Blitz on Villeroux

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

Turn 4, Game 3, Scenario 3 the 'Blitz on Villeroux'

After the French win in the last Game, the campaign has skipped on to Turn 4 while Germans paused their offensive to bridge the culverts (Turn 3) that the French had blown up in Game 2 (Turn 2).

The Scenario

In this game the German objective is to quickly exit two units off the French table-edge (see below) before the French can acquire two Chain of Command (CoC) dice.  

To make things difficult for the French they cannot bring any of their support options onto the table until they acquire and expend two CoC dice.  What this means is that there are four possible outcomes from this game depending on whether the Germans achieve their objective and/or win the game.

Germans	Achieve Objective	Fail to Achieve Objective
Win the Game	Campaign advances to Scenario 4  & Germans have the Initiative	Campaign advances Scenario 4      & French have the Initiative
Lose the Game	Campaign refights Scenario 3    & Germans have the Initiative	Campaign refights Scenario 3       & French have the Initiative

As usual John had put together a good table-top representation of the campaign map (seen here from the German end).

And this time from the French end with, hopefully not too much of a spoiler, the identity of the buildings that feature most in the following battle report.

Not being able to bring any of my 9 pt.s of support onto the table until I had collected and then spent 2 CoC dice to do so, I needed to do all I could to delay the German advance.  To that end I concentrated on off-table support in the form of: an Adjutant (1 pt.); 3x groups of Francs-Tireurs (1 pt. each); off-table anti-aircraft artillery (2 pt.s) to try and mitigate the effects of the inevitable Stuka strike (2 pts.); and, a Canon de 25mm L72 Anti-Tank gun with five crew and a junior leader (3 pt.s).  While the last, would have to wait a long time before it could be fielded, I felt it was essential to have at least some anti-armour capability as my core French platoon has none.

With his 18 pt.s of support John secretly selected: a 'Red' CoC die (2 pt.s); a pre-game barrage (2 pt.s); a PzKpfw III (4 pt.s); an SdKfz 222 armoured car (4 pt.s); a 'shabby Nazi trick' (1 pt.); and, a motorcycle (m/c) reconnaissance squad with junior leader (5 pt.s).

Not that I knew it at this stage, but with John opting for a pre-game barrage and not a Stuka strike, I had wasted a couple of support points on anti-aircraft artillery (AAA).  However, this meant that the buildings would all be untouched and available to me to use for cover.  

We then rolled for Force morale, and after two games where John started with the better morale, this time I rolled a '6' to start the French on a Force Morale of 11, while John's Germans rolled a '1' and started on a Force Morale of 8. 

Patrol Phase

And as John revealed there was no preceding Stuka strike, this was when I realised I had wasted 2 support point.

John's opening luck continued poorly as he rolled a '1' to get only one additional patrol move before phase proper started.  With the higher Force Morale, I went first in the patrol phase, which rapidly played out as shown below (from the French end) with French and German jump off points (JOPs) shown, respectively, by the blue and pink arrows.

The labels also indicate the two sides' respective left, centre, and right JOPs as they are referenced in the battle, e.g. 'L-JOP' = Left-flank JOP.  

The Game  

With the higher Force Morale, my French took the first phase.

1FR(2,4,4,5,6): and despite the difficulty deploying after a pre-game barrage, I felt I had to have some idea of what the Germans were up to before committing any of my men.  So, I terminated my phase without doing anything other than banking the CoC point and advancing the refugees on the road (they move 6" on every single '6' thrown - not part of the game, just a bit of fun).

Perhaps worth noting at this point are the two '4's on my command dice, as Sesame Street's Count had obviously decided that "Today's Number is FOUR"!

2GE(2,3,3[1],4,5,6): the Germans, who are up against the clock, leapt into action.  First, they attempted to deploy the PzIII, only for it to encounter one of my Franc-Tireur bands who successfully prevented its deployment.  

Next the Germans tried to deploy their nr.I section from their left-flank JOP only to encounter more Francs-Tireurs who again succeeded in stopping them from reaching the fight.  When the German nr.II section encountered yet another band of Francs-Tireurs blocking their right-flank JOP, John was starting to worry.  But this time the Germans eliminated them, and arrived in the cornfield.  

They were then joined by the platoon's 2iC, the Feldwebel (senior leader).

3FR(3,4,4,5,6): with the third single '6' of the game, the first of the French refugee groups escaped off the table.

I then tried to deploy No.3 section in the Café, but failed the hesitant deployment roll, caused by the German pre-game barrage, and they were a 'no show'.  And, not wanting to deploy senior officers with no troops I ended my phase.

