The End Game - Part 1

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

Turn 10, Game 9, Scenario 5 the 'Defending the Heights'

The German Blitzkrieg is looking unstoppable.  In the last two games (Game 7 & Game 8) they monopolised the double-phases while the French could only put up minimal resistance as they struggled to deploy through the German pre-game bombardments, whether by Stukas or artillery.

We are now on Game Turn 10 the last turn (there was no game in Turn 3 while Germans had to bridge the culverts the French successfully destroyed (Game 2).

In this scenario - see map below - the Germans must exit one unit from the French table edge whilst having cleared the French out of two thirds of their side of the table, i.e. two of the three 2'x2' sections comprising the French half. 

To help them do this, the Germans have 12 points of support, while the French get 6pt.s, plus 1pt. thanks to the CO's opinion of the valiant French platoon commander, Lieutenant Victor Renard.  Despite having lost the last couple of engagements, he has kept his men safe and for this they love him (their opinion of him stands at +10[1]) 

John, as ever, did a splendid job producing a terrain set-up to match the scenario map, above (shown with the French side at the bottom of the image in this shot of a test set-up).  

With only one building and that having few apertures facing the Germans, and poor fields of fire, I reckon John won't be wasting support points on calling in the Stukas.  A pre-game bombardment seems a certainty, as, I reckon, is a motorcycle (m/c) recce section.  John has been itching to deploy his motorbikes on table all campaign, this is his last chance to do so and as the campaign is now inevitably a draw there's nothing to lose by doing so.  I'm also expecting some armour[1].  So, I want to get some support that can tackle both infantry and armour and opt for: 1x 75mm gun with junior leader and 5 crew (4pt.s); and, 1x Renault R35 tank (3pt.s).

Pre-Game Phase

First the die rolls for Force Morale (FM), and again, the French despite adding +3 to the D6, still only managed a Force Morale of 10 (rolled a '1').  The Germans rolled a '5' for a Force Morale of 9.  

Before the patrol phase, John, as expected, declared a pre-game bombardment.

The patrol markers were then placed as per the scenario.  All 4 French markers, thanks to the dice, started at 'Point 1' (see scenario map), and the Germans opted for 4 markers placed along their table edge; all marked with red arrows in the photo below (with labels for the key features on the battlefield). 

Thanks to having to move my patrol markers laterally as well as forward the patrol phase ended with the Germans (who went first) further advanced across the table.

This resulted in the French jump-off points (JOPs) being placed well back, and two of the German JOPs well forward, their third is back (out of shot) near where the road enters their side of the table.

The Game  

As the attacker, the Germans took the first phase.

1GE(1,1,4,5,5[2],6)  The Germans get the ball rolling by deploying nr.I section, tactically ...

... into the Corner Wood, and then pass.

2FR(3,4,4,6,6)  A double-phase to start!  I need to get some troops on the table quickly as experience has shown deployment to be very unreliable while the effects of a pre-game bombardment are still in place.  The French No.3 section successfully pass their hesitant deployment roll from the righthand JOP in Home Wood, and set up at the hedge around the 5-Acre cornfield ...

... from where they can target the German nr.I section.

Being tactical in light cover (the wood) the Germans benefit from hard cover, but some stellar shooting with a handful of '6's sees them take 4 casualties (2 on each team) and 1 shock (rifle team).  Just a shame I didn't get the section leader.

And not wanting to bring on a senior leader this early, that ends my phase - a fantastic start.  Another phase like this and they'll be finished.

3FR(1,3,3,4,6)  Nice, but still no '5's to get me a CoC die to end the turn.  But no time to worry about that when I have the German nr.I section the rack.  No.3 section duly attempts to finish them off.  This time they fail completely, so the two rounds of shooting end up being less impressive, but nr.I section is still reeling.

Wanting some more troops on the table, I try to deploy the Rifle Grenadier team from the other JOP in Home Wood and they also pass their hesitant deployment roll.

Then, just to spoil the party, my R35 tank fails to deploy and the phase ends.

