The End Game - Part 2

'Taking the Gembloux Gap' a pint-sized campaign.

Turn 10, Game 9, Scenario 5 the 'Defending the Heights'

Hopefully Blogger will behave a little better now I've broken the AAR into two parts, Part 1 is here.

12GE(1,3,3,3,3,6)  That's a lot of junior leader action, but I've just killed one of his junior leaders.  John combines the '1' with a '3' to activate the Leutnant, who runs over to nr.I section and orders them to pull back along the hedge.  Nr.II section's obergefreiter removes 1 shock and orders the section to move to their left along the hedge in front of Home Wood to shoot at No.3 LMG, which takes 1 shock (only the rifles got into a shooting position).  Then nr.II section deploys from the forward JOP by the road to follow the same path taken by nr.II section.  All of this can be seen in this overview.

13FR(1,2,3,4,6)  No.2 section attempts to advance towards the edge of the wood to shoot at nr.II section, but only manages to move 1" and still can't see out of the wood.  The platoon sergeant and No.3 LMG's sergeant combine to remove 2 shock from the team who then shoot at nr.I section killing a rifleman.  

And finally, at the fourth time of asking, the R35 deploys on the road.

14GE(1,2,3,5,6,6)  A double-phase, and just after I've taken the plunge to re-engage - this could get messy.  As I have not enough CoC dice to respond in any way, the Germans are now free to move without risk.  So, first, nr.II section continues moving (9") along the hedge to where they can all engage the French No.3 LMG.  Then nr.III moves to join nr.II at the hedge in front of Home Wood, but they only manage 5" so don't quite get there.

The 5cm mortar targets the No.3 LMG but misses.

15GE(1,2,2,3,4,5)  Now in position for all to shoot, nr.II section fires at No.3 LMG inflicting 1 casualty and 2 shock.  Unfortunately for me, the casualty turns out to be the platoon sergeant, who is killed.  

French Force Morale falls from 9 to 7.

The 5cm mortar attempts to add to No.3 LMG's misery, but again misses.  Then the Leutnant removes the shock from nr.I section[1] ...

... after which he returns to his station by the MMG.  And finally, nr.II section reaches the hedge across the front of Home Wood.

16FR(1,2,3,4,5)  I deploy No.1 section into Home Wood, this getting really crowded but surely he hasn't got a mortar battery on call or he would've used it by now.  Also, as said in Part 1, I'm pretty certain he's purchased a motorcycle recce team section so won't have the points for a mortar barrage as well.  If I'm wrong I'm for it, as Home Wood is now a very juicy mortar target, holding my entire platoon - they're getting penned in as feared.

The above photo also shows my Lieutenant[2] who had also deployed into the wood to remove 2 shock from No.3 LMG and order them to fall back to safety, and order No.1 section forward but not too close to the edge where they could be targeted.  

Also showing in the above is No.2 section's advance to a point just short of 4" from the edge of the wood from where they can shoot at anyone who enters it to their front.

And finally, the R36 advances flat out up the road, getting past the Large Barn ...

... to where it can start to target the German infantry.

I need this tank to get stuck in, as the Germans appear not to have fielded any anti-tank capability - if only it had managed to deploy earlier.

17GE(1,4,4,5,5,6)  John is really stacking up the CoC points - this is going to give him a good edge when the fight hots up again.  The Leutnant now follows my late platoon sergeant's lead and reorganises nr.I section into a single LMG team (henceforth, nr.I LMG).  He then orders them to advance (3") up the cornfield, while the Feldwebel (senior leader) deploys behind them by the 5cm mortar.

18FR(1,2,3,3,4)  The R35 finally joins fight and fires its coax MG at section nr.III who were ignored in the last German phase and left hanging.  Surprisingly, they don't hit the dirt or otherwise respond using CoC points, and take 1 casualty (rifleman) and 2 shock (1 on each team).

In Home Wood, No.1 section moves to the right and the rifle grenadiers move back to try and avoid creating a bunched target.  This all feels a bit aimless; my men seem to just milling around in the wood to no real purpose.

I have to admit at this stage I don't really have a plan, other than hoping my tank can force the Germans to let up the pressure.

19GE(1,1,2,2,4,5)  The Leutnant advances nr.I section back up the hedge around 5-acre field tightening the German grip on Home Wood.

The obergefreiter of nr.II section removes a point of shock and moves them tactically (3") away from the R35.  Nr.II section simply goes tactical at the hedge facing Home Wood, leaving the overall situation looking this.

20FR(1,4,4,4,6)  And as John points out, not a lot of use, as I now only have one senior leader - thanks John.

This time the R35 tries h.e. against nr.III section as it's now effectively in hard cover, but misses completely.

I feel I have to try something with the platoon, so the Lieutenant orders No.1 section to advance (hopefully close enough to the edge of the wood) and shoot at nr.I LMG - they have an attached senior leader and killing him would really help the cause.  But they hit the dirt and I fail to do any harm.  No.3 LMG tries the same and manages 1 casualty, but it's not the Leutnant.  The Lieutenant, also tries to advance and shoot with the rifle grenadiers, but he doesn't get far enough to see out of the wood.   So for just 1 casualty, I've now exposed most of my platoon to retribution - seems that was a bit foolish.

