The Oosterbeek Perimeter, West of Arnhem, 9/25/44

[from General Hoth in 2009]

A few Pics to help set up:


s668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/generalhoth/Arnhem%2044/

[from boersma8, 2009]

Played this scenario solo over the course of this week. It's definitely a lot of fun! It was a complete German victory at the end of round 8; but actually it had already become clear that this would happen by round 5 or so....What I really liked is the ability to quickly redeploy your forces being the Brits thanks to the tally-ho SA. It's also a great though simple idea to place one map partly over another one to create a different kind of map. So simple, yet I'd never thought of it, thanks!



First off a few questions:



1.) The German reinforcements, should they be SS panzergrenadiers or just " regular" ones as stated?



2.) When a hex is partially on map F3 and partially on map 1, can the Germans enter play there or does it need to be on any hex that's ONLY on map 1?



3.) Do the trenches work as is described on the back of the combat zone tiles, which is how I played (+1 on cover rolls for infantry, double cost terrain for vehicles with the high gear ability and a movement roll required for such vehicles) or do they simply and solely provide (normal) cover to infantry in your scenario?



4.) Do you roll for initiative normally on turn 1? (Important, because if the British win it, or start with it for sure, they can put some AT guns in overwatch which can make it much less appealing for the Germans to eneter play in certain hexes...)



The Germans opted for a two-pronged attack. They entered the western map edge with a flamepanzer, a Stug accompanied by several squads of infantry support and an SS haupsturmfuehrer. The rest chose the lonmg route: entering from the North map edge.



The British had set up a Vickers MG, an inspiring Lieutenant, 2 paras and a jeep and a universal carrier in the town of Oosterbeek itself.

The right flank was covered by the howitzer, an AT gun and 1 paratrooper and an officer. However, as noted above, the Germans did not enter the board here, so these units were not as useful as they could have been here. The rest of the English forces were deployed on the Western map edge, reday to meet-or so they thought-the German attack, which indeed concentrated on that flank.



The British were well entrenched on the left flank, but neverthless the Germans quickly made some incursions into their lines. Overhead an ME262 and a Spitfre fought an air duel which resulted into the ME262 scaring off the Spitfire for the time being (disruption). The British forces in oosterbeek retreated from the village proper upon seeing the superior number of German forces headed towards them. The officers in charge felt they'd better defend the ferry landings and buildings close to it (because they yield more points at the end; perhaps they should've made a stand here in hindsight).



Since the Germans had won initiative (they actually did constantly but once), no British units could be placed on Overwatch to make movement hazardous for the German armour. This wasa reoccuring problem for the British.



For a long time the battle seemed to be fairly even- the initial German penetration was somewhat halted by the timely arrival of the Polish reinforecements on the left flank (they had all arrived by turn 3) (also partly thanks to the way I played the trenches; +1 on cover rolls, which made them a better defensible position for the British). However, in the end (that is, from turn 4 or 5 onwards or so), German superior numbers began to tell: since they had encoutered only a small regard in oosterbeek proper, their main force had moved through the village practically unscathed. They were now beginning to get the other British units in their sights. The spotter meanwhile had been directing artillery fire against the left flank, aiding the German units there to push on. However, this offensive seemed to have stalled (SS leader dead on turn 1, rest, though they'd made it to the buildings and trenches, was constantly disrupted). Fortunately for the Germans the British there became a bit overconfident and tried to outflank the enemy ( i.e. create enfilade fire.) However, the one remaining non-disrupted German unit (Veterena infantrymen) disrupted all three units trying to pull this off, so rather than having superior firepower there, all the British really accomplished there is that nearly all their units on that flank were disrupted (too) and the (disrupted) SS stormtroopers now had ample units to use their ruthless SA against.



From that point onwards the battle became a slaughter. The Enmglish were eradicated at a very low cost for the Germans. A paratrooper trying to close assault a Panzer III flammenpanzer failed miserably twice (only three and two successes respectively resulting in two face up disruptions. A German MG which had by now become undisrupted dealt with the threat to the tank then. Th Spitfire also took out two manned German halftracks that had become a bit too brazen and careless. The British hero tried to defend the landings, but seeing himself hopelessly outnumbered, he opted to try and blow up a flammenpanzer nearby, but he was " killed" by defensive fire from an SS stormtrooper already in the same hex (face up disrution, face-down destroyed; lethal defensive fire from the expanded rules). So he did make it to the tank's hex, but managed to roll only 1 success out of 8 dice or so.!



In the end I guess 70% of the German force was still intact, although many of its vehicles had been damaged. The only British unit left was a disrupted AT gun.



Again, a very fun scenario. It does seem to be a bit hard for the British, though.