The sixth game ended with a German Victory!

Scenario

Kampfgruppe Von Luck, after storming through the Bas de Rainville, came upon 13 Para holding the church at the edge of town. They were outmanoeuvred and unprepared for the vicious defence at the church (game 5) and fell back into the town itself. 13 Para, though short on men, pushed forward and counter-attacked.

Their aim is push the German forces back, delaying any assault on the Orne Bridges until after much-needed reinforcements arrive.

The German forces, having been delayed once by a massive naval bombardment, need to quickly eliminate this blocking force and turn west to take the chateau that is between them and the bridges. Casualties are starting to mount, and time is running out.

Terrain

We are back to where we were in Game 4, the “Corridor of Death.” High walls and plenty of hard cover means that the action will be fought close in so casualties will likely be high. Available armour is converted from French armoured vehicles and so is unable to breach any of the walls.

Forces

13 Para, having left the church to follow up on the German withdrawal, aren’t fielding a full platoon. Their core platoon is down 13 men, so they’re a section short and are dropping their PIAT and 2″ mortar team to a man a piece. Additionally, neither of the snipers is not on the table.

To make matters worse, the Pl Sgt and 2 of the section commanders were replacements, so the men didn’t quite trust them yet. The rules as written would have these section commanders as activating with only 1 command initiative (a decrease from 2 normally). As the Para’s are excellent troops, and can activate their Junior Leaders on a 3 with 2 initiatives or 4 with 3, we decided that we’d knock the initiatives down by 1. On a roll of 3 then, they get 1 initiative, on a roll of 4, 2.

Support choices for this counter attack included a support section, a sniper, and a flamethrower. He always chooses flamethrowers…

3rd Platoon hasn’t seen action yet, so has a Pl Comd, Panzershrek Team, and 3 squads, each with 2 MG 42 teams. My support options were considerable, and will be laid out below.

The Plan

By the very act of playing this game, Lucius has delayed me, so in many ways I’ve got to dig my way out of this hole. The platoon fighting this game will be the same as the one fighting the final fight in game 8, so my goals need to be two-fold: preserve the core of this platoon and inflict enough damage that the defence of the church is greatly weakened.

In order to do that, my plan is to sit back and make use of the terrain. On the right, the large fields aren’t a good place to be facing elites, especially with no hard cover for my men to hide behind. I’ll hold back on my right, and have 3rd squad behind a stone wall. If necessary, I’ll reinforce with 2nd squad, and 20 men behind hard cover should be enough to ward off any attacks on that front.

I’ll use armour to split the road, so I’ll be taking a PAK 40 auf S307 (f) (a PAK 40 mounted on a French half-track, played once again by the Wespe). This will give me a gun putting out 5 HE dice, which should be enough to make the buildings a poor choice for a base of fire.

On my left, I’ll be using the ruined house as a base. I’ll use a support section forward to soak up casualties. He’ll have to clear the house on the far left, and I can support that house with a sustained fire MG 42 (SFMG), and 1st squad. In order to make the advance on that house difficult, I’ll deploy my panzershrek team (to distribute casualties), a Forward Observer (FO), and my platoon commander to direct the action.

The Fight

This was yet another long game, and while not as close as the fight at the church, really demonstrated the power of a section of elite troops. Unfortunately, the fast-paced game meant that I didn’t stop to check my pictures, so sadly few turned out well. Apologies in advance for the blurry shots. I’ve tried to limit them and have just used them where needed to illustrate the action.

The patrol phase played out as expected. I was able to get a jumping off point (JOP) in the ruined building on the right, so my plan survived initial contact at least.

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Force Morale started at 9 for the both of us, each side a little wary of the combat ahead. Lucius, as the attacker though, went first.

His first phase showed a 5,5,4,4,1, and I groaned, imagining the dozens of Chain of Command dice he’d get this game (5s add up and 6 of them can be used to interrupt an opponent or prevent a Force Morale test). Surprisingly he held, clearly aiming for a better combination of dice.

I replied with a three phases in a row, bringing my support squad on as planned, and advancing them into the house on the left that I hoped would be the rock on which the Para advance broke.

