D-Day Omaha Beach First hours...

[gehrig38]

(Any help on where I go in the post to maneuver the photos I am attaching?)

Thought I'd drop in and post some stuff I am playing on VASSAL

0615
The surf is brutal, 2 platoons can't find their spots and drift, likely not arriving for another 15 minutes
2/B/741 amd 1/C/743 manage to make the beach but both platoons are down to 50% after taking heavy fire in the surf. Not much FP to speak of on the beach.

German Fire EAst
With just a full platoon TOTAL on the beaches the Germans seem to be waiting...
Among the vehicles ashore, none was hit in the past few minutes.



Armor manages to start moving towards the shingle, running into a ton of deadly obstacles just out of the low tide on the beach.



Turn 2
East
The strong current does more than the Germans on Fox and Easy, puching a few LCVP's east but nothing worse than that.
West
A company loses a bunch of 2nd platoons Shermans just short of the beach to german fire.
Easy Companies 2nd Platoon gets caught up in a logjam, veering left they end up on the right flank of EASy Red in the east, 1st ID assumes command
Charlie company 2nd Rangers drifts away from the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc, and now will center Dog Green

Event
GErman fire intensifies, vehicles and men ashore are pinned. (both beaches reduced to 1 action each this turn)

German fire east
German fire destroys what remained of Bravo Companies 1st Platoon of Shermans as the tried to navigate te tetrahedrons on Fox Green
2nd Platoon of Fox Co 16th Battalion takes casualties as they reach the shore from the battery parked in front of, and atop, Draw #1.

West Fire
116th's Alpha co. takes a beating on Dog Green, being cut down as they wade ashore. (-1)

Engineers get to work, clearing some obstacles on the far left flank and on Easy Red under heavy german fire.
In the west they can get nothing done, pinned down by heavy fire as well.

action phase
GI's press to the shingle but most are now passing into the line of death. (Action Taken counters will be placed on units I spend my actions on, in this case the event took one action on each beach away.



Turn 3
Landings East
All of C companies Shermans get pushed left, hitting the beach and landing on Alpah companies 2nd platoon, creating a VERY juicy target with 3 platoons of shermans
1st platoon of B company drifts far to the east, almost being pushed off of the eastern sector altogether

Over in sector 1 of Easy Green A co's 2nd platoon, beaten up by ATG fire on the way in, drifts east to the eastern most portion of EG1, but managed to make it ashore.
2nd platoon of both Baker and Charlie Co. 743 manage to get all the way in, and land with no losses.
FAr more armor than I had expected made it ashore, hopefully they will be able to suppress the defenses to allow the troops to reach the shingle.

Event   
Both East and West are getting some reinforcements....
In the east the center area of Easy Red sees more men pouring into the beachside defenses while the left side of the western sector receives more troops, and seem to be building defense in depth now.

Fire Phase East
On the right of Easy Red E and F Co. 16th and Easy Co. of the 116th are massacred. Trying to navigate the obstacles the pillbox to their front chews them up.
Despite the logjam of armor on Easy Red 2, somehow the Shermans move on, unscathed. That won't last. (They are overstacked, and must lose that condition prior to the end of the turn. Also, being overstacked makes them a "Concentrated Target" meaning they are hit by fire, regardless of their target symbol.
Things much the same in the West. F and G Co. 116 and Shermans of the 743rd are hung up and then decimated by German fire in the obstacles ahead of the shingle.
An incredibly deadly 15 minute window on both beaches....

Engineers...
Some minor progress clearing obstacles on Fox Green, nothing doing anywhere on the west sector. Th volume of fire is preventing Engineers from getting anything accomplished

US Phase
Armor on both beaches opens up, trying to suppress long enough for GI's to reach defilade at the shingle.
Alpha Co. 741 manages to sneak a few rounds into the emplacements centered on the line between Fox Green 5 and Easy Red 1. Silencing the Germans for a bit.
Charlie Co. manages the same on A's right, putting rounds into the bunker ahead of the infantry on the right flank of the Eastern sector.
743's tanks have no such luck in the west as depleted companies fail to make a mark and C co. can't untangle from the beach enough to make a difference.



TURN 4
It appears the Germans are now buying this as the real invasion, artillery from behind the beaches is opening up.. (Turn 4 of the long game German artillery becomes active)
The tide forces 1st and 2nd platoons LCV's adrift, will take at least 45 minutes for the much needed artillery to get ashore.
Meantime their 3rd and 4th platoons are caught in the same tide, delaying their arrival for a half hour at least.
Gunds of the 5th and 6th Co. 397 take fire just before the beach and two craft sink, all hands aboard.