4GE(1,2,4,4,6,6)  And now the dice decide to even out the double-phases, with one for the Germans.  This threatened some serious pay-back for No.3 section.  And I don't have to wait long as John deploys a tripod-mounted MG34 (MMG) in the Corner Wood, with his Leutnant who directs them to use maschinengewehr. 

They score 6 hits, increased to 7 with Storm of Steel (SoS), causing 3 casualties (2 on my LMG and 1 on the riflemen, who also pick up the only point of shock).  

Ouch, and there's another phase to come, and with no CoC points No.3 section is beyond help.

John wraps up this phase by tactically moving nr.I section away from the MMG team to avoid forming a bunched target, and leaving their dead behind them.

5GE(2,2,3,5,5,6)  John seems to be getting all the CoC points at present, and I'm the one who desperately needs them to end the turn and the effects of the pre-game bombardment.  It doesn't leave him many actionable dice, but the two '2's allow the Leutnant to repeat his maschinengewehr trick.  

This time they score 5 hits, 6 with SoS, for 2 more casualties and another point of shock, the latter being on the riflemen.  But just as I'm grateful for it being less than last time, I roll a '1' and the section sergeant (junior leader) is one of those hit; he is wounded (the other casualty is a riflemen).  

Now they're in trouble, as French Force Morale drops from 10 to 9.

Next, John uses the '3' for nr.I section's obergefreiter to remove a point of shock and transfer a man from the rifle team to the LMG team.

6FR(1,1,3,4,5)  Section No.3 has had enough, and the wounded sergeant orders them to fall back into the wood to gain some respite from the unequal firefight.

I try again to deploy my R35 tank, but again it fails its hesitant deployment roll and is a no-show.

However, the platoon sergeant (inferior senior leader) manages to successfully deploy into Home Wood to remove 2 shock from No.3 section.

7GE(2,3,3,4,5,6)  With no French units threatening them, the German nr.I section advances (normally) 3" along the hedge.

And then, their nr.II section deploys from the forward of the two JOPs by the road.

With my JOPs so far back there is nothing I can do to immediately counter this.

8FR(1,1,2,4,4)  With No.3 section so depleted, the platoon sergeant reorganises the section into a, nearly full-strength, LMG team (henceforth No.3 LMG team), who he orders to advance tactically. 

This is followed by another failed attempt to deploy the R35 tank, and a successful deployment of No.2 section in Home Wood near the rifle grenadiers.

9GE(1,3,3,4,4,6)  Wanting to get the advantage of the hedge, the obergefreiter orders nr.II section to double forward, and he removes one of the resulting shock. 

Then nr.I section advances tactically along the hedgerow, as the 5cm mortar team deploys behind them in support (also in command range of the Leutnant).

I am in severe danger of getting penned in the wood.

10FR(4,5,5,6,6)  A double-phase and two CoC points, but this does mean only one actionable command die, and with that the sergeant attempts to get the No.3 LMG section to advance and shoot, but to no effect.

11FR(1,3,3,5,5)  It seems that '5's, like buses, all turn up at the same time, but now I do have a CoC die.  The sergeant with No.3 LMG team removes a point of shock and orders them to fire at the German nr.I section.  

They kill the obergefreiter (section leader) and a rifleman, and put a point of shock on each team.  

German Force Morale drops from 9 to 8. 

No.2 section advances tactically towards the edge of the wood and the waiting German nr.II section, but they only manage to advance 1".

What's really silly about this, is that they then lose their tactical posture as I end the turn!   At least the pre-game bombardment is no longer in effect, but I have used all my CoC points while John has a goodly stash now.

As Blogger is misbehaving, I'll stop here and split this AAR in two.

Part 2 is here.

Notes:

[1.] I was wrong about the armour as it turned put John had opted for: 1x Motorcycle recce section 5pt.s; 1x MMG (tripod MG34) with 5 crew (3pt.s), 1x pre-game bombardment (2pt.s); and, 1x Red Die (2pt.s).

[2.]  The Red die is ignored if it rolls a 5 or 6.