Part 7: Snowbody knows what happened out there!

Gratangen Valley, NArvik Front, Norway, 24 April, 1940 (Scenario 110)
Major Stautner of the 2nd Battalion, 139th Gerbirgsjager Regiment saw an opportunity to attack the isolated Norwegian 1st Battalion, 12th infantry in the Gratangen valley. The attack was launched early in the morning in a swirling blizzard...

A British Army Reconnaissance officer receives some delayed news from Norway...
It has emerged in allied reports that a serious skirmish occurred in the snow covered wastes of Norway. It appears as though local attempts to repel the oncoming hun have failed and only now are details coming to light about the incident in the form of a report received from a Sgt Binoche (a strange name for a scandinavian chap I am sure!)

What follows are extracts from his field diary that he has only just been able to send to us after evading capture from our persistent enemy!

... Sgt Gammalost (aka Rochefort, but such a cheese is not available in Scandinavia so I went for a local dairy product, ed)is leading the response to the German incursion. We believe we outnumber the Germans 2 to 1, though many in our ranks are poorly trained reservists. We also have the hill and the snow is setting in creating major issues for visibility. Though strung out we are confident that we can role the Hun over, by numbers alone we should be able to take them, besides the fact they are not suited to the local weather!

... our fire is ineffective, Gammalost has ordered myself and Sgt Durist to begin to make our way around the German flanks in an attempt to break through. The going is slow, we can't seem to find the motivation to move forward... even I am feeling the cold today!
There is a HMG in the building on the hill crest, i know he can only just see us but he knows we are here... The way the snow explodes around our feet is disturbing the troops!

... there has been a lull in the fighting and no movement the men are pinned... just like this freezing weather... rumours are beginning to spread amongst the men the Gammalost has fallen to the accursed HMG! If that's true i'm not sure what the men will do, they are a confident but disorderly bunch when not given direct orders. I worry that such a large group of men will not concentrate their fire as we need them too! I however, am pushing on through the snow, I seem to have less men than when we began this trek. Some of the young reservist seemed to have been slowed by the brush and pinned near the hilltop, we are so close, must push on.

-... the snow is clearing and the men can see the way out beyond the brush, they seem revived... we have broken through... Now I must try to get back and organise those men in the centre!

-... I have found my way to the bottom of the hill, but the majority of the men are still trying to flush out that HMG... they are too far away for me to give them direction, what was I thinking of coming down here? It's the hill were they needed me!!!
It's beginning to get dark and more rumour is spreading, now the men say the Germans are running, I am not convinced. Why would they? Why are my men just sitting there!?

-... I've lost contact with Durist he is somewhere to the right but has not sent any signal that he has made it to the objective on the hill... Up the hill to my left I hear screams, I believe a famous German officer may be involved. I worry for my men! We need to pull out!Send word to the men... we are too strung out... PULL BACK!!!

Back at the War Office
It is clear that the Norwegians have lost control of their homeland. This is bad news for the allies, the resources available to the Germans from that region will be invaluable. Damn those men, if only they had attacked more aggressively! And why didn't they just storm that house? I'm sure the hight advantage would have given them cover from the main German forces... We allies cannot rely on such disorganisation! Where's a plucky, logical British commander when you need him!

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So we missed this mission out thinking we didn't have the map, we went back to rectify the issue and randomised who was which force.

James claimed victory as the Germans simply through a combination of effective firepower and Norwegian (Dan's) incompetence, without a commander in the centre the limited blue deck was again troublesome and the decision to use the few move cards that came up on the flanks allowed the HMG free reign to terrorise the advancing troops. If those in the centre had moved onto the HMG through weight of numbers alone taking the building shouldn't have been an issue. Furthermore the resulting German response would have been slow and difficult to manoeuvre because of the snow (all german movement through terrain was doubled)

More lessons learnt for Dan as the Germans secure a comfortable 17VP victory, suffering no loses whatsoever!

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Thanks for reading, D&J
Next time: Surely the British can show their allies how to do whilst defending the bridge... SURELY!!!

Part 6: Comrades, Hold the road at all costs

Situation report
Gembloux, France, 15 May 1940.
As French forces fought the Germans to a near standstill in and around Gembloux, infantry forces belonging to the attacking 3rd Panzer Division were tasked with taking a nearby sunken road. Led by the determined Captain Grudler, a battered company of Moroccan RTM fiercely defended the road - called the Chemin Creux, or Hollow Road - for many hours, and in the end, to the very last man.

It was my turn to choose sides after losing the last one and after mulling it over for a little while I decided to take the Germans, despite France possessing some fearsome looking squads. The early problem for the French was whether to take an aggressive position and attempt to engage the attacking Germans or to sit back and try and hit them from distance. Both sides possessed MGs and mortars so it was possible to attack from range. Dan opted for the latter, placing his units in cover around the crossroads at either end of the sunken road. I split my forces more or less evenly and placed them in cover.

