Chain of Command Kampfgruppe von Luck Scenario 3

The Germans advance on the 'Corridor of Death'...

After pushing through the battered 12th Para outposts in the previous game, the Germans have arrived at the outskirts of Le Bas de Ranville.  All is quiet, although unfortunately for the Germans, the only road into the village is along a deep lane with high walls.  Instead of a pitched open battle that would suit the Panzer Grenadiers and their superior firepower, the Germans know they will be forced to dig the Paras out of the stone houses by grenade, machine gun and bayonet if they want to control this section of the road to the bridges...

First off, we set up the board.  The terrain for this Scenario is pretty challenging, there are lots of high walls and several buildings, and we had to improvise somewhat by using low walls for high ones.

The board from the German side

...and from the British point of view

The plan was relatively simple.  I still had to roll for the missing parts of my platoon, namely a final bren team, a 2" mortar team and my PIAT team.  If any of these failed to show, we would have to try and delay the German attack using a Naval Bombardment.  I rolled for my PIAT, 2" mortar and final bren team, and only the 2" mortar turned up.

Lt Ding was glad that the 2" mortar had finally turned up, after being dispersed during the drop.  His platoon was still short of bodies though, and they desperately needed time to organise the defence of the outskirts of the village.  The Lieutenant called over the Naval officer who had been assigned to his company.  "Lt Danby, do you think you could get hold of Warspite and get her to shell our previous positions?  Jerry are forming up for a push and I'd like to hold them off for a while" he asked.  A few minutes later, the telltale whistle of 15" shells told Lt Ding that his request had been successful, and he felt glad that the map readers had done their maths correctly. The earth shook with each impact, causing dust and dirt to fall from the rafters of the house he had chosen as his platoon HQ.  He could well imagine the effect it was having on the Germans forming up.

The Naval Bombardment disrupts the germans for one campaign 'turn', and they may not use that platoon immediately.  However, there is a risk that, for 5 support point of the Brits total 7, it may not happen at all (if I rolled a 1 on a D6!)  I rolled a 6, and the bombardment took place.  Of course, when I rolled for the Bren and the PIAT team they still didn't show up.  But it wasn't wasted, as the Germans now only have 6 campaign turns left to win Scenario 5, plus I get a free entrenchement for every turn the Germans are delayed.

The plan is to have three layers of defence.  Although I could work off the map to draw up these lines, until we had set the table up I wasn't sure how this would actually happen, or what my support choices would be.

The first line of defence is south (top of the map) of the orchard walls.  The germans would haveto move at least two phases through the fields on my left flank.  On the right though, buildings and walls would favour the attacker.  The road would be blocked to line of sight by smoke.  We agreed before hand to use the advanced 'line of sight' rules for HE into buildings, in that Sam couldn't just fire on buildings unless he knew someone was in there, either because he had seen them go in or they had fired on him.  Whilst this may seem harsh from a game perspective, I certainly wasn't going to be having men stick their heads out of buildings with a Schlepper on the loose, and I don't think the Germans under von Luck would have been randomly blowing up buildings without due cause.

The second line of defence was between the orchard walls and the southern buildings.  I was happy to let sam take the southern buildings, as I was sure I could use the surrounding buildings (out of sight of the Schlepper) as a fire base, and use the elites in 'hard cover' to hopefully win the firefight.  

Then, if this area fell, I would fall back (assuming I had bodies left) to the area I had designated as the 'Alamo', the three buildings in the bottom corner, where it would be fierce hand to hand combat.  I had to hold the germans up, at the very least to cause some major casualties.  These men of the 2nd platoon were expendable.

Not having the PIAT might be an issue if the Schlepper or some Halftracks trundled up, so I went for the PIAT team as a support choice, along with a bren team (to shore up my half section).  My final three points went on a flamethrower team, as I figured if it got down to the buildings they would have a better chance of putting some shock and kills on the germans.  I organised my platoon as follows  - 

2 x Senior Leaders
Sniper
2" mortar team
PIAT team (support)
1 JL + Section of 2 Bren teams + 3 rifles
1 JL + Section 1 Bren team (as support) and a rifle team of 5 rifles.
1 JL + team of 3 Sten guns
1 Flame thrower team.

The Sten section were my 'kill team' made up of the remaining sten gunners from the rifle teams and third bren section.  Their job was to hold the 'Alamo' and use their devastating close range fire (16 dice at close range!) to finish off any depleted german sections that came too close.

Not a great deal of bodies, but at least it was 33 all in, compared to the previous games 14 and 19.

Sam had a full platoon of 3 Grenadier Sections, a Shrek team, 2 Senior leaders (one as a support choice), a sniper, a mortar spotter, and the Schlepper (all as supports).  36 bodies, 6 MG42s and plenty of long range HE.



Sam then rolled for the german 'Free patrol' moves, getting a 5 which enabled him to bring his 3 patrol markers right down the road, getting 2 of them 24" from his start off point. Straight away my '1st Line of Defence' was looking likely to be overran quite quickly!



