Arnhem: Deelen Option Campaign

[Mark Weston]

This looked like a really interesting scenario. Six allied brigades delivered north of Arnhem by the afternoon of day 2. Is this enough to enable the allies to do what 1st Airborne couldn't do historically?

I played this campaign against Gary (Yackstock). My original game invitation turned into a sort of AAR, so after a bit of prompting, I thought I'd create a proper AAR with pictures here.

I played the British, so while I've tried to objectively describe the course of the action, my view of the German situation was obviously limited, and the screenshots only show the British point-of-view.

[Mark Weston]

Day One

Here are the initial British Landings, 1 hour after the scenario start.

[Mark Weston]

The plan was to set up an outer permiter to protect the afternoon landings and the arrival of the 52nd Division at Deelen on Day 2, while attacking into Arnhem from the north as soon as possible.

Deelen airfield and the other drop zones were secured with some light skirmishing, and 3rd Battallion Parachute Regiment (dropped near the rail-yards to the east of Arnhem) tried to sneak up the river-bank and onto the road bridge. As the day ended, 3rd Bn was withdrawing after being given a serious smacking by the reinforced Arnhem garrison, while the Airlanding Brigade was involved in heavy fighting as it launched an attack into the city from the North.

Here's an overview of the situation at about 20:00 on Day 1, showing the whole British perimeter after two drops.

[Mark Weston]

Here's the situation in Arnhem at around 20:00 on Day 1. You can see 3rd Para to the bottom right - routing like a bunch of girls in the face of the German counter-attack - and the Polish brigade marching complacently towards Arnhem from the south, having no idea what's shortly going to hit them...

[Mark Weston]

Overnight the fighting intensified in Arnhem. The Airlanding Brigade continued their attack from the north, while other troops attempted to cut off the city approaches from German reinforcements. Heavy casualties on both sides (as far as I could tell), and by morning there wasn't really an identifiable front-line. However, the Germans were still in clear posession of the actual bridge. The rest of the British perimeter was very quiet.

Meanwhile, a well timed and co-ordinated German attack from the south and across Arnhem road-bridge hit the Poles just after they landed south of the Rijn. As it turned out the Polish Brigade was crippled for good, and basically taken out of the game.

Here's the Arnhem area around 06:00 on day 2. You can see the German counter-attacking forces on the southern approach to Arnhem, and the Poles routing off into the Polder to the west.

[Mark Weston]

Day Two

By 6am it seemed clear to me that the initial attack into Arnhem had gone as far as it was going to, so 4th Airlanding Brigade and the other troops in Arnhem went onto the defensive. There was heavy pressure from German attacks, especially those trying to open up the western approaches to the city, but the attrition seemed to be telling on the Germans as there were quite a few unit surrenders during the day. Meanwhile the Polish brigade was trying to find a bit of polder in which to hide in.

The 52nd division was landing at Deelen airfield during the morning, and most of the two brigades started marching south towards the fighting in Arnhem, as did the paratroops that had been protecting the airfield (the Germans made no attempt to disrupt the drops or the landing; clearly everything was being sent straight to Arnhem). The rest of the perimeter began to withdraw to the south.

Late in the afternoon two fresh battallions of paratroopers attacked into Arnhem to clear a start-line for a brigade of the 52nd who followed on behind them. This combined attack went on into the early hours of Day 3, making slow progress. By 4am the remaining German resistance seemed to be in a core of (almost) surrounded, entrenched troops 1km north of the bridge, and along the river bank. A subsidiary attack attempted to completely close the western roads into the City, at the same time as German panzer forces broke into the city from the east.

Elsewhere a brigade-sized (maybe larger) German force plus the HQ of 2SS Panzer Corps tried to push down the highway from the north edge of the map, past Deelen, and straight into the high ground north of Arnhem, which had become the British rear area. Various British units slowed them down at blocking positions along the highway, and they were finally stopped at at bottom edge of the woods between Deelen and Arnhem. Here several German units surrendered, and the Panzer Corps HQ was in such a sorry state that it routed into the 52nd Division's artillery park. The remaining units started to infiltrate through the woods to get round the road-block.

Here's the position in Arnhem at around 04:00 on Day 3.

