It's Been a While...

Yes it has been a while. Christmas happened then the New Year but I also got sidetracked by Napoleonic's before the New Year and Fantasy afterwards. See my other blog: This 28mm Life.

But last weekend was a return to Dubbya Dubbya  Eye Eye at the NWA in Croydon and the veterans of my newly minted Hermann Goering Div made their debut against a bunch of fresh faced G.I.'s. And they fought well for the defence of the Fatherland!

Alas and alackaday! For it was not I who commanded the HG Div. That duty was left to my opponent; Chee. I was on the receiving end of their 6 MG34's. And didn't I find out how nasty that platoon set up could be.

The game was set in a rural area with a road and a farmhouse as the only notable terrain pieces amongst some cultivated undulating ground. We rolled for a random scenario from the CoC rule book and got and Attack/Defend situation. As the U.S. I chose to attack. Looking at the above map I came in from from the right (or the bottom on the image below)

I don't have any images of the Patrol Phase and this is a shame because I patrolled aggressively and as a result I stymied my assault right from the get go. I went to pin down the German patrol phase early which also resulted in my own patrols being inadequately developed. I had a bit of a brain fade and forgot that when one side is pinned the phase ends... Duh! I had intended to push up on my right but I didn't get to do that.

Anyway, Chee ended up with his Jump Off Points in and around the farm house and my left, which was right where he wanted to be (again... My fault!) and I ended up restricted to the center and the road.

I chose a Pre-Game Barrage and an M5 Stuart for my supports Chee had a minefield and...

I rolled a 6 for my force moral giving me a total of 11 - The Germans were on 9.

The first GI's to arrive came in to the right of the burned out tank and made there way to the small copse of trees in the center where they came under fire from an MG34 in the house. They took a casualty and some shock but managed to run to the cover of the stone wall on the road, out of the arc of the MG.

Reinforcements were slow to arrive and only a Senior Leader (Sergeant) and the M5 arrived to give support. Luckily the bombardment kept the Germans from arriving too.

The Senior NCO ordered the squad to take the field beside the house (ie: jump the wall and take up positions in cover. Unfortunate die rolling saw the jump the wall and stall. Meanwhile a secont German platoon arrived and took up position behind some hedges to the rear of the farmhouse and opened fire on the GI's, causing minor casualties and some shock.

The M5 moved up and laid down some fire on the troops in the house casing some casualties and shock, but nothing significant. A second squad of infantry finally arrived in the center and moved off to the left.

The squad near the farmhouse moved into hard cover but they continued to take fire from the twin MG34's in the German section which was proving to be nasty with a total of 19 dice each time they opened up. Even the hard cover wasn't helping enough to keep them safe.

In the center, the final GI squad had arrived behind the low hill in the center. In an attempt to force the issue, the M5 moved up and shot up the farmhouse. The newly arrived squad crested the hill and shot up the farm house and the second squad rounded a thick hedge and shot up the farmhouse. This resulted in some casualties, some shock and a dead junior leader. But it wasn't enough. 

The squad beside the farm were forced to retire (rout) and both MG34's in the farmhouse opened up on the squad cresting the hill and hurt them badly (I think I rolled five 6's for 5 dead and some shock! - Ouch!). That was stupid of me. I was hoping to overwhelm them with shooting and at least pin them but I didn't have enough firepower, even though I did score a decent amount of hits.

My Force Moral was really starting to suffer.

The third German platoon arrived. They were on my left flank and in foxholes. They shot me a bit but I used a CoC Dice to Interrupt and withdrew the shot-up squad on the hill to safety. Then Chee pulled out a CoC Dice and used it for an Ambush! A panzerschreck team popped up and popped my little Stuart tank.

At this stage I said to my opponent that I'd lost and there was little I could do to win. But we played another turn and I decided to assault the entrenched Germans on my left. The Platoon Commander, who had arrived a few turns earlier, ordered the assault. It went how I expected. My section was wiped out but they did take half the German section with them. It wasn't a realistic thing to do,under the circumstances, but it was worth it just to play through the rules mechanism (I think we've only had one assault previously).

The US Force Moral was down to 3. The Germans down to 6 (maybe 5). The American's were exhausted with nothing left to contribute to the fight.

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Conclusion...

I was pretty rusty on this game. I forgot some of the very basics and, as a result, I buggered it from the start. I was overly aggressive in the patrol phase and should have taken the time to maneuver instead of trying to bulldoze.

Another thing I should have done was to use the M5 to lay down suppressive fire instead of trying to cause casualties. It's not powerful enough for that role but it could have helped to reduce the German's ability to hit me. 

Chee's game was very defensive. He didn't have to maneuver his troops once they were placed. A very static and effective defence.