Day 2 of our Normandy campaign has been completed, and the scenarios for Day 3 are about to be sent out. Day 2 was generally a bit quieter than Day 1, with most of the activity occurring in the west where the British had made their strongest gains on Day 1. The Germans attempted to encircle the British salient from both sides.

The British 5th Dorset infantry battalion had dug in at the extent of their advance, at the end of Day 1. Their main position occupied some orchards just south of the main road between Lion Vert and Hottot. This meant that the Germans in Hottot were now starting to become cut off, with their only line of supply coming from farm tracks and with the nearest proper bridge over the Seulles river being at Orbois to their south west. The German C-in-C decided to launch a strong counter attack to cut off the British salient, to force them to retreat or surrender and thereby relieve the Hottot defenders.

The west of the salient was to be pressed upon by the Ost-630 battalion – unfortunately Green troops without all their normal supports, but reasonably close to full strength. They would be given some backbone a company of Panzer IVs from 2nd Panzer division. The Panzer Kompanies have been ‘sandboxed’ down to 5 tanks – between a third and a quarter of their actual numbers, to keep them in proportion with the infantry battalions. This area was played out as Crossfire game on a 4’x8′ table as marked out by the green rectangle labelled 5. The British had some hidden forces of 5th Dorset, plus advancing on to the table were companies from 4th Dorset who had come through the dug in 5th Dorset with orders to push south west towards the Orbois road.

This battle initially went well for the Germans and they advanced against the British attack. However, more and more British came on to the table, and significantly a company of the 5th Duke of Cornwall (who had advanced through Onchy without opposition) came on behind the left flank of the Germans. It was a big table, and the Germans didn’t really have enough troops to hold such a long line. They retreated steadily south and ended the game in a tight perimeter around the Chateau de Bu in the south corner of the table, having taken moderate losses of both infantry and armour. British losses were comparatively light.

The east side of the salient was fought as another Crossfire game. The Germans were using two companies of II Battalion, Regt. 2, 2nd Panzer Division – veteran troops, supported by a company of Panthers and a Stug. Dug in on the British right flank were a company of 5th Dorsets. The Germans (with a significantly stronger force) started to encircle them. With the 4th Dorset’s attack well under way (in Battle 5), reserves were limited – a carrier platoon and D Squadron of 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards (Shermans) were sent to fend off the Germans. The Shermans, as with the German tanks, were ‘sandboxed’ so the squadron was represented by 3 x Shermans and 1 Sherman Firefly. Even with these reinforcements, the British were outgunned and were forced off the table to the north west, leaving the Germans in control of the wood at 808662.

In the east of the campaign area, the Germans were heavily bombarded by artillery, but the British didn’t attack, so this wasn’t played out on the table. At the Eastern edge, a British infantry battalion advanced south and was met only with snipers and forward observation posts, so again was not played as a Crossfire game.

The frontlines are now as below for Day 3. The British salient has been pushed west, the centre is broadly static and there are significant British gains in the east.

The final battle of Day 1 was a continuation of Battle 2 (which had only been played up to 10 30am in game time).

This map shows the location of the table on the overall campaign map. The British had moved up to the large wood just north of the battlefield overnight, and launched a massive attack from there in the morning. Battle 2 had covered the first part of the attack, but they ran out of time before it reached a conclusion.

Using a map and photos from Battle 2, we set up the table as best we could to match how their game had ended and any differences were rationalised as there having been a brief lull in the fighting which both sides had used to regroup and reorganise.

At this point, the British attack wasn’t looking terribly secure. On the west side, they were quite successful in pushing back the Green troops of the 3-857, but on the east side they were facing stiffer opposition. The 2/2 Panzer Grenadiers had brought up a few more infantry from Hottot village, and in addition to the Pz IVs they already had, a SdKfz 251 with a short barrel 75mm mounted on it. When firing, this got 4d6 for the MG and another 4d6 for the main gun, giving it the anti-infantry firepower of a tank. With just the occasional PIAT, the British were in a weak situation to counter the German armour.

