Big Xmas Game, Sword Beachhead and Pegasus Bridge - Flames of War.

As the Festive Season is well underway and the decorations are going up in readiness for the big day, when families gather together and celebrate, you will find wargamers also gathering to celebrate, good games, good fellowship and an appreciation of having friends who get the daft hobby that we enjoy, that other folks would simply nod about with absolutely no understanding about the magic of a great table with lots of toys on it ready to do battle and bring history alive.

I am very lucky to have such people in my wargaming life, folks who I have gamed with for well over thirty odd years and who have got used to and accepting of my bizarre behaviour, with the tribute paid back in equal amounts, and with the the passing of time they are the chaps I enjoy being with, relaxing over a fun wargame and talking rubbish. 

My last visit to Clive's house was back in December 2021 with the Battle of Antietam in 28mm our festive game.

JJ's Wargames - Battle of Antietam in the Grand Manner, Fire & Fury Brigade

One of my old friends is Clive, who has a lovely house up in North Devon, and very kindly invited me to join him and other pals to enjoy a D-Day themed big-game, our last gathering being back in 2021 which was a fun ACW themed day, link above.

The scene for our game, this year focussed on the push inland from Sword Beach by the British 8th Brigade, 3rd Division and 4th Special Service Commando, towards Periers Ridge and Pegasus Bridge.

The focus of our game was to be the push inland from Sword Beach by the British 8th Brigade, 3rd Division and 4th Special Service Commando towards Periers Ridge and Pegasus Bridge, and on arrival, as well as hot drinks and biscuits we were treated to a glorious table capturing the key features and towns that dominated the battle area together with a nicely presented folder illustrating our commands, their objectives and any special rules that might be appropriate.

Clive's prepared map helped everyone orientate themselves to the table.

For a largish multi-player game where the emphasis has to be on ease of play as much as anything, Flames of War seemed to be a good choice, with a rule set that is not to formidable to reacquaint oneself with and demonstrated by how we had the game rolling along in pretty rapid fashion, helped by the fact that everyone involved has a few wargames under their belt to fall back on. 

Looking east, with 21st Panzer Division's Flak battery atop Perier's Ridge, closest to camera in front of Beuville village and the road leading from the beaches via Hermanville sur Mer, and beyond at the opposite table end, the Caen Canal and River Orne bridges, with the town on Benouville dominating that end of the table.

The idea was to fight our battle with the historical forces involved and Clive provided a mapped out timetable of when specific formations could enter the table.

Our Battle Script was all prepared with the various timings for when the principle actors would enter stage right or left.

Now that's the way to start the day! Let battle commence.

Our battle reflected the historical events on the ground, with the surviving German defenders seeing the dawn of D-Day and recovering from the shock of finding British Paratroops amid their positions the night before, before rallying to commence counterattacks to regain lost ground.

 

Men of the 716th Division prepare to enter Benouville to contest its occupation by British 6th Airborne.

Benouville was rapidly rocked by large explosions as 105mm howitzers targeted the cluster of houses, softening up the 6th Airborne men who now occupied them, along with those holding the Caen Canal bridge, in preparation by an assault by infantry from the 716th Division.

Clive's efforts included labelled entry points on the table for the forces earmarked to arrive at specific times in the day.

My own part in our game was to assume the role of Major Hans von Luck who, in the absence of the 21st Panzer Division's commander Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger, busy enjoying the finer delights of life in Paris, was responsible for organising the German counter-attack to be launched east and west of the River Orne on D-Day.

The Caen Canal Bridge, firmly in 6th Airborne's hands as our battle began.

As I assessed the chances of 21st Panzer advancing down the road and off the table to Hermanville-sur-Mer, the battle to control Benouville started to grow in intensity as the airborne units that were occupying the buildings started to succumb to the heavy artillery fire being thrown at the town.

6th Airborne muster before Benouville to support their elements in the town battling to maintain their hold.

However with a threat posed by advancing Commandos and supporting tanks coming along the road from Ouistreham, the German infantry had to keep reserves available to deal with that issue as well as providing sufficient forces to contest Benouville, which posed some interesting challenges and kept the hopes alive for 6th Airborne of an early relief.

Pegasus Bridge, saw the first allied casualty of D-Day when Lt. Den Brotheridge of the Oxs & Bucks Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Division, was killed by German defenders as he led the charge across it to capture the opposite end and drive off the garrison.

6th Airborne had a firm grip on the Caen Canal and River Orne crossings and were ready to support the fight to hold Benouville.

My command from 21st Panzer Division would see me deploy all but Recce elements from the Panzeraufklarungs-Abteilung, and having the 8.8cm AT battery firmly ensconced before my armoured units rolled on to the table.

There's no finer sight to command than an impressive column of tanks and armoured infantry, ably supported by multiple quad flak halftracks, which with the combined fire from a similarly armed flak unit from the 716th ID easily saw off three over exuberant Typhoon pilots who got carried away and tried to strafe my command on its arrival, with all three 'Jabos' shot down for their temerity.

