"All American": Turn Four, Holding the Line at Cauquigny (no. 2)

 Turn Four: Holding the Line at Cauquigny (no. 2)

The Germans try once again to dislodge the US paras from Cauquigny. 

Map

Support Choices

German support: Mortar platoon observer (5) and Panzer III (5) 

US Support: Parachute Squad with Junior Leader (5)

Platoon Leaders

Feldwebel Semmler commands the German platoon, and Lt. Bond commands the Airborne. These platoons have been used previously, so Semmler's platoon begins 4 men down from full strength, and Bond's starts 2 men down. 

Combat

German morale started high enough (11, reduced to 10 by low Men’s Opinion). And this time Feldwebel Semmler was in command. He was opposed by Lt. Frank Bond, who had given the Germans a bloody nose in the very first game. 

The objective JOP for this scenario was once again behind the church. 

The game started well for the Germans, with the patrol phase giving me a JOP in the stone farmhouse and a double phase allowing me to push my troops up (within the cover of the farmstead) fairly quickly. 

Germans have infiltrated into the farmstead before the engagement

Germans move up quickly using the farmstead for cover

The US 1st Squad deployed in the churchyard along the wall - allowing them to cover the road. Platoon Sergeant Donald Bryan and a 60mm mortar deployed behind the church. 

US 1st Squad covering the church road 

The Germans brought forward an observer for an 80mm mortar battery. Mortar bombs began exploding all around the church, pinning 1st Squad and Platoon Sergeant Bryan. 

German mortar platoon observer gets up close

The churchyard comes under heavy mortar fire

The German 2nd and 3rd squads tried to leave the cover of the farmstead and advance along the road toward the causeway - but they came under fire from the US 2nd Squad. Conscious of what happened to their comrades last time (i.e. being caught in enfilade fire), the Germans disengaged and took shelter again within the farmstead. 

The Germans soon return to the safety of the farmstead

The US third squad - a scratch force of mis-dropped 101st boys, not normally part of Bond’s platoon - deployed in the double-storey house. Their LMG team took up position in the top floor windows, ready to fire at any Germans pushing up over the hedge which bordered the farmstead. 

By now all three of the German junior NCOs had been lightly wounded or wounded. 

A Panzer III arrived and moved along the road toward the causeway. It fired at Sergeant Nicholas Sargent’s 2nd Squad, killing one man. 2nd Squad repositioned behind the double-storey house. 

Panzer III arrives

At this point I shifted the barrage 6 inches so it caught Cam’s troops in the double-storey house. The LMG team on the second floor was pinned. Per the Official FAQ, the rifle team on the bottom floor was not pinned but still rolled for hits. The US 1st Squad and senior leader in the churchyard remained caught in the barrage and pinned. 

The Panzer III turned and smashed through the farmstead’s stone wall, beginning to move into the farmstead itself. Having exposed its side armour, the US bazooka team appeared (beside the double-storey house) and fired at the panzer's side armour. The bazooka rocket destroyed the panzer’s hull MG and spooked the crew. But in the subsequent phase the panzer fired on the bazooka team with its coaxial machine gun, killing one man and pinning the survivor. 

Take the shot!

Bazooka Team gets hit

The US 1st Squad, hoping the panzer would be dealt with by the bazooka, had dashed across the road to return to its position behind the hedge. 

Semmler moved up with the German 1st Squad, assembling his whole platoon together in the farmstead for an assault on the US 2nd Squad. He also detached a two-man scout team to go on a long flank around the church to capture the objective JOP. 

Cam knew I had a chain of command dice so I could keep the barrage firing into the next turn. He couldn’t end the turn because he didn’t have one yet anyway. The barrage wasn’t going to end any time soon. 

So the Americans withdrew hastily across the causeway. Of the pinned soldiers (who had to retreat through the mortar barrage), 6 were dispersed and 3 were captured. 

The Germans had captured Cauquigny but now came the tough challenge of capturing the Mederet causeway and La Fière bridge. 

Results

US casualties: 6 dispersed incl platoon sergeant (SL), 3 captured, 4 KIA. 

German casualties: 4 KIA. 

German. Men’s opinion -2, CO’s 1.

US. Men’s opinion 5, CO’s 1.