KG Klink in Greece, Fight #5

[Just Jack]

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.  The fourth fight saw Major Bohm’s 2nd Recce Battlegroup push back the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment after some fierce fighting.  Now we return to Captain Freitag’s beleaguered 1st Schutzen Battlegroup, which is defending the B3 bridgehead against attacks by two Allied battlegroups: the British Rangers/9th King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and the Royal Engineers/New Zealand Cavalry.

And the Allied counterattack kicks off, with Kiwi armored cars leading the way, followed up by British tanks and infantry.

The New Zealand cavalry storms ahead and secures Hill 227, in the heart of the German deployment area!

The slow tanks and infantry reach the bridge, struggling to keep up.

And then all hell breaks loose as the Stugs come in (bottom right) on the Allies’ left flank and begin chewing into their bridgehead.

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/04/kg-klink-in-greece-fight-5.html

And things are progressing rapidly now, so here are the next two Campaign map moves:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2020/04/kg-klink-mini-campaign-in-greece-map_12.html

Stay tuned, Fight #6 coming up later this week!

V/R,
Jack

[kyoteblue]

Damn bad luck for the Brits.

[Whirlwind]

It was an interesting read with one eye shut and squinting through the other one as soon as I read about another “bold move” with the Kiwis’ advancing forward from Hill 227, and sure enough…

Great report, many thanks.

[Gaz045]

Reads as though the Allies were lured into the trap………..and promptly rolled up by KG Klink. A haphazard and uncoordinated assault from the Alles at best……..all very apt for the Greek debacle!

 

"Even dry tree bark is not bitter to the hungry squirrel"

[Just Jack]

Kyote John – Yeah, it’s an ugly campaign for the good guys…

Whirlwind John – Thanks buddy, and the deployment ‘system’ has been fun and interesting, at least from my standpoint.  I didn’t figure Hill 227 would have played that prominently in the game (the bridge was always going to be the decisive point, I think), and it does feel a bit like cheating when you’re playing solo and you get to ambush the hell out of your ‘opponent’ like that…

I can tell you there will be different tactical flavors to the campaigns; for example, while these Allies are sort of slapped together and fighting haphazardly, you won’t see that sort of thing from the Commonwealth in Italy and Caen.  They would have gotten over the bridge, taken their time consolidating the bridgehead (augmented by the fact Shermans and Churchills are faster than A10s and Matildas, as well as trucks or half tracks for the infantry), then push ahead methodically.  Probably start with a CoC dice too, for a 25-pdr stonk right off the bat.

On a side note, I finally got up the gumption to order French and Austrian armies from Baccus… but they’ve closed down the shopping cart!!!

Gaz – Absolutely, that’s exactly how the feel of this campaign should be as that’s exactly how I understand it to have been.

I’m thinking when I get to Barbarossa that Soviet infantry in the defense will be pretty lethargic, while their vehicles run around like chickens with their heads cut off, while both infantry and vehicles dash straight ahead in waves on the counterattack.

I’ve got an order in to Pendraken to get me all I need for Barbarossa.

V/R,

Jack

[kyoteblue]

Barbarossa should be fun. Lots of huge fights.

[Just Jack]

It sure is, and it’s going to take a long time, will probably be around 30 total fights from 22 June into the fall of 1941.

V/R,
Jack

[Thuseld]

That was brutal.

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