Battle Report: Assault on the Flak Battery

 

 

The mighty Flakvierling 38 looks out over the battlefield.

September 1944 - Somewhere near Eindhoven. It was a hot and muggy morning as the British Paratroopers prepared to launch their assault on the German flak gun position. The objective was to take out the enemy gun, which had been causing havoc for the allied air forces. The paratroopers, led by 1st Lieutenant Jameson, had been scattered behind enemy lines and had been moving through the forest and farmland towards their objective.

 

Paratroopers organise and advance under
the command of 1st Lieutenant Jameson

As they approached the enemy position, they came under heavy fire from luftwaffe soldiers positioned at the flak gun battery. The paratroopers quickly took cover behind nearby trees and returned fire with their Lee-Enfield rifles. The sound of gunfire echoed through the forest as the two sides engaged in a fierce firefight.

Captain Jameson quickly assessed the situation and ordered his men to flank the enemy position. The paratroopers split into two groups, with one group providing covering fire using the 50. cal mounted on a jeep, while the other moved to the side of the enemy position. The Germans, spotted the paratroopers moving towards their flank and killed all but the lone sergeant in a hail of 20mm Flak fire!

The paratroopers charge the Luftwaffe infantry.

As the covering fire intensified, the paratroopers in the centre rushed forward, bayonets fixed on their rifles with a powerful cry of "Woaaahh Mohammad!". The Luftwaffe troops, caught off guard, tried to bring their rifles to bear. But it was too late. The paratroopers were upon them, firing their rifles and stabbing with their bayonets.

The Germans fought back fiercely, but the paratroopers were too close and too determined. In a matter of minutes, the enemy positions were taken. Lieutenant Jameson ordered his men to continue their advance and the troopers quickly took cover in a wheat field just 50 yards away from the Flak gun.

The PIAT team advances towards the dug in Flak gun

As the paratroopers secured the position, a team of soldiers equipped with PIAT slowly and stealthily made their towards the Flak gun using a wrecked Panzer IV as cover. As they reached a point just a few meters from the gun, Private Baker redied his weapon, took a deep breath, and fired. The explosive charge from the PIAT struck the sandbags protecting the gun and Baker and his loader were instantly cut down in a volley of rifle and MG42 fire! The Flak gun swung around and began to take aim on the paratroopers in the field.

The Flakveirling fires into the
advancing paratroopers.

As the gun fired out into the field the Paratroopers hit the deck and amazingly only a few were wounded in the vicious volley of explosive shells. Rallied by the presence of Lieutenant Jameson they stood up, readied their bayonets and filled the air with a cry as they descended onto gun emplacement. The vicious melee which broke out lasted only a few moments as the gun crew were slain and the gun destroyed with a well placed explosive charge. 

The British paratroopers had accomplished their mission as the remaining germans scattered towards the nearby town. They had silenced the enemy flak gun and secured an important strategic position. But the victory had come at a cost. Several paratroopers had been killed in the intense firefight.

The gun is overun and destroyed by the paratroopers. Their mission is complete!

As they waited for more airborne troops to land, the paratroopers looked out over the quiet fields, thinking about the sacrifices they had made and the lives lost in the pursuit of victory. But they also knew that their efforts had helped to bring them one step closer to ending the war and bringing peace to Europe.

Another cracker of a game! I was a bit worried how balanced the scenario would be given that I had just made it up and this was our first time play testing but it seemed to go quite well. The gun not being able to fire without drawing its specific dice was a nice touch which let the British player take some risks with the order of activations as the German player couldn't rely on when the gun would fire. 

The gun was definitely powerful and while it had some terrible rolls (didn't blow up a jeep and barely killed any paratroopers in the field) when it did connect with the squad on the flank it easily killed the entire squad bar 1 man!

I would play this scenario again and perhaps increase the points to 1000 and add two guns! So all in all I would say this was a great success! 

Signing out,

Chewie.