Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Gold Beach D-Day Landing Game - COMPLETE (9 Hours!)
Gold Beach Panzer Leader game: COMPLETE
Run Time: NINE HOURS
Result: EPIC
Losses (both sides): BRUTAL
Decision: LAST TURN
Players: (@brucelea and @damon): WARGAME HEROES
D-Day 75th Anniversary: COMMEMORATED
>> End Transmission.
Initial Landings. Already British losses are horrific to German fire and beach obstacles.
First British armour struggles ashore, but still more is lost to mines and beach obstacles.
Even amidst this carnage, the Churchill Bridgelayer and other engineers units clear mines, and lay bridges over German antitank ditches. That yellow target icon (hex 0822) is the first objective hex the British will reach.
Typhoon airstrikes go in. The first one is shot down, but the two behind it pulverize the HQ of 441st Ost Battalion / 726 IR / 716 ID.
Miles behind the beach, other Typhoons go after 10.5 cm artillery batteries of 352nd Wehrmacht Infantry Division.
The Churchill AVREs have shoved themselves off the beach and now start launching "flying dustbins" mortar demolition charges into stubborn German defenses (III. Bn / Grenadier Regiment 916 / 352nd Infantry).
Although the 441 "Ost" Battalion put up a rather pitiful fight historically, here these platoons have stood TALL in the face of Damon's 1st Dorsetshire Rifles and 2nd Devonshire Rifles. It took four turns and two fire missions from battleship HMS Warspite and escorting destroyers to finally dig these badasses out of that "wiederstandnester" bunker complex.
Turn 8: With more armor on the beach, the British now break deep inland, curling southwest (exactly as was done historically) to push for objective hexes in the German backfield.
Royal Marine Commandos are now ashore, ready to help British assault engineers and 1st Hampshire with clearing operations of Asnell and Le Hamel. Historically, these were brutal fights that lasted all through the early afternoon of D-Day. Also, we see DD Shermans of Sherwood Rangers push toward the beach exits behind Asnell, one of them pinned down by 8.8 cm fire and a battery of ex-Polish 77mm guns brought over after the 1939 Campaign.
Finally, almost three kilometers inland from the beach, the game is decided in a fire-scorched, blood-soaked, smoke-stained decision on the very last turn. Leave it to the Royal Marines! 
Final Result. Every smoke column shows where a platoon was destroyed. Full battle report videos will start going up on YouTube soon. I've also added "Panzer Leader DSOs" for players Damon and Brucelea! :D 
That was a seriously good game.
Brutal landings, double hard bast@rds in bunkers, capricious dice gods (how many sixes!?) And good company, @oriskany @brucelea cheers gents it was a real pleasure, an evening well spent.
Thanks once more time for sticking with me, @damon – we definitely commemorated the hell out of D-Day with that game. Serious “gaming guts” for sticking through what must have been a pretty discouraging opening for your 1st Dorsetshire Rifles.
Check out the “Panzer Leader” DSOs for you and @brucelea! 😀 😀 😀
I watched @oriskany (on Twitch) build the counters for the map on Thursday night and thought then, “this will be epic”, and it seems that I was not wrong.
The short write-ups here had me eager to read the next panel.
I look forward to the video reports.
I wish I would have had the time to sit in front of the computer for a while and have watched it as it happened. (too many outdoor activities needed my attention)
No worries, @templar007 – we were looking out for ya! Which brings up a good point, if anyone wants to watch or participate in one of these web wargames, just let me know via PM and I’ll get you hooked up with the web conference.
Wow that’s one big game!
To put it in perspective I jumped on for an hour to watch the initial landings, then I went to bed. I woke up and they had still not finished yet.
Wow that was a bloody game, although I notice the vast majority of the casualties are on the beach itself which is pretty historically accurate, once you’re off the death trap of a beach you’re in a much better position.
Thanks, @elessar2590 – indeed this one turned into a beast despite my efforts to keep it shorter. The thing is, though, with events like D-Day, you really can’t design a “slice of life” scenario in Panzer Leader – this thing was only HALF of Gold Beach, and only the first Brigade wave (so really, one quarter of the full landings on Gold on the opening day). But obviously it still turned into a big, crunchy game. Smaller games of Panzer Leader are certainly possible, you just have to pick less famous engagements (or at least more isolated) that are easier… Read more »
Brilliant day guys!
I think I went through every emotion in this game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a brutal start to a game, then follow that up with the dogged resistance of the OST Battalion and the last minute head long dash to seize the village objectives. It was an absolute classic battle gentlemen, in the true traditions of Panzer Leader.
Right, @brucelea ? Literally your VERY FIRST MG section hit a mined beach obstacle, the Higgins boat blowing up to sink. The second unit, a rifle platoon did the same in the opposite direction, and blew up against ANOTHER each obstacle. So 80+ troops are killed, wounded, or otherwise combat ineffective (soaked and no equipment if nothing else) before the first British boots actually hit the sand. I appreciate the patience with all the special rules. Amphibious landings are tricky, there’s a lot of engineering, off-board artillery, beach defenses, field works, special armored units, and so on. I just wish… Read more »