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 80th 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...
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