Operation Good Wood

7/27/2019 Operation Good Wood

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INTRODUCTION:

A MONSTROUS GLINT IN THE EYE

Like a lot of really, stupid ideas, this project was embedded

in my easily coerced mind by an outside influence - Chris

Das Reich Cornwall (who some readers may recall was

photographed for an earlier edition of WI at a re-creation

of Kursk) - when we were travelling back down from a

weekend 25mm Napoleonic game at the Wargames

Holiday Centre, in April 2005.

On a three- or four-hour car journey, the conversation can cover a wide

variety of topics, with which Im sure you are all familiar: periods we

have never tried but wouldnt mind having a go at; how to make nice

trees; Leipzig at one to one in 25mm in a gym that sort of thing. Now,

I had dabbled with WWII rules a while back, but, always havingmegalomaniac tendencies (wasnt that the name of a band?), never really warmed to them for anything more than an occasional

game. However, all that was to change when I bought a set ofCrossfire rules the lateral thinking aspect of no ranges or move rates

really appealed to me as much as it seemed to freak other people out. Then, fatefully, in that car in April, Chris remarked, Course,

with no real scale, or ranges, you could do a Crossfire game in any scale you

want. Hmmmmm, any scale you want, eh? The seed was sown, the scene was

set, eight months of my life was about to disappear

THE MONSTER IS CONCEIVED

Where to start? What to do? Well, we had a huge topic of discussion for the

final two hours of our journey! Me, being a rampant, almost nationalistic,

patriot (from henceforth this will be referred to as Rule 1) wanted a Britishforce not Allied, British and as late war is where my interests lie (such as

they are, Im more a Napoleonic buff Mr Siggins is right, it is the one true

period), 44 -45 beckoned. So, by the time The South loomed, it was

decided: a game set in Normandy, inland, with a British force, around the

Caen area, nice terrain opportunities (woods, built-up areas, fields, etc.), with

Above: Pak 40,Tamiya.

Right: B Squadron Firefly, Bouchain, of the Grenadier

Guards (tank byDragon, crew byDragon and Ultracast)

Below: Coldstream Guards Infantry Platoon, showing flanged

aluminium bases (figures by Dragon)

Bottom Right: An Opel Blitz pays a visit to the Boulangerie

(truck by Italeri, building and road scratch-built)

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a well-dug-in, well-equipped enemy and a variety of interesting kit. But

what to do? Various books were read; Max Hastings (rather Nazi-cisstic,

but otherwise excellent) Overlord had an account of the British Guards

Armoured Division clashing with 21st Panzer and 12th SS Panzer, to the

South of Caen, around the towns of Cagny and Le Poirier, on the road to

Vimont. Guards Armoured, eh? Well, my father was a Coldstreamer, so

the infantry element was decided: a battlegroup based around an infantry

battalion of the Coldstream Guards with an armoured regiment of the

Grenadier Guards. (Later the division formed battlegroups with the

infantry and tanks of the same regiment, but not in the timeframe of this

game.) On top of this, some support and add-ons, 30 vehicles andaround 250 figures easy! A big table was obviously needed; a quick call to Gerry Elliot of the

WHC, a man always open to foolishness, secured his 30ft x 15ft behemoth, to fill with 1/35 scenery (bugger).

THE MONSTER IS BORN

Right. Build! Create! Paint! Dragon makes two suitable sets of British infantry, the Normandy set being the best (natch). Assembling,

converting and painting werent as bad as I hoped and the first

company of infantry came together in about a month or so. Next

came a painful decision: Rule 1 demanded Cromwell tanks for my

armoured element, and the Welsh Guards Armoured Recce

Regiment was so equipped, but there are certain images that shout

out Normandy for me: Typhoons, SS-smocked Germans, British

helmets covered in hessian tape camouflage, PZIVs with shtzenarmour, and columns of Shermans. The line armoured regiments

were equipped with Shermans, and the kits are a lot cheaper! I

took solace in the fact that some were British-designed Fireflies,

and began scouring the net; eBay came to the rescue, as I

discovered that no one really wants

dull Shermans: big, exciting German

Tigers command high prices, but

little Tommy cookers can be had

comparatively cheaply. This brings

me smoothly to Rule 2: I find very

disturbing the fawning adulation

some WWII gamers seem to have forall things German (and especially

SS). Sorry if that offends you, but its

a free country (which, incidentally, it

wouldnt have been if well, you

know).

