. Germans should begin hidden, we use counters for each unit with a blank counter for every two real counters.

The Thick Crust method

The objectives are straight forward, the Allies need to break through the German lines and race for the table edge, the Germans need to stop them. The game should last long enough for the Allies to have a realistic chance of reaching the edge of the table so that depends on your rules, I would go for 2 x the number of turns it takes a Standard tank to reach one end of the length of the table to the other.

The Allies Orbat

Moving on table from move 1.

29th South Alberta Recon Regt (Morale 6)

BHQ - 1 x Cromwell Str 4                              Recce Co - 3 x Stuart V Str 3

3 x Coys of 3 x Cromwell Str 4                      1 Coy of 3 x Challenger TD Str 3

14th Canadian Hussars (Morale 6)

BHQ - HQ in Humber SC Str 4                       Recce Co - Recce Inf in Bren Carrier Str 6

A/T Co - 3 x 6pdr (Carrier tow) Str 3              Mortar Co - 3" Mortar (Carrier) Str 6

4 A/C Recce Coys - 3 x Humber A/C Str 4     1 Inf Coy of 3 x Infantry in M3 1/2 track Str 6

2 x Inf Coys of 3 x Infantry in Carrier Str 4

25pdrs in action.

2 x Infantry Battalions each with (Morale 6)

BHQ - HQ in Lorry Str 4                                  A/T Co 6pdr with Carrier tow Str 4

Recce Coy - Recce Inf in Carrier Str 6             Mortar Coy - 3" Mortar in Carrier Str 6

Engineer Coy - Engineer in Truck Str 4           4 Inf Coys each with 2 x Inf Str 6

2 Battalions of Royal Army Transport Corps each with

8 x Lorry Str 6

Attached 3 x 25pdr Str 8

Note The Infantry Battalions are from an Infantry Division and therefore would not have their own transport but use the RATC units, for the whole of the game their are only two battalions worth of transport. Any units which arrive as reinforcements must share the transport.

Taxi anyone.

Reinforcements

Once the Allies have moved all their initial forces on table they will be eligible for fresh troops. The first unit will be an armoured btn from then on draw randomly from an Armoured or an Infantry Battalion. There is an Armoured Division and an Infantry Division allocated for the attack so there are 4 Tank Battalions (1 additional Guards Btn with Churchill's, Morale 8) and 7 Infantry Battalions available. If you have full Divisions (as we have) you may consider adding further units (Artillery / Armoured Inf / Tank Destroyer etc) into the reinforcement pool. After the first unit arrives a fresh unit will arrive every 3 turns.

Firefly's go.

Tank Battalion Orbat (Inf as above)

BHQ - Sherman V x 4                                         1 Recce Coy of 3 x Stuart V Str 3

1 x Recce Coy of 3 x Humber SC Str 3               AA Coy of 2 x Crusader AA Str 3

3 Coys each of 4 x Sherman V Str 4                    1 Coy of  3 x Firefly Str 4


Note For ease of game play with our rules the Firefly's have been placed in their own separate Coy. For the Guards Btn just substitute all the tanks for Churchill's. All reinforcements arrive at the bottom of the map.

Airpower

Each turn roll 1 d20 on a roll of 15-20 the Allies will receive air support, roll 1 d6. A 1 or 2 and receive a CAP patrol of 6 x Spitfires on 3-6 12 x Typhoons armed with rockets.

A rare site (in our game) Typhoons in flight.

The German Orbat

On table from turn 1 they should be allowed free deployment with no command radius restrictions.

