German Panzer IVs vs German 38(t)s in Pincer

Panzers IVs advance

Technoviking and I got together for a practice game of EW at 1390.  We are both playing Germans so it was a bit of a wargame.  I was playing Germans from Barbrossa and he was playing Germans from Blitzkrieg.  We rolled up Pincer and I tried to do something a little different with a lot of the pictures being black and white.  I hope you like them as much as I do.

Big Willie's German Panzers
OC and 2IC in Panzer IV Cs
2 x Panzer IV C
2 x Panzer IV C
Armored Pioneer platoon
2 x NbW 35 mortars
2 x 8-Rads
2 x SP AA

Technoviking's Germans Panzers
OC and 2IC in 38(t)s
4 x 38(t)s
3 x Panzer IIs
Armor Infantry
3 x Kfz 221
1 x 88 with extra crew
Priority Air with Stuka 87s with bombs

Set Up

Objectives are on the road back centre and behind the hill top right.

Panzer IVs ready to roll out

8-Rads, Pioneers and the recovery track are ready to support

38(t) platoon ready to defend the objective

Turn 1

Panzer IVs surge forward

8-Rads use the road to get on the objective turn 1 only to be pushed back the following turn by the 38(t)s

The Pioneers advance supported by AA

The sky is darkened by a Stuka flight, that loses one of its number to AA and fails to hit anything else

Overview of turn 1

Turn 2

Smoke rounds start dropping on 38(t)s while the Pioneers advance into their attack position

Panzer IVs continue to advance bailing a single 38(t)

The 38(t)s return fire bailing a Panzer IV

OC of the 38(t) Panzers watch as the Panzer IVs advance hindered by Stukas

The Luftwaffe is taken out by the AA guns protecting the Armoured column

Turn 3

The ambush is sprung from the woods but is met with mortar fire knocking out a stand

Panzer IVs knock out 3 x 38(t)s

The Stukas finally arrive but are only able to knock out an AA gun and recovery vehicle while bailing a tank

Turn 4

Panzer IVs destroy the 38(t) OC while the Pioneers move into assault position supported by mortar fire

The Infantry platoon pre-assault with effective indirect fire

The Pioneers completely wipe out the infantry!

The mortar platoon commander watches the battle for the objective from his vantage point

At the beginning of Technoviking's turn 4 he had to take a Company morale check, as he had 2 platoons destroyed and none alive.  The 2IC decided that desecration was the better part of valour and retired from the field. In the end, the Panzer IVs won 6-1. After the game we had a hot wash and discussed how starting with the infantry on the objective and ambushing the with the 38(t)s may have been a more effective deployment.  Also, changing from Priority air support to limited to give him another platoon so he could start with 3 platoons on the table.