The Wrath of the (Dice) Gods

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

Turn 1, Game 1, Scenario1 the 'Palm-off at Perbais'

This was the start of a new set of Chain of Command (CoC) games against my regular opponent, John, using his Early War 15mm collection for this pint-sized campaign from the Too Fat Lardies (TFL).  The campaign runs for ten games during which the Germans have to win their way through five scenarios on the campaign ladder.

John chose to be the Germans with elements of the 3rd Panzer Division (3Pz) and I took him on with a platoon from the 1e Division d’Infanterie Motorisée (DIM), a French Motorised Division.

The Scenario

As ever John produced a fabulous terrain lay-down (as shown below, viewed from the German perspective) ...

... to match the scenario map, below (although the perspective in the above photo makes it look like the terrain is jammed up one end - it isn't).

John always adds interest with scatter on his set-ups as shown by the refugees attempting to escape to safety from barbaric Boche ...

... not always successfully!

I liked these little vignettes so much I made them part of the game, such that whenever either player rolled a single '6' on their command dice the two groups of pedestrian refugees would flee a further 1D6 along the road (after all they are pushing handcarts).

For the first time, we opted to use some of the campaign rules for the platoon commanders' state of mind and the opinion of him held by his men and his commanding officer (CO).

My platoon commander's outlook was 'cheerful' and his CO and men were neutral towards him (both at zero).  The German platoon commander was 'secure' and his CO neutral (0) but his men were more positive about him (+1).

None of this affected the D6 we threw for Force Morale at the start of the game, which saw my French start on a Force Morale of 9 while the John's Germans started on 11.

With 7 support points to spend I opted for a 'Canon de 75mm M1897' with five gun crew and Junior Leader (the famous 'soixante-quinze') costing 4 points, and three entrenchments for a team (1pt each).  My thinking here was that John was bound to try and exploit the cover afforded by the wheat field so the HE from the 75mm would negate that leaving him badly exposed.  Elsewhere, my troops should, when deployed in hard cover (buildings and entrenchments) be able to win any firefight against the Germans who would only have light cover at best.

John, with 10 points of support, selected, in secret, a Stuka Strike (4pts); an le.IG18 7.5cm Infantry Gun with five crew and a Junior Leader (4pts); a Medic (1pt); and, a 'Shabby Nazi Trick' (1pt).  

The final pre-game prep was a German D6 roll to determine how many CoC points they would start the game with; they got just the one.

Pre-Game Phases

Normally this would only consist of the Patrol Phase, but in this game that was preceded by the 'Stuka Strike' John had selected from his support options.  The Stukas promptly swooped in ...

... repeatedly ...

... leaving the village in flames ...

... the net result of all this wanton destruction being shown below.

So as the dust settled the Patrol Phase kicked off, the Germans rolling a '6' to get 4 free moves before they started the Patrol Phase proper.  As expected, John made a push to try and get a jump off point (JOP) as far across the wheat field as possible.  In trying to deny him that I ended the phase with the patrol markers as shown below, one of mine being stuck on the table edge with no valid JOP placement options.

Because the Germans had managed to advance so quickly, all but one of my JOPs (the white stars) were too far back to be able to deploy at the first hedge - see below.

Two of the German JOPs were by the house at the edge of the wheat field with another providing a useful flanking option on the other side of the table (at the top of the photo below - viewed from the German left flank).

With all the preliminaries out of the way, battle commenced.

The Game  

As the attacker, with the initiative and the higher Force Morale, the Germans took the first phase[1].

1GE(1,1,3,4,4): and wanting to make the most of any Stuka-induced confusion among the French they immediately started to bring their troops onto the table.  First the platoon commander and senior leader, the Leutnant, deployed by the house with nr.I section covering the wheat field.  At the same time the nr.II section deployed on the other flank on the railway line, and took up a tactical posture in case of any French fire in response.

2FR(1,2,2,4,6): and for once the single '6' was of some use as it allowed the refugees to move further from the pursuing Hun.  Knowing any deployment would be 'hesitant'[2] I decided I couldn't risk delaying any response.  First, I deployed my 'soixante-quinze' (in an entrenchment) together with my Lieutenant (the platoon's commander and senior leader).  Both successfully deployed, the Lieutenant removing the 3 shock the gun took from the Stuka Strike, and the gun opening fire and killing 2 riflemen from the German nr.I section.  This was a very promising opening.

