O Group. Somewhere near Arras.

It's May 1940, somewhere near Arras.  The British Army is somewhat in disarray, and the North Durham Fusiliers, a Territorial battalion, have been sent forward to stabilise the position.

The North Durhams:  HQ, F.O. and 3” mortars, along with three Infantry companies. An infantry company consists of one Company Commander and three Infantry Rifle platoons. British platoons were generally organised with three sections per platoon. 

My support options are: 

Carrier Platoon (One Infantry platoon with two carriers: 4 point) 

Support Platoon 

One Vickers MMG and one Boys AT Rifle:

British Infantry Training Characteristic

The following Training Characteristics apply to British troops in 1940

Smoke: On a Fire & Move Action, British units may use their 2” mortars to lay smoke. British infantry may choose to move only 2D6” and use the single highest score; or move the full 2D6” with no firing. Enemy units targeting them lose 1D6 firepower and apply the spotting dice during the platoon’s movement. No smoke is actually placed on the table.  

Carrier Platoon:When firing at close range, a Carrier Platoon adds two firepower dice instead of one. 

Boys AT Rifles: All British Regular or better infantry platoons have integral Boys AT Rifles. Second Line units do not. Second Line Infantry:Second Line British infantry apply the Limited LMG rule to account for Lewis guns instead of Bren guns and limited equipment at platoon level.

Second Line or Green battalions cannot choose the Carrier Platoon, Scout Platoon or Assault Pioneer Platoon.

The North Durhams

The Germans

211 Inf Division

365 Regt (the Bonn Boys) 1st Bn

Battalion HQ Company, including the HQ and FO, along with three Infantry companies. An infantry company consists of one Company Commander and three Infantry Rifle platoons. German platoons were generally organised on a square platoon structure of four sections per platoon.

Support Platoons 

Machine Gun Platoon  One MG34: 2 points

Reconnaissance Motorcycle Platoon: 3 Motorcycle sections: 4 points

365 Regt

German Infantry Training Characteristic.

Rate of Fire:German SF MMGs, attached MMGs and Infantry platoons gain: Each Double 6 rolled in their firepower dice results in one additional hit on their target. This does not apply to poorer equipped German units such as SS units using foreign made machine guns or Heer units using antiquated equipment Schutzenare classed as Panzergrenadiers.

All German infantry platoons have integral AT Rifles

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XXXXX, France

Dear Mama,

Just a quick letter to tell you that I`m fine.  We are at XXXXXXXXX  near XXXXXX in XXXXX.  The Brigadier has XXXXXXX, but he recovered and will not XXXXXX again.  We go in at XXX in the XXXXXXX.  I shall send you a German XXXXXX for your collection.

Your loving son,

Herbert Farthingdale 1 NDF

The Game

a.  ESTABLISH BATTALION FORCES & BATTALION HQ RATING.

Both sides are Regulars.  

The British are the Attacking HQ and start the game with three HQ Orders, The Germans are and start with two HQ Orders.

b.  DEFINE TERRAIN.

The woods and BUAs block line of sight.  The lanes are sunken and provide light cover to troops within them.

c.  SET PLAN & ESTABLISH OBJECTIVES.

British Plan.

A Coy Right of road, B Coy Left, C Coy in reserve.

First Objective is the central BUA, and is A Coy Objective.   The rearward BUA is the secondary objective and is B Coy Objective.  

German

A Coy Left of Central BUA, B Coy Right of Central BUA.

B Coy in reserve.  MG34 platoon in village under B Coy.

Tactical Superiority. 

The British require three FUBAR as their victory condition based on defeating the opposing 

German Battalion.  The Germans must prevent this.

d.  DEFENDER'S & ATTACKER'S DEPLOYMENT.

For this game I`ll deploy both Battalion HQs on their respective baselines.

On table Company Commanders deploy.

e.  BEGIN TURN ONE.

Here we go...

Defending commanders deploy first behind the Forward Defensive 

Line within their assigned sector. Attacking commanders then deploy behind the Start Line within their assigned sector.

Battalion Deployment Dice. Both players now roll their Battalion Deployment dice. 

Attackers roll nine dice, or ten dice if a Large battalion. Defenders roll nine dice. Players note the deployment dice scores against the Deployment Tables below and then deploy their initial units and Combat Patrols based on these scores. All remaining Battalion units are placed off table in reserve.

Somewhere near Arras

My British HQ goes down.

The British use recce carriers.  Losing these will not count towards a FUBAR

365 Regt use the sunken lanes for cover.

The Woods are crawling with Germans, and a supporting MMG section helps this platoon out against the carriers.

A Company is out in the open with the Germans now in those woods.  Time to rethink.

B Company firefight with the Germans in the sunken lane.

Meanwhile A Company can only move against the German centre by using cover.

Not really a firefight that the Germans are winning.

Finally I lose the carriers

In a cracking move I manage to get an MMG into enfilade on the sunken lane.  It hammers the Germans with six hits.

C Company passes B, and moves onto objective two.

A Company moves forward and takes the centre of the position.  The Germans now have three FUBARs and the Durhams have won the game.

Still in Campaign terms its a retreat for the Durhams next., They are to withdraw on Nouvion and then on to Dunkirk.  Meanwhile the Panzers move forward to cut them off.

A good intro to O Group, but I will need to run these rules again (several times I think) to get a better grasp of the mechanics.