Friedland 1807 - the afternoon

Jim's French v. Peter & Renfrey's Russians

The armies were set up in their historical late aternoon positions when Ney & Victor came on and attacked.  We only did the French right as the action on the other side of the Fluss was just a sideshow.  The troops that fought in the morning were all made Shaken  while the French newcomers were of course fresh.

As in the real thing Ney stormed through the Forest of Sortlak to pressurize Bagration as Victor passed through Lanne's lines to attack Docturov.  For a time the Russian line held, but holding a line with your back to a river is a dangerous game.  Suddenly Victor's Dragoons got on a winning streak - they broke a Dragoon counterattack & followed up hurling hot dice.  They broke the second line and went on into the flank of Bagrations Cuirassiers as they were trying to redploy them to cover the line of retreat to Friedland.  This broke the Russians in two and cut off Bragration line fo retreat entirely. 

The battle was not meant to be at all competitive - basically Napoleon had Bennigsen on toast and the wargame confirmed this unequiocally.  But it was a nice test of the rules and a good opportunity to get some feedback on them from fresh eyes.

Friedland 1807

Mark's French v. Steve's Russians

We fought the morning action where Lannes held off the Russians until Napoleon arrived.

In the pics the French are on the left.  Grouchy's cavalry on the far side of the Fluss, Lannes' infantry on the near side.

On the French left the Russians advanced until Grouchy counterattacked.  The Cossacks on the far flank were quickly routed.  The regular cavalry was a tougher nut, but the French eventually beat that too.  But the Russian infantry & artillery held the line & the flank ended up in a stalemate (as it did historically).

On the French left, the Russians found it hard work for all their numerical superiority.  The mainly French Confident Vets more than a match for the mainly Fearless Conscript Russians.  But the Russians eventually got their cavalry/artillery/infantry coordination right and the French broke.

The time taken for the Russians to beat Lannes was about 3 hours - better than history so the game was judged a Russian victory.   Nevertheless, even though victorious, the Russians were in no fit state to face Napoleon's fresh troops.  Most of their troops on their left being Shaken & their cavalry broken on the right.

We used M2M & they worked well giving a good Napoleonic feel.  The combat system could benefit with a little streamlining & I'm working on that.

Friedland 1807

Friedland 1807 fought solo to playtest the Camp Cromwell Big Battle Rules for 6mm Napoleonics.

Bennigsen crossed the River Alle at Friedland with about 60,000 men in an attempt to crush Lannes' 30,000.  The attack started about 9am with Lannes & Mortier holding the right and & Grouchy's cavalry the left. They fought a brilliant holding action while Napoleon marched up with another 50,000 men.  Napoleon arrived about noon and Victor & Ney soon after.  The Russian attack pettered out as Napoleon organised his forces.  About 5pm Ney attacked the Russian left as Victor hit their centre.  The Russians were driven back onto the river only about half of them escaping over the few bridges & fords.

This scenario covered the morning battle.   The pics are taken from behind the French right.  In the first pic the Russian attack has just got under way.  On the right edge, a thin line holds the Forest of Sortlack, then Lannes & Mortier's infantry hold a line of hills to the Muhlen Fluss.  Over the Fluss, Grouchy's cuirassiers stand just out of cannon range of a line of Russian infantry & artillery while his dragoons & hussars fight some cuirasiers, lancers & hussars plus a horde of cossacks.

On the French left, the cuirassiers & their oposition were content to look at each other.  But there was furious cavalry fight on the far flank.  The Russians were decisively beaten, but Grouchy does not  pursue as more Russian infantry and artillery came up & deployed to the right of the first lot and were advancing.

On the French right, the fight in the forest became a stalemate despite superior Russian numbers.   The Russians took a long time to get their attack organised, but their combination of infantry artillery and cavalry gradually wore the French down and eventually broke them.

