15mm Platoon-Level Test Game #4

All,

The Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Saunders, gathered the squad leaders to brief them, running the mission since Lt Hanley was still out, recuperating from his wounds (though he's expected back as early as tomorrow afternoon).

"Alright you guys, we've had it pretty good, gold-bricking these past few days, but ya knew it had to end, 'specially when battalion provided us all these replacements!  Yep, time to earn this month's $50 bucks so's ya can send it back to yer mommas!  Like good little GIs," SSgt Saunders quipped, laughing to himself.  He went on to explain the tactical situation: the battalion put an attack in on yesterday on a nearby village but it was stopped cold, so we pulled back and let the fly-boys pound it for twelve hours straight.  The village is pretty much pulverized, except for the damn clocktower on the south side of town, which is sure to be housing a German observation post patched straight through to plenty of howitzers and mortars.  The S-2 section went snooping around and, sure enough, they spotted the German OP, with what looked to be about a squad handing around, providing security for them.  So the platoon is going on a raid, looking to eliminate the German OP, and blow the site (clocktower) too, if possible, but make sure and get those forward observers, then get the hell out of Dodge, back to friendly lines, before the battalion's assault element comes rolling through to take the town.

Should be easy as they're providing us plenty of support: we've got an FO for the Battalion 81mm mortars, a .30-cal machine gun team, and a 60mm mortar team coming with us (I rolled up the first two, then the pre-game event was "Reinforcements," and I'd had such good luck with the 60mm mortar team last game that I decided to scoop them up again).  We'll have the MG, mortar team, and FO in a support position, while I take 1st and 3rd Squad's forward, and we're going in while it's still dark so we'll look to get in on top of them, or at least as close as possible, without making any noise, eliminate the German FO team, blow the tower, and get back to the support position.  Kirby, you and 2nd Squad are our reserve, so if we get into any trouble you get up there and pull our chestnuts outta the fire.  Oh yeah, and the Skipper says we get a three-day pass if we can bring back a POW!

Simple enough, but as the platoon was forming up, going through last minute gear inspections by the squad leaders, a nervous Captain named Smith came running up, all red-faced.  "Sgt Saunders, I need to speak with you!  Now this ain't the kinda thing I can direct you to do, but I really need your help.  You see, yesterday when the battalion attacked in this area and got kicked back we suffered some casualties and, well, some men were left behind, and I've got reason to believe some of them might still be alive."

"I see, Sir, so what can I do for ya?"

"Well Sergeant, I'd like you to split a squad off from your raid mission and give a look around for those casualties, and bring them back in."

"Gee, I dunno Cap'n, we're kinda gonna have our hands full, going right into the German lines, and what if they've got reinforcements showing up?  And where'd you say you work, Sir?"

"I'm on the Divisional staff, Sergeant."

"I see, Sir.  Does the Captain mind telling me exactly what this is all about, why the Captain is so interested in some shot-up dogfaces layin' out in No-Man's Land?"

"Oh, I see, Sergeant!  Well, if you really want to know, one of those young men lying out there in No-Man's Land just happens to be the nephew of the General's roommate from West Point!  So I believe..."

SSgt Saunders sighed dejectedly, tossed his cigarette on the deck and squashed it with a boot, then called out: "There goes my reserve...  Sgt Kirby, get over here.  Kirby, this is Captain Smith.  You're gonna go on a little rescue mission with the Captain, so when we get up to the support position, you're gonna take Captain Smith wherever he needs to go, and you're gonna find some of our casualties, and you're gonna bring them back, got it?"

"Yes, Sergeant."

"But wait, Sergeant, I wasn't planning on going, this was just something I needed you and your men to handle," Captain Smith stammered.

"Well you see, Sir," Staff Sergeant Saunders whispered, leaning in close to the Captain, "if you want this done, you're gonna have to take part.  As leaders in this here Army, we can't very well send our subordinates off to go do things we're not willing to do, right?  And besides, how else could we know who the General's roommates' nephew is?"