4GE(1,2,2,4,5,6): the PzIII again attempted to deploy, and this time the Francs-Tireurs were overcome and it succeeded in reaching the table.

The Feldwebel then accompanied nr.II section as he ordered to advance into the wood.

In the background of the above, the German nr.III section can be seen deploying from their right-flank JOP to back up nr.II section and going tactical.

5FR(2,4,6,6,6): with three '6's the turn will end after this phase, and with it the effects of the German pre-game barrage.  This will be a real help as with the '2' and the '4' I try to deploy my platoon sergeant (2iC, senior leader) and No.3 section into the Café but the last gasp of the John's barrage prevented them from showing up.

End of Turn 1: and apart from some Tactical markers being removed nothing much changed at the end of the turn except the effects of German's barrage wearing off.

6FR(1,3,4,4,6): with the shock of the barrage gone, the sergeant and No.3 section finally (on the third attempt) successfully deploy into the Café ...

... from where they open fire on nr.III section in the cornfield, disappointingly killing only one rifleman and inflicting no shock.  Wanting to make nr.III section suffer more than this I deploy the V-B (rifle-grenadier team) into the La Haye Barns to also target nr.III section.  

But they only inflict a single point of shock on nr.III section's LMG team.

7GE(2,3,3,3,4,4): and nr.I section continued trying to deploy from the German's left-flank JOP and were again thwarted by the Francs-Tireurs.  Then to try and exert more pressure on my right flank the Germans deployed an SdKfz 222 armoured car (a/c) down the road.

On the other flank, the Feldwebel kept up the pressure advancing nr.II section to the edge of the wood facing the Charcuterie that makes up the other half of the building occupied by the Café.

And behind them, nr.III section doubled from the right-flank JOP towards the wood, but only advance 4" (4 on three D6!).  

The Obergefreiter (section junior leader) then rallies off one of the two shock taken from having doubled.

Finally, the PzIII advanced flat out towards Villeroux as shown in the overview of the action at this stage.

8FR(1,2,3,5,5): with the German nr.II now exposed at the edge of the wood, the French deployed their No.2 section; the rifle team in the Charcuterie and the LMG team in an entrenchment just outside.  They were able to employ 13 fire dice against nr.II section, which was, in the next activation, was joined by 11 more fire dice from No.3 section.  The net result of 24 close-range fire dice was a mere four points of shock, three on nr.II section's LMG team and the one on the rifle team.

Then it was time to do something about the German armour and the V-B team tried to drop rifle-grenades into the open-topped SdKfz 222 a/c.  To succeed they needed a double-six, but all missed throwing a double-one, a double-three, and a six and four.  

9GE(1,1,2,5,5,6): and the Feldwebel combined both '1's with the '2' to activate, remove 2 shock from nr.II section, and pull them back into the wood to where they were no longer visible to the French in and around the Charcuterie-Café.

Meantime, the single '6' was enough to see the next group of refugees escape from the table, with the nuns not far behind - one more single '6' and they would also be safe.

10FR(1,2,3,4,5): with the German nr.II section now safe deep within the wood there was little for my men to shoot at, so both No.2 and No.3 section went tactical before the inevitable German retaliation.  The V-B team again tried desperately to drop a rifle-grenade into the SdKfz 222 a/c.  And whilst they could roll nothing but doubles (a double-1, double-2 and double-5) the required double-6 continued to elude them.  Altogether, nothing worth a photo here.

11GE(1,4,4,4,6,6): all that happened was the driver of the SdKfz 222 moved the vehicle up to the hedge further up the road.  Not sure why nothing else was happened, maybe I just didn't note it down.

12FR(2,2,3,3,5): I get my first CoC die, one more and the Germans will fail to meet their objective.  But despite the rest of the nice command dice, I can do nothing unless I'm prepared to leave the safety of the buildings and entrenchments, so I sit tight and tactical.

13GE(1,2,4,4,4,6): this time one of the '4's was used to remove the last of the shock from nr.II section.  Then, the long-anticipated retaliation from the German armour began, with the PzIII slowly advancing and opening fire on the Café.  Luckily the 3.7cm gun in the PzIII has a fairly feeble HE round, and the fire was ineffective (actually all three HE fire dice missed!).

14FR(1,1,1,2,2): I have nothing that can touch the PzIII so again my troops hunker down (tactical) and steel themselves to bear whatever the Germans will throw at them next.  Again, nothing happening worth a photo.