SdKfz 251 with 75mm gun

This map shows the battlefield and the approximate British front line (red) at that end of Battle 2. Germans were still mainly in their deployment zones – about a company of coastal battalion (Green) in Zone 1 and another company or so of 2/2 Panzer Grenadiers in Zone 2 (Veterans), backed by four PzIVs.

This is a shot of the Zone 2 corner, looking East. Two Pz IVs and a couple of platoons have come forward to menace the British flank. They have countered with a 6 pounder in the wood.

Worried by the armour, and feeling they needed a bit of a boots, the British made an immediate request for Shermans from their reserve, and started moving forward.

Attempting to leverage their local superiority, a Pz IV pushed forward. A British PIAT reactive fired and made a lucky hit – they needed a 5+ (d6) to hit, followed by another 5+ to destroy it, so this was by no means likely. Without that, the Germans could have mounted a strong push on the British flank and potentially done significant damage. As it was, with only one more Pz IV on that flank, they decided they couldn’t risk a further assault and the danger to the British had passed.

In the centre, the British pushed forwards, encountering just a few hidden Green squads. Soon they were in sight of the road.

Although some advances were being made, the game clock kept ticking on, and no sign of the Shermans.

The battalion commander had driven to the front to investigate the stalled attack.

The British numerical superiority had two main benefits – first they could fill every corner of the defence, leaving no weak points for a German assault to exploit. The other was that they had plenty of fresh rifle platoons. Every time a platoon became suppressed or lost a squad, another platoon could push through them and carry on the assault – no need to wait for rallying or to use a below-strength platoon.

British secure2 the house at the western end of the road, but the Germans still held the large area of orchards with veterans and armour.

On the east the British attack had stalled with a platoon losing its PIAT squad to the 75mm SdKfz.

On the east the British attack had stalled, with a platoon losing its PIAT squad to the 75mm SdKfz.

They couldn’t hurt the SdKfz, but they managed to kill one German squad and suppress another in the adjacent field. Company A, 2nd Platoon Commander rushed forward with a rifle squad, assaulted and destroyed the suppressed German squad, then retreated back to safety.

Finally at around 1.30pm game time, the British Shermans showed up – three standard Shermans and a Firefly.

The British start to wrap round the west flank of the Germans and force them back into the orchards south of the road.

Back on the east side, a Sherman shows up to rescue the British platoon pinned in the orchard. The 75mm SdKfz doesn’t fancy an exchange of fire with a tank, and backs off under the cover of smoke to safety.

The Firefly takes up a commanding position round the corner of a house to stop any German armour crossing the road. One platoon pushes into the orchards, backed by a Sherman. The battalion carrier platoon is moved up, so the carrier MGs can support an assault.

British casualties so far have been very light, but they have been mainly clearing up Green troops. It’s about to get tougher as the German armour and veterans are backed into a corner.

A British platoon tried to push forward in the orchard but was stopped by reactive fire. The Germans dropped smoke and then counter attacked – the Sherman’s LOS was blocked by its own side and was unable to give covering fire before the British platoon was assaulted and destroyed. by the German 3rd Platoon.

In an attempt to cut off the German path of retreat, another Sherman advanced but came into the LOS of an unspotted PzIV and was destroyed.

Attempting to relieve the pinned platoon, the Carrier platoon advanced but with two pins and a suppress, was swiftly stopped.

With limited success, the British tried to attack on another flank. Covered by a rifle platoon and a 2″ mortar, a Sherman advanced but was hit by a lucky Panzerfaust.

The British problems mounted – the Sherman in the orchard should probably have pulled back when the infantry platoon ahead of it was destroyed. Spotting its exposed position, Leutnant Wernicke of 2/2 PzGr Co.B, capitalised on his previous assault and pushed forward to destroy the 3rd Sherman before pulling back.

Gritting their teeth, the British rallied and pushed up again. The orchards needed to be swept to consolidate the British position south of the road. Two platoons finally managed to force their way in.  The Germans had retreated into the corner of the battlefield (map square C2) – the edge of the village of Hottot, but with all but one of the British tanks destroyed, the British commander decided to call off any further attack, and the game ended.