- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
All,
Afternoon, 11 April 1941
Here we are, continuing Kampfgruppe Klink’s campaign in Greece. The first battle saw Captain Freitag’s 1st Schutzen Battlegroup take a key mountain crossroads manned by members of the British Royal Engineers supported by Armored Cavalry from New Zealand. The fight saw the Germans infantry nearly eliminate the Commonwealth battlegroup, which fell back in disarray. Captain Freitag pressed his advantage, immediately pursuing south down, where it ran into defensive positions manned by the remnants of the New Zealand 21st Infantry Battalion. 1st Schutzen then evicted the NZ 21st Inf Bn from its positions, forcing them to fall back. The third fight saw 1st Lt Ginter’s 2nd Schutzen moving secure a crossing over the D3 bridge, forcing the 27th MG Battalion back. Now we have Major Bohm’s 2nd Recce Battlegroup pressing forward against remnants of the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment.
Heavy fighting breaks out as a German tank-infantry team works to clear the Diggers off of Hill 256.
German armored reconnaissance attempts to pull a ‘Hussar trick’ and fling itself into the village before the Australians can mount a defense, but are ambushed by Vickers machine guns on Hill 327.
The attack on Hill 256 is floundering as the German infantry are being roughly handled.
The defender (top left) aren’t looking much better, but their spirits are lifted when the Aussie Carrier Platoon arrives (top right, with German armored cars at bottom center)!To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/04/kg-klink-in-greece-fight-4.htmlNext up, Captain Freitag’s 1st Schutzen is defending the B3 bridge from the Brit Rangers/9KRRC and Royal Engineers/New Zealand Cavalry battlegroups.
V/R,
JackOh, very exciting stuff. Well done that Armoured Car platoon! The charge of the Carrier Platoon felt very death or glory. Just one question on the surrender of some of the Aussie riflemen – I couldn’t see the mechanism for that. Who were they surrendering to (this scene here)?
Jack, this is one of the most inspirational threads I’ve read. Due to moving house I’ve lost my regular wargaming cronies and have spent a year playing solo, finding it a very poor substitute for ‘proper’ wargaming. But now, thanks to your good self, I think I’ve finally sussed this solo gaming lark!
I’m going to get my early Desert Rats Infantry Platoon finished and then follow it up the blue. I’ll make a Platoon roster and see wot fate has in store for them as they first meet, and take on, the Afrika Korps…
thanks for the inspiration.
"Wot did you do in the war Grandad?"
"I was with Harry... At The Bridge!"
Whirlwind John – Thank you, Sir! Yes, I was very surprised to see the crew stay with the immobilized vehicle (needed a 5+), and you’re absolutely correct, the charge of the Carrier Platoon was one of those all-or nothing stabs at glory. Regarding the Aussie squads on Hill 256 surrendering, they’re surrendering to the German motorcycle platoon, which is not far off camera to bottom left, but what caused them to surrender in the way they did was that the rest of their platoon decided to leg it (the guys at top right) following the death of the Carrier Platoon and the guys still in the trenchline were 1) suppressed and 2) had their line of retreat exposed to German fire so it only made sense (to me, at least) for them surrender. They certainly weren’t going to continue fighting after everyone had left (or decided to leave), and they would have been mowed down if they tried to run, so there you have it.
As a side note, you and another guy (over on TMP) have gotten me to thinking about a less-Hollywood version of wargaming, see what ya think (http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=527372). Feel free to start a topic here to discuss if it makes you more comfortable. It’s definitely something I intend on pursuing, probably need to get Ivan involved as he knows how to get rules published, and if I can get these to do what I want I think there would be an appetite for it.
Thuseld – Absolutely man, absolutely! Yes, I still feel a bit ‘icky’ about doing it with a German unit (the whole issue was that I wanted to play a series of linked games that got me through as much of WWII as possible), but this ‘mode’ of gaming is my wargaming raison d’etre (hopefully I did that right
). Once you have characters in the game, the whole thing takes on a life of its own. I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way, and now I’ve actually got too many of them going on!Gaz – Yessir, ’tis true! And a wise man to be pessimistic regarding the counterattack 😉
Kyote John – You bet man, my pleasure!
Harry – Wow man, that’s fantastic, I’m so glad to hear it and can’t wait to see your Desert Rats in action! As mentioned above, I couldn’t imagine doing this any other way. My only question is… Where the hell have ya been!!!??? 😉
KG Klink here has played out almost twenty fights in Poland and another 16 in France prior to this. Then I’ve got my Cuba Libre blog where I fought a whole campaign where Cuban dissidents invaded Cuba (Bay of Pigs-style), but it worked and they took over the country, and then I’ve been playing campaigns in fictitious countries in Eastern Europe and Africa. Then I’ve got my WWII US Marine rifle platoon that’s fought through the Philippines and Dutch East Indies (about to hit the beach in the Solomons), as well as air campaigns where I’m following a US Marine fighter squadron, a US Navy fighter squadron, and a US Army Air Corps fighter squadron on my ‘Island Hopping With the Old (Lead) Breed’. Then I’ve got my Israeli platoon on my ‘Sword of Gideon’ blog, fighting for Israeli independence, plus my All Americans (82nd Airborne in WWII) and Blood and Guts (US Army infantry in WWII) over on my “Little Lead Crusade in Europe” blog, as well as Royal Marines in Afghanistan and US Army in Vietnam (“In Country”) on my Blackhawkhet blog.* So no lack of potential inspiration in this time of quarantine 😉
*Yeah, most people don’t realize I actually have five different blogs devoted to wargaming 😉
V/R,
JackHarry – My only question is… Where the hell have ya been!!!???
Thanks to KG Klink…
“By Jove, I finally think I’ve got it!!!”
"Wot did you do in the war Grandad?"
"I was with Harry... At The Bridge!"
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
