| 114
British again decimated in the attack on El Dreque |
| 12/11/08 El-Dreque, revisited
- World War II |
Last weeks game was re-run with the players switching sides. The results were similar enough to convince the scenario designer that it was indeed unbalanced in favor of the Germans.
The map shows a similar German defense with only the details different than last time. The 88 was in a bunker on the German left and the tanks came in on the right. A little more of their strength was forward of where it was in the first game, but the same 323 company was in the town.
This time the British came in from their left behind the ridge line and destroyed the forward German unit on the hill on the British side of the wadi. After that they were constantly pinned and suppressed by units in the bunker and in the oasis to their front.
The British center was once again decimated as it tried to come on and made no progress. The right made little impact as most of the smoke resources went toward the effort on the British Left. All in all, in each game the British reached about the same high watermark - though on opposite flanks. The Germans did use their tanks more effectively as did the British, but this may have been "lessons learned" from the first battle.
I plan to run the scenario again but with a 1' set on for the Brits and some ajustment to the terrain. I am also considering allowing the Brits unlimited Fire Missions.
Click here to view Battle Map
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| 113
British Forces caught in the open are decimated as attack fails. |
| Dec 4 2008 British Thrown Back with Heavy Losses
- World War II |
The German defense was formidable with an 88 AT gun in a bunker commanding the Britsh left, Minefields in front of the British right and a pack 40 covering a field of barbed wire protecting El-Dreque.
A weak German Company under Hauptmann Breen held the town while both oases were held by HMGs with substantial infantry support. Hauptmann Chaskes commanded on the German left, while Oberstleutnant Dikke (Dick White) commanded on the right and was in overall command of the defense.
The British opened on their right with a company supported by two towed 6Pdr AT guns Under the command of Cpt Rick Bryant. This force made some headway under the cover of smoke, destroying a platoon of German infantry on the hill to their front but encountering heavy minefields, which slowed them but did not stop them.
On the British left, Lt Col Ozelius, in command of the operation, commanded the armor attack up the wadi. The First tank up (a Sherman)was destroyed by the 88 and the remainder (except for one Lee tank which advanced on the far left to support the attack on the town)stayed well hidden.
The British center under Capt. Abrams was to attack the town to support the thrust from the Right on Cpt Bryant. Abrams immediately ran into a firestorm of 80MM mortars, Rifle fire from the town with pack 40s in support. His units were decimated early and it became obvious that the center could not advance. Cpt Bryant tried to push further on the right but the approach of two Mark IV from the wadi behind the enemy positons convinced him that he had to dig in and defend what he had. The attack came to a screeching and bloody halt with the Germans the clear winners.
The British players felt that the game was unbalanced and that they had no chance of advancing onto the table and yet meet the victory conditions. The group decided to try the scenario just as it was but switch the players to opposite sides -see the following report.
Click here to view Battle Map
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| 112
British beaten in a running fight. |
| 10/16/2008 Want to Sippagansett
- King Philips War |
Escape from Sippagansett Hill.
On a misty October morning, Dudley Littlewit and his companions decide to leave the main English force to hunt for some breakfast. Unbeknownst to them, they soon found themselves atop the sacred hill of the Sippagansett nation. From here, they had a wonderful view of the lake, and a perfect shot as some of the waterfowl swimming nearby. As they began their work, the crack of musketry could be heard far and wide. Captain Long immediately wondered if Littlewit had lost his mind. Quickly, Long ordered his men to grab their gear and head to the sound of the guns! Perhaps there was still time to escape, if indeed the Sippagansett heard the gunfire, which he was certain they must. Atop Sippagansett Hill, Littlewit and his men could sense the danger of approaching Sippigansetts. Indeed, the woodlands seemed alive with some distant and faint noises. Charging toward the Englishmen now appeared several Sippigansett warriors lead by Laughing Skunk and Mianus. Littlewit quickly ran down the back of Sippagansett Hill, yet could not find a convenient spot to cross over the swift flowing river at its base. Now Long appeared, leading a hodge-podge of soldiers straggling out along the route of march. Could these men rally and hold off the Sippagansett? Could they get out of this woodland nightmare? As the English ran, they began to encounter the full force of the Sippagansett men. Muskets rang their deadly report and warclubs met with clubbed muskets. Several men on both sides began to fall. Captain Long urged his men to follow along a path in the wilderness, the path that would lead them to safety. However, it was not to be for the Englishmen this day. Out of the nine men in Long's command, only four would find safety, the remainder falling victim to the adept skill of the woodland warriors known as the Sippagansett.
