Action At Authie: ENDEX!

The final round of my Battlegroup: Overlord game came rather unexpectedly as the German mortar section really earned their pay this final round.

Many, many reversals of fortune and this one could have gone either way.  Sorry to say for my Canadian readers, the NNSH left the field at Authie before their were over-run by the 12th SS HJ troops.

It all starts to go downhill as an SS squad occupies the Toll House along the Buron-Authie road and starts raining fire down on the Canadians in the fields below.  Some great shooting takes out the 6 Lb'r crew in one turn, dropping all of the crew members.  To make matters worse, their MG42 section cozies up to the wall at the intersection and pretty much commands the road way.  Efforts by the Canadians to counter them are met with disaster as they KO anything that comes up to them, including the Bren Team from the apple orchard.

HQs squad occupies a small grove near the Toll House.  Their lone panzerfaust gunner earns his Iron Cross today...

 The Canadian armor arrives in the nick of time and starts blasting anything with tracks or wheels.  When those are all killed, they start blasting at the infantry to some decent effect.

Sherbrooke Fusiliers arriving on the field!

 The Germans bring up the rest of their support teams including Panzer-Meyer and the FO.  The mortar sets up in an orchard outside of town and starts shelling all the Canadian squads they can.

Meanwhile Gerry's mortars start to find targets.  The FO is in Authie somewhere!

 The SS Troopers sense victory as the fire from the entrenched Canadians starts to slack after the mortar barrage.  1 squad goes into the apple orchard for a kill!

entering the Apple Orchard

Canadian tanks close in on the objective and the German HQs squad

THe Canadian commander asks for a tank to swing around and help clear out the apple orchard from some unwanted pests!  

 The armor and a Canadian squad arrive but continuously fail their roll to see into the orchard.  Luckily the Germans also fail their roll to close assault into the Canadian positions.  A standoff ensues!

MG42 setting up in the Apple Orchard

German troops cautiously making their way forward.  TARGETS LOS!

Canadian squad reinforcing gets pinned by fire from the Toll-House, visible in the upper part of the picture.

The entrenched Canadians try and over-run the Germans, only to fail their pre-charge MC and become pinned.

 On the other side of the road, as the Canadian armor closes in, radio-operator Stahl preps his Panzer-Faust, takes aim with shaky hands and fires.  It's a hit!  The Sherman is hit and explodes with no crewmen emerging.  The platoon leader gives Stahl a pat on the back and returns to the task at hand...

Sherman approaches the objective and the German HQ squad, only to be taken out by a Panzerfaust.

The FO sees more infantry approaching from the north!  He quickly calls up the mortar section 

 Counting up the counters taken by both sides, the Canadians are now at 28 as a result of rallying those squads that constantly became pinned.  The Germans are at 24.  The mortar barrage, if successful, will end the battle for the Canadians...

They roll a direct hit and a pin.  The mortars find targets with devastating efficiency now as the already pinned Canadian squad takes 3 more casualties and fails its morale check.  The game is over and the Canadians withdraw.

Final dispositions as the 8cm mortar barrage starts.

Closer in - you can see this was a close-run affair.

The Toll-House and grove.  Still firmly in the Germans' hands.

FO, radio operator, and Panzer-Meyer directing the fight.

The real German heroes of this battle - the mortar section!

Radio operator Stahl holding his Panzerfaust!

Outside the Apple Orchard in the wheatfield.  Impact markers everywhere!