Next, I activated an infantry section to deploy in support of the gun to prevent the German units ganging up on it.  This section unfortunately failed to deploy thanks to the after effects of the Stuka Strike.

Apology: why so few photos you ask?  I have to admit we were both so keen to get stuck in to another CoC campaign that we forgot about photos until Phase 6!  Normal photo service will be resumed at this point.  The above photo, and the one in Phase 4, were taken later in the game but nothing in these photos had changed since Phase2 and 4[3].  SORRY!

3GE(1,1,5,6,6): and a German double-phase, that's going to be awkward for the French while their deployment is so unreliable.  The immediate German counter to my 75mm gun was to deploy their 75.cm le.IG 18 gun which immediately engaged its opposite number inflicting 1 point of shock and one kill.  What's more the 'kill' was a hit on the Lieutenant who was wounded!  The immediate Bad Things Happen test saw French Force Morale drop from 9 to 8.  Ouch!

The other actionable die, a '1', was used by nr.I section's LMG team, but they failed to inflict any more harm on the 'soixante-quinze' thanks to the hard cover of its entrenchment.

4GE(3,3,5,6,6): and it's going to be a treble-phase for the Boche!  With one of the two '3's. nr.I's junior leader took control of his LMG team to employ 'maschinengewehr; against my 'soixante-quinze', but despite some extra 'storm of steel' die rolls it was completely ineffective.  The other German section (nr.II) doubled down the railway line, with the Obergefreiter, their junior leader, removing the resulting shock from his LMG team.

5GE(1,4,5,5,6): and the German's are stacking up CoC points at quite a rate, albeit I'm also getting one for every double-phase they're getting.  This time the IG18 inflicts 2 points of shock on the 75mm and nr.I section kills one the gunners.  Unfortunately, with nothing else successfully deploying alongside my 75mm, it is, as the only available target, the subject of every German that can fire.  The single '6' helped the refugees on their way.

6FR(1,2,2,4,4): and the wounded Lieutenant tries to rally off some of the shock from the 'soixante-quinze' but before the words leave his lips he is interrupted by a shifty looking individual with "new orders from headquarters".  It is a 'Shabby Nazi Trick', and the net result is that the Lieutenant's activation is lost as he is distracted dealing with this 5th columnist. 

In the above the photo, the junior leader (combining a '1' and '2') can be seen rallying off one point of shock and firing back at the German 7.5cm gun and killing one of its crew.

And just as things were starting to look up another attempt to deploy a section from the platoon again failed its hesitant deployment roll.

7GE(2,4,5,5,5): and the Germans seem to breeding CoC points!  The '2' sees nr.II section again run along the rail track reaching the edge of the hamlet (cue cigar music).

8FR(2,3,3,4,4): a good set of command dice, so hopefully I can get the French platoon up and running at last.  The Lieutenant activates but achieves nothing, his time still being fully occupied by the insistent 5th columnist.  Things are now getting desperate so the platoon sergeant (inferior senior leader) is called on to deploy in a combined activation with one of the sections.  The sergeant arrives but glancing over his shoulder his men are nowhere to be seen (failed their hesitant deployment roll[4]).  

With nothing else to command, the sergeant was at least able to run over to the 'soixante-quinze' to rally off a point of shock before its junior leader ordered it to fire.  Unfortunately, both senior leaders are just out of shot in this photo.

This at least managed to put one point of shock on the German 7.5cm le.IG 18.

The final activation die, a '3', saw another failed attempt to deploy an infantry section - the Stuka Strike had clearly scared the bejabers out of my platoon!

9GE(2,2,4,6,6): and another German double-phase, how was I going to survive this.  The German Leutnant rallied off the shock from his le.IG18 and directed it to fire at the 75mm killing another one of the gunners ...

... what he did with his other command initiative is not recorded so probably had no effect.  Then the German Feldwebel (senior leader and 2ic of the platoon) combined the two '2's to deploy from the JOP on the railway line.

