The second game ended with another German victory!

Scenario

The Para platoon from the last game is defending the outskirts of the Bas de Rainville, blocking the path of my Kampfgruppe, who are intent on the Orne Bridges.

Terrain

The terrain consists of a small walled farm, a sunken road leading to it, and some fields and orchards. The farm buildings are stone and had good fields of view. All of the buildings and walls were 3D printed and I’m pretty happy with them. I’ve only done a rough paint job as we wanted to get this fight done before Christmas. We’ll definitely be printing more terrain in the near future.

Forces

The Para platoon was still missing the six men of the rifle team from 2 Section, along with their Platoon Sergeant. They were also short seven men (four KIA and three wounded). This left them pretty depleted. They were organized with 1 and 2 Section having a Bren gun crewed by three men plus a Junior Leader (JL) each. 3 Section had two Bren guns, and the HQ had the Senior Leader (SL), two man PIAT team, two man 2″ mortar, and one sniper. Support options were limited for Lucius, but he chose an additional section of Paratroopers, with a JL, Bren team and rifle team. I did not know his support choices until they deployed on the table. Para Force Morale started at 9.

Having three platoons in this campaign, my second platoon of Panzergrenadiers rolls up. It’s got three squads, each with two MG42s and five riflemen, so they’re potent. I had thirteen support points to spend. I brought in a Forward Observer who could call on 8cm mortars, a Lorraine Schlepper (a 150mm self-propelled gun mounted on a French tracked chassis), and a Unix P107(f) (a French half-track). I used a Marder and a Hanomag for the two rare vehicles. Lucius did not know what I had chosen, but had gamed this in his mind and had several thoughts as to what I was going to take. I believe I chose his option 3b… My Force Morale started at 8.

The Plan

I knew that all I needed to do was move a team to the opposing table edge. I also knew that Lucius only has two platoons for the campaign, and I wanted to cause as many casualties to him as possible while doing so.

The field on my right was open and tempting, but a Vickers at the hedgerow could really slow me down. The best avenue for success in my mind was the wall to the left of the barn (and off the picture above). There was light cover in the orchard to almost 12″ away. Only one building had a good line of sight on the open ground, and the high walls of the farm actually shielded me from more interference.

My plan was then to deploy 1st Squad on my left, in the cover of the orchard. I would put them on overwatch to win any firefight before moving. Being at close range against weaker yet more elite forces would see me victorious, I thought. My Forward Observer (FO)would be with 1st Squad, not the Senior Leader. While this would make them harder to activate, it would allow me to call fire down on the main farm house, pinning anyone there, and most importantly, blocking line of sight, which would allow me to advance.

2nd Squad was to deploy at the crossroads. I was worried about Lucius pushing up into the woods, so was to deploy a team in the woods, and another on the road to cut the table in two. 3rd Squad, (half mounted in the Unix) would advance up to the hedgerow. The half-track and squad should be able to put pressure on the right side, and if possible, exploit any gaps. The Lorraine Schlepper was my reserve. If the FO were knocked out, or the barrage ended early, it would pound the farm. If the barrage was working, it would support the advance on my right across the field. The Unix was hopefully an earlier target for the PIAT, and I was hoping to keep the Lorraine back near my table edge. My plan was then to pin the centre, put pressure on both flanks, with a breakthough hopefully happening on my left.

The Fight

The Patrol Phase was uneventful. Para jumping off points (JOPs) were located behind the barn on my left, in the farm in the centre, and behind the hedges in the open field on my right. My JOPs were in the orchard, at the crossroads, and on the table baseline on my right.

The Para’s had higher Force Morale so went first. Right away the 2″ mortar came on in the farmyard, while a sniper took position in the barn facing the orchard and the crossroads.

I brought 1st Squad on my left in overwatch, as planned. 2nd Squad came on and here I made my first mistake. I was going to have the JL place the team in the woods on overwatch and then have the JL jump the hedge and move up with the other team. I deployed the JL on the wrong side of the hedge, which would bite me later.

Lucius responded by bringing on 1 Section at the stone wall that was 1st Squad’s objective. Drat. They also went onto overwatch, content to sit tight until someone moved.

My FO arrived up with 1st Squad and called for fire while my Unix half-track showed up. I then moved all of 2nd Squad forward, forgetting my plan to simply hold the woods. 2nd Squad moved up quickly. Almost too quickly.

Lucius grinned and then placed 4 Section, the support one, on the close side of the farm wall to me. Within striking range of my unsupported team from 2nd Squad. This is not good.

Luckily I rolled a double phase. 1st Squad decided to get things going so engaged in a firefight with 1st Section at the barn wall, inflicting 2 kills and some shock for some light shock in return. The FO called for immediate fire, which deviated luckily only 6 inches.

This pinned half of 4 Section, blocked line of sight for the sniper, but also made my route to the barn wall a lot harder. My next command roll gave me nothing usable except some points for a Chain of Command die.

