Gemigabok presents...
April 9 – Denmark 1940
A Chain of Command Campaign by Aksu Anttila
http://www.the-ancients.com/gemigabok/denmark-1940-coc/
Scenario 3 – Tragedy on the Village Road (Take Two)
We're continuing our playthrough of Aksu's campaign.
Previously on April 9:
Game One: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3636
Game Two: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3676
Game Three: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3693
This is our remote social-distancing campaign using Discord and 20mm figures. For a more detailed description on the set up, see the discussion at the end of the Game One report.
A small village, somewhere in Southern Denmark, April 9, 1940
After ambushing the invading Germans in the village, the Danish platoon led by Løjtnant Johan (John) is preparing for the next attack.
The Danes have lost seven men during this campaign, and none of them will be coming back.
The Germans have lost six men and their platoon is a bit bigger anyways, so they still have a certain edge when it comes to both man and firepower. They again roll a 4 for support points (after four tries at support rolls Petri now averages 1.5 on this d6 roll...). The Danes have three support points.
Both sides agree to use the same jump-off points for the second try on this table. Force Morale rolls produce an even 8 for both sides. Neither side seems to be too excited about the upcoming battle.
The German plan in Game Three was based on a true Blitzkrieg method of sheer audacity and daring – the 1st and 2nd sections were to sprint as fast as they could to try and shut down two of the three Danish jump-off points. If the Danes tried to prevent this, they would run into the pacifist village mayor and the defeatist Danish army officer, hopefully preventing any deployment. It went really down to the wire – the Danish 1st section was able to use the last available command die and deploy just in time to stop the onrushing LMG gunners. Had they been unsuccessful, the Danes would only have had a single jump-off point, that in the windmill.
So now the million kroner question is, what will the Germans try this time? Are we going to see more deception, or are they going to go for the standard German solution of putting their machineguns in the best available cover and then just blasting the opposition to bits?
The village looks a bit more like a proper defense zone than before. The worried civilians have hidden in the residential buildings, and the defeatist Danish officer shot himself in the foot and then limped away, moaning loudly about being wounded. The village mayor is still eyeing Ltn Johan's men with disapproval from a nearby window but he too is staying inside for now. Well, perhaps we can now concentrate on fighting the Germans and not this circus, Johan thinks.
He does not have to wait long, until some Germans again appear at the gas station! “De kommer!” - they are coming!
As support Ltn Peter has requested more troops so the company commander has sent him this squad from the 2nd platoon of Oberfähnrich von Kemp, who have spent much of the campaign in the previous village shaking hands and having their photographs taken with Danish civilians.
Led by this classic Matchbox figure, the squad advances towards residential building #2. This is a classic ploy in Chain of Command campaigns, you lead with supports. It is also a flaw in the system because you can use them very carelessly without penalty and there are always more available if (when) they die. Various fixes have been proposed by people, including counting the lost supports in Men's Opinion and dicing for the availability of any support type which has been wiped out. However we're not using any of those modifications in this campaign.
The 2nd platoon squad reaches residential building #2.
On their second Phase the Danes waste no time and deploy behind residential building 4.
The LMG is put on overwatch aiming down the village street, while the rifle team keeps an eye on the corner of the building.
At the gas station, Janne's 1st section deploys along with Ltn Peters himself. These are the men who were ambushed last time.
Peters looks at his map, he realizes that decisive action is now needed and this is why he has joined the battle at this early stage.
On the German left, Bill's 3rd section appears, as if out of nowhere. They start advancing towards the livestock barn.
The battlefield seen from the north-eatern (Danish) direction:
1 – Danish 1st section, on in firing position behind fence (Sabbath)
30 – Ltn Peters, at the gas station (Petri)
31 – German 1st (rifle) section, at the gas station (Janne)
33 – German 3rd section near the woods, approaching the livestock barn (Bill)
35 – German 2nd platoon (support) section, approaching residential building #2 (Petri)
Ordered to advance, Janne's men are most unspirited, moving only three inches. They must be thinking about what happened last time...
Now Petri decides to attack! He brings the 2nd platoon squad charging around the corner into close combat... but the Danes are ready and fire a salvo of rifle shots, taking out one of the attackers! Grenades explode, the German SMG sweeps down two Danes with a burst but Sabbath's ferocious Danes beat the attack back using their rifle butts, three more Germans fall! The 2nd platoon squad runs away, taking cover behind the building...
Hearing the cacophony of gunshots and explosions up ahead, Janne's men are in no hurry to advance, they move another four inches...
After retreating behind the house the 2nd platoon squad is not safe from being fired on from the west. The LMG squad deploys behind the fence and opens up with two LMGs...
Shock is mounting, The squad leader is hit and though the wound is not debilitating the German Force Morale drops to 7.
Bill's third section is meanwhile entering the grounds of the livestock barn...
