Scenario for Steel Panthers wargame by SSI Thanks go out to Perr Andrus of GEnie for supplying the historical background from "Tiger Ace * Michael Wittmann" and "Panzers in Normandy - Then and Now", and to Sabre for helping me get the kinks worked out. Historical Background: The British 22d Brigade of the 7th Armored Division, specifically, the 4th County of London Yeomanry, were ordered to secure the sleepy village of Villers-Bocage on June 13, 1944. There was a vital road junction which lead to Caumont, Aunay-Sur-Odon, and Caen in this village. Whittmann's unit, the 2d Company of the 101 SS Pz Abt, attached to the 1st SS Pz Korps, was ordered to seize this road junction in order to prevent the flanking and possible destruction of the Panzer Lehr division. Whittmann conducted a reconnaisance of the town, after watching Squadron A of the C.L.Y. drive out of the town and into the heights north east of Villers Bocage. It was his plan to sneak behind Squadron "A", and to engage any H.Q. units that were in the town. He performed a lot of reconnaissance on foot, and with the help of a German infantry Seargant was able to pinpoint many of the British positions. With this information, Whittman fired up his Tiger I and headed into the town, much like a gunslinger from the Old West. He knew that he had to act quickly, so as to not allow such a juicy prize to escape. He also knew that if he radiod the rest of his platoon, he would break radio silence as well as losing valuable time. Also, he realized that under the dire circumstances, that if the unit were to lose any armor, if he went in alone, his tank would be the only casualty. He informed his crew that they would be seeing action as soon as the Tiger I rolled out of the wooded copse and turned left onto the main street. The first unit that Whittmann encountered was the Rifle Brigade of the 4th C.L.Y. It consisted of a number of halftracks, and 3 M5A1 Honey tanks. When Whittman caught them, they were brewing up tea and smoking cigarrettes. Needless to say, the sight of a lone Tiger I, firing furiously, was the last thing they expected to see. Within seconds, several M3's and three Stuart's were flaming hulks. Whittmann's gunner, Balthasar (Bobby) Wol must have been one helluva crack shot. He, along with his loader, were able to achieve 1 8.8cm round every four seconds in this engagement ! (thus, the incredible fire rate for Wittmann's Tiger) Whittmann largely destroyed the Rifle Brigade, and continued on toward the road junction. A few blocks down the street, his Tiger I emerged from the roiling smoke to see the 4 Cromwell's of R.H.Q. Second in command, Major Carr of the 4th C.L.Y. had now become aware of Whittmann's approach and moved his Cromwell forward to observe what the hell was happening. He heard the firing but wasn't sure if this was a full attack by a German Panzer company or if artillery was being fired. As he moved forward, he saw to his total amazement, a lone Tiger I rumble out of the black and oily smoke that was filling the street. Carr gave a quick-fire order and watched in dismay as the shell bounced harmlessly off the Tiger I's massive gun mantlet. As soon as Carr's round struck the Tiger, Woll traversed the huge turret to the 10:00 position, and while doing so heard the loader throw in another 8.8cm round. As soon as Woll had the British tank in his sights, he pressed the firing handle and the hapless Cromwell burst into flames. Wittmann pressed on, destroying all but one of the 4 RHQ Cromwells. The fourth, commanded by Pat Dyas, had lurched into a garden between two houses to avoid the rampaging Tiger. Dyas' gunner was outside of the tank relieving himself, so Dyas had to watch helplessly as Wittman's Tiger rolled by, Wittman in full view, standing up in the cupola. Wittmann proceeded cautiously toward the road junction, feeling that his chances of capturing it were quite good. As he came up toward the junction, he saw the long barrel of a Sherman Firefly, which mounted the deadly 17 lber. He immediately ordered "fire", Woll complied and missed the Firefly be a few feet. The round impacted a building, causing much rubble to fall on the Firefly, commanded by Sergeant Lockwood. At the same time, Lockwood was giving his fire order, and the lethal 17pdr cracked out a round that impacted on the upper left gun mantle, bouncing off harmlessly. Wittmann gave the order to back up, execute a neutral steer (pivot the tank), all the while ordering Woll to keep the gun trained toward the road junction and Lockwood's Firefly. It was apparent to Wittman that he had run into a hornets nest, and he was now bent on returning to his base and getting reinforcements. While Wittmann and Lockwood had been firing at each other, Dyas in his Crowmell, gunner now aboard, had been stalking the Tiger, hoping to get a shot at its vulnerable rear. He had moved forward at a reduced speed down the street in the direction that the Tiger had went. He was largely blinded by smoke from the burning vehicles, and as his vehicle inched forward, he suddenly saw the outline of the huge Tiger emerging from the smoke. He fired twice at the Tiger, from a range of only 70-80 yds, and watched horrified as both shells bounced off the mantelet. Wittman returned the favor, and again the 8.8cm gun cracked out, and yet another British tank erupted in a violent fireball. The 8.8cm