Another in a never ending saga of my forays into new game systems. This time, we're taking a look at MMP's Grand Tactical Series -- at least this series is from the 2000s and is still growing. I purchased copies of The Devil's Cauldron and Where Eagles Dare in December and finally found some space to try out two introductory scenarios.
The space that these games cover is pretty substantial, but the rules are much more manageable for a game with this level of on-map detail, which was a pleasant find.
The first scenario centers on control of Elst and the breakout from Nijmegen. The Guards Armoured Division is tasked with moving north of the Waal and taking control of the church in Elst by the end of the scenario (which lasts only two turns). The British have more than enough personnel to make this happen, but the chance of activation and the limits of approach make it a challenge.
A view of the town on the map. The Germans defending the town (not pictured here) are a company from KG Knaust, entrenched at the Church in the center of town (36.45).
The battle started off well enough with the first unit of armor taking on the German flak units along the path of advance. Despite plenty of opportunity to knock out the advancing armor, the German flak failed to inflict any losses. When pressed by the advancing armor and several exchanges of fire, the Germans abandoned their position, allowing the British to capture the guns and continue on to Elst. The Irish Guards moved onward, past the units of Oberst Henke.
Crossing the Waal, Welsh forces from Group Cold moved north to block the ambushing forces under Henke. There was a brief exchange of fire between the two, but finding the Welshmen in their path, Henke's ambushers dug-in to Oosterhout to prevent their reinforcing Group Hot.
Outside Elst, the Irishmen of Group Hot dismounted their armor and prepared to advance on the center of town. Running short of time, I sent the armor in first to direct fire against the entrenched Germans and spot for supporting mortars. The first rounds failed to find their mark, and once the assaulting infantry were in place, poor die rolls failed to pass the needed Bravery Check to assault the entrenchments. By this time, a supporting section of guns had deployed in the orchards south of Elst, waiting for coordinates. Harassing fire from the Germans kept the assaulting infantry at bay.
The only saving grace would be successful artillery support on the Germans to lead the way for one final assault attempt. Unfortunately, lady luck was not on my side as the British. The spotting armor failed to make contact with the artillery outside of Elst as the radio set broke and the final assault attempt was not taken (a 4th bravery check failed).
Little Omaha
The second scenario covers the capture of the two Nijmegen bridges over the Waal river. While elements of the Guards Armoured Division and the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) attacked the south side of the bridges, the 504th PIR launched a daring assault across the Waal river using assault ferries, took Fort Hof Van Holland and then secured the north end of the Nijmegen railroad bridge. This website has a pretty good summary of the course of the fighting over the Waal.
Game no. 2 went pretty much the same way. The 504th PIR started activated and made a successful crossing of the Waal. Coming under fire from Fort Hof Van Holland, the three companies that crossed all advanced, incurring cohesion hits, but by the end of their move, two companies were just nearing the German fort defenders and the third company, supported by the 82nd's engineers, were moving on the northern end of the railroad bridge.
To support, the mortars of the 504th (which also made the crossing) opened up on the German defenders in the fort. (I erroneously placed a "light barrage" counter after hitting them with the mortars when I took the below photo and then later realized my mistake).
Then came the German artillery. I drew the Frundsberg's artillery chit for the next activation, which could have gone one of two ways for the American paratroopers who just crossed the Waal: either very poorly, pinning them on the river's far bank, or miraculously without scratch.
Somehow, the paratroopers survived. The first battery failed to make contact with the defenders in Fort Hof Van Holland and while the second made contact, their fire from the artillery park on the far side of Lent went wide of the American positions, luckily preserving the exposed companies.
What then followed was a very complicated series of assaults on the entrenched defenders in Nijmegen by the 505th PIR. For the sake of brevity, the 505th's attacks on the German defenders in the city (town?) do little more than result in cohesion hits, but the Guards Armoured's attack towards the road bridge succeeds in the first advances on the bridge. It takes several companies of the Grenadier Guards to dislodge the first defenders - who route back to the entrenched panzer grenadiers.
By the end of the 1500 Hours turn, the 505th and 504th converge on the Germans in Fort Hof Van Holland and the railroad bridge while the Guards Armoured is assigned to the Germans defending the road bridge. All three objectives are unsecured at the start of the final turn.
That quickly changes though. At Fort Hof Van Holland, the Americans barely succeed in making the Germans route from their position. A failed Troop Quality Check ousts the Germans from the fort, who end up retreating back towards the cover of Lent. Out in the open, the Americans pursue them and call in supporting artillery fire, which decimates their ranks. Meanwhile a mixed force of paratroopers and engineers close in on the railroad unit and replacements holding the railroad bridge on the north, cutting off their path of retreat. The 505th launches a renewed assault on the defenders that finally succeeds in storming the defenses. Surrounded without nowhere to go, the Germans surrender en masse.
Then comes the Guards's assault on the road bridge. Despite dogged resistance and heavy fire from the flak emplacements and the mechanized panzer grenadiers, the British armor and guards encircle the defenders, devastate their cohesion with crossfire, and then launch a successful assault forcing them to retreat over the bridge. As they withdraw, a unit of Shermans on the river's banks open fire as they cross and eliminate the defenders.
As the game comes to a close, all three objective hexes are taken and the Allies pull off an almost perfect, historical victory.
An absolutely incredible game. I'm going to play a few more scenarios before I move on to any other games.
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