During Operation Totalize, Worthington Force with B, C and HQ companies of the Algonquin Regiment supporting 52 tanks from the British Columbia Regiment, bumped into the rear of Halfpenny Force fighting the SS in Bretteville-le-Rabet, went round them and got lost. When dawn broke on 9 August, Worthington Force was 4.5 mi (7.2 km) to the east of Hill 195 at Hill 140, halfway between Estrees-la-Campagne and Mazieres. They held their ground against German armoured counter-attacks during 9 August but suffered many casualties, including most of their tanks. By 17.00 hours what remained of Worthington Force had either been captured or forced to withdraw. Because the column was so far from its intended objective, other units sent to relieve it could not find it.
Attacker: German (SS) (Elements of KG Krauss and KG Waldmuller, 12.SS-Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend")
Defender: Canadian (Elements of Worthington Force (The British Columbia Regiment))
This situation is very difficult for the Germans. Probably the most difficult task is balancing keeping one tank in good order versus using them in full assault mode. I lost one on the opening turn to the Firefly and soon after MALF'd the MA on another. That knocked me down to two and that all but sealed the deal. The rest of the game was just seeing how far I could get. I approached from the southeast and swept my way across the first hill, but there were just too many Canadians left and still one tank. In retrospect I should never have even tried to take the second hill, just cover all the Level 3 hexes with firepower and have a shootout. Not one of my favorite scenarios.
2018-06-12
(A) X von Marwitz
vs
Chris Hofland
German (SS) win
In this D-Day time 1944 scenario, a crack German SS-force supported by three Panthers has to attack a weak Canadian force logded close to or atop a hill and basically clear it of everything while keeping at least one own German tank completely functional. Later, the Canadians get some reinforcements of a couple of squads with a PIAT and two Sherman V's from behind the hill. The Germans receive reinforcements later in the form of two SS-squads with Leader and a Tiger from one of the flanks.
The main difficulty for the Germans is first of all the approach towards the hill. The terrain is pretty open and due to the timing schedule, the Germans can't dally and will have no real choice to risk -2 shots by the Canadians. This will at first be mainly reduced by long range, but things won't get friendlier when the Germans get closer. Only if the Germans make it onto the hills quick enough with enough own infantry will they have sufficient time to be able to clear them from the Canadians and their reinforcements. The Panthers are useful to place SMOKE and to provide cover via Armored Assault. However, as the British do have a Firefly which can penetrate the Panthers even from the front, this is dangerous business that can turn into a serious setback for the Germans. Probably, the performance either way of this key unit will influence how the scenario plays, which may be a weakness of the design.
In our game, I had the attacking Germans. The initial turn. Luckily, the advance in turn 1 went quite well but I malfed one Panther's MA on the first shot. The Canadians broke their Firefly's MA on its first shot, too, which more than alleviated for it. The ATG broke down, too, after an IF shot. During German turn 2, the German tanks thus were pretty free to roam and took out both the Firefly and the Sherman V. The damage to the German infantry on the further approach was not insignificant, but they covered good ground reaching the foot of the hills.
British turn 2 saw the German 9-1 broken and a squad pinned, the 9-2 pinned and another squad broken. However, in return the German fire was effective leaving basically only three Canadian squads and a leader, a surviving vehicular crew and the 228 of the malfed ATG unbroken. As this would have allowed the Germans to establish the Panthers atop the hills and to support them with infantry before the Canadian reinforcements would enter, we called it a day as the Canadians conceded at the end of the DFPh of Canadian turn 2. I have to say that pretty much everything went well for the Germans in our playing making it a bit one-sided.
2014-08-08
(D) Michael Rodgers
vs
Bruno L'Archeveque
Canadian win
On the last turn, German fire broke four Canadian MMC leaving only 1 GO on level 3. In CC, the GO unit won the ambush roll to withdraw and survive.
2012-07-10
(D) Ian Willey
vs
James Short
Canadian win
Quite a good scenario, I thought I had blown it on losing the firefly on turn 1 but managed to hold out. PIAT squad forced a Panther to turn to attack the squad only to go down to a side hit from the ATG (as planned) then he sent a second Panther to over run the PIAT team. They got a side hit as he overran and wrecked it. From there I was able to stabalise the main hill and send troops to threaten the other so James did not have the troops to get it done.
2011-07-26
(D) Martin Hicks
vs
Rob MacDonald
Canadian win
I think this playing was dictated a lot by the dice. I rolled well, Rob not so much.