With the attacks going in on the Olive Oil factory it was important to try to keep Jerry off balance. The Australians of 2/1 Battalion must not let the enemy consolidate the their positions. So, orders came through for the reinforced 3rd platoon to begin the attack. I had hoped to paste Jerry with some naval gun support but the meagre points available for this scenario meant that the matelots would be pointing their guns elsewhere. More on “support” later. Here’s the table.
The attack gets underway.
Dave’s lads hurry to take up good firing positions in the buildings.
A section, assisted by the Platoon Sergeant hurl grenades at the upstairs window but are not very successful. Plus I’d struggled to get the attack properly coordinated as the command dice were being particularly unhelpful. The light mortar team were spot on with their smoke which prevented Dave’s dreaded LG40 from targeting the little MkVI tank that was raking the buildings with it’s HMG.
More FJs occupy the buildings.
The attack finally gets a bit more coordinated but it was too little, too late. Dave’s MG34s had settled the matter.
The brave Australians would be attacking along the road from the left in the second picture. The patrol phase went rather well and I was able to get a couple of JOPs in the gardens around the house with the lavender. The other being next to the little culvert. Dave had his in the vines and amongst the buildings which certainly suited him.
First in the field was a section whose aim was to defend the right flank and/or harass FJs in the buildings with covering fire whilst the real attack went in on the left, where there was more cover.
Dave used a CoC dice to end the turn and the smoke lifted. His LG40 team wasted no time in shooting at the MkVI. One hit glanced off but the second hit squarely, killing the gunner and inflicting two points of shock. The Panzerbuchse team finished the tank off by inflicting another point of shock, so the crew bailed out and headed for cover.
By this point Australian morale had taken quite a beating and the withdrawal was ordered. 3rd platoon had taken almost 50% casualties including both senior leaders whereas the FJs had lost only a handful of men. So a solid victory for Dave’s Jerries. However, during the post game discussion Dave suddenly looked at the scenario notes again. Bear in mind that this scenario is re-purposed from the KGvL PSC “Attacking the Corridor of Death” with the sides swapped. But we’d not swapped the support points! Gah!? Oh well, every blunder tells a story… clearly orders had got muddled and 3rd platoon had set off without much additional help! Whereas Jerry had an abundance of extra firepower.
My thanks to Dave for being an excellent opponent. Next time the brave Aussies will be back in much greater force. I have a feeling the CO will be requesting one of the Matildas, or perhaps a few Commandos?
Thanks for looking!
Comments
Post a Comment