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INTRODUCTION
On 4 Feb 2003, we
welcomed a guest - David Khoo (aka SAFLEX) - from Kuala
Lumpur.
The game we played represented a break from the dense terrain, infantry-dominated
Crossfire games which have come to typify our WW2 gaming: instead we
had open terrain and lots of tanks. No air, no arty support.
[NOTE: click on any
of the pics/map to get a full-sized image]
SCENARIO
A US Armoured Force
is tasked to take and hold a key T-junction in the advance into
Germany. The German force is tasked to hold them at all costs.
 US Forces
- 1 M24 Chaffee
- 1 Sherman Jumbo
76mm
- 2 M4A1 76mm
- 2 M4A1 75mm
- 1 M3 H/T 2 Plt
airborne (4 bazookas)
 German Defenders
- 1 Panther G
- 1 Stug IV
- 2 Tigers
(Reinforcements)
- 2 Plt
Panzergrenadiers (1 Faust/section, 2 Schrecks)
Note - German
defenders are elite tankers and 3 crews have a -1 to accuracy. The
Reinforcements will arrive at umpire's discretion, otherwise the odds
are too stacked against the US taskforce.
 US SETUP The
US commander decided to divide his forces into 2 groups: a diversion
on the left flank with a Halftrack, the Chaffee and a M4A1 tank, and
the bulk of his forces up the main road. 1 platoon of airborne with
each.
GERMAN SETUP
The German commander setup a Panther and a Stug IV in ambush positions
near the Crossroads. He opted to use the 2 Tigers as the Counterattack
force. Both Panzergrenadier platoons were deployed in defense.
THE GAME
 The US player
opened well, with the left flank thrust somewhat unanticipated by the
German commander, whose Panther was out of position facing the main
road. In a quick exchange of fire, the lead Chaffee was disabled by a
Panzerschreck from one of the buildings but the Panther was forced to
break cover to get into position to deal with the threat to its rear.
The Panther cut an attack by the diversionary force's airborne platoon
to shreds.
Following up on
this, the US main force of 4 Shermans, led by the Jumbo, moved quickly
down the main road, brushing aside a platoon of Panzergrenadiers who
were in an ambush position in buildings on either side of the road
thanks to the elan (and superior dice rolls) of the airborne platoon
attached to them. The performance of this particular airborne platoon
was extraordinary throughout the battle.
 The main force of
Shermans was soon in position to support the remaining elements of the
diversionary force to its left. As the Shermans maneouvred for a rear
shot at the Panther (which at this point had become the focus of all 5
Shermans), the Stug IV broke cover to engage the leading Sherman
Jumbo. Although the Stug IV got its shot in, the thick front armour of
the Jumbo proved adequate to the task and the Jumbo killed the Stug
with a shot through its front armour.
At this point, the
1:1 exchange had left 5 Shermans milling around an extremely harrassed
Panther, so the Germans decided to counterattack with the 2 Tigers
from the left flank. This was to prove a costly prospect since the
Tigers as they appeared presented a Sherman M4A1 76 with a side shot
which disabled the lead Tiger. However, the remaining Tiger was
spoiling for a fight: in rapid succession, it killed the M4A1 76 and a
Sherman M4A1. However, a Sherman M4A1 managed to line up for a rear
shot at the Panther, which brewed up. Unfortunately, the brave Sherman
M4A1 followed the Panther soon afterwards as it tried to get into
position for a flank shot. The Tiger had claimed its 3rd victim!
This left the
players with a Mexican standoff: 1 Jumbo and 1 M4A1 76 against a
Tiger. The US player decided to attempt to use his remaining infantry
platoon (the other one had been mauled by the Panther) to take the
T-junction which was rather stubbornly held by a Panzergrenadier
platoon. Fire from the US troops (the same invincibles which had
cleared the PzGr  platoon earlier) steadily thinned the ranks of the
defenders, prompting the remaining Tiger to move up to support the
building.
After some debate
(involving virtually all present), the US player decided to attempt a
flank action on the Tiger: one more Sherman M4A1 76 fell to the 88,
but the Sherman Jumbo finally found itself on relatively equal terms
in a gun duel with the Tiger at close range: the Jumbo won the duel.
With the collapse of German armoured support, the remaining section of
Panzergrenadiers withdrew, leaving the field to the lone victorious
Jumbo and its supporting infantry platoon.
POST MORTEM
 Canny deployment by
the US player left the Germans (who were lacking in heavy armour in
the town) at a disadvantage at the beginning. BOTH German AFVs were
forced to break cover to deal with the rapidly advancing US tanks.
However, the appearance of the Tiger Is on the flank should have
significantly redressed the balance. Unluckily for the Germans, an
early shot from a Sherman 76 put one of the Tigers out of action.
Significantly, the remaining Tiger on its own polished off 4 Shermans,
including both M4A1 76s. The game boiled down to a cliff-hanger gun
duel between the Sherman Jumbo and the Tiger, which I thought
reflected very credibly on a relatively inexperienced US side. Without
a Jumbo on the scene, victory would almost certainly have gone to the
German defenders, who looked like they were capable of winning the
game until the very end. The absence of large numbers of supporting
infantry and support weapons basically made this very like a tank
orgy. The game was extremely fluid, and earlier experiences Tiger
hunting had resulted in a balance of forces which, although it
favoured the German player, did not guarantee a German victory. The
German player did very well given the limited resources available at
the beginning. However, victory for the US player would have been far
more costly had the left flank been covered by the Stug IV. [BTW -
David is the guy in the centre of the pic above.]
The game also
confirmed that our Cross of Iron (Squad Leader expansion set) armour
rules graft-on to Crossfire worked just fine - providing a good
balance between playability and realism. The game flowed well,
without being bogged down by too much detail.
Report
by WW2 Coordinator: LK Tho
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