*The 'Captain Smith' piece is a post-game event from the last fight where I rolled up a Non-Player Character asking for a favor.

The table, north is up, with the smashed ville at top center and the somehow completely untouched clocktower and mansion right below it.  The fly-boys did a helluva job so the whole north half of the table is mostly just rough ground, such as craters, bombed out stands of trees, and rubble, while the south half still has some scattered trees, as well as forested hills in the south and southeast, with crops in the southwest. 

The opposing forces, with Americans on the left and Germans on the right.

The Americans: 

Platoon Leader: Lt Hanley (not present, still recuperating from wounds)
Platoon Sergeant: SSgt Saunders (Bold, Outstanding Leader)
Bazooka Team
Extra Rifle Team

1st Squad: Sgt Caje (Reckless, Good Leader, full strength)
2nd Squad: Sgt Kirby (Cautious, Poor Leader, full strength)
3rd Squad: Sgt Littlejohn (Even, Good Leader, full strength)

Attachments:

1 x Forward Observer team for Battalion 81mm mortars
1 x M1917 .30-cal Machine Gun Team
1 x 60mm Mortar Team 

1 x Divisional Officer (Captain Smith, Decent Leader)

*Yeah, I cheated a little bit making Captain Smith come, but I did it because I wanted the Platoon Sergeant and the two good Squad Leaders focused on the task at hand, and knew there was no way that Sgt Kirby, the 'Poor' Squad Leader, would be able to get the rescue mission done himself.  If I had my Platoon Leader, Lt Hanley, I could have afforded to take Kirby and Littlejohn on the raid and send Caje and his squad to go rescue the casualties, but can't risk it without the extra leader.

The German force: the FO team (top) will start in the clocktower but everything else will be on blinds, with the blinds at top left starting on the table and the blinds at bottom right coming on later (Turn 5) as reinforcements.

This is key as a scenario rule is that I have to spend at least four turns in contact with the enemy, which puts me in a tight spot.  The earlier I get into contact the better, from the standpoint of avoiding their reinforcements, but my plan is to get as close in on them as possible before 'going loud,' which takes time, so kind of over a barrel on that one.  In the event, it wouldn't be up to me anyway (damn dice!)...

The objective, looking from the northeast (American support position will be off camera to top left).

The table, now with troops/blinds.  The support position is on the hill at bottom center, the assault element is on the hill at bottom right, and the casualty rescue force is at bottom left (I diced to see where the casualties would be and they're just below the road at left top, with a stand of trees below them and some craters -with a blind in them- just to their right).

The assault force: Sgt Caje's 1st Squad is at far right, Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad is at left, and SSgt Saunders, the bazooka team, and the extra rifle team are between them.  Pretty powerful in terms of leadership, with Caje and Littlejohn being "Good" and Saunders being an "Outstanding" leader.

The support position, in the US center, hosting the MG team, the FO, and the mortar team, from left to right.

And on the far left, Sgt Kirby's 2nd Squad, accompanied by Captain Smith.

The German FO team in the clock tower and a Type A blind in the mansion.

A Type B blind out next to the US casualties from yesterday's attack (far left).

Closer look.

And on the German left, another Type A (right, in the rubble), and another Type B (bottom left, behind the trees).

And they're off, the Americans taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness!

Sgt Kirby and Captain Smith push 2nd Squad up on the left, unspotted.

I'm rolling on the "All Knowing Odds Table" every time an American unit moves to see if the Germans spot them in the dark.

As Sgt Caje's 1st Squad moves up on the far right.

I roll real quick to see what the German blinds are on this side; the Type B (off camera to far right) is a ghost, but there's a German rifle squad in the rubble (top right) and another in the mansion (center bottom).  The German squad in the mansion is also accompanied by their Platoon Commander.

Sgt Caje pushes his boys again, but the clatter of metal on metal shatters the quiet as one of Sgt Caje's men loses his footing and crashes to the ground!

*Good grief, I can't believe I've been spotted already, rolling on "Unlikely," got a 2 on a D10...

