Normandy Hellcat!

This week's theme at the Wollongong Wargamers was WW2 Skirmish games. So Caesar joined me in a game of Achtung Panzer! We played the first mission, which is essentially a battle of attrition.

For the Germans, I had Von Ribbentrop's elite Panther:

And a JagdPanther. 

Caesar had the Northants Yeomanry elite Akilla Sherman V, a Firefly Sherman Vc...

And, perhaps improbably, a lost US M18 Hellcat:

Caesar advanced cautiously on his left, spending a great deal of time an effort fruitlessly brassing up the constricting Ambush Terrain:

To the extent I abandoned my initial plan of hanging back and taking long shots and advanced my JagdPanther forward into the village...

Noticing too late that Caesar had sent the Hellcat racing down his right flank in the shelter of the large bocage field...

The resulting close range confrontation would be decided by who was fastest on the draw - both commanders were unbuttoned so it would be a question of passing crew skill tests for a free conversion of a spot into an aim.

I was first initially, but the Hellcat declined to hang around and be shot at, reversing nimbly back into the shadow of the bocage. Then, it shot back out...

And got the drop on the Panther!

By this stage the Shermans had finally cleared the ambush terrain and were jockeying for position to have a go at the JagdPanther...

The Firefly hit and penetrated sufficiently to cause hull damage...

Then the Hellcat, insufficiently sated, also joined in the fun...

Creeping forwards to get a hull down shot at the giant assault gun:

Once again working hard for a side shot paid off for the US Tank Destroyer crew!

An enjoyable game, even if my impatience led to disaster!