Event
A hero emerges, Bravo company tank commander Bingham manages to rally his platoon at the waters edge on Dog Green 3 (giving the armor a hero allows them to take a free action each turn, otherwise the armor is immobile for the most part)
The bunker to the right on Charlie 1 sees Germans pouring in to reinforce.

Fire East
Bravo Company 741's Shermans are pummeled on the far left of Fox Green as they come ashore. Losing almost half the company at the waters edge.
Meanwhile the logjam on Easy Red is now lethal. Fire from the emplacemenrts to their right have begun to chew up the logjam of men and armor on the beaches edge.
Easy Company 2/16 is continuing to take heavy fire as they move up next to the center of the German defense in the East.
1st platoon A/741 loses Shermans inside the line of death on Fox Green.

Fire West
Alpha Co 1st platoon 116th is chewed up on Dog Green in the west, arriving at the AT ditch with less the 30% of their men.
5th and 6th company 397th and all their ATG's are destroyed moments after reaching the edge of Dog White
1st Platoon loses its last Sherman in the center of the Western landings. Heavy fire and obstacles were enough to hold them up..

Engineers get nothing done in the east and very little done in the west as German fire picks up

US Action
In the East Easy Company gets off the sectors first shots and Germans in Pillbox red are scrambling and suppressed....
In the West it's all above the shingle, and getting there...

[GJK]

Welcome gehrig38 and thanks for posting this AAR.  This is a game that I was very interested in when I first saw it and now I think I'm going to have to secure a copy of it for my collection.

How was the learning curve for you?  Is this a fairly simple game to grasp or does it have a lot of unique/special rules that can be a challenge to grasp the concept of?

By the way, Curt Schilling used the 'gehrig38' moniker when he would post on ASL forums...by chance?  :)

[bayonetbrant]

Welcome!

(Any help on where I go in the post to maneuver the photos I am attaching?)

Unfortunately the forum software just default 'attaches' files to the posts, rather than placing them in a specific location.
Most of us host the images off-site and link them back into here, but what you can do is this:
1. attach the image, just like you already did
2. once you've attached the images, right click on one of them, and grab it image URL
3. edit the post, and put that copied URL in the {img}{/img} tags
4. save the post

It is cumbersome to do it that way.  I've looked for a mod to the forum software that let's you locate the attachment within the post, but haven't found one that looks like it'll do what we want it.  Given that the forum software is free, there's only so much yelling we can do about it :)

[Nefaro]

I've read good things about this one.  It's on my shortlist but I'm so backed up with unplayed tabletop games right now, I'd need a large gaming suppository to get anywhere near playing it.

Isn't there a Pacific version out too?  Don't think I've seen anyone here mention it.

[gehrig38]

Tarawa, be doing a replay of that after this one

[bbmike]

Tarawa, be doing a replay of that after this one

Nice, I've been in a pacific wargame mood lately!
Are you THE same gehrig38 from the OOTP forums? If so doubly nice to see you here.  O0

[gehrig38]

One in the same...

[bbmike]

Cool. Who makes this game? I'd love to check out the Tarawa one.

[gehrig38]

Yes, one in the same....


INSANELY easy, and fun and you get to playing VERY fast. Check these out...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGp7CIVr-g and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNS01sBrr0

[gehrig38]

Cool. Who makes this game? I'd love to check out the Tarawa one.

Decision Games

[Nefaro]

Yes, one in the same....


INSANELY easy, and fun and you get to playing VERY fast. Check these out...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGp7CIVr-g and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNS01sBrr0

After seeing details on the Tarawa version, I'm tempted to get it even more. 

[bbmike]

Yes, one in the same....


INSANELY easy, and fun and you get to playing VERY fast. Check these out...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGp7CIVr-g and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNS01sBrr0

After seeing details on the Tarawa version, I'm tempted to get it even more. 

Me too. It could be my first board game purchase in a long time. Though I might get the Vassal module if it's available.

[Nefaro]

Yes, one in the same....


INSANELY easy, and fun and you get to playing VERY fast. Check these out...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGp7CIVr-g and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNS01sBrr0

After seeing details on the Tarawa version, I'm tempted to get it even more. 

Me too. It could be my first board game purchase in a long time. Though I might get the Vassal module if it's available.

What?  You don't like punching and clipping a bunch of cardboard? 

You fiend! 

:P


(I have aproximately 10 games with unpunched counters on a shelf next to me as I say this)

[Staggerwing]

Just 10?  O:-)

[BanzaiCat]

I've not once clipped my game counters. Not once.

I didn't even know this was a thing until I joined this site, TBH.

At first I thought you were all crazy, but now I'm actually considering doing it. I've already got enough OCD in my life, but I really don't need more, though.