We just finished game seven of our market Garden campaign. Here are the details.
Objectives: The brief called for XXX Corps’ spearhead to form up and push north from its bridgehead across the Waal River at Nijmegen. The objective was to link up as quickly as possible with the 1st Airborne Division at the town of Elst, on “The Island” (the flat polder land between the Waal and the Neder Rijn Rivers). Opposing XXX Corps was a motorized force of panzer grenadiers from the 10th SS Division. Thus in the game, the British were tasked with capturing at least one north-south road that would lead to Elst The Germans were ordered to hold all the roads to halt or delay the British advance. H-Hour was set for 1000, and the British line of departure was the south edge of the table.
Forces:
Having taken about 40% casualties crossing the Waal, and down to 30% ammunition levels for its artillery, the XXX Corps force for the game was a Guards armored squadron with 14 Sherman tanks, and four infantry companies from the Wessex Division with a total of eleven infantry platoons, supported by carrier patrols, WASPs, HMGs, 3″ and 4.2″ mortars, one 6-pdr AT platoon and one 25-pdr battery. All rated Confident Veteran.
Defending were three companies of SS panzer grenadiers with nine platoons, supported by ten HMGs, three Pak40 AT guns, one French 75 gun, two 8-rad ACs that had survived the last game, three StuG III assault guns, one 8.0 cm. mortar battery, and one 10.5 cm artillery battery. All the German infantry platoons had limited panzerfausts and each company had one panzerschreck. All rated Fearless Veteran.
Given the shortage of players for the game, we shortened the planned table by three feet, and deleted one platoon of SS infantry, which was assumed to be defending the deleted portion of the table. We also limited the British to three possible routes of advance vice the four that were planned.
Terrain: The table as played was 11 X 5 feet, with the long axis running east-west. The terrain was determined by the G.S.G.S. map of the area, and informed by accounts of the historical battle on this ground. The table was covered by flat polder fields and many orchards, which were bounded and crossed by numerous wet ditches (not depicted on the table). In the southwestern corner of the table were the outskirts of the town of Oosterhout (the remainder of this town was the part of the table that was deleted). In the center of the table was the small village of Ressen. On the eastern side of the table was the town of Bemmel. All three built-up areas had large churches, the towers of which were the only good observation points. A rail line running north-south ran past the western side of Ressen. The main north-south road from Nijmegen to Elst ran to the west of the rail line, and was designed Rte. 1 in the game. Rte. 2 was a north-south secondary road running through Ressen. Rte. 3 was two north-south roads that ran past and through Bemmel. (Rte. 4 would have run through Oosterhout but was not in play.) One east-west road linked these roads and the three towns. The rail line and all of the roads were on 6-10 foot high embankments. These embankments were not modeled on the table, but their effect was to block ground-level lines of sight across the rail line and the roads. Due to the boggy ground and ditches, vehicles could only move via the roads. Infantry that moved half or less of its movement allowance were assumed to be using the ditches as hard cover.
German Deployment: The German main line of defense ran in an arc along the west-east road from Ooosterhout, though Ressen, to Bemmel, taking advantage of the cover provided by the orchards, ditches, embankments and buildings. The Germans deployed one company with two platoons and two HMGs to hold the area from Oosterhout to the main road (Rte 1), with a FO in the church tower and a mortar battery to the rear. The second company deployed one platoon and two 8-rad ACs between the main road and the railway, and two platoons in Ressen, with four HMGs attached to the platoons. The church tower in Ressen held a second FO. The third company had one somewhat isolated platoon in the wide space between Ressen and Bemmel, and two platoons in Bemmel, with four HMGs attached to the platoons. Hidden in ambush were two PaK40s covering Rte. 1, one PaK40 and the French 75 in Ressen covering Rte. 2, and three StuG IIIs behind the church in Ressen.
