Somewhere in the Argonne, September 1918, and an American infantry division is attempting to crack open the rapidly crumbling German defence. An under strength German division is trying to re-establish some sort of defensive line in the face of the relentless allied offensive that began with the blackest of days and the battle soon to be known as 'Amiens' at the beginning of August.
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| American FT17s advance |
This game was the first outing for Murray's nearly complete American late war division, per the Great War Spearhead rules. The figures are from the HaT 20mm range. The German defenders are mostly from the Esci range. The Germans had a limited amount of level 1 entrenchments and wire to psitn in an effort to try and hold up the attackers.
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| German defenders' OOB |
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| The American attackers' OOB |
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| The battlefield as seen from the American right/German left, so the Americans attack from the left of the photo |
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| The German plan of attack, with several subsequent order changes added |
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| The German right flank, a small section of A7V tanks in support |
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| Attacking Americans in an unusual close column advancing to the attack |
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| A regiment of 5 sections of FT17 tanks advances down the road |
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| The American right flank regiment, with a regiment of 18pdrs on board in support |
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| Just showing off Murray's base labelling |
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| German defenders in the town on the centre of the battlefield |
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| The centre American regiment approaches the town and surrounding defences, and comes under fire |
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| The American right flank approaches what was soon to become a hotly contested wood |
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| The A7Vs start to move (well, lumber, really) out towards the extreme German right flank |
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| The centre American attack starts to take casualties |
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On the American right the regiment charges into the wood, only to be repelled by the German defenders. The attackers were the victims of friendly fire as American artillery firing in support not only hit the Germans but also the American attackers
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| The American attack on the wood is renewed, this time with more success |
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| The initial German defenders are eliminated |
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| The firefight in the centre heats up |
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| The American left flank attack against the German right is stall... they had reached the end of their command arrow. Murray had been very conservative in his plan here, and failed several attempts at an order change |
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| Casualties are mounting for the German left flank defence |
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| The Americans have broken into the wood on the German left... several furious melees ensue as each side hotly contests the position. The German commander has thrown his reserve company into the fight |
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| In the centre the defenders to the right of the town are eliminated, but simultaneously the attacking American regiment fails its morale check and is unable to exploit the gap that it has fought hard to open up |
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| The American left flank regiment finally receives new orders and begins to advance through the wood |
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| The German left flank regiment is hit hard again ... |
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| and the fourth American regiment pushes against the defenders to the left of the town. These defenders are now under fire from a regiment of 155mm howitzers |
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| The American armour pushes into the German defence.. the sole German company in the trench line is part of the regiment reserve that had rushed forward to reoccupy the position after the initial defenders were eliminated |
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| A section of FT17s close assault the defending German company.. |
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| ..but fail (lose the combat) |
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| The German left flank defence is largely negated, and takes a morale check (which it passes!!!) |
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| It looks a bot of a shambles in the centre ... |
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| The Americans begin to push against the German right with the ir left flank regiment that has finally begin to move |
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| Attacked regiment of German 77mm field guns supporting their centre |
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| View from behind the American centre |
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| American companies enter the outskirts of the town, prior to launching an assault |
This was the position at the end of ten moves. German counter battery fire had eliminated both American heavy artillery regiment, but had also used up its four fire missions. The armour on both sides had been ineffective, and the American attack had bogged down.
The scenario design needed to allow more preplanned fire at the start of the game, (it was intended to represent a short hurricane bombardment supporting a hasty attack, rather than the mid war preliminary bombardments that lasted days) and the initial ten move game limit we set was too short; we think probably 14 moves is required. I made some errors in handling the German response to the preplanned fire, the net result of which was that it caused no casualties .. my fault, we're always learning. Murray didn't use his artillery as effectively as he could have, and had no counter battery missions allocated. He also didn't manage the armour effectively.
We both noted the significant difference between this and the early war game a few weeks ago .. each requires a different mindset from players. It was however a great first outing for Murray's Americans... we'll see more of them, that's for sure.
