My Wargaming in Kasteli

The game kicked off to the strains of ‘Godsent’ by the Bevis Frond.

The Table:

The Table

The Germans at the bottom and the British at the top.

The Forces:

German, One full strength Panzergrenadier platoon plus one extra full strength section, one 15cm Lorraine Schlepper armoured vehicle and one car for the platoon CO and a Forward Observer for an off table 81mm Mortar section.

British,  One full strength Paratroop platoon, a Forward Observer for a 3″ off table Mortar section and 1 Bren team with an entrenchment.

The Paras got of to a quick start with a double 6 in their first set of command dice which allowed them to quickly deploy 3 sections the FO and a senior leader.

British initial deployment

The Germans responded with a senior leader and the Lorraine.

German initial deployment

The Germans started to move forward all along the line, the Lorraine couldn’t get forward enough to get LoS on the British barricade across the road but now could be seen by the British FO who called in a barrage from the 3″ mortar section, scratch one Lorraine, the German Senior commander on the field promptly abandoned his car for the relative safety behind the nearest building.

Lorraine Kebab

The house in the center caught fire, possibly from a cigarette dropped by the sniper in the house, sending clouds of smoke towards the German line.

Meanwhile the rest of the Paras went on overwatch anticipating the coming assault!
The German squad in the center crossed the hedge and started the long trek over the open fields only to be forced back behind the hedge by a withering fire from the Paras no. 3 section (two bren guns). The Paras kept up the pressure until two the German squad broke and ran.
The Germans called in a barrage from an 81mm mortar battery and forced the bren team manning the barricade to temporarily  fall back along with the British FO who seems to have permanently lost contact with his battery.

Mortar barrage & odd fire

The Germans seemed to be having trouble organising their attack so they brought on their last squad together with another senior commander and started pushing forward!

With dusk falling and time running out the Germans made their final push, as the mortar barrage intensified they started to shift their line to their right allowing two squads to take on the Paras no. 3 section. The Para Bren team at the barricade routed after suffering 2 of 3 killed. The German 2nd squad moving up the road then moved over the hedge to their right adding more pressure to the British center-left.

Para no. 3 section became pinned due to heavy fire and the British commander attempted to relieve their position by moving no. 1 section out of reserve in the corner house but they came under heavy mortar fire, no. 2 section moved left to cover the barricade and road junction.

No. 1 Section under fire

Under intense fire from two German squads no. 3 section broke and ran and with no.1 section taking casualties from the mortar barrage the British CO reluctantly pulled the remainder of the platoon back.

The end game

With the British withdrawing this one is another win for the Germans

The Butchers bill:

The Germans suffered 9 casualties, 4 dead, 3 to miss the next battle for platoon #3 and 2 returned to duty. The opinion of both the CO and the men of the Platoon Leaders performance were both increased by 1

The Para’s suffered 13 casualties, 6 dead, 3 to miss the platoon’s next battle and 3 returned to duty. the opinion of the CO and the men dropped by one.

Comments.

The Para’s are a tough nut to crack! I must admit that right up to the last quarter of the game I thought it was heading for a draw. The British cunning use of their horde of CoC dice to repeatedly end the turn before the Germans could hone in with their 81mm mortars frustrated the hell out of the German commander, but once the Germans managed to establish the barrage it was a real fight and again the German numbers made the difference bringing superior force against a point in the line until it gave way!

on the the next battle…

The 2nd game started appropriately to the strains of “The Die is Cast” by the Bevis Frond.

The Table:-

Germans to the left, Para’s to the right.

The Forces:

German, One full strength Panzergrenadier platoon plus one extra full strength section, one 15cm Lorraine Schlepper armoured vehicle and one car for the platoon CO.

Purchased and painted for this campaign

Lorraine Schlepper.

British,  One full strength Paratroop platoon plus a Forward Observer for a 3″ off table Mortar section.

The plans, to win the Germans need to exit at least one Section off the British table edge. Using what’s hoped to be overwhelming odds and the firepower of the Lorraine the Germans plan to stretch the British line to breaking point!

The British plan to use the cover and reduce the German numbers by accurate firing and the 3″ mortar barrage.

The game.

The Germans started well by deploying 2 sections onto the table in cover unfortunately for them they were trumped by the British throwing 3 sets of double sixes in a row (2d6 =retain next phase) thus giving the Para’s 4 phases in a row allowing them to deploy 3 sections, 1 x 2” mortar team, 1 Piat team, one forward observer and call for a 3” mortar barrage!

The mortar barrage was off target but fortunately the forward observer was able to re-establish contact with the unit and adjust bring the barrage crashing down on the German section!

Just missed, for now!

As the Germans were building up their force fairly slowly and were mostly in cover the British 2ic decided to send Section 1 over the hedge and through the plowed field to flank the German build up in the wood.

Left flanking move

Unfortunately for the Para’s before they could get into position they came under a withering fire from an ambushing German section and suffered considerable casualties but were able to retreat to the relative safety of the farm yard but took no further part in the action!

Meanwhile from the German side the Lorraine rumbled onto the field of battle and opened fire on the building where the Forward Observer was frantically trying to re-establish contact with the 3″ Mortar Section, the result was that the FO promptly legged it from the field!

The Lorraine Enters

Meanwhile back in the plowed field the German ambushing section crossed the hedge and moved down the field the threaten the leftmost British jump off point.

Spotting the danger the Para 2ic split section 2 and led half of it to catch the Germans in the open and force them back up the field to the cover of the hedge.

The Ambushers ambushed

Although disaster had been averted on the British left the cost had been to thin the line and the Germans opened what was the main action of the day, the Lorraine moved forward and pounded the Paras in the farmyard while on the right two almost intact German squads move forward and fired on the Paras crouched behind the fence.

Suffering heavy casualties the Paras behind the rail fence routed from the field leaving the way open for German victory.

The Butchers bill:

The Germans suffered 15 casualties, 7 dead, 4 to miss the next battle for platoon #1 and 4 returned to duty. The opinion of the CO of the Platoon Leaders performance increased by 1 and the men reduced by 1

The Para’s suffered 12 casualties, 6 dead, 3 to miss the platoon’s next battle and 3 returned to duty. the opinion of the CO droped by one while that of the men increased by one.

On to Game #3

Game #1 started with the not very muted strains of Jimi Hendrix from ‘3 nights at Winterland’ album:

The Table, Germans to the left Brits to the right.

The plans:-

German, with superior numbers pin the Paras then outflank, while the Brits just needed to get into position in cover and inflict casualties.

Although the Paras managed to inflict casualties at a rate of 2 to 1 it just wasn’t enough to force the Germans back, although one German section was pulled back after taking the brunt of the losses, a move I may not have made in a one-off game!

Fortunately for the Brits the Germans just couldn’t seem to move forward fast enough and the delay prevented the Germans in moving up to flanking positions until the final 10 minutes of the game – too late to close the deal!

With both sides failing to meet the victory conditions of driving their opponent from the field the game was judged to be a dishonorable draw.

The Butchers bill:

The Germans suffered 10 casualties, 5 dead, 3 to miss the next battle for platoon #1 and 2 returned to duty. The opinion of both the CO and the men of the Platoon Leaders performance were both reduced by 1

The Para’s suffered 4 casualties, 2 dead, 1 to miss the platoon’s next battle and 1 returned to duty. the opinion of the CO droped by one while that of the men increased by one.

on the the next battle…