After the patrol phases, I kept my Jops back intentionally as I assumed the Germans would deploy a Werfer Barrage again, and I had seen on other games that this can be somewhat nullified if the Germans take four or more phases to move to contact, you can hopefully build up a CoC dice and clear the barrage.  Sam placed his JoPs quite far back as well.

Jops placed!

We rolled for Force Morale, the Germans getting +1 on their roll due to von Lucks impression of the campaign so far, and the Paras getting +2 because - well, because they are Paras!  We both rolled 6's, so both sides started with a FM of 11.  This could be a long game!!

A german section deploys

Sam went first, opening with a double phase, and the germans brought on a Senior Leader, a section and the Schlepper.  With the Werfer Barrage still ringing in the paras ears, the only thing I could deploy my first phase was the 2" mortar, who promptly began to drop smoke on the road in front of the Schlepper.

The german attack started, somewhat predictably, with the whine and crump of the Werfer rockets.  Lt Ding had his men well hunkered down in the celllars of the buildings in the location he had designated as 'The Alamo', the place for the Paras last stand.  he hoped it wouldn't come to that.  Out in the fields, the forward teams had set up and when the whine of the rocket mortars stopped, they heard the tell tale tracks of a Self Propelled gun rolling up the lane.  In the fields to the south, the Paras heard the german squads moving up, climbing walls and issuing orders.

 

Smoking the Schlepper - German mortar FO is in the ruined farm under the smoke!

The German Mortar Observer turned up and called up his battery.  I've been here before, pinned under a German mortar 'stonk'. I know that he's not got great lines of sight but he can see straight into my 'Alamo' position.  


I've deployed my Platoon Sergeant in there as well as my shorter Bren section, and I need to start moving people.  FInally the sniper turns up and I get a line of sight straight down the road.  I can only see the Schlepper moving down the road (through the smoke) and the enemy mortar observer. the sniper fires,but sniper misses.  Must be all that smoke!

More smoke.  The Schlepper is moving up but hasn't got any targets!

The next few phases are a bit odd - the Germans can't get any 1's to activate the mortar barrage, and I build up some 5's but can't do anything else until the germans commit.  Two more german sections turn up and start scaling the walls and moving through the fields.

More Germans rock up.  The shock is accrued from running quickly (3D6)

The germans got closer, and Lt Ding hoped his orders had been received clearly.  He looked across at Corporal Ron Sondberg, who had the man-pack flamethrower at his side.  If the Germans got too close, there was no doubt this would come into play.

I get another section on, my double bren section on the left flank and start moving them up to the Germans, although we have several walls and hedges between us.  Although I could set up in overwatch I would only get one shot at the germans as they jumped over the walls, and then I would be on the receiving end of whatever was left, so I kept well back.

Whilst the German FO couldn't call in his mortar barrage, my sniper repeatedly fired and missed, he must have had 5 shots at him and all he managed was some shock (which the FO ignores anyway!).

Germans move over the high walls.

In the end, Sam decided to bring another Senior Leader on to 'encourage' the mortar spotter to bring some fire in.  He duly did this, rolling directly for effect, and although the barrage was slightly off almost half of it (9"x18") slammed down onto the 'Alamo'.

Moratr barrage falls on 'the Alamo', pinning a section, my sten section and a senior leader!

 A single mortar round, probably a marker, had crashed into the paras positions, but so far nothing had happened. Then, suddenly and without warning, the whistle and crash of German 80mm mortar shells began to rain down on the paras positions.  Sgt Bier order his men to take cover where they could.

Having got (mostly) everyone on regardless of the Werfer Barrage, and the Schlepper had no one to shoot at, I had to get the Germans to commit, so my section of two bren guns on the left flank leaped over the wall.  

Paras leap the wall to engage the germans in the corner of the field.

 


There was a single section of germans on the other side of a hedge, although strangely they didn't open fire.  Indeed, in the german phase they moved into a better firing position instead of firing, which was very odd.  I had a CoC dice, but had failed to notice Sam had also got one.  In my phase, I pulled the Para section back over the wall, hoping to entice the Germans to follow, but instead Sam played an 'interrupt' and opened fire on my section with the full force of 2 MG42 and 3 rifles.  Ouch!

Over on the left flank, where Lt Ding had set up his command post, the germans had finally committed.  He indicated to one of his section leaders, Sgt Tomlinson to take his men over the high wall and engage the germans beyond.  As Tomlinson and his men doubled over the wall, the tell tale RRPppp of MG42 rang out.  Those on top of the wall dropped back down on the British side.  5 men had fallen and Lt Tomlinson had been injured.  This was not an auspiscous start.

We took 5 casualties and the Junior Leader took a wound as well, taking one of his CI's.  Luckily the hits had only caused one shock, and the battered section finished their move over the wall.  

Hearing the firing, Corporal Sondberg grabbed his 'Lifebouy' flamethower and leaped over the wall.  The germans had pushed their guns through one of the thick, Normandy hedges, and were shouting excitedly.  They didn't notice the British Para until he released a long gout of flame, straight into the bush.