[Mark Weston]

And here's the position north of Arnhem at 04:00 on day 3. Note the rearguard Battallion to the far north; this was intended to block the highway and form the final perimeter at the northern edge of the woods. Unfortunately the Germans got there first. You can see the blocking force where the highway leaves the south edge of the woods, and the German forces that have failed to break through (for the time being). Also, just to east, the first of the Germans to infiltrate around the road-block.

At this point I was still heavily focused on Arnhem road-bridge, and optimistic that the attack was still progressing. So I was very much trying to protect the rest of the perimeter with minimum forces. This would soon have to change.

[Mark Weston]

Day Three

Despite appeals from HQ for one last effort, none of the forces in Arnhem could make the last 500m needed. The best they could do was inflict casualties and keep the pressure on. The Poles were still just trying to stay alive in Polder Hell. By the end of the day I had decided that the airborne forces were no longer capable of offensive operations. From now on it was going to be a question of holding on for XXX Corps, and launching the odd counter-attack.

Meanwhile German pressure from the north intensified, and eventually they both infiltrated around and then pushed back our blocking force on the highway. The first company-sized probes into the 1st Abn and 52nd division rear-areas were dealt with, but as evening came a much heavier attack came down the road and did some damage to 1st Airborne's artillery park and HQs. A three battallion counter-attack in the early hours of day 4 stabilised the position and pushed the Germans back, but failed to re-block the highway.

Here's the position in Arnhem around 09:00 on Day 4. To the east you can see where German counter-attacks have already pushed the British back a couple of hundred yards from their most advanced positions. In the west the blocking force is beginning to be squeezed out of its positions and into the woods.

[Mark Weston]

Here's the position north of Arnhem at 09:00 on day 4. This is after the British counter-attack; at the height of the German attack earlier in the evening, they were 1km further south. They had already forced all of 1st Airborne's artillery to displace (after losing half its guns) and looked to be in a very dangerous position. As well as the two airlanding battallions attacking south-to-north, see the battallion of the 52nd trying (and failing) to close the highway from the west. You can also see the Germans putting pressure on other parts of the perimeter.

[Arjuna]

Great stuff Mark. Keep 'em comin'! [:)]

[The_MadMan]

What happened a cease fire? [:'(]

[Mark Weston]

OK, we had a rather long pause while Gary's computer broke and I lost the ability to post on this forum. Now everything is working again, and we've actually finished the campaign. So I'll try to finish this AAR over the next couple of days.

Day Four

As mentioned above, by the morning of Day 4 I'd decided that that the airbourne forces weren't going to capture the Arnhem bridge, and I didn't want to so wreck their remaining units that they'd be easy targets for the coming German counter-offensive. So from now on my objectives were defensive; to hold onto as much of the current perimeter as possible. Still, there were going to be limited attacks and counter-attacks on occassion (another reason to make sure there were some mostly intact units available).

In the north, I tried all day to close the main highway, while tidying up the rear areas after the German attack and British counter-attack; especially as I needed some of the counter-attacking forces elsewhere. The Germans continued to apply pressure, and I was never able to close the road, but the line held quite well.

To the West of Arnhem my blocking force (a para battallion and a battallion of the 52nd) were pushed away from the city and fled into the woods. They were pretty wrecked and really badly fatigued, but managed to get back into the fight a couple of days later.

In Arnhem itself the Germans were attacking quite hard to push the perimeter away from the bridge and the river bank. They weren't making much progress (maybe a couple of hundred meters today), but my forces were slowly being attrited away; and every time a company routed or disbanded the British lost a bit more ground. While I didn't see any chance of counter-attacking straight into the heaviest German forces, I did try to contain and reduce those inside my perimeter in the center of town. I was worried about them linking up with those attacking north from the bridge, as this would almost break the British perimeter in two. But mostly I was staying with defensive orders and moving as little possible so as to maximise the benefits from being dug in and entrenched.

Here's the situation in Arnhem at around 02:00 on Day 5.

[Mark Weston]

Here's the situation in the north at 02:00 on Day 5. This took up a lot of my time and attention during the day, but you wouldn't think it by comparing the front-line to the previous day's; almost nothing had changed!