Panzer Kampfgruppe (Morale 8)

BHQ - 2 x Panther Str 4                                           1 x Recce Coy - Panther Str 5


AA Coy Wirblewind Str 3                                        Engineer Coy - Eng in Sdkfz 250 Str 5

2 x Coys of 3 Panthers Str 4                                     2 x Coys of PzIVH Str 4

Independent Stug Battalion (Morale 7)

BHQ 2 x Stug IIIG Str 5                                            AA Coy Sdkfz 7/2 Str 3

Recce Coy - Recce Inf on M/C Str 3                         Engineer Coy - Engineer in Truck Str 3

3 Coys of 2 x Stug IIIG Str 4                                     1 Coy of 2 x Stug IIIG(105H) Str 4

2 x Infantry Battalions each with (Morale 5)

BHQ - HQ in Staff Car Str 3                                      Recce Coy - Recce Inf on bicycle Str 3

Mortar Coy - 120mm Mortar in truck Str 4               Inf Gun Coy - 75mm IG Str 6

3 Infantry Coys with 2 x Inf Str 7

German Recce has a cheeky look

Panzer Grenadier Kampfgruppe (Morale 8)

BHQ - HQ in Sdkfz 251 Str 4                                     Mortar Co - Sdkfz 251/2 Str 6

AA Coy - Sdkfz 7/2 Str 3                                            A/T Coy - Pak 40 (Ost tow) Str 6

MG Coy - MMG in Truck Str 9                                  2 Coys of 2 x Pz Gren in Sdkfz 251 Str 6

2 Coys of 2 x PzGren in truck Str6.

German Reinforcements (Morale 8)

The Germans will receive a reinforcement from their pool the turn after the Allies receive a fresh unit. All German troops will arrive on one of the two roads at the top of the map. While the Allies receive units in Battalions the Germans are down to companies. Our pool which we drew from random was,


1 Coy 3 x Tiger II Str 3, 2 Coys Tiger I Str 3, 2 Coys of Hetzer Str 4, 1 Art Btn of 3 x 105mm Art Str 6, 3 Coys of 2 x Inf Str 6 in Trucks.

Tigers are here

German Airpower

Roll 1 d20 in the air phase and Germans receive an air unit on a roll of 19 or 20. 1 to 3 it will be a CAP unit 4 to 6 ground attack.

To everyone's surprise it's The Luftwaffe  !

How did we get on.

The Germans had a couple of options in their game plan, the cheap Aldi Pie defence (thick crust with no filling) or the Morrison's Pie (thin crust with a meaty filling). For none UK readers Aldi are a cheap supermarket, Morrison's a bit more upmarket and from Yarkshire. The Aldi option was chosen and the front line consisted of most of the good stuff with very little behind it.

The basic German Infantry have no transport so they were placed in the rear two villages or Festungs as we called them. Fortunately for the Germans the Allies moved on across the fields and where easily picked off by the German armour which had lined the hill over looking the fields, two armoured battalions were sacrificed trying to get across the fields but with hull down Panthers vs advancing Shermans there was only going to be one winner.

More thick crust

The Royal Air Force where the big let down of the day, statistically they should have been over the table every 4 turns however they only turned up once in the game. The Luftwaffe put them to shame turning up twice, once for a ground attack and once on a CAP mission.

The Hussars pushed forward on their right towards the foremost village, this side of the table was held by the STUG battalion and the Allies made steady progress reaching the edge of the village away from the prying eyes of the Panthers. Once the Allies got their 25pdr Batteries in action they started to whittle down the German defences but the heavy losses early in the game had dented the confidence of the Allied Commanders and they called off their attack.

This was much to the relief of the German players who must have had excellent poker faces. The thick crust had held but only just, there wasn't much left and the front line was just about to fold in the centre and there was nothing much to stop a race for the far table edge, just a couple of static Infantry Battalions who could easily be driven around.

More Shermans about to be Panthered

The Germans did get a Company of Tiger I on the table but they only just made it to the front line when the Allies capitulated.

With Project Jutland on the go it seems to be all Naval at YG for the moment however we have had a nice break with this game and next on the table with be our 28mm ECW collection for a crack at the First Battle of Newbury.

