'Taking the Gembloux Gap' a pint-sized campaign.
Turn 6, Game 5, Scenario 4 the 'Get the Guns!'
And after reading the scenario more fully I was beginning to question whether I made the right decision to cede the last scenario and make a stand here. When I did so I hadn't spotted that the French couldn't deploy any support until the second turn; anyway that was then and now it's time to face the German steamroller once more, albeit this time without any armour.
The Scenario
In this scenario the German infantry has to take the French gun line to facilitate the Panzers' advance. The French start their patrols from the middle of the table while the Germans have to start theirs at one of the red arrows (which being decided on a die roll).
The Germans can only win the game by taking all the French jump-off points (JOPs) or by forcing them to withdraw by breaking their morale[1]. Anything else is a French win.
John's terrain set-up to match the scenario map is shown below, viewed from the French table-edge, with labels identifying features named in the battle report.
The French get 8 support points in this scenario (the first time it is played), and I needed to make sure I used them all (unlike last time when I accidentally selected less support than allowed). With my 8 points (+1 pt. owing to the CO's high opinion of the platoon leader) I opted for: two Canon de 75mm M1897 (aka 'soixante-quinze' with five gun crew and Junior Leader (4 pt.s each); and a band of Franc-Tireurs (1 pt.), for a total of 9 pt.s of support. The down-side of this selection is that on-table support (not the Francs-Tireurs) can't be fielded until Turn 2 so I will be hoping for an early treble-six or lots of '5's.
The French also get a free 'soixante-quinze' with crew and leader; this can be deployed in Turn 1 if desired and is available every time the scenario is played if not lost in a previous game. This means I will be able, eventually, to deploy three 'soixante-quinze' - a truly formidable gun-line. On the other hand (OTOH) I am taking a risk in having no protection from the ever-present Stukas.
With his 12 pt.s of support John covertly chose: a pre-game 'Stuka Strike' (4 pt.s); a motorcycle (m/c) reconnaissance squad with junior leader (5 pt.s); a sniper (2 pt.s); and, an Adjutant (1 pt.).
We then rolled for Force morale; I added +1 to my roll thanks to the men's high opinion of their platoon leader (Lt Victor Renard) but still only started with a Force Morale of 9. John's Germans, despite lacking this advantage, also ended up with a starting Force Morale of 9.
Due to losses in previous games the German platoon was starting this fight 6 men below full-strength, which saw them reduce their nr.III section to just an LMG team. The French platoon, courtesy of a jammy random event reinforcement was starting 2 men over-strength, these were assigned to V-B team to make it less vulnerable to casualties (but still with only 3 grenade launchers).
As is becoming a firm tradition, John announced the arrival of his Stuka strike. It came diving in to drop its lethal load ...
This was most unwelcome news, as not only did it make it unsafe to use either building for cover (not that the burning Home Farm could be occupied), but also the danger area surrounding each building included much of the cover along the road and all of the walled enclosure around Home Farm.
And so onto the Patrol Phase. I deployed my patrol markers on the edge of the wood while the Germans, who rolled high started from arrow '2' (see scenario map above).
The Germans as the attackers went first (as neither side had a higher Force Morale), but they didn't get far before all the patrol markers were locked down.
I was quite pleased with this result as it meant the German jump-off points (JOPs) were all on or near their table edge ...
Now we were ready to let battle commence.
As the attacker, the Germans took the first phase.
1GE(1,3,4,5,6): and not wanting waste any time, John deployed a senior leader (the Leutnant commanding his platoon) and section nr. I from the German right-hand JOP with a view to getting into the large wood. This was promptly thwarted by my plucky band of Francs-Tireurs.
With his last actionable command die, John deployed his nr. III section (now reduced to just an LMG team, henceforth LMG team III) with its obergefreiter (junior leader) from the German left-hand JOP on the road. They immediately went 'Tactical'.
3GE(1,2,2,4,6): saw the Leutnant persist in trying to deploy and push through the Franc-Tireurs with nr.I section, but once again the valiant French patriots successfully blocked their arrival.
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| "Ils ne passeront pas" plus rude hand gesture. |
This was slowing the Germans down quite nicely.
Next LMG team III advanced at the double (ran) along the fence lining the cornfield, and they managed to cover 15" - you can see how far behind they have left the JOP in the photo below.
This rate of progress was definitely worrying and I would need to stop it, or at least slow it down, at the earliest opportunity.