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| 111
Hassan Ben Soba and allies capture Fort Hadenuff. |
| 11/13/2008 Fall of Hadenuff
- 19th Century Colonial |
Colonel Michaud was in a tight spot. His force of two platoons of Legionaires with two machine guns and a field piece was trapped in Fort Hadenuff and the outlying villages of Grande Minou and Petite Minou by Ali Hassan Ben Soba with three tribe of spear armed Arabs, one tribe of rifle armed Arabs, a force of spear armed Arab cavalry, and a field gum. His allies Sheik Ali Bie and Sheik Mustafa are on their way with identical forces minus one field gun. Colonel Michaud's only hope rested on his successful relief by a force of five platoons and a squadron of Legionaires escorting supplies and a field piece under the command og Colonel Jaques. As Ali Hassan attacked the fort itself while Shiek Ali Bie attacked and captured Petite Minou and Grande Minou, Sheik Mustafa attacked the relief column with the help of Hassan and Sheik Ali Bei's cavalry. Colonel Jaques was forced to deploy to fight off these attacks and managed to drive them off with the loss of one platoon, but it was too late. The defenders of Hadenuff had been seriously reduced by rifle fire. The fort had fallen.
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| 110
Relief of Pont du Hoc a partial success. |
| 9/18/2008 Pont du Hoc Relief
- World War II |
Ranger Relief (7 June 1944)
I was transferred from the HQ platoon to the 2nd Squad. Just my luck! Our mission, bail out the Rangers out at Point-du-Hoc. I'll bet that part of France is just as bad as this part of France. But at least the platoon leader has a plan. 2nd Squad and the Platoon HQ are moving on the left flank while 1st and 3rd Squads with a Scout Team are moving on the right flank. We need to link up with the Rangers and we will - someway or other. We even have some mortars to support us - that should help if we can see the Germans in this bocage. My hope was a nice stroll in the park and then an easy link-up
Eddie McGuine didn't see it that way. He was shot and killed before we left the first cropfield. He didn't even see it coming. Shot way off to the left of us. Some guy I had just met the day before was wounded and I know he didn't continue. The rest of us got out of range and didn't go near that machinegun nest the rest of the day. I wasn't comfortable the whole day - new unit and then getting into a bees nest of Germans.
The squad leader, Sergeant Jack, moved everyone through the field and we stopped at the bocage treeline. To the right of us the platoon HQ did the same. With everyone at the treeline we were able to make out something at the next treeline. Most of us shot right then and there but I don't think anything was hit. Most of us were just ready to keep on moving when I heard the sound of a heavy machinegun. Unfortunately, it was shooting from where we had just shot and it wasn't missing. Two guys were killed right away. A few men started running to the rear. It happened very fast. There were two groups of Germans firing at us and although there was more of us than there were of them but it did not seem to make a difference. They seemed to have been waiting for us and we were either shooting high or in the ground.
I saw Walter Jones get hit from the Platoon HQ and he wasn't getting back up. All at once both the HQ and our 2nd squad moved to the rear. Most were just following the squad leader and we moved away from the fire and into the field. That's when I noticed Sergeant Jack, he had gotten wounded but was still fighting mad. Everyone took a breather wondering what was happening on the other side with the other squads.
