Dover Counter Attack - Pictures

 The game was played 18/5/08 at John's house. I provided the Germans, John the British infantry and half the Matildas. The other half and the Valentines came from my collection John played the Brits and I the Germans

The Irish Guards Training Battalion line the escarpment overlooking Lyddon. John's first move was to charge about half the battalion to seize Lyddon, a move which caught me off balance. The rest of the guars formed a roadblock on the A2. Airfix Bofors and Tractor

 

1 Kompanie Panzer Abteilung B climbs up the escarpment along the A2. Friend or Foe PzKfw-IIIE and MMS PzKfw-IIC

 

Stab Voraus Abteilung Bismarck just north of Lyddon. Matchbox SdKfz-251 and converted PzBefWg-III

 

Recce for the HQ Company of 44th RTR (JB Mk-VIb and Airfix Universal Carrier). In the first turn John charged these cross country to support the Guard's attack on Lyddon

 

The Recce approached Lyddon. Luckily for me my first reinforcement roll was the rest of the Panzers. Luckily for the Mk-VIb I was more concerned with stopping the guards getting into the buildings in Lyddon than shooting the light tank

 

2 Kompanie 8 MG Abt moves to support the FLIVO. As he needed to spot a Matilda before he could call the Stuka it seemed a good idea to push him as far forward as possible to spot the tanks as early as possible

 

Having bypassed the Guards left defending the A2 1 Kp Pz Abt B confronts the Matildas of C Company 44th RTR. The result was a forgone conclusion. One of the panzers burned, though they did manage to make a Matilda fall back. All Matildas are Airfix.

 

The onslaught of the 44th RTR starts in earnest. C coy 48th RTR ca be seen moving along the A2 in the background

 

C Company 48th RTR. Valentines are Fujimi models with the sand skirts hacked off. The "A20E1" is a Hasegawa Churchill I hull with an SHQ Matilda turret on top

 

242nd LAA engages the machine gunners of the 2 Kp 8 MG Abt. The Germans were winning the battle until the Mk-VIb light tank reinforced the Bofors

 

Panzer Abt B concentrated and awaiting the British armour

 

Confrontation: a battle in which the Germans came off much worse. the PzKfw-IVE (Vac-U-Cast) was shot by the Matildas. The PzKfw-IIC was shot by the Bofors. The remaining PzKfw-IIIG failed it morale and went shaken. The Germans managed to kill nothing

 

C Coy 48th RTR spreads out either side of the A2

 

 

2 Kompanie 2 Fallschirmjäger Abt confront the last of the Guards to the south of the A2 (Guess who forgot to bring his FJ figures?) The attack initial was less than successful and most of the FJ fell back in to the woods. The Northover projector is scratch built.

 

German air support finally arrives and bombs the endless stream of Matildas - ineffectually. It had no morale effect either, John's morale dice not exceeding 2 all game for his tanks.

 

Airfix Ju-87B

 

OC Dover rallies the first set of stragglers to sneak past Lyddon. The PzKfw-II moves up to make sure they don't stay rallied for long. By this time the PzKfw-II and the PzJgr-I (Fujimi) are the only remaining German tanks in good morale. The British have lost no tanks

 

The German front line crumbles

 

 

Matildas of C Company forge forward. The victory conditions pretty much oblige the British to advance flat out as the Matilda isn't the most speedy of tanks. The shaken PzKfw-IIIG narrowly misses being shot up the bum but it only postpones the inevitable.

 

First German kill. A very lucky shot form the Panzerjäger nails the A20E1. The victory celebrations would be short lived however

 

PaK-36 (Matchbox) of the 3 Kp 8 MG Abt awaits the British tanks. Tractor is a Cromwell SdKfz-10

 

HQ 21st Armoured Brigade leads yet more British tanks. MMS A13

 

88mm abandoned in Lyddon. The crew, shot by a Vickers machine gun, ran off. The PaK-36 awaits the arrival of the Valentines circling south of the town

 

C Company is the first to arrive on the outskirts of Lyddon despite fairly constant Stuka bombardment.. The German stand is the commander for the 88mm, who is shortly to run to the rear to order the gunners forward once more.

 

Although the gunners did manage to reach their gun they were pulverised by the last Stuka of the game, I was desperate enough to call the Stuka in on the Matildas and John rolled the deviation dice. The burning Valentine was the victim of the PaK-36, which was in turn shot-up by the Matilda

 

HQ 21st Armoured Brigade oversees the German defeat in Lyddon

 

A good victory for the British, the Germans were very hard put to kill any British tanks and it was a tough battle for them. Very enjoyable though and I believe that they had a fair chance of victory. In the latter part of the game John was very lucky with his morale roles and my shooting often left something to be desired. With good combined arms and a little luck I believe that the Germans have a good chance of causing the British many morale problems. The Tommies pretty much have to hasty advance every turn to make their victory conditions. A few shaken results and they could have been struggling to get enough tanks to the end of the board.

Back to Scenario