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Cover: Tigers in Maltot and the Vernon tank ferry in action. All Raventhorpe apart from a Britannia Firefly and Tigers

LEHAMEL

Left: wave 8 lands opposite WN 37. Raventhorpe, Britannia and Airfix armour.

Below left: the Tobruk MG targets advancing (old) FAA and Lamming figures.

WN 36 scratch built around a resin trench. Raventhorpc figures and Britannia gun.

C squadron Churchills by Matchbox, Britannia and Airfix under fire.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION and SON BRIDGE beginner's battle.

D-DAY AND NORMANDY

LEHAMEL Part of the British D-Day assault landing on Gold Beach.

MALTOT British infantry and armour attack near Hill 112 in Normandy.

MONTORMEL Polish armour bars German escape from the Falaise pocket.

VERNON The British assault crossing of the River Seine.

FRANCE, BELGIUM AND HOLLAND

ARRACOURT American armour faces a German tank brigade near Nancy.

VENRAY British assault crossing of a small watercourse in Holland.

WESTKAPELLE British commando amphibious assault in the Schelde estuary.

KOMMER SCHEIDT Last ditch American defence in the Hurtgen Forest.

THE ARDENNES AND THE GERMAN BORDER

POTEAU American armoured blocking action in the Ardennes.

ASSENOIS The American drive to relieve Bastogne in the Ardennes.

HERRLISHEIM American counterattack against Operation Nordwind in Germany.

SCHW ANENHOF Canadian armoured infantry attack during Operation Veritable.

GERMANY AND NORTHERN HOLLAND

HAMMINKELN British paras attack key objectives over the River Rhine.

HAMMELBURG Audacious American tank raid behind German lines.

OPERATION AMHERST French SAS parachutists behind the lines in N.E. Holland.

ESSEL British Comet tanks in action in Germany.

REFERENCES

June 1944

July 1944

July 1944

August 1944

September 1944

October 1944

November 1944

November 1944

December 1944

December 1944

January 1945

February 1944

March 1945

March 1945

April 1945

April 1945

Page

2

7

8

12

16

20

24

25

29

33

37

41

42

46

50

54

58

59

62

66

69

72

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LOCATIONS OF THE NORTH WEST EUROPE CAMPAIGN SCENARIOS

LOCATIONS OF THE BATTLES

, Poteau

~ O Assenois

11 Herrlisheim

12 Schwanenhof

13 Hamminkeln

14 Hammelburg

15 Operation Amherst

8 Kommerscheidt 6 Essel

Son Bridge (beginners' scenario)

N

1 NORTH SEA

ALSACE LORRAINE

NANCY

• 5

~

~ 1 r R. Rhine

-I STRASBOURG /

FRANCE r GERMANY

ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS

AA Anti -aircraft 1 HT Half-track AC Armoured car LCA Landing craft assault ACV Armoured command vehicle LRC Light reconnaissance car AFV Armoured fighting vehicle LCT Landing craft tank AOP Air observation post (aircraft) LCT(A) Landing craft tank (armour) AP Armour piercing (shell) MC Motorcycle APC Armoured personnel carrier MG Machine gun ARV Armoured recovery vehicle mm Millimetre (width of shell) AT Anti-tank MMG Medium machine gun AVRE Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers OP Observation post (artillery) Bn Battalion Pak German anti-tank gun CCA Combat Command A (or B or R) pdr Pounder (weight of shell) CO Commanding Officer PlAT Projectile infantry anti-tank Coy Company RA Royal Artillery Crab Flailing mine clearing tank Reece Reconnaissance CS Close support SAS Special Air Service DD Duplex drive (swimming tank) SBG Single box girder (bridge) DUKW Amphibious truck SP Self propelled DZ Drop zone (parachute and glider) Sqn Squadron Flak German anti -aircraft gun TCV Troop carrying vehicle HE High explosive TD Tank destroyer HQ Headquarters WN Atlantic Wall Strongpoint

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INTRODUCTION The Scenarios

On June 6th 1944 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, beginning a campaign to free N. W Europe that ended in May 1945.

The 17 historical scenarios presented in this book span this period between D-Day and the end of the war; 12 months that saw forces from Europe and America unite to defeat the German armies in the west.

To paint as full a picture as possible, at least one action from each full month of conflict has been selected, and the scenarios aim to give the gamer a representative cross-section of the kinds of battle and the types and nationalities of troops who fought in them.

So, amongst the scenarios you'll find beach assaults, a river crossing, set piece infantry attacks, parachute landings, various armoured actions and behind-the-lines raids. As well as the omni-present Geffilans, they feature not only British and American forces (the majority) but also Canadians, Poles, French and Belgians.

Some of the scenarios, such as Le Hamel (D­Day) and Assenois (The Battle of the Bulge) are linked to well known campaigns. Others, such as Arracourt (The Lorraine Campaign) and Operation Amherst (The Liberation of N.E.Holland) are less familiar and I hope they will encourage garners to explore new territory.

Figure and Model Scale The majority of the scenarios cater for the brigade-size battles that RAPID FIRE! was originally written for and are generally suitable for games played with 15mm and 20mm scale figures and vehicles.

However, taking on board comments about my Russian Front scenario book, I've also included some smaller actions, most of which will be suitable for playing with 25 and 28mm scale troops and equipment.

Playing the Scenarios The infoffilation needed to fight each scenario is contained in the relevant section. They all follow the same basic layout:

Background This places each conflict in the 'bigger picture' and briefly describes what happened on the battlefield.

The Game This section gives each side's objectives and the suggested maximum number of moves.