The game began with the two sides returning volleys of machine gun and mortar fire at each other’s covered positions. A couple of units broke but were able to recover and there no early eliminations. The Germans had to get across the open terrain in between their starting positions and the next covered position. On the right flank Sgt Ganz and his three squads and weapon team made a dash for the small buildings and orchard that sat adjacent to the crossroads. Fire from Lt Von Karsties HMG and the sight of the advancing German platoon put the Moroccans in defence mode. They exited the house and ducked into the sunken road.

The squads quickly occupied the house and surrounding orchard, exchanging fire with the Moroccan BAR squad in a nearby foxhole. The outnumbered Moroccans quickly abandoned their foxhole in favour of the sunken road, a position that the Germans would have to assault from adjacent hexes. The abandoned foxhole provided cover in a position that would otherwise have been completely open.

Over on the left flank Lt Von Karsties began moving his HMG into a position to fire on the other side of the road. Cpl Winkler and the second platoon had been keeping their heads down and staying behind the treeline due to effective suppressing fire from Cpt Gough’s HMG and mortar teams. However, a sustained burst of fire caused the HMG to break. Hearing the gun fall silent, the Lt signalled Cpl Winkler to move second platoon to the buildings and walled area halfway between their current position and that of the defending Allies.

Now in range of a large force of Germans and not yet able to get the HMG fire, Cpt Gough ordered his men into the cover of the sunken road, leaving behind the mortar team to fire on the German position. The Moroccans were now in position from which they would not be able to exit and resolved that this would be a position they would defend or die trying. The Germans had to either enter the road from one of the two crossroads one squad at a time or take positions alongside the road in open ground. Either way their ability to bring large numbers to bear was limited.

Back on the German right, the rifle squad in the foxholes and another which had moved around the opposite side of the road fired on the BAR squad that occupied the valuable objective space. Dan was forced to withdraw the squad to an adjacent space and leave the objective unguarded. The German squad immediately took advantage and leapt down to claim control of the objective hex. Cpt Gough’s men had now managed to repair their HMG and from the other end of the road yelled at their comrades to get their heads down before unloading the HMG at the Germans, who had to scramble up the slope back into their foxholes to avoid being eliminated.

The objective hex now sat in a precarious no-mans-land as both sides were unwilling to put their men into enemy line of sight. From the other end of the road Von Karsties set about removing the mortar that was continuing to cause problems.  After much shooting his HMG was able to eliminate the weapon team and open up a path to the crossroads at the end of the road. The Lt moved his men into the covered position next to the crossroads, keeping out of sight of Gough’s men. By now, with a Germans substantial German force at either end of the road the Moroccan defenders were feeling squeezed.

With time now starting to run short Lt Von Karsties needed to make a decisive move. He laid down a wall of smoke and moved his men around the entrance of the road. Gough men, although unable to see, fired through the smoke, hoping to slow the inevitable assault. The Germans fired back but neither side was able to effectively penetrate the smokescreen. Von Karsties then gathered up two squads and lead the advance into the road. Gough and his HMG team suddenly found themselves utterly overwhelmed and the resulting melee sealed the result. A trap was set off, exploding close to the Germans but there were no casualties. The Captain and the HMG were moved to the eliminated units box and the Germans, after replacing one of the now overstacked squads with a team, began moving the rest of the men onto road.

With the HMG gone Sgt Ganz ordered his men back onto the road, the remaining Moroccans now surrounded out massively outnumbered. There was no doubt that the road was now controlled at either end by German forces. With that, a time advance card moved the time track to sudden death bringing the game to an end. Capturing the two high value objective spaces and eliminating a number of Allied units had swung the points decisively into the favour of the Germans. The Allies had put up a fight but had been unable to halt the assault and the West was one step closer to its inevitable fall.  

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The Axis, following this result, extend their lead over the allies to 5-3 and Dan sees his lead over James reduced to 5-3.

Next week: Brits!

Thanks for reading

D&J

Part 5: Time waits for no man

Situation Report: The Bottleneck. The road to Chehery, South of Sedan, France, 14 May 1940

Part of a self-sacrificial counterattack to stem the German advance past Sedan was launched by Allied air strike and the 7e BCC supported by the 55e Infantry Division during the morning of the 14^th. One prong of the attack was direct through a valley with the Bar River on the left and a woody hill on the right leading through a bottleneck. After an advance of several hundred metres, the leading tank elements were ambushed, frustrating the quick attempt to get through the town of Cehery and a better chance to hold off the German advance.