The French right broke after 14 turns (per side).  At 3 turns per hour that is about 1.40 pm.  The battle reports are a bit vague on when the French reinforcements arrived, but probably not yet.  So Bennigsen has done rather better in the wargame than in real life.   However, his army is in no fit state to fight the fresh French forces when they do arrive.  The Russian left has just one unit left unshaken.  The Russian right is in good shape, and the defeated Cavalry Corps will be rallied and back in action in another couple of hours.  But Grouchy's cavalry can fight a delaying action & the Fluss will prevent the Russian right affecting the main game on the other flank - a factor not lost on Napoleon.

The exercise was valuable in tiding up loose ends in the rules and demonstrated that the time scale isn't too far off the mark.

Camp Cromwell 21/12/10

Munt's British Rifles
v.
Jim's Shutzenkompanie
in
1750 pts Early War Roadblock, Germans defending on 8x6 table.

The Germans ambushed the Brit 25 pdrs with 4 Pak36's.  They knocked out 2 in the ambush & finished the rest off in the next 2 turns. 

The pic is from behind the German right.  Most of the Brits came on on the right.  They occupied the farm yard to dispute that objective with the rest fo their troops deployed in and behind the wood and farm unable to advance for fear of the Paks on teh tree line & the T38's.  One Brit Rifle, Light Tanks & Bugs came on on the far flank.  The Germans secured their right with Paks & tanks and deployed HMGs & 88's in the village.  They sent 1 Inf platoon to the right to take over from the tanks & the other luked in their trucks behind the village.

The German armoured cars came on on their left but were beaten by the Brit light tanks.   The light tanks and bugs then threatened the German left.  But the Germans deployed their reserve infantry in the treeline behind the village to prevent this.

With both flanks secure and the centre a killing ground covered by 88's Paks & HMG's, the patient Germans finally attacked.  The T38's moved left thru the village, around the British rifles now in the cornfield and destroyed the mortars on the far objective to take it and win the battle.

Camp Cromwell 14/12/10

John's Cossacks
v.
Steve's PanzerLehr
in
2000 pts Hasty Assault on 8x6 table

The Cossack horde charged down the Russian left flank with armoured support.  But too much time was spent by the players in yaffling and they ran out of time before the armies got to grips.

Munt's Gurkas
v.
Renfrey's Panzergrenadiers
in
1750 pts midwar No Retreat on 8x6.  Brits defending.

Pic 1 shows the German armour rushing forward at the start.  The Churchill ambush in the trees failed to hurt the Panzers (1 bail) & revenge was swift, both the 88's & the Panzers got a kill & bail & they were wiped out next turn.

The Armoured halftracks & Panzers then assaulted the objective.  The Gurka's fought bravely, but the German armour overwhelmed them.

Gaza 312BC BPEM

Ptolemy (Nick)
v.
Demetrius (John)

This was our second go at a PBEM ancient battle using Camp Cromwell Rules.  One of the battles between the Sucessors.  Ptolemy had more phalangites, but Demetrius had more cavalry and some elephants to make a pretty even fight of it.  In the real thing Ptolemy won.

Pic 1 is the initial deployment, Ptolemy on the left.  Ptolemy advanced his phalanx in the centre first, then his wings.  Demetrius advanced his right first, then his left holding his (weaker) phalanx back. 

The fighting started on Ptolemy's left. Cavalry v. cavalry, cavalry v. peltasts, elephants v. phalanx, peltast v. phalanx.  The cavalry fight ebbed & flowed for a long time boths sides winning & losing.  D's cavalry beat the peltasts after a couple of charges.  P's phalanxes shrugged off the elephants & peltasts & resumed their advance.

On Ptolemy's right his peltasts outnumbered their opponents, his cavalry beat the elephants, but his flank was overlapped by peltasts.  In the centre, P's phalanxes marched forward.  D lead his reserve companions out round the right flank of the advancing phalanx.

