Caesar's Camp - Scenario 3 - CoC AAR

Capturing Caesar's Camp, 3rd June 1940 - a pint-sized campaign 

The two earlier scenarios in this campaign were flanking actions separate from the rest of the campaign which now starts in earnest with Scenario 3.  From now on any casualties will be carried forward, reducing the force available for the next scenario.  

Scenario 3 - 'Up the Route Nationale'

As a result of the earlier scenarios, the Germans start with a full CoC die for having achieved the objective in Scenario 1, but as they didn't actually win that scenario, they don't get the free off-table machinegun firing from the northern edge (actually French friendly fire).

The terrain for this game was shown in the last blog but for completeness, here it is again, viewed from the German, eastern, end.

The map for this scenario, oriented with north at the top and showing the start lines for the patrol phase, is shown below.

The British objective is to defeat or drive off the German outpost line from this table as quickly as possible so they can progress onto the next.  For the Germans (me), knowing this platoon has to carry on the fight in the next scenario, means it is important not to lose too many men here.  And, what makes this scenario so tricky, is the British ability to field several armoured vehicles while the Germans can only field one anti-tank weapon which will cost them 4 of their 6 support points.  This was going to be a tough one.

Initially the omens were good as the Germans continued to throw better than the British for Force Morale, starting on 10 to the Brit's 8.

The Patrol Phase

John's British rolled better for initial patrol moves before the start of the Patrol Phase proper, rolling a 6 to gain 3 free moves.  Despite this, I was fairly satisfied with how the patrol phase played out; the final, 'locked down', position of the patrol markers (3 British & 4 German) being as shown below.

Unfortunately, I goofed when placing my Jump-off Points (JOPs)[1], and ended up with all three in the Eastern Wood, as planned, but none where I wanted them; two ending up pretty close together. 

John's JOP placement was much better thought out, and he ended up with two well placed in the sunken road and one back where the Route Nationale entered on his edge of the table.

Following the Patrol phase, we both selected our support units.  For the Germans, I was convinced the British would turn up with plenty of light armour, so felt compelled to opt for a Pak 36 3.7cm anti-tank gun (ATG) costing 6 points.  With the remaining 2 points I selected an off-table machinegun firing from the southern table edge as there weren't any other very useful options for just 2pts.  John's Brits selected, undisclosed to me at this point in the game: 3x Bren Carriers with junior leaders and Bren teams[2] (3pts each = 9pts); 1x 2" mortar team[3] (2pts); and, 1x Adjutant (1pt), for a total of 12 support points.

Then, as per the campaign scenario description, the British took the first phase.

The Game

John promptly rolled a double phase to get the game started!  This was not critical, but it was frustrating, as I was also hoping to pick up a lot of CoC points[4] while John marshalled his forces to attack across the open ground to get at the Germans.

With their two phases the British deployed a section in the sunken road, from the more northerly of the two JOPs ...

... and another section and a carrier on the Route Nationale.

No doubt he would've deployed more if he'd been able to but he also threw quite a few '5's to get his CoC points total building up nicely.

My first phase predictably saw the Germans do nothing; patiently waiting for the British to expose themselves.  But, at the same I was a little disappointed not to get a single '5', but early days yet.

Over the next handful of phases, as the Germans kept their powder dry, the British methodically built up their forces as they prepared for a well-supported and coordinated push.  This included: a senior officer and 2" mortar team with the section already in the sunken road; ...

... and two more carriers to accompany the section and carrier deployed on the Route Nationale, who started to cautiously advance up the road towards the other section.

This included the senior leader commanding carriers in his the Boys ATR equipped carrier; boldly leading from the rear!

All this time, my hope, to accrue CoC points in the early phases were dashed, with only one '5' in my first five phases!  And, just to rub it in, John had been steadily rolling them, and had overtaken me despite my free CoC die head-start.

Now, as they were close to ready for their big push, the ubiquitous British smoke started to appear, albeit not where they intended; this was aimed at a point half way between the corner of the wheatfield and the point where the hedge meets the wood.

To reinforce the support for any advance to contact, their final section, complete with the second 2" mortar team and senior leader, deployed in the bend of the sunken road, south of the other section.

Here at last was smidgeon of opportunity!  In my next phase I deployed my off-table MMG at a point on the eastern bank of the sunken road where it crossed the southern table edge.  This allowed it to fire along the road, up to the bend, and target the section just deployed, who had gone 'Tactical'.  

