Tonight Peter and I played a game as part of Operation Sealion, a world wide ‘what if’ campaign being run by the WWPD guys focussing on the seaborne invasion of the United Kingdom. This fictitious fight is taking place between the the Panzer Lehr and the 101st Airborne supported by the Irish Guards.

Here’s my force (built using the excellent EasyArmy.com) –

I wanted to have a mobile army with a good combination of infantry, tanks and artillery. I also wanted to help protect my tanks from aircraft, hence the mobile AA guns.

Here’s Peter’s army –

We decided to set this battle in Somerset, one of the contested areas on the current campaign map. We played the Cauldron mission with Peter’s infantry force defending from my mechanised infantry.

After Action Report
The 101st were dug in on the outskirts of Kingsbury Episcopi with both tank and artillery support in close proximity. The German forces approached from the south with reports coming in of mechanised infantry approaching fast along with Panzer support. The Airborne artillery came under rocket attack almost at the same time the Panzers opened up on the Shermans and Fireflys. While the artillery were unscathed one Firefly was disabled and another bogged down attempting to maneuver to return fire. One Panzer was knocked out by return fire and German tanks moved to better conceal their position. Over the next few minutes they knocked out the remaining tanks while rockets continued to rain down on the Anti-tank platoon.

In the meantime half-tracks began to approach from the South-west and South-east. Those in the South-west skirted around the town and moved quickly to connect up with the other German forces. The mounted troops int he South-east moved to threaten the artillery. In the meantime more allied armour arrived from the south, catching the Panzers off guard and wiping them out. More German forces began to arrive as the mounted infantry attacked the Anti-tank position. Their assault was initially repulsed by focussed defensive fire, but the Germans regrouped and took the position.

In the south a bloody fight broke out between Airborne infantry and recently dismounted German forces. The Americans overcame their foe, including killing the German commander, but took heavy casualties. The Shermans and Fireflys that had destroyed the Panzers moved to fire on the German infantry who were just moving into the fields to the east of the town. The troops holding the town took the opportunity to engage the enemy and routed them. The allied armour fired on two approaching AA guns, taking them out. The Germans withdrew from the field having taken significant casualties.

That was a fun game. Peter won out 4:3. We spotted early on that he had left one of the objectives barely defended. I could have pushed aggressively for it, but it might have been a very short game. As it was I really enjoyed the game. Somehow I even like Flames of War when I lose!

Until next time,

Owen