Von Martin`s last stand
August 1944
Following a thread over on “The Friends of Rapid Fire!” Facebook page about German units equipped with old French tanks in Normandy, I thought this could make an interesting one-off game, so knocked this up. This is a fictional scenario, which I wrote to pit captured French armour in German service against US troops.
The small hamlet of San Marie de Normandy sits close to the highway west of Gathémo the hamlet is garrisoned by elements of the 1051st Grenadier Regiment (84th Infantry Division) under Major Von Martin. The Major and his command had been tasked during the division`s initial deployment with protecting this stretch of highway to keep the supply chain open to the division.
The 84th Infantry was a reserve formation created from the Ersatzheer with only two infantry regiments, and was poorly equipped, with artillery and support weapons being mostly captured enemy weapons, and limited motor transport. While in Normandy the division had Panzer Abteilung 205 attached with various French vehicles.
The war
has arrived, the Allies have stopped your offensive and have themselves gone
over to the attack all along the front and an American column has been spotted
moving towards San Marie. Your Regimental commander has tasked you delay the
American advance, giving him time to save what he can. In an boost your
defence, the commander has left a small number of old French tanks (which had
been used in anti-partisan work), which probably be couldn`t be withdrawn
successfully anyway. So with this miss match of troops under your command, here
you are, you are not a fanatic but are determined to do your duty.
Kampfgruppe Von Martin
HQ
CO,
2IC, RTO, NCO, 3 runners, 2 Medics, 2 feldpolice, sniper
10 men
(LMG, Panzerfaust)
Pioneer platoon with:
8 men
(flame-thrower)
Attached support weapons
20mm
Breda + crew
Hotchkiss
MMG team
Pak97/38
+ crew
Ersatz tank platoon with:
Ft-17
Somua
S-35
2
Renault R-35
You have a small number of mines enough for two low density mixed fields 3x2”
You
command a column from the 9th Cavalry (9th Infantry Division). Air recon have informed your commander
that the village of San Marie de Normandy ahead is probably occupied and you
have been tasked to investigate and eliminate any such unit. Local French
civilians have informed your scouts the Germans are in full retreat and of low
morale, but you are under orders not to take any chances with your men, air
support is available if required.
American forces
Team
Hitch
HQ
CO,
2IC, 2 RTO, NCO, French scout (carried in halftrack)
M20
Armoured car
M8 HMC
2 recce troops with:
M5 Lt tank
M8
armoured car
2 Jeeps
(one w/.50cal) 6 men
Armoured
infantry platoon with:
10 men
(inc BAR) carried in halftrack
Arrives over the table on turn 8
1 x P47 Thunderbolt
This can deliver one bombing attack and then circle around to deliver a strafing run as required.
Turn 15
Elements
of 2nd Armoured
Tank
destroyer section
1 x M10
Tank
platoon
2 x M4
2 x
Armd infantry platoons, each with:
10 men
(inc BAR) in half-track
The Americans decided to deploy one troop along the road and the other
cross country
Turn 1 saw them advance without incident, the Germans quietly wait their arrival
The other R-35 fires on the M8 advancing cross country but misses, return fire from the M8 and M5 both either miss or fail to penetrate!
Turn 3 sees the troops moving cross country engaging the R-35 hidden
among the trees, neither side manages a hit. The recce infantry dismount and
begin to deploy. On the road the M5 and R-35 exchange fire both hit but fail to
penetrate, the recce infantry on the road also dismount.
Turn 4 bad turn for the Yanks, the M8 going cross country is knocked out
The recce infantry come under machine gun and sniper fire
On the road the R-35 once again hits the M5 (no effect) but the M5s 37mm
jams! I rule the crew must make a morale check at the end of the turn – facing an
opposing tank without a gun!! They fail badly and abandon their tank!
Turn 5 the cross country M5 exchanges fire with the R-35 and manages to knock it out
Unfortunately the Germans throw forward their Somua and the Ft17 moves
out from cover to attack the recce infantry too
On the road the Yanks call down artillery on the T-junction to try and knock out that R-35
Turn 6 on the left the recce infantry are forced to ground by concerted MG and sniper fire, the Somua and M5 exchange fire (both fail to penetrate).
The farm at the junction is smashed by 105mm fire
Turn 8 The US HQ troop joins the troop on the left.
The commander calls down artillery against the Ft17 - overkill much! The
Ft is wiped out!!
The Somua and M5 once again fail to do one another any damage, but the
Pak97/38 has been manhandled by its crew into a firing position and it nails
the M5
The US Airforce arrives over the tabletop
The recce infantry by the road have moved forward and have now reached
the junction.
Turn 9 the P47 targets the Somua and wipes it out with a precise bomb strike
US artillery hits the first on the village buildings wiping out the Hotchkiss team
At the junction the recce infantry move in and attack the Pak97/38 from
the flank and wipe out its crew
At this point with the Germans have no tanks left, the Breda AA has jammed. But the Yanks don`t have enough infantry to storm the village. So they spend several turns plastering it with artillery and call in another P47 strike, while they await the arrival of 2nd Armoured, which I feel is an historic way to finish the game.