10GE(1,2,4,6,6): so it's going to be a treble-phase, I must've done something really terrible in a previous life.  Again the Leutnant orders both the IG18 and nr.I section to engage the 'soixante-quinze' but thanks to a pretty poor set of firing dice they only manage to inflict one point of shock between them.  But it is starting to build up at an alarming rate[5].

John then uses a CoC die to advance the JOP along the railway line behind nr.II section.

The Feldwebel is left wondering why John decided not to move the JOP before deploying him!

11GE(1,1,2,6,6): my Force Morale may be holding up but my personal morale collapses somewhat in the face of what now promises to be a quadruple German phase.  The concentration of fire on the lonely, and sorely tried, 'soixante-quinze', sees two more points of shock and a 'kill' which hits the gun's junior leader leaving him stunned and the gun pinned (the pin marker is almost obscured by the hedge in the photo below; pin markers underneath leaders indicate wounds).

French Force morale drops from 8 to 7.

12GE(4,4,5,5,6): and the refugees get a little further away from the shooting as the Feldwebel runs to catch up with the JOP and his troops but only manages to cover 8".  The Leutnant then directs the IG18 and nr.I section to pile another two points of shock onto the poor 'soixante-quinze'.

13FR(2,2,4,4,5): and I get my first '5' for a CoC point, but courtesy of all the points from the German double-phases it gives me a CoC die to end the turn!  This time the Lieutenant finally recognises the 5th columnist for what he is, one quick pistol shot solves that problem and he spins round to remove shock from the gun crew.  The sergeant similarly uses his command initiatives to remove more shock.  Then in a catastrophic error of judgement I ended the turn with my CoC die.  I had thought it was better to delay any further deployments until my next phase and avoid them turning up with shock from the Stuka Strike.  What I had overlooked was that with both senior leaders deployed any deployment would still be hesitant so no chance to deploy should've been left untried.

End of Turn 1

At the end of the turn the effects of the Stuka Strike on my platoon have finally worn off, and the stunned junior leader on the 'soixante-quinze' recovers, and the gun, thanks to all the shock removed by the senior leaders, is no longer pinned.

Then it's on to testing all the unstable buildings to see if they collapse.  Three of them do but luckily they are too far away from the 75mm gun to cause any problems.  The refugees are not so lucky, and one group is caught within 4" of a collapsing building and the resulting dice rolls sees all four of them hit!  War is Hell!

14GE(3,4,4,6,6): here we go again!  The Feldwebel finally catches up with nr.II section and orders it to fire at the 'soixante-quinze' group but they all miss!  The Leutnant with the 7.5cm gun and nr.I section do better, inflicting two kills and one point of shock.  John then uses another CoC die to advance the JOP even further along the rail track and then deploy nr.III section from it to open fire at the much-reduced gun team.  They manage two more 'kills', one being a gunner and the other being the junior leader who is stunned for a second time.  This leaves the gun only manned by the stunned junior leader accompanied by the two senior leaders from the platoon.  

The effect of the junior leader being stunned sees French Force Morale fall from 7 to 5.  And now as I write this, I realise we might've missed the Bad Things Happen test for a team being wiped out - albeit I'm not sure if for support units the junior leader counts as part of the team.  Either way it's not going to make much difference at this point in the game, especially as the Germans get the next phase.

15GE(1,1,4,6,6): again?  I don't believe it!  The German firing is now all targeted at the two isolated senior leaders and both are wounded.  French Force Morale plummets from 5 to 2!  At this point a French unit should withdraw to a JOP, but there are no French units left on the table!  The Germans, now convinced the French offer no threat, send nr.III section over the hedge with a view to shutting down a French JOP ...

... and nr.I section advancing down the road.

16GE(1,2,2,4,5): and nr.III section doubles towards a French JOP but with only 8" from 3D6 do not get close enough to shut it down.  However, this is moot as the firing again inflicts a wound on each senior leader, killing both of them.  This tragic end sees French Force morale sink from 2 to -2!  Game over.

