MACE 2015: Battlegroup

Another MACE has come and gone.  This year, I hosted two Battlegroup games set in Normandy during Operation Bluecoat (late July through early August, 1944).  Since I had played a larger version of the scenario before (see AAR here) and had four players for each of the day’s games, I simply played GM and had a mighty fine time doing so.

First up, we had three new BG players and one very experienced player.  While all had gaming experience in general (and plenty dealing with WW II tactical games in particular), one was completely new to table top historical style gaming.  Good news – she (an 11-year old young lady) was interested in learning some history and about the game.  She and a close friend of mine (yeah, my bff) took the British attackers, while the others took command of the defending Germans.

The Germans deployed their forces, consisting of an Armored Panzergrenadier platoon, a PaK 40 AT gun and a StuG III battery, across the 4’ width of the board.  The PaK, deployed with an Ambush Fire order, went in the center of the village to deny the British access to the single road.  The German 120mm off table mortar battery pre-registered the road in support of the PaK 40.

The British opted to concentrate their attack on the German left, throwing in all three Sherman troops and the Motorized Infantry platoon.  (Admittedly, the formation looked a bit Flames of War-ish in its close, near phalanx-like formation.J )

Disaster struck early for the Brits when the Germans drew a “minefield” chit from the bag and blasted a hard charging Firefly for the first casualties of the day.  Shortly afterward, with the British forces massing together behind the protection of bocage and a small wood, more casualties were inflicted when the infantry, now

unloaded, advanced into the killing zone of the pre-registered artillery.  Three went down in the initial hit, and several units were pinned.  The British commander commented “this is a tough scenario.”  Good – mutual frustration was growing on both sides.

At this point, about mid-way through the engagement, the British looked pinned up, facing StuGs, a relocated PaK 40, and dug-in infantry to their front, and reinforcing Panthers approaching from their left.  The battle was certainly heating up.

The Shermans and Fireflies exchanged a few shots before crossing the bocage and advancing into the woods, being careful to stay deep enough to conceal themselves from the StuGs holding the opposing line of bocage.  By this point, the Panthers had arrived at the front and began to engage the Shermans and Fireflies at relatively close range.

Just as the Panthers were about to unleash their version of suffering on the British armor creeping around the trees, “Timmy” arrived on the scene.  “Timmy,” as named by our young British tank commander, was a Typhoon drawn on the previous turn.  He came in and loosed all four of his bombs on the big cats, knocking one out and pinning the other.  In quick succession, a Firefly knocked out another Panther.  Perhaps the tide of battle had turned.  “Timmy” hung around for the remainder of the battle, and although he captivated German gunners, he failed to inflict much harm until the very end when he finally spotted the Pak 40.

With the battle in full force, both sides began inflicting significantly more harm upon each other, but mostly in the form of pinning shots and armor losses.  The infantry never fully engaged before it was all over.

Oddly enough, by the final tally (we had played about three hours and had run into a hard time stop) the British had amazingly lost 47 of their 51 morale, while the Germans had lost only 24 of their 40.  Victory went to the Germans in a close one.  Our young British commander told me she would be back next year.  Win.

In game two, we had fairly experienced WW II tactical game players, but all were relatively new to Battlegroup (one had just played his first game earlier).  The forces were identical and German setup was similar, but the PaK held the German right while a StuG camped on the main road within the confines of the village.

The British opted for a broad approach to place pressure on all points of the German front, including an advance down the main road by a lone Sherman.

The British timed air attack, in the form of a Typhoon, came on the initial turn, but failed to pin the StuG in the village.  This slowed the road thrust down somewhat, but the flanks advanced rapidly – much more so than in the first game, which saw the British being a little more tentative in their attack.

The action proceeded quickly, with British combined arms attacks occurring on both flanks.  Artillery, onboard mortars and off, harassed both sides as troops and tanks positioned themselves.  Great setup and action by both sides.

As the battle progressed, two German Panthers advanced through the center of town to challenge the Sherman that still lurked on the main road while the third moved to support the heaviest British armor advance on the western side.

I had goaded the German commanders somewhat in proclaiming Panthers as “invincible” to the lone Sherman on the road, and as luck (unluck?) would have it, the Sherman ultimately scored hits on both and pinned them down.  Repeatedly, it seemed.  Oops.  This occurred after both Panthers failed multiple shots on the Sherman.  The third Panther ran into engine problems as it advanced toward the bocage line and never made it into the battle.  (The British drew the dreaded immobilized chit…)  Later, one of the Panthers finally succeeded in knocking out the offending Sherman, but was in turn taken out by Fireflies that had been able to close up and engage.  Both Panthers were soon wrecked with little to offer in return.

On the German right, it seemed that opportunity turned into near disaster at several points of the battle.  Numerous times, the British commander (Jody) scored 6’s on morale tests, only to pass Call of Duty checks and pummel his German opponents.  One wild example saw a Pak 40 shell slam into a Dingo scout car (the forward HQ), only to score snakes and immobilize the wee Dingo.  The Dingo, in return, scored Beyond the Call of Duty and returned fire on the Pak, killing two crew members.  In revenge, a German squad charged out of its foxholes to blast the Dingo with a panzerfaust – this time finishing it off.

On the German left, the StuGs were falling to Shermans and were unable to return the same.  One unfortunate StuG was hit twice, failed morale checks with 1’s consecutively, and forced its crew to abandon the vehicle.

The battle was largely over and the Germans were convinced they could not continue.  As we were closing in on a hard stop after about three hours of excellent gaming, we counted morale.  The Germans had taken 36 of their 40 morale and the British 37 of their starting 51.  A close game, again, but the British took the win.

Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better gaming day.  We had 8 enthusiastic players who got into the game and stayed engaged throughout the duration.  The new players seemed to enjoy the system and hopefully will play more Battlegroup in the future.  While there were some frustrating points during the day (what wargame doesn’t frustrate the commanders when things don’t exactly go their way?!), the narrative was great.  Both games had events play out very differently, despite being the same scenario and forces.  While I didn’t actually play in the games or fire any dice in anger, I had arguably just as much fun GMing and plan to do it all again at next year’s MACE.

On another note, we finally met up with “Battlegroup Charleston.”  They were on hand in full force at MACE, and we traded players throughout the day.  Overall, we likely had 8-10 players concurrently at the two tables throughout the day.  They’re a great bunch of guys who love the Battlegroup system.  They also brought their excellent terrain and models.  Good times!

Some more pics from the day’s actions:

The after effects of a Typhoon and Fireflies.

Full on British advance.

Preparing to cross the bocage in force.

German deployment in the east, first run.  (Note, infantry are in foxholes.)

A Panther speeds through the village to reinforce the German left.

The German right at setup.

StuG preparing to cross the bocage and reinforce the German left.