Iconic German Panthers vs British Artillery in the snow
My fifth game of the NATC 2016 (MW 1650) was against Roger and his beautifully painted British Armoured Car squadron. The mission was Pincer which meant I was going to be attacking veteran British Guns who were dug in and hidden in the many woods Also, it was on a snow board where everything was going to be moving a slow going speed. Good thing is it would slow down Roger's cars more than my infantry.
Big Willie's Pioneers
OC and 2IC
Full Armoured Pioneers
Half Trucked Pioneers
Armoured Mortars
4 x 7.62 Marders
2 x 8-Rads
2 x 2cm SP AA trucks
2 x Panthers
Rogers Armoured Cars
OC and 2IC in Humbers
Recce ptl light
Recce ptl light
Recce ptl heavy
Recce ptl heavy
3 x Shermans
4 x 6 pdrs AT guns
8 x 25 pdrs with observers and battery commander in Stuarts
Set Up
Objectives are in the woods far right and in the woods back right by the building
6 pdrs dug in, OC and 2IC with an observer protecting one objective
25 pdrs dug in around the other objective
Marders and the trucked pioneers ready to advance
Half tracks ready to use the road while Panthers advance on the left flank
Turn 1
Marders and pioneers advance behind a hill while the remaining pioneers decide to walk vs driving down the well covered road
Panthers advance on the left without issue
Turn 2
Panthers continue to advance supported by infantry advancing through the woods
A mortar half track is in the open and hit by 6 pdr fire while 8-Rads break contact
Pioneers move into an abandoned house as they advance
Turn 3
Pioneers advance through the woods and take out one of the observers, losing a stand to defensive fire
Flame throwers get closer to the 6 pdrs
Turn 4
Pioneers continue to edge closer
The Marders and pioneers advance on the right flank at the same time
The 25 pdrs smoke off the Panthers to avoid taking full rate of fire
Turn 5
Panthers move up and attempt to hit the 25 pdrs with no luck
The Pioneers move closer to the 6 pdrs on two sides
The first Armoured Car reserves arrive and take out a stand of pioneers
Turn 6
The pioneers launch their attack on the 6 pdrs, taking out the platoon, OC and 2IC!
Armoured cars attempt to get flank shots on the Marders
The combined fire take out 3 Marders but the platoon stays
Turn 7
Panthers try again to take out the 25 pdrs
The German mortars drop smoke to help the Marders break contact
The timely arrival of British reserves has reinforced the objective at a critical point
Turn 8
The Shermans search for new targets but fail to hit the 8-Rads
The Panthers begin to move around the dug in guns in an attempt to engage the Shermans
25 pdrs prepare to fire over open sights at the 8-Rads
Turn 9
The fighting in the forest gets bloody as the pioneers and Panthers attempt to take out the Shermans but only bail one
More Armoured Cars arrive from reserves and begin playing cat and mouse with the 8-Rads
Turn 10
Panthers continue to move to not expose their flank armour to the seasoned British troops
Turn 11
Panthers are unable to destroy the Shermans while the Armoured Cars bail an 8-Rad
Turn 12
The British continue to pull back in the face of the Panthers but they are successful in stopping the Germans!
I lost this game 4-3 having taken out both the 6 pdrs and some Armoured Cars. I learned just how good flame throwers can be in the hands of veterans. Roger did a great job with his defence and was able to hold me back. I would have pushed the Panthers up the centre to enable taking out the 6 pdrs sooner and kept the Marders back to take out the Armoured Cars as they came out of reserves. Rogers army was very well painted and I took some more pictures so everyone could enjoy the Army.
Group Shot of the army
Armoured Cars complete with marking, antennas and pennants
25 pdrs with Stuart observers
More Armoured Cars
Nice battle report... I saw the Brits at the event and agree with your compliment on the painting!
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