Corking the Chambois Bottle WTO (id:#66363)
(ASL Journal #13 ID: J209)   [next]   [previous]
Chambois, France 1944-08-20 ()
Designer: Ron Duenskie
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
German/German (SS)American/Polish
57.142857142857%

Overview:

By the end of July, after weeks of stalemate in the Norman bocage, the Allies finally achieved the breakout for which they had sought. This rapid advance quickly led to the formation of an immense pocket near Falaise, where the German 7.Armee and 5.Panzer-Armee faced entrapment and annihilation. Realizing the danger, German commanders ordered an all-out withdrawal to the east. The escape route contained two key features that control of would be vital. The first was the high ground around Mont Ormel; the second was the crossroads and bridge at Chambois. The Polish 1st Armoured Division were ordered to take both. They linked up with the American 2nd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division and organized their defenses.
Attacker: German/German (SS) (Panzer-Division 116 with SS-Panzer-Division 12 "Hitlerjugend" and Infanterie-Division 353)
Defender: American/Polish ((American) 2nd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division and (Polish) 10th Dragoons and 24th Lancers, 1st Armoured Division)  
7.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:31.0 D:17.5
AFVs: A:15
PzKpfw VIE (L) x 2
PzKpfw VG x 3
PzKpfw IVH x 2
PzKpfw IIIH x 2
StuH 42
StuG IIIG
SPW 251/9
SPW 251/1 x 3

AFVs: D:6
Cromwell VII x 3
Achilles(a)
Carrier B x 2

Guns: A:0
5cm leGrW 36 x 2
D:3
OQF 17-Pounder
M1 57mm AT Gun
OML 3-in. Mortar
M2 60mm Mortar

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules:
Overlays: X14 X15 X16 X18 X19
Errata (source)
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:

Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2025-01-30(D) Jeff B vs John Fedoriw German/German (SS) win11.75 hrsI was very concerned about a strong western entry, and also control of the high ground, and thus set up about 2/3 of my Polish infantry in and around the hill. They were joined by a spattering of Americans as well, including the mortar and HMG. I also placed both the big mortar and AT gun here, and this perhaps proved to be my biggest undoing as they were out of position most of the game. The defender's main problem lies in lack of bodies vs. terrain they must defend. I figured if I could slow his entry down enough it'd buy me the time I needed to wind the clock down. What I didn't plan on, especially with their plethora of leaders, was how easily the Germans would be able to navigate the deep stream. A side product of this overabundance of leaders is how quickly the Germans will be able to multiply their force by deploying. Starting with a near 2:1 numerical advantage as it is, this will only get worse. Then there's the armor. Here the ratio is almost 3:1 German and, with the only decent AT weapons being the two 76LLs the Poles possess, a stand-up armor fight should prove futile. You can keep him guessing with dummy AFVS to slow his progress, which I did, but this will only get you so far, Sure the Allies have some LATWs, but no prudent German commander will allow these to be a problem. Critique over, on to the action. The first couple turns were spent mostly with the Germans forging the stream on either side (as the bridge was rightly protected), with them facing more contention in the heavily protected west than the east. A bogged tank here, a broken MA there, a lost squad and a few broken bodies, but nothing they couldn't recover from. Another mistake I possibly made was not dismantling my mortar and HMG and falling back on Turn 2 to better terrain when I had the opportunity. But my HMG was in a decent position to continue to keep the German approach respectably slow, so I held tight. Turn 3 saw us each lose a tank, him to a failed repair, me to a horde of German armor. I also lost of bundle of dummies as my cover was starting to be blown, but he still had no idea where any of my HIP guns were, nor my Achilles. The two blobs of Germans continued their push, and they grabbed their first building. Turn 4 saw a StuG sent home with another failed repair, a couple more vehicles bogging in the stream, a squad's worth of Americans lost to fighting, and another two dummy AFVs exposed. Turn 5 proved the real turning point. My Achilles saw an opening to take control of the main road, drove into position, scared a Panther into motion, and then blow out his MA. Almost as important, my two bookending MMGs broke down, never to come back. After I skulked out of the building the Germans grabbed control of their second. And so on Turn 6 the floodgates were open, the Germans surged forward across the street en masse, sleaze-freeing my meager line into submission followed by AFPh breaking, and I conceded. With only two turns left I could've dragged the game out by playing the body block/upper level game, but I felt the result was inevitable and really didn't want to subject either of us to the tedious pain. This game wasn't completely unenjoyable, but in doing this write-up it hammered home just how laboriously grinding it was. Not my cup of tea.
2023-09-06(A) Andy Bagley vs Neil Brunger German/German (SS) winA big, exciting and quite chaotic scenario! I concentrated my attack in the centre and to begin with progress was slow, as I avoided MG and mortar fire straight down the road so had to cross the stream. Things speeded up once my reinforcements appeared, and I was generally successful in keeping the Allied MGs in upper level buildings quiet with smoke. Lots of crazy DRs producing unusual results, including a wind change DR of 12 on the final Allied turn, which blew away all the smoke! So his last-ditch stand in the steeple, where I was relying on an American IFT shot of 12 +6 being unsuccessful suddenly became a 12 +3 IFT shot, which broke most of my units on the level below! So those guys held out, but fortunately I was able to grab another building where the British defenders first went berserk then were eliminated with a couple of lucky HE shots. So I was able to move in to a fourth multi-hex stone building on my final turn to win by the narrowest of margins. Great fun for both sides!
2023-02-26(D) Larry Rohlfing vs Chuck Hammond German/German (SS) win
2023-02-12(A) Eric Partizan Eric vs D German/German (SS) win
View all or balance report
ActionDate
buser333 Added a playing2025-01-31 13:23:51
hoxson1 Modified the gps location2024-10-21 20:48:21
Pte Parts Linked the scenario to ROAR2024-07-02 02:56:51
Larry Added a playing2024-05-29 13:44:46
Andy_Bagley Added a playing2023-09-06 16:19:46
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.60Votes: 5
Views: 0
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 15.2 hours
Recorded Games: 4
Archive recorded plays:
German/German (SS)4
American/Polish0
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Corking the Chambois Bottle [Confirmed]
[A] German 4
[D] Polish (British) 6
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