The Scottish Corridor Scenario 8: Exploiting the Gap

This is our eighth 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. 

For this game, we return to the western flank of the corridor. Kampfgruppe Weidinger's panzer grenadiers have taken some time to break through at Le Valtru, where they were held up by the 7th Seaforth Highlanders. That was the first map on this flank and the fighting there consumed three valuable campaign turns. The Germans have sufficient time left to complete their campaign objectives, but the delay leaves little margin for error. 

They now drive on towards Colleville, but must first clear an isolated British platoon from the small village of Mondrainville. 

This looks like it could be a tough assignment for the British. They are heavily outnumbered and the only really defensible terrain is the village school. Below is the table, as seen from their perspective.

While the schoolhouse is likely to be the main focal point, the real question, is whether the British have a realistic chance of holding it against a stronger German force and imposing further delay? 

They benefit from a pregame barrage, which is available at no cost, but with a low CO's opinion, they have only five points to allocate to other supports. On the other hand, the Germans have a plentiful seventeen support points and also start with higher force morale. They are at ten, while the British are at nine.

The patrol phase plays out in a quite unexpected way. The Germans start at a single point on the road. The British have one fixed patrol marker in the school building, this cannot move and is not part of the contiguous chain of patrol markers. The remaining three British patrol markers all start in the shaded box area.

The Germans make a push on their right flank and are successful in placing jump-off-points in the crop fields. As the British I focus my patrols on trying to secure jump-off-points in the areas around the school buildings. Unfortunately, the flanking move scuppers that plan and prevents placement of a jump-off-point in the main school building. That doesn't bode well and I suspect I've allowed the Germans to compromise my position right from the start. Hmmmm.

This is a Delaying Action mission. The objective marker is placed and I try to keep it reasonably far from the German jump-off-points.

Deciding what support will be best for the British is tough. Five support points don't go a long way. Do I opt for more firepower in the shape of a Vickers MMG team, or do I call on an extra rifle section? They are not bad options, but there's a good chance the Germans have armour, so am I better off calling on a 6 pounder anti-tank gun? Then again, if there is no armour, have I wasted all my support? It's not an easy decision. 

In the end, I go for something a little unconventional and call on a Stuart tank. Why? Because, I expect to be facing a lot of panzer grenadiers. The armoured and mobile firepower of the tank, light that it is, might allow some flexibility in the defence and help cover the more open areas. As usual, I'll have no idea what supports the Germans have chosen until they appear.

They start with two CoC points and reveal their first support choice with an extra command dice (a Red Dice). Their initial attempt to deploy a section fails and the barrage does its work, however another has more success.  

They've set themselves up in a strong position in the crop field and immediately lay down suppressing fire on the building that houses a British jump-off-point. 

That's going to complicate British deployment.

A support unit also fails to deploy, but a second panzer grenadier section succeeds. They take up tactical positions in the field directly opposite the school. 

A support oberscharführer (senior leader) is delayed by the barrage and the same happens to the platoon's own oberscharführer when he tries. Despite that, the German have established a strong position.

In the British phase, the Stuart arrives and the gunner is placed on overwatch.

I'm hoping it can use its longer range to prevent any moves into the orchard toward the objective.

In the German phase, the support oberscharführer has more success deploying. He joins the dug-in panzer grenadiers and immediately orders them to continue laying down suppressing fire. 

The other section makes a move toward the main school building. 

They advance quickly and make it to the front of the school in a single bound. 

That sets up the Germans very neatly to take the schoolhouse and throws all my plans into disarray.

The Stuart can't yet see the dug-in panzer grenadiers through the orchard and so the commander orders the driver to move flat out in search of a better line of sight. 

I have to confess that I'm really not sure what to do here. As a rule, I try to avoid getting into a firefight with panzer grenadiers, it rarely ends well. However, I can't simply surrender the school, or the nearby jump-off-points. If I'm going to make a fight of this, I see no choice other than to deploy into the smaller building and try to make a stand. A section manages to negotiate the suppressing fire and takes up position on the upper level. 

I can't return the suppressing fire while under suppressing fire myself, so the section engages the Germans in the crop field. The corporal orders the Bren team to use concentrated fire and focus their attention on a single MG42 team, while the rifle team fire away at the whole section. My expectations are not high, given the section is firing through suppressing fire and the enemy are in hard cover.

Nonetheless, they inflict one casualty and two points of shock. 

I can't leave that single section alone in the school to be overwhelmed by German firepower, so a second section deploys into the walled area at the rear of the school. 

Quite what they do from here, I'm unsure. If nothing else, it says much about really thinking through the patrol phase and the placement of jump-off-points. 

In the German phase, Dave uses three CoC points to reposition the section into the school house. 

They move 6", which places them nicely at the windows.  

The oberscharführer rallies shock and orders the section to engage the British. From the main school house, one of the MG42 teams will also add their fire (the Germans don't have enough command dice to activate both teams). It seems that in no time at all the panzer grenadiers are going to be able to bring their awesome firepower to bear on my single section.

The British may be in hard cover, but it doesn't prevent them suffering shock; losing one of the rifle team, and seeing the section's corporal stunned. The wounding of the leader has a big impact on British morale, which drops two points to seven. 

In the British phase, the Stuart moves to where it can see the panzer grenadiers. 

Once there, the bow machine gunner lays suppressing fire on the section. 

