Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Assault at Lodge House : Operation Sealion

After a long and difficult S-day the Wehrmacht having established a strong bridgehead are seeking to break out into the Kentish Countryside, blitzkrieg style. British forces have been busy over night and having advanced Northwest along the A20 the Germans have been halted. In this sector the German commander has swung the attack to the north to out flank the defended roadblock. His pioneer units have hastily constructed pontoon bridges across the streams which feed into the River Stour. In front of them the British have a thin defended line close to Lodge House. The Germans must break through to avoid further delays.

The main A20 road has been blocked at Smeeth the Germans have turned North to outflank the position
The battlefield, the objective for the Germans is to break through the defended line shown, vehicles can only cross the main river at the pontoon bridges. Lodge House to the bottom right, the British defenders (half their units) are at the blue locations. The red arrow shows the British unit who decided to turn tail and run due to the initial bombardment ! 
As we were playing the scenario straight from the rule book the Germans get the opportunity for an initial bombardment, this was duly rolled for and caused a number of minor pins on units already deployed. The British commander thought nothing of it until because of a single pin a morale check was required and Fubar the unit fled the field this left a massive hole in the defence line right from the start and was very concerning !
A view from the East side of the battlefield towards Lodge House itself
Not surprisingly the British have dug in here, the ambulance presumably indicating the House has been used as an aid station over night.
Having bridged the river the Germans begin their advance, supported by an Sd.kfz251 pioneer wagon armed with a light antitank gun. (Those with a very keen eye may spot the vehicle actually sports a panzerbusche 41 but…..)
They also have a new PzIII medium tank which is leading on their left supported by a pioneer unit.
The rest of the German infantry rush across the stream
The British antitank gun has no targets and the defence line in the distance is currently unmanned ! Hopefully the second wave will arrive soon
The Germans move slowly forward
British reinforcements all manage to arrive, a Vickers tank with 2pounder, infantry, home guard and a Bren Gun carrier
The German infantry’s supporting artillery opens up but has limited effect
The Germans focus on their left and the Bren gun carrier take repeated hits without blowing up
The British defence is looking a bit more organised, the Bren Carrier is taking a hull down supporting position in the small stream, but there is nothing on this side that will be able to spot the German armour if it charges forward
If it hadn’t been for the British having lost a unit in the first turn I might have felt sorry for the Germans at this point 😀
Random events caused liberal annoyance throughout the battle, here the Vickers has hit a land mine and is stalled for a turn
Things are hotting up and a decisive moment, against the odds the Vickers gets a shot off against the PzIII lucky or fate the shell hits home just below the turret and the tank is up in flames
This causes some dismay in the German ranks ! And you can see the German commanding officer rethinking his plans behind the SdKfz
British home guard from the Smeeth area have taken up a defensive position
But the rest of the defensive line is getting very thin and one good push and they may break through
The British defenders on their right have now been wiped out and the line is held only by the Vickers and the carrier, but the Germans are pinned down by the Hanomag
The British sailors stationed by the main house choose this opportunity (Random event ) to enter the house searching for alcohol. You will see the ambulance is now on fire again and earlier random event when a random bullet hit it causing it to explode killing a sialor in the process !
However, time has run out in this engagement for the Germans and with their infantry pinned down they can’t make headway
The British have little left and will have to fall back if the Germans regroup
The Vickers and the Bren carrier can pull back, leaving the PzIII in flames.

A slightly unexpected draw, the British have taken more casualties but the Germans haven’t broken through enough to claim a victory. I would like to say it was all due to the masterful organisation and strategy of the British but Phil managed to roll an unbelievable number of 1’s when rolling to hit with the PzIII and SdKfz. in fact with everything ! The Bren carrier by all rights should have been blown to pieces but somehow survived to the end battered but still able to withdraw hoorah !

Great fun to get back into the Sealion campaign more to come 👍



40 comments:

  1. Phil rolling ones? Now there's a surprise, not. Nice looking game, let's hope the huns are sent reeling back soon. Where is Monty we ask?

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    1. Yes not just one’s a LOT of one’s. We’ll see if the Brits can’t mount a counter attack ?

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  2. How I love your battle reps! High level and looking great!

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  3. Splendid stuff Matt…
    It would appear that the dice gods have turned their backs on Phil…
    Maybe he should try playing the goodies for a change 😁

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly but think what might happen if he managed the British defence !

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  4. I enjoy reading about your Sealion games

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    1. Thanks David really glad you like them 👍

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  5. Sounds like it had the potential to go either way. Sealion has great subject material and the Home Guard always brings a smile.

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    1. Yes I think if the PzIII or the SdKfz had taken out the Bren gun carrier it would have been very different the crew had more than nine lives !