The Aftermath

The French platoon, apart from the loss of both senior leaders is intact as nothing else managed to deploy.  But in the campaign this platoon is only used in Scenario 1 so, for the next game, Scenario 2, I will start with a fresh platoon.  That platoon will start with its Lieutenant 'thoughtful, and with both his CO and men's opinion of him neutral (0).

The Germans only lost 2 Riflemen so will lose one permanently and the other will return after the next game i.e. in game 3.  We don't believe in resurrecting the dead simply because of higher morale - a good job for the French as the German morale is unaffected at 11!  The Leutnant is now feeling 'sociable', and the opinion of his men has risen from +1 to +2 and his CO's from 0 to +1.

Post Mortem

I don't think there's much to say here, the dice did it all.  With only 4 phases to German's 12 and only one unit successfully deploying thanks to the Stuka Strike there was no way the French could've won this.  I honestly think I did little wrong other than not trying to deploy more in turn 13, but even that would've been too little too late.  In fact, if the Germans had not thrown so many poor shooting dice it could've all ended much sooner.

I think this game must be in the running for the most one-sided outcome.

A few questions did arise that we couldn't find authoritative answers for, namely:

1). Do units and/or leaders that activate simultaneously to deploy together roll separately for hesitant deployment or is just one roll for the lot, i.e. all or none will turn up?  As you will see from the game, we assumed separate hesitant rolls.

2). Troops get soft cover in a cornfield if they don't move because they can't be seen so, if they shoot out from inside the cornfield they must be able to see out and therefore can be seen so get no cover?   Also, if they go 'Tactical' (and stationary) in the cornfield is this now hard cover?  We assumed no, and yes, albeit neither occurred during the game.

3). Can an LMG team, part of a fielded section, activate separately, even if part of the same group as the rest of the section.  We went with yes on this as I've always played it that way.

A Final Thought

And what about the only French survivor, the stunned junior leader of the 'soixante-quinze'.  Although no doubt taken prisoner, I'm sure the German's will treat him with respect for the defiant stand by his gun, all on alone against the might of the German army.  I reckon he's a cert for the Legion d'Honneur.

Next Gembloux Gap game is here: A Close Run Thing

Notes:

[1.]  Each phase is annotated with the phase number, the active force (FR = French, GE= German), and the command dice scores; thus 12GE(1,1,2,5,6): is 12th phase in the game and the Germans have rolled 1,1,2,5,6 on their five command dice.

[2.]  One effect of the Stuka Strike is that any deployment by their opponent in the first turn is hesitant and will only deploy on a D6 roll of 4+.  What's more each team that does arrive will take  1D6 of shock.

[3.]  For future reference when studying the game photos, John's senior leaders have a clump of red flowers on their base, and the junior leaders have yellow flowers.

[4.]  We weren't sure about whether a combined activation like this rolls a separate hesitant deployment D6 for each activation or one for all of them.  In the end we decided the wording in the rules implied they rolled separately - shame.

[5.]  I use small clumps that are supposed to look like dirt being thrown up as shock markers - in this smaller 15mm scale they look more like small bushes.

For the Last Time

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

This is the seventh game, not counting the counter-attack at Villers, and thus the last game in this campaign.

Scenario 4 - 'La Ferme de Caubert'

As this is the fourth time we've fought this scenario, other than a quick photo reminder of the table (below), I shan't describe the set up but get straight into pre-game activity.

You may spot this photo as being from the last AAR on this scenario, because ...

... it seems my last post, 'HizHut[1] Admits the 21st Century', was a little premature, and I haven't mastered my new mobile phone yet.  It didn't occur to me that the phone camera only had an optical zoom.  So, during the game I was using the zoom to save moving around the table and increase the depth of field.  The net result is that many of my photos turned out to be very low resolution, see the photo below of (spoiler alert) the sniper that John deployed in Phase 5.

So, with the apologies for the poor-quality images out of the way, it's on to pre-game business.

First up, John had to reorganise the remnants of his core infantry platoon that was down to 2 senior leaders, 3 inferior junior leaders (all recently promoted as replacements) and 9 men.  Two of the junior leaders had served in the previous action and thus needed to test to see if their men now accepted them, which would mean them ceasing to be inferior.  A d6 roll of 3+ was all that was required, but ...