shell had penetrated the right front of the turret gun, and past completely through the turret and then out the right rear. The loader was instantly killed, with Dyas blown out of his turret hatch by the shockwave and thrown onto the street about 15 yards to the left of his Cromwell, in full view of Wittman. As Dyas driver was trying to leave his position, he was machine gunned down by Wittmann's bow gunner and was killed outright. Dyas was able to escape through an alleyway, and eventually made it to the HQ of Squadron A with the help of a French girl. Wittmann wasted no time now, realizing that his presence was well known, and ordered his driver to move forward at full speed. He was now concerened with the possibility of one or two allied tanks playing "dead" as he moved back through the site of his initial carnage. Minutes later, and with no mishaps, Wittmann's Tiger I rolled back into the woods where it had emerged not more than 12 minutes earlier. The Tiger had returned to his lair - but was not to remain there for long. It now remained for Wittmann to get reinforcements, destroy the armor that was holding Hill 213, then proceed back to the crossroads and secure them. Wittmann reported to his superior, Sepp Deitrich, and commandeered a "bombed up" Tiger from another company. He gathered around him 3 other Tiger I's and a PzIVH for his second attack run. Time to rock and roll. Wittmann was hoping that the leading vehicles of the British Squadron A were now stopped further up the N175 on or near Pt 213. If so, he and his panzers would attack these vehicles before entering town. Therefore, he would lead his small but potent force Northeast, cross the N175, and attack the Tommies in a southwesterly direction. Wittmann lead his formation in toward the Brit position. As he entered the same wooded area from which he had mounted his first battle run, he ordered a halt, and all engines were shut down. He dismounted, and made a reconnaissance on foot several hundred yards. He heard the sound of men and vehicles. He inched on a bit further and was able to make out the dim outline of Cromwell's, Fireflies, and other vehicles. A large number of these machines were bunched up with their main guns traversed over the rear engine decks of the following vehicles. He immediatly returned to his tanks, and as he ran the last leg of his trek to his Tiger I, he gave the signal to start up all engines and be ready to move out at once. As soon as he clambered back into his armored cupola, he radioed the other panzer commanders and informed them of what lay ahead. He instructed the three panzers that, once they crossed the N175, to fan out to his right and fire upon any British tanks that may try to escape. Wittman would fire upon the enemy column, and he alone! As Wittmann's unit continued to advance, an open area came into view and the N175 was sighted. Wittmann's Tiger made a sharp turn left and made a mad dash across the higwhay. Luckily, Wittman had judged the distance correctly, and would be coming in just front of 'A' Squadron. The British would have little or no time to deploy any of their forces due to the congested nature they were in on the highway. Wittmann ordered Wol to traverse the gun to 10:00 and start firing as soon as he had the British vehicles in his sights. He then turned to his left and waved orders to his other units to make their break across the highway. His frantic arm and hand signals were not necessary, as he could see that the 3 vehicles were now charging forward and across the N175 at top speed. Wittman yelled to his driver to slow down and to swing onto a small cart track running parallel to the main road. The other panzers were now across the road and were moving up to take their battle run positions and fanned out to the right of Wittman's machine. It now became very clear why Wittman would fire alone. With vehicle exhaust, thrown up dust and dirt, and especially the tension of battle, it would be very easy for one of his vehicles to fire into one another. Should the enemy try to move their vehicles off the road and to the south, Wittman would then order his vehicles to swing to their left and knock out the enemy tanks from the rear! As Wittman's Tiger made its approach, shock waves of fear filtered down the whole length of Squadron A. Panic quickly set in. A number of vehicles still had their engines turning over (charging radio batteries) which gave Wittmann the element of surprise that he needed. As soon as Wittmann's Tiger had been spotted, a number of British officers ran down the column of parked vehicles shouting that they were about to come under attack from German Tiger I tanks. The men of CLY were battle hardened veterans, and knew that it was obvious that they stood no chance at all if they mounted their vehicles, so most of them tried to route into the woods. Wittmann consummated the destruction of this column by nailing 12 Cromwell's, a few Fireflies, and several Bren's towing 6pdrs. (the following quotation is from Tiger Ace, and gives a good idea of how rapidly and effectively Wittman's crew was working during this particular piece of the engagement; Hill 213.) " A number of these vehicles were now being blown off to one side of the road, by the combination of being hit at close quarters by an extremely powerful high velocity main gun round, and the resulting explosions