 Now the battle is reaching the crisis.  The pic is from behind Demetrius' line.  On the left, D's peltasts have wheeled right and are pressing hard.  In the centre, the phalanxes have locked up.  D has won one on the right but his phalanx lost heavily in the process.  D's comp-anions have pinned down the 4th of P's phalanxes.  On the right, the cavalry melee is winding up with D ending up with a cavalry unit free.

Now it's P's phalanx's turn to win, but after a tough fight leaving them in rough shape.  D's cavalry is coming from the right & P's right is looking shaky with the peltasts breaking behind the phalanx.

P pulled his cav back from his right to meet D's cavalry in the rear.  But D's HA hurt them on the way & they were beaten.  D's cav then thoguht they'd done enough & chased after them.

P's LH (pic way) phalanx just managed to rally & about face to meet the peltasts.  The other 2 phalanxes (1 each) struggled to rally.  P's archers kept D's remaining phalanx pinned down while P's phalanx rallied, turned & hit it in flank.

By the now both sides were mess.  Demetrius has only 1 key unit left - his companions, 3 more have pursued off the field, his 3 phalanxes have routed.
Ptolemy has 3 phalanxes left, but 3 companions routed and 1 in pursuit.  Neither side has more than half their key units (phalanxes & companions) routed, but neither has much chance to get any more routs.  According to the Army Morale Test its a tie.  Though with 3 phalanxes left Ptomemy could claim he really won.

Camp Cromwell 07/12/10

Jim's Motostrelk

v. Munt's Hungarians

in

2000 pts LW Breakout on 8x5 table.

Byron also present.

The Russians started with 2 M/Strelk & Rockets on the table & T34's, KV's & Honeys to come.

The Hungarians had Infantry, Artillery, Hetzers, A/C's & Stukas, with Panthers, Stugs, Infantry & Paks to come.

Pic 1 is at the start after the Hun recon move.

The first M/Strlek got picked on, but it got into the village within 100 of objective & the surviors hunkered down.  The second M/Strelk did better detroying the Hungarian infantry in the wood on their flank, then swinging right to move on the objectives.  The Katies lasted just 2 turns of artillery bombardment.

By the time the Russian armour arrived, the Huns had a reception committee of 3 Stugs in a hedge & 2 Panthers waiting.   The Russians doubled the T34s & Honeys to get close to the objectives while the KV's entertained the Panthers (pic 2).  Finding Munt too cunning to let them near their side armour they were whittled away.  The T34s took out the Stugs, the Honeys managed to take one Hetzer down with them, but the Russians were on borrowed time - nearing an army morale crisis.  The remnants of the 1st M/Strelk beat off an infantry attack on the village & the 2nd M/Strelk attacked in a desperate attempt to force a Hun morale test.  They drove the Hetzers back and took out half the Hun battery before the Hetzers drove them back again.  Then when the Panthers bagged the 6th T34 and the Russians failed morale & it was game over after a great battle. 

Maharajah 2010 Semis at Nicks

Jim's Panzergrenadiers
v. Rich's Canadian Mech

Cauldron Germans defending.

The Germans defended the Caudron with 2 Infantry, 105's, Neblewerfers & Pak 38's.
2 Stug platoons, Armoured cars, infantry guns & Kampfgroup to come.
The Canadians started with M10's, Shermans, Recon, Heavy Mortars & 25 pdrs on the table, mounted infantry & 6pdrs to come.

The Canadians used their Recon effectively to thwart to German plan to ambush the M10s with the Paks forcing the Paks to deploy in the hedges further back.  While the Canadian Infantry gathered, their artillery, mortars & tanks destroyed the 105's.  Then the Canadians made a well coordinated attack with infantry & armour, driving the Grenadiers off one objective.  It looked all over for the Germans, but they suddenly got lucky.  Their 2nd reserve dice was 2 5's so all their Stugs arrived.  The remnants of the grenadiers passed morale & unpinned to keep a toehold on the objective.  The Canadians erred in digging in on the objective instead of pushing on with their infantry, & the M10's, weakened by Paks, failed to take out the remaining Panzergrenadiers & they bought time for the Stugs to come up. 

