Hard on the heels of the previous battle, the eager leader of the German Rifle Platoon leads his men off of the conquered hilltop in pursuit of the Americans, whose 2nd Platoon has managed to rally scant moments before the enemy moves down the track.
Both platoons are nearly full strength: The U.S. mortar section and German 2.Gruppe are each down a man. While their numbers are equivalent, the Americans hold a slight firepower edge – along with the only armor on the board (though its CO is well aware of what a panzerfaust would do to it!).
The new battlefield -just south of (and including a bit of) the first- is dominated by its sloping nature: The entire table is subject to the Really Heavy Terrain restrictions (due to a combination of trees, snow, and slope) except for the three areas denoted by the white outlines (that aren’t as steep) which are treated as Heavy Going.
The Patrol Phase led to a grouping of the JOPs on the right side of the attack, which will be played as a Delaying Action with the American #2 JOP the objective. If the fight lasts long enough each side may see their other platoons (U.S. 1st and German Sturm) recover from the previous battle and enter this one.
The first hint of dawn is over a half-hour away (time = 0610), so this will be another fight in the dark: Visibility is only 8″ everywhere but on the moonlit path where units can be spotted at 24″. Listening will again play a key role in the coming fight.
Experiment with blinds/combat patrols
In an attempt to minimize the fog-of-war problems seen so far (regarding knowing what’s out there in the dark even if it can’t be seen or heard) a slapdash, off-the-cuff, [insert favorite phrase] use of ‘blinds’ will be used. Modeled mostly on the ‘Combat Patrols’ of O Group in that specific units will not be tied to each marker (as in IABSM…I think?), which can be replaced by any unit as a deployment (-but not if the marker has moved this phase). In addition to one marker for each section or independent team, each side will have two ‘dummies’ that will allow a player to simply remove the marker instead of revealing/deploying a unit to its location. A unit deployed to a marker may not move, but may fire (at half effect). Markers can be deployed or moved on a Command Die roll of 2 or 3. Markers will not be able to spot/detect, and may not move to within 8″ of an enemy marker or unit.
dunno if it will be worth the bother, but we’ll give it a try…
The Germans put down markers on each of their JOPs while the Americans put two down – but also set the Mortar Section on overwatch on the edge of the not-as-steep slope.
This allowed them to make a successful detection of the (very short) movement by the central German marker, which was removed instead of being replaced by a unit (so…just some animal, then?…or a falling branch?).
The Americans put a new marker on the right of their line…
…and more boots on the ground: An HMG sets up on the left of the line while the rest of the MG section stands ready to go where needed.
More marker action by the track as the Germans move down the hill (stopping at 9″ from the US marker) and the Americans put down two more.
The U.S. MG JL moves a bit to that side with the MMG and puts it on overwatch. The mortar JL puts the rest of his men on overwatch as well, and the marker on the right is moved out (also just a bit…) to counter the flanking attempt of the Germans with their marker on that side (which goes undetected by the mortarmen).
The Germans commit on their right by deploying a new marker (to where the previous one had been detected/removed) along with 1.Gruppe (whose LMG team is placed on overwatch) and the rifle grenade team back up the track.
The American SL (the eager one, remember?) decides he’s done enough waiting in the dark: He orders his driver to turn on the headlights, illuminating the German LMG team on the edge of the forest. The Germans (who’d been on overwatch) spray at the lights to no effect. The 37mm round from the M8 only inflicts some shock – but more is added by an M8 crew deployed right in front of them, the HMG, and the MMG – which also takes out the LMG’s loader.
No surprise: 1.Gruppe is pinned. Behind the American line, the second 50-cal team moves over a bit to perhaps see if there’s a chance for them to join in?
In for a penny…
The Germans put 3.Gruppe on the other side of the track and both sections fire on the M8 crew, pinning them. The rifle grenadiers (back up the hill) target the well-lit armored car, forcing it to engage them on its next activation.