So, with no fully effective junior leaders, John chose to man his 2" mortar, and put the remaining 7 riflemen in one team, both under a junior leader; leaving one junior leader unemployed and unused.

Then we chose our support options.  With 12pt.s, I went for: an leIG.18 7.5cm infantry gun with 5 crew and a junior leader (4pt.s); an MG34 MMG with 5 crew (3pt.s); a sniper (2pt.s); and Adjutant (1pt.); and, two entrenchments for a team (1pt. each).  I also had two emplacements still in place from the previous game, but they were to the west of the farm so didn't feature in this game.  I was also entitled to another free entrenchment for continuing to defend the same scenario, but I forgot and went without, not that it would've changed anything.

John's Brits, with 22pt.s, selected: 1x mortar bombardment (5pt.s); 2x infantry sections (4pt.s each); 2x Bren Carriers with a 2-man Bren team and junior leader (3pt.s each); 1x sniper (2pt.s); and, 1x Adjutant (1pt.).

The rolls for Force Morale (FM) saw the Brits start with an FM of 10 to the German's 9.  The Brits also rolled for starting CoC points, and received 2.

The Patrol Phase

I placed my patrol markers as before in front of the farm that I had to defend.

John surprised me by starting all his patrol markers, in two stacks of two, towards my right (western) flank.

The Brits d6 roll, as per the scenario, gave them 3 free moves to start with, and with the higher force morale they also started the patrol phase proper.  When we'd finished, with all patrol markers locked down, it looked like this.

Which gave us the jump-off points (3 each) shown below.

The three British JOPs are visible in the above, and John's hand can be seen placing his vehicle entry point.  Also visible at the bottom of the photo is one of my JOPs that I had no choice but to place in a fairly exposed position; the other two being in the farmyard (out of shot to the left of the photo). 

It seemed John had decided attacking the farm from the west offered the best chance of success.  With the existing entrenchments all being the other side of the farm and the La Haye Barn having no apertures facing west it made a lot of sense.  Unfortunately, it was also on that side that I had been forced to place a JOP in a fairly exposed position.

The Game

The Brits, as the attacker, took the first phase.  The description of each phase is headed by: the phase number, the nationality of the active side[2] and the command dice scores in parentheses.

1BR(3,4,4,5,6): and the British started the action, depoying support section No.2 in the thicket by the road.

2GE(1,2,3,4,5): a useful CoC point but IMO too early to respond.

3BR(2,3,3,4,5): No.2 section doubled forward, a disappointing 4"(!), along the hedge, after which their junior leader removed one of the points of shock taken for moving at the double, albeit I can't see the remaining shock marker in the photo.

This was followed by the deployment of a Bren Gun carrier from the vehicle entry point back on the British (southern) table-edge.

4GE(1,2,3,5,6): again I chose not to react.

5BR(1,1,1,2,2): combining a '1' and a '2', No.2 section's junior leader ordered them to advance (normal move) and removed the last of the shock from their previous move at the double.  John then deployed a sniper in one of the thickets (the poor resolution photo at the start of this post) and the Bren Carrier also advanced alongside the road - all three units are visible in the photo below.

6GE(1,3,5,5,6): judging it was time to act, I deployed my leIG.18 7.5cm gun in an entrenchment and opened fire on No.2 section; to no effect.  Not a great start, but early days.

7BR(2,2,2,5,6): No.2 section's Bren team engaged the leIG.18 also without effect thanks to their entrenched position.  Then the No.1 section, the 7 riflemen and an inferior junior leader from the core platoon, deployed behind a hedge (towards the top of the photo below) ...

... and immediately put down suppressing fire on my gun.

8GE(1,2,2,3,4): the leIG.18 switched its fire to the Bren Carrier but just missed, with what would've been a hit but for the incoming suppressive fire.  It was clearly time to deploy more troops to prevent my gun from being overwhelmed.  First, a sniper deployed in the Small Barn and shot at No.1 section killing a rifleman.  He was joined in the Small Barn by the German II section who also targeted the No.1 section.  The Brits hit the dirt, but II section, who always seem to shoot well in this campaign, still managed to kill two riflemen and inflict a point of shock.

