Bolt Action: 1250 pts Tank Battle

Steve's Germans v. Jim & Chris' British

The Germans had a Panther, 2 Marders & 2 Hanomags each with an infantry section.
The Brits had a Firefly, 2 Shermans, a M5 with an infantry section, a 6 pdr with a carrier, a recon carrier & a jeep with a Piat team & the free FOO.
The objective is the road junction & bridge.  To win you had to have possession of all 3 houses that can fire at the objective.

The Germans have come on from the left.  Their infantry have occupied the two storey house on the left of the road.  They are supported by a Hanomag & 2 Hetzers. The Panther & the other infantry section are in the wood on the left.
The Brits have occupied the house over the bridge with their 6 pdr, M5 & carriers in support.  The Shermans are moving up behind the woods on their right.

For once the British artillery landed on the Germans pinning down the troops in the village.  One Marder moved left to engage the Shermans.  It was hit and immobilised.  The other Marder, pinned by the artillery kept retreating due to failed commands.   The 6 pdr engaged the Hanomag.  The Brit infantry, M5 & carriers kept firing at the occupied house.  The jeep with the Piat team drove to the German left and the Piat team entered the wood to threaten the Panther.

On the left, the Germans allowed themselves to get distracted by the Piat team.  In the centre, the Shermasn kept getting pins on the Marder, but couldn't finish it off.   The Hanomag shot up the 6pdr crew with its MMG, but was driven back by carrier fire & failed command.  The Germans in the house were too pinned down to recover as the Brits kept a relentless fire on them.  Eventually they go to 10 pins and failed morale.  The Brits then advanced unopposed through the village to fulfil the victory condition. 

We didn't impose a move limit on the game because of the big table (about 8x6') (and we lost count anyway), but it took less than about 2 hours.  It was a remarkably bloodless battle.  The Brits lost 1 6pdr & 1 M5.  The Germans lost 1 infantry section & had a Hetzer immobilised.  It was all about pins really.   It was a good game.  The British barrage gave them a big advantage early on & the Germans  never recovered.  The Hetzers did ok, but the Germans failed to get enough value out of their Panther & 2nd infantry section.