15GE(2,2,3,3,4,6): with the infantry on their right flank stymied by the French dug-in there, the Germans sought to deploy their last infantry section (nr.I) from the left-flank JOP but those valiant civilians, the Francs-Tireurs, yet gain stopped the Boche - Ils ne passeront pas.  With their infantry stymied the PzIII (whose wonky barrel might explain the earlier miss) again fired at the Café ... 

... this time hitting the Café, killing a rifleman and inflicting a point of shock on the rifle group.

16FR(2,3,4,4,5): I continue sitting tight and trusting in the hard cover to keep my men safe - nothing worth a photo.

17GE(1,1,2,2,3,4): and this time, nr.I section finally manages to drive off the Francs-Tireurs and deploy from the German left-flank JOP accompanied by the Leutnant (the senior leader commanding the platoon).

In the centre the PzIII continues to fire at the Café, this time to no effect, and the Obergefreiter of nr.III section in the cornfield removes two points of shock that they have been carrying for some time.

18FR(2,3,4,4,5): I am starting to wonder whether it's worth just hanging on and hoping to complete my second CoC die.  But I decide to stick with it for now.

19GE(1,2,3,4,3,5,5): gives John his first CoC die, and he wastes no time using it to reduce remove three of my CoC points (a scenario specific rule).  Bad news, but not unexpected.  

Then the Leutnant orders nr.I section to run towards the wood on the French right flank, and removes the resulting shock.

The PzIII again fails to achieve anything against the Café, that's their third failure from four rounds of firing.

20FR(2,3,4,4,5): with the newly arrived German nr.I section racing towards the wood I have to protect my JOP within it, and so I deploy my last section (No.1).

21GE(1,2,4,4,4,6): to avoid any possible fire from the French in the Charcuterie-Café, the German Leutnant moves nr.I section behind the stone wall running alongside the road.

Also, in the picture above is the PzIII which in this phase at least manages to put a point of shock on the French rifle group in the Café.

22FR(1,4,4,4,5): is anyone counting all these '4's, that's now 32 in 20 phases!  But this time I belatedly realise I haven't been using my Sergeant (senior leader) to manage the shock on the troops in and around the Charcuterie-Café.  Anway, I've now got lots of '4's now so waste no time in using him to try and rally it off.  But, just as he is about to do so, a stranger turns up to distract him with orders to withdraw; it's a shabby Nazi trick!  Unfortunately, he doesn't appreciate this and while uninclined to accept the new orders is sufficiently distracted to prevent him rallying his men.

My other senior leader, the platoon Lieutenant, cautiously (tactically) advances No.1 section in the wood.

23GE(1,1,1,2,4,5): and the Leutnant now moves No.I section across the wall to gain hard cover for the anticipated firefight with the French No.1 section in the wood.

The PzIII continues firing at the Café ...

... this time inflicting a point of shock on the battered rifle group and also killing the nearby platoon sergeant!  

The resulting Bad Things Happen Test sees French Force Morale drop from 11 to 9, and the German 5th Columnist, now any further interference with the Sergeant is moot, makes himself scarce.

24FR(1,3,4,4,4): three more '4's and now I only have one senior leader left.  He, continues to tactically advance No.1 section through the wood towards the German nr.I section.  With the sergeant dead the junior leader steps up to remove two points of shock from the rifle team in the Café.

Finally, to try and soften up the German nr.I section, the V-B team, deciding that rolling a double-6 against the SdKfz 222 is beyond them, fire their last rifle-grenades at the infantry; all miss the target.  I am beginning to wonder if I am achieving anything by holding on like this.

25GE(2,3,3,4,5,6): and the PzIII reverts to its previous performance by failing to inflict any harm on the Café garrison.  

In the above photo the Leutnant can also be seen in the distance, who, deciding that soft cover is all he needs to take on the French, advances nr.I section to the hedge facing the wood containing the French platoon leader and No.1 section.

On the other flank (German right) nr.III section tactically advances to the edge of the cornfield.

26FR(3,5,5,5,6): the three '5's clearly rattled John as I'm now making good progress towards getting the two CoC dice required to both deny the Germans their objective and bring support units onto the table.  

And, now the German nr.III section has advanced to the edge of the cornfield they have become available as a target to the French and take 4 points of shock (3 on the LMG and 1 on the rifle group).

*** Unfortunately, there's now a photo-free period, as now the French can actually do something, and are approaching 2 CoC dice, I forgot the camera. *** 

27GE(1,1,3,3,4,6): the Leutnant uses the '4' to direct maschinengewehr with nr.I section's MG34 against the French No.1 section.  This results in one LMG gunner killed and 2 points of shock on the rifle group.  

