I struggled to come up with a new plan for this scenario after having been defeated during the first attempt. US elite paratroopers in hard cover are very difficult to take out, needing two subsequent sixes on d6 rolls for infantry squad weapons fire. No doubt my opponent would again make the most of the available hard cover on his side of the map.
In the end I stuck with the forward mortar battery observer as a support choice in addition to the mandatory panzer. I read another Chain of Command AAR where a Pre-game barrage allowed troops to quickly move towards their objective unopposed because the enemy failed their deployment rolls, so I decided to give that a try.
The plan:
In order to prevent the early loss of my forward observer I wanted to protect him as much as possible and activate him as much as possible so my plan was:
- to deploy him behind the panzer
- together with the senior leader
- surrounded by a squad (to take the hits for him)
The other two German squads would then be used to exploit (hopefully) opportunities to move forward and seize the US jump off point, helped by the pre-game barrage delaying arrival of the paratroopers.
It worked. But the whole thing was a nailbiting experience and could have gone either way.
The patrol phase went slightly better for the Germans than the previous game, allowing the German squad led by Obergefreiter Keller to deploy in the farmhouse overlooking the church.
Unterfeldwebel Kühn deploys with the Panzer III
Soon followed by the forward observer and Obergefreiter Grabers squad.
The paratroopers led by Platoon sergeant Wyatt Earp and sergeant Frank McNabb deploy again in overwatch behind the sturdy walls of the churchyard, not in any way hampered by the pre-game barrage!
Then the mortar shells start raining down. The barrage is moved slowly towards the church by the forward observer.
With the barrage hampering the US troops, Obergefreiter Heines deploys on the road, intent on exploiting the gap.
They need to scamble back over the wall to safety however, because sergeant Frank Galucio deploys with his paratrooper squad and sends a hail of fire down the road.
By now we had a turn end, full chain of command dice used to continue the barrage and end the turn again and a barrage re-start attempt.
The group upon which my plan depended was taking casualties. So far the forward observer had managed to avoid injury.
While another barrage hit the paratroopers, I decided to replace Grabers squad (now reduced to just the LMG team) behind the panzer with Heines squad to increase the chances of keeping the forward observer alive.
Things weren't going well for the paratroopers. When they weren't being hit by the barrage, the panzer was pounding them with HE.
Then disaster strikes (for the Germans)! The forward observer is hit. Fortunately he is only wounded and cannot move for the rest of the game.
He can however still call in a barrage and move it towards the paratroopers in the church yard.
The game now continued in a chain-of-command-dice-turn-ending contest: The Germans start a barrage (and were fortunate not to roll a 1: no more barrages available for the rest of the game), The Americans use a CoC dice to end the turn, the Germans use a CoC dice to continue the barrage, turn ends because of 3 and even 4 sixes, etc., etc. When the paratroopers fire at the group behind the panzer, the panzer returns fire. The wounded forward observer is safe from paratrooper fire and together with Unterfeldwebel Kühn, keeps on directing the mortar barrages.
At this point I got so nervous, I mostly forgot to take pictures.
Lieutenant Bob Dalton and sergeant Frank Galuci (wounded) braved the mortar barrage to succesfully defend the jump-off point against capture by Obergefreiter Graber and his LMG team.
The sole survivor of his squad, obergefreiter "Glückspilz" Graber narrowly escaped the next mortar barrage, running for his life back towards the German main lines.
In the end, the remaining paratroopers were pinned inside the church, sheltering from the mortar barrage , while the panzer was steadily punching holes in the house containing Bob Dalton and Frank Galuci.
The paratroopers withdrew. The Germans reached their objective and won the game. The plan worked, but as said, it could've gone either way. If the German forward observer had been killed, or the barrage had become unavailable for the rest of the game, victory would have been doubtful.
The next map requires the Germans to attack the La Fiére bridge across a narrow causeway. If they lose that game, the campaign is lost for them and the Americans will have succesfully delayed them long enough for Allied reinforcements to reach them from the Normandy beaches.
Given the effectiveness of the mortar barrage as a support choice in this game, the Germans will most likely face one in the next game. It will not be available for them as a support choice, because the scenario states that the German player must select 2 panzers for support and they don't have enough support points left for a forward observer. I will have to think of something else......