The 9 Stugs made a wonderful target for the RAF, but only 1 plane came & it missed.  The Stugs finished off the Shermans & M10's & reached the objective in the nick of time as the brave infantry were finally destroyed.  Six 6pdrs were the Canadian's last hope, but they had to deploy in the open, did little damage with their 1st shot & were promptly destroyed by Neblewerfers & Stugs. The Canadians failed army morale & the Germans gained a lucky victory. 

Nick's US Armour
v. Steve's 21st Panzergranadiers

Encounter battle.

As usual Steve dug in on his baseline & defended doggedly.  After a long artillery duel, Nick made an attack down the right flank, but by midnight it hadn't got near an objective. 

Battle drawn.  They will have a rematch - this time a Breakout Mission - which one would expect to give a result.    Winner to fight Jim in the Final.

Leigh's Parliamentarians 
v. Joe's Royalists

Leigh & Joe used the 3rd table to fight an ECW battle using Fields of Glory rules.  After a long slog, Parliament prevailed.

Camp Cromwell 30/11/10

Jim's Russians
v.
Renfrey's Speverband
in
1750 pts Hasty Assault, Russians attacking.

The Russians made the battlefield very crowded by making a massed assault on their left.  Motostrelk mutually destructed the German infantry while the T34's took on the Stugs & Hetzers.  Then the Cossacks came through and took the objective only to be destroyed by a counterattack by infnatry brought from the other flank.  But the Russians had won the tank battle by then and their KVs sat ont eh objective to win the battle.

Munt's Hungarians
v.
Joe's Yanks
in
No Retreat, US defending.

Joe ahd a bit of a learning curve to climb in his first experience as Americans.  He got overun by Hetzers in the end, but he had made the Axis pay dearly.

English Civil War

Oakie's Royalists
v.
Jim's Parliamentarians

Camp Cromwell Rules

Both sides deployed traditonally with cavalry on the wings and pike & shot in the centre.  Parliament bolstered their weaker right with 3 guns.  Both sides put their musketeers in or in front of the village.   Parliament supported them with their dragoons & cavalry behind.

As they should the Royalists took the initiative and attacked all along the line.  On their left the Royalists had superior numbers of horse as well as better troops, but the Parliamentary horse put up good fight & the battle was won & lost elsewhere before the Royalists could use their win to influence the result.

On the Rotalist right there was a confused but interesting fight in the contricted space between the wood & the village.  Parliament eventually got on top, but as on the other flank it took too long to allow the win to affect the result. 

The battle was decided in the centre where the Royalist foot had the better luck in a fair fight.   It was case of both sides having sound plans which neutralised each other making the result a bit dice reliant.  But the battle was none the less enjoyable for that.  We both a had a good time & the rules worked well - none the worse for being a being a quick adaption from ancients. 

Pics all taken from behind Parliamentary right.

Trebuchetting at St Virgils

I was asked to provide a trebuchet demonstration at St Virgil's Grade 8 Medieval Day.  I took the little one & the scale model.  The school  provided a small section of castle wall as a target.  4 groups of boys had a great time hurling a mix of fruit, water bombs & bocce balls at the target at a range of 50m (the machine's max range is about 100m, but I kept it powered down for safety reasons).  Every group managed at least a couple of hits, including some through the window or castelations to take out the defending bowmen.  The hits on the MDF wall went straight through.

Camp Cromwell 23/11/10

Renfrey's British Guard Armour
v.
Richard's Hungarian Armour
in
Late War Breakthrough 1500 pts, Hungarians defending

Richard eventually prevailed in a bloodbath.

Joe's German Infantry
v.
Jim's British Rifles
in

Early War Cauldron 1500 pts, Germans attacking.

