Introduction This was a 1 to 1 wargame fought on a battlefield 7' x 9'. The figures were all Airfix 54mm conversions. The resistance being made mainly from Afrika Korps. Rules were basically home-made with hints from Steve Curtis and Cots Western Gunfight Rules. Scene: A few weeks before D-Day a party of commandos landed in France to blow up a house reported by the Resistance to be a scene of particular activity by the Germans. The Partisans led them there only to discover that the building contained only looted wine. This however, was found out too late. Mission accomplished the commandos led by the French began to make their way to the coastal pick-up point. Unknown to them however, a Hannomag of infantry and a motorcycle team were after them, working on verbal reports. The commandos reached the coast and took refuge in a burnt-out building, as they were a day ahead of schedule. With the aid of the Partisans, who were also being sought, the place was made secure. Suddenly a motorcycle roared up the drive followed by a Hannomag. The commandos and French dived for cover. The Sides: GERMAN No 1 Colonel Hans Soff - Luger No 2 Sergeant Willie Fall - Rifle KAR98K No 3 Private Felix Decat - Schmeiser S.M.G. No 4 Private Deeter Ence - Rifle KAR98K No 5 Private Peder Pan - Rifle KAR98K No 6 Private Willie Schmitt - Rifle KAR98K. 2 stick grenades No 7 Private Ernst Kapp - Rifle KAR98K No 8 Private Herman Rung - Schmeiser S.M.H. No 9 Private Erwade Julius - Rifle KAR98K No 10 Private Hans Uppe - Rifle KAR98K No 11 Private George Kampf - Schmeiser S.M.G. No 12 Private Karl von Berdow - Rifle KAR98K. No 13 Private Deeter Schmitt - Rifle KAR98K No 14 (Driver) Private Herman Muller - Rifle KA Motorcycle with two crew and M.G.34 ANGLO-FRENCH Resistance: No 2 Hue Homme - Sten S.M.G. 1 Mills bomb No 4 Pierre le Corbeau - Rifle KAR98K No 6 Gerald Leon - Lee-Enfield IV Commandos: No 1 Captain Russell Paper - Webley revolver No 3 Private Baxter Dewall - Lee-Enfield IV No 5 Private John Smith - Sten S.M.G. How It Went The German officer with his Sergeant, Pan and Uppe dismounted at the hedge furthest from the commandos on the commandos right. D.Schmitt, Ence and Kapp dismounted at the hedge in the middle while Kampf, Rung and Decat were left of the half-track on the commandos left. Seeing the commandos taking cover the motorcycle raced down the drive blazing away ineffectively at the walls. All in the building ducked but as the motorcycle drew closer Homme took his only grenade from his belt and after careful counting lobbed it in the path of the oncoming motorcycle which was thrown over3killir both occupants. The Hannomag with Muller, Julius, von Berdow and W.Schmitt turned onto the drive and rolled over a commando booby-trap the motorcycle had missed. The booby-trap exploded killing the driver and immobilising the half-track. W.Schmitt glanced over the side of the half-track and seeing Lacte took a snapshop, hitting him in the arm as the remaining Germans dismounted. (Positions at this point are marked on the map).  From their position by the rock Pan, Uppe and D.Schmitt rushed to the outhouse, their position by the rock being filled by the Colonel and Sergeant. The men by the half-track stayed put while Ence and Kapp walked forward through the hedges. On the commandos left Kampf, Rung and Decat dashed from their position behind the hedge and sprinted across the lawn. For the British Dewall put a well aimed shot in W.Schmitt's arm, as he stuck up from the halftrack, while Homme and Smith sprayed the outhouse ineffectively. As this happened Pan climbed carefully through a window on his side of the outhouse, as Uppe rushed to the corner of the building to take up a sniping position. D.Schmitt rushed into the outhouse and was consequently met by a second booby-trap. The Colonel and Sergeant followed Pan to the window. The three German machine-guns on the commando left all reached the hedge. Meanwhile in the centre Kapp and Ence walking through the hedges snapped off several shots at Homme whose reply was to spray them, missing Ence but seriously wounding Kapp in the body and left arm. Julius and von Berdow moved from the Hannomag, Julius rushing towards Ence and Kapp, von Berdow running on the blind side of the half-track towards the hedge. Dewall firing at Julius hitting him in the shoulder - Julius fell to the ground. The three machineguns on the commando left after wasting a lot of ammunition rushed across the path. Leon brought Kampf down by hitting him in the leg and Dewall shot Decat in the body. On the other flank Smith sprayed Uppe as he poked his head round the outhouse corner, he fired two bursts and Uppe fell back seriously wounded in the head. Uppe however had had time to loose a quick shot at Homme who shot at Ence. Homme fell dead and Ence was shot in the arms as the bullets fell short as he dived for cover behind the statue. Von Berdow from under the hedge snapped at Leon missing. Hans Soff and Willie Fall climbed through the window and contemplated joining Pan at the wall. The Germans were now rather short of men having four dead and six flat on their backs, out of sixteen. Pan, at the wall, winged Smith in the arm as the latter took a shot at him missing but causing him to duck. The only surviving machine-gun on the commando left, Rung dived under the hedge as le Corbeau staggered to his feet and seeing Decat about to do the same shot and killed him. Kampf also about to recover consciousness was again shot, in the other leg, by Leon. W.Schmitt in the Hannomag had also recovered consciousness and peered over the side. Having nothing better to do Dewall put another bullet in Julius. Soff and Fall reached the cowering Pan. Deciding it wasn't a bad idea, they too ducked. Von Berdow on nearly reaching the hedge dived and as a shot went over his head he wormed his way through the hedge. W.Schmitt meanwhile left the half-track and keeping low rushed towards von Berdow with his grenades at the ready. The commando officer, appearing for the first time, replaced Smith at the hole in the wall. He and the German officer exchanged shots both hitting in the arm. Von Berdow now in position lobbed a grenade which exploded just to the right of Leon who had rushed to the main build- 14 Le Corbeau now took up the officer's position at the wall minding the two bodies. The German sergeant now shot the triumphant Dewall, who was picking his next target, again in the arm. The sergeant followed up by killing Leon, Pan gathering courage stood up. Julius crawled to cover where he remained for the rest of the game. Meanwhile in the house Smith stood up unsteadily. Just to show off to Pan, Fall brought down another, this time le Corbeau who was shot in the shoulder. W. Schmitt and von Berdow now together ran to the farm wagon and dived. Not many British saw this as they were preoccupied in standing. There was a burst of fire from both sides during which the German officer was killed as under cover of this von Berdow and Schmitt stormed the building with grenades. When the dust settled Schmitt lay dead and so did all the British in true-fashion, with empty magazines. The wounded Germans crawled out and losses were counted. British and French - All dead. German - 7 dead; 5 badly wounded; 0 lightly wounded; 4 untouched; 1 motorcycle and 1 Hannomag. Conclusionn The Germans should have taken the building with lower casualties, perhaps the grenades should have been used earlier. Booby-traps should have been checked for before advancing. Although the defenders factors were higher, this did not show in shoot-outs. The machine-guns concentrated may also have been a waste. Please forgive the names but all wargaming should be fun. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 163 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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