To kick of the attack known as Operation VERITABLE, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, supported by the 3rd Armoured Battalion of the Scots Guards, was ordered to take the hilly ground around Louisendorf, south of Moyland. This would protect the right flank of the main attack by the Regina Rifle Regiment, which was to force its way north and east, towards the Rhine, and sever the Goch-Kolcar road, thus splitting Panzer-Division 116 into two parts that would no longer be able to support one another. The Winnipeg Rifles, supported by Churchills, left their assembly area near Bedburg in Kangaroo carriers and headed across the dreary fields towards Louisendorf.
Attacker: Canadian (Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Scots Guards)
Defender: German (Panzergrenadier-Regiment 60, Panzer-Division 116 "Windhund")
7 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:12.0 D:9.0
AFVs: A:7
Churchill VII x 3 Badger(a) Ram Kangaroo(a) x 3
D:2
JgdPz V SPW 251/sMG
Guns: A:0
OML 2-in. Mortar
D:1
8cm GrW 34
Misc Rules:
A: Rams Recalled after Passenger unloading or Turn 4 at latest
Map Board(s):
64
67
Overlays:
NONE
Errata (source)
The Scot Guards were never called "CanScots". This appears to be a misunderstanding of the source material. The CanScots were the 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment, a sister infantry unit to the Winnipeg Rifles in the 3rd Canadian Division. They did not have tanks. The Scots Guards, on the other hand, did have a tank regiment in NW Europe. They are correctly identified in the order of battle, but not in the aftermath and prelude sections.
canadiansoldiers.com
Clarification: turn 7 counts as a full game turn for VC purposes.
Pete Shelling
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:
In this late war 1945 shoot out a tough British force of Elite infantry supported by three Chruchill tanks, a flame throwing Badger and three Kangaroo APCs have to take on a village which is well defended by a capable German infantry force it is dangerous to get close to with all its 1945 inherent anti-tank capability. 24 Mine factors that may be exchanged for AT Mines and a 81mm MTR help the defence. In German Turn 3, the Germans get reinforcements in the form of one Jagdpanther and a SPW 251/sMG.
The victory conditions are somewhat complicated: The British need to accumulate 17 VP by a combination of Stone Building Control per end of Game turn, Control of Building 64L5 at game end, more infantry than the Germans (calculated at exit VP) north of the 64A6-M8-P7 giving 3VP, elimination of German AFV and preventing the elimination of own AFV (EXC: Kangaroos).
My opponent opted for a hard direct push into the village using the RAMs loaded with a minimum HS (to prevent their recall) to freeze my German defenders and to open up paths for a quick approach of his infantry.
This, of course, forced the Germans to deal with the RAMs and a flurry of PFs took all three of them out in the first two turns. My AP-Minefields did a good job of slowing the British down and I believe he stepped into every last one of them to some effect and some delay. His evil Badger burned one of my 468+MMG combos early on but set on fire a building with this shot.
The combination of burning Kangaroo Wrecks, Mines and eventually Blazes limited some ways to push into the village and created some problems to bring his flame throwing Badger to bear.
The Germans were under tough pressure all over the place and could not afford to exchange squads one for one. On the other hand, they cannot give up the village too early to prevent British VP to accumulate too early. The German needs to consider carefully when it is time to fall back at the same time preventing their units to be caught in CC or with rout paths cut off.
The extremely aggressive attack by the British left me hardly any choice but to fire everything I had, which of course had some effect and broke numerous British units. I managed to destroy the first Churchill and the menacing Badger ran out of flame-liquid on its third shot to be recalled. Altogether, I just barely had the edge in this extremely vicious frighting which allowed me to tenaciously hold on to some buildings and to buy some time delaying the British.
Nevertheless, the British pushed on relentlessly. Meanwile, wind had started and a Mild Breeze was blowing dispersed smoke from the burning wrecks and a building through the village. This Smoke partly helped the Germans by impeding British fire but on the other hand allowed the British to move ADJACENT to the Germans daring Point Blank fire. To avoid getting caught in CC, I had to resort to voluntarily breaking some squads and to leave the British the unenviable task to move ADJACENT to Point Blank Fire again. The high morale of the Germans, Leader modifier and Woods/Building TEM and that bit of luck managed to bring back some important units in the immediately following Rally Phases. A British squad had meanwhile engaged my MTR crew in CC at 2:1 odds but could not bring about a decision.
During British Turn 3, my Germans in the village held a horse-shoe position in L5, L6, K7, J6, and J5. The British pressed on stubbornly, losing the second Churchhill to a PSK and receiving some punishment. The third Churchill had broken through and tried to cut Rout Paths behind the village. Still I somehow contrieved to avoid most CCs.
In German Turn 3, there was no ground left within the village to fall back to and as the British had just taken a beating, I took the chance to pull out with all German infantry that could. Left in the village was a German 467 in Melee with a British 458 & 9-1, my pillar of defense, the 8-1+PSK & 468+MMG & Broken Squad, and my Mortar Crew still surviving in Melee against a British 458. My sMG Halftrack moved in to unload its inherent HS with the AAMG (as a HMG) into the back-victory building, and take firing position towards the village. The Jagdpanther stopped in LOS of the last remaining Churchill and gained acquisition in the AFPh. An activated Sniper broke the British squad in Melee with my Mortar Crew, which in turn killed it when it attempted to withdraw from Melee. Improbably, my 81mm MTR was back in action.
British Turn 4 saw some of his troops rallying and an important squad with MMG of mine. By now, the British situation had become quite challenging as many Germans had managed to extricate themselves from the village. My opponent decided that the only way to turn this would be the continuation of reckless pressure paired with some luck. But it was not to be: My Jagdpanther killed the last Churchill, so all British AFV were dead and the Badger recalled. My MTR and the crucial stack nearby just stopped cold anyone trying to move adjacent lethally wounding a leader - except for the British Hero & Company who could not bring their FP to bear due to firing out of SMOKE. During the Rout Phase, one broken German squad was eliminated for Failure to rout (or No Quarter), but the same fate awaited a broken British 8-1 & squad. In CC, my HS on the left of the village got killed, but it took the British 9-1 with him, leaving the British without any surviving leaders. The British Hero & company moved in to finish off my valorous key 8-1 & 468+MMG, but they gacked their Ambush Roll with a 6 while I rolled a 2 and elected to withdraw and would be starting my next turn ADJACENT for a 18 flat shot.
At the end of the British CCPh of his Turn 4, my opponent conceded. Looking at the dice statistics, we found out that I had an extremely low average for the last 1,5 game turns with 6.15 for 61 rolls. It was an incredibly tense game and it has been some time since I have had to fend off such a vicious and relentlessly aggressive attack.
Fun scenario, recommendable.
2019-11-30
(A) Jason Wert
vs
Robert MacGinley
Canadian win
CyberASL XII Match
2019-10-05
(D) Kermit Mullins
vs
Dan Best
Canadian win
Fun game that was hot and furious from Turn 1. Dan’s Canadians came straight at me. By the end of Turn 2, I had bloodied Dan, but he nearly annihilated me in the process. I conceded on a Turn when the writing was on the wall.