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Lucius’ next roll was a 4,3,2,1,1. Another solid roll, full of options – and yet nothing. Chain of Command does abstract time, but there is a notable lack of a forcing function to make the attacker attack, and that could have both sides simply sit back. Thinking of playing the period though, my platoon commander wouldn’t simply let the 13 Para sit astride the route to victory, so I brought on my armour and put it on overwatch. Lucius finally had his 1 Section appear on my right.

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I replied with my Panzershrek team, FO, Senior Leader, and 1st Squad on my left.

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1 Section tried to double to the hedge in the middle of the field on my right, but managed only a 5″ move (out of a possible 18″) as they slipped on the wet grass.

Their advance on my right was not a concern for me, and I rolled a double phase, which really set in my mind the proximity of the Para JOP ahead of me. I advanced 1st Squad up to the support squad on my left and called in a ranging shot from the mortars. I then gained my first Chain of Command die and passed the baton over to Lucius for a double phase of his. He again moved up on my right, but being so far from my JOP on that side (and behind a high wall), I wasn’t concerned.

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My ranging shot was close enough, so I ordered the battery to fire for effect, and placed 1st Squad on overwatch as I decided to move the support squad out of the building on my left and really make this a mobile defence, just like a good panzergrenadier should.

Lucius slowly advanced 1 Section, and then rolled a turn end! I played my Chain of Command die to keep the barrage firing and he ordered his 1 Section to double to the wall on my right. That was a little close for me now.

I shifted the battery towards the centre of the table to deny him the use of the JOP on the left, and brought 3rd Squad on to guard my right.

The Paras shifted a little, so 3rd Squad followed on the other side of the road. I then rolled 4 x 6s! Turn end! My barrage stops, and while I gain a free Chain of Command die, this not good. The event luckily isn’t a mortar barrage, but a cache of booze found by my men, increasing my Force Morale to 10! A silver lining at least, followed by a double phase.

1st Squad advanced and made it over the wall to the ruined house (seen in the pictures having been lightly burning in the barrage). I then moved up my command group and gasped as Lucius deployed a support section out of the house and into my 1st Squad. I really should’ve had the support squad lead the way as this was going to be bloody.

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It was. I lost 6 men, including the junior leader. Lucius lost 8, and his remaining men legged it out of a window back towards their baseline. My Force Morale dropped to 8, while his dropped down to 7, and would have been lower but for the judicious use of a Chain of Command die to avoid the morale test.

Well then. I’d knocked out a third of his force, but my 1st Squad would only be able to hold ground now, and poorly at that.

The Paras then deployed 3 Section (with 2 Brens and too many Stens) on the JOP. Their Platoon Commander also appeared, attempting to rally the shock off of the remaining Bren team from the support section. I rolled terribly (lots of 5s though) and so he was free to fortify the JOP on my left.

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My job was defence, and I was confident that I could prevent 3 Section from pushing up on my left. I wasn’t sure how I would take it without flanking it, so decided to bring on 2nd Squad on my right to overpower the Paras in the fields on that side.

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I advanced 2nd Squad to the other side of the high wall from the Paras, and the Paras shifted away from them and began to fall back! Maybe this game would be over? I had lost a lot of men and done nothing to his core platoon…

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But it was not to be.

I moved 3rd Squad up to and over the wall on my right as 1 Section continued its slow peel-back.

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3rd Squad then took the hedge row in the middle of the field and I moved a JOP up with it – just close enough to the hedge row running parallel to the main street that I could deploy the SFMG and catch 1 Section in enfilade!

Sadly, my dice were terrible and I managed only 2 kills before the return fire wiped out 3 of the crew and the 2″ mortar deployed and blinded it with smoke.

I decided that this was as good a time as any, and over the next several phases, slowly moved up my armour and 2nd Squad.

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While I advanced, Lucius rallied off shock, but got poor rolls and didn’t have much chance to move 1 Section further back. He did attempt to use smoke to disrupt my advance and advanced to the wall lining the main road. It seemed like he was going to attempt to flank the remnants of 1st Squad (that had since been joined by my Platoon Commander to rally their shock off).

I rushed up through the smoke.

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While this was happening, I moved 3rd Squad towards the centre, hoping to catch 1 Section with its back to the wall, with my 2nd Squad and armour support on the far side. The dice, however, had different ideas and he was able to catch my 3rd Squad and wound my Junior Leader. I used a Chain of Command die to avoid the Force Morale test and had 2nd Squad toss grenades over the wall. They killed 2 men and injured his Junior Leader! He too spent a Chain of Command die to avoid the Force Morale test. As 3rd Squad was about to add an MG team to the fight (the rest of the section was too far away and I thought that 1 MG team firing at targets in the open was enough), Lucius deployed an ambush!

