John, as the British, had the same three tanks as I used in the last game. I as the defending Germans opted for something a little different for my 5 support points. Unfortunately, as I write this up, I now realise I spent far more than 5 support points! As well as an additional Panzerschreck team, I had a 7.5cm IG.18 infantry gun with five crew and junior leader plus an entrenchment to deploy it in. All this totals 7 support points and this cheat goes a very long way to explain why I managed to 'win' the game, and why the result is very much a moral victory for John.
... who promptly flayed the British section that had advanced to the edge of the wood; almost all the losses and shock fell on the unfortunate Bren team who were wiped out[1].
The British then withdrew their depleted section further back into the wood to escape the hail of fire coming from the churchyard. In return, the British tanks managed to wipe out the weakened Panzerschreck team and inflict some shock on the remaining team.
In the following consecutive phase, the Panzerschreck team fired their last round at the remaining Sherman but missed. Also, around this time, the Panzergrenadier sections in the churchyard, their job down against the infantry in the wood, retired back round either side of the church so as not to provide a target for the remaining Sherman.
Then, fate delivered the Germans another double phase and end of turn. In the first phase some of the Panzergrenadiers behind the church started to move back into their firing positions and the last, off-table, Panzergrenadier section deployed by the Station Row Cottages. The British spent their only CoC dice (these were as rare as hen's teeth in both games) to interrupt and open fire with the section behind the hedge but to little effect. In return the Panzergrenadiers annihilated what was left of the section accompanying the Sherman (this was the much-weakened section that had been in the wood earlier)
This gun, which should never have appeared (I didn't have enough support points to pay for it!!!), was able to deploy in a position where it could engage the British tanks in flank.
Having only a limited armour penetration capability it selected the Stuart as its target and, needing a score of 4+, managed to score 3 hits from 4 dice. As if that wasn't bad enough the Stuart then failed to get a single save from its 4 dice and promptly blew up.
Oh, the shame of it!
Anyway, for what it's worth here's an abbreviated account of how this played out.
John got off to a great start, rolling enough of 6's to give him three consecutive phases! First, he occupied both floors of the Derelict Farmhouse with a section, ...
... then deployed his 2" mortar team in the farmyard and put another section in the wood next to the Derelict Farm; all this being overseen by his platoon sergeant (senior leader).
Then, with smoke for cover, he brought on both Shermans, one down each road as I had done in the previous game, although this time not led by the Stuart. One towards Station Row Cottages ...
... and the other on the road running past the Derelict Farm.
After all this, I got my first phase of the game and a good command roll allowed me to deploy both Panzerschreck teams to take on the Shermans. One missed and the other only succeeded in rendering a bow machinegun inoperable. They immediately suffered from some return, overwatch, fire; the team in the entrenchment losing a man and taking a point of shock.
Also deployed in this phase were two sections in the churchyard ...
... who promptly flayed the British section that had advanced to the edge of the wood; almost all the losses and shock fell on the unfortunate Bren team who were wiped out[1].
The British then withdrew their depleted section further back into the wood to escape the hail of fire coming from the churchyard. In return, the British tanks managed to wipe out the weakened Panzerschreck team and inflict some shock on the remaining team.
The next phase for the Germans was a double phase, and in the first of these the remaining Panzerschreck team again fired at the Sherman by the Derelict farm, and this time they made no mistake and the tank was hit and blew up.
In the following consecutive phase, the Panzerschreck team fired their last round at the remaining Sherman but missed. Also, around this time, the Panzergrenadier sections in the churchyard, their job down against the infantry in the wood, retired back round either side of the church so as not to provide a target for the remaining Sherman.
With the Germans having all fallen back to escape H.E. fire from the Sherman there were no targets available to the British. This included the surviving Panzerschreck team, still both alive but carrying two shock, who withdrew to the JOP behind the church to replenish their ammunition only to find there was none available.
So, over the next few phases the British started to advance their infantry to provide close support for their remaining Sherman, and brought on the Stuart in support.
All this time, the Germans stayed in cover behind the buildings while the British approached closer and closer as shown below (not seen is the PIAT team also moving up in the road alongside the Derelict Farmhouse).
Then, fate delivered the Germans another double phase and end of turn. In the first phase some of the Panzergrenadiers behind the church started to move back into their firing positions and the last, off-table, Panzergrenadier section deployed by the Station Row Cottages. The British spent their only CoC dice (these were as rare as hen's teeth in both games) to interrupt and open fire with the section behind the hedge but to little effect. In return the Panzergrenadiers annihilated what was left of the section accompanying the Sherman (this was the much-weakened section that had been in the wood earlier)
Then in the following phase, after the British smoke was removed, two Panzergrenadier sections were able to fire, one wiping out the PIAT advancing down the road (this was an attempt to bring down the British Force Morale which was already getting shaky), and the other firing at close range on the British section advancing along the hedge who had lost their Tactical Movement marker at the end of the turn.
To make the most of the close-range target I used my only CoC die of the game at the earliest opportunity to interrupt John's phase and again fire at section behind the hedge. This fire reduced them half-strength and pinned.
This left the British with not much that could shoot back apart from their tanks who inflicted some losses and shock on both German sections.
The next German phase delivered the much awaited '1' on a command die allowing them to bring on their final support asset, a 7.5cm IG.18 in an entrenchment.
This gun, which should never have appeared (I didn't have enough support points to pay for it!!!), was able to deploy in a position where it could engage the British tanks in flank.
Having only a limited armour penetration capability it selected the Stuart as its target and, needing a score of 4+, managed to score 3 hits from 4 dice. As if that wasn't bad enough the Stuart then failed to get a single save from its 4 dice and promptly blew up.
At this point, as we were both keen to get down the pub, and the British Force Morale in response to the loss of the Stuart had sunk to 3, John conceded.
Needless to say, there was a bit of a post-mortem down the pub, but as the game was spoilt by my use of excess support, the validity of the following 'lessons'(?) could be called into question.
1). In both games the effectiveness of the German Panzerschreck was a serious threat to any armour. Having infantry in close support can make them vulnerable so better options would be to either lay on a mortar barrage to suppress a large area or make sure you have a CoC die in hand so you can interrupt the Panzerschreck and either shoot it first or move the tank to safety.
2). If deploying infantry anti-tank weapons to attack the armour or other troops to attack any accompanying infantry it is best done with as much firepower as you can bring to bear i.e., if one team / section is good, two is better. Also, once this has achieved the desired effect move them to safety, and in this respect behind buildings is better than in them when there are H.E. firing tanks around.
Notes:
[1.] We pretty much always forget to divide the hits between the teams before rolling to find the effect - what we do in this circumstance is dice to see which teams suffer the effects (shock and kills). This can, as in this case, lead to some extremely unbalanced distributions. Clearly, we must do better in future - hopefully the imminent second edition will be the catalyst to get us to apply the rules more accurately.
