Galatas Counterattack

We playtested my new scenario, "Galatas Counterattack" last week. It was played on a 4.5' X 4.5' table using 20mm figures and the Battlefront WWII rules system. It is the second Crete scenario I have written, the first being the fight for Maleme Airfield. This time the Kiwis get to punch back.

On May 20, 1941 the Germans launched Operation Mercury, the airborne invasion of Crete. Over the following four days they secured the Maleme airfield and steadily pushed the defending forces back as they gained a grip on the island.

Crack German paratroops and mountain infantry, pushing strongly along the Galatas Line, finally forced the New Zealand Composite Battalion (an ad hoc battalion formed from anti tank gunners, engineers and support troops) and 18 Battalion from their positions around the village of Galatas, seizing it shortly before dusk on the 25th and thus threatening the entire Galatas line. 

The New Zealand commander hastily threw together a counterattack to restabilise the Galatas line, employing Vickers VIB of the 3rd Hussars and recently arrived companies of the 23rd Battalion. As the tanks moved up the road towards the village, C and D companies of the 23rd Battalion, with fixed bayonets, fell in along both sides of the road.

Joined by elements of the recently ousted 18th Battalion intent on revenge, the 20th and other units, the New Zealanders swept forward in what has been called “one of the greatest bayonet charges of the Second World War”. 

The challenge in designing this scenario was to create an atmosphere that reflected the German surprise and confusion in responding to the unexpected NZ counterattack. To achieve this, the defenders are given a a "disorder" rating for the first couple of turns, severely handicapping their ability to respond and giving the opportunity for the Kiwis to push home the attack.

The German player defended with his three company-sized maneuver elements in and around Galatas (red line), placing elements of the 1st Battalion, 100 Mountain Regiment to the northeast, the 2nd Battalion troops covering the center and the elements of Ramcke group (fallschirmjaeger) to the southwest, leaving the southern most BUS's (built up sectors) undefended.

The New Zealand commander attacked two up, with C and D Companies straddling the road and advancing with the light tanks of the 3rd Hussars (Area A) while the ad hoc group lead by Lieut. Col. Gray moved to out flank the defenders to the south (Area B).

The Battlefield

Galatas viewed from the New Zealand start positions.

The village of Galatas is a collection of houses strung out along the road to Canea. The New Zealand objective is to recapture the village from the numerically superior enemy, who have recently taken it. The German objective is to recover from the initial shock of the attack and hold Galatas.

The gully. The ad hoc company's starting positions are just to the north of the bridge.

Galatas viewed from the northwest.

The Battle

1. The New Zealand attack goes in

Under cover of darkness the New Zealand attack goes in. Supported by the Vickers VIB of the 3rd Hussars, C Company attacks to the left, D Co. to the right. The Kiwis quickly run into surprised elements of the 1st Battalion, 100 Mountain Regiment in the buildings at the northern end of the village and sweep them aside.

2. Ad hoc company joins the attack.

Elements of 18th Battalion, recently ousted from the village along with soldiers from the 20th and Composite Battalions rally under Liet. Col. Gray and join in the attack.

3. C Co. storms the church

While the outlying buildings are being cleared, a platoon of C Company, lead by Capt. Harvey push on into the town and storm the Galatas church at bayonet point.

4. Mountain Troops flee Galatas

Rattled by the sound of machinegun fire, clank of tank tracks and fierce cries from the charging Kiwis most of the Mountain Regiment's 2nd Battalion troops break and flee the village towards their own lines.

5. Fallschirmjaeger reposition

With the mountain troops largely overrun or in full flight (failure to recover from initial disorder)  and the Kiwis advancing up the east flank of the town, the fallschirmjaeger reposition to form a blocking line across the south end of the village.

6. Trouble in the orchard

In the orchard bordering the church yard the New Zealanders run into the first signs of a hardening resistance. As the Vickers advances in support a platoon of Germans backed up by a 50 mm mortar fend off the first attempt to drive them out at bayonet point.

