Liberation, Scenario One: Surprise at Le Hamel

I felt in the mood to play something from Liberation and picked this scenario to get the British on the offensive and with a ton of Naval and airport and cool AVRE & Crab units to boot. The British led with their infantry and keep their vehicles out of harm way of the nasty 88mm German gun. Once that gun was taken out all forces moved dead ahead and the German tried to defend too many objectives and were spread too thin and got mauled and overrun. In the end the British had 35 points to the Germans 6 points for a Major British Victory. By the end of the scenario the Germans had lost 26 steps & 4 Leaders while the British had only lost only 3 steps. That Air and Naval support was devastating! Even though it was lopsided, I enjoyed a scenario where the British could win big time for change and using those engineer type armor vehicles was fun.

This is an AAR from a game played quite a few years ago. Overall, this was a very good and balanced scenario. We had to call the game before it was fully completed due to time constraints. However, we agreed that the game could have gone either way and was very balanced. This is why I chose to call this one a "DRAW". Was a very fun afternoon of gaming with this particular scenario!

AAR NOTE I am just now pulling these games off the shelf and recording our shared play results with my gaming buddy here in town where I live. Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact date of play on some of these games. However, I do know if we played them "pre-pandemic" vs. coming "right out of the pandemic lockdowns". If you see a play date of 2019-06-01, this is for a pre-pandemic game and AAR. 2022-06-01 is for our post-pandemic gaming reboots at our local game and magic card store.

It is morning of the 6th of June 1944. The 1st Hampshires are the first British troops to come ashore on this “Day of Days”. At 7.30 sharp, they land on the utter west edge of Jig Red sector on Gold Beach. Their task is to silence the pillboxes located at Les Roquettes, capture Asnelles sur Mer, and then move westwards along the coast to Arromanches where the British HQ plan to construct Mulberry B. However, in between Jig sector and Arromanches lays the small coastal town of Le Hamel and it happens to be defended by a full battalion of the 352th Infantry Division. This battalion has done its homework. Along the coastline, they have put up minefields and a 88mm AA gun strongpoint in the nearby sand dunes. Further southwards they made trenches interspersed with another 75mm strongpoint and at the other end of the town, they stuffed the ground with more mines to counter any flanking movements. An impressive line of defense indeed.

At 10.00, the Hampshires have dealt with Asnelles sur Mer and are ready to move westwards towards Arromanches. The plan is to breach the line of defense to reach the most vital part of the whole operation. They are supported by the few AVRE and Crab funnies that actually got on land, and are promised all the air and naval support that can be mustered.

Right from the start, a flight of Typhoons targets the 88mm position, they miss, but it makes the German CO decide that its emplacement is too vulnerable and he orders the guns to limber up. And as such, the first hour of the conflict sees the British moving up carefully whilst under a barrage of German OBA. They move in 2 columns, C Company, lead by the sappers, along the south route heading for the 75mm strongpoint (codenamed Dart), and A and B Company who are heading towards the dunes where the 88mm used to stand.

C Company has the worst of it. Some units wander in the minefields, become trapped and mowed down mercilessly by HMG fire. And when the assault on Dart’s position begins, the requested aid from HMS Ajax fails to arrive and the assailers are left to put up with masses of opportunity fire. Some units reach the 75mm guns but they can’t overrun them and when the Germans manage to support the guns with more grenadiers, the assault is contained.

At the other side of town, the Crab unit tries to open a line through the minefields on the beach, but immediately it runs into trouble and it would take too much time to clear the beaches to get the infantry through safely. As such, B company’s only option is to fight, trying to open up a gap into the German defenses. At noon, they finally manage to break through in the dunes, right where the 88mm was stationed. Two British weapon units are ordered to assault the nearby entrenched HMG nest to stop their murderous opportunity fire and A Company is finally able to move towards Arromanches. The only thing still on their path to glory are the 88mms and a battery of 120mm.

But at 12.30, the Typhoons reappear above Le Hamel, and this time they don’t miss the AA guns! Half an hour later the 120mm unit gets the same treatment from HMS Ajax and as such, the road towards Arromanches is clear. A steady column of infantry together with the 2 tank units move off the western board edge between 14.00 and 14.30 whilst leaving the whole of Le Hamel still firmly in German hands.

So it is time to count VP’s, always a tense part of any battle.

First step losses: Germans did 18 step losses, Brits 13

Control of towns and trenches: Brits have the 4 locations they started from (Asnelles sur Mer). The Germans have the rest: 17 VP’s!

Now the breakthrough points: 2 full tank units and 10 full infantry units reached Arromanches: 28 VP’s.

Total VP’s: British: 13 + 4 + 28 = 45 VP’s German: 18 + 17 = 35 points. A British Major Win!

The German player lamented afterwards that, although he had formed a formidable defensive line, it simply was untenable due to the vast amount of incoming OBA, air and naval support. The only thing on his side was time, but unlucky for him, the British player managed to open a gap just in time to get a complete company through and off the table. But both sides agreed that it was a solid and fun scenario to play. If the German line would have stood for a turn or two longer, they would have obliged the British player to change his plans and have no other option than to assault to take control away from the German positions. That would have been an arduous task without any certainty of success. Alas, it was not to be…

This was a fun, smallish battle where the Germans held a tough but thin defensive line of entrenchments. The British took half the game to crack the line, but infiltrated units past the german positions which forced a fall-back and then rout of the German defenders.

This was a fun game once it got going. The Brits were up against a rather strong force of German infantry well supported by heavy weapons, mines, trench’s, you get the picture. The Brits get some weak artillery, an occasional Naval bombardment and some air power on the hour and half hour. It’s a take the town kind of scenario, with German infantry holding tight and proving to be tough customers.

Not a bad exercise, but one that is repeated frequently in this series. However, the maps leave much to be desired. Very dark, very green. It’s very hard to distinguish the woods from the “clear” terrain, and hedgerows seem to be big green blobs between hexes. I’m not a fan of the hill structure either, looks very much like a desert type hill, not Normandy.

Also, using 4th edition rules, what’s the difference between a village and a town??? The number of hexes they occupy?

In the end, the Brits manage a marginal victory. A so so game.