Hythe BBWW2B

This battle was played in my conservatory in May 2017. Keith played the invaders and I played the defenders. Nearly all of the tanks on display are Heroics and Ros. Axis infantry is from Adler, Allied infantry is from Heroics

The battlefield looking west with units in their initial positions. Hythe is the town with two bridges to the left and Dymchurch Redoubt can be seen further along the coast. The two white buildings are Lyminge aerodrome. The dirty brown river is the Royal Military Canal.

The first wave of Fallschirmjäger drop close to Lyminge Aerodrome. We used the Ju-52 to mark the centre of the drop zone.

One of the first acts of the Allies was to blow the bridges over the Royal Military Canal. The Allies were lucky with their roles and the only bridge not to drop was that to east of Hythe. This was going to make the German's job very difficult. Although the bridge the pillbox was guarding had been destroyed the Germans could not bypass it (the game rules oblige a unit in another's zone of control to move directly towards it). The gap between the pill box and the Redoubt was not large enough to let German units between without one or the other being destroyed.

The Voraus Abteilung belies its name and remains stuck on the beach for three turns, apparently unable to move.

The RAF bomb the Voraus Abteilung, adding to its woes

Lyminge airfield falls to the Fallschirmjäger. The garrison offered little more than a speed bump to the Germans' advance. Unfortunately I couldn't find my FJ figures so had to use Heer models instead. The Armadillo truck is from Irregular.

The first Allied reinforcements head towards the beaches. In this case the mobile column of the 1 Queens Westminster Rifles. Not that likely to hold up an entire German division!

The Germans move to attack the remaining bridge over the Royal Military Canal, the other side of Hythe. The fighting in the town would be arduous and protracted. The positioning of the pillboxes meant they had to be attacked before the Germans could get to grips with the 1st London Rifle Brigade (which is actually a battalion)

the 21 Pioneer Bataillon assaults the Redoubt. This assault would be repulsed but time was running out for the defenders.

The second wave of Fallschirmjäger arrives.

Milforce arrives and ploughs into the regrouping Fallschirmjäger. The result was somewhat disappointing for the Allies, the paratroopers only taking a single casualty. However. the Germans were now on the back foot in this part of the battlefield.

The Germans push east, sending more troops to support the attack on the vital bridge at Hythe.

The British send more units to attack the regrouping Fallschirmjäger.

Millforce pursue the fleeing Fallschirmjäger. Its becoming clear that the paratroopers on the hill will not be doing anything except trying to fend off the Allied reinforcements.

The 2/5th Queens arrive supported by C4 & C5 batteries

The Queens and their four incher. The 4" gun truck is basically scratch built

The Germans finally get to grip with Hythe's defenders, however time is running out

The RAF bombers finally appear just as the sun is setting

In the last hour of the game Hythe falls to the Germans

The game was a hard fought draw. To be fair to Keith, once I had blown up the bridges over the canal to the west of Hythe getting a German victory was almost impossible. The Fallschirmjäger cannot advance in the face of the Allied reinforcements without support from the sea landed forces.

Back to Scenario