The Brits recognised the achiles heel of the early German army - rifle armed platoons.  Aggressive counterattacks by the British Infantry destroyed the German infantry attacks.  The Germans couldn't put enough firepower out to stop the British attacks.  A convincing British victory.

Magnesia Played by Email

Nick's Romans

v.

PeterC's Seleucids

The Romans are significantly outnumbered, but generally ahve better quality troops, better morale & better command & control.

The Romans deployed first with their Heavy Cavalry on the right, legionaries in the centre, Perumene Allies on the left & elephants in rear.

The Seuecids placed Cavalry on the left to match the Roman Cavalry on that flank with elephants in front.  Next to those were the 4 phalanx units echeloned forward to the right with the Aregaraspids in the lead.  On their right were more elphants & two warbads, then peltasts and Medium Cavalry on the far right.  A reserve of their best cavalry was placed behind the warbands.

The Romans ordered the Legions to wheel left, for the Pergumenes to move forward a little to make room & the cavalry & velites to hold the left.

The Seleucids charged forward with the whole front line.  The 1st pic is just before the front lines come into contact.   On the Seleucid left their cavalry followed up the pigs at a discrete distance and when the pigs were replused took over the attack. The phalanx advanced slowly.  The grotties locked up & slogged it out in the centre.  The medium cavalry and peltasts moved around the Pergume flank.

The second Roman line halted facing half the phalanxes while the front line continued to the left helping out the Pergumenes to hold the flank.  Pic 2 is the Roman right.  Pic 3 is the Roman left.  The phalanx is closing in outflanking the Roman infantry, but itself in danger on its right.

Pic 4 is the climax of the battle.  The Roman cavalry won, rallied and has forced the end phalanx to form hedgehog.  The Argaraspids on the other end have been charged frontally by 2 maniples.  The next one is pinned in front by 1 maniple with another ready to charge it in flank.  The third phalanx is trying to manoeuvre around the Roman flank.  The Argaraspids broke.  The phalanx threatened in flank won & luckily pursued rather than rallied & avoided the flank attack.  But their good luck was their mate's misfortune, the 3rd phalanx copped the flank attack instead and was routed.  With 2 phalanxes routed, one pinned down by cavalry & other making whoopie in the Pergumene baggage train, this was high water mark for the Romans.  But they couldn't do any better than that.  A fresh cataphract from reserve drove off the Roman cavalry to free the last phalanx.  Repeated cavalry charges on the Roman left reduced most of the units there to shaken status causing the Romans to fail their Army Morale Test.

The experiment with PBEM was judged a success & we intend to do some more.  I ran the game like a solo game except I had general orders from the players.  The players were send regular sit reps & pics & sent new orders as the battle progressed.  It took a few email exchages to get it all set up, but once it got going we did the main fight in a night.

Magnesia 190 BC 13/11/10

Refrey's Romans
v.
Jim's Seleucids

According to the historians (all Roman) the Romans were outnumbered 2:1 and still won a decisive victory.  While the Roman army was composed of highly motivated veterans & the Seleucids were the usual mix of mercenaries and drafts, it is most likely the historians fudged the figures to make their country look good.  In our scenario we allowed a few more Pergumene allies for the Romans than allowed by Livy - troops easily overlooked in the telling.  The Roman army had better command & control and better morale than their opponents.

Renfry deployed first with his legions resting their right on the scrubby hills thus leaving only one hanging flank protected by his Pergumene allies.

The Seleucids replied by deploying their phalanx opposite the legions with elephants in front, then their masses of grotties & cavalry on the right.

The Seleucids held their phalanx back & advanced with their first line accross the front.  The Romans advanced the legions with their left echeloned back.  The elephants were dealt with by the legions with little loss and they continued on to ttack the phalanx.  The attack was supported by some peltasts sneaking up through the rough ground to outflank the end phalanx.  The phalanx line began to unravel from the left.