PART 1: THE MADNESS BEGINS! Words and Pictures by John Lander

1st left: An Opel

Blitz pays a visit to

the Boulangerie

(truck by Italeri,

building and road

scratch-built by the

author)

2nd left: Wittmans

Tiger amidst

Normandy

hedgerows Tamiya,

hedges byLast

Valley, Zimmeritting

by the author!)

Above: A

RevellTyphoon

buzzes Cagny

Left: Cadiz, a 75mm Sherman, among theNormandy bocage (tank by Tamiya, crew by

Ultracast, greenery by Last Valley)

Above: Cambrai, a Sherman, edges into

Cagny (tank and lampposts by Tamiya, trees by

Last Valley, roads and buildings scratch-built by

the author)

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Now, the line between wargaming and modelling was being

blurred here as the three Firefly kits I had to make all required

the assembly of separate track links: three parts to each link, 85

links to a track, six tracks to make I cried, I actually cried.

Small parts were left off the tanks as I thought they would only

get broken off anyway, but I did make an effort to use the correct

divisional and regimental markings (see Rule 1) then covered

them in stowage, track links, hairnet camo (!) and mud made

from a mixture of brown Humbrol enamel, sand and sisal,

which, when highlighted, looks the mutts! These were crewed

with Ultracast, pixie-suited tankers, suitably named, and

finished with a matt varnish and a bristle aerial. I did these, three

kits at a time, to spread both cost and interest over the project as

a whole.

The infantry were causing me some basing problems: they have

a lot of very fragile gun barrels waving around, and other people

grabbing the figures to move them around would result in a

poke in the eye from me! This was solved by mounting them on

aluminium bases, four inches square for a section (not squad

see Rule 1) with half-inch flanges folded up on two sides to

move them, the flanges having green insulating tape on them toblend them in a bit. I placed four figures, not three as specified

in Crossfire, to a base as, well, it just looked better to me! The

German armour gave me a chance to try something new to me,

which I had previously considered something of a black art:

airbrushing. I borrowed a mates brush and compressor, bought

some Humbrol yellow, green and red-brown, and just dived in.

It was OK, actually, and with a bit of practice the PZIVs, StuGs

and Panthers looked great (you can tell, however, which one I

did first and which last!). A bit of foliage, mud and crew, and

they were done.

A bargain presented itself on the net in the shape of WittmansTiger. I bought it as he was attached to 12SS for this part of the

Normandy campaign. One fateful day I assembled it and,

glancing at the instructions for applying the Zimeritt coating,

thought to myself, That looks easy. Theres a day of my life

Ill never get back! Despite my self-imposed rules, I have to

say that it looked top cheese. Rule 2 dictates that an

embarrassment of German infantry is available from Tamiya,

Dragon and Zvezda, so cap-wearing, greatcoated line or

smocked SS were not a problem: eBay for bargains;

Netmerchants.co.uk for specifics and, it must be said, fantastic

service.

As I mentioned earlier, cab rank Typhoons epitomiseNormandy for me, but in 1/35? Surely not? I had a word with

myself, to the effect that not making one for reasons of insanity

was no longer an option. Revell provided, I built. A base was

made using some dowel and was given weight by melting down

some orrible, no-neck Napoleonic figures someone got me

from a bring n buy because they were cheap. The

manufacturer? Not saying, but Siggins would weep!

It was now October, and the game was set for Gerrys off

season at the start of December. Time was fast running out. I

had been putting off even thinking about the two towns I

planned to make, as Mick Sewell has set the bar so high on thebuildings front that I had to mentally prepare myself for mine

not to be as good (Rule 3: dont beat yourself up over a hobby

may be called for!). So, in the best traditions of me, I dived in,

using quarter-inch ply, and bits of cobbled sections and other

sundries from a model railway shop. All the buildings were

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based on photos of Normandy, ensuring the room space they

contained was based on five-inch squares, or multiples thereof,

to enable an infantry section to fit comfortably. The town of

Cagny would be represented by four buildings, and a large

walled courtyard farm would do for Le Poirier. Cagny boasted a

large hotel, the Caf Rene (!) and two houses, plus a metalled

main street, with Tamiya lampposts and road signs, a fountain,

and WWII French posters from the net, scaled down, distressed

and stuck on the walls. Roofs were tiled with squares of card, in

ye olde Games Workshoppe style; the walls were all painted

with a paint/sand mix, highlighted and matt varnished. A bit of

battle damage, not overdone, finished them off. Some large road

sections were then knocked up from hardboard/paint/sand/

sawdust for the main drag through Cagny to Vimont. Well, that

took up October/November! S&A Scenics barbed wire and

matchsticks were used to make eight infantry base-sized wire

stands to further impede the British advance. In a last-minute

push with which Im sure other gamers will empathise, these

were finished the hour before I embarked on the drive to

Scarborough, the fumes ensuring I drove for four hours at

nothing oclock on that December morning with the windows

fully open!

THE MONSTER WALKS

The British force consisted of an infantry battalion of three

companies, plus, at battalion level, an A/T company of 3 x 6pdr,

three-inch mortar, carrier platoon in two Bren carriers, and an

engineer platoon. The armoured regiment had three sabre

squadrons, each of two 75mm Shermans and a Firefly. This was

commanded by a headquarter squadron of a command Sherman,

complete with Scottie dog-armed colonel in the turret (well, he

is a Guards officer!) and a recce troop of two Honeys (not

Stuarts - see Rule 1). In addition, a squadron of the 2ndLifeguards with a Dingo and two Humber armoured cars

provided extra recce capability, as two Achilles 17pdr tank

destroyers did for heavier metal support. A company of the

divisions machine gun unit (three Vickers HMGs) with a 4.2-

inch mortar and Wasp flamethrower carrier filled out the

infantry close-support weapons. Finally, a 25pdr forward

observer and RAF ground liaison officer for the Typhoon meant

an end to the khaki! I went to lie down in a darkened room.

Girlfriend rang bell. I ate food.

The Germans had a less rigid organisation, as the grinding

attrition of Normandy had taken its toll. Elements of 21st Panzer

Division were represented by two companies of infantry, withhelp from an 81mm mortar, PAK 40, two HMGs and a

Nebelwerfer observer. Two PZIV Es provided tank support and

a 20mm flak gun to help stave off the attentions of the RAF.

12th SS had an under-strength company of two platoons, with

an HMG, in Hanomag 251s. No mortars or A/T guns were left,

but a very useful armoured force of two PZIV Hs, two

Panthers and two StuG IIIs were available, together with a

halftrack-mounted 20mm flak gun. Wittmans Tiger would

turn up randomly, driving to the sound of the guns, or if

someone told him there was a column of ambulances that

needed shooting up (see Rule 2)! A/T capability was provided

by an 88mm and a 75mm PAK 43- both utter monsters in 1/35,and deadly in Crossfire!

Phew, finished. But will it be as good to play as it is to look at?

Next time: The Game!

Picture Captions. From top left down.

Wittmans Tiger (Tamiya) amidst Normandy hedgerows (by Last Valley,

Zimmeritting by the author!)

A Panzer Grenadiers eye view of a Firefly (tank by Dragon)

British tank column laagers up in a Normandy village (vehicles and

figures by Tamiya andDragon, scenery scratch-built by the author)

Ill Met By Sunlight: Lifeguards recce squadron hammers up the Vimont

Road, with Typhoons in the far distance

Picture Captions. From top right down.

Guards Battalion commander confers with tankers in a Normandy village(Verlinden officers and tank by Dragon)

British tank column laagers up in a Normandy village (vehicles and figures by

Tamiya and Dragon, buildings and road scratch-built by the author)

12SS Panther advances through the bocage (tank by Tamiya, road

scratch-built by the author, bocage by Last Valley)

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INTRODUCTION

In the last issue of WI I told of the eight months of work that

brought me to the Wargames Holiday Centre, on a freezing

Scarborough Sunday morning, with a car groaning under the

weight of assorted figures, vehicles, trees, buildings, aircraft,

roads oh, and some clothes for the three days! This game was

a huge step into the unknown as, I believe, we were stretching

the Crossfire ruleset to its limits: it could all be over in two

hours or it might take a week! I had invested a lot of time in this

and wanted it to be a great game.

We now come to that most dreaded of articles: the battle report.

Ill try to keep it flowing and, I hope, interesting. Ill try to

remember what happened. Did I take detailed notes as we went

along? Naaaa, too busy laughing and pointing!

MEET THE GANG, COZ THE BOYS ARE HERE

My erstwhile colleagues for this venture were Chris Das Reich

Cornwall, Dave The Cravat Kenyon, Gerry The Guvnor Elliot,

and me. Mike Just Mike Ingham would drop in to

comment/abuse/laugh/point/etc. as he saw fit. I took the role of

umpire, as I had planned hidden set-ups, minefields, Typhoon

strikes, and so on. Dave would be the British player, with Chris and

Gerry portraying the dastardly Hun. The table was as follows (see map): Cagny to the east of off-table Caen, and a large

wooded/broken ground area to the west of Cagny; a long, wooded ridge overlooking the Vimont road, with Le Poirier to the south-

west of Cagny. The secret ofCrossfire is to break up really long lines of sight (no range restrictions, remember) so I spent some time

just tweaking woods (oo-er!) to close these off. The Germans had two four-stand barbed-wire lines, three mined areas and twobunkers, one housing a PAK38 and the other an HMG; these could be positioned anywhere on the board the German player wished.

YOU WANT TO PUT THAT WHERE?!

Dave was banished to Gerrys garden as the

German set-up was revealed. A company of the

125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment from 21st

Panzer Division would occupy Cagny, with

another in Le Poirier. The Cagny garrison would

be further bolstered by two short 75mm PzIVs

(from the 100th Panzer Regiment) hidden in the

woods at each end of town, and the NebelwerferFOO on the roof of the hotel, giving a good line of

sight (LOS) to the approaches to the town. The

20mm AA gun was situated in the walled orchard

to the rear of the town, to help if the RAF decided

to alter the architecture with 60lb rockets.

Above and Right: 12th

SS move up through

Normandy bocage (PzIV

by Italeri, Panthers by

Tamiya and Dragon,

hedges by Last Valley,

roads by the author)

Right: Panthers of 12th

SS emerge f rom L e

Poirier woods to engage

the Grenadier Guards

Armoured Regiment

(Panthers by Dragon/

Tamiya, woods by Last

Valley)

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BRITISH

PAK Bunker

MG Bunker

Le MessnilFrmental

To Caen

To Vimont

To Frnouville

Le Poirier

Cagny

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guns and mortar support moved east, swung south and inched

its way two platoons up, one back, in textbook style covered

by the leading tanks, to the outskirts of Cagny. The Germans

were holding fire, but a Nebelwerfer FOO had other plans

The Guards of C Company continued a slow advance into the

bocage hedges on the outskirts of Cagny, coming face to face

with a concealed PzIV from 21st Panzer, which let fly,

suppressing the lead section. The initiative won, the Panzer

shelled the lead section again, gaining another suppression and

therefore a kill. An MG42 in an upstairs window opened up,

suppressing the second section, while a platoon crossfire from

the hotel suppressed the third, and removed it outright a second

later. A heartfelt Oh, pants signalled the British dilemma

perfectly. Another burst from the HMG missed, passing the

initiative to the British. Dave moved a Sherman from C

Squadron to cover the withdrawal of the survivors of the lead

platoon, only for a hidden PAK 40 anti-tank gun to roll double

six, and well and truly wallop it, Cadiz buying the dirt farm.

The remaining men of the company all dived for cover and the

attack stalled.

A section had gained line of sight to the town, forcing Chris to

place eight stands of barbed wire along the front of Cagny; this

was not going to be easy. Meanwhile, the FOO couldnt believe

the amount of targets for his battery of Nebelwerfers. I had

decided that the werfers hit everything on a three-foot board,

with four dice, deducting for cover, and coming in after a dice

roll over three, then D10 minutes later; but they only hit the

target board on the nine or ten of a D10, the remaining one to

eight corresponding to one of the boards around it. Deadly, but

very inaccurate. As umpire, I rolled secretly for the time delay,

so neither side knew when the moaning minnies would arrive;

in this case, it was a delay of only four minutes. Chris rolled forthe board that would be hit, knowing only a roll of one would

mean a friendly fire incident. The curse that is anything but a

one duly struck and, along with another British section, a

Vickers team and a platoon commander, the PAK40 was

knocked out. Ignoring his role, Chriss words were more Anglo

Saxon than Teutonic, with not a Dummkopf to be heard!