The battlefield seen from the north-eastern (Danish) direction:
1 – Danish 1st section, on in firing position behind fence (Sabbath)
3 – Danish 3rd (LM) section behind fence (Alessandro)
30 – Ltn Peters, with 1st section (Petri)
31 – German 1st (rifle) section, approaching residential building #2 (Janne)
33 – German 3rd section near the livestock barn (Bill)
35 – German 2nd platoon (support) section, behind residential building #4 (Petri)
Motivated by the Leutnant, Janne's squad is finally making progress.
The 2nd platoon squad's situation is untenable. The squad leader moves his men, he needs to move three inches in order to bring his men into cover but can only manage two inches... The LMGs continue to pepper the rifle team...
Conscious of the threat posed by Bill's squad, Ltn Johan deploys Alessandro's section to the fence near the windmill.
At the same time John has the LMG squad withdraw from the fence, but they are not keen to leave the battle and only move an inch or two.
Ltn Johan sends his second-in-command, the platoon sergeant, to join 1st section...
With the approach of Janne's 1st squad and Ltn Peters himself, John can sense that things are going to get dicey very soon. But the almost pinned 2nd platoon squad is very near and they are in such bad shape that one wonders...
Ltn Johan formulates a daring plan!
The platoon sergeant activates and orders Sabbath's men to throw two Håndgranat M/1923 over the corner of the house, and then charge into close combat!
Whoomp! Whoomp! The hand grenade explosions end the life of the 2nd platoon squad leader, who falls to the ground his body riddled with sharapnel...
And then they are in close combat! One unwritten rule on Chain of Command is that you never – and I do mean never – charge into close combat with an unpinned foe with a machinegun pointing in your direction, but Ltn Johan is doing just that here. Luckily the enemy have plenty of shock already and their SMG-toting leader is out of action... despite that this is going to be a very tight situation as the units are closely matched...
But seeing the enemy make their charge, Ltn Peters plays his hand!
Petri is a formidable opponent any day of the week but here he is really at the top of his game. He plays his accumulated CoC die, interrupting the charging Danes... and astounding everyone by bringing up Janne's section into the same close combat!
So now instead of facing five shocked Germans Sabbath's men are suddenly faced with fifteen enemies led by an NCO and a Senior Leader!
The firepower odds are now 21 for the Germans, and 13 for the Danes
The Germans lose four men from Janne's squad, including Janne “himself”, who is knocked out by a grenade explosion. The 2nd platoon squad loses two men and accumulates a huge amount of shock. The German force morale drops two points...
But Sabbath's men and the Danish platoon sergeant are all killed! This is a catastrophe for the Danes' force morale which is reduced six points to two!
The remaining three men from the 2nd platoon squad run away... the German force morale is now at two as well. With both sides' force morales at 2 all that is needed is a little nudge and one side will rout off the table... this could end either way...
The surviving Germans, now close to becoming pinned, move closer to the building in order to get into better cover.
The Danes are however not finished yet. They deploy Alessandro's MMG team to a position where they can shoot at the Germans unimpeded...
Ltn Johan himself joins the MMG crew as they pour fire into the Germans...
Several enemies meet their fates, among them Janne's already unconscious squad leader, whose death sends the German force moral plummeting two points down to 0 – apparently he was loved by his men. The Germans rout!
As they are far from their jump-off points, four Germans are captured by the Danish army, and several others lose their way!
This was a major victory for Ltn Johan's Danish platoon.
Losses for both sides are heavy. The Danes are down 13 men but they still have two units which are recognizable as sections. 1st and 3rd Sections are Sabbath's. 2nd section is Alessandro's. The 4th section NCO has been promoted to platoon sergeant.
Løjtnant Johan's CO's Opinion of him rises from +2 to +4, meaning that he will henceforth direct an additional Support Point to Johan's platoon. His men's Opinion drops to 0 due to the heavy losses. Buyoed by his successes, Johan himself becomes Affable, giving him a +1 to Force Morale rolls.
The Germans. Down 19 men, they have only one section left plus three LMG teams. 1st and 2nd sections are Janne's, 3rd and 4th are Bill's. Four men (two Janne's, two Bill's) are visiting the field hospital but will be back for Game Six. Four of Bill's men are now prisoners of the Danish Army until the end of the campaign. The Germans still have the possibility to change to a fresh platoon at the cost of one Campaign Clock tick
The men's confidence in their leader drops precipitously from +2 to -1. The German Company commander is getting impatient with this situation and his Opinion falls from 0 to -1. The Leutnant is still Content.
Ltn Peters' phone call to Oberfähnrich von Kemp, the 2nd platoon leader in the other village: "This is Peters. About the section you lent me... there are three men left, do you want them back?"
This was one of the most exciting Chain of Command battles ever. This went down to the wire, again, with neither side giving an inch and both commanders willing to take big risks in order to win.
The Campaign Clock is now at 4. The Germans are now gunning for a draw in this campaign.
The campaign continues on Tuesday November the 3rd. Stay tuned for more...
More on April 9:
Game One: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3636
Game Two: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3676
Game Three: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3693
Game Four: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3789
Game Five: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3789
Game Six: http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3900
The minis:
http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=3046
http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=3462
http://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=3690
