Sened Station

 

This game was played in early July 2015 in my conservatory. Dave played the Axis, John played the allied armour and I played the US infantry. All the kit on display came from my collection

 

1/186th Infantry advances at the start of the battle. M15 MGMC by Ready to Roll

 

The Axis south flank with the isolated US 2/168th battalion in the background

 

US recce reaches the 2/168th which is pretty much surrounded by the enemy

 

Italian armour in reserve at Sened Station. EWM (ex Skytrex) AB41. The closest M13/41 is from Esci and the further tanks are Italeri fast builds

 

The Axis second line. PaK-40s by the cactus patches

 

3/13th Armored Battalion advances. Lees are Airfix, most halftracks are from Italeri except the mortar track which is from Hasegawa

 

An early showing by the RAF proves to be ineffective

 

Although the US armour has reached the 2/168th the Axis forces sense its vulnerability and move to completely surround and destroy it.

 

AB-41 and 75/27 (Cromwell)

 

Due to a line of Axis mines in the West Grove the 1/168th swings north. Beyond a Lee burns killed by an Italian 47mm. The rest of the company failed their morale and fell back shaken

 

The remaining Lees push forward whist the BHQ rallies the shaken company. 2/168th is starting to take casualties

 

The Marders of 3 Kp 334 Schnelle Abt arrive and move up through the Italian positions

 

A Marder has a big gun but no armour. Also they are open toped so they attracted a great deal of fire. 2/168th's 81mm Mortar gets in a lucky shot and destroys one of the SPs

 

The Luftwaffe turn up, two turns in a row. The M15 managed to down a Stuka and this Bf-109 attacked an Italian stand. No other casualties were caused. Despite this the effects on US moral were devastating, especially on the Lees

 

The Luftwaffe put paid to any chance of the Allies winning. All the Lees were shaken or demoralised, including the battalion commander. Recovery in the time left for the game would have been impossible, so we called the game and declared an Axis victory

 

This was perhaps not the most interesting game we have ever played and it required a little more play balancing (the revised scenario is now on the site) However it was enjoyable and I got to put much new kit on the table