Post by armchair general on Apr 3, 2017 19:59:07 GMT
I LOVE alternate history, so I'm a big fan of this scenario. I also wanted to post this one in honor of Sharpe. You old-timers might remember him, but for those of you who don't, at one point he was #1 in the US (or was it the world?) rankings by Avalon Hill (AH) for AAM. Sharpe also is the creator of the Sharpedia, the first determined attempt to create a set of cards that AH didn't/wouldn't. Heck, he even had a card for Ruthenian soldiers I think. Finally, he was the one who taught me the game over a decade ago; all the nuances, the strategy, etc. So, this is a SHOUT-OUT to Sharpe!
-- armchair general
NOTE: Again, this scenario was created a while ago and could be updated (an obvious one would be to swap out the SdKfz 251s for trucks). If you have any ideas, please let me know!
Campaign name: Operation Sealion
Scenario Title: “Dad’s Army”
Location and Date: Walmington, Sussex, England; 26 September, 1940 (hypothetical)
Introduction: German light armor races north to London from the Channel coast to expand the invasion beachhead. A small force of the Home Guard, mostly old age pensioners, awaits reinforcement as it determinedly blocks the highway in the town of Walmington.
Victory Conditions: To win, the German player must exit two Sd Kfz 222 from the road hex on the north edge of map B2 by the end of turn six. Exiting the map (into a theoretical adjacent hex) costs one mp and will provoke defensive fire if appropriate. Only armored cars which have been occupied or passed through the center hex of the town are eligible to exit. The British player must prevent the German player from fulfilling his victory conditions.
Turn Length: Six turns
Game Start: The British player first notes secretly where in the town his Home Guard units deploy. He may not exceed stacking limits. The German player then deploys his forces within three hexes of the south edge of map C2. The remainder of the British forces deploys along the north edge of the B2 map before turn 2. The British player has the initiative for the first turn.
Map Set-up: Baker-2 (UR); Charlie-2 (LL); Able-1 (LL); Able-1 (UR). North is to the left.
Allied units and deployment:
Home Guard (Walmington and Mayfair): 1 x Kuomintang Officer; 4 x Kuomintang Infantry (representing the British militia). Deploy secretly in city hexes per “Game Start” instructions.
Elements of 1st Rifle Brigade: 1 x Inspiring Lieutenant; 2 x SMLE; 1 x Vickers Machine-Gun Team; 1 x 6-Pounder Antitank Gun ( representing a 2 pdr.). Deploy before the start of turn 2 on the north edge of map B2.
Axis units and deployment:
Elements of 7th Aufklaerungsabteilung and 6th Schuetzen Regiment, 7th Panzer Division: 3 x Sd Kfz 222; 2 x Panzer II Ausf C; 4 x Sd Kfz 251 (representing trucks); 3 x Panzergrenadier; 1 x Hauptsturmfuhrer. Deploy within 3 hexes of the south edge of C2.
Scenario specific rules:
1. The Home Guard units are not revealed until they move, fire, or a German unit enters their hex. They may not reacquire concealment. When each Home Guard infantry receives its first face-up Disrupted marker, roll one die. On a roll of 1-4, remove the unit. On a roll of 5, the unit remains in the game and removes the marker normally. The SA no longer applies to this unit. On a roll of 6, the unit battle-hardens. Immediately replace it with an SMLE figure (keeping the Disrupted marker) for the rest of the game.
2. The “High Gear 2” SA and road bonus are not allowed due to British sabotage of the roads.
3. The Sd Kfz 251s represent trucks. These units have no attack ability. They are not attack platforms. These units are destroyed when they receive a face-up Damaged marker.
4. Since the 6 pdr actually represents a 2 pdr, its antivehicle attack values are 8/7/5.
For play balance, substitute an Oberleutnant for the SS officer or SS Panzergrenadiers for the Wehrmacht. The British player could add another SMLE or even an engineer. Otherwise lengthen or shorten the game.
Background Story (Hypothetical):
Herman Goering’s death in early July, 1940 was a mixed blessing for Britain. The state funeral slowed German invasion preparations, but the promotion of Albert Kesselring to command the Luftwaffe was ominous.
Under the new Reichsmarschall’s inspired leadership, Luftflotten 2 and 3 focused their attacks on the key RAF radar stations. In early September, when the last tower on the Channel coast toppled, Kesselring switched his bombers to target aircraft factories in the Midlands. Resisting Hitler’s illogical rants that he terror bomb the British populace, Kesselring instead conducted a calculated campaign of attrition. Each day more and more Spitfires and Hurricanes went down in flames over the fields of southern England while fewer and fewer fighters rolled off the assembly lines.