The Germans (bottom right) hear the commotion (top left) and open fire!

The MG-42 mows down the lead rifle team and suppresses Sgt Caje!!!

The American FO immediately rings up the Battalion 81mm mortars and calls them in; "On the way!"  as the MG team (bottom center) lets rip with a long burst at the mansion...

The LMG team and one of the German rifle teams in the mansion are suppressed, as the other rifle team (bottom right) returns fire on the US support position (top left) ineffectually.

And the 60mm mortar team (bottom left) begins dropping HE on the German squad in the rubble (top right) that roughed up 1st Squad (off camera to far right, with 3rd Squad just visible at bottom right).

One German rifle team is suppressed and the other is pinned!

Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad (bottom center) opens fire on the mansion, pinning the German Platoon Commander and Squad Leader there.

As SSgt Saunders pushes towards the mansion, accompanied by the bazooka team and extra rifle team (bottom center, from off camera to bottom right).  He orders the rifle team to fire on the German rifle squad in the rubble (top right), and he adds to their fire but ripping off a whole magazine from his Tommy Gun!

The combined fire is actually pretty devastating, pushing the already suppressed rifle team to fall back across the road (top right), putting the LMG team "Men Down," and pinning the Squad Leader!

Sgt Kirby pushes his men up in the crops on the left (bottom left), and they also fire on the mansion (after rolling for the Type B blind in the craters at left top, which turned out to be nothing), suppressing a rifle team.

The German Squad Leader in the mansion gets to work; he tries to rally himself and fails, has to do it again and succeeds, then rallies his LMG team and orders them to fire on SSgt Saunders' little group in the trees (top left)...

And again the MG-42 shows it's not messing around, putting the bazooka team "Men Down" and pinning the rifle team!  And that was in heavy cover!

The American MG team and mortar team (bottom left), and 3rd Squad (far right, on the hill) all return fire on the mansion (SSgt Saunders' group is at center, Sgt Caje's 1st Squad at far right).

And they do a great job!  The German FO team is suppressed and then forced to fall back (top right), as are two rifle teams (bottom right), while the LMG is suppressed and the Squad Leader is pinned again!

The German Platoon Commander gets to work: he rallies himself, then the LMG team and the Squad Leader...

Then he falls back to rally the two rifle teams; one is good but the other only gets up to pinned, before the Platoon Commander is spent.  The German FO team tries to self rally but fails and falls back (top right, from center top)!

I missed a picture, but the Germans in the rubble on the German left flank couldn't really get anything done.  Their Squad Leader rolled a 1 and had to use it to rally himself...

Back to the Americans, where the US support units keep rocking the mansion, suppressing a rifle team and pinning the Squad Leader and LMG team.

As the spotting round comes in from the Battalion 81mm mortars, a bit long and wide.  "Down 20, left 10, fire for effect!" screams the FO into his handset.

On the US far right, Sgt Caje moves the remnants of 1st Squad up, and they engage the German squad in the rubble (top center), suppressing the German Squad Leader and rifle team (the LMG team is still "Men Down" and the other rifle team is still suppressed, having fallen back across the road).

With 1st Squad on the move (far right) and the Platoon Sergeant kinda pinned down (far left), Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad sits on the hill (bottom right) and keeps pouring fire into the mansion (top left).

Suppressing the LMG team (top left) and forcing the Squad Leader to fall back, suppressed (bottom right)!

SSgt Saunders decides he doesn't have time to screw around, the sun will be coming up soon, and no doubt, German reinforcements are on the way, so he grabs the bazooka team and they dash forward, jumping into some craters for cover (top left, from bottom right), leaving the pinned rifle team behind (bottom right).

SSgt Saunders rolled pretty well, had to rally the bazooka team and the rifle team; the bazooka team passed but the rifle team stayed pinned, didn't have enough activation points to try again.  Probably a bit rash, but the Germans in the mansion are in a bad way, almost all suppressed and falling back.

Sgt Kirby and Captain Smith keep 2nd Squad moving up the left side, nice and quiet like.

