"Off-camera" there has been an accidental blue-on-blue by the USAAF on the advancing US troops. This does not make any difference to the forces involved in this battle, but the regimental Colonel is feeling distinctly more worried now and is becoming increasingly tempted to halt the advance and wait for more artillery support...
The Forces:
A new US infantry platoon takes on this mission, supported by the same elements as in the first mission. The Germans are based around the platoon which was defeated at La Cambe and thus are at reduced strength.
United States:
Pl HQ:1 x Rifle group (Pl HQ); 1 x Bazooka team
3 x Squads: 3 x Rifle groups
2 x Shermans
1 x FOO with a battery of 4 x 81mm mortars on call
1 x additional Bazooka team
n.b. As discussed in the previous mission, the organization of US infantry in these rules will very much depend upon how the player feels about the BAR. For this mission, I have assumed that the BAR is more rifle than machine gun and is classified accordingly.
Germany:
1 x Rifle group (Pl HQ); 1 x Panzerschrek team
2 x Sections: 2 x Rifle groups; 1 x LMG team
1 x Panzerschrek team
1 x Sniper
1 x FOO with a battery of 4 x 8cm mortars on call
1 x MG42 (tripod-mounted) team
1 x IG18 and crew
1 x Pak38 and crew
1 x Pak40 and crew
2 x off-table Marders (at a nominal range of 500m. The scenario notes in the book show their LOS. They are assumed to be too well hidden for the Americans to spot and engage them).
The Germans are generated randomly from this list.
The Set-Up:
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| Arthenay sits astride the line of advance (left); the US forces will approach from the East (right) |
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| A closer view of Arthenay |
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| The orchards and fields over which the US will have to advance |
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| The US advance through the orchards. Their armoured support hugs the hedges at the side of the road (top-left) |
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| The US platoon takes up positions at the edge of the orchard |
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| Another view |
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| One of the US squads gingerly pushes forward with its' Charlie team. This, as feared, trips the German ambush! A section opens fire from the next hedgeline. |
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| The US tanks advance to outflank the German infantry but are eliminated by the fire of two off-table Marders!!!! |
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| Some good US shooting and weight of fire has eliminated a German MG team and forced the rest of the squad back. However, just as the US advance in strength, a tripod-mounted MG42 hidden on the flank opens fire!!! |
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| Another view |
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| The MG42 cuts down 12 GIs in roughly that many seconds; the remainder of the advancing platoon flees back towards the hedge |
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| A wider shot |
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| The German section has returned (left) to add its rifle fire to the torrent of machine-gun bullets; more GIs are killed |
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| The remnants of the US platoon run for their lives! |
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| The combat is over... |
US losses: 2 x Sherman tanks, 8 x KIA, 16 x WIA (all made POW)
German losses: 1 x KIA, 1 xWIA
Game Notes: Well, that went well, didn't it? The Threat Generation System just happened to generate that HMG in just the wrong position for the US, although the US made some mistakes by committing too many men forward of the baseline. The German machine gunners made the most of my "sequential fire" house rule which enables machine guns which get a hit on a target base (regardless of whether the target is only neutralized or destroyed) can then target another base in LOS within 25m (5cm on the current board). This fire can continue until the machine gun misses. I instituted this a while ago to make MG fire more effective and to counteract the ability otherwise of a section of infantry to simply swamp a defending MG.
Obviously I knew that the Germans had the ability to target the Shermans from off the board. I attempted to counteract this God view by a - trying to play with natural tactics anyway and b - instituting a system where the Marders would only have a 50:50 chance of opening fire. This seems okay, although obviously it didn't do me any good in this game! One key tactical point to remember in these rules is that if one gets the timing right, then tanks in a killing zone will be subject to two shots, not one: once when they enter the zone, aonther when leaving it. This is because these rules allow the firing player to target any vehicle in a position it occupied in the previous move. So what happened here is that one Marder did not fire and the other missed the Shermans on the first move in the killing zone, but both fired and hit in the second move. They do not have to bother rolling for effect if they hit a Sherman in the flank at 500m...
Figures and vehicles by Baccus 6mm. Buildings by Leven. The playing area was again something like 30"x20".
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