British Deployment and Plan: Before seeing the German set up, the British commanders had to commit their forces to the three possible routes of advance. This was because of the lack of east-west roads in the British forming up area. The British decided to commit A Company with two platoons and a HMG platoon, supported by a Sherman platoon to Rte. 1. As the role of this force was to pin the German defenders on this side of the table, the British delayed its entry until such time as the German defenders were observed to be moving away. The main British efforts would be along Rtes. 2 and 3. B Company with three platoons, HMG platoon, carrier patrol and 3″ mortar battery would advance along Rte. 2 to capture Ressen and the road beyond. One Sherman platoon, the two HQS Shermans, and the three WASPs were committed to Rte. 2 to support this attack. C Company would push two platoons, an HMG platoon and a carrier patrol between Ressen and Bemmel to maneuver as required, and its third platoon with another carrier patrol and supported by a 3″ mortar battery would advance on Bemmel and initially contain the German forces there. D Company with three platoons, HMG carrier platoon, and ATG platoon would be held in reserve to enter behind C Company and complete the capture of Rte. 3. One Sherman platoon was also commited to Rte. 3. All tanks would be held off table until the German antitank assets were located. The 4.2″ mortar battery and 25-pdr battery were in general support.
Battle Report:
At H-Hour, the British put their plan into motion, with the infantry of B and C companies entering the table. The three carrier patrols moved at full speed — two patrols along the two roads that converged at Ressen, and one patrol toward Bemmel. Their task was to try to unmask any hidden German AT guns and StuGs along those routes. The Germans responded with an artillery barrage that knocked out one carrier and pinned a platoon in C Company. Otherwise, the Germans stayed gone to ground in their positions.
The advance of the British infantry continued a bit more slowly as they neared the German positions, taking advantage of the ditches for hard cover. The carriers pushed deeper into the German lines, which provoked a major reaction. The German StuG commander moved his three StuGs from their hidden position behind the Ressen church to the intersection in order to fire down the road at a carrier patrol. The carriers were swiftly eliminated, but this left the StuGs in an exposed position. The British in their turn brought on a tank platoon led by two Fireflies. Their fire down the road killed one StuG and bailed another. Very unfortunately for the StuG commander, the bailed StuG failed to remount (rolled a 1), which left him stuck at the intersection. The operational StuG fired on the British and bailed a Firefly. British return fire was ineffective, but the two Sherman 75s successfully laid smoke to block the next German shots. The bailed StuG failed to remount again! The operational StuG moved forward through the smoke to take one shot that missed. The smoke then lifted and the fire of the Fireflies killed the two StuGs. The only mobile German AT unit had been destroyed!
About this same time, the PaK40 and the French 75 in Ressen were located. The PaK40 was brought under indirect fire.
Meanwhile, the isolated German platoon between Ressen and Bemmel pulled back behind the embankment of the east-west road to avoid British fire. This opened a gap in the German line that the British infantry raced to exploit. One platoon of C Company angled toward Ressen and overran the French 75. This platoon then joined the fight for Ressen. The second platoon of C Company and the HMG platoon continued to put pressure on the withdrawing German platoon, which continued to slowly fall back through the open fields to the German baseline, using the ditches for cover.
On Rte. 3, the carrier patrol had bypassed Bemmel and reached the far end of the table without revealing any AT guns, so the British Shermans on Rte. 3 were given orders to advance on Bemmel. British mortar fire ranged in on the two German platoons in Bemmel, who decided to vacate the forward part of the town. This rearward movement slowly continued until both platoons reached the German baseline near where Rte. 3 exited the table. The third platoon of C Company, followed by the Shermans and D Company, pressed after the Germans as they fell back.
In Ressen, the PaK40 finally succumbed, which gave the green light to the Shermans and the WASPs to advance in close support of the infantry. The Germans defending Ressen church held out a long while, with artillery and mortar fire having little effect on them, and they even killed a Sherman with a panzerfaust. However, B Company eventually captured the church after its first assault failed.
At the main road, one German platoon crossed the rail line to form a new defensive position along Rte. 2 behind Ressen, while the other two platoons and the two PaK40s remained in place, holding Rte. 1. With Rte. 1 still being well defended, British command kept A Company and its supporting platoon of Shermans off the table for the remainder of the game, and this area of the table saw no action.
In the end game, the British consolidated their hold on Ressen, while bringing their Shermans, WASPs and additional infantry forward to imminently attack the Germans along Rte. 2 behind the village. Behind Bemmel, the isolated platoon in the fields was destroyed by 4.2″ mortar barrages, while the other two platoons were under fire from infantry, HMGs, Shermans, and a 25-pdr barrage. The German commanders could see that it was just a matter of time before their last blocking forces were eliminated. Thus we called the game after four hours of play, deeming it a British victory!
-TJ