But the German Platoon Commander senses the danger they're in and gets to work; he rallies the Squad Leader and a rifle team, though the other rifle team fails and falls back (bottom right).

And he orders the rifle team and Squad Leader back into the mansion (far left, below the suppressed LMG team).  I roll on the AKOT to see if the Yanks spot the Germans moving back into the mansion (in order to react fire) but they do not!  The German Platoon Commander moves over and rallies the suppressed rifle team (bottom right) as the German FO (top right) again tries to self rally...

But they fail again and fall back (right, from left)!

The German Squad Leader (left) tries to rally the LMG team, but they fail and fall back (right)!

So he runs back downstairs and tries again!

They're good and they move back upstairs.

But this time the Americans see them, so the MG team, mortar team (bottom left), and 3rd Squad (far right) lay into them!

Suppressing the Squad Leader and rifle team, and pinning the LMG team!!!

All that work rallying everyone back into fighting shape just went down the tubes, and with their FO busy failing his rally rolls and falling back the Germans have lost a lot of their potential firepower (off-table 80mm mortars) to engage the US support position.

On the German left, their Squad Leader manages to rally himself and get the LMG team back into action, but when he tries to rally the rifle team next to him they fail and fall back across the road, next to his other rifle team (top right)!

The Squad Leader redirects the fire of his LMG team (bottom right), this time ignoring Sgt Caje's 1st Squad (off camera to far left) to engage SSgt Saunders and the bazooka team (top left)!

The bazooka team is pinned, but SSgt Saunders goes "Men Down"!!!

That is a big problem; units are not able to activate at all when they're "Men Down," so he can't help himself, someone else will have to come rally him, but the bazooka team is pinned, so it's action next turn would have to be to self rally, then the next turn it could move into base contact with him, then the turn after it could attemp to rally him.  I doubt they will last that long by themselves...

Sgt Caje's 1st Squad (bottom left) returns fire on the Germans in the rubble (top right, with SSgt Saunders and the bazooka team at top left), suppressing the German Squad Leader.

If you're curious, right now I'm running the Germans as 'bog standard' Wehrmacht troops in 1944, so average quality, meaning their leaders are all 'Decent' (no modifier to their activation rolls) and no modifier to their rally rolls (they roll one dice per unit to rally and live with the result).  What I'm looking to do at some point in the future is roll during setup to determine the quality of the German troops:

-Poor troops will have 'Adequate' leaders (-1 activation roll) and low morale (roll two dice to rally, take worse result
-Average troops, as described above

-Good troops, probably SS, will have 'Good' leaders (+1 activation roll) and have high morale (roll two dice to rally, take best result)
-Excellent troops, probably FJ, will have 'Outstanding leaders (+2 activation roll) and have high morale (roll two dice to rally, take best result)

But I'm having a hard enough time with average troops right now ;)

And then the Battalion 81mm mortars begin raining down, and it's ferocious!

The Squad Leader is killed and the LMG team is again "Men Down" (bottom left), and both suppressed rifle team fall back (far right, from center)!  You can also see the suppressed FO still screwing around up at top right...

These fellas are in a hurt locker; with their Squad Leader dead they are now all 'not under command,' so only get to do one thing per turn (and, honestly, I even forgot to do that for a few turns, as you'll see), and the LMG team, being "Men Down," can't do anything.

The American MG team and 60mm mortar team (bottom left) lay down fire on the mansion as Sgt Littlejohn moves 3rd Squad up (center, from bottom right) and Sgt Caje moves 1st Squad over (center top), trying to get to SSgt Saunders and the bazooka team (left center top, just below the mansion).

But the MG and mortar fire is somehow ineffective this time, and a German rifle team (bottom right) opens fire on Sgt Caje's men (far left, with SSgt Saunders and bazooka team at top center, and Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad just visible at top left), but the Germans miss!

And now for something cool: Captain Smith spots the American casualties on the US far left and sends a rifle team up to get them (bottom left), but Sgt Kirby actually spots the Germans (top center) firing on 1st Squad and has his BAR team and the other rifle team (bottom center) cut loose, suppressing the German Platoon Commander and rifle team!

