This is our sixth game in The Scottish Corridor campaign for Chain of Command. If you haven't been following along, you can find all the previous game reports on the Campaign AAR page.
After beating back the German assault at Mouen in the previous game, the British have an opportunity to mount a counterattack. This is not about retaking lost ground. It's all about putting time pressure on the Germans, by forcing them to spend a campaign turn defending when they would otherwise be attacking.
The success at Mouen came with very few losses and that helped lift the men's opinion. Nonetheless, at -5, it remains much lower than I would like. So the aim is to delay the Germans, but minimise British casualties. With that in mind, the best option is to counterattack on the other flank of the corridor at Le Valtru, where there is access to more support.
This is going to be little more than a spoiling attack. The British will rely heavily on armour, with two Sherman M4 leading the way. The tanks will do the bulk of the work and if possible, try to inflict casualties on the panzer grenadiers. It may be quite a short game, as I don't intend using my infantry, unless a very good opportunity presents itself.
This is fought as an Attack & Defend Mission and the Germans place two objective markers in the village.
We start with British force morale at ten. The Germans are marginally better at eleven and they move quickly in the patrol phase, electing to use only three patrol markers. That restricts British jump-off-points to the rear of the table and gives the Germans possession of the village. That places them in a strong defensive position, which can be approached only across open ground. Asking my infantry to assault in those conditions is simply begging for trouble. The Shermans will have to do the heavy lifting.
The Germans have the initiative and the opening phase. As in previous games, they have taken the support option of an extra command dice. They get off to a good start, their very first command roll includes a triple 6. However, Dave chooses not to deploy. The following command roll gives him three CoC points, but once again, he chooses to wait and see what the enemy have planned.
The British have no reason to wait. In their opening phase, one of the Shermans deploys to the left of the road. The gunner is put on overwatch.
The commander has the bow machine gunner lay suppressing fire on one of the village buildings that houses a jump-off-point.
German command dice continue rolling hot, with another triple 6. They choose not to deploy in this phase, no doubt anticipating the turn end, when the Sherman gunner will no longer be on overwatch.
That reasoning becomes abundantly clear in the following phase, when a dug-in Pak40 anti-tank gun appears.
It’s in the orchard on the German right flank, with a good line of sight covering the entry road. This might be a very short game indeed.
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The commander lays the gun and orders the crew to fire. The round hits the Sherman, but can inflict only two AP strikes. The tank’s armour manages to deflect both of those. Nonetheless, zero net hits means it must halt and engage the firer in their next phase. Given that's exactly what I plan to do, it's not a bad outcome and one that could have been much worse.
Two panzer grenadier sections then deploy in the outskirts of the village. One is entrenched behind a hedgerow and is placed on overwatch.
The other is in the upper level of the nearby house. It too is placed on overwatch.
That sets up a rather formidable looking defensive line, ready to tackle both British armour and infantry.
The following British command roll is 65522. While it gives me a full CoC dice, the activation rolls don't offer any options for the Sherman. I can't activate the commander or the gunner. That means I'm unable to engage the Pak40, resulting in a point of shock on the crew. This is not a good start.
Given my bad luck with the command roll, I consider whether I should deploy a couple of sections to try to deal with the gun, but soon dismiss the idea. Their best option is to occupy a small area of light cover opposite the Pak40. To bring enough fire to bear the sections would likely make for a bunched up target, which is less than ideal given they would face the immediate wrath of the two panzer grenadiers sections on overwatch. That’s a firefight that is going to end in only one way.
Not only has luck deserted me, it appears to be smiling on Dave. He rolls 66544 for his next command roll (in case you are wondering, we are both using the same set of command dice, they just don’t like me!). Another double phase and from the Sherman's perspective, at the worst possible moment. While the roll doesn't give many options for activation, it's enough for the platoon's oberscharführer to deploy into the orchard, within command range of the Pak40.
He orders the crew to fire.
The British may have a lifeline. I use my full CoC die to interrupt. Initially, I want to have the commander fire smoke to lay a screen between the tank and the gun. However, a check of the v2 rules reveals this requires the commander to activate and issue an order, which means it can't be done as an interrupt. My optimism is premature.
Instead, the Sherman fires a round of HE at the gun. Unfortunately, the shock the tank crew are suffering reduces the number of fire dice and my poor luck continues. The HE round inflicts a single point of shock.
When the Pak40 fires, the shock does nothing to put the crew off their aim. The hit roll is high and includes a 6. The round has struck a weak spot and gains an additional AP strike dice. This doesn't bode well.
The Sherman is extremely fortunate to receive only two AP strikes, which once again, its armour counters. With zero net hits, it suffers the same outcome as before - it must halt and engage the firer in the next British phase.