This is secondhand, so it may be a bit wrong, as I heard this from Harvey Happleman (in the 3rd Squad) and he probably had his head buried in the ground most of the time. It seems that 1st Squad and 3rd were on line going through both an orchard and a field. The 1st Squad Leader, Sergeant Ricky, went boldly through an orchard and up to the treeline of the bocage. He did not stay on line because Harvey said he they were unable to see 3rd Squad. Sergeant Bryant, with 3rd Squad was going through a field and were going pretty slow but eventually ended up on a parallel with the same treeline. Right then they came under medium machinegun fire. In about 10 or 15 minutes there were four dead soldiers from 1st squad. Sergeant Ricky's men were firing and initially they were not having any effect. Another group of Germans started firing from a bocage treeline. The Germans had an edge close up because of their machine pistols which seemed to have masses of bullets flying out an any given moment. It did not look good for Sergeant Ricky's men but then Sergeant Bryant's men added their firing to the back and forth shooting. This, as well as effective firing, seemed to slacken the pace of the German response. Then there was nothing from the German side. Harvey thinks they just got up and moved to the rear. He might be right.
Meanwhile, there was no firing for a little while where I was. Then Sergeant Jack moved the men up. Everyone had rested a little and we were just trying to pin down men so they could not fight against the other two squads. Again, we moved up to the treeline of the bocage only to be met with withering fire from the German squads. I saw Drew Haskins get killed and no one went to pick up his bazooka. Everyone was firing but if we killed anyone, who could tell. Just looking was taking a chance of a bullet in the head. It quieted for a moment and then the German light machinegun fired for what seemed like 5 minutes straight. We lost some very good men during that exchange and when Michael Peters went down everyone ran to the rear. We were done for the day. If they were moving forward we would stop them but we were not going anther step; not that day.
Back with 1st and 3rd squads:
It looked like both squads were destined to move to link up with the Rangers when Sergeant Ricky's men moved through a break in the bocage. Harvey says that Albert Hawkins, Bubba Gandtree (from Georgia) and finally Freddy Taggert ran through before anyone else in 1st Squad. Albert and Bubba were fine. Freddy is very fast and it probably saved his life. They were all running through a minefield! A mine blew up but Freddy had gone past it. He turned around and ran back where he came from. Freddy was so shaken up it took him 10 minutes before he could move to rejoin the squad. He says his 'brush with death' could be the a spectacular chapter of him memoirs (if he ever gets back to the good old USA to write it).
After the minefield encounter there was not much action. Our mortar FO saw some Germans in the field and brought down mortar fire on them. When Harvey reached that location a few minutes later there was no one there.
The Platoon leader's plan worked great. Two squads were able to move forward to link up with the Rangers. Unfortunately, we took a lot of casualties in my new squad. We are a few yards closer to Berlin and still many more miles to go.
Aftermath: The second outing of Arc of Fire rules went better than the first. This was Sergeant Jack's first outing and he was given a mission of tying down enemy forces. A lesson learned by everyone was when you are advancing and then get into a firefight, try to change mode to defense. Another lesson learned, your leader is less important to fire than command control or a direct fire target. This is easily done in the bocage.
I added mortars in this fight. After the last fight it was decided that smoke would have help the attackers and so both sides got mortar support. The Germans (Doug) had them in the right spot but were unable through unlucky dice able to achieve spotting or contact or anything else that would get a mortar round down a tube so it could do harm to the enemy.
Sergeant Doug (the German player) fought a tough firefight against Sergeant Jack. Just when it seemed as though Jack might get the upper hand, hot dice (very good shooting) by the light machinegun swept that notion away. Doug was able to get his Recon team off the board as there was no effective forces left to contest this.
Sergeant Bill's men (the other German player) had a unit with a medium machinegun and another unit of machinepistols. All German units during this fight were half squads so were woefully short on manpower. While initally effective against 1st squad, he was outnumbered when 3rd squad came on line and chose to fight it out at the hedgerow. There were other choices but whether those choices were better of worse we will never know. His men were left retreating off the board, their morale failing with the amount of rounds being thrown their way. Still, one group (the medium machinegun) was able to rally and might have made a stand.
