Counter-Attack at Villeroux - Part 2

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

Turn 7, Game 6, Scenario '3' the 'Counter-attack at Villeroux!'

We left the game after 18 phases, with the French rifle team from their No.2 section unable to get out of the Boulangerie to escape the increasing weight of fire being deployed by the Germans (Link).

We pick up the story in the Germans' phase 19.

19GE(1,1,2,3,6): safe from any fire from the Boulangerie, nr.II section now moves back towards the edge of the Large Wood.  The Germans then deploy another leIG.18 7.5cm gun from the JOP that was withdrawn back up the road from the Small Wood.

This gun is in a position from where it can engage the Panhard armoured car ...

... which it does, but despite being hit, the car's armour manages to save both penetrating hits and only take two points of shock.

The phase ends with the Germans deploying the platoon's 5cm mortar team from the JOP by the Small Wood, where the Leutnant can command both it, and the MMG team.

20FR(2,2,4,4,5): and I breathe a sigh of relief as my rifle team in the Boulangerie was ignored by the Germans.  I also give myself a good kicking as I realise what a mess I've made of handling them.  First, I had been only rolling one movement die to get out of the building as you lose one when doing so - but I should've rolled two and discarded the lower score, which gives a better chance of getting out.  Second, I'm sitting on a small mountain of CoC points and I can just reposition the team.  This is the first thing I do in this phase and now the whole section is safe, and the platoon sergeant removes 2 points of shock.

Unfortunately my armour is paralysed by a lack of command dice to operate it.

21GE(1,1,1,2,5): and the leIG.18 again targets the Panhard ...

... and hits it again; this time the armour only saves one of the two penetrating hits.  But bizarrely it only takes 1 point of shock from this, one more and the crew would've abandoned the vehicle.

Then the last German section (nr.III) deploys tactically into the Large Wood, an unhesitant deployment as John had selected an Adjutant amongst his support.

With 5 support points as yet unfielded I'm fairly confident that there is now just a Panzer IV waiting in the wings.

22FR(1,3,4,5,6): and the junior leader in the Panhard removes 2 points of shock in an attempt to stop his men abandoning ship.  The platoon sergeant also uses this phase to remove more shock from No.2 section behind the Boulangerie.  And, the R35 by Home Farm fires at the more recently arrived 7.5cm gun and inflicts 2 points of shock.

This is a mistake, not realised at the time, as the intervening hedge blocks line of sight (LOS).   Ooops!

23GE(1,3,4,4,4): the Feldwebel in the Small Wood now directs nr.I section's LMG to suppress the French JOP by the 'crossroads' and directs the rifle team to advance at the run towards La Haye Farm.

It looks like John intends to take this JOP.  I'm not too worried about losing it, so plan on doing nothing to deter him in the hope that he overextends himself and becomes vulnerable to a sharp counter.

On the other flank, the Leutnant moves into the Large Wood to remove 2 points of shock from nr.II section.

And last, the leIG.18 fires at, and again hits, the Panhard but this time fails to score any penetrations.

Time for another overview?

24FR(3,3,3,4,6): a command roll to delight any armour commander.  First, the R35 in the Small Wood turns 180° to chase the German nr.II section advancing around La Haye Farm. 

Second, the R35 by Home Farm targets the 7.5cm gun it does have LOS to (the earlier mistake was realised at this point), killing a gunner.  And finally, the Panhard fires its coax MG at the gun firing at it, but rolling five '1's and one '3' it misses by a mile.

With the last die, a '4', the platoon sergeant (inferior senior leader) removes another 2 points of shock from No.2 section, who have now recovered their nerve.

25GE(2,3,3,4,6): and the leIG.18 removed a point of shock before continuing its duel with the Panhard.

Another hit, and the armour failed to save one of the penetrating hits and the car takes 1 point of shock.

And then, the 'Big Event', the much-anticipated arrival of the Panzer IV, but it is not in a position to fire at anything yet.

The Feldwebel, continued to order nr.I section's LMG to suppress the French JOP, while the rifle team advanced more cautiously around the Buttery.