The hedges along this track have always seemed to attract the British infantry in these games and every time they have paid a heavy price for being there. 

Then, rather foolishly I deployed a senior leader in the Small Barn - I should've deployed him at the same time as II section and he could've used his initiatives to improve their fire - not that there was much room for improvement.

9BR(2,3,6,6,6): the first double-phase in the game, and also an end-of-turn!  The Brit's carrier advanced and fired at the leIG.18, inflicting a point of shock.  No.2 section's Bren team also fired at the gun but without effect.  The turn then ended, but there were no consequences this early in the game.

10BR(1,2,2,4,6): and a British Forward Observer (FO) was deployed heralding the arrival of a mortar bombardment.  The sighting round landed on target and the bombardment commenced with immediate effect, but only inflicted a single point of shock on the leIG.18.  All the other teams, now pinned inside the Small Barn, escaped unscathed.  

While this was happening the Brits deployed another full infantry section (No.3) by the carrier at the junction of the track with the road (see photo above).

11GEÌ(1,2,3,3,5): with everything pinned down by the mortar bombardment, I deployed my entrenched MG34 MMG team in front of the La Haye Barn to keep applying pressure on the British No.1 section.  It just managed to inflict a point of shock on them.  The only other action was by the leIG.18's junior leader who removed the shock from the mortar bombardment. 

12BR(1,2,3,4,5): the '1' had to be used to maintain the bombardment, which failed to inflict any harm on the well-protected Germans.  The Brits then advanced No.2 section along the hedge, but it only managed to go 2" leaving it rather exposed crossing a gap.

Then, they deployed a senior leader by the thicket behind No.2 section ...

... and a second carrier from the vehicle entry point ...

... which put suppressive fire down on the recently deployed MG34 MMG.

All this can be seen in the overview photo below, bar the newly deployed carrier which is just off the top of the image.

13GE(1,1,3,6,6): a double-phase, but with the bombardment pinning down all but my MMG there didn't seem much I could do with it.  Nonetheless, the MMG, despite being suppressed, managed another point of shock on the beleaguered No.1 section.

14GE(2,3,4,6,6): another double-phase!  Nice, but frustrating while still under mortar bombardment.  With the MG34 MMG no longer suppressed, I deployed a senior leader with them so they could fire and benefit from the 'Maschinengewehr' national characteristic.  And this time they killed a rifleman as well inflicting a point shock on No.1 section.

15GE(1,2,4,4,4): the senior leader directing the MMG managed a repeat performance, killing another rifleman in No.1 section, which with the further point of shock, pinned them.

16BR(3,4,5,5,6): without a '1', the Brits had to spend a CoC point to bring down the third and final round of the mortar bombardment.  This final round was the most effective yet, inflicting a point of shock on II section's Rifle team in the Small Barn and killing two of the leIG.18 gunners.

Also, taking advantge of the fact that the Germans under the barrage would still be pinned in their next phase, the newly arrived carrier drove flat out towards the German MMG.  At the same time the Brit's senior leader directed No.3 section to suppress the MMG, and No.2 section to advance further along hedgerow.  All this can be seen below, including the carrier which having advanced flat out now just appears at the top of the photo.

17GE(1,1,2,3,6): while the bombardment had finished, the effects, in terms of troops being pinned, linger on until the end of this phase.  Thus, most of my troops were still unable to do anything.  As a result, all I managed was to remove the shock from my leIG.18 and, with the MMG, to put another point of shock on No.1 section in an attempt to break it.  So not much change, other than the removal of the barrage at the end of the phase. 

18BR(1,2,2,5,6): and the rapidly advancing carrier continued speeding towards the MG34 MMG with the intent of overrunning it.  To stop this, I spent my only CoC die to spring an ambush with the rifle team from the, as yet, undeployed III section.