The screams of the germans were terrible, and as Cp Sondberg jumped back over the wall he winked at Lt Ding. "They won't try that again Sir!" he smiled.  Lt Ding could hear more germans running up to the commotion, and signalled for Sgt Tomlinson to take his men up the line of the wall and throw some grenades over.  The Bren Gunner, Corporal Hammond who had palyed county cricket for yorkshire before the war took a mills bomb and launched it perfectly over the walls.

However, the german section were now within about 15 inches of my left JoP point, so I used my CoC dice to do an 'Ambush'.  I placed the flamethrower team in front of Sams germans.   The flamethrowers are pretty nasty, and have 12 dice hitting on a 4.  I got 12 hits, and rolled something like 5 kills and 3 shock, which doubles to 6 shock.  His Junior leader took a hit as well, and although the section were down to 6 men they weren't technically 'pinned'.  I soon changed that though, as my second Senior leader arrived to order the badly depleted section to double along the wall and chuck some grenades over, which they duly did, however they only got 10" away from the germans so needed 11 to hit.  One of the men duly managed to roll 11 and wang a mills bomb over the wall.  We  incorrectly rolled 3 dice for the grenade (it should have been 2 as although the germans were in light cover they count as in the open).  they took another casualty and some shock, and were now 'pinned'.  More grenades flew over the wall, and soon the section broke, running straight through another section of Germans who had turned up late to the party.  This section then took the extra shock as their own shock, and it took both German senior leaders to stop all the sections from breaking.

Sam countered this, and as the flamethrower team withdrew, their work done so far, another squad of Grenadiers high tailed it into a building overlooking my battered bren section.  Sam knew I didn't have any CoC dice left, but on my following phase I used a 1 to bring them back on as a proper team, 9" from my second JoP and right in front of their building! Again, a gout of flame leapt into the building, causing a couple of kills but immense amounts of shock, injuring their Junior Leader (who was knocked out in all the confusion).  They returned fire on the flamethrower team, but with all the shock affecting their MG42 gunners, they only got one kill.

Inside the walls, Lt Ding motioned to the flamethrower team to head towards the door of the building that seperated the Germans from the British positions.  As he did so, through the window he saw the square helmets of another german section moving into the building.  The flamethrower fired again, through the window of the building.  A single burst of MG fire came back, and a second burst was all that was needed to cause the Germans to fall back out of the building the way they had come.

Flamethrower returns to wreak havoc on the German Grenadiers

The flamethrower team had one shot left, and fired it into the building again.  This was enough for the terrified germans, who broke and fled back up the road, leaving their unconscious OberGefreiter behind.  The corridor of death was certainly living up to its name!

Paras from the Flamethrower team move into the bulding to capture the enemy Junior Leader

Fuel spent, the Flamethrower team were ordered by the Platoon Commander to go into the building and retrieve the wounded german.  This, along with the two broken sections, 2 injured JLs and then the capture of a JL had taken Sams Force Morale down to 4, and although on my right flank the mortar barrage had pinned the sections there, killed a few men and removed my support bren team completely, my Force Morale was still at 8.  The Germans lifted the barrage and unpinned their one remaining full section by ending the turn, but unfortunately this also caused one of the broken German sections to rout, and Sams 'Bad things' roll for the JL routing took his FM down to 2.  This cost him a JoP and 2 command dice, and he decided to withdraw.

Over on the right flank the mortar still fell, and Sgt Bier did all he could to keep the mens heads down.  He knew from experience that once the mortars stopped, the germans would advance to contact but when they stopped no Germans came.  Several Paras lay dead in the walled areas however, casualties from the barrage, but it seemed the Germans had pulled back.  On the left flank, Lt Ding saw that a german NCO was wounded in the now smouldering building, and sent two men in to drag him out and save him.  The Germans had retreated, taking their injured and shocked men, but leaving the NCO.  The Paras had won this phase of the battle, but Lt Ding knew they would soon be back.  As he surveyed the damage caused by the german assault, he wondered if he had enough men for a counter attack - if he hit the Germans whilst they were still reeling from this defeat, it might buy more time before the second wave of gliders came in with tanks and 17 pounders.

However the Germans had pushed up high into the town, and were far from their JoPs.  Along with 12 casualties from the flamethrower and the captured JL in the battle, the German platoon had also lost another 4 men captured in the withdrawal.  Although the Germans had effectively lost the scenario, the mortar barrage and the initial burst of MG42 fire had caused several British casualties as well, although some of these had come from the support teams so didn't affect any numbers.

I had lost the sniper and a sten gunner in the mortar barrage, plus a full bren team (from support) and two rifles.  Equipment such as Brens, MG42 and SMG's are replaced rather than lost, only men, so that counts as 2 rifles lost.

In the other section I had lost 5 rifles.

I'd also lost a single man from the FT team, to give a total of 13 casualties in total, however 4 of them were from support and are ignored, leaving 7 men from the platoon injured.  Less 3 for the difference in FM, that leaves me 4 casualties, 2 KIA, 2 MIA and 1 back in action.  along with the other 3 men KIA from the first game and 2 POWs, that's 9 men down on a full platoon.

A victory for the Brits enables me to seize the initiative, and push the germans back onto the previous map.

The question is, if I counter attack onto the previous map (Probe Amongst the Hedgerows) there is a good chance I could lose what remains of this platoon.  However, another platoon is available, but once selected cannot be replaced.