As I'm writing this, I'm wondering how the LMG team managed this as they look well out command range of the Feldwebel stood back with the LMG team.

26FR(1,1,2,2,4): which I used as two '3's by combining the '1's and '2's.  With the first, the R35 by the Small Wood, chasing the German nr.I section, fired its coax MG at their rifle team, killing 1 and inflicting 1 point of shock.  

The Panhard leader used the second, to remove a point of shock and fire its coax MG at the 7.5cm gun that had put the shock on it, but without effect.

27GE(1,3,3,5,5): and the German leIG.18 opens the phase by trying again to eliminate the Panhard, the biggest threat to the newly arrived Panzer IV.  But while it never seems to miss it struggles to inflict damage; this time the Panhard threw more saves than penetration hits and escaped unscathed.

The need to do better was becoming urgent as the Panzer IV drove flat out to arrive alongside the other gun team.

Meanwhile, the obergefreiter with nr.I section's rifle team removed a point of shock and got them to nip round the far side of La Haye Farm to escape the attentions of the pursuing R35.

This left them isolated and very close to another French JOP, had my moment come, or would the command dice deny me the opportunity?

28FR(1,3,4,4,5): and a perfect set of dice for what I had in mind.  Lieutenant Renard now, leading from the front, deployed his No.1 section and the V-B team into close combat with the isolated German rifle section.

Despite having light cover provided by the hedge, the obergefreiter and nr.I section's riflemen were overwhelmed.  The, obergefreiter was wounded and 3 of his men were killed as well as taking 2 points of shock.  In return they only managed 1 kill and 1 point of shock, so were 'Defeated by Four' which is as bad as it gets.  This saw them take another 3 points of shock and rout back 18".

They also had two 'Bad Things Happen' (BTH) tests for a wounded junior leader and a routing team.  They escaped any penalty for the first cause, but the second saw German Force Morale drop from 9 to 8.  Amazingly the first loss of force morale by either side in 28 phases!

This ended my phase as I had put almost everything into this one throw.  The last '4' went unused as my platoon sergeant had completed rallying No.2 section.

29GE(3,4,4,6,6): a German double phase, was this going to rob Lt Renard of the newly-won momentum from his counter-attack?  It seemed that it might, as the Feldwebel removed 3 points of shock from the routed rifle team. 

Then the Panzer IV advanced flat out to the hedge line, 'safe' in the knowledge that the next phase was theirs.

With the last '4' the Leutnant removed shock from nr.II section ...

... and ordered the MMG to suppress the Boulangerie; this was a wasted action as it would cease to have effect after the next phase which was also the Germans'. 

Then, reverting to my earlier habit of acting without thinking I spent a CoC die to interrupt and fire at the Panzer IV with the Panhard.

This seemed like a good idea as the Panzer IV was presenting a flank shot, but I had overlooked its flat out movement and the obstruction from the hedge and the shot missed.

30GE(2,3,4,5,6): and with brain still unengaged, I interrupted again (I did say earlier I had accrued a lot of CoC points).  But despite the tank being stationary now, the modifier wording was "Target moved Flat Out in their last active phase[1]" and I missed again.  Two CoC die spent and nothing to show for it.

The Panzer IV then opened up against the Panhard, but gratifyingly, for me, it missed, surely the armoured car couldn't survive much longer?

Over in the Small Wood the Feldwebel seized the '4' to remove the last of the shock from section nr.I.

31FR(1,3,3,4,6): and the Panhard crept slowly forward, and fired again at the Panzer IV; third time lucky?  Yes, a hit, a palpable hit!  And what's more in the flank, resulting in three penetrating hits of which the panzer only saved one.  But after all that, it just took two points of shock.  

But all was not yet lost, the gunner in the R35 by Home Farm also fired at the Panzer IV resulting in another unsaved penetrating hit.  

But it only caused 1 point of shock, just one more and the panzer would've been abandoned, so close.  Not sure why I didn't take a photo of all the shock on the Panzer IV.

With the last '3' the other R35 continued to harass the German nr.I section in the Small Wood, the coax MG killing another rifleman.

