Like a lot of really, stupid ideas, this project was embedded in my easily coerced mind by an outside influence - Chris

Das Reich Cornwall (who some readers may recall was photographed for an earlier edition of WI at a re-creation of Kursk) - when we were travelling back down from a weekend 25mm Napoleonic game at the Wargames Holiday Centre, in April 2005.

INTRODUCTION: A MONSTROUS GLINT IN THE EYE

Above: Pak 40, Tamiya. Right: B Squadron Firefly, Bouchain, of the Grenadier Guards (tank by Dragon, crew by Dragon and Ultracast) Below: Coldstream Guards Infantry Platoon, showing flanged aluminium bases (figures by Dragon) Bottom Right: An Opel Blitz pays a visit to the Boulangerie (truck by Italeri, building and road scratch-built)

On a three- or four-hour car journey, the conversation can cover a wide variety of topics, with which Im sure you are all familiar: periods we have never tried but wouldnt mind having a go at; how to make nice trees; Leipzig at one to one in 25mm in a gym that sort of thing. Now, I had dabbled with WWII rules a while back, but, always having megalomaniac tendencies (wasnt that the name of a band?), never really warmed to them for anything more than an occasional game. However, all that was to change when I bought a set of Crossfire rules the lateral thinking aspect of no ranges or move rates really appealed to me as much as it seemed to freak other people out. Then, fatefully, in that car in April, Chris remarked, Course, with no real scale, or ranges, you could do a Crossfire game in any scale you want. Hmmmmm, any scale you want, eh? The seed was sown, the scene was set, eight months of my life was about to disappear Where to start? What to do? Well, we had a huge topic of discussion for the final two hours of our journey! Me, being a rampant, almost nationalistic, patriot (from henceforth this will be referred to as Rule 1) wanted a British force not Allied, British and as late war is where my interests lie (such as they are, Im more a Napoleonic buff Mr Siggins is right, it is the one true period), 44 -45 beckoned. So, by the time The South loomed, it was decided: a game set in Normandy, inland, with a British force, around the Caen area, nice terrain opportunities (woods, built-up areas, fields, etc.), with THE MONSTER IS CONCEIVED

60

PART 1: THE MADNESS BEGINS! Words and Pictures by John Lander

1st left: An Opel Blitz pays a visit to the Boulangerie (truck by Italeri, building and road scratch-built by the author) 2nd left: Wittmans Tiger amidst Normandy hedgerows Tamiya, hedges by Last Valley, Zimmeritting by the author!)

a well-dug-in, well-equipped enemy and a variety of interesting kit. But what to do? Various books were read; Max Hastings (rather Nazi-cisstic, but otherwise excellent) Overlord had an account of the British Guards Armoured Division clashing with 21st Panzer and 12th SS Panzer, to the South of Caen, around the towns of Cagny and Le Poirier, on the road to Vimont. Guards Armoured, eh? Well, my father was a Coldstreamer, so the infantry element was decided: a battlegroup based around an infantry battalion of the Coldstream Guards with an armoured regiment of the Grenadier Guards. (Later the division formed battlegroups with the infantry and tanks of the same regiment, but not in the timeframe of this game.) On top of this, some support and add-ons, 30 vehicles and around 250 figures easy! A big table was obviously needed; a quick call to Gerry Elliot of the WHC, a man always open to foolishness, secured his 30ft x 15ft behemoth, to fill with 1/35 scenery (bugger). THE MONSTER IS BORN

Above: A Revell Typhoon buzzes Cagny

Right. Build! Create! Paint! Dragon makes two suitable sets of British infantry, the Normandy set being the best (natch). Assembling, converting and painting werent as bad as I hoped and the first company of infantry came together in about a month or so. Next came a painful decision: Rule 1 demanded Cromwell tanks for my armoured element, and the Welsh Guards Armoured Recce Regiment was so equipped, but there are certain images that shout out Normandy for me: Typhoons, SS-smocked Germans, British helmets covered in hessian tape camouflage, PZIVs with shtzen armour, and columns of Shermans. The line armoured regiments were equipped with Shermans, and the kits are a lot cheaper! I took solace in the fact that some were British-designed Fireflies, and began scouring the net; eBay came to the rescue, as I discovered that no one really wants dull Shermans: big, exciting German Tigers command high prices, but little Tommy cookers can be had comparatively cheaply. This brings me smoothly to Rule 2: I find very disturbing the fawning adulation some WWII gamers seem to have for Left: Cadiz, a 75mm Sherman, among the Normandy bocage (tank by Tamiya, crew by all things German (and especially Ultracast, greenery by Last Valley) SS). Sorry if that offends you, but its Above: Cambrai, a Sherman, edges into a free country (which, incidentally, it Cagny (tank and lampposts by Tamiya, trees by wouldnt have been if well, you Last Valley, roads and buildings scratch-built by know).
the author)

