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