4FR(1,1,2,2,5): saw me use up all my actionable dice trying to repeat my earlier failed deployment of the Lieutenant (using the two '2's) and No.3 section (using the two '1's). Not only did they pass the hesitant deployment roll but for shock from the Stuka strike they rolled a pair of '1's resulting in only 2 points of shock that the Lieutenant promptly rallied off.
Unfortunately, I had placed my JOP a little too far back in the wood to get the entire section into the firing line, but those who were able to fire let fly at the German LMG team III. Continuing to ride the luck from their deployment dice they managed to inflict 1 kill and 4 points of shock (the 5th point of shock in the photo is from the LMG team moving at the double in the previous phase).
5GE(1,2,4,5,6): French shooting had clearly rattled the LMG team III, as the obergefreiter grabbed the '1' and the '2' to rally off a point of shock and direct them to return fire against the French No.3 section.
Their fire only generated two hits, neither of which did any harm. And with John not wanting to bring on an unaccompanied senior leader that was the end of the German phase.
6FR(1,1,1,2,5): not a great set of command dice, but I shouldn't complain as the luck has, so far, mostly favoured me. No.3 section decided to press home their advantage against the benighted LMG team III, but every fire die rolled a 'miss' - I suppose that makes up for the great dice in their last phase.
It was now time to try and deploy something else to ratchet up the pressure; this time, my free 'soixante-quinze'. It passed its hesitant deployment roll and only picked up 2 points of shock from the Stuka strike.
The more observant of you may have noticed I have deployed the gun very close to the unstable La Haye Farm, within the 4" danger zone should it collapse. I didn't spot this until later as for the time being I was focused on what it could do for me as it opened fire on LMG team III. And that was just a one point of shock.
Next I tried to deploy my V-B, rifle-grenadier, team. This passed the hesitant deploy roll as you might've guessed as it can be seen in the photo above showing the 75mm gun team. They also rolled another '1' for shock - I was getting off very lightly from the Stuka strike. Anyway, they also targeted LMG team III, but were completely ineffective.
7GE(1,1,2,3,6): in this phase the Germans gave up on the Francs-Tireur infested right-hand JOP and deployed sections nr.I and nr. II on the road along with a sniper (the sniper team is on the road at the bottom of the photo below and nr.II section is the one along the far edge of the cornfield).
The sniper took aim at the soixante-quinze but missed, but the two newly deployed sections were more successful, between them killing 3 of the crew and inflicting 2 points of shock. This pinned the gun crew!
I was being outshot, but what I had noticed was that the German sections were within 4" of each other making a bunched target - could I make the most of this?
8FR(1,3,5,5,6): well perhaps not, as I wasn't going to get a lot of shooting from those command dice. I decided the 75mm gun really needed to rally off some shock, so their leader took the '3' to remove 2 points. The '1' was used to allow the V-B team in the road ...
... to fire at LMG team III again, this time with 2 fire dice each, as a second or subsequent shot against a non-moving target. And they did me proud, killing one LMG gunner and inflicting a point of shock on the team, which pinned them.
Honours even?
9GE(1,2,2,3,4): and a lucky escape for the V-B team targeted by the sniper, who rolled a hit which failed to do any harm. But before the V-B could breathe a sigh of relief the Leutnant (platoon commander) was deployed and directed nr.II section's MG34 using maschinengewehr to kill one and inflict a point of shock. My decision to use my surplus riflemen to beef up this team was looking like a good move.
Finally, the platoon's Feldwebel (2iC, senior leader) deployed with nr.I section on the road to employ maschinengewehr against the French in the small wood (senior leaders are identified by pink flowers; yellow for junior leaders).
10FR(1,3,3,4,6): gave the French some good command dice. Lieutenant Renard, rallied off the 2 points of shock his opposite number had just inflicted on No.3 section and directed them to shoot at the Germans still bunched around the corner of the cornfield, placing a point of shock on both teams in nr.II section.
Then the junior leaders of the V-B team and soixante-quinze, removed one and two points of shock respectively, and both teams then added their fire against the same target (NB: the 75mm used the '1' to shoot).
Between them this killed an LMG gunner (nr.I section) and inflicted 4 points of shock (1 on nr.I rifles and nr.II's LMG, and 2 on nr.II's rifles).
And in zooming into section nr.I ...
11GE(2,2,3,3,6): a reasonable set of German command dice, but no '4's for their newly arrived senior leaders, so the Leutnant used both '2's to remove 2 points of shock from section nr.II and move them, tactically, further forward along the edge of the cornfield. This separated the sections sufficiently for them to no longer count as a 'bunched target'.