Just as the bazooka team decides to fire a rocket into the mansion, looking to take out that damn LMG team!

But they target the wrong window and just force the other rifle team to fall back, suppressed (left center), joining the Platoon Commander other rifle team.

The German Squad Leader (top left) rolls bad and all he can do is rally himself, so the Platoon Commander (center) gets to work, rallying himself and the two nearby rifle teams.  One is good (left, but the other fails and falls back (far right)!  He doesn't have time to mess around...

So he dashes upstairs (bottom center), rallies the LMG team (above him, with the Squad Leader behind them), and orders it to open fire on the American bazooka team (left, with SSgt Saunders still "Men Down" next to them), suppressing them!

This sets off the usual round of return fire from the US MG team (bottom left), 60mm mortar team (bottom center, with the FO between them), and Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad (center right, with Sgt Caje's 1st Squad above them in the cratered field).

The LMG team is pinned (top left), while the Platoon Commander and Squad Leader are both suppressed and forced to fall back (center)!

The three suppressed German rifle teams (left and bottom right) and the German FO all try to self-rally; the rifle teams are good, but the FO fails again (top right, from center)!  Incredible...

As the US FO walks the Battalion 81mm mortars left, pounding the area directly behind the clock-tower and mansion in an attempt to isolate the objective.

Yeah, the objective, don't forget, the Yanks are actually here to knock out the German FO team, cause some casualties, and blow up the clock-tower, maybe even capture a prisoner, before falling back ;)

The barrage is ferocious, knocking out a rifle team (bottom center) and putting the German Squad Leader "Men Down" (top), though the German Platoon Commander is miraculously unfazed and untouched (center)!

While the 60mm mortar team (bottom center) targets the two German rifle teams that just rallied (the two from the German squad in the rubble that were suppressed and forced to fall back, far top center).

And they do good work, suppressing one and putting the other "Men Down"!

While the American MG team (bottom left) rakes the mansion (top right).

Sgt Littlejohn leaves his BAR team (bottom center) and the 'extra' rifle team (bottom right) behind to provide covering fire, and dashes ahead with his two rifle teams to help out the bazooka team and SSgt Saunders (far left, with Sgt Caje's 1st Squad at top center).

Sgt Littlejohn crawls up to SSgt Saunders and rolls him over...

He's been hit and is out of the fight!

DAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

Sgt Littlejohn's BAR team (center) and the 'extra' rifle team (far left) lay down fire on the mansion as Sgt Caje (bottom right, with Sgt Littlejohn at top right) signals the FO to shift fire...

Allowing Sgt Caje's squad to dash up to the mansion, intent on not only accomplishing the mission, but getting them a damn prisoner!

They (bottom left) also open fire on the German rifle teams (top center right) from the squad in the rubble (far right, which, it should also be pointed out, has an LMG team over there, just off camera, that is "Men Down" and would have been very easy to capture, too).

This is the end of the American 4th Turn, meaning they are allowed to fall back, having engaged the enemy for at least four turns, and claim a Minor Victory, having put a good deal of casualties on the bad guys.

With US riflemen encroaching upon him, the German Platoon Commander gets to work, checking his remaining Squad Leader...

He's good (right), and the Platoon Commander dashes back upstairs to rally the suppressed LMG team (left).

They're also good, and once again rain down 7.92mm rounds on the nearby Americans at the cyclic rate of 1200 rounds per minute, pinning a rifle team and putting the bazooka team "Men Down"!

As usual, the American MG team, mortar team, and some troops from 3rd Squad (right) return fire on the mansion...

Suppressing the Platoon Commander and the LMG team and forcing them to fall back out into the open (center right, from inside the Mansion at left, with Sgt Caje and 1st Squad peering cautiously around the corner at bottom left to see what's going on).

The German Squad Leader, previously rallied by the Platoon Commander but not having yet acted, leaps into action, rallying the Platoon Commandeer and LMG team...

