'Taking the Gembloux Gap' a pint-sized campaign.
Turn 5, Game 4, Scenario 3 the 'Blitz on Villeroux' (second try)
After the French win in the last Game, the Germans are having a second attempt to storm through this scenario as quickly as possible, i.e. before the French can accrue two Chain of Command (CoC) dice.
The Scenario
See the previous post Link.
For some unexplained reason, I thought I only had 7 points of support (I actually had 9) but only selected: an Adjutant (1 pt.); off-table anti-aircraft artillery (2 pt.s) and Canon de 75mm M1897 (aka 'soixante-qunize' with five gun crew and Junior Leader (4 pt.s).
With his 20 pt.s of support (the Germans add 2 pt.s every time they repeat this scenario) John covertly chose: a pre-game 'Stuka Strike' (4 pt.s); 2x SdKfz 222 armoured car (4 pt.s each); a motorcycle (m/c) reconnaissance squad with junior leader (5 pt.s); a 5cm Mortar Team (2 pt.s); and, a 'shabby Nazi trick' (1 pt.).
We then rolled for Force morale, and I again rolled a '6' to start the French on a Force Morale of 11, while John's Germans did a little better than the last game to start with a Force Morale of 9.
Pre Game Phase
John now revealed his Stuka strike, and I in turn revealed the presence of my anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). So, in rolled the Stukas ...
... this was more of the same old, same old, from the Boche, and if you're wondering whether this is just flogging a dead horse, you're right. As in the absence of any nuns on the table the Luftwaffe did seem to be targeting a dead horse, albeit a very blurred one in this photo.
The dead horse must've acted as a decoy drawing the Stukas away from more profitable targets as John's dice rolls for each of the ten buildings present, missed all but the 'Small Barn'. I'd like to think this was down to my decision to procure AAA support but all the failures were purely down to John's dice rolling. The Small Barn which was hit was rendered unstable, indicated by the misaligned roof.
We discussed this for a while, but as I'd been caught out like this before, and most comments on the Lardies forum were inclined to punish this situation, John lost a JOP, being only able to deploy one behind his other two patrol markers[1].
Also, the above photo identifies the buildings referred to in this battle report.
With the higher Force Morale, the French took the first phase.
1FR(1,1,4,6,6): and straight away the French get a double-phase. With all deployments being 'hesitant'[2] thanks to the Stuka strike I decided to try and get some troops on table at the earliest opportunity. To this end, I deployed my LMG team with junior leader - all that remained of No.3 Section after the platoon reorganisation after losses in the previous games[3]. They rolled a '4' and arrived, behind 'Home Farm', at the first time of asking!
While they successfully deployed, they did roll a '5' for shock resulting from the Stuka strike, and here the points I spent on AAA did make a difference reducing that by two to just three points of shock.
The intent with this deployment was to set up a fire base in Home Farm which would provide a wide field of fire which should constrain German freedom of movement. Not wanting to commit any more troops before I had a better idea of what the Germans were planning, I moved on to the next phase.
2FR(3,6,6,6,6): a quadruple '6' for the first time in any CoC game I've played.
This means the next phase would also be mine, and while John gained a CoC point, on looking up this section in the rules I found I gained an entire CoC dice! This meant I was half-way to denying the Germans' objective and winning the game. What's more when we rolled for the Random Event, I gained a reinforcement of 5 riflemen! I attached these to No.3 section as a separate rifle team, which meant with two teams this was definitely going to be treated as a section going forward.
The '3' was used by the sergeant (junior leader) of, the now overstrength, No.3 section to remove two of the three points of shock from the Stuka strike.
3FR(1,1,3,4,5): the '5' going towards the build of a second CoC die. With still no Germans on table to help me guess their intent, I only used the '3' to get No.3 section's sergeant to remove the last of the shock from his section and advance them up to Home Farm with a view to occupying it in a later phase.
4GE(1,2,4,4,5): allowed the Germans to deploy nr.I section along the wall next to their left-hand JOP; they immediately went 'Tactical'. They were then joined by the Leutnant (platoon commander).
Not wanting to deploy the platoon's other senior leader (the 2iC, Feldwebel) at this point, probably because he didn't have an adjutant to chivvy his troops forward, John ended his phase.