The scenario calls for the French to knock out the forces blocking the road to the town and take all five objectives. Both forces receive reinforcements in turn 2, the Germans gaining a powerful 10fp radio. Once again Dan took the Germans and gave me the French. In doing so he also handed me 4 FCM 36 tanks. The Germans set up machine gun positions in the wooded area where the road forks and set wire across the roads. Reinforcements would arrive but until they did the three squads had to keep the French back. The French infantry set up hidden in the woods along the right flank. The armour was split into two groups, the first (group un henceforth) would advance along the road and the second (group deux) would move up the left flank and attempt to distract the German fire and destroy the machine guns.

Group deux made the first move, advancing around the side of Sgt Ganz’s guns. Although a ravine would prevent them from advancing all the way behind the German position, they still had line of sight and weapons of a great enough range to limit reinforcement entry to certain areas. An attempt was made at the machine gun position bringing the first time advance of the game with the fp roll. The Germans saved successfully but the fp roll from the tanks MG immediately brought another time advance triggering both side’s reinforcements.

The French entered behind the woods and scrub at objective 3 and quickly moved to take the points. The position was not an ideal one for 3 chasseur squads but it was better than open ground. The Germans, the other hand, didn’t take such precautions entering the reinforcements next to the ravine opposite armour group deux in open ground. Taken aback by this unexpected gift, group deux almost apologetically opened fire on the hapless Germans. Those that were not eliminated in the first brutal salvo scrambled for cover but were then almost entirely routed off the map. Within a few moments of entering the action the entire German reinforcement group was destroyed whilst the French had not registered a single loss.

The tanks turned their guns back towards Ganz’s men and continued their attempt at dislodging the German force but two more consecutive time advances changed the game. What could have been a careful and unhurried removal of the German position suddenly became a race against the clock. If time advances continued to appear at the rate had been would the French have enough time to take the objectives they required?

At this stage the Germans called in their first artillery strike of the day, pounding Sgt Delvoie’s men who had moved to the edge of the forest to take objective. The artillery was accurate. The German’s had a chance if they could run the clock down and take out a couple of squads in the meantime. Armour groups un et deux fell silent as the French deck inevitably dried up, only occasionally managing to fire but finding it difficult to make the sustained assault needed to overcome the Germans. Matters were made more desperate for the French as yet another time advances quickly appeared.

Ganz called in more artillery, this time hitting the reinforcing squads hard, breaking Fache and the chasseurs and further supressing them with machine gun fire. By now Delvoie and his 4 squads were making their way through the forest in order to encircle the Germans, the reinforcing units lead by Sgt Fache were desperately attempting to avoid being shelled again whilst the armour was patiently waiting the opportunity to hit Ganz’s MGs. The vp track was on 0 with the allies holding the initiative and the Germans were one elimination away from surrender. A very welcome élan event for the Germans provided a glimmer as the surrender marker was moved one space higher, temporarily holding off the threat of immediate surrender before another time advance, this one a sudden death roll that resulted in another turn, shifted the vp track to 1 in favour of the Axis. True to form, before France had an opportunity to make any further attempts at either objectives or eliminations, another time advance came out, this one triggering the end of the game and a narrow points victory for the Axis.

This was by far the quickest game we have had yet, and also the strangest. The rate at which time advances appeared was as unlikely as it was frustrating. This coupled with a French deck that never really got moving meant that despite an error of judgement that led to massive losses during reinforcement entry and facing overwhelming numbers of infantry and tanks, the Germans could still take the win. It was a tricky game to write because, aside from the reinforcement incident and a couple of artillery hits, nothing really happened. The time advances came that quick. On two consecutive turns early on, the two fp rolls for one of the tanks each saw a time advance. The rate at which they came out after that was hardly slow.

The Axis take an overall lead of 4-3 and Dan extends his lead to 5-2. We were both left scratching our heads a little after this one; it never really got going before ending. Time reverts back to a steadier and more predictable rhythm next time as a Moroccan force defends tooth and nail against an aggressive German assault on a strategically important road.

Thanks for reading.

James & Dan

Part 4:

Situation Report: Bitter Isthmus. Montherme, France, 14 May 1940

German forces pressed across the Meuse rive in the face of a French company led by the aggressive Lieutenant Barbaste (KIA), during the afternoon and the evening of the 13^th. The second line of defence across the narrow portion of the peninsula astride the Roma Woods was formed by reinforcing troops and others escaping the initial encirclement during the night. A concerted German attack started at 0600 on the 14^th, leading to a French counter attack and a constant shifting of roles throughout the day.