And then falling back into cover with the LMG team (center top).

They didn't shoot because they don't really have LOS to 1st Squad (bottom left), and I left the Platoon Commander in the open (center) because I feel like it makes sense that the Squad Leader could help rally him back into the fight, but that it doesn't make sense for the Squad Leader to be able to 'order' the Platoon Commander to do anything.

In any case, it looks like the success of my return fire actually worked against me; it's going to be a lot harder to capture some Germans now.  Or is it?

We roll back over to the -pretty much forgotten about- 2nd Squad, where Captain Smith and Sgt Kirby have located the casualties (far left bottom) they were sent to rescue, but our otherwise just kinda chillin'.  How 'bout we put them to work?  2nd Squad opens fire on the German Squad Leader, LMG team, and Platoon Commander (top right), from the other direction!  

Putting the Squad Leader and LMG team "Men Down" and suppressing the Platoon Commander!

Sgt Caje and 1st Squad dash in as soon as Sgt Kirby's 2nd Squad ceases fire, screaming out "Doughboy, Doughboy, Doughboy!" (they're "running password," to make sure 2nd Squad doesn't light them up).

Sgt Caje's savages cut down the Squad Leader and LMG team, and capture the German Platoon Commander!

While on the other side of the Mansion, Sgt Littlejohn sets about getting everyone rallied back into fighting shape, all good.

As the 60mm mortar team (bottom left) continues pounding the German rifle teams in the north (from the squad that got blasted out of the rubble).

One rifle team is knocked out and the other runs off!

As Sgt Littlejohn sends one of his rifle teams to the rear, evacuating casualties (SSgt Saunders being one of them).

While on the American left, Sgt Kirby does the same, detailing one of his rifle teams to begin carrying back the casualties they found, including the General's roommates' nephew... Captain Smith is beaming from ear to ear.

It's the German turn, but they haven't received their reinforcements yet, so not much they can do.  They only have two units on the table right now, a rifle team in good shape (top right) and an LMG team that's "Men Down" (bottom left).  When you're "Men Down" you can't do anything, someone else has to move into base contact and rally you (two separate actions, 'move' and 'rally'), and since there are no leaders on the table, the rifle team only gets one action, and they're actually far enough away that it will probably take two moves to get to the LMG team, and then they'd be able to rally them, so it would take three turns to get that LMG team back in the fight, and the rifle team will be exposed to practically the entire US force as soon as it steps out from behind those buildings, so they decide to just sit tight, knowing reinforcements are on the way.

Back on the American side, I get a random event, 'Reinforcements.'  I roll it up and I've gotten an FO with on-call supporting fires, but I've already got an FO on the table, so I swap it out for a truck.  I bring the truck on the table (bottom right), looking to use it to go scoop up some of my slower moving troops and get them off table before the German reinforcements show up.

The truck driver is directed up to the clock-tower/mansion.

Sgt Caje and 1st Squad quickly set explosives on the objective, then dash to the truck (left, from far right), dragging the captured German Platoon Commander!

Sgt Caje tosses the German Platoon Commander into the back of the truck and tells his rifle team to jump in there and keep an eye on him!

Sgt Caje and his BAR team (far left) ponder their next step as Sgt Littlejohn, his 3rd Squad, and the bazooka team begin falling back (center right, from the craters at center left).

Sgt Littlejohn's rifle team carrying the casualties continues moving south (bottom right).

But we weren't fast enough...

German reinforcements arrive in the northwest!

And in the northeast!

I roll them up, and good grief, there's a bunch more Germans...  At top center is another German rifle squad with Platoon Commander, at center is a sustained fire machine gun team, and at bottom center is a Sdkz 250/1 halftrack.

While in the northeast, they have an LMG team (I also give them a Squad Leader, to help them link up with the rifle team and LMG team already over on that side).

Sgt Caje (bottom center) about urinates himself when he sees the flood of Germans approaching; the truck driver isn't screwing around...

He hauls ass (bottom right, from top center left), nearly running over Sgt Littlejohn's guys!