While the suppressing fire helps, the platoon's 2” mortar team arrive to try to lay down smoke to try to block the line of sight completely.

They aim a round into the entrance to the school yard, which lands on target. It's not much, but it gives the section in the house a reprieve from the fire coming out of the crop field.

With the corporal out of action, the platoon sergeant deploys and rallies off all the shock. 

The section then puts suppressing fire on the main school house. That gives them a temporary respite and limits the amount of fire that can come their way.

In the German phase a third section attempts to deploy, but fails to make it thought the barrage, as does a support unit. That leaves only the section in the school and they open fire. 

Despite the suppressing fire and the hard cover, the British suffer another two men killed, one from each team.

In the British phase, the platoon sergeant orders the men to return fire. He has the Bren team use concentrated fire against one of the teams and that inflicts three points of shock. Meanwhile, the rifle team maintain the suppressing fire on the school house. 

The other section moves to the back of the house. Am I in danger of reinforcing failure? It certainly feels that way. 

The Stuart commander tries to deal with the Germans in the crop field. He has the main gun fire a round of HE, while the bow machine gunner puts down suppressing fire.

The 37mm HE from the Stuart's main gun explodes fairly harmlessly, inflicting a single point of shock.

The Germans have been quietly amassing CoC points and before rolling his command dice for the next phase Dave uses a full CoC die to end the turn. From a British perspective, this is dreadful timing. All the suppressing fire and the smoke is removed. The pre-game barrage comes to an end and the only ray of sunshine is the stunned corporal gets back on this feet. I don't think I need a crystal ball to know what's coming next.

The German command roll is 44332, doubtless that's more than sufficient for what they have planned. In the school house, the scharführer rallies a point of shock and has the section fire across the school yard.

It's deadly. The Bren team is wiped out and one of the rifle team is killed. I'm lucky neither leader is hit and that British morale holds steady. Unfortunately, I'm sure there is more to come.

The oberscharführer then directs one of the MG42 teams in the crop field to use maschinengewehr, while the other team fire normally. 

While only one man in the rifle team is hit, they suffer a lot of shock. Enough to see them pinned down. 

With the pregame barrage lifted, the remaining Germans are free to deploy and a third section arrives in the crop field. They too open fire. 

Another man is killed and there is now enough shock to break the rifle team. Frankly, it's a small mercy. The survivors and accompanying leaders will be able to escape the murderous German fire. 

They fall back some distance, but out of harm's way (for now at least). British morale drops to six. 

The Germans are not finished yet. A le.IG18 infantry gun deploys and targets the isolated 2” mortar team. 

There are no casualties, but they suffer four points of shock, enough to see them pinned. 

The platoon's inherent oberscharführer deploys in the fields near the school house.

At this point, I think I've seen enough. It's time for the British to withdraw.

Another German phase will probably see the end of the 2” mortar team and up until now I have suffered only light casualties. Any more and it will be more detrimental to the men's opinion. I think it's clear how this will end up. 

Well, if there are lessons to be learned here, they are as much about what the Germans did right, as what the British did wrong. For the British, the problems started with the patrol phase and went downhill from there. I don't think I lost the game because of the patrol phase, I think I lost it because of the decisions I made about how I'd conduct my defence once I saw how the patrol phase unfolded.

Hindsight, is a wonderful thing, so what would I have done differently? I think it starts with overestimating the importance of the school. Yes, it has the potential for a strong defensive position, however the mission was not about capturing the school, it was about capturing the objective marker. With the school position compromised in the patrol phase, I could have made different choices.

If I had kept my eye on the mission objectives, it might have helped. The Germans have to capture the objective marker and do it before the final countdown ends the game. In other words, the British need to make the objective marker as difficult as possible to approach, while hopefully delaying the Germans for as long as possible. Dave would have been much more cautious about ending the turn if he knew that he needed more time to win. My decision to defend the school building allowed him to whittle away at my force morale and that might have forced a withdrawal without the need to even capture the objective. I really wasn't helping myself.

With that in mind, I would have been wiser to abandon the school altogether and put the Germans under more pressure to move. Perhaps the field behind the walled school yards would have a better position to make a stand? It would force the Germans to slowly work their way across the table to dislodge the British, either that, or they would have to take big risks crossing the orchard and open ground to reach the objective while under fire.

It speaks a lot to reading the ground. The school looked simply too good a spot to defend, but was it actually as good as it appeared, given the strength of my platoon and the mission objectives? I think, had a played this one a lot smarter, I could have made a much better fight out of it. Perhaps not enough for a victory, but surely better than this debacle?

My expectations for success were limited, but at least I could have inflicted casualties. That I failed to do. Instead I've suffered more casualties and that's resulted in a the men's opinion dropping to -7. The CO isn't impressed either, his opinion is now at -4. The platoon leader's outlook is Introverted. 

The Germans are almost the exact opposite. The Men's Opinion is at +7 and the CO at +3. The platoon leader's outlook is Assured. While that is positive, they have only four games remaining to achieve their objective. With two maps left to fight over and the opportunity for the British to use up one game using the Wild Card counterattack 'Skirl of the Pipes', that leaves a buffer of one game. Much depends on what happens in the next couple of games. 

So, a defeat for the British in this game, but by no means a disaster in the wider context of the campaign. Time to put this game behind me and move on.