Crete 1941 - week 4, attack on DZ Sturm

The fourth game of the campaign saw the British once again on the attack, in this case seeking to capture the second of KG Sturm's DZs. The British began on a hill-line overlooking a wooded valley in the edge of the DZ. A farm guarded the Germans left and the gully bisected the table on their right.  

View from the British left, gully in the foreground

View from the British right - farm just visible

In this game the Patrol Phase was crucial as some clever manoeuvring allows the British to outflank the Germans on their right and secure Jump-off Points in the gully.  In response the Germans deployed most of their troops early to establish a strong defence. The British were more coy though, establish a strong base-of-fire with HMGs and mortars on the ridgeline but holding most of the infantry off table so they could pick their fights.    

Germans our early and in force

Farm's defenders

British HMG sections

The British launched a furious fire assault on the German right with HMGs, mortars and flanking fire from the safety of the gully. This first pinned and then began to wear-down German defenders occupying the wood-line.

Germans take a beating

Always a restless commander, Hauptmann Koch decide to counter attack rather than be bogged-down. The Germans therefore sought to advance from the farmhouse on their left in the hopes of securing the Jump-off Point. However with troops in reserve the British quickly countered the thrust and it stalled as the infantry became pinned as they moved through the woods.    

German attack stalls

The Germans position was now largely hopeless. They were flanked by British infantry preparing to assault them and pinned-down by HMG / mortar fire. So with the evening drawing to a close the Germans surrendered rather than take a losing situation into a second week of play. 

Flanking fire

The final action was an assault by the British on the Marder II, damaging but not brewing-up the tank destroyer.

Charge!

So a good and decisive win for the British. a good Patrol Phase helped but also an infantry / HMG heavy list worked well for this scenario. The German decision to deploy all their infantry immediately may also have left them unable to respond to the British attacks.