The Allied advance towards a Festung 

Falaise Gap - August 1944 - AAR

A 6mm Game Report

A Recce Panther defending a BUA

This is a game report, the background to which can be found HERE in the Scenario post.

The Canadian attacking force decided to split their forces more or less down the middle, each commander taking a Tank Battalion, an Infantry Battalion, an Armoured Car Recon Squadron and a Tank Destroyer Company. It was decided that the 25pdr Battery would set up about 12" onto the table which would then allow it to hit the river area within its effective range of 75".

Defending the river line

The Germans had been given a hidden set up so they had a mdf counter for each company along with an equal number of blank counters, so initially they had no figures on the table. As I was playing the Canadians I got a real sense of the problems a ground commander has, not knowing what was in the next terrain feature. However in this scenario time is of the essence, trying to get to the retreating column before it escapes, so you can't hang around navel gazing for too long.

Game Map (North is at the top of the page)

The Canadians rolled onto the table and after a couple of turns getting on the board and organising they were off towards the German Front Line, the first resistance came in the southern BUA and on the hillside to the West, a company of Infantry and a company of Stugs held the ridge line and the remainder of the Infantry battalion was in the village.

Drive down the road and get shot up, the life of a Recce Man

Against a full battalion of over 50 Shermans, 10 Stugs were never going to win but that wasn't their task, the hill held up the advance of the Western task force, the village was a different matter. Apart from a company of Shermans who got a little close (panzerfausts hurt at close range) the village was mostly ignored. The Canadians used blitzkrieg tactics on the Germans, dropped a company of infantry off to keep an eye on the village and lobbed a few 25 pdr rounds in every now and again. With no transport the German Infantry wasn't really going anywhere.

The Eastern Flank came across very little resistance and was making good progress towards the river line, whilst on the other flank with the hill cleared further heavy resistance was found in the woods behind with the remaining Stugs and another battalion of Infantry putting up a strong fight which often ended in fierce hand to hand combat.

Clearing woods is a messy business

Whilst all this was going on the column of retreating Germans were making their way to the exit point and the relative safety of being outside the Falaise pocket. First off the table were the trucks and half tracks full of Generals, mistresses and Champagne, leaving the rest of the troops trudging along behind on foot.

The Normandy and District Art Treasure Removal Company in full flight

The Conga of Retreat

On the eastern flank things were going swimmingly, that was until 2 companies of hidden Panzer IVs opened up on the advancing Shermans. Now the smaller number of PzIV were never going to win but should have held up the Shermans quite a bit. Not when the curse of the dice hit ! Steve controlling that sector of Germans throwing 3 d10 per company (needing high) rarely got the three to add up to 10 whilst the Shermans in return rarely got less than 8 on a dice. That and the 17pdrs on the Fireflys and Archers.

17pdr Archer love

It was around the same time that the western flank won their more messy battle in the woods and both flanks made towards the river line hoping to find a ford and praying that they wouldn't have to fight over the single bridge into the town.

Typhoon !!!

The allies had stored up a bit of air power by this point and in a bid to gain time (by this point the conga of retreat was edging towards the table exit) the Typhoons made a number of attacks / recon runs on hidden targets. Our rules allow an aircraft to attack a terrain feature containing a hidden "unit", the aircraft must use its primary attack (rockets or bombs) on one hidden counter. If its blank you lose the attack dropping your bombs onto an empty terrain feature, you then get a gun strafe on another target within 5" of the primary. Each attack reveals the counters contents, so its a great way to recon but it quickly uses up your air power and means you have to fight toe to toe with Panthers rather than peppering them with rockets.

It don't look very deep here Sarge

The action around the town and bridge was getting quite bloody with heavy armour casualties on both sides when on the same turn the game changed dramatically, recce units were working their way down the river trying to find a Ford. A couple of searches had been negative then suddenly two crossings were located one to the east of the town and one to the west. A Recon run from a Typhoon cleared the way through the terrain on the western edge, the Recon Units and a Company of Shermans poured through the crossing and onwards through the gap in the line and they were three turns from the Conga of Retreat and the end of the game.