Then, the PzIII ceases its largely ineffective shooting and advances flat out (14").  It looks as though John is going to try and rush his armour off the table before I can get to 2 CoC dice.  The French in the Café do not get away scot-free as section nr.III in the cornfield takes over the task of firing at them but only inflicts one point of shock.

John then attempts to deploy the platoon's 5cm mortar team, which he had overlooked when deploying the Leutnant, leaving no senior leader off table.  This mistake comes back to bite him as the team fails its hesitant deployment roll and does not arrive.

28FR(1,1,2,4,5): another '5', one more is all I need.   No.3 section's junior leader uses a '2' and a '1' to rally off 2 points of shock, and the section's LMG uses the other '1' to fire back at the Germans in the cornfield putting 2 pt.s of shock on their rifle team.  

In the wood on the French right, the Lieutenant also rallies off 2 points of shock and directs those able to see the German nr.I section to open fire.  Again, its only shock, and only 1 point, which is taken by the German rifle group.

29GE(2,2,2,3,4,6): and the Leutnant rallies of some shock and repeats his maschinengewehr practice with the MG34 team but they only manage 3 points of shock on the French LMG team - and combat camera service is resumed.

On the other flank, the Feldwebel leaves nr.II section safely tucked away in the wood and moves back to sort out nr.III section in the cornfield; but rolls poor dice and does not get close enough to influence their fight.  

They badly need his inspirational leadership as their shock is piling up ...

... and reducing their effectiveness as they fail to inflict any harm on the French in the Café.  While the PzIII remains where it ended up after moving flat out in the last German phase.

The SdKfz 222 then surprises me by not attempting to rush the French table edge but slowly moves up to engage the French in wood (No.1 section), killing an LMG gunner.

30FR(3,5,6,6,6): and not just the '5' to give me the 2 CoC dice I have been hanging on for, but also a double-phase (and an End of Turn but that's not going to affect anything).  But, before the turn ends No.1 section's LMG team in the wood hits a purple patch of fire dice against their opposite numbers, nr.I section.  This sees two LMG gunners and rifleman killed and 2 points of shock on the rifle team.

At the end of the phase, and turn, I play both CoC dice to deny the German's their objective (effectively calling time for their attempt to exit two units off the French table edge) and allowing me to deploy support on-table.

31FR(1,3,4,5,6): and I immediately use the '3' to deploy my 25mm anti-tank gun and junior leader ...

... in an entrenchment to take on the PzIII.

The guys didn't let me down, hitting the PzIII and inflicting a point of shock.  

The Baraka remained with the French as No. 3 section's LMG team lashed the Germans in the cornfield killing an LMG gunner and inflicting 1 point of shock on the LMG and 2 points of shock on the rifle team, just one more and they'll be pinned. 

And then just to put a cherry on top, the Lieutenant rallied shock off No.1 section and ordered their LMG team to fire, killing 1 LMG gunner and 1 rifleman in the German nr.I section and put 2 points of shock on the rifle team.

This saw the LMG team wiped out and German Force Morale dropped from 8 to 7.

The time of sitting tight and just taking it was clearly over.

32GE(*,*,*,*,*,*): John didn't throw the command dice for this phase, instead opting to withdraw to fight again another day.  I was surprised at this despite John's explanation about how badly his platoon was doing: two sections badly depleted and near pinned; and; a third hiding out in the woods to avoid the entrenched French firing line.  But I was relieved as my platoon has to fight on until we get to Scenario 5 and so can't afford to take many losses.

The only up-side for John was that all of his platoon successfully withdrew with none getting lost or captured.

The Aftermath

The French platoon: lost its platoon sergeant and 3 men.  Of the latter 1 is permanently lost, 1 will return to duty (RTD) after the next game, and 1 will RTD immediately.  The sergeant was allowed a medic roll and recovered sufficiently to only miss the next game, and the dice determined that a temporary replacement would be drafted in to cover his absence.

This means the platoon will short by 4 men in the next, game, albeit 1 of those will RTD for the game after that.

As result of this win, the French Lieutenant (platoon commander) has gone from 'content' to 'cheerful', while the opinion of him held by both his CO and his men has risen from +1 to +2.

The German platoon: lost 6 men but no leaders.  Of the men 3 are permanently lost, 2 will return to duty (RTD) after the next game, and 1 will RTD immediately. 

The platoon will therefore be down by 8 men for the next game, although 2 of those will return for the game after that.

The Leutnant (platoon leader), despite the loss remains untroubled at 'sociable', while his CO's opinion of him has dropped to -1, and his men's to zero.

