FOW D-Day at D6 Games AAR

With June once again upon us that’s the time of the year to do a set of D-Day battles and with the Screaming Eagles at D6 Games in Rochester Mn on June 1st that’s exactly what we did!

As we had a good crew including both Americans and Brits we decided to set up two tables worth of landing, one on Omaha beach and the other on Sword.

Four would play on Omaha beach, 2 Germans 2 Americans. We had 1 British player and 1 German and Sword. Chuck was gracious and bowed out of the first round concentrating on the next set of tables for the inland battle after the landings were complete.

We used the past Atlantik Wall and Overlord books to guide our setup blended with the v4 rules for pillboxes, nests, minefields and so on. The first round or two went fairly slow as we all needed to remind ourselves that the to hit/save/FP rolls as they are all different then what you might think. Generally, it’s a 2+ for a to hit roll, saves are also a 2+ and FP rolls generally need to be confirmed. Hard to take out as they should be!

For forces, the fortress companies were out as well the landing companies with their specialty hardware. Over on Sword Beach, Chris had AVREs, crabs and other goodies, just as you’d expect the Brits should have.

On the tables, we used the I95 point system to determine victory points. These are essentially little arrows with a point value distributed on the table. Take the area, you get the points, as long as the enemy doesn’t retake it, the points are yours at the end of the game.

 

Over on Omaha, we started with a shore bombardment after the German deployment. This ended up taking out two of my machine gun nests which were on my right flank up on the bluff. Definitely needed them, but big guns at sea did exactly that.

 

The landing went fairly well for the Americans. Most of their tanks made it ashore and now needed to get up the sea wall which was just a cross-check. Just one tank bogged on the beach.

My meager force holding the right flank was all pinned down but hopefully, we’d push them back into the sea.

Unfortunately, during the bottom of my turn, I wasn’t able to unpin the 88 in the bunker. Its single shot missed. While on the American turn two, they started to successfully gap wire and then make their way inland. While initial machine gun fire from the nests on the German right flank was pretty effective. Breaking a platoon could make my day!

On Sword Beach, the British were doing well. The beach defenses were falling quickly. They definitely had the right tools for the job!

Over on Omaha things were not going well. I wasn’t able to get my nests unpinned at times or fire at the veteran Americans would result in few hits. The two 8cm mortars in the pentagon of wire, as well as another set of mortars just a bit further up the beach, were taking out stands here and there, but it wasn’t doing a great job pinning them in place on the beach.

It was looking like we were going to get overrun fairly quickly.

 

Through a set of assaults, pillboxes would fall. Then the Americans would be on the trench my infantry was in. I thought about sending in a Goliath to hit them when they were still on the other side of the bushes but the prospect of a cross check I figured I would wait as I thought there was no way I’d lose this assault. Certainly, I’d get five hits and throw them back? Right … right?!?

 

D-Day Phase II

Both landings having been completed, we moved onto an inland scenario. Where the Americans were coming on in force from one side, and likewise the Germans were coming on with their counterattack.

In the middle was a single paratrooper company and then a smaller German force. So across two tables, it was lots of Germans, American paratroopers, some Germans, and lots of Americans.

Let’s look at some recon pictures of the area before the battle.

In total 7 of us playing, 1750 points per list. 4 German players and 3 Allied. Turn 1 would start in the dark. With only two places to cross the river, this was going to be a hard-fought knockdown brawl to relieve Chris’ German force which was approximately in the town on the opposite side of the ridge.

To slightly even things out the Allies had free air rolls each turn while the Germans had no air at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since that is the last picture, so a textual account of how it all ended up will have to do.

While Allen, Ryan and I were able to get to the river edge with our Germans, we just were not able to cross on the side where all of Chuck’s Paratroopers were. They successfully held all the way to the end.

At the other bridge at the point, we ran out of time Allen had just gotten a couple of tanks across and my infantry was another turn out before they’d make it to the bridge to start to help out.

Chris’ force in town was crumbling but held to the end. Another turn or two it was very doubtful we’d get there in time before they fell.

On the far side, the American advance was like the German advance, plodding ahead but slowly.

It is very safe to say that both sides thought they would advance much further on the table then what they did. Regardless it was a very fun and long day, dare I say, the longest day?