Panzers March, 21st Panzer head for the beaches beyond Hermanville-sur-Mer.

The Panzer IVH was still a formidable tank in 1944 with its 7.5cm L/43 gun and capable armour protection - this one in the colours of 1st SS Panzer Division Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler, summer 1944.

The village windows of Beuville shake as the 21st Division Panzers move up to the front. 

By lunch time, pretty well all our units were on the table, with 21st Panzer preparing to deploy off the road at the Beuville bridge as forward units of the British 8th Brigade were observed entering the table from Periers Ridge, and with Sherman DD Tanks advancing down the road in support of British Commando's coming to the support of the hard pressed airborne chaps in Benouville.

As lunch beckons our afternoon battle is arrayed with pretty much all the forces deployed ready to contest the centre ground for ascendancy on D-Day.

The struggle to gain ascendancy in the centre of the table, with the fight to control Benouville raised another notch for the Germans, as a troop of Sherman DD tanks spearheaded the approach of 4th Special Service Commando, suggesting to the German infantry that occupation of the buildings would be a good idea and with 21st Panzer massed around Periers Ridge forced to deploy from off its parade to the beach, to deal with armoured and infantry elements of British 8th brigade together with mortar, artillery and air assets in close support advancing from the opposite direction.

The leading elements of British 8th Brigade arrive on table after getting clear of Sword Beach

The British 8th brigade were the spearhead unit of 3rd Division consisting of the 1st battalions of the Suffolk and South Lancashire Regiments and the 2nd Battalion East Yorkshire's with armoured support provided by the 27th Armoured Brigade, with three regiments, 13th/18th Hussars with Sherman DD's and the 1st East Riding and Staffordshire Yeomanry using standard Sherman tanks.

 

A troop of British DD tanks spearhead the march of 4th Special Service Commando towards Benouville

Historically Periers Ridge would prove to be a high-water mark and the defensive attributes offered to my 88mm anti-tank guns atop it and a wooded small river in front immediately appealed as a suitable position on which to deploy the Panzers in readiness to greet the onrushing British tanks, with caution needed to allow for the support of M10's from 20th Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery and the odd Firefly lurking in support.

German units had very good AA support on hand which was useful as Typhoons were constantly lurking overhead.

The artillery of the German 716 ID were kept busy in support of forward units throughout the day.

As it turned out my Panzer crews were more than ready for the test as the lead tank spotted a Sherman lurking on the edge of some woodland near to the Beuville river, knocking it out with its first shot, ably supported by the following tanks which quickly dispatched two M10's in the fields beyond, finishing off vehicles that had been hit by the 88's causing their crews to abandon them.

Emboldened by this early success the lead Panzer then pressed on to the treeline in front of the river to stalk and knock out a second Sherman that had boldly pushed on across the river to continue the advance, but was left cracking and smoking among the trees.

Contact!! - 21st Panzer get the drop on British armour supporting 8th Brigade as the lead Panzer IV opens fire on a Sherman trying to make best use of the cover from the nearby woods.

The first shots from the 7.5cm L/43 gun slammed home.

At this stage of the battle, a motorcycle dispatch rider drew up beside my command tank with orders for me to return to RHQ for an urgent Ops meeting with the Divisional commander, well actually, that's slightly exaggerated, I had in fact to return home to pick up my son's Labrador from 'Doggy Day Care', so was forced to depart earlier than anticipated.

However when I left, the Signal Cameraman who had accompanied our march to the sea was well pleased with the day that he had had with 21st Panzer, providing plenty of material to impress the folks back home with our success on the Festung Europa front, but I gather from subsequent reports of later events that the British managed to negate a lot of our efforts before Beuville, but those reports will of course not appear in my Post War Recollections, probably to be entitled 'Panzers March!!'.

The next shot finished the job and in combination with the 8.8cm guns on Perier Ridge would see the nearby fields littered with burning Shermans and M10 Wolverines.

As you will see from the list of objectives issued to the respective German commanders, Player Four (21st Panzer) was tasked with holding Periers Ridge and once the Allied forces were sufficiently roughed up, pressing on to Hermanville, a task that was well in hand when I was recalled.

Clive's briefing notes for players capturing special rules in play and the player objectives for our game.

What fun, and another absorbing enjoyable day at Chez Clive to look back on with fond memories. Our game was played in the normal relaxed frivolous banter that tends to be the norm, gloriously intermixed with Clive's attention to detail to present the challenging historical commentary that supported the game seen here.

Thank you Clive for a lovely day and to my fellow players, Chas, Nick, Mike, Stephen, Steve M. and Vince who provided the drama portrayed in my pictures from the day together with their company that made it complete - cheers chaps and Happy Xmas to one and all.

JJ