With the mortars on the American side, Dick B. had been unable to get his forward observer in a decent position to see the enemy. Only after the German medium machinegun retreated was he able to bring his FO in a position to bring rounds down on the German position. While difficult to do, it was very effective with both the machinegunner and assistant machinegunner having to take two morale tests (after they had just rallied). Both failed and retreated off the board. Sergeant Bill's last chance to make a stand was gone.
Being in defensive mode, with the hedgerow’s defensive benefits REALLY help the defense. This is more telling with heavy and light machineguns tied together in the defense - just as in real life.
Finally, each side's forces achieved their goals. Both sides exited men. The Americans exited two squads (20+) to continue the link-up with the Rangers. The German was able to get a Recon Squad off the board. Sergeant Jack's men were unable to stop them. Well fought, well played and with another game under our belts the game went faster and smoother than the first.
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| 109
York ank Lancaster clash |
| 9/11/2008 Mortimer's Cross
- War of Roses |
Mortimers Cross - 3 February 1460
I remember it vaguely, it being so many years ago (actually two weeks ago). Very rough times it was. The Yorkists were in three battle formations and with their Captains along the road between Leominster and Leintnardine, the River Lugg to their rear. Walter Devereux (Jack) commanded the left of the Yorkist forces. Edward, the Earl of March (Jerry) commanded the center and Sir William Herbert (Doug) commanded the right of the Yorkist soldiers. Our Lancastrian forces were similarly situated, on the left the Earl of Wiltshire (Mitch) and facing Walter Devereux while on the right was Owen Tudor's (Dick B.) men facing Sir William. The center had Jasper Tudor, (men split between Mitch and Dick B.) the Earl of Pembroke with the main command facing his fearsome foe, Edward, Earl of March.
Our forces were in grand array, awaiting the word to advance when suddenly the Yorkists started advancing. Our plan was victimized from the start. On they came and our bowmen all along the line placed their arrows in their longbows. Step by step and finally we let fly but on our right hardly a man went down. The enemy stopped and fired at Owen Tudor's (Dick B.) men and they were very hard hit indeed. But they stayed - they did not run. Bravery there and along the line. But the forces of Sir William Herbert (Doug) stayed on line with that of Edward and kept coming. Sir William would not hold his men and while they did not charge, neither did Owen Tudor's billmen. Billmen against billmen faced each other and it was hard to make out friend from foe.
Meanwhile in the center, bowfire took its toll on the both sides. Jasper Tudor's Shire Levy Archers (Mitch) took serious casualties but stayed in place. Edward had dismounted his men-at-arms all along the line and while slow to move, they would be very tough in combat. At about the same time Edward's Retinue Archers (Jerry) took heavy casualties on the left center. It appeared that the Levy Archers and Retinue Archers would decimate each other, awaiting the first to flee. The horse to their rear of the Levy Archers helped steady them after taking horrific casualties. Edward's (Jerry) center-right had billmen and they were advancing to contact with Jasper's Welsh Spearmen (Dick B.). Neither would charge but were ready to advance into combat.
On the left (looking from the Lancastrian lines) the advance by the Yorkists commensed as it did along the line. Lancastrian longbow fire was ineffective or non-existant. Sensing this, Walter Devereux boldly moved his Shire Levy Archers up in all confidence toward a skirmish line of Breton Mercenaries. The Earl of Wiltshire (Mitch) was awaiting just such a move and without remorse unleashed his Irish Mercenaries, who charged through the skirmishers. The Levy Archers had not sign on for this assignment. Shooting at stationary men was one thing but being charged by yelling fanatical banshees from hell with blood in their eyes was another. They quickly shot (with no real damage) and ran. The Irish followed them and with the Archers out of breath and trying to gather themselves continued the charge, catching the bowmen disordered and facing the wrong direction. A slaughter occurred, the Levy unit disintegrated. The left side (looking from the Lancastrian side) of Sir Walter's Yorkist command was no more. Where a panic could have set in Sir Walter (Jack) gathered his troops and held the line. The Mercenaries had had enough and would wait (their honor satisfied) for English troops to shed blood. Maybe then they would charge and commit themselves again.