Post Mortem

Again, I think my support selections were critical, picking lots of Francs-Tireurs to delay the German deployment worked a treat.  I had considered getting a pre-game barrage but decided against it as it was hostage to an early End-of-Turn, as indeed occurred.  The points spent on the AAA could be considered wasted but they were invaluable insurance against a Stuka strike, and the risk just wasn't worth taking.  Finally, the anti-tank gun fitted the bill perfectly, as I reckon John might've been tempted to fight on if there was nothing on the table that could realistically take on his armour.

The German support was not all deployed, and the choice of a PzIII was (IMO) a mistake.  I would expect that next time they will field a PzII or PzIV in place of the PzIII as both have a much better capability against infantry.  In fact, I suspect they may field several tanks as they will have 20 points to spend on support in the next game.

While the support choices all worked out, I have to say that I think it was the dice that made it my lucky day and not John's.

I'm pleased to say that for once we didn't make any significant mistakes with the rules, perhaps we're finally getting there?  It might've taken some time, but the ride's been worth it.

Observations

The variability of the command dice behaviour from game to game continues.  In this game not a single double-6 was thrown!  I had the only two double-phases which were both courtesy of triple-6's.  Single-6's were a plenty unlike the last game where only 1 was thrown, and '4's were everywhere; 39 of them in 31 phases.

The next game, Game 4 (Campaign Turn 5), will be a refight of this scenario and is scheduled for two weeks' time.  Can the French pull off another win?

Notes:

[1.]  The command die in red is the German Red CoC die; any '5's or '6's rolled on the red die are ignored.

A Close Run Thing

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

Turn 2, Game 2, Scenario 2 the 'The Culverts at Noirmont'

After the catastrophic French showing in the first game, my French now fielded a fresh platoon ...

... but this one was going to have serve throughout this scenario and the next two before another fresh platoon becomes available in scenario 5.  Whereas John's German platoon is that used in the last game, it is only down by two men, one of whom would return to duty for the next game (game 3).

The Scenario

John's trademark terrain lay-down for this scenario is shown below, viewed from the German perspective).

In this scenario the Germans have to be quick off the mark to stop the French blowing up two culverts, one large, one small, as highlighted in the photo below taken from the French end.

If the French succeed in blowing both culverts the Germans have to spend game turn three bridging them before moving on to Scenario 3; if they don't the Germans advance to Scenario 3 without delay.  Either way this scenario is only ever fought once.

As demolition of the small and large culverts are 6 and 12-point engineering tasks respectively, this was not going to be an easy ask.  I would have to deploy an engineer team to each culvert and on each activation roll a d6 until the cumulative total reached required number of points.  The engineers then have to retire to a safe distance (>6") before a CoC die is used to detonate the charges.  There is then a 1-in-3 chance for each demolition that something has failed, either a partial demolition (2-in-3 chance and good enough for this scenario[1]) or a total failure which requires the task to be repeated before again detonating the charge.

In this scenario, the French get six support points available, plus a free engineer team, but given the scale of the demolition task and the potential difficulty deploying engineers in the aftermath of the near inevitable Stuka Strike I selected another two engineer teams (1pt. each).  With the remaining four support points I again selected a 'Canon de 75mm M1897' ('soixante-quinze') with five gun crew and Junior Leader.  

This gun had served me well in the last game and is effective against both infantry and armour.  I had toyed with the idea of slowing the German deployment with a pre-game (artillery) bombardment, but unless I reduced my engineers it would not leave me with enough points to select anything with a chance against a panzer.

John, with 12 points of support, covertly selected: 'surprise surprise' a Stuka Strike (4pts); a Motorcycle Mounted Reconnaissance Squad with Junior Leader (5pt.s); and, a Panzer I with Junior Leader (3pt.s).

The final bit of pre-game prep were the dice rolls to establish both sides' Force Morale.  I rolled a '1' for a FM of 8, and John rolled a '5' with +1 for his men's opinion[2] which gave him a starting Force Morale of 11.  John also rolled for starting CoC points and received 2.

Pre-Game Phases

This is usually just the Patrol Phase, but as John had again called up a 'Stuka Strike' that came first.  So, in swooped the gull-winged messengers of death, sirens screaming as they singled out one of their favourite targets - a group of nuns!

Luckily the nuns escaped unharmed ...

... but the village Noirmont did not escape so lightly.

Then it was on to the Patrol Phase which ended with the German Patrol markers and jump-off points (JOPs - indicated by the red arrows) as shown below viewed from the German right (i.e. the Germans are attacking from left to right).

The French JOPs (red arrows) can be seen below, viewed from the French side.

From my perspective the Patrol Phase was reasonably successful as two of my JOPs were close enough to the culverts to allow engineers to deploy directly into position to start work.  The only down-side was that this left my left flank rather undefended.