As the Luftwaffe achieved air superiority over the English Channel, shallow draft shipping of every sort began to mass in French ports. Von Rundstedt’s army trained intensively for amphibious operations, but every soldier knew that the invasion would be an improvised affair with luck as great a factor as skill or preparation. The Germans would have but one chance to cross the Channel before the weather turned.
Facing them was a disorganized and demoralized Britain. Very few of the units evacuated from France had been reformed, and those that had were lacking heavy equipment and basic transport. The few effective divisions on the island were grouped around London in a central reserve. Local militia units comprised of men ineligible for regular service mustered in every town and village throughout the country. Initially called “Local Defense Volunteers” and renamed the “Home Guard” by Churchill, this lightly armed and undertrained force was supposed to delay the Germans whenever possible. Nobody expected much out of the men nicknamed “Dad’s Army,” but times were desperate.
The RAF had been whittled down to a fraction of its former strength. Fighter Command withdrew the remainder of its planes to the north, leaving the Channel to the Luftwaffe. Without air cover, the Royal Navy could not send capital ships to intercept the Kriegsmarine.
The Wehrmacht seized an opportunity in late September. A feint toward the East Anglian coast lured the destroyer squadron out of Folkestone. Stukas caught the ships in mid-Channel and sank over half of them. The next day, flat-bottomed fishing trawlers and overloaded Channel ferries sailed north from occupied France, grounding hours later into the soft beaches between Brighton and Dover. They disgorged hundreds of Wehrmacht veterans intent on adding yet another province to the Reich. Under the steel umbrella of the Luftwaffe, the infantry quickly occupied ports large enough to accommodate the transports carrying Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division.
First onto the piers was the 7th Aufklaerungsabteilung. Its swift armored cars raced out of the German beachhead and streaked toward London. Rommel wanted to locate the British reserve and block its avenues of approach to his vulnerable position.
Thus, as 26 September dawned, Hauptmann Paul Leopold surveyed the deserted village of Walmington in East Sussex. A quick drive through the center of town, then the lead unit of the 7th Panzer would speed toward London. Caution was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
Looking through a boarded-up window in the Walmington town hall, Platoon Commander Bertram Wooster watched the German officer throw away his cigarette and climb back into a truck. “No bloody manners, these Jerries.” Wooster sipped the mug of tea his batman had prepared. “Showing up far too early and littering on top of that.”
Wooster shuddered as he contemplated his responsibilities. Before Dunkirk he had been a middle-aged man about town, a Mayfair swell with a lot of money and few worries. Now he commanded “Dronesforce,” a Home Guard unit comprising a dozen members of the club it was named after. The twelve graying socialites had arrived from London to reinforce the Walmington Local Defense Volunteers, a grand name for the 28 fossils armed with shotguns, farm tools and household items that formed the town’s own Home Guard. One ancient Welshman, proudly sporting the Victoria Cross, even claimed to have been at Rorke’s Drift.
Wooster had never had a military mind; in fact, his aunts alleged he had no mind at all. He was skilled, however, at subterfuge and this quality had guided his deployment. He had evacuated the women and children from Walmington, then concealed his meager forces. Crafting an ambush was terribly unsporting, but the Germans were hardly gentlemen.
As soon as the lead vehicle came into view, Wooster had called his zone commander. Headquarters had promised reinforcements from the Greenjackets, but couldn’t say when they would arrive. Looking around the room, Wooster remembered from his days at Eton that commanders always had something pithy to say before battle. “Sort of thing they teach at Sandhurst,” he muttered. Still, the men regarded him expectantly.
“Chaps, tonight’s meeting of the Drones Club will be in Hell.” Wooster pointed at the Germans entering the town. “Bring a guest.”
Aftermath:
One possibility: The Hauptmann had lost over an hour in Walmington, but only one vehicle. A 2 pdr hidden in the woods had knocked out a Pz II as it moved north out of town. His panzergrenadiers dealt with the ambush in town, easily dispersing a bunch of old men playing at soldiers. Outside of town, his armor had overrun some regulars once their antitank gun was spotted. After a quick breakfast, Leopold could concentrate on making up time as he sped on towards London.