LMG team III's obergefreiter used both his actions to rally shock off his team, to ensure they would no longer be pinned if the turn ended.
And nr.I section's obergefreiter ordered his men to suppress the French No.3 section in the large wood.
All in all, a very satisfactory phase from the French viewpoint, if we could keep the Germans fully occupied recovering from fire, rather than returning it, this would surely only end one way.
12FR(1,3,3,5,6): at last a full CoC die for the French, after ending this turn I would at last be allowed to deploy my support units on the table. So, with help on its way I decided the best thing to do was just to keep the Germans under the cosh until I had enough firepower to finish them.
This approach started startlingly well as the V-B junior leader rallied off a point of shock and got his men to drop their bombs on the German nr.I section. This, courtesy or some splendid dice rolls, killed an LMG gunner and a rifleman and put 2 points of shock onto the LMG team. With such a good example before them, the suppressed No.3 section added in its fire against the same target (nr.I section) killing another LMG gunner and rifleman and inflicting another point of shock on the rifle team.
This wiped out nr.I section's LMG team, who took quite a lot of shock with them, and the Bad Things Happen test saw German Force Morale drop from 9 to 8.
The pinned soixante-quinze, inspired by this, fired at the LMG team III, and despite being reduced to half the number of fire dice, killed one of the team and imposed a point of shock.
Then before ending my phase I used my CoC die to end the turn. This saw my soixante-quinze and John's LMG team III unpinned.
Then we tested the unstable buildings for collapse. First to test was Home Farm, which saw the fire go out, but the building did not collapse (remaining unstable).
So, on to La Haye Farm, where I had foolishly deployed my 75mm gun within the danger zone if it collapsed. Needless to say, collapse it did!
But then, in a remarkable stroke of luck, the gun crew only took 2 hits and both of those (testing as if hit in the open) rolled '1's leaving them unscathed.
Who's a lucky boy then?
13GE(2,2,3,3,6): and the luck continued running with the me as the German sniper targeted my lucky soixante-quinze but missed, again. Then nr.I section's obergefreiter removed their only point of shock and directed them to suppress the French No.3 section in the large wood, their three remaining riflemen having just enough fire dice between them to do this.
The Leutnant removed shock from nr.I section and directed to fire at the French 75mm gun but, despite getting 5 hits, they only achieved 1 point of shock.
What was left of LMG team III, also after rallying off a point of shock, joined in against 75mm gun team.
They managed a single 'kill', which turned out to be on the gun's junior leader, leaving him wounded. This 'bad thing' was enough to see French Force Morale fall from 9 to 8.
14FR(1,2,2,2,5): an annoying shortage of '3's or '4's. However, the '1' allowed me to deploy one of my additional 75mm gun teams, which deployed by the V-B team and opened fire on the German nr.II section stunning its obergefreiter - German Force Morale fell from 8 to 7.
I then deployed the French No.1 section in the road and the No.2 section the other side of the Home Farm enclosure. Both targeted the German LMG team III and wiped it out, apart from its junior leader (who made himself scarce).
This drove German Force Morale down from 7 to 6.
Deploying all these units in a cramped line along the dirt road at the French end of the table created a very large bunched target.
I realised this, but had decided the risk was worth taking to try and finish off the German units as they were not up to much in their current state.
15GE(1,2,2,4,6): and the Leutnant ordered nr.II section to engage the juicy target set out before it. They killed an LMG gunner and rifleman, and inflicted 3 points of shock all on on No.1 section. Had I been too rash exposing my men as a bunched target? The sniper also targeted this section, hitting and stunning the sergeant (junior leader) which made French Force Morale drop from 7 to 6.
Then, what was left of nr.I section ran down the road toward the large wood. This move puzzled me at first, but all was explained when the German motorcycle Recce squad deployed into the space left for them so they would not present another bunched target.
They also opened fire on the French firing line killing a member of the V-B team and a No.1 section rifleman, and inflicting one point of shock on the V-B team and the soixante-quinze.
16FR(1,1,2,2,2): again no '3's or '4's. Nonetheless I still need to get on with cutting the Germans down to size before they could kill too many of my platoon. First, my freshly deployed soixante-quinze targeted nr.II section, who seeing it coming 'hit the dirt' (cost 3 CoC points). It did them little good as some splendid fire dice, allied to storm of steel effects, saw them lose an LMG gunner and a rifleman, and the rifle team taking 2 points of shock. The other 75mm added just one more point of shock against nr.II section, so perhaps averaged across both guns the fire was perhaps a little less impressive.