The Game  

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

1GE(2,5,6,6,6): a double-phase to start on, but, and it's a big BUT, three '6's for an End-of Turn after this phase.  This means that all the effects of the Stuka raid will end before I even get my first phase, what luck!

With only one actionable command die, John deployed his nr.I section from his right-hand JOP near the hedge.

Either John had spotted the weakness of my left flank, or the Boche were up to their usual dastardly tricks and targeting the nuns on the road ahead.

End of Turn 1 ...

... and the fire in the burning building went out and the UXB continued ticking, and with that, it was as if the Stuka strike had never happened.

2GE(1,2,2,2,4): and John, realising the French were now free to deploy without hindrance, stepped up the tempo.  First, the German second in command, the Feldwebel (a senior leader) deployed alongside nr.I section and ordered them to advance at the run along the hedge (towards the nuns?), and he tagged along for the ride and removed the shock resulting from running. 

Then the much-dreaded German armour made an appearance, but in the less than imposing shape of a Panzer I ...

... and it immediately laid down suppressing fire on the Café.

The other two German infantry sections then deployed; first nr.II section from the German left flank JOP from where they put down suppressive fire down around the small culvert ...

... and then nr.III deployed into the cornfield and went tactical to avoid being caught in the open by any French response.

After all this activity, the situation looked like this.

3FR(3,5,5,6,6): and it's my turn for a double-phase, and not a moment too soon as the Germans are piling on the pressure.  With only one actionable command die what should I prioritise?  I decide that, despite it being a support option rather than part of John's core platoon, I do need to neutralise the panzer.  So, I bring on my trusty 'soixante-quinze' ...

... and let fly at the Panzer I on the road.

And it seems my anti-tank jinx only applies when I'm playing German, as I hit it first time (just!) despite it being a partially obscured, moving, small, low-profile target.  I achieve just one penetrating hit, but the PzI fails to save and takes 1 shock and engine damage[3]. 

4FR(3,3,4,6,6): a treble-phase and with the boot (from the last game) now on the other foot, the Germans are starting to look concerned.  I start by deploying No.1 section into the Café ... 

... from where, with German suppressive fire no longer in effect, they open fire on the German nr.II section who are in the open and made to pay - suffering 1 kill and 4 points of shock (2 on each team) ...

... but more importantly the 'kill' is the section's obergefreiter (junior leader) who was killed outright (the dead figure at the back of the above photo).  The Bad Things Happen test sees German Force Morale drop from 11 to 10.

Next the soixante-quinze takes another shot at the PzI, again hitting, although that's easier now as it hit with its last shot.  And again it's on target, this time scoring two penetrating hots and the PzI rolls 'snake-eyes' to save neither but only takes two more points of shock.

Finally, I deploy my platoon (senior) leader, the Lieutenant, behind the Café from where he can both give orders to No.1 section in the Café and any engineers that might deign to turn up to demolish the small culvert (I've not yet had a '1' that I need to deploy an engineer team).

5FR(3,4,5,6,6): I still can't get any engineers on the table so I start with the '3' to try and finish off the PzI with the soixante-quinze.  

And it seems I can't miss today, and again score two penetrating hits, and the PzI's armour continues to let everything through, wounding the commander and taking two points of shock.  

The Panzer's crew now abandon the vehicle[4] and leave the field, hopefully taking their wounded commander with them.  The impact of  both 'Bad Things' sees German Force Morale slip from 10 down to 8.

The Lieutenant, behind the Café, now orders No.1 section to again target nr.II section in the open, this time inflicting 2 kills (one on each team) but no shock.

6FR(1,1,5,6,6): and things just get better, as I can now deploy an engineer team at each culvert where they start laying charges, at the small culvert (counting down from six on the die) ...

... and at the large culvert (counting down from twelve on the dice).

And that is all I can do this phase, but the 5 helps with building up my CoC points.

7FR(2,3,3,4,4): okay, so all good things come to an end.  But, now I know what it feels like to be on the right side of a crazy bunch of dice - and it feels good.  I have to admit that John is taking it all with great deal more grace than I managed in the last game.  

Again, the Lieutenant, lurking behind the Café, orders the engineers to crack on, and they snap two and finish laying the charge.

He then orders the section in the Café to keep up the pressure the German nr.II section as I'm keen to destroy that and bring the German morale down even further.  But this time they are only on target with three shots and all of those fail to hit anything.  

I then deploy the V-B (rifle grenade) section near the soixante-quinze to take on the German section in the cornfield but without effect. 

