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Tank Clash in Normandy: British vs. Germans in the Bocage (July 1944) Community Panzer Leader Game

July 17, 2021

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Join @brucelea and I as we return to Panzer Leader, this time for a recreation of the “bocage hell” in the summer of 1944. The D-Day landings at Normandy were all well and good, but what followed was almost two solid months of some of the worst fighting ever seen on the Western Front.

German defenders, determined and well-equipped, made expert use of the “bocage” agricultural fields in the area, turning all of Normandy into a semi-flooded, channelized, fortified honeycomb of point-blank defense. Often the Allies had no choice but to drive straight into such defenses with frontal assaults.

Conversely, the Germans had to contend with a foe that outnumbered them sometimes ten-to-one and had total dominance of the air.

Sunday, July 18 – 2PM East US Time, 7PM UK Time

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Okay, so here is the background area for today's battle - a small flanking action connection to Operation Goodwood, the 77th Anniversary takes place today (July 18, 1944). The red rectangle shows the 3600-meter scaled battlefield contained in our game (24 hex board, 150 meters per hex).

Here is the map for our game. Again, 150 meter hexes (about 5 feet in 15mm). British (predominantly elements of 11th Armored Division) will be coming on from the north. Germans (1st SS "LAH" Panzer Division, sPzAbtg 503) will be coming on from the south in a local counterattack that took place about 11:00 hours at Cagny, 18 July 1944.

My forces as the German player. With units of 1st SS "Leibstandarte" Panzer Division and Heavy Tank Detachment 503, I have some of the best toys in the business. If only I wasn't outnumbered over 2:1 ...

The British (elements of 11th Armored Division, VIII Corps), with plenty of air support. All these units were there except for possibly 7th RTR / 31st Tank Brigade. They WERE attached to VIII Corps, so they were in the general AREA, but I included them to get some heavier British armor on the table.