Monday, 22 July 2024

A Bridge too far ? Sicily 1943 WW2 Action

A bit like buses games are coming fairly frequently at the moment. The dungeon saw another all day wargame this weekend. With Martin house move transit I would be providing both forces and this gave me a chance to get my Sicily collection out for a big game. Quite a lot of new figures which have been painted earlier this year would be taking place in the battle. US paratroopers, additional US armour and German Fallschirmjager. This was not a historical battle but certainly represents many actions which took place on Sicily.

The Americans will be attacking from this end and looking to capture the 2 bridges (these are recently completed new terrain) and the cross roads to the East. They have three units of paratroopers to be dropped at the start although there is of course some randomness as to their location. The German force made up the 1st Fallschirmjager have already deployed an advance force to each objective. Vehicles can only cross the river at the bridges but infantry can wade across. The Americans have some off table artillery support controlled by an on table observer. First edition Bolt Action for the rules 🙂
A machine gun dug in at the nearest bridge, as the Americans advanced these lead units were actually hidden
A unit of infantry at the second bridge
The third unit is in the church 
German reserves of infantry advance from the West, supported by some attached armour
Bum…..the American paratroopers land right behind the second bridge !
More infantry and support weapons head through the fields behind the village.
US infantry push North towards the first objective with a Sherman leading the way and a 57mm AT gun
The Americans deploy a number of support weapons and the Artillery observer onto the rocky hill in their centre 
The main American infantry force advances towards the village
Germans deploy defensively in the village, but quickly have to redeploy their 75mm when it is attacked by American tanks coming down the road
The paratroopers behind their lines cause the Germans all sorts of problems and become a real distraction, they assault the German Stug although fail just to knock it out
PzIV risks the 57mm AT gun to advance towards the bridge, in the distance more paratroopers arrive but luckily they are dropped short of the objectives
Boom a ‘ lucky’ early shot from the Panzer (rolling a 6 followed by a 5 followed by a 6) brews up the Sherman this severely dents the American move towards the first bridge
The American paratroopers deploy on foot and the AT gun takes repeated shots at the Pz on the road
Having occupied the smaller building by the cross roads as well as the church the unit is forced out when the building is hit hard by Mortar fire
Still holding the second bridge 
Weight of fire from the attackers starts to drive the defenders by the first bridge back
And the Panzer IV is forced to pull back as artillery fire is called in from off table
Mortar fire also nearly wipes out the defenders by the second bridge 
Still not eliminated the paratroopers are at least less effective and pinned down, but they are still drawing forces away from protecting the first bridge
The bridge is starting to be outflanked by more infantry
Heavy German mortar fire has limited the US firepower from the rocky hill
The 57mm is taking fire now and the crew pinned down
Two American tanks have been stalked by Fallschirmjager with a Panzerschrek and now the AT gun has been moved forward as well, the Germans take the opportunity to assault American infantry in the far building and they are pushed out of the village
Boom again but this time the Panzer is caught in the flank by the Sherman 
Artillery was a key feature in US doctrine in Sicily but is wasn’t expecting the off table artillery to be so effective an entire German unit heading for the first bridge is knocked out in one strike (a double 6 !)
But now it is clear the village has been secured by the Germans and the tanks driven away
Finally the paratroopers have been killed or captured by the second bridge
But the Americans have taken the first bridge and are moving forward past the burning PzIV

Phew….a really fun day gaming swinging both ways and lots of moments of fun (and despair) for both sides. The Germans held in the end and can claim a victory but are now pretty thin on the ground and with almost limitless reserves the Americans will be able to push through eventually. Really great to get the Fallschirmjager out in force and the entire American force into one battle which was fairly well balanced.

More stuff for Sicily in the future with some additional forces ? Think the Americans need an M7 

Thanks as always for checking in, hopefully next back to CoC with George and then a return to the AWI

Matt 🙂


30 comments:

  1. Great game there Matt and lots of nice little scenic items that I enjoyed seeing, as well as the troops and armour of course!

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    1. Thanks Steve…….im still looking for a few more terrain bits but I’m happy with the current setup 👍

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  2. Cracking looking game Matt, I don't do WW2 but always enjoy seeing others do it. The table and the figures look great.

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    1. Thanks Donnie …..so much wargaming fun in WW2 I do enjoy it 🙂

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  3. A beautiful table and great AAR as usual Matt. Will you be delving into Bolt Action 2?

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    1. Thanks Lawrence…..you might mean Bolt Action 3 which is out soon. I understand why companies want/need to update and sell updated rules after all they are a business. However, personally I don’t think there is much wrong with the first edition. They are easy to play and nearly always provide cinematic and entertaining games.

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  4. Gorgeous table, Matt! I never seem to have much luck with either mortar or artillery fire. Both seemed quite effective in this game. This was an all-day game? How fun!

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    1. Thanks Jon the secret is have lots of artillery and mortars eventually they start to hit and yes we played much of the day although plenty of tea breaks

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  5. Thanks for a great days gaming. Fun to play bolt action again. I still hate tanks though

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    1. Thanks Martin ….and Panzerschreks 😀 me I’m not keen on those paratroopers

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  6. You set a very fine looking table, practical whilst also aesthetically pleasing.

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  7. A nice setting achieved by the scenery. It's a long time since I played Rapid Fire 1 with the Manx Wargaming Group. We had fun too.
    Stephen

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    1. Thanks Stephen, have never played Rapid Fire and tend to stick with what I know works 🤔

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  8. Inspiring Matt, I have succumbed and pre-ordered V3, what else would I spend my pocket money on.

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    1. Thanks George and good for you, I’m interested to see what the changes are I understand they are quite different, of course different may not mean better ? We will see

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  9. Cracking game Matt, looked lovely too.

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    1. Thanks Michael I guess I increasingly try to setup and play the games I enjoy and feel right to me. It always comes down to balancing aesthetics vs practicality ?

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  10. Magnificent table and great photos! All round a really marvellous AAR!

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  11. great table and miniatures to have an all day game with. very cool. 😁

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  12. Excellent looking game and sounds like tons of fun, reserving judgement on Bolt Action v3 might just keep on going with our v1/2 mix!
    Best Iain

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  13. That's a damn fine looking game Matt!

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  14. A splendid looking and sounding game Matt…
    A tough fight for the Americans… but as you say weight of numbers will eventually pay off…

    All the best. Aly

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  15. Great looking table, Matt! I've never played an Italian Campaign game - but this has inspired me to look into it. Heck I have Spanish terrain (used for Napoleonics) that could be used for this.

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