7. Ad hoc company advances on left flank

With elements of D Company retreating from the fight while others clear the church, the troops under Lieut. Col. Gray cautiously advance up the road east of Galatas.

8. Mountain troops rally…

Over half the 2nd Battalion company flee Galatas, never to return, before their commander manages to stem the tide at pistol point and get them back into the fray.

9. … and reoccupy Galatas

The rallied Germans reoccupy buildings on the west side of Galatas just as troops from D Company enter the same street of houses from the north.

10. Overview

With all of the 1st Battalion elements swept out of Galatas, the New Zealanders press home their attack. D Co., after clearing the orchards to the west of the village battles it out with the 2nd Battalion troops that have rallied and reoccupied the west side of the village. Meanwhile C Co. has come up hard against the veteran German Fallschirmjaeger holed up in the south end of the village and bring forward the light tank to help winkle them out.

Lieut. Col. Gray's command continues to move around the east flank, the first units entering the outlying houses to the south of Galatas largely undetected by taking a wide sweep through the orchards, taking sporadic fire from the German paras on that side of town.

The New Zealand commander, sensing the imminent collapse of the German defences, holds off ordering in his reserves, leaving the 2nd Vickers tank platoon on the outskirts of Karatos and the 20th Battalion's D Company in their positions dug in around the creek east of the village.

11. Just when you thought it was over …

The German commander, realizing that he is about to be out flanked by enemy troops moving around to his rear, decides to take the initiative and launches a hasty counterattack on D Co. rather than wait to fight it out on two fronts. 

This is easily driven off with German casualties, but the attack seems to be enough to cause loss of nerve on the part of C Company who become disordered on their next morale check. The Vickers is disordered as well by small arms fire, and the Germans take this opportunity to launch a second counterattack, swarming out from the cover of the buildings, driving off the tank in close assault and clearing the entire area of Galatas of enemy troops!

12.  Germans drive off Kiwi counterattacks

On the German right flank Lieut. Col. Gray's ad hoc company break off their flanking maneuver and charge in an attempt to recapture lost ground. But the enemy holds fast, repelling a simultaneous attack from D Co. on the left and inflicting serious casualties.

13. D Co. section advances on west side of Galatas

14. Stragglers advance

As the New Zealand attack falters Maj. Thomason, the 23rd Battalion's commander, rallies stragglers and brings them forward through the cleared part of the village.

15. 3rd Hussars in full retreat

A failed attempt to recover sends the New Zealand armour support into full retreat.

16. Ad hoc co. east of Galatas

Their counterattack driven off at great cost, the remnants of the ad hoc company take cover in the orchards east of the village.

17. Clearing the orchard

With the enemy on the ropes, Fallschirmjaeger exit the cover of the Galatas buildings to clear the New Zealanders out of the olive orchards to the east of the town.

18. And again, just when you thought it was over …

On the final turn, the New Zealand troops fail to rally and simply hold position, with the sole exception of a section from C Company, which charges in and once more clears out the Germans who had just retaken the western most houses in Galatas. As the German defenders then prepare to oust the last two undisordered enemy units from Galatas and incredibly snatch a major victory from the jaws of defeat, a bad morale roll sends the mountain troops packing and the paratroops hunkering down disordered. With two Kiwi stands still in good order in the village and all of the German stands disordered, the New Zealanders score a major victory and Galatas is theirs. The historical result, albeit achieved in a rather unorthodox manner.

Post Mortem

There was little more either side could have done. The fight was a pretty straight forward slugging match and good and bad luck abounded on either side. The night rules, causing all units to behave unpredictably, coupled by the initial disorder imposed upon the German defenders meant that it was a game full of high tension and surprising turn arounds. Thinking the fight was his up until almost the very end, the NZ commander didn't commit his reserves (the reserves being a non-historic scenario balancing option - those units were present but were never ear-marked to be called upon in this battle). But if he had he would have foregone the opportunity for a major victory, having to settle for partial at best. The result proved him right.

