"Do not repeat the tactics that have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances."
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Battlefield Location: Belgium, 1940 Conditions: Clear Time of Day: Early Morning
German Order of Battle British/Belgian Order of Battle |
Morale All German infantry are Elite. All German walkers are Veteran. All British/Belgian units are Qualified.
Terrain and Setup This scenario would be ideal for the "Tactical Scale" rules used in Heavy Gear. To sum up:
Alternately, you can abstract things even further, and simply assume that the entire engagement is fought at Short range. Use the map provided to guide the setup of the play area. The canal should be 10 MU across in Tactical scale, or 2 MU across at the regular GK scale. A large earthen embankment borders the canal for 1 MU along its entire distance, save for the bridge area. This embankment is impassable until blown open with a demolition charge. All German forces begin the scenario in two barges placed in the canal- the infantry in one, the walkers in the other. All British/Belgian forces begin the game within the confines of their camp as described by the map. Players may add buildings, fences, etc. for verisimilitude. |
On May 10, 1940 the Germans crashed into Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland. Their armored spearheads, heavy artillery, paratroops, and bold initiative delivered a rude awakening to the tiny nations that had been preparing to fight by the rules of the Great War. The Belgians had placed great faith in their ring of "impenetrable" fortresses around Liege, the most famous of which was Fort Eben Emael. On the second day of the German invasion, the twelve hundred men of this fort surrendered to a force of only eighty German paratroopers. The battle for Eben Emael was a foretelling in miniature of how the entire campaign would eventually go for the Allies.
By May 14-15, the British and French had responded to Belgian pleas for aid and had thrown up a defensive line between the cities of Namur and Antwerp, comprising about thirty-six divisions. The Belgians themselves were without armor, and most of their anti-tank weaponry had been lost in a hurried retreat from the battles of the first few days. The British Expeditionary Force placed mixed units of armor and infantry to guard the vital river and canal crossings near Namur. Several German probes, conducted by infantry in rubber assault boats, have already been repulsed with heavy losses.
The Allies are confident that their line will prove a major hindrance to the German advance, and the Germans agree with them to the point that they are bringing another new scientific gambit to the fray. A company of volunteer Fallschirmjager, all veterans of combat in Poland as well as several dozen practice jumps, have been training since February in the use of prototype rocket packs. This Flammenspringer company has been kept in reserve for an obstacle worthy of its unconventional means of attack. Most of the British and Belgian canal positions are guarded by tall earthen embankments that make a direct canal crossing via boat almost impossible... but "Flame Jumpers" could leap those walls, overcome their defenders, and blast holes in them for reinforcements to pour through.
Under cover of darkness, two large, low barges have drifted down a wide canal toward a bridge on the southern flank of the Allied line. Most of the German pressure has been at least ten miles to the north, and the British and Belgian troops of this outpost are not entirely on their guard. The Germans plan to vault the canal wall with their rocket troops, who will blast it open and hold off the defenders long enough for the second barge to drop an understrength platoon of PanzerKampfer into the breach. If the defenders of the bridgehead are mopped up, armored reinforcements are less than five minutes away, waiting for the launch of signal flares.
This scenario is Medium Mission Priority for both sides.
The German objective is to first launch Flammenspringer units from their barge into the enemy position. These units have the dual task of keeping the British/Belgian defenders at bay and blowing a hole in the embankment for their Kampfer support to come through. Once that happens, the Germans are to eliminate all defenders and launch signal flares to summon reinforcements.
The Allied objective is to wipe out the German attackers. The fighting is sure to be dirty.
The composition of each Flammenspringer assault squad is as follows:
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1. Squad Leader 2. Trooper 3. Trooper 4. Trooper 5. Trooper 6. AT Rifleman 7. Loader 8. Engineer |
SMG SMG SMG SMG SMG Anti-Tank Rifle SMG SMG, Demolition Charge, Signal Flares |
The basic TV of each of these squads is 37, according to the system presented in the core GK book. The charge and flares carried by the engineers have only a scenario purpose and therefore were not factored into the TV calculation.
Each Flammenspringer squad is equipped with theoretically sound but somewhat under-tested rocket packs. These have enough fuel for three jumps, each of 4 MU (20 MU in Tactical Scale). Whenever landing, each Flammenspringer squad must make a Skill Check against a threshold of 4, or suffer 1d6 points of damage applied as per normal.
Reinforcements
In this variation, the Germans have placed a mechanized platoon in position to attack across the bridge while the Flammenspringer assault ties up the defenders. However, Allied reinforcements are also close at hand. At the beginning of Turn 5, place the German reinforcements, single file, at the German edge of the bridge. Place the Allied reinforcements within the area designated "Reinforcement Sector" on the map.
German Reinforcements
Allied Reinforcements
As my scenarios have evolved, I have tried to experiment with unusual unit placements and original (or at least novel) super-science elements. Rocket packs, I must admit, are a personal favorite, greatly shaking up the staid familiarity of the archetypical Good Old-Fashioned World War II Battlefield. Other scenarios in which they appear include "In Peril on the Sea" and "Red Mike's Line."
Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to try to include a bizarre super-science element in more scenarios until each major combatant has at least one. The temptation to concentrate on the damned enigmatic and contradictory Germans needs to be avoided.
To blow a hole in the embankment, a Flammenspringer squad with a live engineer must remain atop the embankment for a full turn and take no other action (thus the turn they arrived does not count). At the end of the following turn, the charge will explode, creating a 1 MU breach in the wall through which reinforcements may debark. Any unit adjacent to the blast will suffer a x5 attack at a random Margin of Success (roll a single die). Any unit in the same MU as the charge (for whatever foolish reason) will be obliterated.
Each barge moves up to 2 MU (10 in Tactical Scale). Barges have no statistics because the defending forces cannot fire at them over the embankment. In order to offload its Kampfers, the barge carrying them need only enter the MU that has been breached by a demolition charge. It will then be considered "beached." The Kampfers within may act normally on the following turn.
The British walkers are ready for action, but their crews are eating breakfast when the assault comes. On the first turn, a British walker may act only if its crew makes a Skill test against a threshold of 6. On the second turn, the threshold drops to 5. On the third turn, the threshold drops to 4. On the fourth turn, any walkers not yet activated will be allowed to act normally.
Infantry may act normally once the attack starts, but they are not dug-in and heavy weapons are not set up as the beginning of the scenario.
Variations
Designer's Notes