Another possibility: Lieutenant Sharpe cautiously entered the town at the head of a squad of riflemen. As the smoke from the burning vehicles cleared, he saw corpses covering the town square: a German sergeant beaten to death with a golf club; an old man holding an open shotgun and a new shell; a guy about fifty wearing spats and clutching an assegai covered with brain matter; a middle-aged platoon commander with a bullet through his head and his fingers still locked around the throat of a German captain. If the Germans did reach London, the road wouldn’t go through Walmington.
-- armchair general
NOTE: Again, this scenario was created a while ago and could be updated (an obvious one would be to swap out the SdKfz 251s for trucks). If you have any ideas, please let me know!
Campaign name: Operation Sealion
Scenario Title: “Dad’s Army”
Location and Date: Walmington, Sussex, England; 26 September, 1940 (hypothetical)
Introduction: German light armor races north to London from the Channel coast to expand the invasion beachhead. A small force of the Home Guard, mostly old age pensioners, awaits reinforcement as it determinedly blocks the highway in the town of Walmington.
Victory Conditions: To win, the German player must exit two Sd Kfz 222 from the road hex on the north edge of map B2 by the end of turn six. Exiting the map (into a theoretical adjacent hex) costs one mp and will provoke defensive fire if appropriate. Only armored cars which have been occupied or passed through the center hex of the town are eligible to exit. The British player must prevent the German player from fulfilling his victory conditions.
Turn Length: Six turns
Game Start: The British player first notes secretly where in the town his Home Guard units deploy. He may not exceed stacking limits. The German player then deploys his forces within three hexes of the south edge of map C2. The remainder of the British forces deploys along the north edge of the B2 map before turn 2. The British player has the initiative for the first turn.
Map Set-up: Baker-2 (UR); Charlie-2 (LL); Able-1 (LL); Able-1 (UR). North is to the left.
Allied units and deployment:
Home Guard (Walmington and Mayfair): 1 x Kuomintang Officer; 4 x Kuomintang Infantry (representing the British militia). Deploy secretly in city hexes per “Game Start” instructions.
Elements of 1st Rifle Brigade: 1 x Inspiring Lieutenant; 2 x SMLE; 1 x Vickers Machine-Gun Team; 1 x 6-Pounder Antitank Gun ( representing a 2 pdr.). Deploy before the start of turn 2 on the north edge of map B2.
Axis units and deployment:
Elements of 7th Aufklaerungsabteilung and 6th Schuetzen Regiment, 7th Panzer Division: 3 x Sd Kfz 222; 2 x Panzer II Ausf C; 4 x Sd Kfz 251 (representing trucks); 3 x Panzergrenadier; 1 x Hauptsturmfuhrer. Deploy within 3 hexes of the south edge of C2.
Scenario specific rules:
1. The Home Guard units are not revealed until they move, fire, or a German unit enters their hex. They may not reacquire concealment. When each Home Guard infantry receives its first face-up Disrupted marker, roll one die. On a roll of 1-4, remove the unit. On a roll of 5, the unit remains in the game and removes the marker normally. The SA no longer applies to this unit. On a roll of 6, the unit battle-hardens. Immediately replace it with an SMLE figure (keeping the Disrupted marker) for the rest of the game.
2. The “High Gear 2” SA and road bonus are not allowed due to British sabotage of the roads.
3. The Sd Kfz 251s represent trucks. These units have no attack ability. They are not attack platforms. These units are destroyed when they receive a face-up Damaged marker.
4. Since the 6 pdr actually represents a 2 pdr, its antivehicle attack values are 8/7/5.
For play balance, substitute an Oberleutnant for the SS officer or SS Panzergrenadiers for the Wehrmacht. The British player could add another SMLE or even an engineer. Otherwise lengthen or shorten the game.
Background Story (Hypothetical):
Herman Goering’s death in early July, 1940 was a mixed blessing for Britain. The state funeral slowed German invasion preparations, but the promotion of Albert Kesselring to command the Luftwaffe was ominous.
Under the new Reichsmarschall’s inspired leadership, Luftflotten 2 and 3 focused their attacks on the key RAF radar stations. In early September, when the last tower on the Channel coast toppled, Kesselring switched his bombers to target aircraft factories in the Midlands. Resisting Hitler’s illogical rants that he terror bomb the British populace, Kesselring instead conducted a calculated campaign of attrition. Each day more and more Spitfires and Hurricanes went down in flames over the fields of southern England while fewer and fewer fighters rolled off the assembly lines.
