Rommel Late War Germans v British

A second outing for the recently painted Late War Germans, this time against Andy's British. Largely for convenience I used the same army composition as last time, a small Volksgrenadier Kampfgruppe with two Panzer Kampfgruppes and some supporting StuG's and Tigers.

With a 5 point lower army I chose the "Stonk" scenario, one I don't think we had played before. This is unusual for Rommel in that the aim is to destroy more of the enemy than they destroy of you and there are no objectives.

Andy to my surprise picked hardly any terrain while the Germans placed a fair bit in their own half of the table. The Germans deployed first around the centre of the table. The British opted for a deployment which gave them an overlap on the German right flank while leaving the British right flank in turn lightly covered:

The British took the initiative and launched a powerful armoured attack on the German right:

They also advanced along the rest of the line:

The Germans at this stage noticed a flaw in the British deployment. A detachment of Panthers and Panzer Grenadiers on the German right used road movement followed by a tactical phase to attack the British artillery:

The Germans rolled over the artillery and onto the British supply line, taking out more artillery on the way. They were isolated and vulnerable to a Jabos attack but the bold move had destroyed half the British artillery and ensured that all the British units would be isolated unless they could recapture the supply line:

Somewhat shocked by this development the British took stock and decided to continue their assault on the German right while pulling some units back towards their supply line:

The German right held on and repulsed the British attack:

In the centre the Germans press forwards using their StuG's and Tigers to try to break through to their comrades holding the British supply line. They force the British back:

The Germans break through in the centre:

On the right the Germans have held on though the Volksgrenadiers have had to resist an attack in the open without their armour support:

The Germans continue to mop up the British centre:

Relief is near for the Germans holding the supply line:

With the British attack on the right stalled and having taken considerable losses the British decided to call it a day and retire.

Another interesting Rommel game, I didn't think the scenario would be that challenging but it turned out to be more subtle than I'd thought. Andy took advantage of deploying second and moving first to attack with his powerful armoured force, outnumbering the Germans and hoping to hit them hard with the initial attack.

Unfortunately he didn't notice that the Germans could attack his artillery and supply line which was something of a disaster for the British. He decided to continue his attacks on the German right but found it tough with the extra ops cost caused by being isolated. I think personally I'd have turned more of his force around and tried to destroy the Germans holding the British supply line, they in turn were isolated from the rest of the Germans and already damaged from a Jabos attack.