While the tank's luck has held out, it must face another German phase. The gun commander rallies shock from the crew and has them fire once again.
The Sherman has been living dangerously and the inevitable happens. One of the Pak40's 75mm rounds finally finds its mark. The hapless tank explodes in flames. The commander is killed and the British are fortunate that their force morale drops only a singe point to nine.
When it comes to the British phase, I wonder what to do. I could just withdraw now. After all, I've achieved my key objective of delaying the Germans. Having said that, so far, I've also avoided any infantry casualties. Perhaps I should see if the other Sherman can inflict a few casualties on the German infantry first? The Germans have a full CoC die, but can't interrupt the deployment. I decide to continue fighting for a bit longer and the second Sherman deploys. The commander immediately fires off the tank's smoke dischargers.
With the Pak40 screened off, he then orders the main gunner to target the German infantry.
The gun turns toward the panzer grenadiers behind the hedge and fires off a round of high explosive.
There are no casualties, but the section suffers shock.
The following German command roll is 442222 and yet Dave decides to do nothing in this phase. What he does choose to do, is end the turn using his full CoC die. That sees the tank's smoke screen removed.
That will give the British the next phase and a chance for the Sherman to respond first. Despite that, it's obvious the Germans fancy their odds in a gun duel with the Sherman. While that smacks of Teutonic arrogance, they probably have a point.
In the British phase, I sense there is nothing left to do, except for the Sherman to return fire at the Pak40. If it can inflict enough shock, it might be enough to put the gun crew off their aim. If the bow machine gun then lays down suppressing fire that might add to their woes. I'm grasping at straws here and the sight of the nearby burning Sherman is ominous. It feels like I'm gazing into the near future.
The Sherman's main gun fires HE first.
Up until now the Germans have had all the luck. Yet the British discover it hasn't deserted them completely. The Sherman scores a number of hits and that includes three 6s. Not only does that give the storm of steel bonus, but if I can roll another 6 with any one of those extra rolls, that will give a total of four 6s. Enough to destroy the gun outright. Well.....that's exactly what happens.
The gun is destroyed and the surviving crew members abandon the wreckage. Well, I didn't expect that, and, from the look on Dave's face, neither did he. German force morale slumps two points and their front line is suddenly looking a lot less threatening.
The reason for the look on Dave's face soon becomes apparent. Other than a few short range panzerfausts, the Germans don't have another anti-tank weapon. Suddenly, the lone Sherman looks far more menacing.
In the German phase the panzer grenadiers begin to move back towards the cover of the village.
The British don't have a CoC die available and so the Sherman can't interrupt. The panzer grenadiers move swiftly behind one of the buildings and out of line of sight.
In the house, the section moves to the ground level. The Sherman is not yet aware the panzer grenadiers are there and so won't be able to fire on them in the next phase. It's apparent that without the Pak40 the Germans only remaining source of anti-tank weapons are panzerfausts. There is no point having their infantry sit in line of sight of the Sherman, unable to respond.
That then sets up an interesting situation. There's a possibility the British could actually recapture Le Valtru. That's far more than I ever expected from this counterattack, but I don't think it will come cheaply. Certainly, it can't be achieved without the support of the Sherman.
If the Germans are canny, which I'm sure Dave would be, the panzer grenadiers would need to be hunted down in the close quarters of the village. In that environment the Sherman would lose most of its advantages, while making itself a prime target for panzerfausts. The British would have to send in infantry, to both protect the tank and seize the objective.
That would mean confronting a full platoon of panzer grenadiers defending stone buildings. I can't see an outcome where I avoid taking infantry casualties, possibly quite heavy. To make the cost worthwhile, the British must win. Failure to do so, would mean we achieve no more than we have already, but with a bigger butcher's bill.
Pressing on with the counterattack is something I might have considered had the men's opinion not been at -5. I need to keep in mind that my main objective here was to conduct a spoiling attack to delay the Germans. Ideally, that would be carried out without suffering the sort of casualties that would see the men's opinion drop further. At this point, both of those have been achieved. As much as I'd like to fight for the village, I decide to keep an eye on the bigger picture and withdraw while the going is good.
That brings us to the halfway mark in the campaign. With six turns remaining the Germans still need to capture four tables to win an outright victory. The British have The Skirl of the Pipes wild card yet to play, which will allow them to seize the initiative. That will delay the Germans for at least another turn. In short, the Germans have five campaign turns to capture four tables. If the British can hold on to three tables or more by campaign end, they will have earned themselves an outright victory. Two tables give them a narrow victory. That tilts the odds slightly in favour of the British, but not by much. There is still a lot to fight for.