The nuns must be scared witless at this point as they are stuck in the middle of vicious firefight and unable to move[5].

Finally the soixante-quinze, having dealt with the panzer, now also turns its attention to the Germans in the cornfield, inflicting 2 points of shock (1 on each team).

8GE(2,3,4,4,5): and John's Germans finally get a chance for some long overdue pay-back.  First, his Feldwebel with nr.1 section ...

... employs maschinengewehr against the 75mm gun, with supporting fire from the rifle group.  They score a kill and 3 points of shock, but the nearby V-B section takes the lot and the kill wounds their caporal (junior leader), and so French Force Morale goes from 8 to 7.

The long-suffering nr.II section then fires back at the Café ...

... but the hard cover it provides restricts their impact to a single point of shock on No.1 section within.  

The last activation sees nr.III section's Obergefreiter remove a point of shock and order his men to tactically advance (5") through the cornfield 

9FR(1,1,3,5,6): and the first single '6' of the game allows the civilians to flee, the nuns finally getting behind the French firing-line ...

... and the group of refugees pulling off the road and into the farmyard where they should be less at risk.

With the '1's the engineer team by the large culvert continue laying charges and are joined by a third engineer team to assist them, albeit only rolling a '1' - this leaves 4 more needed on the dice to complete the task.

Then the Sergeant (junior leader) leading No.1 section removed a point of shock and directed his men to finish off the German nr.II section.  His men let fly inflicting 1 kill (LMG team) and 3 shock (all on the rifle team).  This leaves on 5 men in the German nr.II section with 7 points of shock so they are now PINNED.

Also of note, I now have a CoC die.

10GE(2,2,3,6,6): combining the two '2's the Feldwebel with nr.I section orders them to run along the hedge, skirting the wood by the road, and removes the resulting shock.  Behind them, the motorcycle (m/c) recce section deploys from the JOP by the hedge (having left their bikes somewhere safe and out of sight).  

11GE(1,2,3,4,4): and the Feldwebel again doubles nr.I section forward towards the French JOP by the 75mm gun, and close enough to block it.  The hedge is a medium obstacle and allows the Germans to decline close combat with the French on the other side.

The German platoon commander, the Leutnant, then deploys by the m/c recce section and directs maschinengewehr (and rifles) against the 75mm gun (and V-B team).  The resulting 10 hits, kill 4 (2 V-B men, 1 gunner and gun's junior leader is wounded) and inflicts 2 points of shock on the gun team - and they are PINNED.  The French firing-line is now in a sorry state but French Force Morale holds steady at 7 (obviously hadn't put the pin marker on when this was taken). 

The section in the cornfield (nr.III) then runs forward in an attempt to put the small copse between them and the French section in the Café, but they only manage 5" and stay exposed.

The pinned nr.II section, with nothing to lose, fires at the Café but with only 3 fire dice at a target in hard cover they unsurprisingly achieve nothing.

12FR(1,1,1,2,3): and one engineer team finally gets all charges in place on the large culvert and the other two withdraw to a safe distance, albeit one doesn't quite get far enough to be safe.  It feels like I might yet pull this off. 

No.1 section in the Café then open fire to punish nr.II in the cornfield for failing to make it into cover.  And punish is the word, with 3 kills (1 on LMG, 2 on rifles) and 3 points of shock inflicted (again 1 on LMG, 2 on rifles). 

Then No.2 section is deployed, exposed in the road, to try and save my gun-line.  And they make a good start inflicting 2 kills (both LMG) and 1 point of shock (rifles) on the German nr.I section.  No.2 section can just be seen in the top right of the photo below, firing through the nuns (whoops!) at the Germans by the road junction (nr.1 section).

13GE(1,1,2,2,4): and the Feldwebel with nr.1 section directs them to fire back at the newly arrived French No.2 section - how everyone keeps missing those nuns I'll never know.  But, they only kill 1 rifleman and inflict 4 points of shock (at this point I'd run out of shock markers so we also started using the red counters).

Things then go a little screwy in my notes, as next the Leutnant removes 2 points of shock from nr.II section and instructs then to go tactical ... BUT he is nowhere near them being with the m/c recce section.  Then the m/c recce section's junior leader directs them to move and fire at the French gun-line inflicting 1 point of shock on the V-B team.

So, let's not dwell on this and move on.

14FR(1,1,3,3,5): and the two '1's allow the all the engineers to get clear of the culverts, at which point I play my CoC die to detonate the charges.  And it seems the baraka is still with me as first, the small culvert is demolished ...

... shortly followed by an even bigger explosion wrecking the large culvert.

