Stonne Pictures
The game was played at Rick's house 28/12/06, Rick playing the Germans and I was playing the French
HQ 67e Regiment Infanterie. The regimental commander is the chap furthest away (Esci figure). The 20mm Mle 1939 is by Toms Tins as is the P19 Halftrack. Citroen staff car by Alby and the mortars is by SHQ
Defenders of Stonne await the Germans. Grammodels UE Carrier, Airfix infantry and SHQ gun. The maker of the gun crew are a complete mystery to me
Stab Infanterie Regiment Grossdeutchland. Fujimi Kubelwagen, SHQ leIG-18 and assorted infantry
French infantry (Revell) at the foot of the escarpment straining to see the approaching Germans
6e GDRI in reserve with the I Battalion's mortar. AMD-35 is from FAA, the motorcycle combination is a home resin casting by Peter Marshall and mortar crew are converted plastics
7 Kompanie 8 Panzer Regiment move up to the foot of the Pain de Sucre supported by GD. Airfix PzKfw-IV conversions and an MMS PzKfw-II
GD assault the left flank of the French pushing to take the Pain de Sucre then to enter Stonne. The first, unsupported, GD assault was repulsed by the French after some appalling morale rolls by Rick. Unfortunately The French did not have the forces to exploit the confusion. The second attack was supported by the Panzers. The already weakened French company guarding the heights succumbed to the assault and the Germans took their first objective.
41e BCC moves up to Stonne at 05:30. Matchbox/Revell models
The commander of the 41e BCC surveys the way ahead (AB figures commander)
GD's first move on Stonne was a failure. The timely arrival of the 41e BCC helped fend off the Germans, who fell back having taken several casualties
FCM36 (Toms Tins) of the 4e BCC moves up to the battlefield
At the same time the H35's of the 45e BCC move up the hill (Milicast Models)
The commander of the 45e BCC
Pioneers of the 43 Sturmpioneer Abteilung make ready to assault Stonne, hopefully to succeed where GD failed
Confusion reigns! The sturmpioneer assaulting Stonne result in mass panic. The 67e RI runs off as the first elements of the III Battalion 51er RI and the light tanks approach
The pioneers take the north west part of Stonne as the HQ Char B1bis of 41e BCC watches. Lack of supporting infantry makes the French commander reluctant to assault the pioneers in the town
Everything goes wrong for the French. The Panzers climb the escarpment to the west of Stonne. The H-35's were so scared of the German infantry they failed their morale before the Germans reached the top. The 41e BCC moved to intercept the Germans but a lucky shot by a PzKfw-IV pierces the Char's thick hide. As a result of this the Char B1's also fail their morale, go shaken and retreat. Luckily the staff of the 3e DIM is due on the table in 30 minutes.
Meanwhile infantry runs to cover the right flank, ignoring the fact that part of Stonne is currently unoccupied
The French infantry turns about and dives for Stonne. Miraculously the 25mm AT gun abandoned three or so hours before is still intact and the gunners re-man the piece. This doesn't last long as GD simultaneously launch another assault. GD's higher firepower and better troop quality is telling and the French are soon swarming back down the hill.
Fire from the German panzers results in further retreat by the H35's; now demoralised
French infantry streams back from Stonne past the RHQ and the still shaken tanks
Last blood! The AMD of the 6e GRDI extracts a measure of revenge, a PzKfw-IV burns. However retribution was swift and the armoured car was soon burning too.
At the start of the game it looked like being a struggle for the Germans, and there was much back and forth around Stonne in the mid morning. However eventually superior German training and morale began to tell. A couple of poor morale rolls by the French armour and the majority of the tanks ran away. The French decided to call it a day in the 9:30am turn. By this time the Germans had 4 out or 5 possible VP's and the french only had 5 stand in good morale, and nowhere near enough time to rally the various remnants and regroup them for another counter attack. Decisive German victory