I'd be pushing against the German 2nd platoon (who are still at 100%) but, it would be a probe mission and I would have 10 points of support.

Alternatively, I could sit and wait for the Germans to attack again - I'd get another entrenchment, and hopefully get the PIAT and bren team back - the Germans would still have to win 3 out of 4 turns to win the map.  That's a decision I'll have to make shortly.

You can read what happened here

Chain of Command Kampfgruppe von Luck PSC - Scenario 2

Scenario Two - Probe amongst the Hedgerows




After the initial contact with the German Patrols (Scenario One), the British paras (already understrength) had lost 3 men killed, 2 men missing in action and 2 men wounded.  Another man and the Platoon sniper had been captured by the germans and would not be returning to the field any time soon.

This left the Brits down 9 bodies, and with the Platoon 2" mortar, PIAT team and two bren teams still missing Scenario 2 was always going to be a tricky one.

The view from the British end!

The germans have to get a unit off the board, and with only 4 support points and 17 men to stop them, this was going to be tricky.  I knew the sunken lane running through the buildings was a bit of a death trap, and a well placed PIAT or team with grenades could cause havoc to halftracks running down the lane, so I put a roadblock on the lane leading off the road.  This left three options to the germans - the open fields to their left and right flanks, or through the woods in the middle.


 This was the initial plan I had got - I'd expected Sam to use the Werfer Barrage, and get a JoP in the woods.  Then I was expecting the Halftracks or Schlepper up the sunken lane, and possibly a section of infantry deploying on my left flank threatening the fields, so I wanted a JoP in there, one in the farm buildings and one on the right flank.

 If I could hunker down a full section of two brens, in cover, I could reasonably hold off a section of Grenadiers for a while, cause a few casualties and then withdraw.  If the Schlepper turned up, staying out of the houses would be wise but just a threat of grenades, PIAT's or mortars should be enough to keep it down the bottom of the map.

If I spaced my JOP's out I could try and react to the german approaches.  A sniper in one of the buildings could cause them some concern and not be too bothered about being targeted (unless spotted). I can use smoke to blind the sunken lane and move between the buildings to block off the approaches, and if (and it's a big IF) I could take out a section of Grenadiers and even the numbers up a bit, I could make that count.

British and German JoPs after the Patrol Phase - with a roadblock covering the centre road

At least that was the plan.  As in Scenario One, my opponent took me a little by surprise!

The whine of the werfer mortars signalled the beginning of the Germans push into the town.  Lt Dring gathered the men he had left in the cellar of a house on the edge of the town. "Jerry is on the way," he began, " and we need to at least slow them down so the chaps behind us have got a chance.  When the barrage stops, listen for my whistle and then open up on the Germans with everything you have.  If they get up to the roadblock, we'll fall back to the crossroads."  The men nodded grimly and checked their weapons.

I knew I was bringing a roadblock, and that left 2 support points spare.  I needed to roll for my remaining sections to see who was back - 2 bren teams, 2" mortar and PIAT, so I rolled - only one bren team returned!

Still missing some vital support, and expecting vehicles, I brought a PIAT option from the support list.

Force Morale rolls were good for the Brits (11) and bad for the Germans (8), but having 4 patrol markers I couldn't get out of the blocks fast enough, and sure enough I had my JoPs pinned back in my own half.

My available troops consisted of -

Platoon Lt
Platoon Sgt

JL + Section (2 x brens and crew and 2 men)
JL + Bren team + 1 man
PIAT team

Sniper

18 men.

The Germans, plus their support choices (which I don't know at this point) were made up of 

2 senior leaders
medic
Adjutant
PanzerShrek team
3 sections of JL, 2 LMG teams and 3 men.
2 x Unic P107 halftracks.
Werfer Barrage

The Unic P107 has got 3 mounts for LMG's, so we agreed that the forward spot and one of the side ones could be used to fire a sections LMG's if needed.



I was expecting a Werfer Barrage, and sure enough when I started to deploy on the first phase, Sam informed me that I had been subjected to this barrage again.  5's and 6's to deploy, and the Germans would be closing up pretty quick.

I rolled a double 6 for my first phase, and a CoC point, but managed to deploy no one in the first phase!

Second phase I rolled 3 CoC points and still failed to deploy anyone - luckily I was accruing CoC points and Sam realised he need to get boots on the round, so with his first phase he brought on a section on foot and a HT.

My third phase, and  got another 3 CoC points (so I had 7 now!) and still managed to deploy no units - I could have ended the turn before deploying, however I had rolled 6,5,5,5,2 so could only deploy 1 section (who would not be able to do much) so I ended the Werfer barrage at the end of this phase.

Lt Drings  urgent whistle signalled the time for the Paras to take their positions.  The rumble of tracks and barked german orders came from the woods to the south.  In the foremost building, a sniper took up position in the louvred window.  

Sam then brought on another HT and started rumbling up the sunken lane.  It stopped and put itself on Overwatch, covering the sunken lane. 

Meanwhile the german section on my right flank started to move out of the woods.  