A flamethrower appeared, killing 1 man and dealing 4 shock. That was bad, but not terrible. My MG when able to fire, did nothing. Close range and men lined against a wall… the barrel obviously was fouled and needed changing.

He responded with all that remained of 1 Section and pinned my 3rd Squad!

I fired with the few dice left to me with 3rd Squad when that flamethrower ambushed again! 9 hits! Luckily for me, that translated to 1 kill and 2 shock and I did manage yet another kill on the weakened 1 Section. My fire and grenades were having an impact as on his next phase, his men were unable to hit mine. I tossed 2 more grenades over the wall, adding shock and rallied some shock on my 3rd Squad.

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Lucius then was going to fire but I interrupted, wounding his Junior Leader, dropping his Force Morale to 6 and his remaining men were beginning to panic and missed the poor saps in 3rd Squad hiding behind the hedges in front of them. His PIAT, however, rolled amazingly well and knocked out my PAK 40, dropping my Force Morale to 8.

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On my next phase, I rallied shock off, killed the PIAT with a burst of the gun from 1st Squad who peeked around the corner (half dice were more than sufficient in this case), while the last of the grenades from 2nd Squad went over the wall and killed the last 3 men of 1 Section. Para Force Morale dropped to 3 and Lucius was down to 3 dice. He was on the edge. If his Force Morale dropped even by 1 he’d have to withdraw.

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His dice weren’t very useful (a combination of 6s, 5s, and 2s) and I rallied shock off my men and advanced on my right. A sniper appeared and scared my Platoon Commander and the remains of 1st Squad into the house in front of them. Lucius had his men in the street beyond toss grenades in and killed the last men of 1st Squad while my Platoon Commander ran for the door. That dropped my Force Morale to 6. Not good. I pushed 3rd Squad over the wall to the Para JOP on my right.

I fired at the 2″ mortar man, and after an interrupt on his next phase, killed him but Para Force Morale remained steady at 3.

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2nd Squad went on overwatch in the main road, while 3rd Squad took the JOP and I ended the turn. Para Force Morale crumbled and they withdrew.

Aftermath

90 odd phases later the game finally ended. Lucius was very slow in his advance, and my mortar barrage, coupled with the lack of troops appearing on my right encouraged me to counter-attack. I’m not sure that was the best option, as I could have likely caught more Paras in a crossfire, but I think the Germans were attempting to rush to the bridges, so in this context the game makes sense, though I do think some sort of forcing function is needed to encourage the attacker to attack.

The outcome was never seriously in doubt for me, as I had more men and more options. The flamethrower was a pain, but even had I lost 3rd Squad, I was confident that I could hold out. As for achieving my two stated goals, well, I think I achieved one of those. By leading with 1st Squad instead of taking a phase and letting the support squad leapfrog, I took unnecessary casualties. On the other hand, I did wipe out 1 Section, and kill the remaining men in the PIAT and 2″ mortar team.

The next fight, back at the church, will see 2nd Platoon return to attempt the churchyard again. I think that the action today has shown that the Paras are vulnerable when outmanoeuvred, so I will be keeping that in mind as I try to rush on to the Orne bridges.

German Situation

The difference in Force Morale heavily favours the Germans, reducing their casualties to 9. Of those, 4 will be missing when this platoon makes the final assault on the chateau (if I am able to take the church), so I’ll be taking some of the troops from 1st Platoon to make up the difference.

Von Luck is moderately happy, but not enough to gain me an extra point of support. The troops, though we did lose a Junior Leader, are holding firm in their morale, giving me a +1 to all die rolls.

British Situation

13 Para suffered 11 casualties (plus almost an entire support squad). This means that 8 men will be missing the rematch at the church. They will be down 17 men when we meet them again. The replacement leaders were all accepted by the men (except for the dead leader of 1 Section), so in the next game we’ll likely see some more dynamic action from the troops left to 13 Para.

Their CO is not overly concerned, but the men are unhappy to have taken heavy losses again, meaning a -1 to Force Morale rolls for 13 Para.