We played the Bloody Buron scenario
over a couple of days as a way of ringing out the old year. I'm
posting the AAR on my blog, but almost all the toys and set up were
Phong's, fielding for the first time his newly minted Commonwealth
battalion and support armour in his palatial basement gaming
emporium.
The scenario was written by Paddy Green
and Richard de Ferrars for the Battlefront WWII rule set, and is part
of their excellent Blood and Honour series. I had played this
scenario many years ago (AAR can be found here for comparison) and
was eager to try it again. It is based on the attack by The Highland
Infantry of Canada to recapture Buron, given up without a fight a
month earlier after being taken by the North Novas on DDay+2. In the
interim the Germans have dug deep and defended the village with
extensive anti tank ditches, minefields and barbed wire.
The Highlanders will have the support
of a Squadron of Shermans (Sherbrooke Fusiliers), D Troop of the
340th (SP) AT Battery and a breaching team composed of
79th Armoured's Funnies. Buron is defended by two depleted
German companies as well as a support weapon company. A troop of
Panzer IV's lend their support with more Panzer IV's arriving later
as reinforcements.
The game was played out in 1/72nd
scale figures on a 6'X8' table.
 |
| Map of battle showing original German positions and Allied avenues of attack. Extensive minefields (grey) and barbed wire (blue) along with AT ditches and trench lines (red) made Buron a fortress-like position. |
The Battlefield
The battlefield viewed from the north.
Buron occupies the high ground to the left while the smaller
settlement of Guchy is to the right. An anti tank ditch spans most of
the battlefield, along with known minefields backed by extensive
trench works – a formidable objective to take!
The objective viewed from the Canadian start line
A lot of ground to cover for infantry!
The attack opens with a rolling barrage
(two regiments of 105's) that pounds the trenches in front of Guchy.
On the Canadian left the carrier platoon takes the lead, roaring up
the flank with the intention of testing the defences on this side and
hopefully initiating a quick break through. They are supported by a
Crab flail tank and followed by the Sherbrooke's Shermans, with D
Company mounted, in the hopes of getting some infantry quickly up to
the enemy trench lines. This proves a costly decision, as the
Canadian's left flank was not yet secured by the British, and off
board enemy artillery in enfilade spots the column, quickly stripping
the tanks of their riders and causing heavy casualties.
2. Hey diddle diddle Funnies up the middle
The 79th Armoured Funnies
roll up the middle, lead by a fascine-carrying AVRE.
3. Carrier platoon comes under fire
The carrier platoon begins to attract
some German mortar fire from Buron, but it does little to impede
them.
4. Right flank infantry advance
On the right flank, Highlander A and B
Companies move up through the fields and open areas, covered by the
barrage and not yet spotted.
5. Fascine dumped
With the road blocked by obstacles, the
AVRE dumps its fascine into the AT ditch, providing the first breach
of that defence.
6. Right flank clobbered by nebelwerfers
The Canadian infantry is finally
spotted and the first of a series of deadly nebelwerfer attacks
savages the lead company, despite them being well dispersed. The
Germans have limited off board artillery and elect to use it early.
In the foreground the 6 pdr. AT platoon begins a cautious approach.
7. Canadian mortars in action
The 3” mortars zero in on the German
mortars and knock out one of them. This is an early and only success,
as two of the three Canadian mortars are KO'd the next round by the
pesky artillery fire from the uncleared Canadian left flank. As it
turns out this effectively strips the Canadians of any indirect fire
support for the rest of the game, other than the rolling barrage.
8. Panzer IV repositions form Guchy to Buron
With the enemy armour clearly committed
to the German's centre and right flank, the German commander moves
his two Panzer IV's from covering a possible break through attempt on
their left to new positions within Buron. Confident that his
machine-gun positions in the trench lines along with extensive mines
and barbed wire on this flank will stifle any infantry break through,
the Germans also move some of their troops from Guchy to Buron to
bolster the town's defence.
9. Havoc!
As suspected, the Canadians find that
the known minefield actually extends to cover the entire German right
flank. Two of four carriers are blown up and the troops bail out
suppressed and disordered. A German LiG 75mm and a 20mm flak open up
at close range, along with withering small arms fire, and the carrier
platoon is rapidly decimated.
10. AT ditch bridged
A second AVRE bridges the AT ditch,
widening the access over this obstacle and making way for the Crab to
clear the minefields. In the background Highlanders and the AT
platoon can be seen moving forward.
11. Barrage pounds Buron
The rolling barrage sweeps through
Buron, causing no casualties to the well dug in defenders but keeping
the German heads down.
12. Overview
Front right the German line holds
steady, wiping out most of the carrier platoon but now coming under
fire from advancing enemy armour. A Crab clears a first lane through
the minefield while one of the Canadian engineers clears a second
beside it while obscured by burning carriers.