The Forces These are listed either under units or (in the case of garrisons) specific locations, with reinforcements intended to enter later in the game being clearly identified.

Offendorf Garrison (Reinforcements) I x Panzerschrecke

I st Battalion CO + IxMMG

22nd SS Panzer 25 figures

2 x Panzerfaust Grenadier Regiment I x 75mm Pak 40 AT gun

4 x Sdkfz 251 half-track

HQ + 3rd Company 1 x Mk V Panther (Command) I st Battalion 10th SS Major Tetsch

Panzer Regiment I x Mk V Panther

This page may also include additional information for players.

The Battle Map This is a stylised and scaled down version of the original battlefield, annotated with all the other infoffilation and any special rules needed to play the scenario, including a suggested table size. The maps have been designed with the popular 2' square terrain sections in mind. A key to the main map symbols used throughout this book can be found on the next page.

Game Notes This page gives data for the main AFV sand guns involved in the game, plus tips on tactics and terrain and background information on scenario design.

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INTRODUCTION (continued)

MAP SYMBOLS

m

•••••••

DO-x --I

Roads and tracks

Rivers, streams and dykes

Railway line

House (with wall)

Church

Factory

Deciduous trees

Hedges

Fir trees (conifers)

Hills and ridges

Bunker/gun emplace­ment/trench

Beach obstacles

Barbed wire

Minefield

Shellholes

Scaling Down Most of the forces used in these scenarios are scaled down using the normal RAPID

FIRE! ratios of 1:15 (men) and 1:5 (vehicles), although this has been slightly modified in some instances to make forces representative.

For example, in the ESSEL scenario the lone Tiger 1 represents a platoon of 3 tanks that were actually engaged.

The one exception to this scaling is HAMMELBURG, where the size of the raiding force and its opposing units made a revised ratio of 1:5 (men) and 1:3 (vehicles) desirable. This does not affect the rules in any way, but means that in this scenario a firing group normally classed as a company now represents a platoon.

Acknowledgments Particular thanks to my regular wargames opponent and 'chief tester' John Durston and to the other half of RAPID FIRE!, Col Rumford, for wrestling this book into a printable format and offering bucket loads of inspiration and support.

Thanks also to Roger Harris, Andy Bryan and other members of the N. Devon Chivenor club who know RAPID FIRE! better than anybody and app,lied this knowledge to their play testing, and also to Plymouth garners John Taylor and Steve Laidlaw.

Further north, more thanks to Tony Chadbum for his · excellent models and figures and to Jeff Dugdale for key German organisation info and David Fletcher and the staff at the Tank Museum library for their help on the research front.

Finally, after 7 years (!) of wntmg, enormous thanks to my long-suffering wife Jo (love you) and co-productions Kate and Si, who prefer bands (they're both in one) to battles but still tolerate dad's silly toy soldiers.

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SON BRIDGE - Beginners' Battle - US/British Defence

The Battle During Operation Market Garden, the Allied attempt to drive over the Rhine at Arnhem in September 1944, US 101 st Airborne Division was ordered to capture a bridge across the Wilhemina Canal. The Son Bridge, east of Eindhoven, was blown up in their faces, but swiftly replaced by a Bailey bridge to become a main crossing point for the Allied advance.

Assault on the Bridge The German 107th Panzer Brigade was sent to block the bridge. Its first attack was driven off, but on September 20th the I07th tried again, a group of Panther medium tanks and infantry attacking along a narrow tow path.

The bridge was now defended by a company of US glider infantry. With the aid of a 10lst AT gun and British tanks and Sexton SP guns, they finally managed to defeat the attacking panzers.

THE GAME

This game is based on the Allied defence of the Son Bridge crossing.

OBJECTIVES To win the German player must capture the Son Bridge. If the Allied player prevents this they can claim victory. The players have 12 moves to achieve their objectives.

ALLIED FORCES 11327 US Glider Infantry Regiment

C Company 13 figures I x Bazooka

I xMMG

AT platoon 3 figures 1 x 57 nun AT gun, Jeep

Reinforcements British 11115th Draeoons

B Squadron 2 x Cromwell tank (75 mm)

Reinforcements British 153rd (Sl» Reeiment R.A.

2 x Sexton SP 25 pdr gun A Battery (may be off-table)

I x carrier OP (2 figures)

GERMAN FORCES Elements of 107th Tank Brigade

Panzer 2 x Mk V Panther tank Company (long 75 mm)

Panzer CO + I xMMG

Grenadier 30 figures 2 x Panzerfaust

Battalion (HQ + 3 cays) .. Two Panthers with their B armour and gun value of 1 are a powerful force. But there is no supporting artillery and if one tank is heavily damaged or destroyed their morale could fail.

Your infantry are more numerous than the defenders, but you are advancing against dug -in troops and will have to get within 6" of a target to make use of those Panzerfausts. Good luck!

If you are unfamiliar with a campaign or battle some background reading will help 'bring it to life'. See the References on page 72 for ideas.

The objectives are simple and time is short. Simple, decisive plans are usually the best, but keep a 'plan B' in the back of your head for if (or should that be

..... when ... ) things go wrong.

If there ' s any doubt about who's won, declare a draw, or weigh up the gains and losses during a friendly post -game chat. Save the fighting for the table -top!

Your defenders are few and far between and initially have only one long range anti-tank weapon. This is a game wh ere the old 'wait until you see the whites of their eyes' cliche may prove useful.

The arrival of the 'cavalry' will be crucial, but don't forget that Cromwells only have C armour and that the canal is a very effective anti -tank obstacle.

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