Rapid Fire! Games Day II
Tactics at Antics!
by Richard Marsh
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The second RF Games Day took place at Plymouth 's Antic's Model Shop on August 20 th . This time the focus was on developing tactical skills, as an exciting encounter game set in Normandy 1944 was followed by a bruising attack and defence scenario.
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Here's Tim, who turned up with an impressive and brand new German army, boasting some very heavy metal in the shape of a Tiger II company, supported by a battalion of plastic Revell Fallschirmjager (paratroops), a company of Jagdpanzer IVs and a battery of 88mm guns. All this (plus air support in the shape of an FW 190 fighter and an FW 189 Uhu OP aircraft) had been built from plastic kits and painted in just two weeks! Amazing.
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The first game pitched this German force against a British battlegroup across the width of the table with a village as the objective. Both sides started on high ground, with the village in the valley in between (RF regulars will recognise the hill sections from the Vernon and Maltot games in the Rapid Fire! Scenarios for North West Europe book).
The German force was split into two, with the heavy Tiger IIs attacking on the left (nearest the camera) and the three Jagdpanzer IVs on the right. As always seems to happen when you use units for the first time, Tim's newly painted armour suffered some early losses from British Achilles self-propelled anti-tank guns. Notice the destroyed Tiger in the valley bottom and an Achilles knocked out on the other slope after being hit by an 88mm gun from the battery on top of the ‘German' hill.
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The British left a holding force of infantry and anti-tank guns on their hill and put everything else into a drive on the village, which included their Churchill infantry tank company and a squadron of Shermans . These were backed up by infantry and a battery of Sexton self-propelled guns.
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Surprisingly, the heavy German armour didn't make the game one sided. In fact the big tanks struggled to cross the valley against the concealed British anti-armour weapons. Tim's side learnt that tanks like the Tiger II are best suited to ‘standing-off' from their enemies and firing at medium or long range to get full advantage of their powerful guns. Even ‘A' class armour is vulnerable if the AFV gets too close to enemy guns and infantry support is a must to protect the tanks from anti-tank rocket launchers (like British PIATS and American Bazookas).
The British learnt that despite getting into the village early in the game, their tanks were too restricted by the narrow streets and were vulnerable to the powerful 75mm guns of the Jagdpanzer IVs. They also took a risk exposing the Sexton self-propelled guns so far forward. In the end the game was a draw, with neither side in full control of the village.
As the first game had turned naturally into a game where the British defended and the Germans attacked we decided that the second game should be a ‘proper' attack and defence scenario.
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The Defence of Anticsville!
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British (defending)
2 x battalions of infantry, each with 1 x 3” mortar and 1 x 6pdr anti-tank gun + 2 x ‘Kangaroo' armoured infantry carriers (carrying a company each).
3 x Churchill infantry tanks (75mm guns)
3 x Sherman tanks (75mm guns, but including 1 x Firefly with a 17pdr gun)
2 x Achilles SP anti-tank guns (17pdrs)
4 x 25pdr field guns (see the photo below) + OP in a carrier and OP Sherman tank
Air support from a Typhoon fighter bomber
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German (attacking)
The German force attacked down the length of the table, using routes along the floor of the valley and on top of the hills on either side. In this game (as it should always be in this sort of scenario) the attackers where much stronger than the defenders.
The German players had three kampfgruppen (battlegroups) each with:
1 x battalion of infantry, each with 1 x 81mm mortar, 1 (or 2) x medium machine guns (MMGs) and a 75mm anti-tank gun.
3 x tanks (Tiger IIs with 88mm guns) or 3 x Jadgpanzer IVs or StuG IIs with 75mm guns.
These were supported by:
A reconnaissance unit with 1 x Sdkfz 222 armoured car and 2 x Sdkfz 251 armoured carriers.
2 x 88mm guns firing as artillery + OP in a kubelwagen
2 x 105mm guns + OP in an armoured carrier
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This time it was German caution that caused a major upset. Admittedly the defenders had the 25pdrs and a Typhoon fighter bomber on call, but even so, the three attacking German forces were slow to advance and very wary of closing to within even medium range of the British anti-tank guns.
The British used their tanks in an unusual but effective way with almost all of it behind the village in reserve and firing at the maximum end of medium range. They were also clever about where they positioned their 6pdr AT guns. When the reconnaissance unit tried to break through on their left flank, they backed up the guns with counter attacking infantry and PIAT anti-armour launchers. The 25pdrs could only harass the attacking tanks, but kept the German infantry away from the village outskirts. In the end, despite a battering, the British infantry held onto the village
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This time the result was a clear win, with no German forces in the village by the end of the game. So, what did we learn?
- Too much caution can be a bad thing.
- Attacking forces have to keep the enemy under pressure. Don't sit back and let them take the initiative.
- Coordination of attacking forces is vital. (If two of the German spearheads had attacked at the same time and really pushed the defenders I think the village could have been captured after ten moves)
- Put artillery OPs (observers) up front with your attacking spearheads and use artillery fire to clear the way (or blind the enemy guns and observers with smoke)
- Tanks and particularly assault guns can use direct high explosive (HE) fire to blast defenders out of houses and defensive positions.
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Thanks again to Clive and the Antics staff and all the players and their mates, even the ones who used the corner of a French field to inspect their latest Sci-Fi purchases!
The next Rapid Fire! Gamesday at Antics is on Saturday 15th October and for a change we'll be fighting on the Russian Front in the winter of 1944 – in the snow! Bring along any later war German or Russian units (such as T34/85s).
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Exeter Games Day!
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The first Rapid Fire! Games Day in Exeter will take place at Clifton Road Games (on Clifton Road ) in their spacious games room on Saturday October 1st . The centrepiece will be Operation Nostalgia – a big fictitious amphibious landing game set in the Aegean in late 1943 – a chance to play with the destroyer and escort carrier pictured in the RF rule book and try out several of the advanced rules. Player briefings start at 10.00am and the game kicks off at 11.00am and finishes…when it finishes!
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