of on-board ammunition cooking off that rocked and shunted them around on the road from side to side. As his Tiger I moved forward, Wittmann glanced over his right shoulder in order to keep track of his other panzers, and happened to look down through his open loaders' hatch and witnessed an unbelievable sight! His loader had been transformed into a sweating, cursing, and grease covered individual, who was coughing and choking from the presence of heavy cordite fumes as he continued to load the main gun. He had indeed succeeded in keeping up with Wittmann's rapid fire commands, and also been able to throw a number of spent casings through his open hatch aperture. It was quite apparent, that after five or six main gun rounds had been fired, his loader had worked himself into a wild frenzy in order to take on the enemy panzers. Wittmann was very proud of his entire crew, as they were displaying frantic, but superior crew duties, under extremely harsh battle line conditions." In the meantime, back in the town, units of Squadron 'B' had taken up defensive positions. They still were not sure about the strength of the enemy, but figured it to be at least a company. The feeling was that there was a Tiger tank lurking around every corner. Wittmann's units made their way back into Villers-Bocage. On the way to the road junction, Wittmann would order his panzers to stop at every street corner, pull off their headsets, and listen for the sound of enemy movement. At one of these intersections, a Sherman Firefly of Squadron 'B' was one block down, and sighted the Cross emblem on the turret of one of Wittman's Tigers. The Firefly was commanded by Sergeant Bramall. He ordered his driver to position the tank such that the gun could be fired through the bottom story of a building, through the two windows through which he had sighted the Tiger! He fired, and in a millionth of a second, the Tiger's turret side was penetrated and the panzer immediately started to burn. As soon as the Tiger was knocked out, Bramall ordered his driver to back down the street to the next intersection, turn left, and try to catch up to Lt. Cotton and the rest of Squadron 'B'. After a few minutes, Bramall caught up with the rest of the Squadron at a courtyard facing the Caumont road junction. Cotton ordered Bramall to take up a position about 15 feet across the road, and to be ready to take on the German tanks if they should try to seize the road. During this time, a 6pdr anti-tank gun had also been set up to cover the cross roads. As soon as Wittman heard the impact of the 17pdr, he knew that the game was up. He ordered his remaining panzers to gun their Maybach engines and to head toward the objective as fast as possible. Meanwhile, back at the crossroads, the trap was set. Bramall and his men knew that the only logical approach for the massive Tigers was right down the main street, as the back streets were too narrow for the gun traverse. He also knew, and this worried him, that as such he and his men would be the first vehicles in their troop to be destroyed by this Madman and his rampaging Tiger! Bramall's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of heavy tank tracks clacking down the cobblestones. It was now clear that the Tigers were making a final attempt to seize the road junction. The third engagemnt for Villers-Bocage was on! As Bramall sat and waited, his gunner sweating in his seat, he suddenly saw the huge muzzle brake of Wittman's main gun loom out from the right side of the building across the courtyard. He was relieved to notice that it was pointed at 12:00, and thus posed no immediate threat to he or his men. He at once gave the fire order, and his nervous gunner fired prematurely, smashing into a building many feet away from Wittman's Tiger. Wittman's vehicle continued to roll forward with the PzIV. This time, Bramall's gunner scored a direct hit on the PzIV and set it on fire. While Bramall's gunner was rearming the 17pdr, the last Tiger I made its way past his position, but was fired on by Cpl. Horne's Cromwell. His gunner was also very tensed up and missed the target. Horne instinctivly ordered his driver to start up the engine and pulled forward with his gunner swinging the gun and turret of the Cromwell to the 9 oclock position. As soon as Horne's Cromwell entered the street, his gunner quickly locked onto the last Tiger I and fired, placing a main gun round into the ass end of the Tiger. It immediately started to burn, but continued to roll forward. Wittman was still moving forward toward the objective, but heard all of the firing going on behind him and was not sure what had transpired. Suddenly, he looked back up the main street and saw both of his following vehicles on fire and lurching erraticly. He urged his driver to continue, knowing deep down that he and his crew were the only ones capable of still obtaining the objective. Wittman saw the road junction coming into view, and thought that perhaps after all he and his crew would somehow accomplish their mission. Before Wittman was able to reach the objective, he had to pass another side alleyway that no doubt would contain an allied unit. He instructed Wol to traverse the gun to 9 oclock position in the event that another British tank was lurking around in this area. Before Wol could rotate the turret,a 6pdr anti-tank round was fired from this