61

Now, the line between wargaming and modelling was being blurred here as the three Firefly kits I had to make all required the assembly of separate track links: three parts to each link, 85 links to a track, six tracks to make I cried, I actually cried. Small parts were left off the tanks as I thought they would only get broken off anyway, but I did make an effort to use the correct divisional and regimental markings (see Rule 1) then covered them in stowage, track links, hairnet camo (!) and mud made from a mixture of brown Humbrol enamel, sand and sisal, which, when highlighted, looks the mutts! These were crewed with Ultracast, pixie-suited tankers, suitably named, and finished with a matt varnish and a bristle aerial. I did these, three kits at a time, to spread both cost and interest over the project as a whole. The infantry were causing me some basing problems: they have a lot of very fragile gun barrels waving around, and other people grabbing the figures to move them around would result in a poke in the eye from me! This was solved by mounting them on aluminium bases, four inches square for a section (not squad see Rule 1) with half-inch flanges folded up on two sides to move them, the flanges having green insulating tape on them to blend them in a bit. I placed four figures, not three as specified in Crossfire, to a base as, well, it just looked better to me! The German armour gave me a chance to try something new to me, which I had previously considered something of a black art: airbrushing. I borrowed a mates brush and compressor, bought some Humbrol yellow, green and red-brown, and just dived in. It was OK, actually, and with a bit of practice the PZIVs, StuGs and Panthers looked great (you can tell, however, which one I did first and which last!). A bit of foliage, mud and crew, and they were done.

A bargain presented itself on the net in the shape of Wittmans Tiger. I bought it as he was attached to 12SS for this part of the Normandy campaign. One fateful day I assembled it and, glancing at the instructions for applying the Zimeritt coating, thought to myself, That looks easy. Theres a day of my life Ill never get back! Despite my self-imposed rules, I have to say that it looked top cheese. Rule 2 dictates that an embarrassment of German infantry is available from Tamiya, Dragon and Zvezda, so cap-wearing, greatcoated line or smocked SS were not a problem: eBay for bargains; Netmerchants.co.uk for specifics and, it must be said, fantastic service.

As I mentioned earlier, cab rank Typhoons epitomise Normandy for me, but in 1/35? Surely not? I had a word with myself, to the effect that not making one for reasons of insanity was no longer an option. Revell provided, I built. A base was made using some dowel and was given weight by melting down some orrible, no-neck Napoleonic figures someone got me from a bring n buy because they were cheap. The manufacturer? Not saying, but Siggins would weep! It was now October, and the game was set for Gerrys off season at the start of December. Time was fast running out. I had been putting off even thinking about the two towns I planned to make, as Mick Sewell has set the bar so high on the buildings front that I had to mentally prepare myself for mine not to be as good (Rule 3: dont beat yourself up over a hobby may be called for!). So, in the best traditions of me, I dived in, using quarter-inch ply, and bits of cobbled sections and other sundries from a model railway shop. All the buildings were

62

based on photos of Normandy, ensuring the room space they contained was based on five-inch squares, or multiples thereof, to enable an infantry section to fit comfortably. The town of Cagny would be represented by four buildings, and a large walled courtyard farm would do for Le Poirier. Cagny boasted a large hotel, the Caf Rene (!) and two houses, plus a metalled main street, with Tamiya lampposts and road signs, a fountain, and WWII French posters from the net, scaled down, distressed and stuck on the walls. Roofs were tiled with squares of card, in ye olde Games Workshoppe style; the walls were all painted with a paint/sand mix, highlighted and matt varnished. A bit of battle damage, not overdone, finished them off. Some large road sections were then knocked up from hardboard/paint/sand/ sawdust for the main drag through Cagny to Vimont. Well, that took up October/November! S&A Scenics barbed wire and matchsticks were used to make eight infantry base-sized wire stands to further impede the British advance. In a last-minute push with which Im sure other gamers will empathise, these were finished the hour before I embarked on the drive to Scarborough, the fumes ensuring I drove for four hours at nothing oclock on that December morning with the windows fully open! The British force consisted of an infantry battalion of three companies, plus, at battalion level, an A/T company of 3 x 6pdr, three-inch mortar, carrier platoon in two Bren carriers, and an engineer platoon. The armoured regiment had three sabre squadrons, each of two 75mm Shermans and a Firefly. This was commanded by a headquarter squadron of a command Sherman, complete with Scottie dog-armed colonel in the turret (well, he is a Guards officer!) and a recce troop of two Honeys (not Stuarts - see Rule 1). In addition, a squadron of the 2nd Lifeguards with a Dingo and two Humber armoured cars provided extra recce capability, as two Achilles 17pdr tank destroyers did for heavier metal support. A company of the divisions machine gun unit (three Vickers HMGs) with a 4.2inch mortar and Wasp flamethrower carrier filled out the infantry close-support weapons. Finally, a 25pdr forward observer and RAF ground liaison officer for the Typhoon meant an end to the khaki! I went to lie down in a darkened room. Girlfriend rang bell. I ate food. THE MONSTER WALKS