"The Neck of the Swan" The Battle for Wetteren Bridge

We played R. Mark Davies excellent scenario "The Neck of the Swan" The Battle for Wetteren Bridge last weekend. It was played on a 6' X 4' table (you can see how the table was put together in the post below) using 20mm figures and the Battlefront WWII rules system. 

The fight takes place on September 6, 1944, and is an odd little spat in that it places a field squadron of engineers in the unusual position of having to act like combat troops. In the highly fluid situation created as the Germans retreated and the Allied pursued them through France and Belgium, the bridge at Wetteren was threatened by counterattack and the engineers were the only available troops to defend it. Other Allied troops and armour had already crossed the bridge and were now ranging ahead on the north side so it was imperative that the bridge be held.

The attacking units were from the 70. Infanterie-Division (Weissbroft), soldiers that had been placed in a common unit because of their collective stomach disorders. On both sides the units were tagged as  'trained" for this scenario.

I chose to bolster the German side by an additional weak company as it seemed that the objective would have been difficult to take with the suggested orbats. The designer of the scenario suggested this as one of several approaches to modifying the scenario for game balance.

Spoiler alert: If you plan to play this scenario you might not want to read the AAR as their are things that only the umpire should know.

The British player chooses to defend with No. 2 Troop in Kappellendries, No. 3 Troop in the built up area north of the bridge (which I 'm calling Liefkenshoek) as well as the small woods just north of  the village, and No. 1 Troop with the attached 17 pdr. on the south bank, clustered around the bridge in Wetteren. His recce vehicles (historically Humber LRC Mk. II's but substituted with Bren-mounted Universal Carriers in this scenario) are all re-assigned to bolster No. 3 Troop.

1. The Battlefield

All the fighting took place on the north side of the bridge. Liefkenshoek is in the foreground, Wetteren Bridge just to the left and Kappellendries in the middle distance. The countryside is flat and criss-crossed with hedgerows and woods, making for close terrain. 

2. The Objective

Wetteren Bridge, crossing the Schelde is both sides' objective. The Royal Engineers of 4 Field Squadron 7th Armoured Division are to hold it, the Germans of Grenadier Regiment 1020 must try to blow it. The British forces are bolstered by an attached 17 pdr. with the hope of reinforcements arriving in the form of a squadron of Cromwells and a company of infantry.

The Germans have the only indirect fire support available, a mortar platoon. They are also supported by a PaK 40 anti-tank gun and an attached platoon of pioneers present to blow the bridge.

The River Schelde is impassable with steep banks and a low embankment at the top.

3. The German Advance

The Germans move from their starting positions, swiftly advancing their mortar platoon just north of the river to where they will have a clear view through to the bridge.

4. First Contact

 As 1 and 2 Kps. converge on Kappellendries from two different directions an advance squad draws fire from the outlying houses. 3 Kp. (in the foreground) move to the left flank.

5.  3 Kp. moves to the left flank

6. PaK 40 moves forward

Behind the advance the horse drawn PaK 40 and attached pioneer platoon move cautiously forward.

7. Clearing Kappellendries

A fierce firefight  breaks out as the Germans discover that Kappellendries is solidly defended. Suppressing fire is laid down as a Panzershrek squad attempts to close in on a British halftrack.

8. 17 pdr. opens up

The British 17 pdr., emplaced in Wetteren proper opens up long range on the advancing German infantry.

9. 3 Kp. approaches Liefkenshoek

3 Kp.makes the paved road undetected and moves in column towards Liefkenshoek from the north.

10. Overview

On the left 3 Kp. can be seen making their way towards Liefenshoek, while 1 and 2 Kps. work to clear Kappellendries.

11. Taking heavy fire from Kappellendries

The defending engineers prove tough to dislodge but the Germans slowly push their way in to the village, forcing the British to fall back to Liefkenshoeck.