alleyway and smashed into the left hand side of Wittman's Tiger's suspension. The enemy round disabled the Tiger by jamming the left track, whereby it was impossible to continue the battle run. Wittman's driver, was however, able to maneuver the vehicle to the left by diverting all the engine power to the right track, which directed the crippled machine to the left hand side of the street and came to a halt next to a large wooden building. Inside the Tiger, Wittman and his crew were slightly dazed after being violently thrown to the right side of their positions - Dazed, but not confused! Nobody was injured but Wittmann knew that the game was up. Before he ordered his crew to bale out, he instruced Wol to fire off 3 or 4 main gun rounds while he swung the turret from the 11 oclock to the 3 oclock position, in order to force the enemy to keep their heads down. Wol and the bow machine gunner were also ordered to fire their MG-34's for the same purpose. While this frantic fire was going on, Wittman and his loader grabbed their personal weapons (MP-40, P-38), and he also ordered the two MG-34's removed from their respective mounts. Wittmann then gave the order to bale out. All of the crew opened the hatches at the same time, with Wittmann and his crew springing from their respective positions and diving for cover to the left hand side of the vehicle. To their great good fortune, the British did not have any mopping up infantry at their disposal, which allowed Wittmann and his crew to escape into a nearby building. Through back alleys and other structures, Wittmann and his men made their way back to their companies hidden position to the Northeast. After about an hour and a half, Wittmann and his exhausted crew reported back to Sepp Deitrich and briefed him on the details of the final battle run into Villers-Bocage. Aftermath: Even though Wittman and his crew were unable to take the road junction, the damage inflicted upon 4th CLY was overwhelming, as the vast majority of its vehicles were now twisted masses of flaming metal. It would take weeks for the 4th CLY to regroup and reorganize, before it was line ready. Over 25 allied armored vehicles had been knocked out with the loss of only 3 German heavy and one German medium panzer. Michael Wittmann had been instrumental in saving many lives in the Panzer Lehr division, and as a result, Wittmann was awarded the Crossed Swords to his Knights Cross on June 22, 1944. Special Scenario Rules: 1. Units of Wittmann's platoon are represented by B0-B3. They are simulated as being situated in their wooded HQ position, and can't join Wittmann, move, fire, or do ANYTHING until the 9th turn. 2. Order of objectives taken: (see ASCII map at end of page) Wittmann's tank must first wipe out: the units of the Rifle Brigade, then proceed toward the Caumont road junction. On the way, he should wipe out the 4th CLH HQ tanks (Cromwells). As SOON as either; 1) he spots or engages at least one unit of Squadron B at the road junction, or 2) turn 8 arrives, Wittmann's tank MUST_head back east down the main street from the way he came to regroup with his other panzers in order to destroy the tanks of Squadron 'A' who are holding hill 213. Due to radio silence, Wittmann's tank must be within 4 hexes of any one of his panzer units in order to begin moving with them toward Hill 213. 3. After engaging and destroying the units on Hill 213, Wittman and his units are to proceed again toward the road junction and secure it. The scenario ends on turn 20. 4. Note: In case you are wondering why the British units didn't form up and destroy Wittmann's small force, I should inform you that the entire British brigade was under radio silence. ASCII MAP OF VILLERS-BOCAGE: toward Caen bocage bocage /----- toward Caumont N175 / \ ****/*** Hill 213 \ * */** \ Rue Clemenceau * /* * 'A' Sqd. 'B' Sqd. \____________________________________________ /obj.1 4thCLYHQ Rifle Bd. / x-roads Tanks ***WOODS******* / *************** *wittmanns HQ** bocage *************** bocage *************** V E R Y I M P O R T A N T ::::: It is CRUCIAL to follow the RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. If you do not, then I have wasted both my time and yours. This engagement involved crucial timing and surprise. You will enjoy it a lot more if you print out this file and follow the rules. This scenario is probably not all that play balanced - I wasn't interested in this aspect as much as I was an accurate as possible recreation of probably the best example of the awesome effect of the German Tiger tank, especially the psychological effect it had on it's enemies. This, and the comparative difference between extrememly experienced German panzer crews and their relatively inexperienced Anglo-American enemies. Wittmann and his crew have been given extrememely high morale and experience ratings. Does he deserve them ? Probably so. He knocked out more enemy tanks than any other tanker in the World, and was extremeley brave as well as lethal. He was killed several weeks later in the battle in the Falaise Gap, near a town called Gaumesnil. His Tiger was ventilated by 5 Shermans firing from three different sides. He lies at rest now in a roadside grave along the N158 with his beloved panzer crew. He was truly a Panzer Hero. Wolfgang Send any comments (no flames) to d.roberts57 on GEnie, or tortious@utkux.utcc.utk.edu