The Germans had a less rigid organisation, as the grinding attrition of Normandy had taken its toll. Elements of 21st Panzer Division were represented by two companies of infantry, with help from an 81mm mortar, PAK 40, two HMGs and a Nebelwerfer observer. Two PZIV Es provided tank support and a 20mm flak gun to help stave off the attentions of the RAF. 12th SS had an under-strength company of two platoons, with an HMG, in Hanomag 251s. No mortars or A/T guns were left, but a very useful armoured force of two PZIV Hs, two Panthers and two StuG IIIs were available, together with a halftrack-mounted 20mm flak gun. Wittmans Tiger would turn up randomly, driving to the sound of the guns, or if someone told him there was a column of ambulances that needed shooting up (see Rule 2)! A/T capability was provided by an 88mm and a 75mm PAK 43- both utter monsters in 1/35, and deadly in Crossfire! Phew, finished. But will it be as good to play as it is to look at? Next time: The Game!

Picture Captions. From top left down. Wittmans Tiger (Tamiya) amidst Normandy hedgerows (by Last Valley, Zimmeritting by the author!) A Panzer Grenadiers eye view of a Firefly (tank by Dragon) British tank column laagers up in a Normandy village (vehicles and figures by Tamiya and Dragon, scenery scratch-built by the author) Ill Met By Sunlight: Lifeguards recce squadron hammers up the Vimont Road, with Typhoons in the far distance Picture Captions. From top right down. Guards Battalion commander confers with tankers in a Normandy village (Verlinden officers and tank by Dragon) British tank column laagers up in a Normandy village (vehicles and figures by Tamiya and Dragon, buildings and road scratch-built by the author) 12SS Panther advances through the bocage (tank by Tamiya, road scratch-built by the author, bocage by Last Valley)

63

In the last issue of WI I told of the eight months of work that brought me to the Wargames Holiday Centre, on a freezing Scarborough Sunday morning, with a car groaning under the weight of assorted figures, vehicles, trees, buildings, aircraft, roads oh, and some clothes for the three days! This game was a huge step into the unknown as, I believe, we were stretching the Crossfire ruleset to its limits: it could all be over in two hours or it might take a week! I had invested a lot of time in this and wanted it to be a great game. We now come to that most dreaded of articles: the battle report. Ill try to keep it flowing and, I hope, interesting. Ill try to remember what happened. Did I take detailed notes as we went along? Naaaa, too busy laughing and pointing!

INTRODUCTION

My erstwhile colleagues for this venture were Chris Das Reich Cornwall, Dave The Cravat Kenyon, Gerry The Guvnor Elliot, and me. Mike Just Mike Ingham would drop in to comment/abuse/laugh/point/etc. as he saw fit. I took the role of umpire, as I had planned hidden set-ups, minefields, Typhoon strikes, and so on. Dave would be the British player, with Chris and Gerry portraying the dastardly Hun. The table was as follows (see map): Cagny to the east of off-table Caen, and a large wooded/broken ground area to the west of Cagny; a long, wooded ridge overlooking the Vimont road, with Le Poirier to the southwest of Cagny. The secret of Crossfire is to break up really long lines of sight (no range restrictions, remember) so I spent some time just tweaking woods (oo-er!) to close these off. The Germans had two four-stand barbed-wire lines, three mined areas and two bunkers, one housing a PAK38 and the other an HMG; these could be positioned anywhere on the board the German player wished.
Above and Right: 12th SS move up through Normandy bocage (PzIV by Italeri, Panthers by Tamiya and Dragon, hedges by Last Valley, roads by the author)

