Avaux or Bust

OK, Avaux  is a long time and distance away from Wurzburg.  I guess, like many other wargame projects, that dream faded.  But another bright and shiny one is always available, so I went back to the tried and true love of northwestern France in 1944, where the Allies are always trying to break out of the bocage, and the Germans are always trying to hold on, whatever the cost.  The Late War Brits hadn't seen the light of day for a while, so I dusted them off and found the various bits of German units to try and hold the line.

We tried a new set of rules this time, the "I ain't been shot, mum!" by Too Fat Lardies.  Since I haven't been too excited by V4 of Flames of War, this seemed like a good time to try something a little bit different.  I had played the rules at various conventions before, and the rules themselves are pretty well written, so I decided to give them a try.  Luckily, they also published a really neat linked campaign booklet, "Blenneville or Bust!" that provides a number of interesting games for your late war forces.  I have been wanting to do the second one for a time, "Avaux," where a reinforced company of British infantry with a weak British Sherman squadron is thrusting south through a even weaker German force ( an infantry platoon, a couple of heavy MGs, two StuGs and a Pak 40).  I initially thought the forces were pretty equal, at least until we started playing and the Germans really couldn't hold up to the British armored onslaught.  At least until the off board German "88" card was played.  This card was the the death knell to the British attack, as it caused a lot of damage to the British tanks.  Combined with really bad bogging rolls as they moved down the road, the British slowed to a stand still and could only get off 2 of the 4 required tanks to achieve their objectives.  So, even thought the Germans were in retreat across the board, the British failed to achieve their objectives, resulting in a narrow German win.  I told my opponent he should have won, but the dice were not with him that day.  I took a lot of pictures, but they didn't come out very well.  Next time . . .

The peaceful French town of Avaux, looking north toward the Allied lines.   

The peaceful French town of Avaux, looking east across the German forward line of resistance.   

Downtown Avaux.  Not on the map is a small stream on the left side of the road that will cause many British tanks to bog down because they went too fast.  At least tried to  . . .

Initial German deployments in blinds.  Since I really don't know what I am doing, I went pretty conservative, deploying (L-R), the one infantry platoon, the pak 40 ATG, the company commander with 2 HMGs and the tow assault guns all along the hedgerows.  

Here come British!  The British blinds didn't move very quickly at first, and it took numerous cycles of the card deck to get any more.  British artillery stonks place some shock on all platoons.

Fast moving British (dummy) blinds approach the German lines to the east.  My big men can't spot them at first due to the cover from the wheat fields and then do not get many chances due to their cards not coming up.  

One British blind uncovers and starts to move across the wheat field.  My one infantry platoon also uncovers as it tries to get rid of the shock from the initial stonks of 25 pounders.  

More British blinds appear, helped by the armored bonus card.

There are a lot of Shermans here.  Luckily for the Germans, most will brew up soon.  

The British infantry move bravely toward the Germans unconcerned by the possible effects of OK shots at close range.  

We all learn about the effects of a full platoon of Germans shooting OK shots at close range.  I used little red dice for kills and green dice for shock.  It was nasty for the Brits to learn this, but since it was our first game, I didn't feel too bad.  

The British lead infantry platoon falls back and will spend most of the game trying to remove the shock and kills they took from one German volley. 

Meanwhile the British tanks move up and manage to spot the pak 40 ATG.  

The Brits creep around the hedgerows.  

Meanwhile the dummy blinds continue to threaten the quiescent Germans who never seem to have their cards drawn before the next tea break.  Ah well . . .

The Brits push into the town center and blast away at the pak 40 with HE from their guns.  The gun crew takes shock and kills and runs away, with their gun.  I think I messed this up here, although the end result would probably have been the same.  

The HMGs get their share of attention and shock as well from British tank HE.

The dummy blinds are finally being exposed.  The remaining British blinds are coming on the table.  A couple of Shermans are stuck in the stream near the road edge.

The Shermans eliminate the ATG crew while one German section runs away from a combination of too much shock from earlier stonks and more recent tank gun fire.

A firefly bogs down in the stream ditch.  You have to roll more ones than sixes to do this; the British player did this throughout the game.  

The German HMGs take kills and shock and give nothing in return.  

The German infantry retreat from the hedgerow through the orchard while the British tanks appear unstoppable as they liberate Avaux.

Will the German card ever come up for these guys?  I used my StuG IVs instead of the IIIs called for in the scenario as my IVs look better than the IIIs I have.  

A German section attempts to get off a panzerfaust shot at the Shermans before being machine gunned.  They do, but it misses.  

All of the sections got to fire their panzerfausts.  The first one missed, the next only caused some minor damage.  Time to run away!

The Germans look threatening but really can't do much.  I am not sure if there is a distance at which the tanks MUST stop and deal with the infantry.  

The last panzerfaust strikes home!  The Brits still have 9 of 10 tanks left.  

The German off table 88 AA gun brews up its first Sherman.  It had missed everyone to this point, but was deadly subsequently.  The British are now going to have to detour around the house on the left to get past the burning wrecks on the road.  

Finally!  The StuG IVs activate and move down the road to threaten the British flank.  

As the Germans move out, all of the welcoming French civilians with their flowers and wine run back to their basements.

A Sherman dashes down the road but another tank is brewed up behind it.

Its a big burning traffic jam!  Two Shermans are able to exit the table before the fiery logger jam is created.

The StuGs manage to damage a Sherman, but then get pounded with one destroyed.  This is gratifying, but doesn't make up for the fact that the armored thrust has been blunted, mostly by poor driving by the British tankers and an offboard AA gun being used against the Brits, probably by a reluctant Luftwaffe crew.  It is so unfair!  With no way to meet their victory conditions, the British concede the game. The Americans will have to win the race to Blenneville.   

     Since this is the first time we played the rules, I am sure we did a bunch of things incorrectly.  The rules are pretty straightforward though, so I think a better reading of them and looking at the forum should help me answer the majority of my questions.  It was run too, and not too much like a V4 tank fest.  I will try these again, and maybe take Avaux this time.  All the infantry we used was based for FOW, but I think they worked fine for this rule set.  We had to be a bit careful with the little green and red dice, but this was not insurmountable.  All in all a pleasant afternoon in Normandy.