Sgt Caje and his BAR team dive into the only available cover.

The rifle team from 2nd Squad gets a pep in their step, too (bottom center, with the rest of 2nd Squad at top left and Sgt Caje/1st Squad at top right)!

In the south/center, they do manage to flag down the truck driver and get the casualties 3rd Squad were carrying into the truck.

Captain Smith and Sgt Kirby order 2nd Squad to engage the German rifle squad.

A rifle team is knocked out, the LMG team is pinned, and the Squad Leader is suppressed!

While Sgt Littlejohn and 3rd Squad engage the newcomers in the northeast (top right).

Suppressing the LMG team and pinning the Squad Leader!

See, this is what I'm usually running into, but it's working in my favor this time!  Usually I'm advancing and the German blinds are revealed and they get to react to my movement, but this time I was on the table and their blinds moved on and got revealed in their turn, so I'm getting to react, and they're getting a right shellacking, which I'm very much enjoying, especially given the fact I've already fought a helluva tough fight at the clock-tower and mansion already!  Honestly, it feels like I've played one game and finished it, and this is a whole new game.

The American FO (bottom center) is on the horn, adjusting fire onto the new threat, as the MG and mortar team go to work.

The German Squad Leader is forced to fall back (top center) as his LMG team and remaining rifle team are put "Men Down," the Platoon Commander is pinned, the MMG team is suppressed, and the halftrack is pinned!

But the Germans aren't finished: the Squad Leader self rallies, moves up, and gets his rifle and LMG teams back in the fight, then orders the LMG team  (bottom left) to engage the US MG team (top right).

Which suppresses the US MG team and the FO!!!

That's not good...  The Battalion 81mm mortars sure would help the guys get outta Dodge...  And there are no spare leaders to come over and help out, since SSgt Saunders went out of the fight and Lt Hanley is still recovering from his wounds...

The German Platoon Commander self rallies, moves over, and rallies the MG team (right top), as the halftrack self rallies (bottom left).

While in the northeast, the German Squad Leader there rolls badly and only manages to rally himself (far right, with a suppressed LMG team next to him, a rifle team in good order at top center, and an LMG team "Men Down" at far left).

The FO (center, next to the 60mm mortar team) self rallies, while the MG team tries to self rally but fails and falls back (center bottom), the truck leaves town (far right), and the 60mm mortar team pumps out HE rounds...

And it's ferocious!  The German Platoon Commander goes down and the MMG team is pinned (right), while the halftrack is suppressed (bottom left)!

Taking advantage of the mortar fire, 2nd Squad (bottom left) again opens fire, targeting the German rifle squad in the northwest (top center right).

Knocking out a rifle team and pinning the Squad Leader (right), while suppressing the LMG team and forcing it to fall back (top left)!

Really what I'm learning in this game is that when enemy reinforcements arrive I need to be a bit more clever with their deployment, this is actually a bit too easy.

And then Captain Smith and Sgt Kirby have 2nd Squad fall back (center left, from the trees at top left), as their rifle team carrying the casualties keeps humping south (bottom right).

The only ones still really in jeopardy are Sgt Caje and his BAR team (bottom right), and they decide the time is right to get outta Dodge.  But first, they lay down some fire, targeting the German MG-42 team (top left)...

And then they fall back (bottom right).

While Sgt Littlejohn's 3rd Squad and attachments (bazooka team and 'extra' rifle team) lay down fire...

Putting the German Squad Leader in the northeast "Men Down" (white bead at far right), pretty much ending the threat there.

And then they haul ass south (bottom center, from top right)!

Probably should have sat tight and covered Sgt Caje and his boys...

In the northwest, the German Squad Leader self rallies, moves over, and rallies the MG-42 team.

But 2nd Squad (bottom left) spots them (top center) and opens fire, suppressing the Squad Leader and MG team again!

But he had plenty of actions, so he rallies himself and the MG team again (bottom left), and has the MG team cut loose on 2nd Squad (top right)!