MEET THE GANG, COZ THE BOYS ARE HERE

Right: Panthers of 12th SS emerge from Le Poirier woods to engage the Grenadier Guards Armoured Regiment (Panthers by Dragon/ Tamiya, woods by Last Valley)

Dave was banished to Gerrys garden as the German set-up was revealed. A company of the 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment from 21st Panzer Division would occupy Cagny, with another in Le Poirier. The Cagny garrison would be further bolstered by two short 75mm PzIVs (from the 100th Panzer Regiment) hidden in the woods at each end of town, and the Nebelwerfer FOO on the roof of the hotel, giving a good line of sight (LOS) to the approaches to the town. The 20mm AA gun was situated in the walled orchard to the rear of the town, to help if the RAF decided to alter the architecture with 60lb rockets.

YOU WANT TO PUT THAT WHERE?!

22

PART 2: THE MADNESS ENDS! Words and Pictures by John Lander

The Poirier force would have support from an 88mm PAK43 and a PAK38 in a bunker with an HMG covering the approaches to the town. In reserve, behind Le Poirier, would be elements of the 25th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment from 12th SS Hitlerjgend, waiting to see where the main British thrust would develop. The other 88mm was in cover in the woods on the ridge, covering the Vimont road out of Cagny. Finally, the three road sections leading to Cagny were mined. All of this was unknown, with nothing on the table, as Dave deployed his forces very disconcerting, and not helped by Gerry and Chris sniggering like schoolboys each time a British platoon or squadron was set up. The British plan? I quote, ahem, Go hell for leather up the Vimont road with my fastest stuff to flush the bastards out! Now thats what I call Guards Armoured! Dave, I salute you. KEEP TROTTING. IF IN DOUBT, CHARGE!

Above Left: A dreaded 88mm covers the Vimont road (Tamiya) Above right and right: 88mm PAK 43 in Le Poirier, (Gun by AFV Club, crew by Tamiya)

True to his word, Dave sent a recce squadron of the 2nd Life Guards to have a sniff up the Cagny road, the mission brought to an abrupt end by Mr Tellers favourite invention as the lead Humber armoured car was destroyed by a mine. The trap was further sprung by a hidden PzIV letting fly at the next Humber, but missing! Discretion being the better part of not getting ones plastic head blown off, the other cars left the road a bit sharpish for the cover of a grassy knoll, a reactive shot from the PzIV missing again. This put the German tank on a no fire, leaving it open to a shot from the lead Sherman of B Squadron, Grenadier Guards Armoured Regiment, which was following the Life Guards up the road; Barrosa whacked a 75mm shell through the front of the Panzer, brewing it up. Honours even. A Squadron left the road, leapfrogged B Squadron and moved, more cautiously, towards Cagny, taking A Company Coldstream Guards with it. A battlegroup - consisting of C Squadron, C Company, two Vickers
Left: StuGs guard the rear of Cagny (Tamiya)

Right: British platoon in woods at Cagny (Figures by Dragon)

Left: British sections move on Cagny (Figures by Dragon)

23

BRITISH

Le Messnil Frmental

To Caen

Cagny

PAK Bunker MG Bunker

27'

Le Poirier

To Vimont

24

15'

To Frnouville

A section had gained line of sight to the town, forcing Chris to place eight stands of barbed wire along the front of Cagny; this was not going to be easy. Meanwhile, the FOO couldnt believe the amount of targets for his battery of Nebelwerfers. I had decided that the werfers hit everything on a three-foot board, with four dice, deducting for cover, and coming in after a dice roll over three, then D10 minutes later; but they only hit the target board on the nine or ten of a D10, the remaining one to eight corresponding to one of the boards around it. Deadly, but very inaccurate. As umpire, I rolled secretly for the time delay, so neither side knew when the moaning minnies would arrive; in this case, it was a delay of only four minutes. Chris rolled for the board that would be hit, knowing only a roll of one would mean a friendly fire incident. The curse that is anything but a one duly struck and, along with another British section, a Vickers team and a platoon commander, the PAK40 was knocked out. Ignoring his role, Chriss words were more Anglo Saxon than Teutonic, with not a Dummkopf to be heard! With the attack on Cagny stalled for the moment, Dave sent the recce troop of two Honeys into the woods to the west of Cagny to start an outflanking manoeuvre. The carrier platoon and A/T company lent their support, with the 6pdrs unlimbering along a hedge line to cover the back of the wood. No fire was forthcoming, so the carrier platoon skirted the wood and moved on to the next, only to receive an 88mm shell from Le Poiriers PAK43. Sledgehammers and nuts sprang to mind, as the carrier, and its complement, were totally destroyed. With initiative gained, the 88 had a pop at one of the Honeys, and missed. The other end of the wood was hidden from further 88-related attentions, so the remaining two sections of the carrier platoon debussed and hunkered down in the wood. This action drew the attention of a hidden PzII, which fired at the leading section, suppressing it. The German players had carried out their deployment well: with overlapping fields of fire and obvious routes covered, this was going to be bloody going for the Brits! Gerry, deciding that the best form of defence etc., and with the British on the back foot, sent a company of 12th SS in 251 halftracks, with two Panthers, two PzIVs and a 20mm flak, in a column to the ground between Cagny and Le Poirier, to link up IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY

The Guards of C Company continued a slow advance into the bocage hedges on the outskirts of Cagny, coming face to face with a concealed PzIV from 21st Panzer, which let fly, suppressing the lead section. The initiative won, the Panzer shelled the lead section again, gaining another suppression and therefore a kill. An MG42 in an upstairs window opened up, suppressing the second section, while a platoon crossfire from the hotel suppressed the third, and removed it outright a second later. A heartfelt Oh, pants signalled the British dilemma perfectly. Another burst from the HMG missed, passing the initiative to the British. Dave moved a Sherman from C Squadron to cover the withdrawal of the survivors of the lead platoon, only for a hidden PAK 40 anti-tank gun to roll double six, and well and truly wallop it, Cadiz buying the dirt farm. The remaining men of the company all dived for cover and the attack stalled.

guns and mortar support moved east, swung south and inched its way two platoons up, one back, in textbook style covered by the leading tanks, to the outskirts of Cagny. The Germans were holding fire, but a Nebelwerfer FOO had other plans

25

Taking advantage of an unexpected initiative win, Dave moved B Squadron up to the woods and carefully inched his Shermans round it, avoiding the 88mms lane of ouch. Ever the fool/optimist/master tactician, and against the practice of the era, Dave led with the Firefly, only to advance too far and receive a 75mm present from a lurking Panther, which glanced off the frontal armour (diaries of the time always mention the smell inside a tank this sort of thing cannot have helped!). Pushing its tommy cooker luck, Bouchain squared up to the Panther and let it have a 17pdr poke in return. This missed. It now had to be played out, and, with neither side backing off, misses, bounces all were suffered, with both Dave and Gerry getting more anxious and tension rising. Bouchain finally had the last word and destroyed the Panther, to much cheering from Dave and, it must be said, me. (Impartial umpire? See rules 1 and 2 in last months instalment!) This victory left the flank of a PzIV open to the same Firefly, which it duly brewed up. Realising that Bouchain was probably pushing its luck, Dave pushed it even further, destroying a 251 and shooting up its infantry; then its crew reversed out of harms way to have tea and, no doubt, congratulate themselves. With the 6pdrs covering, the flank of Cagny was secured, so the British 25pdr observer called in a smoke mission just beyond the barbed wire covering the approach to the town. Under cover of this, the battalions engineers set about clearing a path and, despite the attentions of a sniper, this was achieved. The engineers withdrew no doubt with a jerked thumb and an Over to you, mate and the infantry of C Company, Coldstream Guards, readied themselves for the assault. YOU DIRTY RAAAT

the German defences. This movement brought a hopeful parp from the surviving Humbers Besa machine gun, which promptly suppressed the leading SS section. With a three footsquare board full of deploying infantry, halftracks and armour, Dave begged for an opportunistic Typhoon pilot to spot this. I rolled, but to no avail.

More smoke was laid, and the company set off down the lanes cleared in the wire, covered by the guns of 21st Anti-tank Regiments Achilles tank destroyers. The Firefly of C Squadron inched around to flank Cagny, with the other remaining Sherman trundling up to the edge of the main street to draw some fire away from the infantry. This it did, to a welcome mat of two Panzerfausts. Both missed. Covered by the 75mm of the Sherman, the infantry attacked the hotel and first house, the Shermans HE helping to clear the way. After about two hours close-in fighting, the hotel and house were cleared. With Corunna of C Squadron knocking out a 21st Panzer PzIV, the eastern flank of the town was looking cleared: good work, fella! An over-zealous Achilles moved to flank the next building and was promptly brewed by a hitherto hidden StuG and the Firefly, next initiative, by a Panzerfaust. Oooooo, not so good!

