Pushing On, June 25th, 20:00
This is the 5th battle and the 2nd scenario in our Operation Martlet campaign. The previous scenario took 4 attempts for the British to succeed, so they are running behind schedule. They ideally want to capture Rauray (Scenario 6) on turn 10 by the latest.
The mission is Attack & Defend with the British as attacker. The British win if they can force the Germans to withdraw while keeping their own Force Morale at 3 or higher.
The calm before the battle. A view of the battlefield from the British lines,
Forces
British platoon
The platoon took zero casualties last battle and is finally moving forward. Time to put Jerry on the run and Push On!
The British platoon looks as follows at the start of the battle:
- Lt Stuart
- Plt Sgt Scott
- Lt Mortar
- Piat
- Section 1, Cpl Wilson, -1 man in the rifle team
- Section 2, Cpl Brown, -1 man in the rifle team
- Section 3, Cpl Smith, -1 man in the rifle team
Opinion
- CO's Opinion: -4. -1 to Support points
- Own Opinion: Guarded
- Men's Opinion: -2
British Support (15 points)
- AVRE (7)
- AVRE (7)
- Adjutant (1)
The German platoon
The Germans are a bit short, having lost the Panzer IV last battle and with one section reduced. Will they be able to withstand the British onslaught?
The German platoon starts as follows.
- Obersharfürer Weiss
- Unterscharführer Frey, two 3 man MG42 team
- Scharführer Raus, two 3 man MG42 team, 2 Panzerfausts
- Scharführer Wegner, one 2 man MG42 team, 1 Panzerfaust
Opinion
- Commander's opinion: +2.
- Own opinion: Assured.
- Men's opinion: +2.
German support (7 points)
- Four entrenchments (4)
- Adjudant (1)
- Sdkfz Halftrack (2)
Patrol Phase & Jump Off Points
Aerial view of the battlefield
German patrol markers
The German patrols start behind the small village and orchard while the British come in on the road. The British roll a 6 and push forward rapidly towards the center buildings in ordet to deny them to the enemy. Little knowing that the Germans where more or less totally uninterested in occupying any real estate considering the AVRE threat.
Then British patrols move up rapidly.
German Jump Off Points
British Jump Off Points
The Battle
The British start the battle with Force Morale 9, the Germans with Force Morale 10.Early game
The British deploy in the orchard to their left.
The British deploy 2 sections and Plt Sgt Scott. The plan is to move forward. If the Germans have trouble deploying and we get a double phase we might rush the JOP in the orchard, otherwise force the Germans to deploy and wait for the AVRE.
They move forward cautiously, losses are to be avoided. We'll se how that goes...
The Germans have no problems deploying despite the heavy bombardment. One squad occupies trenches on the far left while a Hanomag enters with the 3rd reduced section (team).
Germans in the distance...
The halftrack harasses the British infantry who move sideways to get out of LoS. The AVRE arrives and moves up.
The AVRE arrives...
The dug in squad throws a smoke grenade to protect them somewhat from the AVRE.
... and moves up to support.
The dug in German infantry fall back behind the hedge-lined orchard to be out of line of sight of the AVRE. The British are a bit surprised but it makes sense.
More good news for the British - a 2nd AVRE has arrived! This should spell disaster for the Germans, what could they possibly do to counter this...?
The half section in the halftrack disembark and jump the hedge and rush towards the remaining AVRE. They receive some fire on the way in and all the rank and file fall (ok, they where only 2 to begin with...).
A nice view, but the British have moved out of sight. Forwards!
The British infantry move up together with the AVRE while the German halftrack enters the orchard.
View from above.
The infantry must be feeling confident because they move back into the trenches. Maybe they knew something the British didn't...
The advance was accompanied by throwing a smoke grenade, which disappeared when the turn ended.
What's better than an AVRE? Two AVsRE, of course!
Mid game
The Germans open up on the British, causing mostly shock.
An ambushing team appears and fires a panzerfaust!
The view from the German perspective.
The faust hits. It has 11 strike dice, 5 succeed. The Churchill has 8 armor dice, one succeeds... Not good.
One Churchill down is bad, but the British brought a second, so all is not lost. The Ambushing team is blown away by the 2nd AVRE.
But the squad that lost one team as ambushers deploys its 2nd team in the orchard and adds to the firepower. The German infantry and halftrack pour in some intense fire so the British fall back after taking significant casualties, including a wounded Corporal.
The 2nd AVRE moves up, ready to deal some damage.
The AVRE faces off with the German infantry.
The half-squad that just deployed moves up fast (double phase) and fires a panzerfaust, Luckily it misses on a '3'. The British deploy the 3rd section and Lt Scott in the orchard to the right and fire ineffectually, but the AVRE delivers, killing the rank and file, wounding the junior leader but leaving the Senior leader unscathed.
The 2nd team of the section (whos 1st team ambushed the other AVRE previously) moves out with the senior leader and fires a panzerfaust but miss.
The AVRE extract its revenge.
The surviving German leaders move back into the orchard. The German infantry and halftrack fire at the section in the orchard who fall back to avoid casualties.
Late game
The British Morale is now at 4 while the German is still at 7 (??) but the AVRE is in position so time is on the British side. The Germans, always eager to counterattack, decide to push the issue, hoping to break the British (or at least knock them below the Force Morale 3 needed to win the scenario).
The Hanomag looking out over the hedge. Its passengers will soon disembark, brandishing the platoons last remaining panzerfaust...
The remaining full strength German squad + senior leader move forward to the hedge to start a firefight (and possibly assault) the somewhat disordered two sections under Plt Sgt Scott. They throw three hand grenades at 8" range, all of them reaching their target! Some casualties are inflicted but Lt Scott manages to reorganise the sections to some sort of order.
But the junior leader remains standing and has the platoons one remaining panzerfaust with him. He whispers "Show me where the Iron Crosses grow" and fires the faust...
A view from above...
Wooosh - Boom!
Once again, 5 strikes vs 1 defence success is hard to argue with...
British withdraw
This time, to add insult to injury (or is that injury to insult?) the AVRE is not only KO:ed, it blows up, killing the crew. The British morale immediately crashes from 4 to 0, causing them to break and withdraw.
Post Battle
British
Oh my, that could easily have gone the other way, but fate decided otherwise... It seems like Lt Stuart is cursed by the Gods of Battle. 4 losses vs 1 victory and that was by his 2nd in command when Lt Stuart himself was absent... Maybe his men's and CO's low opinion of him is justified, maybe he is just unlucky. Time will tell!
Losses
11 casualties. 5 permanent losses, 3 miss next battle, 3 return next battle. That means the platoon is down 11 men next battle, of whom 3 will return later.
Opinion
- CO's Opinion: Down from -4 to -5. Still -1 to Force Support.
- Own Opinion: Down from Guarded to Prickly. -1 to Force Morale.
- Men's Opinion: Down from -2 to -5. -1 to Force Morale.
Lessons learned
Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat! The Germans where prepared to take serious casualties this time if it meant buying time. However, they instead got the delay for the bargain prize of one man injured and one junior leader nominated for an Iron Cross!
Could be much worse... and is probably going to get worse! But that's something to worry about another day. Literally, since this ends the fighting for the 25th of June, next battle will be on the morning of the 26th at 0400 hours.
Germans
Losses
8 casualties, 7 recovered due to difference in force morale. That man misses next battle. With a total of 2 permanent losses that means -3 men in the German platoon next battle.
Opinion
- CO's Opinion: Improved from +2 to +4. +1 to Support points.
- Own Opinion: Merry.
- Men's Opinion: Improved from +2 to +4. Ouch. +1 Force Morale.
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