Panzer Battles Normandy - AAR, Part 3: The German Counterattack in a Crescendo

0730

I have given up the initiative in my west flank. With "The Factory" objective secure and the demands on keeping it on our hands are more than what the Calgary Highlanders can take. The German armor and the infantry south of the objective are the telltales of an impending assault on the objective. I can't afford to lose it.

Another indirect fire mission is called on the grenadiers and support troops (highlighted red) directly south of objective "The Factory".

This is game play from the soon to be released Panzer Battles Normandy. Graphics and game play functionality are subject to change. The briefing for this scenario can be found here. For a better view of the screenshots, right click and open in a new tab. Short entry tonight again, lads. Day job is being quite a ride lately!

In our center, the Black Watch Regiment is experiencing some serious delays. Not only one of their infantry-tank assaults fails, but also they are under fire from multiple enemy dugouts. The Germans are giving us a tough lesson about the virtues of interlocking fires. 

The results of an assault by troops from the Black Watch Regiment and Cromwell tanks from the 1st Royal Tank Regiment. "No Effect" means no effect on the attackers (i.e. no casualties, increase in fatigue or decrease in morale) and "5 men" means that the defenders lost 5 men during the attack. That particular position lasted for an extra half an hour.

Forming up for our attack on Verrieres, we move Sherman tanks through a wide depression that ends east of the objective. They were later used in support by fire missions during the assault.

Composite image edited with a third party image processing software. The left panel shows the move of Sherman tanks from the 1st Hussars Regiment and from the Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment. No contact with the enemy but for a brief exchange of fire with the German engineers at the military crest of the ridge. On the right panel, all the tanks are east of Verrieres. The German infantry (arrowhead) let us pass without firing, their location and presence only to be unveiled by our infantry. Buttoned up tanks are prodigiously blind, just make sure to keep some infantry around them.

Closing up on Verrieres. Thanks to the suppressive fire of tanks north and east of the objective, the enemy keeps his head down for the most part. However, the arrival of German armor in the vicinity of Rocquancourt has an immediate effect on part of the forces that will support the assault on the objective. The mid-range fire of the German tanks (one unit highlighted red) scores some hits. Fortunately, the village of Verrieres hides most of my assaulting teams and their supporting armor.

More German armor on the east! The krauts didn't spare a minute assembling a counterattack.

To be continued ...