In the middle, reluctant to brave the
minefield and hoping the Crabs and engineers might clear more lanes,
the Canadian armour and British Achilles battle it out with the
German PanzerIV and PaK 75mm positioned on the north side of Buron.
German tank, AT and mortar fire keep the Achilles and Fireflies
neutralized while the preponderance of Allied armour makes it
difficult for the the Allied heavy hitters to get clear lines of
sight on the enemy.
In the upper left A and B Companies
continue to be savaged by German artillery and mortar fire along with
the 150mm fire of the Grille guarding this flank. C Company holds
back, undetected in reserve (centre top) while the remnants of D
Company's clobbered tank riders continue to move up on the top right.
13. Crab KO'd
With the first Crab having secured a
slim breach on the German right flank, the German tank and AT fire
switches its focus to the second Crab, KOing it before it can achieve
a second breach in the Canadian centre
14. Breach!
One of the surviving carriers is first
through the breach, engaging the 20mm flak in close combat. It loses
and is driven back, but the German line here begins to crumble.
15. Distant Buron
As the barrage rolls through Buron, the
survivors of D Company have a lot of ground to cover as the Allied
armour battles it out in front of the village.
16. German mortars in action
As the barrage sweeps over their entrenchment the German mortars continue to pound enemy targets.
17. Shermans move through breach
The first of the Sherbrooke tanks move
through the breach, encountering barbed wire impeding their advance
as they attempt to displace the Panzer IV covering Buron's east side.
18. Infantry follow up on the left flank
With the off board enemy guns
enfilading from the east finally silenced, surviving units of D
Company move up towards the line.
19. Right flank approach trenches
A badly diminished right flank (A and B
Company casualties well beyond 50%) hunker down in the antitank ditch
and the cover of tall crops, readying themselves for the final push
over the minefield to engage the machine-gun bunkers that have been
making life miserable.
20. Over the minefields!
With one Crab knocked out and the
second neutralized by PanzerIV fire, the Allied armour can wait no
longer to push on the Buron. Although some tanks manage to negotiate
the breach on the far left (foreground) the others push over the
minefield. An AVRE and the Crocodile are disabled by mines (a second
AVRE was KO'd earlier by Panzer IV fire), but the Shermans and one of
the AVRE's manage to survive. The two German guns on this flank are
destroyed and the surviving infantry driven from the trenches.
21. Reinforcements
The stalled armour advance happens just
as two more troops of Panzer IV's arrive from the direction of
Authie. Three take up positions southeast of Buron while the fourth
moves up to bolster the defences in front of the town.
22. First Panzer IV KO'd
One of the reinforcing Panzer IV's
(centre) is hit by Sherman fire before it can engage and is knocked
out – the first and only German tank casualty of the game.
23. Overview
In the foreground can be seen three of
the four reinforcing Panzer IV's. The fourth, knocked out, burns
behind the church. From left to right the PaK40, and two original
Panzers still keep the enemy armour at bay. Behind the lead left
Panzer the Grille has KO'd both 6 pdrs. on the German left flank
along with a number of infantry sections, while a third 6 pdr. on the
right was knocked out by mortar fire. Some Allied armour has pushed
through the minefield on the far right only to be brought up short by
barbed wire while the others, having negotiated the minefields are
still recovering from suppressions and disorders caused by the
crossing (top right) and have yet to advance.
The Highlanders have finally braved the
minefield crossing, C Company centre (left of the road) and A and B
on the left, but now have to deal with mg fire from the pillboxes in
the trench lines, none of which have yet been crossed by Canadian
infantry.
24. Trenches infiltrated on right
The first Canadian infantry get a
foothold in the trenches, but most are cut down by mg fire from the
trenches and Buron. A surviving stand clears one of the pillboxes in
close combat.
25. Game end
As the Shermans advance east and north
of Buron, two are brewed up and a third disordered as they get into
close range of the Panzer IV's and PaK40. One of the Fireflies is
KO'd when it fails an initiative roll and has to recross the
minefield, leaving the Allies with only two of their original four 17
pdr. armed vehicles. With Highland Infantry casualties topping 50%
(only C Company still has a relatively intact company), all the 6
pdrs. and carrier platoon gone, over half the breaching team KO'd and
the Sherbrooke Fusiliers at over 25% casualties, the battle is called
halfway through the 9th round (technically it was a 20
round game) with the Canadian player conceding defeat and calling off
the attack. The German side was still relatively intact, with the
five surviving élite Panzer IV's, PaK40 and Grille likely easily to
deal with any emerging armour threat and the German infantry still
almost wholly intact and well dug in to Bloody Buron.