Lucius brought on 3 Section at the hedgeline and fired at the exposed half of 2nd Squad. The 2 Bren guns inflicted 3 kills and 1 shock, wounding the JL and bringing my Force Morale down to 7.

My troops were on overwatch and managed 1 kill in return. The unpinned part of 4 Section then moved up tactically, clearly getting ready to assault the other part of my now bloodied centre.

The barrage holding my left, I needed to deal with the disaster looming on my right. The Unix half-track moved up and engaged 3 Section in the hedge row to no effect, and my Lorraine Schlepper creaked onto the field.

3 Section meanwhile continued to fire away, breaking the team which dropped my Force Morale down to 6.

Lucius then rallied shock off his 1st Section and had his assault team from 4 Section creep up in the woods towards the junction. I had forgotten how aggressive Lucius was in defence. I needed to pull 2nd Squad back and keep to my plan. Things were okay on my left, and my armour should be able to deal with 3 Section, as long as the PIAT holds back.

I brought the Lorraine Schlepper up to join the Unix and they inflected 2 kills and more shock on 3 Section, which fell back, but not far enough.

I brought my Senior Leader on to rally off the shock from the broken MG team that was all that was left of half of 2nd Squad. The Lorraine Schlepper hit 3 Section again, killing 2 more and wounding the JL, dropping British Force Morale down to 8. I then shifted fire from the mortar barrage to the right, opening up a line of advance for my 1st Squad.

Lucius then got a double phase, rallying shock off of 3 Section. I used my Chain of Command die and interrupted, firing at 3 Section before it could fall back further. I wiped out a team in 3 Section, which brought British Force Morale down further to 7 as 3 Section pulls back. With the barrage shifted, the sniper and 1 Section fired at 1st Squad in the orchard, but only managed some shock. The 2″ mortar joined in the fun and dropped smoke in front of the Lorraine Schlepper.

My turn for another double phase. 1st Squad fired at 1 Section by the barn wall and wiped out the team, but British Force Morale remained steady somehow. I then advanced 1st Squad to the barn wall, just inches from a solitary JL and the JOP behind the barn. Meanwhile I pull back the intact portion of 2nd Squad to the wooded side of the crossroads. With time for our play coming to an end, and seeing that Lucius was hard pressed on my left, I decided to shoot forward with my Unix half-track on the right, and raced 19″ down the table, coming one more move away from the endzone.

Lucius then ended the turn using his Chain of Command die. He brought his PIAT on, which didn’t kill the Unix!!! It did kill the driver, but that’s not terrible. Seeing the situation on his left, Lucius threw his only undeployed asset on: 2 Section (which was just a Bren team). This, plus the JL from 1 Section attacked the Panzergrenadier squad over a stone wall in an act of desperation and courage. It didn’t work. All of what was 2 Section and both JLs were killed while the Germans suffered 3 casualties. British Force Morale dropped to 3.

My next roll of 55444 left me with nothing I could use so the phase passed to Lucius who decided to cut his loses and retreat.

Aftermath

This was an interesting fight. My basic plan was sound, but I deviated from it and forgot how much of a forward defence Lucius uses. His deployment of the support section in the middle forced me to react to him rather than the other way around. Luckily my barrage held one flank and the centre so I could deal with the other. Next time I would set up more cautiously on my baseline and then push up. I also fell victim to looking at the dice and doing as much as I could, rather than sticking to what needed to be done next.

Our next encounter will be very different. It is called “Attacking the Corridor of Death” and has lots of stone houses surrounded by high walls. Digging out a full strength platoon of Paras in hand to hand fighting will take a high toll. Granted, he is using the platoon he has for scenario three and five, but it’s moot if I can’t take the town.

German Situation

The difference in Force Morale means that the Germans lose 4 casualties, 2 killed, 1 wounded, 1 lightly wounded returning to duty. That means that my 1st and 2nd Platoons are down 2 men each, which isn’t bad for writing off most of a platoon of Paratroopers. 3rd Platoon has yet to see action. The Unix is damaged, but I have 3 of them for the campaign and the damaged one will be repaired for when I next need it.

Von Luck’s opinion of my Kompanie commander goes up to +2, while my men’s opinion increases to +4. No impact on support options, but I will receive a bonus to my Force Morale.

British Situation

The Para platoon suffered much more harshly. The support section only lost 1 man, but the rest of the force suffered 14 casualties. This means 7 men KIA, 4 missing the next fight. The Para’s will be missing 15 men killed or wounded, not including the rifle team from 2 Section who are still off somewhere. They could be down 22 men for the next fight, which I think means that we won’t see this platoon again.

As a result of another loss and very high casualties, including 2 NCOs, the CO’s opinion drops to -1, and the men’s opinion drops to -3, which is a negative modifier to Force Morale.