On the right billmen fought billmen. Neither Sir William Herbert (Doug) nor Owen Tudor (Dick B.) were involved in the fierce fight, though there were units of both sides to the left and right. Suddenly, the Yorkist billmen could take no more and retreated, bloodied but not overcome by the oppressiveness of battle. They would need to be rallied and their morale lifted by their leaders now that they were away from the battle and to the rear of the lines. Owen Tudor's billmen were not able to follow this up as they were hard pressed by other Yorkist forces and had taken significant losses themselves.
In the center two actions occurred. First, the Spearmen of Jasper Tudor (Dick B.) were charged by Edward's (Jerry) billmen. I thought the battle lost at that point, the center of the Lancastrian cause dashed but by the grace of our Lord the spearmen held, though I do not fathom the mysteries of such a stand. Further to the left, Jasper Tudor's (Mitch) cavalry had been given a charge order at the already beleaguered Retinue Archers (Jerry). With no real support they fired their arrows and took a few men out of their saddles but the melee was a foregone conclusion. They were running from the field minutes later.
Finally, on the left Sir Walter Devereux (Jack) with a stalemate of units facing each other moved his billmen to attack a stationary French Crossbow unit of the Earl of Wiltshire (Mitch). Again, by all rights the billmen should have been victorious but alas, it was not their day. They fought to a standstill and the billmen, without substantial support had to face the crossbows with Men-At-Arms, and archers able to support.
At this both sides felt honor had been satisfied and retreated to the confines of the local establishment . . . or at least that is the way I remember it.
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| 108
French capture Sheik Yabooty's camp but Comissioner is captured. |
| 8/28/2008 Ben Soba captures envoy.
- 19th Century Colonial |
August 28, 1871 - The short announcement in Echo d'Oran reports the most serious native insurrection since the time of Abd al Qadir, broke out in the Kabylie provinces yesterday following a failure for negotiation by a top government official. The local French commissioner (Bill Pritchard) was invited for tea and to talk over the local tribe's grievances at the home of the local tribal leader, Ali Hassan BenSoba.(Ricky) Taking a platoon of the famed Légion Etrangère along for an escort, the group was suddenly fired upon when the Berbers sprang their ambush too early. The commissioner, and the platoon of infantry successfully entered the walled compound and barricade themselves in.
At Fort Merde, the garrison was ordered to stand en garde by their valiant commander, Sous-chef des operations, Ima Retard.(Dick B.) A second platoon of the company patrolling near the river began to head slowly for the compound. Sheik Yabooty (Doug) and Sheik EnBaaq (Jack) launched their supporting attacks to intercept the French reinforcements and make a direct assault upon the beleaguered French at El Fetid. While the situation became critical at El Fetid, Retard forced Sheik Enbaaq back toward his base at El Jezebel with powerful vollies of platoon fire, supported by artillery and machine guns at Fort Merde.
The French relief column led by a famous French capetain (Jerry) rushed to the relief of his comrades, and began a relentless rush against the Berber riflemen defending the sun scorched walls at Sheik Yabooty's camp. Just as the sheik was losing his camp, BenSoba scaled the walls of El Fetid to overwhelm their Frankish foes. With El Fetid and the French commissioner squarely in the hands of BenSoba, night fell, closing the action. It is reported that BenSoba will demand a high ransom. Telegrams sent to Paris request troops to aid Le Colon leadership in Algerie.
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| 107
US FORCES BREAK THROUGH SURROUNDING REDS |
| 9/5/2008 G Co 5th Cav Rescued From Hill 303
- Other |
Co G, already reduced from the previous day's battle, hung on though assaulted by more than 3 times their number, a well placed minefield finally taking the starch out of the attackers. The relief column, though it had lost track of its anti-tank Recoiless Rifles, pushed forward to the hills overlooking the NK positions and began a battle of attrition that the North Koreans could not win. An armored column of T34's approached the American left, but made no real effort to engage and soon left with their comrades who had lost heart. Among the NK dead on the battlefield was a Company commander in his foxhole with a finger nail file still in his hand - he had been grooming rather than commanding his troops! Perhaps he anticipated a victory parade!