My only section available were designated to hold the left flank, but if these grenadiers got up close I would have nothing to deal with them, so I brought my only full section on and started to move them across the sunken lane.  More on this later!

A second half track covers the sunken lane

My sniper fired on the germans in the open, and one german soldier fell down dead.  I had at this point also deployed one of my Senior Leaders in here, as I though (wrongly) that the SL could order a sniper to fire as one of his activations.

Sgt Beir crept up into the first floor of the building, where Lance Corporal Mahone, the platoon sniper, had taken up position.  "See anything?" he asked.  "2 halftracks coming down the road full of Jerries, and 10 germans coming out of the woods." replied the sniper.  There was a crack as he fired his Lee Enfield rifle.  "9 Germans now" he said, smiling.

The next phase, and the start of my plan unravelling.  Instead of trundling down the sunken lane, the german Halftracks both turned towards my roadblock.  Thinking my opponent wasn't sure what it was, I pointed it out to him again and he just nodded and carried on down the track.

The first half track moves up the lane, avoiding the main road

On the other flank, the germans were a large inviting party in the open, but my dice were poor. I did have a double turn however, so could do something on the right hopefully. I deployed my single Bren section on the left flank, and brought on my other Senior Leader on the right. 

Lt Ding had heard the crack of L.Cpl Mahones rifle on the Paras right flank, and the Halftracks were rumbling up to the roadblock.  Sensing the Germans must be trying to push the right flank, he shouted over to his main section and order the bren guns to cross the road and push the germans back on the right.  On the left flank, if the PIAT didn't take one of these vehicles out soon, there was going to be trouble.

He ordered the men to throw a smoke grenade into the road and run around the building to cover the right flank, where a low wall was the only thing stopping the Germans from exiting the table.  The smoke distance was about 7 inches, so I rolled 2D6 for the distance.  11!  the smoke grenade bounced behind the house, not covering the road at all.

Not deterred by this, the SL then ordered the men to run across the road.  They had about 10 inches to cover to get everyone over the road, hoping to get set up in overwatch on the wall.  I knew the JL could clear the shock, and we only had to go 7 inches to get in the smoke, so I rolled 3D6 for the run.

6 stared back at me.

Undeterred again, the section began to shamble across the road.  Double turn, so next phase I rolled again.  another double phase!  The Senior Leader again ordered the men to continue to the trees to take up a firing position against the german section.  Not as far to go now, only a few inches so they took a 2d6 run...

  "Get your bloody arses over there!" shouted Lt Ding.  The smoke grenade bounced awkwardly and went off behind the house, completely failing to cover the road.  The Para section hesitated, not sure if another smoke grenade was forthcoming.  "GO GO GO" he shouted, and this time the Paras went.

As my opponent chuckled, I moved the paras another 2" towards their target, not quite making it out of the road.  I had another phase, but what was left on the board didn't have anything to do so I put the second bren team in overwatch and rolled for my third phase.

this one brought out a 1, so I attempted to deploy my PIAT team.  With both SL on the board, he would only come on on a 4+, so I rolled.  Another 1.  the PIAT would have to wait!

Over on the right, the JL ordered the section to 'LEFT TURN' smartish and face the germans, which they did finally.  It had taken 4 phases to get the Brits into position, about 19" away from their Jump off Point (from which they can deploy 9").  Unable to fire over the wall or go into overwatch, they stood around looking foolishly for the germans, who had (on Sams subsequent phase) about turned, and ran down into the sunken lane, out of sight of the Paras!

  As the Bren gunners rounded the back of the house and prepared to open fire on the germans who had appeared, the only thing they found was a brief glimpse of square helmets as the germans ducked round the other side.  They were obviously not up for a fight this time, and Lt Ding knew that if they got behind the Brits they would be cut off.  "Fall back!" he shouted.  They hadn't quite put up the defence they wanted to, but at least they hadn't taken any casualties as far as he knew.

In the middle the two Halftracks had moved up to the roadblock and disgorged one section of Grenadiers.  A german medic and Shrek team had also turned up for good measure, and the Shrek team were setting up to fire a round at the building where my sniper was, so the Platoon Sergeant in that building vacated the area sharpish.  

 

Sams units were now a couple of good phases away from getting off the board and winning the scenario, and I'd not put a dent in this platoon either.

On the plus side, we had not taken any casualties, and on my next (and final) phase, I finally managed to deploy the support PIAT into the hedge near the roadblock, 7" away from the now empty Halftrack.

At the hastily prepared rubble roadblock, Corporal 'Nobby' Nobbs had been waiting patiently with his PIAT loaded.  As the two halftracks rumbled into view, Nobby pointed his PIAT through a gap in the hedge and pulled the trigger.  Nothing happened, and at that point he could see Germans jumping off the side of the tracked vehicle and into the lane behind.  Realising the safety was on, Nobby quickly flicked it off and fired again.  The little mortar pinged off into the side of the halftrack, and Nobby was most surprised to see it immediately burst into flames.  "take that you bosche bastards!" he shouted, and was answered straight away by a burst of MG42 fire that ripped through the hedge.  Giggling with excitement, Nobby grabbed up the case of PIAT rounds and sprinted back to the safety of a low wall.  As he leapt over the wall, he turned and saw his number two had taken a bullet in his leg and was still in the hedgerow.  Nobby heard the whistle calling for the fall back, and reluctantly slipped away into the hedges behind him.

