France 1944

We are on a Bolt Action kick right now. Mike has painted up a scruffy veteran German battlegroup composed (so far) of paratrooper and Waffen SS infantry elements and a Stug III. I deploy American regular infantry supported by a Sherman and a halftrack. Mike has made some really nice bocage sections to dress up the table. I won todays game so, of course, it must go on the blog.

Captain Von Mike oversees the advance of his Germans

The American right was anchored on a 2 story farmhouse, the center was dominated by bocage and the left by a grove of trees occupied by German infantry.

Here we see the American infantry advancing in the center. At the top of the picture a halftrack burns, having been knocked out by the enemy Stug in the first turn of the game (*$#@!). Most, but not all of the passengers got out safely.

 

The fighting among the hedgerows was savage. The Americans got the upper hand due to enfilading the German positions on the left with the Sherman and on the right with small arms and sniper fire coming from the farmhouse. The Stug (upper right) was moving to counter the Sherman when an airstrike called in from the upper floor of the farmhouse by a forward observer team destroyed it.

The German infantry fought stubbornly, but with their Stug gone and fire pouring into their position from front and flank and their commander not being able to roll any decent dice, they finally had to give way.