After a short break in hostilities over the festive period, Dan found his way back to Yorkshire for the evening. After losing in the last game he was free to choose sides and decided to put himself in as the Germans and me in as the French following the now traditional avoidance of the blue deck. The scenario was Bitter Isthmus from Fall Of The West, in which both sides start with the recon posture with the possibility of changing to attack or defence with each time advance. The open objective granted an immediate victory to whichever side controlled all objectives at any time advance. Both sides drew secret objective chits giving points for objective 4 specifically, it being worth 4vps to the Germans and 1 to the French.  

The day began with both sides looking to make a move into the middle of the map to claim objectives 4 and 5. France took the first turn but couldn’t act. A card was discarded leaving the Germans to make a dash for the wooded across clear terrain from the French set up position. Lt Lauerbach and two squads moved in, took objective 5 and set up 2 machine guns, one heavy and one light. Upon sighting the advancing Germans across the cornrows Lt Serrault’s heavy mg opened up causing Lauerbachs men to hit the ground.

Over on the right flank Sgt Grein took three rifle squads into the heavily wooded Bois Communal De Roma taking objective 4 on the way and intending to take objective 3 and then surround the French HMG. An early time advance switched the French to the defend posture giving access to defender only actions. The going was slow for Grein as the group moved deep through the wood and encountering hidden wire amongst the undergrowth.

On the French right flank Sgt Rochefort began moving his two chasseur squads through the scrubland in an attempt to get around the back of the German position whilst Lauerbach’s HMG was pinned down by heavy fire. However, Serrault was not content with simply pinning the German position; relentless HMG fire and a series of failed attempts to rally the weapon team resulted in the first casualty of the exchange and a triumphant cheer from the French as the German HMG was removed from the action. A massive early gain for France.

Back on the French right, emboldened by the removal of the HMG, Dupertuis, hero of Le Repubulique bolted from his squad and made a beeline for objective 1, deep behind the German positions. Lauerbach, flustered by the loss of the HMG and now in very serious danger of being surrounded, set a rifle squad with a light MG in place to intercept the dashing Dupertuis. The MG and rifles threw all they had toward the fearless hero but Dupertuis showed a remarkable aptitude for avoiding fire, ducking diving and skipping beyond the Germans before finally throwing himself into the wooded cover at objective 1 before digging himself into an impromptu foxhole. Furious, Lauerbach sent Dietel, Hero of the Reich, along with a rifle squad to retake the objective. Surely 1 man cannot defend it alone?

Meanwhile on the German right flank, Grein’s progress remained slow. In order to effectively encircle the French position they had to move through a narrow wooded bottleneck in order to remain hidden from the French defenders. The move had been anticipated and the Germans encountered more wire in the bottleneck, further slowing progress. Grein, unsatisfied with the slow going, moved his men to the edge of the wood and attempted to fire on the French position at objective 3. Sgt Fache and his machine gun emplacement returned fire and a squad was sent into the woods to cover the bottleneck.

Sgt Rochefort’s own plan to surround the enemy was also altered following Dupertuis's remarkable capture of objective 1. The lieutenant turned left and ran his men toward Lauerbach’s troops, attempting to storm objective 5 before carrying on toward objective 4. At this stage, however, French orders had finally dried up in a now familiar manner and the Germans began to move in a more menacing and focused fashion. The chasseurs struggled against Lauerbach and the Germans pinned down Rochefort's men but time was on their side. Early gains had given France a vp advantage and it now had to be defended. Grein laid down smoke and bypassed the bottleneck before ducking back into the woods next to Fache and his men. The defenders held on stubbornly despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage losing a chasseur squad to a large fire team.

Back at objective 1 Dietel pushed hard to dislodge the stubborn Dupertuis but the hero, against all odds, kept his head down and held on. Lauerbach was able to hold up the French push for objectives 4 and 5 but was not able to eliminate any of the French men. With time quickly running out a new objective chit was drawn giving 3vps to all objectives. The Germans needed to recover just one objective, any objective, to swing the result back their way. Grein now had Fache and his men completely surrounded and Dupertuis was pinned in his foxhole and looking close to being finished yet still the grinding German assault was resisted. Grein and Deitel hammered on the door but the cover was too much. Dan cycled the German deck looking for the advance orders needed for the decisive push but the Germans just refused to budge. So it was with great relief on the part of the French and great frustration in German ranks that, as the sun set, the clock expired bringing a close to an encounter in which the pounding opening assault on Lauerbach’s machine gun position, the tenacity of Sgt Fache’s men and the daring heroics of Dupertuis had earned France a narrow points victory.

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This result puts the Allies and the Axis on 3 victories apiece whilst cutting Dan's lead over James to 4-2.

In the next installment:  Tanks make the first of their limited number of appearances, Dan learns a lesson about placing reinforcements in open ground and James develops a deep and bitter resentment of the time advance card.

Thanks for reading!

James & Dan