No.1 and No.3 sections also fired at nr.II section, between them putting 2 points of shock on the rifle team and wounding the German Leutnant! German Force Morale dropped from 6 to 4 - and the Germans are reduced to 4 command dice.
And, with the fight reaching its climax, I forgot to take any photos of this phase.
17GE(3,4,5,6): the Leutnant started the phase by removing 2 points of shock from nr.II section.
The only other actionable command die was used by the m/c recce squad to shoot at the French firing line ...
... killing a 75mm gunner and an LMG gunner in No.1 section; and, putting 1 point of shock on both the V-B team and No1. section's rifle team.
18FR(1,1,2,3,5): and I finally deployed my third soixante-quinze and all three targeted nr.II section.
This killed an LMG gunner and a rifleman, and inflicted 5 points of shock which pinned the section (furthest group of Germans in the photo below).
To round off the phase, No.1 section targeted nr.I section and wounded their obergefreiter (junior leader). This last event drove German force morale down from 4 to 3, leaving them only 3 command dice.
19GE(*,*,*): and John opted to withdraw his platoon, from what had become an increasingly one-sided firefight, while he could still do so voluntarily. All were close to their JOPs so all successfully escaped without difficulty.
Nontheless, the field was strewn with bodies showing where the German platoon's advance had been first halted and then thrown back.
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| nr.I section |
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| nr.II section |
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| LMG team III |
The French platoon: lost 5 men from the core platoon; two are permanently lost, two will miss the next game and one will return to duty (RTD) for the next game. This leaves the platoon only down by two men for the next game.
The 'free' French 75mm gun lost three crew. If treated like a core platoon unit, this would mean one man permanently lost, one missing the next game and one will RTD for the next game. John has suggested an alternative reading whereby if not wiped out, a gun and full-crew is always available for the next game. I have left it with John to decide which we play it.
Lieutenant Victor Renard, has now won all four of his combats in this campaign, and his outlook has gone from 'secure' to 'sociable'. His CO's opinion of him has risen from +3 to +4 and his men's from +3 to +6. This means he will still receive just one additional point of support from his CO but the platoon's Force Morale roll will now get a +3 modifier (+1 for being 'sociable' and +2 for his men's confidence in his leadership).
The German platoon: lost 15 men; seven are permanently lost, four will miss the next game and four will RTD for the next game. This leaves the platoon down by 17 men for the next game, and 13 for the game after that. As a result, John has chosen to replace this platoon with one of his full-strength replacement platoons. The commander of the new platoon is 'secure' and his CO's and Men's opinion of him is neutral (zero) until they can judge his competence in action.
Counter-Attack: is now an option for the French. If chosen it means Lt Renard will attack Scenario 3, Blitz on Villeroux, but as a standard Attack Defend scenario. If he does this, he will get 10 points of support (+1 thanks to CO's opinion of him) and possibly 1D3 CoC points. The defenders, the Germans, in either edition of the rules (the campaign predates the 2nd edition of CoC) will get half that number rounded down, i.e. 5 support points. They may also be denied mortars and/or prelimnary barrages as support options.
Even as just a spoiling operation this looks worth doing as the Germans would then have to win every game from then on to win the campaign. If the counter-attack were to succeed the Germans don't have enough time left to take the final scenario. John, is still looking into the exactly how we should play this but it's looking very likely.
Also if the counter-attack game happens we agreed we would test the unstable Home Farm for collapse for every turn during the couter-attack game.
Post Mortem
The maxing out of 75mm guns that can fire HE at short range proved to be a battle winner, albeit there were some purple patches of exceedingly good firing by these units. The Francs-Tireurs also played a blinder and effectively channelled the Germans into my best field of fire.
I took a risk in not selecting any protection from Stuka strikes in order to maximise my firepower. My luck held and I escaped the worst of the Stuka strike, as most of my hesitant deployments were successful and attracted little shock, and not suffering any consequences from deploying a 75mm gun next to an unstable building was a real let off. The cherry on top was getting a CoC die fairly quickly to terminate even these limited effects and bring on my support.
Altogether, John was really up against it in this game and I struggle to come up with anything he might've done differently that would've made the difference.
Observation
After several games with truly exceptional numbers of double, treble and even quadruple '6's for multiple phases (Link to 1st game), this game went to 18 phases without even a single double '6'! Random processes can sometimes seem anything but to the human mind.
Notes:
[1.] They can also win if the French choose to withdraw, but as they get a fresh platoon for the next scenario they have nothing to lose by fighting to the last man, or bullet.