Breakout

In reflection it was a good balanced game, the Canadians have a good numerical advantage but you have to take risks to push on towards the final objective, the Germans are limited to mostly static defence but have a number of strong units and the advantage of being hidden. The uncertainty of where the fords are, if there are any, adds a random element to the game and was the turning point in our game. I think without the Fords it would have been a hard slog to get through the town and out of the other side to catch the retreating troops. Hopefully some of you might give the game a go, in which case I'd love to hear how you get on.

We had a WW2 Naval Game last weekend and X Wing on Wednesday so plenty more to write about soon.

German Armour in the town my favourite photo of the game

WW2 - Falaise Gap Scenario - August 1944

A 6mm WW2 Divisional Game

Panthers hidden in a wood, just what the Allied Commander doesn't want to see

Back to the gaming table for this post and a scenario post for some late war Normandy action in 6mm which is ongoing at the moment here at Yarkshire Gamer. One of my more crazy periods in that I possess 11 Divisions of stuff for this era, all at a scale of roughly 1:4, that's a lot of stuff. We haven't gamed this period for about 5 years and I thought it was about time to blow the dust off another collection of figs and get them back on the table again.

We started a linked set of games a long while ago starting with the landings in France in June 44 and after 10 or so games we are up to the Falaise Gap period. The battle was the decisive engagement which ended the Normandy Campaign. A pocket was formed around the area of Falaise and Argentan, in which the  the 7th Army and the 5 Panzer Army (formerly Panzergruppe West) were encircled by the Allies. The battle we are about to fight represents the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain in order for vast numbers of exhausted troops to escape. The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Army Group B and opened the way to Paris and the German border for the Allied armies.

Allied Tanks cautiously move up through a ruined village

Whilst XV Corps attempted to close the gap to the south the Canadians and Polish troops attempted to close the gap from the north. The game will concentrate on the role of the Canadian 4th Armoured.

The scenario is straight forward, the Germans put together a number of small Kampfgruppe from the last of the combat ready troops in the pocket, these need to desperately hold the advancing Canadians off for long enough for the remaining retreating men can escape to German lines.

Rules - We use a modified version of Korps Kommander by Bruce Rea-Taylor, they are very old now but ones we as a group are happy with. We have upped the basic manoeuvre element to the company, each model represents 3 to 5 actual vehicles so a 4 model Sherman Company represents 16 tanks. We have also changed the distances from cms to inches so max range for tank guns is 30 inches. Finally we have added a "chit" based order system similar to Johnny Reb.

The Map

Table is 12 x 6, this is my first attempt at a computer map and it doesn't look half bad if I do say so myself. I have used a program called Mapping Board which is quite easy to pick up, I haven't worked out textured backgrounds yet but it will come. I think the terrain features speak for themselves, dark green with dark red a boarder are hills, the hedged areas represent fields, grey blocks buildings and the stony areas are broken ground. You have North at the bottom of the map.

Canadian players move on from the Northern edge in any order from Turn 1.

German players may set up anywhere south of there front line, on turn 3 the column of stragglers starts to enter the table on the road on the top right hand corner of the table, the game ends when the last unit exits the table on the opposite edge.

I have done the orbats in the Korp Kommander format, if you want to convert them to you own rules each strength point roughly equals 1 vehicle or weapon or 10 men. So a tank company of 4 x Str 4 = 16 tanks and 2 x Str 6 for infantry would be 120 men. Because everything is company based similar troop types are put together in a separate unit to make firing etc easier, some units are moved up the command tree and grouped together. The most obvious one is the Fireflys.