Unable to resist the urge, the PIAT team took aim and BOING! - its HEAT round hit the french halftrack, which promptly burst into flames.  The subsequent explosion had little effect on the departing germans, who turned straight around fired back through the hedge and took out the ammo carrier of the PIAT team.

BOING!

This took German FM down to 6, although they were very close to getting off the board and I could no longer envisage stopping them.  The PIAT chap and a single Bren team were now facing down the barrels of 4 MG42s and several rifles, and all my firepower was over on the right flank with no targets to shoot at.  The third german section had climbed over the high walls and were threatening the JoP I had placed there, so with all that looming over the Brits we withdrew a little further down the road, hopefully to make a good stand in Scenario 3.

After all the action, which had resolved itself as a very interesting and tactical game of British Bulldog, Sam had taken 1 casualty KIA (from the sniper) and lost a Halftrack.  The germans only get 3 halftracks in the whole campaign, so that's a slight dent in the German support lines but not much.

For the Brits, we hadn't lost anyone apart from a support crew member, and with my 4 riflemen returning from last games mortar barrage, and 2 men returning from the Field Station, I'll have a full rifle team back for the next map.

I'll also get to roll for the organic PIAT and 2" mortar, plus the final bren team to show up.

Rushing through the orchard and into the courtyard of their RP, the Paras heard an explosion behind them.  Lt Ding recognised it at once.  "Demolition charges", he said, "they are clearing the road block.  Take your positions!"  He knew that now Jerry was in the town he would be able to put up a proper defence.  This is what they had trained so hard for.

The next map is the 'Corridor of Death', and with a few more bodies and bren guns I'm hoping I can at least hold up the Germans 3rd platoon.  I have the option of a Naval Barrage, which might allow me to reroll failed rolls for the final teams, or I could alternatively bring in another platoon - but this full platoon needs to run the rest of the campaign, which (apart from Scenario 4) could be 2 or more turns.

At the end of the game we rolled for the outcome of the CO and mens morale.  Von Luck is more than happy with the performance of the Germans so far, and his opinion of his company is up to +4.  This gives the Germans one extra support point.  The German men have been impressed with Sams ability to look after them, and their roll after their two victories gave them +3 on their opinion, which is a +1 on their FM roll for the next game.

The Brits have had it tough, and the CO was not overly impressed with the two withdrawals, giving them -1 on his overall opinion.  The men, although they started with an opinion of +2 have also taken casualties and their opinion is down to +1.

We also rolled for the Platoon leaders personalities.  The leader of the German Platoons is a short but wiry 27 year old former Doktor of Engineering, called Helmut Kase.

The 1st Lieutenant of the 12th Battalion, B Company 2nd platoon,is an intelligent, tall thin man called Bill Ding, a former Grammar School boy from Leeds who was training to be a master carpenter before being called up, and identified as leader material during basic training.  After volunteering for the Paras, Lt Ding was given the platoon he had trained with during his Para training and now leads them. 

HIs right hand man is the Platoon Sergeant, a giant, no nonsense South African called Artur Beir.  He both inspires and terrifies his men in equal measure.  He also speaks fluent German, which comes in handy when he shouts at Germans to surrender after throwing grenades at them.

The next map is 'The Corridor of Death', where the Germans will have to push the Paras out of the outskirts of the town.  The buildings and high walls in this part of town will mean a tough job for the Germans, and depending on how much resistance the Paras can put up they might be able to make it even harder!

On to Scenario 3 here

Chain of Command - Kampfgruppe von Luck PSC

Scenario One - Patrol on the Ring Contour

"Right, round up what you've got and patrol these hedges south west of our position" barked the C.O of 'B' Company, 12 Para, jabbing his finger on the map board.  "We don't want any Jerries sneaking around, and they are bound to try and push back into town to get to the bridges."

1st Lt Ding looked gloomily around the farm yard at the motley collection of paras who had made it to the RP from the drop.

"twenty men and no support", he thought, "I hope we don't run into any germans".

The fields and hedges outside of Le Bas de Ranville are the setting for the first scenario of the Chain of Command 'Pint Sized Campaign' Kampfgruppe von Luck, representing the forces of von Lucks 2nd Battalion 125th Panzergrenadiers trying to rest control of the town from the scattered forces of the 12th Parachute battalion, to clear the way for the panzers of the 21st Division to retake the bridges over the Orne and Caen Canal and drive the Allied forces back from the D Day beaches.

A platoon of British Paras from 12 Para (with a little help from 13 Para) must hold off a company of Panzergrenadiers from reaching their objective over (up to 8) games over 5 seperate maps.

The first map is the toughest for the brits as they must try and hold up 3 german sections with limited resources.  A secret roll on a table told me that I had at my disposal 2 Senior Leaders, a Sniper, a full Section, a single rifle team and a single Bren team.  no Mortar support and no support points.  Jerry had 4 points of support and 3 full sections.

the map is as follows - from the german perspective.  I knew I had to hold the middle ground in the hedgerow for as long as I could, and try and direct concentrated Bren fire into the German sections in the hope I could kill a few and then withdraw (the Germans have 3 Platoons but no reinforcements, so any kills that stick remain dead for the whole campaign).

