Battle of Ragogna Part 2

Battle of Ragogna Part 2

German Attack on the Main line

The forces

The easy victory over the outer defenses  gave the German Lt. a boost of confidence(+1 force moral) as he prepared for the attack on the main line. The Italians had withdrew in good order, the Commanding officer of the regiment was content with events so far and the LT and men were confident in the defenses of the main line.

The Germans were down 3 men from last time all being taken from the Mg sections.

They were supported by:

an off table mortar

a sniper team

a Maxium 08 mmg

Pre game Gas

one assault bomber section had two trench brooms

an extra lewis gun was added to a MG section

and a Flamethrower 

The Italians, 5 men down had to remove and man from each squad with the 3rd rifle squad losing 2 men.  

They were supported by:

the SOS barrage 

an MMG

off table mortar

and 4 sections of barbed wire

The Game

Again we are using Two Fat lardies WW1 chain of Command rules. The table was set up for scenario 3 out of the WW1 CoC article.  Attack and defend with a main trench line running across the table and I placed my barbed wire to try and funnel the German attack. The force moral for the Germans is 11 and Italians is 8.  The men weren't as confident as I thought.

After the Patrol phase the Germans look like they are falling into my trap.  I also placed my SOS barrage markers (the small black circles on the table).  The SOS barrage is a barrage that can be called in on a preplanned spot.  The game mechanic is pretty fun you place upside down makers on the table 2 of which are the actual spots and a number of "fake" markers. I did 4 extras to try to throw her off.

The Germans start the game and immediatly roll 6,6,3,2,1,1. knowing that she will havc the next phase as well Kati quickly deploys her Mg sections, her sniper team and MMG to prepare the way for the bombers.

Luckily for me her next role wasn't so hot.  6,5,5,2,1,1.  She combines the two 1s and simply moves her MGs into better positions.

On my first phase of the game I roll 5,4,3,1(only 4 dice because of gas) I deploy my MMG and my Villar Perosa squad.  the squad opens with its Grenades and rifles(VP isn't in range) up on her over-confident MG section in the crater in front of them.  Thanks mostly to the grenades, the take out 4 guys. My Lt. arrives and has my MMG fire and they have no effect.

The Germans don't hold back and in the next phase thanks to a great roll of 5,4,4,3,2,1, she deploys both bomber section, a flamethrower and her LT and Sergeant.  Her Sergeant tries to have the MMG open up but it misses and jams on them.

My phase is pretty lame as I roll 6,5,4,4 all I can do is use my Lt. the radio the back lines...preparing the SOS barrage.

Rolling two 6s again Kati prepares for a good set of phases.  To her disappointment both bomber squads barely move leaving them more exposed than she wants as her off table mortar fires with little effect.  

Her second phase sees her men moving and throwing grenades into my line beating up both my VP squad and my MMG.  Her sniper also picks off a crew member of the MMG.

Luckily for me, I roll a 1 in my phase and spring my SOS barrage and it works perfectly, pinning down most of her force. I use the time to bring up more troops.

Kati has an extremely uneventful phase with only one thing worth noting she rolls a 5, giving her 5 chain of command points so she only needs one more 5 to end the turn on me...

I call in the barrage again and bring more men into the trench. My rifles whittle away her lone MG section....things are looking up for my men.

The next phase sees Kati roll the 5 she needs.  Her MG section fires and does score a kill and she ends the turn.

But as good as this was for the Germans, I immediately roll three 6s  and use the two phases in a row to wipe out the MG section that was caught in the open during the barrage (already missing in above pic) thanks to a wounding of the NCO then the Killing of him followed by the wiping of the section The germans moral stinks to a 9 from its starting 11!

My excitement is short lived though.. Kati follows up m phase with a pair of 6s and her bombers get to work. They wipe out my VP squad wounding my Lt. in the process..my moral drops to a 5.

the next phase sees two more 6s rolled and my rifle squad and MMG are looking for a reason to run....

The phase leaves them pinned and ready to break after the grenades do their work.

The phase spells doom for my platoon, I lose the MMG, then my rifle platoon and finally wounded and alone the Lt. falls.

That runs my moral down to a 0 ending a game just a few turns before I thought was going my way...curse the elite storm troopers and their 6 command dice.  

Aftermath

The Germans took 11 casualties taking the trench and the Italians lost 22 men including 2 NCOs and their Lt.  

My Lt., may he rest in peace, would probably have been looking for a new command after that disaster.

I moved a sergeant from another platoon into his new role as Lt. I will be calling up reinforcements (which you can only do once during the campaign).

With the taking of the main line the fighting is about to enter the poor village of San Petro.