Fall In! Battle Report: Operation Market Garden

September 1944: Operation Market Garden

Several miles away from the city of Arnhem, British forces from the second wave drop are being driven out of the sector by German Forces when Polish Airborne drop directly into the conflict. Expecting clear landing zones, they instead find little support and an enemy with numbers and momentum.

I took command of one of the three Polish units, supported by two British Commando forces, trying to hold onto the landing zones... or at least salvage as many supplies as possible before retiring to a more defensible position.

VPs available:

1 point for each of the 5 supply drops
2 points for holding the crossroads (secret objective)
2 points for capturing or saving the 75mm and getting it off of the board (secret objective)
1 point for completely destroying an enemy squad
1 additional point for capturing an enemy squad

The size of the table- big enough for ten players to battle for the fate of
Europe in lovely scenic Holland.

The Polish Airborne's landing zone, populated with custom made paper gliders.
I should mention that apparently this project was 18 months in the making~

My two squads of Polish Airbone coming onto the board, facing the Wehrmacht forces.
I had a Polish player to my left and right, and two British commando players farther down
the line.

Josef the Medic. He put some men back together during the course of the
game, but mostly he just did a lot of running back and forth in true medic
style.

The three German force commanders and their troops that were the primary
Polish opponents- good people, for filthy Krauts.

Some preliminary fire see's no casualties, but the treeline will never
be the same again.

After a few rounds of fire, a Rabbit pulling a 75mm bursts from one of
the glider's to make it to cover. The jeep and its payload was worth 2 vps.

Sadly the German players managed to get some good initiative draws,
and the poor crew only make it one move before getting mowed down.

The co-DM then came around with free Beer- always fun, and I needed
it after watching those poor gents become clay pigeons for half the German
army.

Knowing we needed to get the rabbit, a Polish squard breaks from the treeline
to harvest those delicious vp's- we needed to get it off our side of the board! This
particular turn see's the squad hunkering down behind a hay bale.

I move my squad with the Bren out to cover the other unit's advance, using
the gliders to hide from LoS whenever possible. Their presence dissuades
the German forces from making a run for the 75mm themselves.

Losing one member of the squad to a morale failure, the rest capture the jeep.
They'll lose another rifleman getting everything up and running, but the intrepid
Poles manage to get 'er started and speeding away from danger.

Poor German's, so sad to see their target speed away and off the table. Of
course we 'lost' the three Poles driving the vehicle, but it was well worth it.

The German's move forwards under Polish Bren and mortar fire on the Allied
extreme left flank. They capture the ruined farmhouse, but effectively become
pinned for the rest of the game.

Having captured all of the objectives possible on our side, the Polish airborne
move into the crossroads to snatch a supply drop right under the nose of the
advancing Germans, with the remains of a British fire team giving some measure
of covering fire before pulling away.

British commando's and German forces fight tooth and nail for the farmhouse
and orchard across the road. Lucky use of grenades and numbers absolutely
rout the Brits after several rounds of combat, leading to their capture by the enemy.

Things are almost as bad in the forested land on the right flank as the Brit's find
themselves outfought and out-advanced by the Germans. Though extremely tough,
surviving against the odds, they are clearly pushed back.

A German fire team who advanced up to the Gliders, only to become
pinned and torn up by my squad with the Bren.

As a sidebar, the game had these very interesting periscopes meant to help
determine accurate LoS. Pretty nifty.

Abandoned by the Brits (who were 'relocating') the Poles pull back under heavy
German fire- and flanking shots from up the road.

Despite casualties on the road, the Poles manage to capture the last supply drop
left on the map, as what is essentially the last action of the game.

In the end the Poles managed to secure two supply drops and the 75mm for four points. The British lagged behind with exactly one supply drop for one point. The German's along the board captured two supply drops, held the crossroads, and managed to capture a British Commando squad- giving them a marginal victory with 6 points to 5.