By Jon Gunns
INTRODUCTION
Hit the Beach is a beach landing scenario for Brickskreig.
SCENARIO
The British are trying to land on a beach defended by the German army. The forces involved are:
BRITISH
Two troops of 3 Churchill tanks.
Four platoons of infantry with command, 4 rifle squads and a PIAT.
Six landing craft.
GERMAN
Two weak platoons of infantry with command, 3 rifle squads and a panzerfaust.
Section of 3 heavy machine guns.
Three 88 mm guns.
One troop Pz IV.
The ground:
The beach counts as difficult terrain for all vehicles.
Vehicles may not scale the cliffs.
The scenario involves a number of special rules.
Landing Craft.
The British have 6 landing craft, each can carry a troop of tanks or a platoon of infantry.
Landing Craft have medium armour. Any successful hit and damage roll will result in the destruction of a tank or 2 squads of infantry. If all embarked troops and/or vehicles are destroyed, the landing craft is sunk.
Landing craft start close to the beach and move directly forwards from their start location towards the beach. At the start of turn 3, roll a dice for each landing craft; on a roll of 1 – 4, the craft grounds and may unload its cargo. On a 5 – 6, the craft is obstructed and may not unload its cargo until the next turn.
Once a landing craft reaches the beach, it may immediately unload any surviving tanks or infantry which should be placed within 3” of the craft. These units may not move; they may shoot but count as having moved.
Defenders.
The defenders start the game in cover.
German Tanks.
The German tanks are held back from the beach as a counter-attack force. They do not arrive until turn 8 when they arrive at Beach Exit A or B on the German edge of the board and may shoot that turn, counting as having moved.
Set Up.
The German tanks held in reserve and do not deploy initially.
The British have conducted reconnaissance of the beach and know some of the enemy dispositions. Before set up, roll a D6 for each German unit; on a roll of 1 – 3, the unit deploys first. On a roll of 4 – 6, the unit deploys after the British force has deployed.
The British then deploy their landing craft.
Finally, the Germans deploy their remaining units.
The German forces count as being dug-in.
The British have the first turn.
WINNING THE GAME
The British win the battle if they have cleared the immediate beach area of all enemy and secured both beach exits before the second wave lands at the end of turn 8. If the British do not control the beach, the assault has failed and the Germans win.
THE GAME
Deployment
British reconnaissance spotted two 88 mm guns and the machine gun section, which had to be placed before the British deployed their landing craft. The British considered a cunning plan involving turning a flank, but in the end decided that landing as close to the enemy as possible was the best solution. Likewise, the Germans concentrated their forces on the high ground in the centre.
British Deployment
German Deployment
Turns 1 and 2
The British landing craft neared the enemy coast ...
… taking damage from the German 88 mm guns, that concentrated on the craft carrying Bravo Troop, destroying 2 tanks.
Turn 3
The British landing craft arrive, less the craft carrying Platoons 2 and 3, which have to manoeuvre around enemy obstructions. The troops are unloaded and a very lucky long range shot accounts for a squad in 2 Ge Platoon.
The German response is fierce. The last tank in Bravo Troop is destroyed and one tank from Alfa Troop is forced to bail out. One squad from 4 Platoon is also destroyed.
Turn 4
The British tanks advance and fire ineffectively at the 88 mm guns. 1 and 4 Platoons charge forwards across the open beach to close the range with the enemy. 2 and 3 Platoons land and disembark their landing craft. The bailed out tank from Alfa Troop fails to recover.
The German defenders take advantage of the target-rich environment. A second tank from Alfa Troop is forced to bail out and machine guns cause devastation in the ranks of the advancing platoons.
Turn 5
Although badly mauled, 1 and 4 Platoons advance to within assault range and fire at the enemy causing … no casualties. 2 and 3 Platoons charge forwards. Both bailed out tanks recover but can play no part in the battle this turn while the one active tank again fails to damage the enemy.
The enemy responds by knocking out one of the recently recovers Alfa Troops tanks and reducing both 1 and 4 Platoons to just their command squads; bothy, heroically, pass their bravery tests.
Turn 6
In an attempt to reduce the murderous cross fire on the beach, the Platoon commanders of 1 and 4 Platoon mount an assault on 2 Ge Platoon. Somewhat bemused by the audacity of the attack, defensive fire fails, but the German defenders still manage to destroy the few troops making it into contact.
2 and 3 Platoons advance into assault range and in a rare display of accuracy manage to destroy one of the machine guns. The British tanks again achieve nothing.
No such problem for the 88 mm guns that destroy an Alfa Troop tank, the survivor passing its bravery test. German small arms shooting accounts for three more infantry squads.
Turn 7
With the sound of enemy tanks approaching the beach, it was time for desperate measures. 2 Platoon, supported by the remnant of Alfa Troop, assaulted 1 Ge Platoon while 3 Platoon assaulted 2 Ge Platoon. Defensive fire did not deter the attackers and both attacks hit home.
On the right, 3 Platoon needed 2 rounds of combat before the enemy fled the scene. On the left, one round of combat was enough to see off the foe.
The German repose was again swift with an 88 mm gun accounting for the last tank and small arms fire taking out more infantry.
Turn 8
The remnants of 2 and 3 Platoons took casualties form defensive fire as they assaulted the machine gun section but managed to pass bravery tests and despatched the machine gunners. With no protecting infantry left, the 88 mm gunners were getting twitchy.
In their turn, the two fleeing platoons failed to rally and exited the battlefield. However, the Pz IVs that had been held in reserve, arrived this turn and trained their guns menacingly on the remnants of the British invasion force. Recognising that the mission had failed, the few survivors meted into the sand dunes to try to reach safety.
Success for the German defenders.
POST BATTLE THOUGHTS
Wow, those 88 mm and machine guns were tough, particularly when crossing open ground at walking pace.
If playing the game again, I would give the attackers some indirect fire support from off-board naval vessels to reduce the enemy supremacy. Alternatively, the number of 88 mm and machine guns could be reduced. Other options would be to lay a smoke screen, perhaps reducing the chance of a hit by 1 or adding some of the ‘funnies’ actually introduced for D Day, notably the bunker busting AVRE.
Anyway, great fun was had.
Scenario and Battle Report by Jon Gunns
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