Hannut Day 2 Pics

This game was played May 2nd down the Dunstable Generals Club. The lighting in the club ain't great for pics so some of those below are unfortunately less than excellent. Dave, Ian and John were the French with Brian, Mark, Roger and I and the Germans. That put the balance of playing experience on the French side as they looked to have the more challenging task. Most of the kit on display is mine but Dave ably helped with some Germans and French vehicles and some terrain. Ian supplied some nice buildings

The scenario stretched my terrain resources. The sandy tapes represent some of the ridgelines and it appears that the railway has been converted to a cycle path in places about 60 years too early

I/11e Dragoon Portes in their initial positions in Jandrain. Dave's Milicast H-39's on display

3e Escadron 1st Regiment Cuirassiers and elements of the II/11e Dragoon Portes in Orp le Petite. In the distance is the sole French AA gun. SHQ 47mm and Milicast H39's

The heavy company of the II/11e DP guarding the Bridge in Orp le Grande. There's quite a difference between the SHQ 25mm (front) and the Milicast (behind the halftrack). Halftracks are Toms Tins (now Early War Miniatures) the Laffly car is Cromwell

The last part of II/11 DP was set to defend Maret

6e GRCA guarding the French left flank

1e Escadron 1e RC east of Jauch. The French players were very wary of the Luftwaffe. Infantry hid in the towns and those tanks deployed in the open were widely dispersed. FAA S35's

Panzers - thousands of them. A scene to bring terror to the French. Each battalion was lead by a different commander and as can be seen they had different ideas as to whether to lead with the tougher, but more important medium tanks or the weaker but basically expendable light tanks

A low down across the battlefield. Pz-I's are a mix of Fujimi and Nitto. klPzBefWg are mostly Esci/Italeri but the one with the aerial is an Attack model. Pz-II are mostly Matchbox/Revell but there are Nitto and MMS examples mixed in. the Pz-IIb is from Cromwell. The Pz-III are a mix of SHS, FAA and Skytrex. the Pz-IV are mostly Airfix based with a Vac-U-cast example mixed in.

I/5 Panzer Abt brings up the rear

A lucky break for the French. the Armee de l'Air makes a rare appearance turn one. The bombing didn't do much but did delay the panzers for a turn.

Breuget Br369 - Heller kit

While the medium tanks take on the H39's at Orp le Petite, the light panzers of I/6 PR make an outflanking move to the south overseen by the regimental commander

1e Escadron 1e RC counter attacks towards Orp le Petite just in time to make the lives of the German light panzers miserable

On the German right flank the H39's of  II/11e RDP are defeated by overwhelming numbers of Panzers

French luck with the aircraft dice continues. Bloch MB-152 (Heller - thanks to Alan for the decals). However no Luftwaffe planes arrive this turn to contest the sky with the French

Bloch's eye view of the German onslaught

The counter attack by the 1RC was thwarted by a poor morale roll. The Somuas fall back shaken

The losses of the 3e Escadron 1 RC cause the French to fall back shaken, unleashing a torrent of German light tanks through the gap while the newly arrived German infantry assaults the Orp-le-Petite to prevent the French infantry from interfering.

As the Germans are across the river the Somuas of 2e Escadron are free to counter attack, but they look inadequate in the face of so many German tanks.

The head of the German column pushing up the road from Orp-le-Petite

The Somuas of 2e Escadron take up hull down positions (Heller models painted by Dave)

The cavalry of  92e GRDI make a frantic dash from Jauche to try an intercept the exploiting panzers

The Luftwaffe was pretty constantly over the battlefield. Here a Bf-109E strafes the stragglers from the French cavalry while their comrades try fruitlessly to close assault a Pz-I

The cavalry were not enough to stop the Germans and they had no problem exiting 10 tanks off the battlefield. it was now only a question of whether the Germans could keep a route across the battlefield open. Given the preponderance of German tanks things looked grim for the French

On the south flank just east of Jauche the Germans try to keep the pressure on the Somuas of 1e Escadron so as to stop them rallying

In the North 4e Escadron 1RC frantically moves south to join the Somuas of 2e Escadron and engage the Germans. Harassment by the Luftwaffe would slow down the advance. Airfix Hs-123

Combined attack by 2e & 4e Escadron makes life tricky for II/5 Panzer Regiment

Kick a man when he's down. Stuka dive-bombs the shaken Somuas of 1e Escadron to make sure the stay that way

As the battle enters its final phase I/11e DP launches a counter attack from Jandrain to Orp-le-Petite

The Germans shift their forces to meet the Somuas of 2e Escadron outside Orp-le-Grande

6e GRCA launches a counter attack against the German flank. This was a pretty hopeless move but it did engage the medium panzers of I/5PR which would have probably been more useful tackling the Somuas across the river

Neatly avoiding the German AT guns I/11e DP reach the vital German road at Orp le Petite

The last hour of the battle and the Germans scrape together everything in range to hurl it at the H-39's. Unfortunately for the Axis only the Pz-III can hurt the H-39's

In the west the last Somua of 2e Escadron also reaches the vital road

The outcome of the game hinged on two things: French morale checks and the roll to determine if there would be a turn after turn 11. The French valiantly passed both checks and the roll for an extra turn failed. This resulted in a decisive French victory. The French players all played well. Defending a long road is always hard and having four German players, one of whole was very inexperienced, lead to the defence being less cohesive than it might have been. It was a excellent game played at a fair pace getting 11 turns done in about 5 hours which is quite an achievement given the size of the scenario

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