Now that this year’s game is over…

So that was the week that was, when:

• Armee Gruppe B’s Panzer spearhead reached, but did not cross, the Meuse at Dinant - it was sadly lacking both fuel and equipment.

• Montgomery’s 21st Army Group severed the Germans’ Main Supply Route at Manhay, XXX Corps winning a hard fought battle against SS Panzers in the process.

• Patton’s 3rd US Army kicked in the Bulge's Southern shoulder at Diekirch, despite the best efforts of the Fuhrer Begleits Brigade (better known in the Allied camp as the 'Furious Bag Ladies'), and were poised to drive North across Armee Gruppe B's line of advance.

German armour repulsed at Diekirch

All that remained was to thank the players for their participation, with the traditional awards ceremony:

Armee Gruppe B pose for the camera

Nearest the camera on the Axis team is Tim, voted "German we most liked playing against" by the Allied team. Axis award citations included "continuous fortitude in the face of adversity", "putting the wreck in 'recce'" and "promoting hiking to the Panzerwaffe". 

Philip, German CinC, receives the thanks of Dom (right - in the low-vis hoodie) and Umpire Tony (left)

Allies together, British and Americans side by side

Second from the left on the Allied team is Sean, voted "Ally we most enjoyed playing against" by the Axis team.  Allied citations included "unfailing patience and wonderfully developed stiff upper lip", "quietly slipping the stiletto between the ribs of the German hopes for victory" and "mastery of Operational Deception".

After which the Umpires give us their verdict on the week's gaming - giving all the players an overview of how their individual struggles have combined to produce the overall result.

The Umpire team share their view of the week

Of course, even after the awards are handed out, the tables taken down, scenery and figures gathered in and put away, there's still time for one last game of something... 

Just because the battle's over doesn't mean we have to stop playing...

So, what's in our Operations folder for next year?? Well, we're still thinking about that, but stay tuned for further developments.

Ardennes Campaign 2013 Update 4

Christmas Day dawns, the Allied Air Forces find themselves the recipient of an unexpected Christmas gift, Operation Bodenplatte is launched to a mixed reception across Holland and Belgium.  The chief effect for the tabletop gamers on either side is that their Close Air Support is tied up in air battles overhead and East of the Rhine.

Starting with the spearhead, the Germans are still trying to press on from Buissonville to Dinant.  They shook, but did not break, the Allies ranged against them on Christmas Eve.  The Allies have rallied overnight and reorganised their front to meet the German attack.

The Allies (left), look on as the Germans check their sources (open rulebook) and make their weather roll, hoping that the fog continues to cover their advance toward Buissonville.

Way back in the South East of the Bulge, the pressure on the Southern shoulder of the Bulge continues, as fights rage on four tables.  Here the Americans hope to celebrate Christmas in Diekirch. 

Eric (German, left) closely observes Neil's (American, right) assault.  Diekirch lies in front of Eric.

Togs (American, left) and Andy (German, rght) dice for the outcome of the incoming artillery to the North of  Diekirch - the German here deployed on the inside of the L formed by the two rivers flowing through Ettelbruck.

The Germans at Diekirch have been granted support from the 501 Schwere Panzer Battalion – this is a landmark for one German commander, as it’s the first time in his 7 megagames as a German player that he’s commanded an SS formation.

Occasionally games get quite personal; here we have the Powell brothers, Adam (right) is an American defending against Chris (left).  Chris and Gordon are looking to drive 9 SS through his Armoured Combat Command and so stem the threat to the shoulder at Diekirch.

Chris (German, left) and Adam (American, right)  debate the situation while Gordon (another German) looks on.

On a nearby table, adjacent on the map, Sean and Steven seek to drive home the American armoured thrust into the Bulge, while Jonathan and Tim eye up their forces. 

Sean and Steve (American, left), Jonathan and Tim (German, right)

This is a frequent feature of the Megagame Holiday campaigns – multiple tables present different aspects of the same overall operation, but players have a very fractured view of the current state of play.  Into that confusion step the Corps and Army commanders to allocate their respective reserves, hopefully where they’ll do the most harm to the enemy’s cause.

A sample of what's in the German Army reserve - in this case a Jagdtiger (GHQ).

A US formation, freshly unpacked and waiting to be deployed to the tabletop (GHQ vehicles, Adler figures).