Canadian Orbat (Morale 6 or regular)

21st Governor General Guards Tank Regt

HQ 1 x Sherman V Str 4
AA Company 2 x Str 3 Crusader AA
1st Recce Company 3 x Stuart V Str 3
2nd Recce Company 3 x Humber SC Str 3
A Company 4 x Sherman V Str 4
B Company 4 x Sherman V Str 4
C Company 4 x Sherman V Str 4
D Company 3 x Firefly Str 4

28th British Columbia Tank Regt

As above except change 2nd Recce Company to 3 x Humber AC Str 3

Lake Superior Motor Regt

HQ 1 x Str 4 HQ mounted in M3 1/2 Track
Anti Tank Co 1 x Str 6 6pdr with Bren Carrier Tow
Mortar Co 1 x Str 6 3" Mortar with Bren Carrier
A Company 3 x Str 7 Infantry mounted in M3 1/2 Track
B Company 3 x Str 7 Infantry mounted in M3 1/2 Track
C Company 3 x Str 6 Infantry mounted in Bren Carriers

Leyland and Welland Infantry Regt

1 x HQ Str 4 in M3 1/2 track
Anti Tank Co 1 x Str 6 6pdr with Bren Carrier Tow
Mortar Co 1 x Str 6 3" Mortar in Bren Carrier
Recce Co 1 x Str 6 Inf in Bren Carrier
A Company 2 x Str 6 Inf in Truck
B Company 2 x Str 6 Inf in Truck
C Company 2 x Str 6 Inf in Truck
D Company 2 x Str 6 Inf in Truck

15th Royal Canadian Field Artillery Regt

3 x Str 8 25pdr Battery with Tractor Tow.

12th Manitoba Dragoons (Armoured Car Regt) Part, Aand B Squadrons (each with)

3 x Damiler AC Str 4
3 x Damiler SC Str 4
1 x AEC III Str 4

5th Canadian A/T Regt (part)

3 x Str 4 Achilies
3 x Str 4 Archer

Air Power - Canadians gain 4 points for each German combat base killed and 2 for each straggler base, they can trade 10 pts in for a flight of 6 rocket armed Typhoons.

German Orbat (Morale 7 or Veteran, except Infantry which are Grade 5)

Composite Panzer Battalion

HQ 2 x Str 5 Panther
Recce Co 1 x Str 5 Panther
AA Company 1 x Wirbelwind
Engineer Company 1 x Str 5 Engineer in Sdkfz 251
A Company 3 x Str 4 Panther
B Company 3 x Str 4 Panther
C Company 3 x Str 4 Panzer IVH
D Company 3 x Str 4 Panzer IVH

Assault Gun Kampgruppe

HQ 1 x Stug IIIG Str 5
A Company 2 x Stug IIIG Str 5
B Company 2 x Stug IIIG Str 5

Panzer Grenadier Composite Battalion

HQ 1 x Str 4 HQ in Sdkfz 251
AA Company 1 x Str 4 Sdkfz 7/2
Mortar Company 1 x Str 6 Sdkfz 251/2 and 1 x Str 3 120mm Mortar in Sdkfz 251
Anti Tank Company 1 x Sdkfz 251/9 Str 9
MMG Company 1 x Str 9 MMG in Sdkfz 251
A Company 2 x Str 7 Panzer Gren in Sdkfz 251
B Company 2 x Str 7 Panzer Gren in Sdkfz 251
C Company 2 x Str 7 Panzer Gren in Sdkfz 251

Composite Infantry Battalion

Battalion HQ 1 x Str 5 HQ in Staff Car
Recce Company 1 x Str 3 Infantry on bicycle
Mortar Company 1 x Str 8 120mm Mortar, no transport
A Company 2 x Str 7 Infantry
B Company 2 x Str 7 Infantry
C Company 2 x Str 7 Infantry

Stragglers

8 x Misc Transport bases carrying looted art works, champagne and mistresses
25 bases of Infantry stragglers on foot

The transport may not return for the stragglers, the art work is more important ! Stragglers move at 4" per turn even when on the road.

A decent sized game which should take us a couple of weeks of relaxed game time to get through, AAR to follow.