John interjected to spend three points of his growing CoC pile for the mortar team to 'Hit the Dirt' to get them into soft cover.  And the net result from ten fire dice?  Just two points of shock; I had been hoping to kill the senior leader.

In their next phase the British doubled round the bend to avoid further fire and moved up their two leading carriers to the road junction.  The entire British force, less the carrier troop leader hanging back down the Route Nationale, can all be seen in this photo.

I felt it was still too early to deploy anything more as there were no good targeting opportunities on offer, the sunken road offering such good cover for the Tommies.  But they would have to come out sooner or later, wouldn't they?

And with their next two phases, courtesy of another a double phase, they did start to, but very cautiously; led of course by those accursed carriers.

The only opportunity here was for some very long-range fire by my off-table MMG against the section on the Route Nationale who were now only covered by well-maintained hedge lining it (minor obstacle / soft cover).   But again, John's handy CoC points saw them 'Hit the Dirt' and I failed to inflict even a single point of shock.  

The British, gaining in confidence, started to push forward their carrier section and the section on the road.

My inability to roll '5's with my command dice prevented activating the off-table MMG again, and my poorly placed JOPs didn't allow any deployment with a clear shot for my Pak 36, so there was no response from the Germans to all this.

So, as more smoke came down to shield them, the British carrier section pushed on as the prize of my unprotected JOPs, probably only a good flat-out move away from being shut down, beckoned.

It was now the last possible safe moment, so digging into my carefully hoarded CoC reserve, I played a CoC die to move the JOP nearest the carriers further away, and then used it to deploy the Pak 36 to take on the carriers approaching the wood.  

It fired; it missed!  Verdamt![5]

Needless to say, British retribution was swift in coming, with carriers and mortars engaging the Pak 36.  Despite 'Hitting the Dirt' and grovelling in the bottom of the gun pit (entrenchment) the Pak 36 suffered the loss of one gunner and two points of shock (the penny is the base of the dead crew member). 

John's carefully constructed, mutually supporting approach was paying dividends.

Nonetheless my junior leader stepped up to fill in for the lost gunner, remove a point of shock, and direct the gun to fire again.   

Another miss!  

I was pretty sure at this point that it was not going to be my day.

And, sure enough yet more pain was piled onto the hapless gun team as they again ate dirt.  And, they again lost another man and took another three shock leaving them on the brink of being pinned.

But the brave fellows hung on in, removed a point of shock, and tried what was probably going to be their last shot ... and you guessed it, they missed.

There was going to be no fourth chance as the British piled in everything they had to inflict another three shock and two dead.  This saw the team, well one man, and the junior leader, rout off the table.

The resulting 'Bad Things Happen' tests, for the team and junior leader routing off the table, saw my Force morale drop from10 to 7.  In my phase the off-table MMG firing again proved completely ineffective so in my following phase, I opted to withdraw from the table, albeit I had nothing on it at that point.  Forced to concede, and still in the first turn!

 

Post Mortem

There isn't too much to say on this one, as the Germans were always going to be up against it with only one anti-tank weapon against a swarm[6] of Bren Carriers.  Nonetheless, John had played a winning hand faultlessly.  He refused to get spooked by the absence of a German response, and his force deployment was a masterpiece of all-arms integration and co-operation.  Nothing was exposed unless absolutely necessary, and even then, only when his entire force was available in protected positions to provide overwhelming covering fire. 

After a string of wins, it seems I have finally had my come-uppance.

Notes:

[1.]  The mistake was in using the first patrol marker to place a JOP without considering where the other patrol markers would allow JOPs to be positioned.  The result being I used my most flexible patrol marker to place a JOP for which the others could've been used only to find they were very limited and didn't let me put them where desired.

[2.]  The third Bren carrier was equipped with a Boys anti-tank rifle (ATR) and came with a senior leader who could command the Carrier troop.

[3.]  As we had agreed that we would stick with the support lists in the campaign booklet, there were no replenishment points available, so this extra mortar was as much about having more ammunition on hand as being able to engage more targets.

 [4.]  I was hoping to build on my free CoC die (for achieving the objective in Scenario 1) and gain a significant CoC point advantage over my opponent.

[5.]  Double-verdamt, as I didn't realise at the time but I had forgotten to use the junior leader with the Pak 36 to increase the team's chance of a hit by using both his orders - something only available on deployment.  But my die throw was so low it wouldn't have helped against the small, low-profile, targets offered by the carriers. 

[6.]  Is that the correct collective noun for Bren Carriers?