Fire and Fury Games' Battlefront WWII FALL IN 2009

Fire and Fury Games We give history a second chance.

Fall IN 2009

There were a fair number of games presented at this convention, although I only managed to get pics of 5 of them. Rich H. couldn't attend, but the rest of the usual suspects were in evidence. Mike Sincavage and Pete Landry presented a couple of BF:WW2 games. Al Gaspar and I put on a late war scenario, and Regimental F & F also made its appearance. Many of our usual convention crowd were involved in the annual Featherstone Fire and Fury tourney, so weren't available. Still, a good time was had by all.

Parker's Crossroads

Mike Sincavage put on the Parker's crossroads scenario from the site. This can best be described as "Hell in a very small place". The map is fairly small (4'x3'), so combat occurs almost immediately. The U.S. defenders start hidden, which makes their ambush fire very dangerous. However, the Germans have a lot of effective units and come onto the board from almost every direction, so the defenders must set up an all-around defence. The Germans get several turns of artillery preparation to soften up the defenders.

Your not-so-humble webmaster played in this one, running the German artillery preparation and the company of PzGren on the German left flank. We (the Germans) advanced from three primary directions. A company of Stug IIIs and my infantry advanced down one road on the German left flank, a tank company with more infantry advanced down the center, and the player running our support units (AA halftracks, Stummels, etc.) took the rather "daring" route of attacking down a separate axis on the right, rather than following the Pz IVs.
I had managed to guess fairly accurately where the U.S. player would set up, and our artillery suppressed and disordered the crust of their defence. However, while the two main thrusts were going fairly well, the light forces on our right flank got into a firefight with U.S. armor, which was not a good idea. The U.S. player did not press this advantage, however, and the Germans were penetrating into the defence when time ran out and we had to clean up the table.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Starting position	US hidden deployment at Parker's Crossroads.
MkIVs advance	German MkIVs approach the crossroads.
First Contact	Stugs and PzGrenadiers are greeted by the Americans.
Another angle	Another view of the first contact.
Defending the town	This angle shows the advancing PzIV and support troops from the town. The Stugs and PzGren are just off the photo to the right.
Overview	Just after the Germans move in, this gives an overview of the entire battle.
Left flank Defenders	U.S. Armor defending the left flank of the town.
Attacking the town	A view from behind the German Attackers.
The Assault	Moving into the preplotted smoke, the German attackers penetrate the outer edge of the defence.
Advance into the smoke	The Germans attack.
Point blank	Face-to-face combat in the town.
Stugs slug it out	Stugs at 60% but now advancing after taking out the Hellcat.
Carnage	Lots of burning wrecks prove it was a nasty fight.
More Carnage	Burning wrecks, smoke and a flurry of activity at the end.

Safi

Pete Landry ran a U.S. vs French North African scenario. (The US players did not set up as far forward as allowed (and suggested) and lost too much time moving only using single actions. They would never get to the barracks in the allotted time but seemed to enjoy themselves while learning the system.)

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
U.S. Forces move up	US forces approach the old Muslim section of town. The US main objective is the French Army barracks seen to the rear, a brick building.
French Deploy	The French decide to deploy forward in the Old Town.
U.S. artillery in action	US uses smoke to cover their advance into town. Naval gunfire takes out half of the French armor (FT-17) with a lucky shot! ( 1 in 20)
French Fight hard	The French put up stiff resistance.
U.S. pushes on	U.S. forces slowly make headway into town. Pennies from heaven show dissipating smoke.
Beau Geste	Raw French squads make an heroic stand at the Mosque holding off the Americans for nearly an hour.
Pushing Onward	US finally clear the Mosque and try to take the rest of the town on the way to the barracks.

Mausbach

Al Gaspar and I ran a scenario on the historical battle at Mausbach, which took place to the SE of Aachen concurrent with Market-Garden. Advancing forces from the U.S. 3rd Armored division were threatening to encircle Aachen and completely breach the Westwall. The Germans threw in a reconstituted infantry division to fill the gap, and the two ran into each other near the village of Mausbach, at the East end of the Stolberg corridor. The historical result was a desperate struggle in which neither side was able to break through. The front settled down and Aachen was not captured until a month later. This battle is very interesting, unlike the usual quality vs quantity battles of 1944, the U.S. player has better troops, but is outnumbered.

This is a big scenario needs a lot of tweaking, as there were too many vehicles on the board, particularly on the U.S. side. I was hoping for the Germans to mount an early attack, that would be countered by the timely arrival of the U.S. reinforcements (and a second Armored Artillery battalion - this scenario has the potential for showing the true strength of U.S. artillery). However, the German's were unable to make headway, and the reinforcements were close to forcing a decisive breakthrough when we had to quit. I think that if I weaken the initial U.S. forces, it will turn into more of the back-and-forth struggle that I was hoping for (and that actually happened). At the convention, we only had about 4 or 5 players, instead of the 6-8 I was hoping for. Still, even with players who were unfamiliar with the rules, we managed to complete about 10 turns.

As usual, the star of the show was Al's terrain, which was gorgeous.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
U.S. deployment	The U.S. deploys on a line around the town of Mausbach and the Weissenberg hill on the left.
German Forces	German Front line infantry is backed up by several companies of Motorized Panzergrenadiers and a company of Panthers.
German Infantry in the Forest	The German infantry had managed to infiltrate in the Hürtgen Forest on the left flank.
Parking lot on the Hill	The U.S. player commits his armor and halftracks to back up the hill defenders. The result is more congested than I had hoped and stops the Germans cold.
Attack Repulsed	The U.S. launches an attack, but, despite killing a few Germans, it runs out of steam. The U.S. temporarily is forced to retreat to the vehicle line.
Armored Faceoff	A Panther moves up to support the Germans. Unable to kill it, the U.S. drops smoke on it to reduce its firepower. In the center, German Stugs engage in a long range duel with U.S. defenders. Although they had an advantage, they could not score kills at long range.
The Line Holds	Germans moving up through the forest are held by the U.S. defenders. The U.S. forces on the hill also hold fast.
German Second Line	German AT guns set up to defend the German rear.
Breakthrough	The second U.S. artillery battalion has arrived, giving the U.S. the power they need to break through in the middle.
Here they come	The U.S. forces move out from the town to chase the retreating defenders.

Monterrey

A Regimental F&F game on the Battle of Monterrey. This one concerned the assault on the town. Unfortunately I only have a few pictures of the initial set up.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Monterrey 1	Monterrey 1
Monterrey 2	Monterrey 2
Monterrey 3	Monterrey 3

Prarie Grove

Mark Hayes put on a Regimental F&F game on the ACW Battle of Prarie Grove. This one concerned the assault on the town. Again I have some pictures of the setup.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Prarie Grove 1	Prarie Grove 1
Prarie Grove 2	Prarie Grove 2
Prarie Grove 3	Prarie Grove 3
Prarie Grove 4	Prarie Grove 4
Prarie Grove 5	Prarie Grove 5
Prarie Grove 6	Prarie Grove 6
Prarie Grove 7	Prarie Grove 7
Prarie Grove 8	Prarie Grove 8
Prarie Grove 9	Prarie Grove 9

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