Captain Smith is pinned as Sgt Kirby and the BAR team are suppressed!

But the 60mm mortar team (bottom right) spies that pesky German MG team (top left) and pops some more HE rounds their way!

Knocking out the MG team (far right, with the Squad Leader looking on helplessly) and forcing the halftrack to fall back off the table (far left)!

2nd Squad rallies and gets off the table.

Followed by 3rd Squad...

1st Squad...

And the attachments!

So, petty wild fight, and a wildly successful mission, with a ton of casualties inflicted on the enemy, the German FO driven back (we won't tell anyone it was simply their own cowardice that did it!), the clock-tower destroyed (Sgt Caje and his BAR team planted explosives there before falling back), and minimal casualties to their own, with the major letdown being that SSgt Saunders, the Platoon Sergeant, was one of those minimal casualties.

The good news is that SSgt Saunders is only lightly wounded, and will be out for nine days, so two or three missions, just as Lieutenat Hanley, the Platoon Leader, is coming back.  Sure would have been nice to run a few missions with them together again...

And quite a bit happened: first, Sgt Kirby now has "friends in high places," having duly impressed Captain Smith, the aide to the Division's Commanding General, for helping rescue the CG's roommate's nephew, and SSgt Saunders now has an "enemy in high places," as Captain Smith is not a big fan of his since he showed little enthusiasm in helping to recover the casualty, pawned him off on Sgt Kirby, and insisted Captain Smith actually participated in the recovery mission, endangering the good Captain, rather than just handling it.  Sgt Kirby is a poor leader and not getting better, but this will make him very difficult to sack, looks like Lt Hanley and SSgt Saunders are stuck with him!

Despite Sgt Kirby having friends in high places and having successfully completed his mission, he was not able to upgrade from a "Poor" leader to an "Adequate Leader," which really sucks...  And my other event was "Non-Player Character Changes Attitude."  I had to give this one a good think because nothing really stood out, and here's what I came up with: to date, Lt Hanley's company commander, Captain Blakely, hasn't really formed an opinion on the new Lieutenant.  But after a string of four successful fights, Captain Blakely now believes Lt Hanley is a rising star, probably his best Platoon Leader at this point in early September 1944.  The funny thing is, and not to be unfair to Lt Hanley, who did a solid job in the two fights he led prior to being wounded, Captain Blakely hasn't paid enough attention to even realize Lt Hanley was wounded and missed the last two fights, which were led by SSgt Saunders, and now SSgt Saunders has been wounded!  So Lt Hanley now enjoys a solid reputation with the Company Commander that is largely earned by SSgt Saunders' exploits, and is about to get Lt Hanley into a pickle leading the company's spearhead attack without SSgt Saunders (again, through no fault of his own, and there is no resentment on the part of SSgt Saunders, he's not even aware of the Captain's sentiment)!

The platoon did not receive any reinforcements, but since they were previously three bodies over T/O, they simply shift the 'extra' rifle team over to 1st Squad to replace the men Sgt Caje lost in the last fight.

So Lt Hanley got up, arranged his uniform, grabbed his gear, and moved out of the field hospital, finally cleared for duty and intent on finding a ride back to his platoon, and was about to hop into a jeep when a deuce and a half screeched to a halt right in front of him and began off-loading casualties.  "Hey, those are my men," Lt Hanley muttered to himself, moving over to check it out, and immediately receiving the shock of his life when he saw the medicos lowering his Platoon Sergeant out of the back of the truck.  "Don't worry, Lootenat, I ain't dead yet," croaked SSgt Saunders.  "Matter o' fack, it looks a lot worse than it is, I'll probably be back with ya tomorrow morning."  Lt Hanley looked at the doctor performing triage, who simply pursed his lips and shook his head, then peered down, looking under the bandage.  

"Well, it won't be tomorrow morning, but it actually isn't that bad, he'll be back to you inside of two weeks, Lieutenant."  So, two or three fights before the Platoon Sergeant gets back.

Next up, Lt Hanley leads a hasty attack on a German-held hill.

V/R,
Jack