The team successfully posted a grenade into the carrier which killed two and inflicted a point of shock, but no 'vehicle shock'.  The British junior leader survived but the gunner and driver were killed (we assumed the leader would neither be drive nor manning the Bren).  What happened next was subject to quite a bit of discussion and rule searching.  In the end we decided the vehicle would stop, as continuing without a driver seemed wrong.  Also, we agreed that the leader could spend two initiatives to extract the driver and take his place.  We were unsure about this and will be posting this as a question on the Chain of Command forum.

Anyway, with only the junior leader surviving, John took a Bad Things Happen Test for his team being wiped out, but British Force Morale remained a resolute 10.

The British No.3 section again suppressed the MMG, that the carrier had been trying to overrun.  No.2 section also fired at the MMG, but despite getting ten hits only managed to kill a single gunner.  That ended the phase and the German ambush team withdrew (mandatory as they were part of an undeployed section).  This left the table looking like this (NB: the ambushed carrier is almost completely obscured by a tree).

19GE(1,1,2,3,6): taking stock of what John had deployed, it was clear that all but one point of his support was now on the table.  With no more surprises in teh offing, I deployed III section in and around the farm - the LMG (MG08) team behind the wall and the rifle team entrenched in front of the La Haye Barn.  

This was a risk as it created a large bunched target (easier to hit), but I reckoned everyone being in hard cover made it an acceptable risk.  II and III sections immediately rewarded me by inflicting 2 kills and 5 shock on the British No.3 section. 

20BR(1,3,4,6,6): was this double-phase going to allow the British to unpick my hard-won edge?  First, the junior leader in the ambushed carrier removed the body of the driver and took the wheel.  

Then, the platoon's 2" mortar deployed and immediately dropped a smoke round directly in front of the leIG.18 completely blocking its line of sight (LOS) to any target.  Finally, the platoon's second senior leader deployed to remove three of the shock from No.3 section (two shock remaining).  The next photo shows the situation with the 2" mortar and junior leader at the bottom near the JOP, and the senior leader in the road near No.3 section.

21BR(3,3,5,5,6): the junior leader with the 2" mortar directed them to lay more smoke, successfully blocking the line of sight for the occupants of the Small Barn.  And, with the other '3', the junior leader in the carrier avenged his team by overrunning the MG34 MMG (the loss of the MMG team caused German Force Morale to drop from 9 to 7).

22GE(1,2,2,3,5): the German sniper in the Small Barn (able to use a LOS from anywhere within 3" of his position) fired at No.1 section and inflicted 2 shock (shock from sniping is doubled) which saw them break and rout.  

John spent a CoC die to avoid the test for this so British Force Morale remained unmoved at 10.

The German II section then fired, with the added assistance of its junior leader directing Maschinengewehr, all against No.3 section.  This saw the death of a Bren gunner, a rifleman, and another 2 points of shock.

Then after ending my phase and taking photos while John rolled his command dice, I realised I had completely overlooked the rogue carrier overrunning my positions in front of the La Haye Barn! 

23BR(3,3,4,5,6): the recently arrived senior leader continued his task of removing shock from No.3 section, but with one of his initiatives he ordered the 2" mortar to lay some more smoke.  This final smoke round blotted out the LOS of III section's rifle team entrenched in front of the La Haye Barn by the overrun MMG position.

Then, for the first time in this campaign, we had a close assault, as No.2 section burst through the smoke to put the leIG.18's crew to the bayonet.

The action wasn't very bloody, the entrenchment greatly reducing the attackers' lethality, but the crew fled and German Force Morale fell still further from 7 to 6.  No.2 section, who took no losses from fight, quickly consolidated on the position, occupying the abandoned entrenchment with their rifle team.

The final action of this phase saw the first carrier i.e., not the one that had overrun the MMG, advance 10" alongside the road and turn in towards the farm.

At this point, we realised we'd forgotten the rule about British smoke, that individual smoke rounds within 6" of each other link up to form a continuous screen.  The smoke was suitably amended as shown below.

24GE(3,3,4,5,6): I was starting to feel the pressure at this point, although surprised that John had not tried to overrun III section's rifle team in front of the La Haye Barn.  Later when asked, John said he'd thought the chances of infantry evading the overrun were much better than for a crewed weapon so opted to bring up other units instead.  Anyway, this offered me an opportunity for some pay back, and III section's junior leader moved his men up to the carrier and directed them to post another grenade inside.  