12. Engineer's recce attempts overrun

Spotting the Germans advancing towards the north of Liefenshoek, a Bren carrier attempts an overrun but is stopped short by a panzerfaust. This starts a cat and mouse game between the two, but has the effect of moving the rest of 3 Kp. off the road and into the adjoining field. (We hide panzerfausts etc. until they actually fire, making it more difficult to judge whether they are safe to approach or not.)

13.  3 Kp. comes under fire

With much of Kappellendries secured the Germans start to infiltrate along the north side of the village. Caught in the open 3 Kp. and elements of 2 Kp. take heavy fire from the woods directly north of Liefkenshoek,  and 3 Kp., already not at full strength, rapidly exceeds 50% casualties.

14. PaK 40 moves into Kappellendries 

Kappellendries is finally cleared and the Germans move their anti-tank gun up to the edge of the village. From here it is able to sight down to the bridge as well as cover the entrances to Liefkenshoek.

15. British armour pulls back

With the PaK 40 emplacing, the British carriers and halftracks, up to now providing solid fire support to the defending infantry, are forced to pull back out of sight of the guns. This allows the Germans to begin to form up for the final push into Liefekenshoek and towards the bridge.

16. Recce knocked out

Meanwhile, on the left flank the Germans enfilade and knock out the blocking recce vehicle in close combat and begin to infiltrate into Liefkenshoek from the north. They are temporarily driven out again through fierce counterattack as casualties on both sides mount.

17. Attack closes in on Wetteren Bridge

The German mortars lay down a smoke screen along the south side of the river, hoping to cut off enfilade fire as they move towards the bridge. A Troop's halftrack takes advantage of the smoke to dash across the bridge to bolster the north side defence with its 50 cal.

18. No. 1 Troop moves to reinforce north bank

Other elements of No. 1 Troop also sprint across the bridge to harden the dwindling north shore defence. Hard on their tail comes a mysterious Dingo which has arrived on the scene from Overbeke. It is the vehicle of the Divisional Commander Royal Engineers, Lieut. Col. AD Hunter, who is making inquiries as to the location of 4 Field Squadron's commander, Major Fitzgerald.

19. Liefkenshoek begins to fall

As No. 1 Troop units take up positions along the river bank, No. 3 Troop battles it out in Liefkenshoek. The Germans clear the woods, brewing up two of the halftracks in close combat. Commander Fitzgerald's HQ (tile-roofed house), well-advanced, comes under attack. 

20. Major Fitzgerald falls back towards bridge

Squadron HQ survives the attack but is driven back into a building adjacent to the bridge.

21. No. 3 Troop bugs out

With the Germans all around No. 3 Troop breaks and abandons Liefkenshoek, running for the safety of the south bank.

22. Lieut. Col. A.D. Hunter gains an appreciation of the situation

Hunter arrives at Fitzgerald's newly relocated to find No. 3 Troop streaming by in full retreat and Fitzgerald's HQ occupied by the enemy. A substantial mortar stonk convinces him that it is time to bug out as well.

23. 1 Kp. in full retreat

Casualties are causing command and control on both sides to break down. Just as the British defence on the north side of the river collapses, 1 Kp. breaks off the attack and flees, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - or something like that.

24. Slim foothold

A second deadly mortar attack on the bridge thins the British ranks further. 2 Kp., backed up by the German pioneers, pick up the attack and knock out the British from the remaining riverside building, leaving only two defending stands on the north bank.

25. Last attempt to get help

With a skirmish line of German infantry thrown up along the river bank, the pioneers move into position to begin wiring the bridge for demolition. In a final attempt to break through and seek out reinforcements Hunter guns his Dingo across the bridge …

26. End game

But is knocked out by a German Panzershrek. A second Quixotic attempt by No. 3 Troop's recce is stopped by German AT fire, while the screening German infantry keep the enemy's heads down, allowing their pioneers to do their work. The bridge is successfully wired for demolition on the very first attempt.

27. Thar she blows!

The charges are detonated and the Wetteren Bridge goes into the Schelde, taking Hunter's Dingo and the recce carrier with it. Mission accomplished, one for the bad guys.