D-Day Commemorative Game

I've been slow to post of late, dealing with some medical issues, but a group of our stalwarts gathered for a D-Day themed game on June 8th at Adventure Games in Oshkosh, WI.  Without going too deep into the specifics, we had special rules in place and in hindsight, not enough stuff for the Allies.  The 16' table was sub-divided into zones roughly representing Sword, Utah and Omaha beaches. 

Opening set-up after hours spent creating the table by store staff.

German left, my command.  British need to take the town.

German center, facing Americans.

German right, gun-lined cliffs and Americans storming ashore.

While some bunkers were on table we ruled that they had already
been reduced, for the sake of play.

British probe forward and come under effective Pak40 fire.

The mass of German guns on the cliffs would not last long.

German left: the lone AT gun having been lost to no effect, the
infantry bails out of their forward positions.

Imposing force pushing inland.

 We weren't too concerned about points or legal lists for the Germans.  Rather, the focus was on having a force that was representative.  So no German tanks were present, nor Luftwaffe.  Ballpark numbers of points I would put at around 5000 per side.  Allies should have had more.

Air observation for artillery.

The British did a good job of combining MG fire from one platoon
while the other did direct fire HE till one group finally strayed into
the sights of an AT gun.

Pushing in the center.  Artillery was taking a toll of Allied infantry.

The cliffs cleared, the push into town commenced.

The RAF finally shows up on my sector.  In ten turns they only
appeared once!  This had a huge effect.

An effective strike, though I did manage to down a Typhoon.

The German right collapses, nothing to keep the Americans from
rolling inland.

We had a mix of veteran, new and returning to the game players.  The Germans were successful holding their left and center, but the right was a rout (I'm told).  Airpower wasn't as decisive as I think everyone expected and I'd suggest that the Allied needed more infantry and fewer tank resources in the game.  But we accomplished the main mission, to remember and honor the "Longest Day" while enjoying friendly company.