32GE(4,5,6,6,6): another double phase for the Boche, and an end of turn to boot.  A little earlier and the nr.I rifle team would've routed off-table, but now it was quite timely for them recovering them from their routed state at the end of this phase.

During the phase itself, the Leutnant advanced nr.II to the edge of the Large Wood near the Panhard a/c.

33GE(2,3,3,3,4): a mouth-watering set of command dice!  The phase started with the leIG.18 that had been continually firing at the Panhard, and it did so again.  This time the car was less lucky with two unsaved penetrating hits inflicting 2 points of shock and permanently immobilising the vehicle.

The other gun's leader removed a point of shock ...

... and fired at the R35 by Home Farm, but missed the small, low profile, and partially obscured target.

Next, the panzer commander removed two of the three shock from his tank.

Section nr.III then advanced to edge of the Large Wood ...

... and the Leutnant moved back to take command of his MMG and mortar teams, ordering the former to again suppress the Boulangerie.

34FR(1,1,2,4,6): the Panhard a/c commander, using a '1' and a '2' removed a point of shock and ordered the gunner to fire again at the Panzer IV.  But the gunner was too stunned by the shock to obey.  The R35 by Home Farm, also fired at the panzer, but missed.

Lt Renard then ordered his V-B team to target the German nr.I section ...

... killing one of the few riflemen left ...

... after which the Lieutenant moved back with No.1 section into La Haye Barns.

No sooner had I made the last move, No.1 section moving into La Haye Barns, than I could've kicked myself for being so stupid!  I should have withdrawn them behind the barns, as the building was easily targeted by lots of German units. 

35GE(3,3,4,5,5): and unsurprisingly John wasted no time in firing both the MMG team ...

... and the leIG.18 on the road at the La Haye Barns.   

But Lt Renard's luck held and all this firepower only inflicted 3 points of shock and no casualties!  

Next, John switched his attention back to the armoured duel; the Panzer IV commander removing the last shock from his vehicle and firing at the Panhard.  

The Panhard again managed as many saves as penetrating hits, but took a point of shock and had to reverse.  Being immobilised, and thus unable to reverse, the shock was doubled!

36FR(2,3,4,5,6): with the French armour failing to perform Lt Renard decided he needed to finish off the German nr.I section to try and break their morale.  So, the V-B section was again ordered to engage them.

And throwing handfuls of '6's they wiped out what was left of the section, but both the obergefreiter and Feldwebel somehow managed to avoid getting hit.  

The resulting BTH test saw German Force Morale sink from 8 to 7.

The Lieutenant, then removed a point of shock and pulled No.1 section out of La Haye Barns into cover behind the buildings, courtesy of yet more '6's.

The phase ended with probably a last gasp from the Panhard, whose commander removed a point of shock and ordered the gunner to engage the Panzer IV.  

This time the gunner managed to obey but with all that shock unsurprisingly missed his target.

37GE(2,3,5,5,6): and time finally ran out for the Panhard armoured car, as the Panzer IV ...

... hit it again and this time, although only getting one unsaved penetrating hit for 2 points of shock, pushed its shock total up to four forcing the crew to abandon what was starting to resemble a pile of scrap iron.

As a result French Force Morale fell from 10 to 9.

John didn't have a use for his '2' so passed.

38FR(1,1,2,3,5): while nr.I section's wounded obergefreiter (junior leader) had left the field after his command was wiped out[2], the Feldwebel was still present, all alone, and a target!  The R35 that had been instrumental in seeing off nr.I section fired at him with the coax MG ...

... and as I seem to be throwing nothing but '6's, scored 3 kills!  

Despite being 'hit' three times the result was only one wound and being stunned twice.  What to do about the BTH test?  We opted for rolling for all three outcomes and only applying the worst result; German Force Morale fell from 7 to 6.

Could he still be targeted while stunned?  Again, we couldn't find anything that said not, so the V-B team also lobbed some grenades at him ...

... which finally killed him.   

This made German Force Morale tumble from 6 to 4, and the loss of a command die.  And then, the Home Farm R35 fired at the Panzer IV.