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| 106
LITTLE COHONES HERALD: COUNT DE MONEY KILLED ON MAIN ST DESPITE SHERIFF'S EFFORT |
| 08/21/08 BRITISH ROYALTY KILLED IN TOWN
- American West |
The scion of a wealthy, old line British family, and renowned big game hunter and marksman, Count De Money(Dick White) arrived in town last night to have a go at the buffalo, and perhaps to visit the much reputed Bertha,s Palace of Exotic Delights. Cess Poole and his Outhouse gang (Jerry Chaskes & Mitch Abrams) arrived soon after! Sheriff Richards (Rick Bryant) had his hands full - trying to keep the Count from being kidnapped, protecting the army payroll that came into the Little Cohones RR station this morning and the new church recently built in the Mexican quarter, reputed to have a lot of new gold items used in celebrating the mass. The payroll was protected by the army (Doug Ozelius) and the church has the new pastor, Father Paine In Diaz (Bill Pritchard) a former bandito and quick with his two six-shooters for its protection. The dawn saw much of the outhouse gang surrounding the sherrif's office, perhaps to stop the lawmen in their tracks and have the town to themselves. Sheriff Dick was up to the task, however and he and his deputy shot down the intruders, including Cess Poole, for the loss of one man seriously wounded. The Count, on hearing gunfire, became involved and stayed so during the entire fracas - his law-abiding spirit would cost him his life. The Outhouse gang members under the command of Buffalo Chip Brown (Mitch Abrams) stole the gold from the church as Father In Diaz had obviously spent too much time sampling the new wine shipment and was not able to stop them, bringing down only one bad guy. It was in their getaway that they shot down the Count. The army managed to cross town to help stop the bandits but unhappily, one got away with part of the loot.
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| 105
German's make a strong defense. |
| 8/14/2008 Advance to LeFiere
- World War II |
I stood next to the Platoon leader as we looked in the distance; more hedgerows. Our job to root out the Jerrys as we pushed into the open spaces of France. Our job to take hill and dale and maybe die in the trying. Next to me was the sniper team. Now they could come in handy and do it at long range . . . if this close-in terrain would let us get them at long range.
The Platoon leader had told us the mission - take the two storied stone building and move through this position to link up with other American forces a few miles from here. Not too bad given we had two squads and the CO had sent a team with a .30 Cal medium machinegun. In case we ran into armoured vehicles he also sent a bazooka team. I heard one of them go off and heard my ears ring for a hour.
The plan was easy, all units moved to take the building except 2Lt Bill's men would move to the north and take the main road - faster and spread them out better. We moved out, 1Lt. Doug leading but saw no Krauts. Then we waited at a hedgerow. I saw Sergeant Jerry with his machinegun team going through the field. That equipment looked heavy and they were huffing and puffing but the Germans will be puffing when that gun goes off. Next to him I saw 2Lt Bryant bring his squad on line and move through the field. Nothing in their way - maybe it would be a slow day with no Germans this side of Le Fiere.
Things were going fine. Guys started to get lazy and then a light machinegun directed by a Squad Leader Chris opened up on 2Lt Bryant's men. One man ran for it - I don't know who and I didn't see where. Another was a dead before he hit the ground. 2Lt Bryant kept his head and moved his men ahead. He knew the fire was coming from the second floor of the building and started to fire up at it. No one was hit but support elements were moving up to get in effective range.
No one could see much. The crops in the field were limiting what we could see and the hedgerows limited our field of vision. I could see 1Lt Doug getting frustrated. It was a frustrating situation - you believe the enemy is there but cannot bring fire on them. He started us forward - then thought he could support the attack and then realized he was what was keeping everything together. In the end we watched our sniper take a shot at the light machinegun. He missed - not our day.