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  6. Splendid game, with luck clearly on the British side. Beautiful table. Were the sheep neutral or were some of them cleverly disguised Fifth Columnists?
    Bloody sailors can't be trusted. :)
    Cheers,
    Mike

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    1. Many thanks Mike and thanks for taking the time to comment. The sailors do seem to suffer more than their share of random events ! I seem to remember them running into a pub in a previous game !

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  7. Great looking game Matt, as always. Operation Sealion always gives lots of fun and plenty of opportunities for nice little actions such as this. Looking forward to more of the same:).

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    1. Possibly one of my favourite theatres allowing me to explore lots of ideas 😀

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  8. Superb write up and piccies of a splendid game. Most enjoyable, despite those bloody ones😂

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    1. Thanks Phil you were definitely more unlucky than an average gamer !

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  9. A lovely looking table and entertaining narrative of your Seelowe game Matt...fantastic stuff as always!

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    1. Thanks Keith glad you enjoyed the game it spawns fun to play too 🙂

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  10. Great stuff, is it bolt action rules ?

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    1. Many thanks Mr T ? yes I tend to play bolt action, I know not every one likes them but they are simple and give a fast flowing game with both players involved all the time. I like the dice mechanic and it means we can play without much referring to rules or lists etc. Although I can never remember how smoke works From mortars!

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    2. Thanks just started collecting for operation Sealion and this is great inspiration 😁

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    3. Good stuff needless to say if you have the time, inclination or energy there are lots of other Sealion games in the history and if you haven’t seen it I died a utube video summary of day one 😀 good luck with the project

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  11. Another great battle, forces must be spread thin with the fighting in Norway. What was the company that produced your funky tank? Also, as you will know Hammerhead cancelled, which is sad

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    1. I’ll find a link and email you, and no hadn’t heard about Hammerhead bummer ! I really am hoping a light at the end of the tunnel ! Anyway keep gaming and painting I say !

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  12. Great images of a great Bolt Action game, Matt!

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  13. Great game, Matt, tons of fun and great looking. Very happy to see the Brits stymie the Huns, couldn’t believe my eyes when the Vickers tank brewed up the Panzer III, great stuff!

    How did you add random events into Bolt Action, that is, what is the trigger for them? Did you draw up your own table?

    Again, great stuff, thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to see more, but I must admit I miss the Norway campaign too!

    V/R,
    Jack

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    1. Thanks Jack the hit on the PzIII was a lucky shot, I didn’t mention in the report but it had been hit multiple times by an antitank rifle by these hits just bounced off 😢 random events - I place a white dice in the bag so when it is drawn out each turn and event occurs. I then have a chart of roughly 50 random events many which can effect both sides, and which in themselves are quite random. Often we roll something that isn’t relevant in which case nothing happens and just occasionally/rarely they are significant. Normally they provide those small narrative quirks to a game which I enjoy. A good example in this one being the ambulance blowing up killing a sailor and pinning them. As for Norway there will be more to come soonish👍

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    2. Matt,

      No doubt it was a lucky shot, and I was sure happy for it! ;) One thing I love about early war is the anti-tank rifles plinking away at various 'tanks' whose armor provides barely little more protection than a soda can ;)

      And that's very interesting, thanks for sharing regarding the random events trigger. Obviously it seems easily overdone knowing it's going to happen each turn, but with a table of 50 possible events (and ignoring events that don't fit the tactical situation) it seems to keep the dynamic under control, and certainly that is born out by the battle reports.

      Great stuff, and looking forward to more of these and Norway.

      V/R,
      Jack

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  14. Excellent display and narrative, Matt! You have so many interesting bits out on the table including the odd little Vickers tank. You don’t see one of those on the table often. Very engaging. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks Jon the British have slightly too many quirky things in my view ….but tank reinforcements are on the way south to join the battle lines.😀

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  15. Lovely looking game. Great to see the home guard on the table.

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    1. Thanks Allan they didn’t play a big part in this battle but will keep making an appearance I think 🤔

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  16. Just got around to reading this. Glad I did! Nice little battle and the table pics are really pretty as usual. 😀

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  17. That looks like great fun. The Vickers knocking out a Mark III must be one for the books. Are the random events fun or more an annoyance (they certainly make for entertaining reading)?

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    1. Thanks, I like to think they add something to the fun to the game. Quite often in a game of six or seven turns they have no impact what so ever. They are designed to add ‘fun and narrative spice’ without impact the outcome and this is normally the case. 👍

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  18. Nice to see the campaign spark back into life....I would say that is a result for the plucky brits.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  19. Splendid looking game with a great result, the highlight must be the Vickers taking out the mkIII!
    Best Iain

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  20. Great looking and sounding game of an interesting hypothetical scenario. I really enjoyed the vignettes of the sheep "carelessly passing their time in the grasslands..." while the humans go about their destructive activities around them!
    Regards, James

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  21. Another excellent Sea Lion game. Been following thisa campaign for awhile and most enjoyable to read. Hopoe to see more on this.

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