We were playing Late War German Mechanised against Allied Airborne, mainly comprised of my new British Paras, but also some 82nd Airborne – all in 10mm (primarily from Pendraken). We were playing the No Retreat mission using the Flames of War rules, where the Allies had a limited force on the table to stave off the onslaught of the German advance. The Germans had to capture one of two possible objectives to win on any turn, and the allies had to throw back the Germans into their half of the table at the start of Turn 6 or later. This particular battle plays the lengthways of the table.

The Germans were evidently attacking an Airborne strongpoint after the airdrop on Normandy, and faced the Airborne guns that were on the table: a screen of 17 pdrs in cover in the centre, a full Battery of eight 75mm pack howitzers at the rear, and a platoon of 6 pdrs that were waiting in ambush (these could deploy anywhere in the Allied deployment area – our half of the table – 4″ away from enemy units if they were revealed in cover, or 16″ away in the open). These gun teams nervously waited for the German attack, hoping that infantry support would be arriving in time!

The Germans were well underway on the first turn, surging forward with a Tiger, a Stug platoon, and some panzergrenadiers in trucks in the centre, all using the cover of a hill and woods, and panzergrenadiers on their left flank taking a more cautious approach and dismounting before moving up and over a crest of a nearby hill alongside some artillery spotters. The 17 pdrs had no high explosive rounds (HE), and therefore there was no point in them opening fire on the only potential targets – the panzergrenadiers on the hill. However, the 75mm artillery had no such qualms and opened fire with a Stonk, saturating the hill with fire and leaving the infantry and spotters pinned down on the top.

The Germans then continued their cautious advance, with a HMG team moving up on their right flank to lend some heavy firepower to the attack. Superb tactical use of repeated smoke bombardments prevented the 17pdrs from seeing any of the advancing enemy and opening fire (in fact, they didn’t fire once during the game!). The advancing Tiger was able to take out one of the 17 pdrs which was not covered in the blanket of smoke.

British side of the battlefield, fairly early in the battle. The smoke covers the 17 pdrs. Note the gliders - these were not used in the game, but were used as scenery. I had taken the time to paint them and wanted them on the table!

However, in return the British artillery was now ranged in on the cowering infantry on the hill and were able to call in hefty 5.5″ support from Medium Artillery batteries some distance away (bit of a stretch this historically! We should have said that this was near Oosterbeek later on instead!). The resulting firestorm wiped out the infantry and spotters on the hill, with the survivors staggering to the rear of their lines heavily shaken. The Allies also managed to finally get some reserves, with an American platoon of the 82nd Airborne arriving and double-timing it onto the battlefield.

The German attack now began, with the German tanks and infantry in the centre preparing for the final assault to capture the forward rule-dump. Once again, clever use of smoke frustrated the 17 pdrs with another eliminated by gunfire. But the Allies were not finished yet, and the 6pdrs rolled forward into the foxholes that the 17 pdr had been blown out of. Using a combination of their high rate of fire and the howitzers, the Tiger was hit on the side, the Stugs were also hit, and the infantry were pinned. However, the Germans appeared to be invigorated at the prospect of attack and they shrugged all of this off (thanks to some excellent morale check passes!).

The German Stugs and Grilles now manoeuvred and poured fire into the ambushing 6 pdrs, but they kept their heads down and survived. Unnerved by this, these tanks attempted to withdraw out of the line of return fire into a wood. Unfortunately, one of the Stugs bogged-down and was shredded by the 6 pdrs, and the other two retreated into range of the howitzer battery, which then called down 5.5″ support and cracked them open and taking out most of the HMG platoon in the process! Meanwhile, the panzergrenadiers were able to assault and destroy all of the remaining 17pdrs and contest the fuel-dump objective while the Tiger attempted to hold back the advancing Americans with its machineguns. Flushed with their success, the panzergrenadiers didn’t see that the 6 pdrs hadn’t been suppressed or destroyed, and their 57mm shells started ripping through them from behind. The Americans then moved into assault and wiped them out, before moving into cover around the objective.

And that’s where we called it (at 2am)! It was effectively a draw, although we decided that it could be regarded as a Minor Victory for the Allies if you want to be generous. The Allies had secured the objectives with more reinforcements pouring through, but there were still German forces on the Allies side of the table. It was unlikely the Germans could now capture the objectives, but the cat-and-mouse game to try and kill the remaining Germans forces could have lasted the rest of the night and would have been very dull!

The state of the battlefield when we drew the game to a close. Note the Americans sat on the objective and a platoon of British Paras coming in on the right hand side of the picture. Most of the Germans in the centre were wiped out!

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun! We certainly learnt a lot, and were able to focus more upon tactics and worry less about the rules. Some great tactics were used all round. The ambush rules can be nasty (which is the point!) and the Germans suffered from them. The German players used smoke to great effect, and there was a lot of debate about whether or not they should have smoked the 6 pdrs or shot them. It’s a difficult one to call. Personally, I probably would have shot them as they needed to be removed, but either approach is valid.

• (a) I have a reasonable theoretical understanding on how to use a pump-action shotgun, and
• (b) my girlfriend is willing to help me bury the bodies should the need arise.

Not only that, but I am very happy to say that she is also willing to chop my head off if I start shambling around saying “Muuuurrrggghhh” a lot [offer not valid in mornings, pre-caffeine]. We have been reliably informed that such an offer is tantamount to being married in certain cultures…

So, imagine my surprise and pleasure when I stumbled across Professor Andrew Gelman’s recently published (1st April) paper on methods of surveying the zombie menace. Building upon Lakeland’s (2010) earlier analysis of zombie dynamics and the readiness of the population to this threat, Gelman’s work will enable us to have a better understanding of how far this threat has spread.

Truly, we have never been better prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse!