OPERATION MARKET GARDEN +80 Full AAR, PART I

Market Garden After Action Report

Pic showing 9 of the 11 players & GMs who started the game, clockwise from Left to Right: Chris (82nd Airborne), Alex (Hell's Highway table Germans), mostly obscured Bill (XXX Corps), almost completely obscured Skylar (XXX Corps), Anonymous Nappy (GM), Frank Patterson in light blue t-shirt (Asst. GM), Theron (British Glider Forces), Patrick (British Paras), Matthew (Arnhem table Germans) + Ken (101st Airborne) who for some reasons is MIA in this pic & myself (Asst. GM) who took this pic.

This game was part of the HMGS-PSW annual MINI-WARS convention held this year at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham Fullerton Anaheim Conference Center in Fullerton, California.

The game was played on Saturday Sept. 28th from approx. 11AM Saturday to 10PM with breaks for lunch & dinner, and through to its conclusion on Sunday Sept. 29th from approx. 9:30AM to 12:30PM.  A truly Herculean undertaking done to commemorate the 80^th Anniversary of the battle.

Sponsored by:  St. Crispin's Irregulars Wargame Club, Anaheim, California

GM:  J.G. Randall

RULES: FIRE & MANEUVER WWII (home-brew written by J.G. Randall and played by members of the St. Crispin's Irregulars for 20 years)

Turn 1: Around 1300 hours on Sept 17th Gliders from 1st British Airborne Division land on their designated areas 8 miles West of Arnhem Bridge.  Infantry from 1st Air landing Brigade disembark three battalions to secure the drop zones for the arrival of the 1st Parachute Brigade.

Colored canopies soon blot out the blue sky over pastures of startled cattle and crashed gliders. Upon landing, three battalions of Paras gather gear and assemble at rally points before heading out on three separate routes (Lion, Tiger and Leopard) to secure objectives around Arnhem.

Meanwhile to the South-East, Gliders and Paratroopers from the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions land and drop in their Designated areas (Also on turn 1). They too gather gear, assemble at rally points before heading out to their objectives. 

Sixty miles farther South, on the Belgian Border, British Artillery from XXX Corps pound dug-in German positions as a prelude to a breakout by a combined battle group of tanks and infantry from the Irish Guards (slated to begin on Turn 2). 

Turn 2: The walking barrage is loud and lethal as Sherman tanks with infantry in support (some as tank riders) roll down a single raised road (the wet land on either side too boggy for armor). 

Up in the Arnhem area, the British glider troops make good progress as they secure local objectives with limited resistance. The Paras too have left their rally points.

82nd and 101st do likewise meeting little resistance. All appears to be going well on this fine weather autumn day.

Ken (101st Airborne) makes his appearance in the pic below, across the table from his real-life buddy & fellow US Army vet. Chris (82nd Airborne)

But down on the Belgian Border South of Eindhoven, The Advance of the Irish Guard within minutes of the guns lifting, receive a hail of enemy fire from hasty ambushes by those remaining German Fallschirmjaeger who are not shell-shocked. Several Tanks explode, infantry disgorge from burning hulls and engage in close combat while clearing the woods along the single road. Welcome to Hells Highway…

VIEW FROM FURTHER UP THE ROAD, NORTH OF EINDHOVEN:

Turn 3: As the smokes spirals high into the sky marking the limits of the Irish Guards advance, XXX Corps calls in Airstrikes from circling Typhoons.

Irony is the evil that invokes its will upon the best laid plans.

The first main line of German resistance for the British Airborne, was not the 9th and 10th SS Divisions recently posted to the area, but a training battalion booted out of their comfortable Kaiser Barracks in downtown Arnhem, by said SS divisions - only forced out to camp in the fields West of Arnhem (adjacent to the Landing zones). There’s irony for ya, cuz that fateful morning a squadron of Mosquitos bombed the vacated barracks (part of targeting list provided by the Dutch underground).

Next up: AAR, PART II -- featuring German counter-attacks here, there & everywhere and much hard-slogging & frustration on the part of Allied players on both tables...

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Next blog post in not-too-distant future hopefully PART II of this AAR!)

WWII British Para Dennison Smock, HSAT (Helmet Steel Airborne Troops) & kit, on display at the game, courtesy of Rod G:

(THANK YOU, ROD!!!)

 

Maiwand Day blogger INTERVIEWED on "20 Sided Gamified Podcast"

This is a post I never expected to put on this blog: as it says in the title above, I was recently interviewed on the 20 Sided Gamified podcast and it was posted this past Friday.  I would have come here to promote it to the world-at-large sooner BUT I was too busy helping set up the HMGS-PSW Mini-Wars convention and then setting up the insanely large (36 ft x 7.5 ft) "A BRIDGE TOO FAR" game I helped my buddy the GM otherwise known as Nappy Anonymous run on Saturday all day and night and for 3 hours Sunday morning!

Still, I had to come and advertise it before too much time passed, since it's a hobby podcast!

Here's a LINK for anyone interested:

https://www.20sided-gamified-llc.com/podcast/episode/a251e0e3/episode-84-ethan-mad-guru-reiff-master-terrain-builder-northwest-frontier-expert-lifelong-wargamer

The podcast is run by a gamer named Jared Fishman who I'd never met before I agreed to be interviewed, but who I now consider a bit of a younger brother from another mother, as he and I share a lot of interests and some geography from our pasts.  He won an award at this year's Historicon for a beautiful looking NWF game he ran, and which he was kind enough to credit me for inspiring the terrain for.

Here's just a few pics of the set-up for his game, which seriously impressed me:

My sincere thanks to Jared and his scintillating co-host Kelly Jones McManus for taking the time to interview me, which turned out to be a lot of fun, at least for me.  I hope his audience enjoys it, at least somewhat.  I think my "niche" of the hobby is somewhat narrow, though we spent a lot of time talking about more general hobby stuff and then towards the end he asked me about some work stuff and I went off and told a story I maybe should not have, but at this point I'm old enough to not really care about that sort of thing, as I wasn't leaking national security secrets or talking trash about innocents who didn't deserve it.  I won't say more, so if you're intrigued you'll have to go listen to me talk about hobby stuff for awhile before I get to the "tea" as my 20-something daughters would call it.

First chance I get to spend the time required I will be back with a more detailed AAR on the Operation Market Garden mega-game I helped run down at Mini-Wars, but it may be awhile as work is heating up and the Jewish High Holy Days are just around the corner.  Meanwhile I send my sincere Best Wishes to all visitors to this blog!  If no one stopped by to read it, I would have stopped posting here many years ago, and then I would never have been interviewed by Jared Fishman on the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast, which was a lot of fun, so THANK YOU for making it possible!

Last but far FAR from least I must thank my buddy Frank "'Bama" Patterson without whom Jared would never have tracked me down.  Frank is an incredibly talented figure painter and scratchbuilt terrain builder and has a very cool Instagram account dedicated almost entirely to his hobby activity.  He posted some pics of a game he played at my place.  Jared happens to follow Frank's Instagram page and those pics caught his eye and led him to reach out to Frank and ask Frank to reach out to me.  Kind of a game of digital age telephone that ended up paying off in a good way.  So THANK YOU, Frank, for enabling me to launch my hobby celebrity status!

Here's a handy LINK to Frank's Instagram page, which I highly recommend checking out if you have any interest in cool minis and/or terrain:

https://www.instagram.com/led.army/?hl=en

XXX CORPS REACH LAST FEW BRIT PARAS NORTH OF THE RHINE!!!

 NEWS FLASH TO ALL ALLIED FORCES AND HOME-FRONTS:

After spending the night of Sept. 18 and early morning of Sept. 19 racing up the last stretch of the just-cleared Hell’s Highway, XXX Corps crosses Nijmegen Bridge in preparation for…

…Traversing the swampy ground located between the Waal and Rhine rivers, known as “The Island" along the last stretch of road between Nijmegen and their final objective of Arnhem...

…spearheaded by the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade, who as seen above and below landed on the boggy ground of "The Island,” reached the South end of Arnhem Bridge and at approx. 0700/0800 Hours on Sept. 19 began to cross it in support of the last remaining survivors of the British 2nd Battalion, 1st Parachute Regt., 1st Parachute Division -- now reduced to Company strength and holding on by the skin-of-their-teeth inside one building adjacent to the North end of the bridge...

Last of the "Red Devils" in Arnhem:

Polish Paras advance across the bridge:

And then 3 turns later, at 1000 Hours Sept 19 game time & date, the advance element of XXX Corps rumbles across Arnhem Bridge…

Sherman Bulldozer takes point as spearhead of XXX Corps reaches North portion of Arnhem Bridge, with recently installed Polish Paras visible on rooftop to right...

...achieving VICTORY for the Allied Forces!

In REAL TIME Game was played from SATURDAY c.10:45AM to c.10:00PM w/breaks for lunch & dinner… then from SUNDAY c.10:00AM to 12:52PM, when XXX Corps reached Arnhem Bridge

In addition to RJ, Frank, Mark & myself, I believe we had a total of 10 players participate over the 2 days.

Eindhoven post-liberation by 101st Airborne & XXX Corps...

First  successful air support attack on Germans in Arnhem...

Views of Nijmegen with its Medieval walls and tower...

Casualty collection point for the Hell's Highway table some 3-1/2 hours into the game, c.2:00PM Saturday afternoon...

ARNHEM BRIDGE...

RED CHIPS used to denote FIRE ORDER per AFV and/or INFANTRY UNIT as per FIRE AND MANEUVER WW2 rules...

THE HELL'S HIGHWAY TABLE, seen from its North-West corner...

ARNHEM TABLE IN FOREGROUND, HELL'S HIGHWAY TABLE visible in background...

Hell's Highway table seen from long Western edge...

XXX Corps staged to cross Nijmegen Bridge headed North...

XXX Corps visible atop Nijmegen Bridge heading into the swampy, boggy stretch of Holland located between Nijmegen and Arnhem and known as "The Island"...

German Naval Infantry move to attack British Glider troops near the Western edge of the battlefield on the far end of the Arnhem table...

To the East, Kampfgruppe Brinkmann’s 10SS try to retake Arnhem bridge from the north on the morning of the 18th in an effort to rescue the trapped crew from Grabner’s (9th SS recon bn.) failed bridge crossing from the south...

Master modeller Mark "Duke" Deliduka, without whom the tables would not have been ready in time for the game to start on schedule...

Me & my son, Skylar.  He served as co-commander of XXX Corps on Saturday...

Game Master Nappy who wishes to remain anonymous...

Wider view of Der Napster...

Group pic c.1100 Sunday, at the conclusion of the epic conflagration, featuring from far left: FRANK PATTERSON, CHRIS 82ND, KEN 101ST, GM NAPPY, ME, ALEX THE GERMAN...

VIDEO TOUR OF THE BATTLEFIELD COURTESY OF FRANK "'BAMA" PATTERSON...

I SHALL RETURN WITH MORE PICS AND MORE DETAILED AAR FOR THE EPIC GAME BUT FOR NOW I WANT TO POST THIS SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE CLAMORING FOR PICS AND SOME INFO ON THE RESULTS CAN GET THEM ASAP.......

Thanks to JG Randall, Rod, Frank "’bama" Patterson, Mark "Duke" Deliduka, Matthew who printed all the charts & terrain labels, and to Harmon "HMGS-PSW" Ward for getting us the spot we wanted and all the many MANY tables we needed to make this game possible!

Also thanks to ALL THE PLAYERS who showed up and stuck to it, including but not limited to: 

Alex the German

Bill XXX Corps co-commander

Ken of the 101st

Mark of the 82nd

My son Skylar XXX Corps co-commander

Our buddy Matthew the German (in player mode!)

Patrick the British Para

Theron of British Glider fame

Chris the German

...& last but not least, the big guy who stepped up and ran the British Paras for the latter stages of the game, whose name I sadly do not know!