A win for the French, but now I have to get out while I can to save my men for the next fight.  But before then No.2 section again fires on nr.I section on the road.  

The withering fire only kills 1 LMG gunner but delivers a massive 6 points of shock and nr.I section is PINNED!

Carried away by all this success I overlook the second '3' and leave it unused - that was foolish of me.  This it seems was just the first of a series of mistakes we made - we must've been thinking about the next game instead of focusing on this one. 

15GE(2,5,5,6,6): and I now have to survive a German double-phase before I can withdraw.  Luckily, they only have one actionable command die, which is used by nr.III section ...

... to kill a rifleman in the Café.  

 

16GE(1,3,4,4,5): and the Feldwebel removes 3 shock from nr.I platoon pinned in the road.  The section's obergefreiter then orders them to fire back at the French section (No.2) that had pinned them.  Being pinned they only manage 1 kill, but it stuns the French section leader and French Force Morale falls from 7 to 6.  

The Leutnant then orders the m/c section to fire at the French gun line killing a gunner and putting another two points of shock on both teams.  

As can be seen from the mess above, this should've routed both teams, but somehow, probably as we both knew the game was going to end there, we overlooked this. 

Post-Game Correction: the Bad Things Happen for the routs that should've happened in Phase 16 were rolled for (1 & 5).  French Force Morale was unfazed by the rout of the gun team but the V-B team's rout saw it drop from 6 to 5.

17FR(Withdrawal): and because of the error in the previous phase, we didn't roll to see whether the routing V-B team managed to withdraw safely.  

A.N.Other Post-Game Correction: and a 6 was rolled for the surviving V-B team member, which saw withdraw successfully.  The V-B caporal withdrew with him.  So the corrections made no difference, but worth doing all the same.

The Aftermath

The French platoon, having only lost 5 men, has 1 return to duty (RTD) in Turn 3, and 2 more in the turn after that.  The other 2 are permanently lost so.  As the French won this scenario, it means there is no fight next turn while the Germans bridge the culverts so all three will be back for Game 3 in Turn 4.

The platoon's Lieutenant who was 'thoughtful' is now 'content' after a win.  His CO and men are both impressed as both go from 0 to +1.

The Germans lost 7 men and an obergefreiter (junior leader).  They have 2 men RTD immediately and 2 more in the turn after next, so for the next fight in Turn 4 all four will be back.  This means the platoon will only be down by the 3 men, the 2 permanently lost in this game and 1 from the first game.

The Leutnant (platoon leader), having come so close to winning, is unfazed by the defeat and his outlook remain 'sociable'.  His men's opinion is unchanged at +2, but his CO's opinion has fallen from +1 to 0, probably because he is getting flak about failing to secure the culverts undamaged.

Mistakes

Few in this game, until we let our concentration drop once the 'win' was in the bag for the French.  Both sides forgot on occasions that pinned troops go up a level in cover.  But more seriously the I had treated the V-B team and the 75mm gun as a group when they are not from the same unit.  This would've changed the sequence of pinning and routs, but that will just have to be a lesson for next time.  

Post Mortem

My support selections were critical, as I don't think my platoon could've held long enough for fewer engineers to complete the demolition tasks.  The soixante-quinze, as ever proved its worth, but luck was key ingredient, both in the turn ending on the first (German) phase; a quintuple French phase; and, successful detonations of the demolition charges.  If any of these hadn't happened, I suspect I would've lost.

If I'd had a crystal ball and knew the effects of the Stuka strike would cease in the first phase placing my JOPs to maximise defensive options would've been better.  But you can't base a plan on something as unlikely as three '6's coming up so early in the game. 

Observations

Despite the French getting a run of 5 phases, the luck of the command dice was more evenly shared this time; both side getting 8 of the 16 phases played[6], compared with a 12-4 split in the first game. 

The oddity in this game was that across all 16 phase there was only one where someone threw a 'wasteful' single '6' in their command dice!

Notes:

[1.]  A partial demolition would deny any vehicle crossing and as this as all the French are seeking to prevent this would meet their objectives.   

[2.]  This was a mistake as the men's opinion was +2, and needs to be 3+ to add to the Force morale die roll.  Luckily this had no impact on the game.

[3.]  Engine damage means the PzI is now prohibited from driving flat out or moving and shooting in the same phase.

[4.]  Crews will abandon their vehicle if the level of shock reaches 4 or more.

[5.]  As per the last game, and just for a bit of fun, the fleeing nuns and refugees, are activated to run away every time someone throws a single '6', but at this point (Phase 7) no-one has.

[6.]  Ignoring Phase 17 when the French withdrew before rolling the command dice.