On the other flank the Seleucids tried to smash forwrad with their first line then manoeuvre their second line into the flank of thre legion.   But with their good staff work the Romans were able to delay their plan by feeding second line troops into the fray.

The 3rd phalanx from the end put up a stubborn fight with the help of the companions, lead over by Antiochus to cover the open flank.  But in the end it had to break & that was the battle.

Both pics taken from behind the Seeucid left.  Te first when the elephants & legion meet, the second near the end.

The same scenario is now being used in a PBEM experiment - report to follow when it's over.

Blitzkrieg Night

Munt's British Guards
v.
Renfrey's SchutzenKompanie
in
1750 pts Hasty Attack on 6x4, Germans defending

The Brits attacked bravely, but the Germans had a good balanced force to meet them.  The critical issue was the 88's v. Matildas.  The 88's won & that was game over.

In the pic the Brit attack si about to run out of steam - taken from behind the brit right.

Nick's British Rifles

v.

Joe's Infanteriekompanie
in
1500 pts Breakout on 6x4, Germans defending

Nick grasped the essence of the unfamiliar mission first, immediately doubling infantry into the village to contest an objective.  They lost sorely to artillery & armoured cars, but enough made it through.  Then the bugs came on and distracted the Germans on their left flank while dying slowly.  On the other flank, Pak 38s destroyed the allied Renaults, but that bought time for the HMGs to move up & dig in in a great spot overlooking the objectives.  The HMGs then won a duel with the Paks.  On turn 6, the Brits held an objective with no Germans able to contest.

The pic is taken from behind the German deployment area late in the battle.

It was an interesting night with new missions from Das Book in a new period.  Munt brought his own army and we managed to scratch up another Brit & 2 Germans out of midwar stuff with a few subs.

Breakout Mission

Jim's Panzergrenadiers
v.
Byron's British Guard Armour

Breakout Mission, 2000 pts on 8x6 table.

We decided to test out the new Breakout Mission from Das Book.  It's a bit like Cauldron meets Breakthrough.  The defender (Germans here) start dug in in one quarter with all but one mech platoon in reserve to come on from far corner.  The attacker has half on the table in the 2 diagonal quarters with reserves coming on in their rear corners.  We made the come on zones 600 from the corners ratehr than 30 to compensate for the big table.  Objectives are in the middle just out off both deployment zones.

The Germans kept their Stugs in reserve, placing artillery, infantry & armoured cars on the table.  The Brits put their artillery, heavy mortars, 1 rifle & 1 Sherman platoon on the table, with 2 more infantry, another Sherman, bugs & armoured cars to come.

The Germans were fortunate to get their Stugs quickly.  They deployed around the farmyards ready for the Shermans.  When the Shermans came up the tank v. tank fight was indecisive at first, but as often happens eventually got deadly.  The Germans lost one Stug platoon, but Bits lost both theirs.  The remaining Stug platoon was king - the Brits had nothing left to counter it so Byron conceded.

There was a lot more stuff going on round the edges not decribed above as it wasn't critical.  It's a challenging mission, but interesting because of that.  In the pic the German deployment quarter is far right.  The Shermans are advancing in the forground, Stugs lurk in & around the farm yards.  Panzergrenadiers are moving thru the village to secure the objectives betwween the village & the farmyard.

Maharajah 2010 4th Semi Final

Steve's Panzergrenadier (Panzerlehr from VB)
v.
Mark's US Rifles (FE)
in
No Retreat, US defending 2000 pts on 8x6

Mark as usual maxed out on artillery - 5.5's, 2x105's, 105 light's, light mortars plus aircraft.  He also had 2 inf, HMGs. engineers, SPAA, 3 Shermans & 2 M10's.  He deployed inf, HMGs, mortars, light 105's & 5.5's.
The Germans had a shirtload of armoured half tracks full of grizzled vets toting mgs, supported by Pak 40's, Neblewerfers, 105's, 2 lots of SPAA & flamethrower HTs.