The second U.S. HMG moves/sets up and joins the other MGs and the mortarmen in giving the newly-revealed German section the same as the first by killing two of the rifle team and pinning the rest.
…in for a pound: The German SL comes on the scene and removes three shock from the (ready to break) 3.Gruppe so that it holds up under fire from the mortarmen. The American MGs (two of them) deal with the third German section (2.Gr) that deploys and fires on the end 50-cal – which went a bit too far in its move and is beyond command range of the JL, who moves over to put himself in range of all his men.
The pinned 1.Gruppe has enough firepower (and luck?…mostly luck) to put enough shock on the M8 crew to break them. The armored car can’t help in the fight as it searches in vain for the source of those annoying grenades. (The team is too far up the track to be seen in the moonlight and is outside the beam of the headlights – moving forward to shine them up the track is not seen as a wise option!)
All this gunfire is heard by both the Sturm Platoon on the hill and the 1st Platoon down the track and has very opposite effects on the two. The noise prompts the German Leader (who has been accepted by the men after having led them in the last battle without losing six of their number like the first CO did…) to shout for his men to form up quickly and prepares to move towards the sound of battle. The American Leader, in contrast, finds the impact on his men detrimental to his efforts in getting them sorted and has to convince them to not flee down the hill before he can spend time trying to make any progress towards organizing them into a fighting unit. (Translating the narrative into game terms: The Sturm Platoon reduced their ‘off-table time’ by ten minutes and will now be available for action in less than five minutes, while the Americans have been delayed a further five minutes and won’t be ready for twelve – this reverses the timetables they had at the game’s start.)
The German Leader now simply hopes to hold out for a bit until those laggards in the Sturm Platoon deign to show up for the fight. = another Fog-of-War bug (how would he know that they were close to arriving?) that is spun as stipulating that he’s sent a runner back up the hill to light a fire under the Sturm Platoon Leader.
The German leaders busy themselves steadying the men (trying to remove shock faster than the Americans add it) while the grenadiers keep the M8 occupied by scoring four hits, one of which lands on the car’s deck, shocking the crew and causing the driver to back away (and turn the headlights off!).
The American M8 SL pulls the shock from his men and edges forward a bit while the MG section sends lots and lots of rounds into the woods.
They only have flashes/noise to aim at (so the damage isn’t as great as what could be expected from rolling 30 dice!) but do inflict some shock in addition to wounding the JL of 2.Gruppe and taking out the LMG gunner of 3.Gruppe.
Still, the plus/minus balance of shock tips in the Germans favor, who (after another phase of rallying) use a CoC die to end the turn. Two of their sections (1. and 3.Gr) are no longer pinned (-though they may soon be again!) and -more importantly- the American M8 crew (with its JL) routs off the table, causing U.S. Force Morale to drop two points to five (one point had been lost when the crew broke).
Also significant for the German cause is the (3-minute) lull in fighting brought on by the turn’s end, which removes not only any overwatch markers but also the ability for units to target flashes/noise until new firing/movement is detected. Also also: The arrival of the Sturm Platoon is that much closer.
The Americans use their next phases to put as much as they can back on overwatch. The mortar section swings its right-side teams to face the enemy (= get their overwatch arcs in play).
The armored car creeps forward tentatively and also goes on overwatch.
The Germans spend more time removing shock while the rifle grenade team moves down in the edge of the trees to within command range of their SL.
With no Germans on overwatch, the Americans take a chance to strike a crippling blow by using a CoC die to spring an ambush with an M8 crew.
Four points of shock are inflicted by the close-range carbine fire, but the grenade that was thrown bounces harmlessly off a tree.
The German SL moves up to remove some of the shock, and the Gruppe JL puts the LMG team on overwatch while he leads the rifle team in moving (carefully!) forward to where the attack came from.
Another move by the German rifle team puts it close enough to the American blind to trigger its removal.
The Rifle Grenadiers step out of the trees for another try at the armored car, but the Americans preempt the attack with a round from the 37mm which kills one German and pins the rest – the poorly-aimed grenades launched in return have no effect.
