After spending some time in the desert, we decided it had been too long since we fought in bocage. Sean and I each made 1750 point lists, but at the last minute he decided he wanted to try his Stuarts and HQ CSes. So I threw in a Tiger too offset this and we went to town!
7th ARMORED DIVISION CROMWELLS
HQ + 2 CSes
4x Armoured Platoons
Carriers
Stuarts
Tyne & Tees Infantry
GRENADIERS
HQ (add 2iC Faust)
3 Gren Platoons w/ Fausts
HMGs
Nebelwerfers
4x Stugs
10.5cm SPAAA
2x Jagdpanthers
Tiger I
The mission we rolled up was Cauldron. I started with 3 Grenadier Platoons on the table with Stugs in immediate ambush. Sean started with two cromwell platoons and the Tyne and Tees.
View from the German board edge after the random deployment and the immediate ambush. Objectives in the field in the top center, and just off the road to the left of the house.
Cromwells move out!
Stugs and Grenadiers hold the objective.
Cromwells and Tyne and Tees infantry are tantalizingly close!
Grenadiers hold the bocage.
Cromwell CSes. The 2iC goes belly up in the bocage.
The first British reserves arrive- Stuarts race onto the board.
And are followed by the CS tanks.
British tanks have trouble with bocage.
After several turns of maneuver, Jagdpanthers arrive from reserve.
British armour pours down the road.
The British CO and a cromwell platoon deep in enemy lines move up to the bocage.
The Tyne and Tees moves out.
The board around turn 4. Not a lot of action has occurred yet.
The Jagdpanthers dispatch the platoon that was hung on the bocage.
A Tiger arrives from reserve, and flanks the Cromwell CO's force.
More British reserves arrive.
More armour on the road!
The Tyne & Tees move out to assault the Tiger!
The Cromwells attempt to escape the Tiger, but hang on the bocage!
The Tigeropens up and knocks out a Cromwell.
While the Stugs move from their hiding place and knock out the troop firefly.
The Grenadiers cheer at the site of the Jagdpanthers.
The Stugs move out.
Cromwells with the aid of the Stuarts to spot for them, open up on the Grenadiers but do no serious damage.
A cromwell platoon moves to flank the Jagdpanthers.
The Tyne and Tees again assault, knowing the Tiger has nowhere to run!
and boom! The bigger they are…
The Stuarts cause light casualties to the grenadiers.
SPAAA arrives from reserve, prepared to open up on the tyne and tees.
Stugs move forward to engage.
The Jagdpanthers pull back, not wanting to get flanked. The narrow roads force very linear movement.
Nebelwerfers having arrived last turn fire a barrage on the clumped british armour.
But do no real damage.
The British contest the objective, and the firefly knocks out a stug through the gate!
The T&T charge forward!
Grenadiers assault! But the British push them back with neither side suffering any casualties.
The last German reserves arrive- HMGs! The platoon commander runs up with his SMG firing form the hip!
A Jagdpanther snipes a Stuart at long range and then angles right to watch for the sneaky cromwells.
Nebelwerfers again do nothing to the British.
The Stugs return fire, knocking out 2 British tanks.
The Grenadier HMGs' platoon commander opens up!
The Tyne and Tees pull back across the bocage after the platoon commander of the HMGs assaults!
The board. Note the SPAAA in the bottom left- the Tyne and Tees are all the way at the German board edge!
A firefly sneaks around and just barely manages to get a flank shot!
The T&T open up on the HMGs, knocking them below half. The HMGs quickly break.
The firefly knocks out a Jagdpanther!
Cromwell CSes barrage the Germans, but dont cause any damage besides pinning.
The Tyne and Tees hold!
The other Jagdpanther risks crossing the bocage to escape being surrounded.
The board form the German right-hand side. The Jagdpanther is just off screen to the bottom.
The Sherman ARV helps a bogged scout!
The grenadiers hold the objective with a single stand of infantry.
The Stugs roll forward, ready to end this battle.
At the same time the SPAAA rolls out guns blazing, and knocks the T&T below half.
A final nebelwerfer barrage destroys a CS.
At this point both the Tyne and Tees and the cromwell platoon on the objective break. The British have now lost 3 cromwell platoons and the infantry putting them below half with no company commander.
The Germans are out the HMG platoon, and the Tiger.