Chris and Gerry had also slipped in a platoon of 12th SS to reinforce the garrison; these wasted no time in counter-attacking and ejecting the British from their tenuous hold of the first house. This heralded a time of attack and counter-attack, finally broken by a Wasp flamethrower carrier braving Panzerfaust alley, as the main street had become known, to help eject the Germans to the rear of the town. This was shaping up to be a great game!

26

The battle of the woodlands on the approaches to Le Poirier was bogging down, with slow progress from the British, a German counter-attack was stopped by the A/T company, Bouchain claimed another Panther before a PzIV halted its heroic run, and a Typhoon strike mauled the half-tracks these boys are walking from now on! Wittmans Tiger now showed up and clanked its way to cover the rear of Cagny, along with some more 12th SS and a StuG. Its arrival was welcomed by a 75mm hello from Cambrai, the remaining tank of C Squadron, which had advanced along the main street. This shot bounced off the front of the Tiger, causing it to veer into some woods, taking another round in the side, which also bounced off. While Wittman changed his undercrackers, the British infantry finally cleared the last building (the Caf Rene!) of its troublesome MG42. The Coldcream boys had taken Cagny but, with a trail of burning Shermans and depleted platoons, had little to hold it against a counter-attack that was brewing in the woods beside the Vimont road. A Kampfgruppe of 21st Panzer infantry, a Tiger and a StuG wanted Cagny back, and against a PIAT, a depleted company and a lone Sherman, it looked as though they were gonna get it. Until, in a moment of pure drama, the hardpressed Guardsmen heard the sound of tank engines as A Squadron roared across the roads of the Cagny approaches (losing a Sherman to a mined road section, but lets not spoil the moment) to lay one into the StuG and shoot up a lot of startled Germans. Dave, obviously having done his WWII research, decoyed Wittmans Tiger with Alma, flanked it with Arras and, still needing a good dice roll to penetrate, rolled a double six, to send Tiger 007 to the junkyard. Now Dave is a well-spoken, ex-public school chap, so to see him cheering and doing the orang-utan victory dance is a sight that will stay with me for a long time. With the British occupying Cagny, but not reaching Le Poirier, we decided it was honours even and the game was declared a draw. It was, historically, horrifically accurate, with a high toll of both tank and infantry lost in winkling out a well-dug-in opponent. Kudos, and massive respect, to all those who had to do it for real. We were all absolutely knackered always the sign of a good, hard-fought game! Thanks have to go to Gerry Elliot of the Wargames Holiday Centre for the use of the table, and to the players for a fantastic game, played totally in the right spirit. Now before this becomes an Oscar speech, and I start thanking God and my parents, and start crying, Im off. In true, crap-horror-film style, the relentless killer is presumed finally dispatched and the surviving teenagers smile weakly at their good fortune but the beast refuses to die! Aaaaargh! Run! POSTSCRIPT ID LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY SHERMANS IN THE MAIN STREET

So it was that, as we were loading up my car with all the kit, Gerry smiled and said, What a stunning game. Do you know what would look even better? D-Day! Thus another seed was sown. So, Ill see you on Sword Beach, at Salute, in April. Roll credits.

Picture Captions. Previous page from the top: 1) An infantry man eye view of Cagny (Buildings scratch-built by the author, greenery by Last Valley) 2 and 3) Sherman Firefly Corunna, of the Grenadier Guards Armoured Regiment, inches into the outskirts of Cagny (Firefly by Dragon) 4) Sherman in the main street! Cambrai firing into Cagny. (Buildings and road scratch-built by the author, greenery by Last Valley) Left hand page top to bottom: 1) 12th SS move up through Normandy bocage (PzIV by Italeri, Panthers by Tamiya and Dragon, hedges by Last Valley, roads by the author) 2) British sections move on Cagny (Figures by Dragon) 3) Cagny (Greenery by Last Valley, terrain boards by Peter Gilder - all hail! buildings/roads scratch-built by the author) 4) Michael Wittman rocks up! (Tiger by Tamiya, Zimmeritting by the author) Left hand page top to bottom right: 1) Cambrai bats way above its league and has a poke at a Tiger (Sherman by Tamiya, buildings and roads scratch-built by the author) 2) British engineer platoon clearing lanes in the wire, under cover of smoke (Figures by Dragon, S&A Scenics wire on scratch-built bases) 3): PzIV (Italeri)

27