My friend John came round for a practise campaign using the Maltot campaign from the TooFatLardies (TFL) 'At the Sharp End' campaign rules. We'd had a couple of learning (for him) and refresher (for me) games but now we wanted to get into a campaign which produces very different games where husbanding your troops can be as important as winning a game.
I took on the British (12 platoon, B company, 5th Wiltshires), who have to win their way across five different maps / scenarios in no more than eight games to win the campaign. John took on the Germans who had to stop the British i.e., win 4 games before I could win five.
Game 1: a balanced patrol scenario (same number of support points each) across open fields with little cover apart from a hedge or two. The picture below shows the first British troops deploying onto the table, advancing from left to right. The German jump off points (JOPs) can be seen in towards the lower right. The outer boundary of hedges delineates the edge of the map.
I immediately showed how rusty I was by deploying my 'Tactical' movement markers facing the wrong direction, Doh!
The German deployment in response was cursed by a command dice roll of 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 1 which delivered our first rules blunder of the day; the deployment of a single team from a section (using the '1') which is not allowed in the rules. I said it was a learning campaign.
This action had always looked likely to revolve around who could get to the hedge line first to catch their opponents exposed out in the open. So, seeing the Germans in disarray, I doubled one section forward to try and get to the hedge first; the accompanying junior and senior leaders using their command initiatives to remove the resulting shock (disorder) caused by this. As can be seen in the following photo they got close but didn't quite make it (the other section did not double forward).
The Germans then suffered another dreadful command roll and were limited to a couple of team actions. This saw them double a rifle team forward to the hedge and the section's MG42 team putting down some covering fire on the hedge to try and reduce the effectiveness of any British firing next phase (the section of hedge under covering fire being indicated by the two red 'pin' markers below).
The Brits responded by opening fire with closest section on the rifle team at the hedge. The British firing dice were embarrassingly good and the German rifle team at the hedge was shredded and broke, routing back all the way to their JOP. The other Brit section doubled up to the hedge taking advantage of some well-placed smoke from their 2" mortar deployed back at their JOP as can be seen in the photo below the situation
At this point, with the writing on the wall in bright red letters ten feet tall, Germans decided to cut their losses and withdraw, conceding the field to 12 platoon which was completely unscathed.
This was the first time my new minefield markers had been used and I'm pretty pleased with how they look - much better than an old bit of string!
The game started with the Brits rolling an immediate double phase. No doubt still a little euphoric over my quick win in the first game I deployed a section and a senior leader from my furthest forward JOP with a view to rushing the enemy base edge before they could deploy through the barrage. My FO also deployed further back and established contact with his mortar battery.
The Germans validated my optimism by dutifully failing to deploy any troops in their turn thanks to the pre-game barrage. Now supremely confident that my plan (is a mad dash a plan?) was the right thing to do I pressed on past the minefield; but my command dice (no '1's) prevented my either requesting a mortar barrage or deploying a 2" mortar to provide some smoke cover.
Then the wheels came off; the Germans got a double phase and in the first phase successfully deployed a section (MG42 in the farmhouse and rifle team in the garden) as seen below (clearly the photo was taken a little later as they have a casualty in the photo).
Caught in the open at close range (courtesy of having to go round the minefield) the consequences for my lead section were horrific, with three dead and three shock - see below.
The next phase of shooting was just as bad but as I forgot to take a photo we can draw a veil over the horrific scene. I decided to persist for another phase hoping my mortars (2" firing smoke and 3" with h.e.) might retrieve the situation; but again my command dice prevented either from playing their part. One more round of German fire saw the platoon sergeant wounded and out of action, and without his influence to steady the survivors, pressing on was futile and the tattered remnants of my platoon withdrew from the field.
Game 3: which, following the British failure was a repeat of the probe scenario with the Germans adding a second minefield to the one still in place from the previous game. I was planning to change my approach and make use of the armour support I had spurned in the last game but... I only received 3 support points this time around. These were spent on another pre-game barrage, which had worked reasonably well before, and an adjutant to cover the absence of my wounded platoon sergeant who would not return to duty until the next game.
This time the plan was to eschew the open fields and quickly get stuck into the farmhouse, hopefully while German deployment was hindered by the pre-game barrage. I also intended to maximise my use of smoke from my reinforced 2" mortar team[1] to protect me from any Germans that did turn up.
In my first phase, speed being key, I deployed both sections[2], albeit they had to skirt John's latest minefield as he had easily identified the obvious line of advance and mined it - see below.
It was. At this point the game hotted up and I got so sucked in I forgot to take any more photos, and so I'll keep it pretty brief from here on.
One British section doubled, through yet more smoke, up to the farmhouse and shut down the German JOP inside. Then, John broke his relentless run of bad luck and managed to deploy most of his troops. As a result, one British section was shredded in the farmyard but the other managed to occupy the house. At this point the game looked over for the Brits; but, surrounded and trapped inside the farmhouse, withdrawal was not an option. So, with the Brits forced to fight on and the Germans unwilling to close it turned into an attritional firefight and then into a bloody grenade throwing contest. At this point the Germans realised this was a fight they could not afford as the British could replace their platoon but the German platoon would have to fight on through the rest of the campaign. So, settling for having ruined one British platoon the Germans withdrew to their main defensive line (the next map / scenario).
For the ongoing campaign, John and I have already fixed a date for more games, the status of the two platoons at this stage is as follows:
British strength: 2 Senior Leaders, 3 Junior Leaders, and, 16 men to operate the PIAT, 2" mortar, 3 Bren LMGs and provide any rifle teams.
British casualties: 14 permanently lost and 1 wounded man due to return after the next game.
German strength: 1 Senior Leader; 3 Junior Leaders; and, 16 men to operate the Panzerschreck; and, 3 MG42s and provide any rifle teams.
German casualties: 9 permanently lost and 4 wounded men due to return after the next game.
The losses are skewed in the Germans favour as, in this campaign, they recover casualties at three times the British rate. However, the British do have a fresh platoon in the wings.
Hopefully next time I'll take a few more photos.
Notes:
1. The British platoon was now reduced to just two sections. The surviving junior leader and private from the decimated section being used to from a large 2" mortar team.
2. Another error we made at this point was to assume that if LMG teams were wiped out the weapon was lost so with only 2 Bren guns I opted to go with just two sections and to reinforce my 2" mortar team.