However, “no effect” doesn’t mean “no danger” (in an open-topped vehicle!) so the car’s commander orders a reversal back around the track’s corner to get out of sight of the threat.
The JL with the advancing rifle team sees an opportunity and orders a man to move up with a panzerfaust to take out the armored car (CoC interrupt).
The rocket misses, and the coax MG of the M8 leaves a parting gift of four points of shock as the car reverses back up the track.
The necessary minutes have ticked off the clock, and the Sturm Platoon is now ready for action – and what better way to introduce them to the battle than to have that German Command Dice roll yield a double Phase for both of their platoons!
The Sturm Platoon deploys in the center of the table and has both its LMGs on overwatch along with their new toy: the captured 50-cal! The advance of the Sturm Gruppe is detected by the mortarmen who swing their line back (which is heard by the Germans) to better face the new threat.
On the German right the SL moves up to/with 1.Gruppe to remove its shock, while the JLs of the other two Gruppe put their LMGs on overwatch. The American SL backs his M8 up so as not to stick out of the line too much (or be in close range of another panzerfaust attack!). He also sends the JL of the remaining M8 crew with another man down the track with orders to drive down to the 1st Platoon, fill the Jeeps with men, and get back ASAP!
While the Sturm Platoon Leader slowly moves his men down the slope, keeping overwatch in place with the machineguns in case any trouble breaks out…
…trouble breaks out over on the track when the Germans decide to move the LMG of 1.Gr to the edge of the trees to be on overwatch as the rifle team continues its advance.
The M8 sends a round in their direction but only inflicts 2 points of shock. The return fire by the LMG has no effect on the crew of the car, but the resulting overwatch fire by the American HMG takes out the German gunner.
Then it’s off to the races as another flurry of triggered overwatches sends bullets flying into the darkness every-which-way at the flashes and sounds filling the woods…
First to pile on are the two German LMGs which concentrate their fire on the end HMG to begin putting shock on the U.S. MG section.
The Americans return the favor, pinning the German 2.Gruppe.
It’s not over, however, as the Germans have more in their quiver:
The two LMGs and the HMG in the Sturm Platoon open up, piling shock onto the Americans (who are, perhaps, more surprised/ distressed by the sound and impacts of the 50-cal than anything else?).
The German Rifle Platoon Leader feels that just a bit more will tip the Yankee gunners over the edge, and – perhaps with thoughts of finally getting his Iron Cross before the war ends? – runs back to crew the fallen LMG only to be felled by a round from the M8.
The German Morale slips to eight, which is nowhere near enough to stop the rifle team from filling the gap (though not as heroically?) by putting enough shock on the MGs to pin them.
The Americans seriously considered ordering a withdrawal, but hoped that a decent phase could see them gain a bit of a reset.
Such was not to be, though, as their next command roll allowed only a half-strength firing by the MG section which had little effect…
…as opposed to the next round of German fire from the Sturm Platoon which killed one 50-cal gunner and sent the rest of the section running back through the trees.
American Force Morale fell to three.
To further convince the American Leader that it was time to leave, he was forced to interrupt another panzerfaust attack (the first having failed to move far enough to take a shot…). Neither shot (coax MG nor AT) had any lasting impact, but the American knew it was time to go.
As in the previous games, a rough playing out of the withdrawal was made…
…which once more saw an American vehicle (in a hurry to back up over the hill away from the advancing Germans) slide off of the icy track and become stuck. Two attempts to free it failed, and the Leader and his men were forced to hoof it down the hill…
…where the mortar section watched the routing MG section abscond with one of the Jeeps (which the men ordered to fetch help had reached and were looking to see what was up with the guys running towards them …), which left the remaining men of the platoon gathered around the remaining Jeep deciding who would get to ride?
Time to tear down the table and find out what happens next: With their (eager-no-more) Platoon Leader killed it may be a while before the Germans decide to continue the attack?
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