Battle for the Royal Military Canal : Operation Sealion

With the Germans having taken Dymchurch they are now determined to capture a suitable bridge across the Royal Military Canal. Pre invasion intelligence has indicated that not all bridges will be strong enough to carry the Panzers. Some the Somerset Light Infantry has fallen back across the canal but the bulk of the defence is now in the hands of the 1st Battalion of the Home Guard, reinforcements are being brought to the area via the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway. (We played the Hedgehog scenario from the Sealion supplement)

The only British gun in the area has been brought up to protect the bridge, two platoons of the Home guard have dug in but nobody is sure what to expect, the noise from the beach is terrible 

Some german infantry have already made it across the canal by footbridges and are ready to attack the main bridge from the rear

Jack boots can be heard running down the road from Dymchurch

Infantry are supported by Gebirgsjager to help assault the bridge

The infantry over the canal are given the signal to advance !

Reinforcements start to arrive down the railway infantry and some improvised artillery

An overview of the canal.....

A random event causes one of the Home Guard platoons to flee .........an ominous sign at this early stage for the British the defenders also come under sniper fire

A unit of Kent’s finest boys in blue are despatched to flush out the sniper team 

The Germans use this moment to press their advantage and charge down the road towards the bridge the defenders are heavily outnumbered...

...and then the first German armour is brought up from the town

They have also managed to pull up a PAK 36 to deal with any British armour

British infantry arriving down the railway start to fire at the advancing Germans to slow them down

But what is this the first unit of German infantry have chosen to run (blunder !)

The commanding german Officer crosses his arms in disgust, but the Gebirgsjager are still charging down the road covered by the 222

Finally some hope for the British with the arrival of a Vickers Tank and more Home Guard Infantry who have been ordered to hold the bridge at all costs

The PAK 36 starts to fire at the bridge defenders whilst a single Kradschutzen pins down the remaining police constables

From bad to worse the Vickers takes a direct hit and explodes and the bus takes a stray bullet and also explodes killing one of the Home guard

The infantry are continuing to advance although they are coming under flanking fire from the railway

The Panzer 1 finally pushes through to the canal to support the attack

With limited targets the 36 now targets the bridge defenders

Things are looking bad for the British now Germans are closing on the bridge, one of the remaining infantry units attempts to cut them off

The final order is given to the Gebirgsjager to capture the bridge..........the Home guard prepare to flee

The Pz1 tests the strength of the small footbridge 

....and the Kradschutzen now charges over the bridge, the Home guard have just enough left in them to knock it out 

.......But then the unthinkable elite Gebirgsjager having been ordered to charge the bridge blunder

and flee .........😀😀😀

But it may be too late for the Home guard at the bridge 

Two units of Germans have now chosen to run

But at the bridge the Germans have finished off the Home guard and the remaining Somerset’s choose to pull back

The Germans have now cut the road behind the canal and the unfortunate British lieutenant is forced to surrender, for him the war is over ......

Another close battle, technically it was a draw but the Germans had the advantage at the end and having cut the road we gave them the win.

Battle for the Xanthos Valley : Blood in the Sand (Mountains)

Following their defeat at the ‘Battle of the Flamming Pigs’ the fledgling Roman invasion force had withdrawn on their ships. No one had given much thought to where they had gone and for the next few months life in Lycia went on as much as normal. This peace was broken with rumours of a significant fleet sailing north along the Lycian coast and then a message reached the Western Capital Xanthos that a heavily armed force with tribal mercenaries had landed at the small coastal town of Telmessos.

The Roman Consul Martinus is looking for revenge and a significant victory before he returns home. Having realised that the coastal communities had nothing of value the force has marched inland crossing into the Valley of the Xanthos River.

The Ruler in this western province of Lycia is Kheriga, son of  Harpagus, not expecting an invasion from the north he has force marched his army North hoping to block the invading army. The citizens in the capital Xanthos have been thrown into panic but it may take several days to discover the fate of their army......😀

The Battle for Dymchurch : Operation Sealion

Our first opportunity this year to get back to Operation Sealion sees the German 55th Infantry Regiment pushing across the beach into the small seaside town of Dymchurch. The early morning attack has caught the British  sligtly off guard so as the German Infantry rushes forward the town is only lightly defended by several companies of the Somerset Light Infantry, (these are part of the 135th Brigade of the 45th Infantry Division who are charged with protecting this section of the coast).

The german assault has deliberately focussed on the town itself to avoid the Dymchurch Redoubt, but a key feature of the town is Martello Tower No 24 taking the town will open up a clear route to advance inland and secure the Romney Marsh area as a bridge head. Other elements of the division have landed slightly further to the east Battle for Botolphs Bridge but the Germans are being delayed in their advance.

The observation post on top of Martello No 24. The alarm is raised as the flotilla of german boats approach the beach.

German pioneer Infantry having pushed through a thin line of defences start swarming across the open ground and into the buildings backing onto the beach

First platoon of the Somerset Light Infantry start running into the town their objective is to delay the advance by capturing the two main road junctions

Infantry approaching the town further west, the local early morning bus has been abandoned to its fate

Many of the local residents have fled which is a good job as jack boots knock down back doors and set up firing positions

The Somerset’s have a couple of Bren Gun carriers in support these oblivious to the approaching german armour charge forward towards the beach opening fire at the first Germans to attempt to cross the road 

Reich Minister Goebbels has ordered the invasion to be filmed a perilous activity so close to the front but as we know propaganda and spin are king

The german pioneers have come armed with a flame thrower 🔥

The first tank to reach the town is a PzII obviously suffering from seasickness the crew initially fail to hit anything then finally one of the Bren carriers is knocked out...but time is of the essence and the Germans need to push on.

A german sniper team sets up on one of the beach defences..causing the British reinforcements to keep their heads down

The Germans seem unduly cautious ? But as soon as they show their heads they come under fire from a machine gun from the houses in the Main Street

However on the left the Germans are pushing forward.

Desperate to hold the road junction Second platoon of the Somerset’s bravely break cover whilst the Pz is distracted 

Pinned down by machine gun fire !

As the Pz turns East along the coast road second Platoon successfully capture the crossing (from a game view the two road junctions were the objectives) but in the distance another squad of infantry led by their officer has rushed out of the building and is coming down the road

At the other road junction third platoon are advancing down the road but the Germans are keeping their heads down

Germans are pushing forward on the left

The Germans have recaptured the junction and the second Bren carrier has been immobilised, first company is ready to charge in but the dice gods decree an end to the battle !

At the other junction the Germans are in control

The invasion captured on film 🎥 

We gave it as a minor victory to the Germans....the Somerset Light Infantry able to partially withdraw. The Germans now have the town but they must push forward to secure a suitable bridge over the Royal Military Canal. 😀 loyal readers won’t have long to wait as we played this next battle last night !

The Six Day War : Part Two

Painted up and based the next group of Arab and Israeli armour. These have had the sand bases lightened which I think looks slightly better 😀 once again the colours don’t quite look right on the photos making them darker than real life. I have as usual deliberately given some variation in schemes to help identification on the battlefield.

Arab PT76’s a couple to use as command tanks

BTR152 troop transporters

And Israeli Centurions....this is the worst photo as they are fairly light grey green, it just doesn’t show against the lighter background☹️

I am now on with some T55’s 😀