The Germans attacked with a wall of half tracks while their artillery laid smoke to impede observers & their AA shot down the USAF every time.  The GI's were no match for the half tracks and the objective was over-run on turn 3.  The US only hope was their Shermans coming out of ambush behind the ridge and rushing to contend the objective.  The ridge was Difficult Ground so bogging rolls were required.  Oakie proceded to bog them all & could not contest the objective.

This was the first Axis victory in the Maharjah for 2 years !

Next round - semi finals:
 
Nick's US Armour v. Steve's Panzerlehr.
Jim's Panzergrenadiers v. Rich's Canadian Rifles.

Maharajah Battle: Jim v. Byron

Jim's British Guard Rifles (HH)
v.
Byron's Grenadiers (DD)
in
Encounter Battle (2,000 pts on 8x6)

The Germans placed Heavy Art on the exposed objective on their left, Grenadiers on the one in the woods in the centre, Paraducci in the village, 88's still mounted behind the wood in the centre & Stugs hidden in the village.  To come they had Recon (3x2 8 rad), Neblewerfers, 2 small Panzergrenadiers & more Grenadiers.

The Brits placed 25pdrs on the centre objective, 5.5's on the objective on their left and 2 Rifle platoons forward left & centre.  To come they had 2 Cromwell/Challenger platoons, bugs & HMGs(2 off).

The Brits started off pushing their infantry forward towards the village.  The Ities came out to meet them, but were soon sent back by accurate rifle fire.  The Stugs came out to attack the LH rifles, but did little before they were distracted by a Cromwell platoon coming on on that flank.  The rifles then attacked and took the church.  About the same time the 8 rads came on behind the other objective - they had better luck than the Stugs, destroying the RH rifles with MG fire before they could chase the Ities into the village.

Meanwhile the Brits were getting the better of the artillery duel, badly hurting the 150's & keeping them pinned down in between hits. 

The other Cromwell platoon came on on the British right, soon followed by the HMGs (in carriers) & bugs.  These rushed towards the objective, now defended only by 8 rads & a gun.  It looked like an easy kill, & this prompted Byron to mount a desperate & doomed counterattack on the 25pdrs with 8 rads before he lost his objective.  But the Cromwells couldn't hit a thing and the Germans held on the the objective with the 2IC platoon & some 8 rads.  The Cromwells tried to rush the objective but were stopped by the panzerscreck - the platoon reduced to an unflappable Challenger sitting back commandless & resolutely missing every shot. 

On the other flank the Cromwells & Stugs traded shots ineffectively until the 88's were deployed and the Stugs broke off to rush to help the defence of the German left.  The Cromwells rushed after them as the 25 pdrs smoked the 88's.  The Stugs & Cromwells rejoined their fight at close quarters next to the village.  The Cromwells had first shot, but missed their chance, then the Stugs took out all but one.  Only the unflappable commander survived.

Meanwhile on the objective the bodies piled up.  The Challenger finally found the range & with some artillery help finished off the 8 rads.  By then the HMG carriers were all gone, but somehow, the bugs had survived to hold the objective.  Two Stugs broke off from the Cromwell fight to contest the objective.  They failed stormtrooper to get within 100, but managed to bail all the bugs to hang on another turn.   The Stug left behind had 2 shots at the last Comwell & missed.

On the other flank a small Panzerfrenadier unit had been marching down the table edge towards the objective defended only by un-dug in 5.5's & was was almost within charge range.  But the tide suddenly turned for the Brits.  Their artillery smashed the Werfers & pinned the infantry coming from the village, one bug unbailed and the Challenger was on a roll - 3 shots, 3 hits, 3 dead Stugs.  Suddenly it was all over.

It was one hell of a fight - one of those great see-sawing FOW games that make us love it so much.