British 8th Army Infantry vs German Shrutzen in Dust Up

British anti-tank guns form a thin red line

The final game of teh Enbicon 2015 1390 EW tournament was against Mitch.  Mitch is part of the New Minas gaming crew that drove down for the event. The game was played on a densely wooded table and we were both playing infantry companies.  The mission was Dust Up and it promised to be a real slugfest with more an a few assaults.

Big Willie`s British 8th Army Infantry
OC and 2IC
Full platoon with sticky bombs
Full platoon with sticky bombs
Full platoon with sticky bombs
2 x HMG platoon
2 x 8`` mortar platoon
3 x Bren carriers
4 x 2 pdrs AT guns
4 x 18/25 pdrs
Hurricane intercept support

Mitch`s German Shrutzen
OC and 2IC with knackers
Full Grenadier platoon
Full Grenadier platoon
4 x MG34 platoon
3 x mortar platoon
2 x PaK 38 platoon
2 x 8-Rads
1 x 88 with extra crew
Priority Stuka support

Set Up

German objectives are far right in the wood and far right on the road by the hedgerow. Brit objectives are on the road in front of the church and behind last building on the left

Brits ready to advance and stop the reinforcements under the watchful eye of the guns

Guns and infantry ready to advance near the other objective

Germans ready to wade into the woods to root out the Brits

8-Rads on the by one a Brit objective

Turn 1

Brits surge forward hopping to the next wood heading towards their objectives

More Brits advance into another wood where German reinforcements are expected

Germans infantry and 8-Rads advance using woods as cover

Germans take up the perimeter around the church to cover both objectives

Turn 2

Guns drop shells on the advancing Germans knocking out two stands

Brits have taken up position in the woods while the 8-Rads probe their position

Brits continue to push towards their objective while the Germans try and outflank them

Turn 3

The guns fire again but this time have no effect

2 pdrs start to swing around to get the 8-Rads as they have no HE to fire at the advancing infantry

Newly arrived from reserves the HMG platoon sets up in the woods ready to support the eventual assault on the forces around the church

Turn 4

The final Brit rifle platoon arrives spread out in case of aircraft and advances on the church to act as the assault force

Brits wary of the MG34s in the left had building and the open ground they need to cover wait patiently for the signal to advance

The 2 pdrs and 8-Rads continue to play cat and mouse

Brit infantry open fire on the AT guns knocking the platoon commander

Turn 5

Brits from reserve approach the church through the wood line

German infantry attempt to get the drop of the Brits only to lose a stand and the assault is driven off

Turn 6

The Germans unpin and relaunch their assault this time taking out a large number of the Brits before being wiped out, the German OC is carried away in the route

Near the church the Brits faired much better breaking the assault with defensive fire and then finishing off the platoon

At this point the Bren carriers had swung around to the far objective while the 18/25 pdrs had knocked out the 8-Rads who had doubled behind their position.  So it ended up being a 6-1 win for the British 8th Army.  Mitch had a solid plan and had he not attempted to set up his assaults a little more the game would have been very different