21GE(1,1,2,3,4,5)  And the Germans seize the opportunity offered.  First, the Leutnant fires nr.I LMG at No.3 LMG, causing 1 casualty and 3 shock, and surprise, surprise, the it's the, already wounded, section sergeant who's hit and stunned.  

French Force morale falls from 7 to 6.  

Elsewhere, it's just movement, as: nr.III section removes 1 shock and continues to tactically sidle along the hedge; nr.II section crosses the hedge and enters the wood; and, the 5cm mortar team advance.

 

That ended the German phase.  I considered withdrawing at this point as I can't see a way out, but I don't want to go out of the campaign on a whimper, so man up, and roll the dice.

22FR(1,1,3,5,6)  As I started looking at options, I thought the Germans had got very close in the wood, and on measuring, it turned out they had inadvertently entered close combat with No.3 LMG!

So, we roll back the clock to Phase 21, and fight the combat; the French with 3D6 and the Germans with 9D6.  The plucky French team manage to pull off a draw, inflicting 2 casualties (again neither was a leader) and 1 shock (rifleman) against the German's 3 shock.  But, 3 shock is just enough to rout the team, who flee all the way back to side road behind Home Wood.

French Force Morale sinks from 6 to 5.

So, back to Phase 22, and the R35 gets 2 hits with h.e. on nr.III section, but rolls a double-one for no effect.   

That does it for me.  That's enough boys, time to get out, as I don't want this platoon that has fought so well to get decimated in the last game.  So, everywhere else I pull the troops back to try and avoid any more losses before I can withdraw.

23G

E(2,2,3,4,4,6)  And with the French looking like they're on their way out, the Germans advance nr.I LMG team and nr.II section along the hedgerows.  

Then in the final act of the campaign, John snatches his last chance to get his motorcycle recce section to deploy on the table for the first time ever.

And don't they look pretty, motoring flat out across the fields?

23FR(*,*,*,*,*)  And my brave lads withdraw to fight another day, in another campaign?

The Aftermath

The French platoon: lost 6 men of whom 1 would return to duty (RTD) immediately, 2 RTD after another turn (there isn't one in this campaign), and 3 permanently lost.  This leaves the platoon permanently reduced by 5 men.  The platoon sergeant passed his medic roll but would have to miss the next turn.

The CO's opinion of the Lieutenant now falls from +4 to +3 (but still a +1 on support), and the men, so many of whom are pleased to have survived, raise their opinion of the Lieutenant from +10 to +11!  Lt Victor Renard's outlook after this latest setback settles down from 'merry' to 'droll' - he has some good war stories to tell.

The German platoon: lost 10 men of whom 2 would RTD immediately, 3 RTD in a turn's time, and 5 permanently lost.  This leaves the platoon weakened by the same number of men (5) after 1 fight as the French platoon after 8[3].  The wounded obergefreiter also passed his medic roll to RTD immediately.

The German CO's opinion of the Leutnant rose to +1, but the men, unhappy with the butcher's bill, lower their opinion of him to -3, but the Leutnant's outlook remains 'relaxed'.

Post Mortem

This was a more interesting contest as the double phases evened out (12 German phases to 11 French) and the French hesitant deployments were about as successful as one might expect.  

Just to show I'm not overly exaggerating the effects of the German double-phases and French failures to deploy, here's a quick summary of the campaign.

Game No.	Winning Side	Phases		Delta No.	Delta %	French Deployed
		German	French
1	Ge	12	4	8	200%	no
2	Fr	8	8	0	0%	yes
3	Fr	14	17	-3	-18%	Yes
4	Ge	4	5	-1	-20%	no
5	Fr	9	9	0	0%	yes
6	Fr	20	18	2	11%	yes
7	Ge	5	3	2	67%	no
8	Ge	12	7	5	71%	no
9	Ge	12	11	1	9%	yes

 A "no" under 'French Deployed' means none of the French infantry sections from the platoon managed to deploy through the effects of a bombardment.

But, back to this game.  For me, the terrain turned out to be horrible to defend as there was so much cover it robbed my defence of any decent fields of fire.  Not helped by the German JOPs being well advanced on a table that was being played cross-ways.  Indeed, I never deployed my 75mm gun as there was nowhere with a decent field of fire, except on my left, and the Germans didn't go there.  As feared, I got penned in the wood, and every attempt to fight out of it was met with superior German firepower - I really needed to do something different and better coordinated, but I'm not sure what or how.  OTOH, with Germans lacking any anti-tank capability, had my R35 deployed at the first time of asking they could've found life more difficult.

Anyway, the campaign was always going to be a draw regardless of the result this game and I suspect that influenced how both of us approached the game.

THE END

What's next?  Not sure at present.

Notes:

[1.]  You may have spotted that nr.I section's MG is now an LMG, when in previous photos it can be seen to have accidentally fielded an MMG base, which we spotted and corrected during the game.

[2.]  The Lieutenant, thanks to his men's appreciation of his performance earlier in this campaign, has four orders and a 12" command range, albeit the latter is no use in the wood where visibility is reduced to 4".

[3.]  We made a mistake here as the French should get a fresh platoon for Scenario 5, but I doubt it would've made any difference, and it was nice to see Lt Renard see out the campaign.