A Wargamer in Cyprus: The Bois de Monts Pint sized campaign

I wrote and posted my pint sized campaign for Bois des Mont back in 2020, and this is my first attempt at a play through.

Link for the Campaign

It's 7th June 1944. 9th Parachute Battalion, fresh from their successful and heroic attack on the Merville Battery, and with a strength of only 70 men, have occupied the woods of the Bois de Mont. The Germans from 346. and 711. Infanteri-divisionen, will be attempting to force a gap through the Allied perimeter, a gap that will give them access to the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal, captured during the hard fought battles on D-Day.

The 9th Battalion column arrived at the chateau area at 0130 hours on June 8th. Lt. Colonel Otway decided to defend a wooded area south of the chateau called the Bois des Mont. The woods offered better cover and the chateau was a likely target for German bombardments. The Paras sent regular patrols through the chateau grounds to prevent the Germans from occupying the buildings.

At dawn the military significance of the position became obvious. From the southwest corner of the woods, the Paras had an unobstructed view all the way to the Orne River bridges. If the Germans occupied the woods they would be able to direct artillery towards the bridges and use the woods as cover to launch a counter attack towards the bridges and into the left flank of the invasion beaches.

Otway placed “A” Company on the north side of the woods facing the chateau grounds, “B” Company on the west side of the woods facing Bréville, and “C” Company on the south side of the woods forming the battalion’s reserve.

9 Para's defensive box was in the centre of the Bréville gap, unsupported on both flanks, but in a position that needed to be held if the bridges to the west were to be protected.

The Campaign

German attacks came at the Paras from Bréville itself as well as from behind the Château St. Come and it's stables. They have six possible start points, that could be used to randomly generate attack lines in a solo game.

Setting up the Defence

Before dawn on the 8th Lieutenant Slade conducted a recce patrol of the Château to confirm the presence of the enemy. As the patrol departed, the other paratroopers ‘brewed up’ ‘monkey block,’ - tea, made from powdered tea leaves, milk and sugar consolidated into a single cube, boiled in mess tins over a solid fuel tablet.

Slade 's patrol followed the yellow gravel driveway to the château , lined with manicured trees and a grass verge on either side with a ditch cut into it. Beyond the château itself were large stone stable blocks and more woods, ideal positions for the Germans to launch attacks. A local civilian told Slade that there were two British gliders in the fields to the rear of the house. Knowing these were a possible source of vital supplies Slade sent half his men to search, whilst he himself searched the château . Finding no Germans but with the intelligence of the gliders presence confirmed Slade made a hasty return to the Bois du Mont.

Fortifying The Bois Du Mont

The wooded edges of the woods offered concealment and the reverse slope position provided a degree of protection from German artillery firing from the other side of the ridgeline. More importantly, the nature of the surrounding bocage would funnel the advance of oncoming enemy towards the villa. From the moment of their arrival, and with little respite, the Paras began digging defensive slit trenches.

German forces attempting to attack from the château would have to traverse the open ground of the fenced paddocks on the other side of the road immediately in front of the Bois du Mont. If they attacked up the road from Bréville they could be brought under fire from the sunken lane on the left flank of the position.

A Company extended their position across the road, digging into a ditch along the edge of the thick line of trees that ran towards the southern end of the château. The Company was deployed in an L shape and this arm of the salient would be named Bomb Alley by the paras. It allowed enfilade fire to the front but was vulnerable to German infiltration through the woods behind, which would take any enemy attempting to cross it in their flanks.

To cover A Company's front as well as support B Company Sergeant McGeever’s single Vickers MMG was dug into an old dried-out pond on the north-east corner of the defensive box, between both Companies. This turned the open area in front of the château into a lethal killing zone.

9 Para had little in the way of anti tank capability but Sergeant Knight and his Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank weapons dug in at the top of the sunken lane near the MMG, covering both company's fronts. With a range of only 100 metres, the PIATs were at best a close quarter weapon.

The sunken lane B Company dug into was a natural defensive feature. Its wooded banks were topped by a mass of dense undergrowth and it became steeper as the submerged track sloped down to its western end. B Company had only enough men to cover a frontage of 100 metres, but were reinforced by two captured Wehrmacht MG 34 machine guns, mounted to fire over the thick mass of brambles.

Thursday 8th June 1944

Scenario One: The probe.

The first attack on 9 Para positions came from a fighting patrol of platoon size designed to probe the position's strength and defensive layout. It came in across the fields along the road from Bréville onto the flank covered by B Company. German infantry advanced over the small lip of higher ground immediately to the front. The two captured MG34 machine guns were at each end of the Paras line. Sergeant Len Daniels was at the top of the lane manning one of the MG 34s. It would seem that the order to ‘Open fire!’ was only given as the Germans came within 50 metres and had to face this "overwhelming firepower."