This finished off the junior leader inside who surely deserved a posthumous gallantry award for his efforts.  However, his sacrifice upset the troops, and British Force Morale dropped from 10 to 8.

Next, II section's leader ordered them out of the Small Barn and into the farmyard.  The MG34 team managed to exit the building, but the rifle team who had to descend to the ground floor remained inside.  

The junior leader then ordered one of the MG team to throw a grenade at the No.2 section riflemen in the gun entrenchment.  The grenade landed on target, killing one and inflicting a point of shock.  The nearby senior leader then instructed them to throw their last two grenades.  One fell short but the other killed another rifleman.

II section braced itself for the inevitable reply.

25BR(1,2,4,4,4): the two British senior leaders took two of the '4's.  The first, to remove 2 points of shock from No.3 section and get them to double towards the farm ...

... and the second to direct the 2" mortar to the nearby JOP to obtain some more smoke rounds after having exhausted their initial supply.  

Unfortunately for the latter, there was no 2" mortar ammunition to be found.

Then, combining the '1' and the '2', No.2 section's junior leader directed them to throw two grenades at the German II section in the farmyard.  The first grenade was fumbled (on a double-one) killing two of his own men who also suffered a point of shock.  The second grenade successfully sailed over the wall into the farmyard but only inflicted two points of shock on their opponents.  

Once again it seemed the dice were determined to thwart John at every turn.

26GE(1,2,3,4,6): the sniper now switched his attention to the British No.2 section (again courtesy of being able to trace a LOS from anywhere within 3") but this time without effect.  II section's junior leader directed his MG34 team inflicting 2 shock on No.2 section's rifle team.  At the same time, the senior leader in the farmyard ordered the rest of II section out of the Small Barn to form up by the entrance and removed two points of shock.  Meanwhile III section seized on the opportunity afforded by the smoke to withdraw back inside the farmyard.

27BR(1,2,4,5,5): No.2 section's junior leader decided to pull his men back from entrenchment behind the smoke screen and onto the German JOP to capture it. 

This would make an end of turn a double-edged sword as while it would remove the smoke blocking fire and the routing No.1 section, I would also lose my JOP.

Elsewhere, No.3 section was doubled forward (11") by the senior leader with them who also removed the resulting shock.

28GE(1,4,4,5,5): gave me a CoC die to play with.  That, and the '4's allowed my senior leader to launch II section in a counter-attack against their opposite number (No.2 section) to retake the JOP.  A second Close Combat, but this time one with a very one-sided result, the Germans inflicting 6 hits for only 1 in return.  The British Bren team was wiped out causing their Force Morale to drop from 8 to 7, and the 11 shock broke the section with the resulting rout sending British Force Morale tumbling still further from 7 to 6.

At this point I declared I would be ending the turn with my CoC dice and thus the routing No.1 and No.2 sections would be removed along with the smoke.  With two junior leaders leaving the table British Force Morale spiralled down from 6 to 4 to 3, leaving them with only three command dice.

At this point John basically left with only one section and a carrier against my full platoon so conceded the game and the campaign.

I only have one photo of the situation at this point.  I put this forgetfulness down to the excitement of the final phase, together with John conceding and the realisation that he had little time left to pack up and get home.

The Butcher's Bill

As the final game in the campaign this is largely academic.  But again, all the German casualties were among the support teams, with both the MG34 MMG and leIG.18 teams being lost in their entirety.

The British lost a carrier and its LMG team, plus 5 men from the core platoon and 6 from the support sections.  Strangely, none of John's infantry leaders were wounded or killed, something which had been happening with monotonous regularity in previous games.

Post Mortem

I think it's all been said before, but John's ability to throw the most atrocious dice is little short of unbelievable.

More importantly, the principal observation was that this was a thoroughly enjoyable set of games and, after a short break, another campaign is very much on the cards.

Notes:

[1.]  Although the 'Cabinette' in the blog name refers to my cabin, I've sort of named it 'HizHut', but I'm not going to change the blog name now.

[2.]  BR = British, GE = German.