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY

With the attack on Cagny stalled for the moment, Dave sent the

recce troop of two Honeys into the woods to the west of Cagny

to start an outflanking manoeuvre. The carrier platoon and A/T

company lent their support, with the 6pdrs unlimbering along ahedge line to cover the back of the wood. No fire was

forthcoming, so the carrier platoon skirted the wood and moved

on to the next, only to receive an 88mm shell from Le Poiriers

PAK43. Sledgehammers and nuts sprang to mind, as the carrier,

and its complement, were totally destroyed. With initiative

gained, the 88 had a pop at one of the Honeys, and missed. The

other end of the wood was hidden from further 88-related

attentions, so the remaining two sections of the carrier platoon

debussed and hunkered down in the wood. This action drew the

attention of a hidden PzII, which fired at the leading section,

suppressing it. The German players had carried out their

deployment well: with overlapping fields of fire and obviousroutes covered, this was going to be bloody going for the Brits!

Gerry, deciding that the best form of defence etc., and with the

British on the back foot, sent a company of 12th SS in 251

halftracks, with two Panthers, two PzIVs and a 20mm flak, in a

column to the ground between Cagny and Le Poirier, to link up

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the German defences. This movement brought a hopeful parp

from the surviving Humbers Besa machine gun, which

promptly suppressed the leading SS section. With a three foot-

square board full of deploying infantry, halftracks and armour,

Dave begged for an opportunistic Typhoon pilot to spot this. I

rolled, but to no avail.

Taking advantage of an unexpected initiative win, Dave moved

B Squadron up to the woods and carefully inched his Shermans

round it, avoiding the 88mms lane of ouch. Ever the

fool/optimist/master tactician, and against the practice of the era,

Dave led with the Firefly, only to advance too far and receive a

75mm present from a lurking Panther, which glanced off the

frontal armour (diaries of the time always mention the smell

inside a tank this sort of thing cannot have helped!). Pushing

its tommy cooker luck, Bouchain squared up to the Panther

and let it have a 17pdr poke in return. This missed. It now had to

be played out, and, with neither side backing off, misses,

bounces all were suffered, with both Dave and Gerry getting

more anxious and tension rising. Bouchain finally had the last

word and destroyed the Panther, to much cheering from Dave

and, it must be said, me. (Impartial umpire? See rules 1 and 2 inlast months instalment!) This victory left the flank of a PzIV

open to the same Firefly, which it duly brewed up. Realising that

Bouchain was probably pushing its luck, Dave pushed it even

further, destroying a 251 and shooting up its infantry; then its

crew reversed out of harms way to have tea and, no doubt,

congratulate themselves.

YOU DIRTY RAAAT

With the 6pdrs covering, the flank of Cagny was secured, so the

British 25pdr observer called in a smoke mission just beyond the

barbed wire covering the approach to the town. Under cover ofthis, the battalions engineers set about clearing a path and,

despite the attentions of a sniper, this was achieved. The

engineers withdrew no doubt with a jerked thumb and an Over

to you, mate and the infantry of C Company, Coldstream

Guards, readied themselves for the assault.

More smoke was laid, and the company set off down the lanes

cleared in the wire, covered by the guns of 21st Anti-tank

Regiments Achilles tank destroyers. The Firefly of C

Squadron inched around to flank Cagny, with the other

remaining Sherman trundling up to the edge of the main street to

draw some fire away from the infantry. This it did, to a welcome

mat of two Panzerfausts. Both missed. Covered by the 75mm ofthe Sherman, the infantry attacked the hotel and first house, the

Shermans HE helping to clear the way. After about two hours

close-in fighting, the hotel and house were cleared. With

Corunna of C Squadron knocking out a 21st Panzer PzIV, the

eastern flank of the town was looking cleared: good work, fella!

An over-zealous Achilles moved to flank the next building and

was promptly brewed by a hitherto hidden StuG and the Firefly,

next initiative, by a Panzerfaust. Oooooo, not so good!

Chris and Gerry had also slipped in a platoon of 12th SS to

reinforce the garrison; these wasted no time in counter-attacking

and ejecting the British from their tenuous hold of the firsthouse. This heralded a time of attack and counter-attack, finally

broken by a Wasp flamethrower carrier braving Panzerfaust

alley, as the main street had become known, to help eject the

Germans to the rear of the town. This was shaping up to be a

great game!

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Documents

Operation Good Wood