The Halftracks are German 'jump off points' not actual units.  My British ones are a little harder to see, there's one in the top left corner, one in the corner of the hedges and one behind the hedges to the right of the main road.  The fields are wheat and give light cover to stationary units inside them.

Immediately I realised with no smoke my plan of tying up the Germans and picking them off with concentrated fire was going to be tricky.  I wanted a JoP up in the hedgerow and kept two back for supporting troops to move up and finish off any pinned german units.

The Germans had 4 points of support and elected for an 81mm mortar battery and an Adjutant. The Patrol phase saw us both get one JoP forward and two back, although my two back as you can see were a long way away.  I went first (with a FM of 9) and deployed the sniper and a section in the hedgrow with a Senior Leader.  The Germans (who had a low FM of 8) arrived with 2 full sections and the Mortar Spotter, and immediately kicked things off.

Pvt Willis crept a few yards through the tall wheat and raised his rifle.  "Twelve Jerries" he whispered back "couple of MG's and a guy with binoculars".

"For gods sakes man, take him out first" replied the Sergeant in his clipped South African tone.  Pvt Willis fired, and at that same moment the German MG's opened up again, spitting dirt and splitting branches around the Paras position.  The whistle of a mortar round signalled a crump in the field where the sniper crouched, and a whiff of white phosphorous stung the air.

 The mortar barrage came in early on with a german double phase - one phase to fire the spotting round and the next phase for firing at full effect - pinning the sniper and the second rifle team to the right of the road (from the german point of view).  The Germans then opened up with massed MG and rifle fire (19 dice per section) and we took a couple of casualties and some shock.

"INCOMING, GET DOWN!" shouted Sgt Beir as the air filled with the shrieks of several more mortars, followed by the crump crump crump of explosions showering the paras with dirt.  More german MG fire raked the positions, and from the other side of the road the screams of the other section told that they had started to take casualties as well.  The Paras in the hedge dug down into the roots and branches as the mortar bombs exploded around them.  Inevitably one bomb found it's mark and Cpl Toomy, the Bren gunner, and a couple of other privates lay dead.  Sgt Bier waited, and as the mortar barrage paused briefly he yelled at his men to fall back.  Just as they began to rise up from their positions in the dirt, the mortar barrage started again.

I'm a little stuck at this point - my other JoPs are too far away to get anyone involved and I've only got one section with a JL and SL to activate.  I tried to get a couple of kills and move away, but we only managed some shock on the Grenadiers.  The next german Phase the barrage moved over my full section and killed the Bren team. 

Clearing some more shock, the Paras tried to withdraw to their JoPs, but I realised I'd played a phase and would have to wait to withdraw for another German phase.  More Germans turned up, and another mortar stonking followed, injuring the JL on that section, with a couple more casualties from MG fire as well.  British FM was down to 8.  ALthough we had put plenty of shock on the German section, the dice had not been kind and no casualties had been caused.

Once I had declared the withdrawal, we decided that as the units under the barrage were technically still 'pinned', the rolls for withdrawal would be for pinned units - 1 or 2 for Captured, 3 or 4 for missing next map and 5 or 6 for successful.

This, along with the casualties we had sustained from the MG and mortars, leave the platoon in a pretty bad shape.

3 Riflemen killed

2 Riflemen injured

4 Rifleman MIA

1 Sniper POW (captured)

1 rifle POW (Captured)

Still to return from the drop are a 2" mortar team, a PIAT team and 2 more Bren Teams

not deployed this turn were another SL, a Bren Team and another sniper.

So we lost 5 men dead or captured this mission, and will be 6 rifles down on top of that next mission.  However we should hopefully get some of the Bren teams back, possibly the 2" and PIAT teams, and we'll have 4 points to drop on support.

Back at the RP, Lt Ding did a head count.  Sgt Aldiss, one of the section leaders had received a knock on the helmet but had been patched up, but not everyone had made it back.  9 men had not returned from the patrol, including Willis the sniper.  Ding looked around the stone buildings in the garden where the RP was located.  "Lets get these windows sandbagged" he shouted, "the germans will need to come through here if they want to get to the village and I want everybody ready for them!".  He looked down the long sunken lane.  Only a few hundred yards down there, he thought, were a hundred or so germans with halftracks, self propelled guns and heavy weapons, and the only thing between them and the bridges were a handful of Paras.  We are going to have to do much, much better, he thought grimly.

The next scenario has a few buildings at the edge of the fields, but the Germans have a good support list and we may see some half tracks or the Lorraine Schlepper.  I'll need to cover a good 6' of table edge, with limited firepower.  At best I'll have 4 bren teams plus support, at worst only 2 brens and hardly any rifles to go around.

There are 8 'rounds' of this Campaign.  To win, the germans need to seize the chateaux on map 5, and for the british to win I have to get the full 8 rounds without losing map 5.

