Sunday 17 July 2022

Norway 1940 : The Road to Dombas

A second battle from last weekend. A useful set of scenarios again from Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy No 100. My collection isn’t quite big enough to play the full scenario and campaign as listed so I have adapted for the figures I have and to make sure it is a balanced combat. The first scenario is based around the German defence of Hagevolden.  

The background for the mini campaign is well covered in the article so I won’t list all the details here. In essence the German troops have been dropped into the heartland of Norway to capture the railway junction at Dombas but with limited supplies and reinforcements the small force has been cut off. The Fallschirmjager have dug in around Hagevolden, the Norwegian forces are on the attack and must force a way through. 

We had ten units a side with fairly small units. The Germans have managed to recover  75mm gun from their supplies, the Norwegians have an early lend-lease French tank. (There we’re some French tanks later in the campaign but probably not at this early stage)

The Paratroopers taking cover in the woods
Machine gun dug in together with a spotter for their Howitzer
The Norwegian infantry advances down the right supported by Madsen machine gun unit
Slow moving and poorly armed the R35 has little to fear from the Germans, the rest of the Norwegian infantry moves across the snowing fields towards the farm
The Norwegians on the right come under fire through the woods and the advance starts to stall in the distance their mortar has laid down some covering smoke for the attack
The rest of the Germans dug in around the farm
A textbook flanking attack down the right as the Norwegians push over the small road bridge and frozen stream
They are met in the woods by fierce resistance despite being pinned down
The Fallschirmjager put up a a withering fire
Things get nasty with hand to hand fighting amongst the trees brutal stuff both sides take casualties but the advance is being slowed
German casualties are mounting around the farm where they are targeted by mortar and infantry fire
The Norwegian officer pushes over the bridge in support of the remaining units on the right
With the assault on the right stalling the Norwegians order a more determined advance across the open fields
The defensive line is now very thin 
But the Germans have held the woods and can pull their only remaining unit back into the centre
As the Norwegians make a break for the road (final turn gamble to secure the objective) the R35 pushes forward but it is too slow moving and the Germans jump out of the way
We had the option for a one extra turn but the dice were with the Germans. So a minor victory to the Fallschirmjager who held the line but it had cost them dearly and all but one of their units were combat ineffective by the end of the battle.

A fun game very hard fought. Would like to develop a few more scenarios in this theatre but my troops are slightly limited. I need some Norwegian ski troops so if anybody is aware of suitable figures let me know. I have plenty of early British but perhaps a few French ? Next up some painting progress and yesterday we put on a SYW at Pendraken HQ to help celebrate their 30 year Birthday celebrations.


Thanks for popping by 😀


30 comments:

  1. Great stuff Matt, the perfect tonic for the hot weather, campaigns are the perfect nudge to get those extra's under way. :-)
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks Stu the battle has certainly got me thinking about some reinforcements ?

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  2. Fantastic game and superb scenery for a very atmospheric feel

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  3. Woa! What a great scenario!
    Beautiful minis and terrains.
    Best regards

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  4. A beautiful game as always Matt. The scenario seems fun and quite balanced.

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    1. The scenario is one of the basic bolt action scenarios so nothing special and normally gives an interesting contest

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  5. Another stunning looking game Matt.

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    1. Thanks Michael snow is actually quite easy to represent. I probably just need a few more bits of scatter terrain with snow ?

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  6. I always enjoy your Norwegian escapades Matt....reminds me if holidaying there with my parents and sister in the mid seventies!

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    1. Thanks Keith , not a country I have been to yet…perhaps one day ?

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  7. Great game report. Nice to see something different from the usual Early War line-up.

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    1. Thanks AJ at the moment I still only have smallish collection of Norwegians but I am hoping to expand that just a bit in the coming months

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  8. lovely battle. Had great day yesterday

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  9. Looks a treat, closely run as well. Got to like that.

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    1. Thanks Joe, yep Jon’s Norwegians nearly made it over the line ….but not quite 😀

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  10. Good game, Matt! I thought I may have done just enough to snatch a victory. Alas, it was not to be.

    Did I miss the account of the German howitzer obliterating a Norwegian squad with one hit?

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    1. Nearly but not quite an excellent contest….it shows my memory isn’t infallible , how did I forget the Only strike from the 75mm ! luckily you have reminded me 😀😀

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  11. A fine looking game Matt and something out of the usual WWII theatres.

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    1. Thanks David a nice period to extend my Early war Germans.

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  12. Great game! Is this the same set of scenarios that were published in the Setting the Scene book?

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    1. Thanks, the setting was from WSS No100 although the scenario objectives is a pretty standard bolt action breakthrough battle. I’m going to see if I can get hold of that scenario book though 👍

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  13. What another great Norwegian campaign game there Matt. A joy to behold and rather cooling to look at given the heat we are experiencing today!

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    1. Thanks Steve, yes we could all do with a little snow at the moment. Although I am fortunate that the dungeon holds a remarkable steady 18 degrees 🥵

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  14. Splendid stuff Matt, great to see your Norway collection getting another airing.

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    1. Thanks Phil nice to get something different on the table, but I do need to expand the collection slightly ?

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    1. Thanks Ray and thanks for popping by 👍

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