As the Luftwaffe achieved air superiority over the English Channel, shallow draft shipping of every sort began to mass in French ports. Von Rundstedt’s army trained intensively for amphibious operations, but every soldier knew that the invasion would be an improvised affair with luck as great a factor as skill or preparation. The Germans would have but one chance to cross the Channel before the weather turned.
Facing them was a disorganized and demoralized Britain. Very few of the units evacuated from France had been reformed, and those that had were lacking heavy equipment and basic transport. The few effective divisions on the island were grouped around London in a central reserve. Local militia units comprised of men ineligible for regular service mustered in every town and village throughout the country. Initially called “Local Defense Volunteers” and renamed the “Home Guard” by Churchill, this lightly armed and undertrained force was supposed to delay the Germans whenever possible. Nobody expected much out of the men nicknamed “Dad’s Army,” but times were desperate.
The RAF had been whittled down to a fraction of its former strength. Fighter Command withdrew the remainder of its planes to the north, leaving the Channel to the Luftwaffe. Without air cover, the Royal Navy could not send capital ships to intercept the Kriegsmarine.
The Wehrmacht seized an opportunity in late September. A feint toward the East Anglian coast lured the destroyer squadron out of Folkestone. Stukas caught the ships in mid-Channel and sank over half of them. The next day, flat-bottomed fishing trawlers and overloaded Channel ferries sailed north from occupied France, grounding hours later into the soft beaches between Brighton and Dover. They disgorged hundreds of Wehrmacht veterans intent on adding yet another province to the Reich. Under the steel umbrella of the Luftwaffe, the infantry quickly occupied ports large enough to accommodate the transports carrying Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division.
First onto the piers was the 7th Aufklaerungsabteilung. Its swift armored cars raced out of the German beachhead and streaked toward London. Rommel wanted to locate the British reserve and block its avenues of approach to his vulnerable position.
Thus, as 26 September dawned, Hauptmann Paul Leopold surveyed the deserted village of Walmington in East Sussex. A quick drive through the center of town, then the lead unit of the 7th Panzer would speed toward London. Caution was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
Looking through a boarded-up window in the Walmington town hall, Platoon Commander Bertram Wooster watched the German officer throw away his cigarette and climb back into a truck. “No bloody manners, these Jerries.” Wooster sipped the mug of tea his batman had prepared. “Showing up far too early and littering on top of that.”
Wooster shuddered as he contemplated his responsibilities. Before Dunkirk he had been a middle-aged man about town, a Mayfair swell with a lot of money and few worries. Now he commanded “Dronesforce,” a Home Guard unit comprising a dozen members of the club it was named after. The twelve graying socialites had arrived from London to reinforce the Walmington Local Defense Volunteers, a grand name for the 28 fossils armed with shotguns, farm tools and household items that formed the town’s own Home Guard. One ancient Welshman, proudly sporting the Victoria Cross, even claimed to have been at Rorke’s Drift.
Wooster had never had a military mind; in fact, his aunts alleged he had no mind at all. He was skilled, however, at subterfuge and this quality had guided his deployment. He had evacuated the women and children from Walmington, then concealed his meager forces. Crafting an ambush was terribly unsporting, but the Germans were hardly gentlemen.
As soon as the lead vehicle came into view, Wooster had called his zone commander. Headquarters had promised reinforcements from the Greenjackets, but couldn’t say when they would arrive. Looking around the room, Wooster remembered from his days at Eton that commanders always had something pithy to say before battle. “Sort of thing they teach at Sandhurst,” he muttered. Still, the men regarded him expectantly.
“Chaps, tonight’s meeting of the Drones Club will be in Hell.” Wooster pointed at the Germans entering the town. “Bring a guest.”
Aftermath:
One possibility: The Hauptmann had lost over an hour in Walmington, but only one vehicle. A 2 pdr hidden in the woods had knocked out a Pz II as it moved north out of town. His panzergrenadiers dealt with the ambush in town, easily dispersing a bunch of old men playing at soldiers. Outside of town, his armor had overrun some regulars once their antitank gun was spotted. After a quick breakfast, Leopold could concentrate on making up time as he sped on towards London.
Another possibility: Lieutenant Sharpe cautiously entered the town at the head of a squad of riflemen. As the smoke from the burning vehicles cleared, he saw corpses covering the town square: a German sergeant beaten to death with a golf club; an old man holding an open shotgun and a new shell; a guy about fifty wearing spats and clutching an assegai covered with brain matter; a middle-aged platoon commander with a bullet through his head and his fingers still locked around the throat of a German captain. If the Germans did reach London, the road wouldn’t go through Walmington.