I have a couple of naval bombardements I can use to delay the germans later on, and also a single full fresh platoon from Scenario 3 onwards, plus the chaps on scenario 4 are from 13 Para and don't take into account any casualties from previous maps, so there is still plenty to play for.

next up, Scenario 2, Probe amongst the Hedgrows

Snow Days and Paras

So, a rare Snow day and an opportunity to work from home catch up on some figures, but as my youngest son who was off school as well and looking for something to do after rolling around in the snow, I suggested a game of Bolt Action and set it up while he warmed up.


After the last Chain of command game pitting Paras against Panzer Grenadiers, I'd painted up about 500 points of late war germans and nicked an MMG from the Afrika Corps chaps to make up a 550 point list.  I thought we'd have a defensive game, the germans holed up in a farm house protecting a fuel supply.  Some British Paras have arrived nearby and are looking to claim it for their own!

the lists were - Ze Germans...

a Vet 2nd Lt and 1 man with SMGs
2 squads of 10 men, an NCO with an SMG and 2 LMGs
1 Sniper (unfortunately the second model has an STG44 for some reason, which had quite an effect later on)
1 MMG tripod MG42 with three crew

set up to take these germans on was a platoon of British Paras

1 Vet 2nd Lt and one man with SMG's
3 squads of 8 men, 1 NCO with SMG, 2 SMG's a Bren gun and the rest rifles.
1 light mortar team.

I set up the Germans in pre planned positions and offered my son the choice of playing the Germans or the Brits, and he chose the Germans, defending the farm at the top left of the picture.

The British arrived at the opposite narrow edge, the light mortar covering the road, two sections on the left and one on the right flank.  I wanted to use teh smoke to blind the german firepower and then move up and strike close up.

The first thing Oberleutnant Freidrich did was move his MMG team from the position covering the road to the farm buildings on his left flank.  The plucky brits moved into the road and up to the hedges.  A german sniper had taken up residence in the  upper floors of the farm house, and took a pot shot at the British Lt, but fortunately missed.

The german MMG took up position in the corner of a hedgerow, and openend fire on the approaching para section, who were hunkering down hiding from the sniper in the farm house. The para section lose two rifles, and starting with smaller 8 man sections, this will prove to be costly.

The paras tried to drop smoke to cover their approach.

But it misses, covering the approach of the other section.  The section on the left flank move up and start firing on the sniper in the building, pinning him, but he fires back - although he's too close for the Sniper, so uses his rifle and his assistants STG44!!  The extra dice for the Assault Rifle do well, killing the Section leader. The Platoon CO and Sgt move up with them, clearing their pins (from the german MMG) and also opening fire on the snipers, killing them and clearing the way for a charge into the building.  My other sections are holding up the ground on the right, hoping to draw away one of the Grenadier Sections.

Unfortunately for Paras, covering the sniper nest was the German CO who pops out from behind the farmhouse and sprays the lead section with SMG fire, casuing another two casualties and some more pins. The section is now down to three men.

On the right, I'm trying to get my Paras to move up and over the hedges without getting withered by LMG fire from a section of grenadiers who have taken up position in the building.

Using the hedge as cover, the Paras wait for smoke to cover their approach and it does!  To counter this, the Germans rush out of the building but can't draw line of sight to the Paras, who charge over the hedge - but, just too far to initiate combat they open fire with their Bren and sten guns!  Masses of lead pour towards the germans in the open, but the Germans manage to avoid taking any casualties, and the first dice of the next round will decide who initiaties combat.

Its British who have the initiative, and the Paras, surprised at the lack of german casualties from their fire, pile in.  I'm going to get first attack, but these Grenadiers are Veterans of the Eastern Front, and they only take two casualties from my attack.  They reply with a devastating 4 kills, and my section are removed from the battle.  The Grenadiers consilidate into the hedgerow and start looking for other targets.  My second section are still covered by the smoke from the mortar, and they bravely charge towards the farm hoping to reach cover.

The grenadiers open fire, but fortunately the Paras only take a pin and the MMG packs up and moves around to get a better position for the next turn.

Over on the Paras left flank, the CO charges forward to engage the enemy commander, and orders his now two man section to 'Snap to Action!' and open fire on the enemy officers.

Unfortunately, the section respond with a raspberry and two fingers and run back towards their own lines!  The CO is lucky my Fubar roll didn't involve them unleashing the fire back at them!  The German CO and his trusty sidekick engage the British Lt in hand to hand to hand fighting, and brush them aside without further ado.

 


The Second section move towards the Farmhouse under the Grenadiers fire.  THe mortar takes a pot shot with HE at the MMG team who have moved out of  cover, and hit it directly first time, destroying the unit.

AShamed of their lack of spirit, the beleagured bren gunner turns round and finishes off the enemy commander, and move up towards the farm.  The Grenadiers jump over the hedge and assault the paras, and after two brutal rounds of combat the Germans lose, and the british are down to two men.  The Mortar team are the only useful unpinned unit left, and they sprint towards the farm as well.

The two battered Para sections manage to hold off the few remaining Germans, and the mortar team move into the farm and take the objective, but with such a high price paid we decide to call it a draw.