 Tom and I were eager to try out our old rivalry matchup in the form of the Mittlere Panzers and the Escadron De Combat under the new V3 rules. We rolled randomly for both scenario and for who would run what! I ended up running the French, and Tom the Germans. The mission is Hold the Line, and the French are attacking. |
SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT
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| The board. Objectives are in the center near the wall to the North of the road, and to the left near the bridge. |
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| German Light Pioneers hold the objective. |
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| A Hotchkiss tank prepares to roll out. |
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| The French prepare to launch their attack down the main road. |
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| The German HQ radios the 2 Panzer IV platoons which are both placed in Ambush. |
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| Panhards move out to scout the manor. |
| French Escadron De Combat |
German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: Panhards screen the advance while the SOMUAs all head down the main road. One platoon of Hotchkiss tanks push either flank, with the right flank weighted with the infantry. German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: Light Pioneers start on the board with both panzer IV units in ambush. | |
TURN 1
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| Panhards race forward! |
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| SOMUAs follow the Panhards closely. |
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| Panhards open up on the Pioneers, knocking out 1 stand! |
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| Feeling particularly saucy, the armored cars assault! |
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| The pioneers fail to counter attack, leaving 3 teams to be killed or captured. |
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| The Panzer IVs reveal their ambush, where they were carefully concealed on the bridge! |
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| The battle's focal point. |
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| Finding themselves exposed, 3 Panhards go up in flames, but the other 2 stick around. |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: Panhards race forward, and assault the light pioneers! The rest of the army advances.
German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: The pioneers fail to unpin, but behind them, Panzer IVs spring their ambush and put the hurt on the Panhards! | |
TURN 2
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| The Panhards got way too bloodthirsty way out in front like that! |
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| The SOMUAs move into the manor, planning to hold the forward objective from a hull down position on the stone wall. |
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| The Panhard commander runs for it! |
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| Hotchkiss on the left keep working their way forward. |
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| As do the Hotchkiss on the right, lining up a flank shot on the 2iC. |
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| And nabbing a kill! |
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| The infantry rolls out. |
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| A SOMUA navigates the road. |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: General advance! German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: The Panzer IVs take a few potshots on the SOMUAs, but all the shots bounce. | |
TURN 3
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| Turn 3. |
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| SOMUAs move into a position to assault the pioneers off the objective. |
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| The other unit of SOMUAs move into the field. |
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| The killing ground. |
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| SOMUAs assault! |
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| And drive the Pioneers further back, grabbing the objective! |
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| As the only team who can contest the objective, the German Company Commander bravely drives into the face of 9 SOMUAs! |
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French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: SOMUAs move up, assault, and grab the objective. German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: The German CO bravely throws himself into harm's way to keep the Germans in the game! | |
TURN 4
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| Turn 4. |
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| Despite opening up with everything, only a single Panzer IV burns! |
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| The Germans weather intense fire. |
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| The first German reserves arrive. The two hiding Panhards are caught surprised! |
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| The German CO flanks the SOMUAs. |
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| Another SOMUA goes up! |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: The SOMUAs sit and fire, but only claim 1 Panzer IV!
German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: Panzer IVs slug it out with the SOMUAs, knocking out one more. | |
TURN 5
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| Turn 5 |
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| French infantry moves up and clears out the Pioneers. |
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| Diamond platoon forms the gunline just as "club" platoon loses another tank and quits the field! |
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| 8 rads arrive from reserve along with the other Panzer II platoon. |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: The French have another ineffective round of shooting German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: More reserves arrive, and push the Hotchkiss on the French left flank. | |
TURN 6
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| Turn 6 |
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| Hotchkiss on the right try to move out, but get mired in the woods. |
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| French infantry advances under the intense fire from the SOMUAs. |
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| The German company commander along with the 2nd Panzer IV platoon runs off the field! |
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| A single Panzer IV remains. |
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| 8-rads move up and MG the French infantry. |
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French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: A very good round of shooting sees off 3 Panzer IVs. German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: 8 rads and Panzer IIs must now desperately cling to the objective! But the French are battered as well. | |
TURN 7
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| Turn 7 |
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| The French can't do much, though the infantry dig in for dear life as the SOMUAs maneuver for a shot. |
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| Hotchkiss are slowly retreating on the left flank in a losing battle with Panzer IIs. |
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| Panzer IIs must shift to avoid SOMUA fire. |
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| The battle at the ford sees off 1 Panzer II. |
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| Thinking they're going to slowly lose their company, the French go for broke and race out of the woods hoping for a shot on the last Panzer IV! |
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| And sometimes fortune favors the bold. |
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| Meanwhile, SOMUAs slowly make their way out of the manor courtyard. |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: A bold move by the Hotchkiss keep the French in the fight, despite the game seeming to swing in the Germans' favor. French infantry clings desperately to their foxholes as the Panzer IIs chew into their position with their 2cm cannons. A single infantry stand lost could cost the French the game! But the infantry holds on.
German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: Panzer IIs press the Hotchkiss on the German right flank, while a careless Panzer IV going after the Hotchkiss on the other flank finds himself counter flanked and knocked out! The Panzer IIs in the creek try to pull back for a safer positioning, but a string of bad luck sees 3 of the 5 bog down! | |
TURN 8
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| Top of turn 60. The 3 bogged Panzer IIs |
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| Concentrated fire from the SOMUAs and Hotchkiss destroys 2 Panzer IIs, leaving the unit below half strength! |
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| The Panzer IIs break, and with no company commander- that seals the deal for the French. |
French Escadron De Combat
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German Mittlere Panzerkompanie
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| French Escadron De Combat: Concentrated fire from the SOMUAs and Hotchkiss destroys the Panzer II platoon on the objective, costing the Germans the game.
German Mittlere Panzerkompanie: | |
| What a seesaw game! I thought the French had it sealed up early, then all the Panzer IIs showed up and nearly tipped the scales! All it would have taken was 1 dead infantry stand to potentially break the infantry platoon and put my company below half strength! Very well played on Tom's part- great game! |
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