BG Market-Garden Campaign Weekend Event - May 2018

See you all there

I cannot commit yet, because of work, but am interested.

Nick - Steve Black here, I live in Chester now and will be going, there is a spare bed here if you can make it!

Hi Steve, the sjb was a bit of a combat indicator! Missed you at Chester Zoo today!

A bed would be great, will have to wait a few weeks for work program,

Love to Clo

Yikes - forgot how you intel wallahs know and see all!

Oh dear, joys of the job, phone call this morning, off somewhere hot on Friday, for 5 weeks!

We just spent the afternoon setting up the tables. They are looking very good indeed. Looking forward to a great weekend of gaming with some hard fought battles.

Cheers, Andy

Knowing my luck so far I'll end up fighting you again!

Only if you're very, very lucky. Or maybe if I'm very lucky. My puny half tracks don't like 30 corps very much!

Hope it all goes well Chaps.

Brilliant weekend - I somehow managed to be the only undefeated allied player dishing out a couple of malletings and being 3 off breaking when my opponent went in the third. Will definitely do more of these, massive credit to Warwick for the effort in organising it all.

Looking forwards to a photo report!

Well, the games were pretty intense this weekend.  These pictures show some images of my first game with Ian, the recce screen scenario somewhere outside Oosterbeek, with British paratroopers scouting the way to reinforce the bridge at Arnhem and an SS Armoured Recce platoon trying to find and stop them.

The battlefield, isolated farm houses and a church, set amongst open fields and woodland.  The British main force came on in the far left corner, while the German main force deployed from the near right.


With only recce on table for 5 turns, the single armoured Sdkfz 222 dealt with the optimistic recce jeep and scout section attempting to take the central objective in the woods.  The other recce jeep and scout section skulked in the woods on the right.


The SS rapidly built up their forces once the mainforce arrived.  The FHQ in an Sdkfz 251/3 advanced to the central farm and debussed, quickly setting up their FHQ and OP in the stone walled farmhouse.  As they arrived, Stugs and Sdkfz 250/1s fanned out to both flanks, attempting to hem the paratroopers in their deployment corner.


The paratroopers were slower to deploy, occupying the church and woods beyond, while pushing a nuisance value PIAT team into the woods in front of the church.  The biggie was a 6pdr deployed in the churchyard to the right of the church.


The SS battlegroup build up continues with armour the paratroopers aren't equipped to deal with.  The 6pdr failed to brew up the 222 and was then taken out by mortar fire and return 20mm autocannons from the 222 - touche!


Mortar fire whittled down the paratroopers, while their radio sets were damp and their comms checks failed them.


When time was called, the paratroopers were close to breaking, while the Germans had taken 2 chits worth 5 points, so the SS had won a decisive victory and the paratroopers would need another route to relieve the defenders at the bridge in Arnhem.

In the afternoon, I played Warwick with the same SS battlegroup taking on a glider infantry platoon battlegroup.  This was a really intense affair played in the town of Veghel, with no quarter offered or taken on either side.  Losses were heavy, but I was 2 points off breaking when Warwick's losses pushed him past his breakpoint, so the narrowest of victories and Hell's Highway was very tentatively cut.  Sadly, no pictures at all of this game!!

There are pictures of the tables on my blog https://sedimentswargameblog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/battlegroup-market-garden-weekend-part-1.html  I have a few more pictures of the second day's gaming, which I'll post up as soon as I get them organised.

Cheers, Andy

so good looking..
looks like you had a lot of fun.
Any other piccs available?

dare asking what the cloth is? thanks

Hi Lads,

More pictures on my instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BisS5RhFXZ2/?taken-by=salehvonen
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiuALKGFWIN/?taken-by=salehvonen

BR,
Sami

Great photos Sami, thanks for sharing.  I didn't realise your battlegroup was 9th SS.  I used a 9th SS armoured recce platoon as the basis of mine, before I switched to sailors for the final game.