5FR(2,3,5,5,6): two '5's, I'm now half-way to my second CoC die and John's only had one phase; the dice can be so cruel. Not wanting to let John develop his scheme of manoeuvre unhindered I deployed my 75mm 'soixante-quinze' in the entrenchment that had been occupied by the 25mm ATG in the last game.
Shooting down the road with six HE fire dice should shake up his nr.I section.
Or maybe not, as being tactical, they cancelled out the cover reduction for HE and the shoot was completely ineffective. Frustrated by this I forgot to move my No.3 section into Home Farm before ending my phase.
6GE(2,2,5,6,6): a double-phase for John who was overdue some luck on the dice. On the other hand, the double-phase gave me a CoC point so I was now only two CoC points from denying the Germans their objective. With the sands of time running out, John's Leutnant ordered nr.I section to run towards the wood and rallied off the resulting shock.
And again in close-up.
7GE(1,2,3,4,6): and nr.I section continued advancing as fast as they could into the wood, but the 2D6 rolled only allowed them to advance 3".
Behind them, the German nr.III section deployed from the same JOP ...
... and opened fire against my soixante-quinze with their LMG team. With the help of 'maschinengewehr' and 'storm of steel', they managed 6 hits, but none of these translated to shock or kills.
Next, John deployed a 5cm mortar team[4] ...
... who also targeted the soixante-quinze. The effect of HE in reducing my gun's entrenchment to light cover allowed then inflict one kill.
The bad news, was that this casualty turned out to be the gun's junior leader. This meant it would no longer be able to activate on a '3', and the 'Bad Things Happen' test saw French Force Morale drop from 11 to 9.
8FR(1,3,3,5,5): the two '5's saw me over the line with two CoC dice, but more on that later. The '1' allowed my soixante-quinze to retaliate against the Germans grouped around their JOP by the road. This time they were not tactical and rolling 6 fire dice to hit, I threw ...
Nonetheless, this time I remembered to get No.3 section into Home Farm ...
Then, before ending my phase, I spent my two CoC dice to call time on the German attempt to exit two units off the French base edge - the game, but not the fight, was won (see the previous game for an explanation and table of game outcomes - Link).
9GE(1,2,4,5,6): the Leutnant continued pushing nr.I section through the wood, but they were clearly not keen, only advancing 4". This got them nearly half way through as can be seen from this overhead drone shot.
10FR(*,*,*,*,*): no command dice thrown, because, with the Germans continuing to press, my 75mm gun under the cosh, and German armour yet to make its appearance, I decided that it would be sensible to withdraw at this point. Staying only made sense if I could write down the German platoon without taking any significant losses, and as summarised above I felt this was unlikely. Also, the next scenario appears more favourable for the French as the Germans may not field any armour, and so that seemed a better place to make a determined stand.
The Aftermath
The French platoon: lost no men in winning this game, and with a lightly wounded man returning to duty next game and reinforcement of 5 riflemen gained in this game, sees the French platoon at 2 men more than full strength for the next game.
As result of this win, the French Lieutenant (platoon commander) has gone from 'content' to 'secure', while the opinion of him held by both his CO and his men has risen from +2 to +3. That's three wins on the trot for this wily platoon commander - I think that deserves naming and what else should he be called but Lieutenant Viktor Renard.
The German platoon: also lost no men but lost the game. They have 2 men who will return to duty (RTD) for the next game when they will only be down by 6 men; this has been a fairly bloodless campaign so far.
The Leutnant (platoon leader), is unfazed by yet another the failure, remaining 'sociable', while his CO's opinion of him has dropped to -2. But the low casualty rate has endeared him to his men, and their opinion has risen from zero to +1.
Post Mortem
I messed up my support selections, the 2 unused points could've allowed Francs-Tireurs to harass both the German JOPs. But with the dice running so clearly in my favour nothing I did really mattered much. Likewise, there was nothing much John could've done any better with the dice he had.
It now just remains to be seen if I've made a mistake in believing, all things being equal on the dice, that the next scenario should be easier for the French. That game's scheduled for a week's time.
Notes:
[1.] John is going to post this case on the forum to see if we did this right.
[2.] Troops on a hesitant deployment only arrive of a D6 roll of 4+.
[3.] We weren't sure whether this junior leader and single team constituted a team or a single-team section. Luckily it didn't matter as the command dice allowed me to deploy it either way.
[4.] This was a support option as John had reorganised his platoon to disband their mortar team and reassign the crew to reinforce his weakened infantry sections.
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