BattlegroundHD: Kaiserschlacht
Apr 1 1918 During the German Spring Offensive in Artois two German A7V tanks (Hagen 528) and (Schnuck 504/544) rolls to the Western Front (Wikimedia Commons)
The SCenario
Picardy, France - The Spring of 1918. The German Empire’s Kaiserschlacht offensive has broken through France’s defensive lines and a Stormtrooper Platoon, with the support of an A7V tank, is rushing forwards along a muddy road with the aim of advancing as rapidly as possible into the Allied rear before a new defensive position can be organised to stop them.
THe Attack on the right flank
The German attack began with a barrage of harrassing light mortar fire as one of the Rifle Sections was sent forwards to probe a likely French position on the edge of a copse of trees.
An errant round from the mortar landed in the hedgerow just in front of the riflemen, showering them with leaves and debris. One man instinctively threw himself to the ground but held his nerve and a shout from his corporal had him back up on his feet.
The men quickly moved up to the hedgerow and the corporal ordered forward two scouts through the convenient hole blown which had been blown through it by the mortar.
A violent rattle of rifle and chauchat fire met the two men as they crept forwards and both quickly lept into waterlogged shellholes. One laid down bursts of fire with his MP18, his unfortunate comrade readied a potato-masher but was killed just as he prepared to throw it - the grenade falling at his feet and throwing mud and water from the shellhole into the air as it went off.
The Corporal was shouting at his men to return fire and they did so with surprising effectiveness as two poilus slumped back into their trench heavily wounded. The chauchat gunner between the two men was momentarily stunned but regained fresh courage and popped back up to lay down a murderous fire on the hedgerow.
The situation looked perilous for the Stormtroopers - an MG Section that had moved up on their right was refusing to fire while the surviving scout was in the way. The Rifle Section was losing men rapidly, most critically their corporal - dropped by a burst from the chauchat.
The A7V Tank was now slowly trundling forwards but it's blazing starboard-side machine guns didn't look to be having much effect as the crew were thrown about in the moving vehicle, aiming through restricted viewports at brief glimpses of cornflower blue. And even this welcome support was under threat as a French 37mm Trench Gun team quickly set-up their weapon and slammed a well aimed round into the side of the tank.
The German Lieutenant dashed forward and took hold of the situation. He got the MG firing, rallied the leaderless Rifle Section and ordered the spare riflemen of the MG Section to ready their grenades and prepare to storm the enemy position.
Covered by intense machine gun fire from both the A7V and the hedgerow, the stormtroopers charge the enemy trench, two of them were dropped by panicked poilus but the survivors hurled their grenades home - they were burst in and around the French position causing carnage and confusion in equal measure and the stormtroopers followed closely behind with bayonets fixed.
To their left the Lieutenant also led the Rifle Section in its own charge to capture and silence the 37mm Trench Gun.
MEANWHILE ON THE LEFT…
On the far side of the road a Storm Section - bristling with submachine guns and handgrenades spearheaded the German main effort. They moved up quickly across an area of open ground towards a hedge-lined track with a pair of ruined buildings beyond. Their instincts told them this would be a critical location which the enemy wouldnt give up without a fight - they were right.
The French heard the Storm Section before they saw them, lobbing VB rifle grenades over the hedge and firing a burst from their chauchat through it. Two stormtroopers fell, one of them the section’s corporal. His Platoon Sergeant saw him fall and immediately took over command, urging the men on into the ruined houses.
But, as they burst through the hedge, the French were already falling back. The A7V had appeared only moments before, raking the house with its port-side machine guns.
The Storm Section pushed on as a rattle of rifle shots rang out from the wood on their left - the Rifle Section protecting their left flank had spotted a group of French Voltigeurs amongst the trees who had put down a heavy volley before also slipping away.
As he reached the splintered remains of one of the houses’ back doors, the Platoon Sergeant could see the blue uniforms of the retreating French hurriedly moving towards another prepared position. One group of voltigeurs was caught in the open by the A7V and fell amongst the tall grass before they could reach the safety of their trenches.
They couldn't be allowed to reform and organise themselves. The Stormtroopers were already tiring but charged on as more VB grenades burst around them. To their right a loud explosion sounded on the far side of the tank, most of its guns were still blazing away but its main gun had fallen silent, it had shuddered to a halt and its engine was grinding and spluttering.
The sergeant and his surviving men launched themselves into the trench and onto the enemy.
The Melee
On both sides of the road, exhausted and wounded men grappled in the mud lunging with bayonets, swinging clubs and firing wild bursts from submachine guns.
On the German right, the men of the MG Section cleared the first trench but suffered heavily - as they tried to push through the woods beyond they were stopped first by a French officer and Sergeant who defiantly held their ground and were then sent back by the whithering fire of the final French Grenadier squad kept in reserve. They reoccupied the trench but could go no further.
The German lieutenant and his men made it to the 37mm Gun, most of its crew died or fled immediately but the stubborn corporal who commanded it put up a good fight before one of the Germans finally dropped him with a shot from his rifle.
On the German left, the Storm Section also cleared the first trench but were so exhausted and had suffered such heavy casualties in their charge that the death of their Platoom Sergeant from the last-ditch fire of two surviving poilus in a nearby dugout broke their resolve - the remaining stormtroopers fell back towards the ruined houses.
On the road, the A7V had been shaken by the last shot from the 37mm gun but it hadn’t been critically damaged. Its commander shook some sense back into his driver who urged the beast back up to speed and, with the surviving French defenders in no position to interfere, the tank slowly trundled off the table edge.
End Result
I’d based this game on the “Breakthrough”, the first scenario from the upcoming BattlegroundHD Battle Builder. The German objective was to exit 15 men (in good order - i.e. not wounded or broken) off the end of the road within 7 turns for a minor victory, or 30 men for a major victory. The French objective was to prevent that from happening for a minor victory, and additionally to have more than half the German Force not in good order by the end of the game for a major victory.
In something of a buzzer-beater moment the Germans managed to secure their minor victory by 1”. That was how far the A7V was from not being able to leave the table at the end of Turn 7. But it did make it off and with 15 of its crew (two having been heavily injured by fire from the French 37mm Trench Gun) to just nudge them over their victory requirement by the narrowest possible margin. The Kaiserschlacht will roll on but maybe not quite quickly enough.
Big thanks to Sam from Warfulcrum Games who supplied all the figures and vehicles and whose excellent 1918: Spring Offensive rules I mercilessly plundered for ORBATs, and to John from South London Warlords who soldiered on despite extreme sleep deprivation.
If you like the sound of First World War BattlegroundHD and want to give it a go then check out Retreat Hell!, a free BattlegroundHD scenario and unit pack covering the USMC’s battle for Belleau Wood made to go with the fantastic USMC and German figure ranges from Matt Webb at W3 Wargaming which I helped to sculpt.
I had a lot of fun putting together the unit cards and scenario for this game and I've now got lots more homegrown ideas I want to try out in the future.
Have you been inspired to create some new units for BattlegroundHD? The rules have been used for everything from WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Cold War, Ultramoderns, ACW, Napoleonics and even Star Wars! We'd love to hear what you've got planned.
Finally, would you like us to polish up and release the unit cards I put together for the French and A7V? Let us know in the comments and, if there’s enough interest I’ll see what I can do!
Keep it C̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶W̶a̶r̶ Kaiserschlacht!
Steffan
French and German forces during the Spring Offensive (Kaiserschlacht) and Hundred Days Offensive which followed, 1918 (Wikipedia)
