Gaming: BATTLE REPORT: The push further South (Operation Goodwood) - 19th July 1944 - Force Selection

At this stage the Romanian army was part of the Axis forces. Romania didn't change sides until the battle of Romania in late August. I have not researched as to whether there were any Romanian formations in Normandy during this time, but the Axis defenders were a mixture of old/infirm and conscripted troops from across the German territories as well as regular troops, therefore, to have  Romanians in Normandy is not too far of a stretch.

The forces would be approximately 2000 points a side. 

The British

As both my brother and I would play the British then they would be 2 platoons at approximately 1000 points each. One would be airborne and one would be regular infantry based to reflect the two lieutenants Blythe and Slade.

Picture: British pre-deployment

“The hurricanes engines roared across the French countryside. He’d done several passes of the ruined town. The pilot couldn’t see anything on the ground. It looked deserted, but he knew it wasn’t. The enemy were there waiting. The roads south of the village had been clear. There Germans had stopped retreating and now he suspected they waited somewhere down there. He pressed the button that would activate the camera attached to the plane. He imagined he could hear the clicking it made as it took the pictures and then he was off. Soaring into the cloud cover and back to HQ…"

"….Major Johnson reviewed the blown-up photos. He scratched at a mark on the picture – it didn’t come off. “See sire tanks” worried Sargent Webber. The British intelligence man had seen them in the enlarged picture that were unseen from the hurricane cockpit. He’d brought his concern to the Major “they’ll be marching into a trap”. These are civilian vehicles “the Major gruffed “not tanks – nothing to worry about”. “Are you sure sir?” “Quite” Major Johnson reassuringly grasped the sergeants should. “you seem stressed Webber – go get some tea and leave this with me – I’ll inform the General”. As the sergeant left Johnson screwed up the picture. “Tanks -it’ll be tough for Blythe – still the lieutenants a resourceful chap”. Operation Goodwood was on a roll. Nothing must stop his strategic master plan “they’ll run at the first sign of British steel” the attack must not stop and let the enemy regroup! They’d steam roller this poxi resistance - he was convinced – the Germans had broken. The major folded the photo and put it into his pocket. No one must see this he thought” as he stepped out into a rather gloomy July morning “Webber needs some sun” he mulled “Egypt would suit him well”. He strolled across the HQ compound “it will turn out to be a lovely day he thought as the sun broke through the haze”

The general thoughts for the British was to load up as many infantry and limit armour. The Paras would form up into some small 'assault' squads - our objective was to swamp the Romanian deployment zone and lose as few as possible units in the process. We also wanted to try a few things so included a few piats, mortars and a flamethrower....

The Romanians

As it was a surprise my sister ended up being the recon unit and photographed my Dad's figures. That had limited success so we left it until the day of they to pick the forces. As it would be a training game were going to pick as generic a list as possible. Again around 2000 points, but trying to include lots of different elements to try out to see how they worked out. The Romanians had numerous were made up of a core of about 8 infantry units. These were supported by an armoured car, 2 anti tank guns, a universal carrier with mounted AT gun, and various small teams. To complete the look of the main force there a T-34 was thrown in for good measure! While the British would deploy there whole force the Romanians would keep two jeeps and a couple of squads in reserves to plug gaps in the defenses.

Pictures: Reviewing Romanian selection

The Battlefield

The area around Valmery is described in the 1920s Glasses Guide as being 'classic French arable land a beautiful patchwork of fields divided by traditional Bocage hedge rows of that area'. Half the battlefield would be fields. Valmery itself is a small hamlet that would take up approximately a quarter of the table. This would form the basis for the Romanians deployment zone with the British taking the fields on the other size. 

Picture: Ariel view of the battle

Next up 'The British advance'......