My day 2 game photos and AAR.
Sunday (Day 2) saw me playing only one game, a basic attack-defence scenario.  Again 500 points a side.  I was drawn to play Andy, who was fielding a battlegroup from 30 Corps, which seemed to consist of a motorised infantry platoon in half tracks, supported by a pair of Achilles tank destroyers, a Vickers MMG and some engineers, backed up by a battery of 25 lbrs.  For this game, I rested the SS armoured recce platoon, severely mauled by Warwick's US glider infantry the previous day, and turned instead to a platoon of sailors, which I upgraded to regulars.  These were supported by a sniper, 4 Stug IIIGs, an armoured assault pioneer squad in an Sdkfz 251/1 and an Sdkfz 251/16, backed up with a dedicated 120mm mortar battery, plus a times strike from a battery of 105mm howitzers.



Our table was at the Eindhoven end of Hells Highway and comprised the road (Hells Highway), lined by buildings just to the rear of 30 Corps defence line and a canal on the German right (top of photo).  Andy rolled a 7 for on board deployment and put two Achilles between buildings facing the German table edge, the Vickers in a building on the extreme German left and assorted engineers and command elements in various buildings along the road and around the bridge.  On turn 1, my timed howitzer strike and mortars hit and pinned everything on the board bar the Vickers and some HQ units.  Unfortunately, my Stugs couldn't hit a thing.  Andy couldn't do a great deal, so lifted pin markers for two chits, although his pre-registered target in the woods pinned my sniper - he was to stay effectively pinned for most of the game.   Ambush fire from the other Achilles immobilised a Stug, but then the two Stugs replied and dealt with the Achilles, which burned, the other was pinned again.
 
Turn 3 saw German reserves rushing on in the form of the assault engineers and 251/16, as well as an arty spotter and some sailors.  The sailors advanced through the woods on the German right, while 120mm mortars pinned the remaining Achilles.  The assault engineers pushed their half tracks down the left flank, closing with the Vickers team.  The Stugs advanced to close the range with the other Achilles, while the heavy mortars pinned it.  The British replied with more 25lbr fire and a battery of 4.5" guns (I think that's what he rolled up), plus a timed Typhoon strike, but these only pinned the FHQ and sniper, again.  By turn 4, the 251 carrying the assault engineers was able to hose the Vickers team with MG fire, causing enough casualties for them to flee.  The Stugs opened up on the Achilles, which tried to reply with ineffective AP shots at the Stug using ambush fire - the British commander had to take a chit to unpin for the Achilles to fire.  German reserves came on including 2 Stugs with sailor tank riders, plus some supply train trucks.  Finally, in Turn 5, the Stugs were able to deal with the last Achilles, which left very little AT capability for the Brits.  The two assault pioneers Hannomags went on reserve move, while the 120mm mortars pounded the engineers in the buidlings around the bridge.  The British reserve half tracks also came on but there weren't enough orders to get them moving.  Next turn, the Germans issued a general advance with Stugs and sailors moving out on the right and the assault pioneers half tracks reserve moving up to within range of the remaining British engineers by the bridge.  The German artillery spotters moved the heavy mortars onto the reserve half tracks, pinning 1 and KO'ing another of them, while the 251/16 jetted flame to left and right, incinerating engineers in both buildings.  The British moved the last mobile half track forward and debussed a PIAT team and section, which occupied the nearest building, but only to have them incinerated by the 251/16, along with a handful of surviving British engineers, forcing enough chits to break the 30 Corps battlegroup.  Again, it was a hectic battle and I took very few pictures.

Here, towards the end of the game, sailors on foot and riding on Stugs advance towards the buildings around the canal bridge.



This view shows the 251/16 just in front of the bridge, which has sprayed fire to left and right, effectively neutralising the occupants of both the grey and red buildings.  The 251/1 with assault engineers waits slightly behind in case they are needed.  In the foreground a Stug waits on reserve move, to swing around and line up on the half tracks in the British rear (far left).





Once again, the games were too hectic to take many pictures, but there are a few random pics of other games on my blog https://sedimentswargameblog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/battlegroup-market-garden-weekend-part-2.html

Lots of fun, thanks to Warwick for organising and to all the players for making it such a great weekends gaming.

Cheers, Andy