In the meantime, the machinegun was wreaking havoc on 2Lt Bryant's men. Another few fell as the machinegun got the range, some to wounds but most with bullet holes through them. But just as I thought they were goners, Sergeant Jerry came to his aid. The .30 cal opened up on the top floor. No one was hit that I could see but that got their attention. They stopped the damage to 2Lt Bryant's men and started shooting at Sergeant Jerry's boys. I saw Ernie Stark get hit in the arm. He ran to the other side of the hedgerow where the Germans couldn't see him. That must have gotten Sergeant Jerry's team riled because you could hear the .30cal hum. I saw a lot of smoke up on the second story as Willy Goff kept pouring it into the upper story. After a while, there was no reply from our machinegun fire. Sergeant Jerry had to pull Willy off the gun to stop him from firing.
On my right 2Lt Bill's men met no resistance and moved down the main road. All hell was breaking loose on our side and it was a walk in the park for 2Lt Bill. Then, 2Lt Bill almost bought the farm as a sniper just missed him. His whole platoon dove for cover and scrambled through a hedgerow. Some fun for the platoon now. Lt Bill kept his men going and except for Harry Osbourne made it through to link up with the Americans from the next company. Harry never made it past the next field as a sniper's bullet found him.
Meanwhile, 2Lt Bryant moved his men forward. With the machinegun gone and the house in site things were picking up. Right then the whole world opened up with machinepistols, submachineguns and grenades and rifles blazing. Lt Bryant's men were decimated in the ambush and Lt Bryant, bleeding from an ear tried to restore order. A medic came to aid him and he would have no part of that, not when his men were being cut up. He rallied the remnants when others would have run and moved his men forward. He was followed by Sergeant Jerry who moved his men toward the ambush site. No really, I wouldn't have believed it either but he sure did.
It appeared that some of the Germans were moving away, although from where I was it could have been reinforcements coming in. About this time 2Lt Bryant moved past the hedgerow and occupied an orchard. He flanked the ambushing group of Germans and because the Germans saw no way out charged them and hand to hand combat ensued. Reggy Thomas told me later that 2Lt Bryant's men men fought like tigers but the Germans outnumbered them and were led by Oberleutnant White. It was too much for them tired as they were and they quickly perished. He was lucky to get to safety to tell the tale. The rest of the platoon did not survive the action and was taken off the company roster. Maybe the remnants will be broken up to other platoons within the company.
With that both sides had had enough and waited for reinforcements.
Afterward: This was the first game our gaming group has played of Arc of Fire. There were four American leaders and three German. The action was quick and fierce due in large part to the bocage and the fields which limited sighting to just 4 inches. I tried to use only a few different types of troops to make it easier for everyone for a first go around. The short sighting distance led to an infantry only conflict. In retrospect, this might not have been the best plan as it led to frustration on the part of some participants in not being able to fire at groups of men that normally would be seen but for the high crop fields.
The Americans were to capture the stone house and exit soldiers off the board in 8 turns. They probably would not have captured the house but certainly would have gotten the 2nd squad off the board. The Germans moved the 1st Rifle team from the trench in the middle of the board to help ambush 2nd LT Bryant's men and then rush them to try to interdict the 2nd American squad. This was too much for one squad and Asst Squad Leader Ricky could not pull this off. It demonstrates the ability of forces moving on the battlefield and seemingly being at the right place at the right time. With a truck or carrier at hand it might have been possible for Ricky to interdict his forces between the 2nd squad and the board edge.
Additionally, the Germans by controlling the house and killing 8 US solders (amount of soldiers killed were not told to the participating commanders) earned a decisive victory. That with the 11 soldiers the American exited the board earned the Germans a marginal victory - but a victory nonetheless.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the Americans did not have a 60mm mortar team with the HE rounds and 4 smoke rounds. Instead, they received two variable attachments instead of one. In effect, they received a bazooka team which had no real effect on the game but made it easier to control the play of the game as for a first game we did not have to deal with smoke and collateral damage from indirect fire.
My thanks to the participants of the game who "braved on" even when I was trying to remember portions of the rules.
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