Silly After Action Report - Bullseye!

Major Karl-August von Misseltow looked up as a stern faced policeman was ushered into the room.

"Are you Hauptmann Erich Lueger?" demanded the officer.

"My name is von Misseltow," replied the major stiffly and tapped the rank badges on his shoulder.  The policeman looked a little confused.

"Apologies Herr Major, is this the headquarters of the 25th panzer grenadier division?"

"No, its the headquarters of the 107th panzer brigade.  I think you have the wrong address."

The police officer apologised again and departed.  Hauptmann Lueger stuck his head around the interior door.

"Thanks KA, I owe you one."

"You wouldn't have to owe me anything if you didn't keep trying to sell our vehicles on the black market.  Half the population of Holland must have a Panther in their garage by now."

"Nah, late model Panzer IVs are the big seller.  Solid, reliable and no tendency for the gearbox to tear itself out of the engine."

"We need a Panther for the attack tomorrow, are there any left?"

"No problem KA, someone just forfeited their deposit so we're good to go."

"Do you have to call me that?"

"Sorry, it's just that Karl-August is a bit of a mouthful."

"It's better than the name my younger brother got."

"What's his name?"

"Karl-September von Misseltow."

With it being my turn to select a scenario I dug around in a pile of mouldering cardstock and, coughing and waving away the dust, I managed to produce ESG 101 - Bullseye! despite the desperate protests of paper lice trying to feed their families.  This scenario involves the German 107th panzer brigade, commanded by me, trying to capture the bailey bridge at the town of Son and bring an end to Operation Market Garden.  Richard Weilly would command the defending Americans.

To win the Germans, who start on one side of the bridge need to get two or more squads onto or over said bridge to the other side.  Standing in their way are headquarters elements of the 101st airborne division.  To complete my mission I have nine squads (four elite and five first line) two of which obviously have to survive to the end, a trio of light machine guns, two medium machine guns and a 50mm mortar.  Three officers including a 9-1 lead.  Armoured support is present in the form of a Panther tank, a StuG IIIG two half tracks and a PSW 232 armoured car.

Richard has the equivalent of six squads of elite paratroopers with three medium machine guns, a 60mm mortar and a pair of 1944 bazookas led by four officers including a 9-2.  A 57mm antitank gun is also present as are a pair of jeeps armed with machine guns.

We started the game and immediately ran into a problem.  The special rules noted that the jeeps could not be scrounged and a debate ensued as to whether abandoning the jeeps and taking the machine guns with you counted as "scrounging".  Eventually we decided to go black letter law which defined scrounging as taking weapons from abandoned vehicles and since the jeeps weren't abandoned the crews could indeed take their weapons with them when they left.  This added another mmg and a .50cal to the American OOB.

At start

Above is the set up.  The ground is moist making off road movement for vehicles a little more difficult.  I have set up with two forces, one based around the Panther coming in from the east and the other with the StuG rolling on from the south.  My plan, in so far as I had one was to use the StuG to smoke out the steeple where I figured he would have at least one machine gun and move up from the south while the eastern force would skirt the orchard and capture the wooden buildings to give me a base to dispose of his troops south of the canal.  The Panther would take advantage of its supposed invulnerability to try and beat up on his troops in buildings on the other side of the canal.

End turn 1

 

So things haven't turned out too badly at the end of the first turn.  I have the eastern buildings and have my StuG set up to dump smoke on the steeple which in the next turn it dutifully did.  The armoured car as away in the east because I used it to chase away Richard's mortar team which had been sitting in the open on the other side of the canal.  My own mortar is settling itself for taking long range shots at the centre woods to discourage defenders from hanging around there.

End of German turn 2

It's fair to say I lost the game on this turn.  The Americans are allowed to HIP one MMC and I suspected that the little patch of woods in the East would be the perfect place.  I was proved correct when they popped up and fried the armoured car in defensive fire.  I wasn't daunted, I had kept a squad back for this precise purpose and advanced them into close combat with the bazooka wielding halfsquad.  The next turn Richard would roll snake eyes in CC killing the squad and generating a leader for the half squad which was now happily placed in the rear of my Panther.  From this point on I was looking in two directions at once and my concentration suffered.  Still his steeple troops were smoked out and the remainder of my troops were creeping forward towards his defenders.

A mild breeze sprang up distributing smoke evenly along the front line I pressed forward with my southern infantry I rolled my halftracks into the village street to provide a little cover for my troops.  I didn't really mind if they got destroyed, either way they were cover.  Reluctantly I had to send troops back to the East in an attempt to dissuade his new embolden halfsquad from hitting my Panther in the rear with a bazooka.  This they managed for a turn or two.

End of German turn 3

Richard surprised me by skulking the majority of his troops south of the canal rather than defend the buildings to the bitter end (this is why he's a better player than I am, well that and the mental stability).  With the number of machine guns he was accumulating across the canal he didn't really need to defend too vigorously.  While his troops were there I could hardly just charge for the bridge.  I ground forward catching some of his troops in close combat (because apparently I never learn).  I moved the StuG forward to provide a little more cover for the Panther.  Apparently I had forgotten that I was supposed to be getting across the bridge, I was bogged down grinding through his southern defenders while my armour support was apparently terrified of getting its paint scratched.

End of German turn 4

To be fair progress was being made but to be very fair it wasn't being made anywhere near quickly enough.  Richard also chose this moment to unveil his 57mm atg lurking in the brush near the canal.  That wasn't a surprise, it made short work of my surviving halftrack although the ensuing smoke didn't exactly help its cause.  Richard threw back his head and laughed at the smoke.  We were playing on VASL so I didn't actually see that but I'm assuming he did.  It was the sort of thing I'd do myself.  Then he fired through the smoke (and through my Panther) to kill my inoffensive StuG hiding in the orchards.

End of Allied turn 4

There are no more photos as I was too blinded by tears to take them.  Suffice to say that with two turns to go and my Panther focussed more on the bazooka team sidling up behind them it was down to my infantry to hurl themselves recklessly against the defenders and hope for luck.

Hurl themselves recklessly they did (I'm more suited to World War I generalship than World War II to be honest).  My men fought, crumbled and died.  The survivors almost reached the canal bank but it was a last gasp.  Meanwhile the Panther having failed to hurt the bazooka team with either its MA or machine guns dutifully erupted into flames when a rocket went up its rear.  No that's not innuendo you just have a filthy mind.  Battered and mangled I gave the concession while I still had a few troops alive.  In truth I obsessed over the well being of the Panther so much that I didn't really use it for anything productive.  Many thanks to Richard for the game which at least appeared competitive for a few turns.  I tend to be foolishly reckless with my armour.  On this occasion I was foolishly cautious.  Who says I'm not versatile.

Major von Misseltow stared at the battlefield in dismay.

"Should we send for vehicle reinforcements?"

"Hell no," replied Lueger, "I've got orders to fill."

Von Misseltow sent the retreat order while Lueger gazed at the wrecked vehicles speculatively.

"Can I interest you in a slightly shop soiled PSW 232?"

"It's on fire," retorted von Misseltow.

"Ten percent off."

"Make it fifteen."