Heading back up North, toward Manhay, the SS Panzers have been pushed southward but are resisting stubbornly against XXX Corps.

The British (left of the table) have deployed their forces on, the Germans (right of the table) are deploying their forces in a defensive posture on to the table.

The games are all fought in a good humoured fashion - one of the Holiday features is the closing ceremony, where awards are given for good sportsmanship - and we do take time out of an evening for more light-hearted entertainment:

Here is an Umpire (head in hand) at play - in a 'friendly' game of Zombies - caught as he returns his 'survivor' to the start point, having failed four times to beat the Zombie that finally got him.  Adam, Tim and Andy look on sympathetically.  In the background you can see the diehards of XXX Corps plotting the downfall of the SS around Manhay.

Monty has a list...

The British are now on the tabletop in force, fighting on the Northern flank of the German bulge.  This gives the Germans some fresh headaches as, in place of machine gun firing P47 Thunderbolt jabos they now, when the skies are clear, find themselves on the receiving end of cannon armed rocket firing Typhoons jabos.  

A 2 Tactical Air Force Typhoon engages German armour (SS Panthers) on the edge of the woods outside Manhay

German flak is still present, and the great majority of allied air sorties at this time are actually being flown against the Luftwaffe and the supply choke points.  The flyboys do lay claim to kills on the tabletop though, which the Germans cannot afford and cannot replace.

We've now reached Christmas Eve in campaign time.  Fighting in the Bulge is focussed on three sectors;

• In the South East, at the foot of the Bulge, around Diekirch and Ettelbruck, where the US are pressing hard to break through into the German rear and sever the flow of supplies to the columns advancing to the West

Fighting at Ettelbruck - The Germans are on the far side of the river, the Americans are seeking to expand a bridgehead and then pass their armour through a breach in the German front.

• In the West, the Germans are still seeking to clear the path to the Meuse in the face of US opposition, if they can a) defeat the opposition and b) obtain enough fuel to move onwards...

A nail biting moment for the Germans, driving on Dinant and the Meuse, fighting their way toward  Buissonville.

• In the North West the British are working to narrow the bulge and counter any German success to the West,

Andy (German) studies the British deployment in the area around Manhay.

So, with two game days left, the Germans are almost in sight of the Meuse, but are being pressed hard on both shoulders.

Christmas is coming...

But the Heer is not getting fat.

The first campaign tabletop games have been concluded:

• The opening battles around Elsenborn saw the US rescue their threatened artillery parks, but lose the better part of two Infantry Divisions.  
• The Eupen road stayed firmly shut to the Germans. 
• Houffalize did not fall but was masked and the roads to Bastogne seized. 
• An attempt to seize Malmedy on the march was rebuffed.  

We're now part way through the second set of tabletop games, and these have seen the advancing Germans encounter British opposition for the first time, as well as their regular American opponents.

Under the eye of an Umpire the German (Left) and British (Right) table captains conduct the Recce Game in the area around  Manhay

Once the plotting of Corps/ Divisional Operational Areas and Combat Command boundaries has been done, and Battle Groups have been plotted both sides then deploy their recce forces in a bid to see beyond the enemy front line and give them an informed artillery (and air of the weather permits) fire plan.  The number and type of assets committed to the fight is relevant here. The Germans with their doctrinal emphasis on fighting recce have an edge here, if the area is densely populated, whereas the Allies tend to go with Recce by stealth, so can swarm all over the front.

Sometimes you just have to look at a really big map to know what's important on your table.

At the end of the first set of games the Umpires reassess the situation, adjudicate the supply state of the units involved, update the command staffs and players, receive the orders for the next set of battles and then issue out the force lists, table briefings and terrain notes so the terrain can be rebuilt for the next day's battles.

A table about to be rebuilt, an Umpire hard at work

The main actions for the 22-24 December lie around:

• Diekirchen - in the bottom left of this picture.

The Americans are once again intermingled with the advancing Germans

• Werbomont, where the British meet the Germans for the first time.

Both sides have deployed on the tabletop, the British (left) seem quite relaxed.

• Wiltz and Eschweiler, Wiltz is at the far end of this shot, Eschweiler in the clearing.  The Germans are advancing into shot.

German Army commander in a front line role advances his troops toward Eschweiler

• Bastogne, as the Germans seem quite keen to take possession

Flanked by German players the American seems quite unfazed.