The stellar dice-throwing continued unabated with a score 11 to hit giving the R35 a bonus AP die.  As if that wasn't enough all four AP dice scored penetrating hits and the Panzer IV only managed to save one.  A quick roll for the outcome and the Panzer IV blew up!

German Force Morale collapsed from 4 to 2, reducing them by three command dice, and invoking the rule that a unit had to move back to a JOP[3].  

39GE(*,*): and John, with only two command dice, and now unable to 'win' the scenario, withdrew.

The Aftermath

The French platoon: lost only 2 men, of whom 1 is permanently lost and 1 will return to duty (RTD) after the next game.   With 2 men RTD from the previous fight in time for the next, the French platoon will be unchanged at 3 men down for the next game, and recover another 1 RTD for the turn after that.

With another near-bloodless victory under his belt, the CO's opinion of the Lieutenant has risen from +4 to +6 (+2 support pt.s), and the men's from +6 to +7 (still adding +2 to Force Morale).  Unfortunately the success has gone to Lt Renard's head and he has gone from 'sociable' to 'gregarious' losing his previous +1 to Force Morale. 

The German platoon: lost 12 men and a senior leader (the 2iC Feldwebel), and had a junior leader wounded.  This means the platoon has permanently lost 6 men, and has 3 more who will not RTD until after the next turn.  The other 3 men RTD immediately so the platoon will be down by 9 men for the next game.  The senior leader is replaced by a junior leader being promoted, and his place taken by a new junior leader.

Despite this defeat, the platoon Leutnant's outlook has changed from 'secure' to 'happy'.  But, while his CO's opinion remains unchanged at zero, his men's has slumped to -2.

The Next Game

Will be a German attempt to re-take Villeroux, this time with 22 points of support; the French will get 9 pt.s plus 2 more courtesy of their CO's opinion of Lt Renard.

However, it is now impossible for the Germans to win through to take Scenario 6 before the campaign ends (on Turn 10).  But there is still something to fight for, as the campaign victory condition state:

If the French hold Table 3 (Villeroux) at the end of turn 10, they have held the main defensive line and win the campaign as a major victory.  If they hold Table 4 at the end of Turn 10 then it is a narrow French Victory. If they hold Table 5 at the end of Turn 10, the campaign is a draw.

Post Mortem

The game went the distance, 38 phases!  I think this was because we were both playing cautiously, and John's leaders led charmed lives while the French seemed to only ever take shock rather than casualties.  But the end, when it came, was brutal and very quick.  The French did well in letting the Germans overextend themselves and then hit them hard and kept pressing to make the most of the resulting advantage.  But, it must be admitted, this was helped enormously by the enormous number of '6's thrown by the French fire dice at the end of the game.

I also think the presence of armour support, and this game had lots of it, slows the game down.  Duels between tanks and guns seem to forever to reach a conclusion, and while that's going on nothing else much tends to happen.

French support choices were very effective, the R35 tanks, being small and low-profile were hard to hit, and the Panhard a/c's anti-tank capability meant it drew a lot of German fire that could've been used elsewhere.  Also, the Francs-Tireurs once again proved invaluable

I am not sure the Germans did much wrong but their attack seemed to be trying to cover all the bases and hitting none.  I thought I would get swamped by their level of support but it turned out to be ineffective against my armour and I did my best to keep my infantry safely out of the fight for most the game - I never even deployed the platoon's third section.

The command dice seemed fairly neutral in this game, with the Germans getting 20 phases to the French 18.  The fire dice were another matter, it seemed the Germans could not kill anything no matter how often they hit it, while towards the end-game the French fire dice did nothing but kill.

Notes:

[1.]  This does raise the question of whether the penalty should've been applied in the previous phase.  Surely it must be one or the other, and not both? 

[2.]  We struggled to find what to do with a unit's leader if his unit was wiped out.  We opted for simply removing him but would very much like to know what the rules dictate.

[3.]  We find this largely pointless as there's usually a unit that can retire to a JOP without any inconvenience.  We feel it should perhaps have to be a unit chosen by the opponent, or maybe the unit should actually withdraw off-table through the nearest JOP.