Mission #2 - A Coy/RCR Campaign, Sicily to Ortona, Italy, 1943

ChappyNS

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Welcome to Mission #2 of my SASL Campaign! Mission #1 was successful for the Canadians, as they eliminated the shocked Italians from the Pachino airfield in southern Sicily. This next mission will be a new test for the Regiment: different terrain and a new enemy!

This campaign follows the historical path of A Coy, Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) from its landing at Pachino, Sicily, to the bloody streets of “Little Stalingrad” at Ortona, Italy in 1943.

At this point I would like to again thank and give credit to Ahriman667 who put a lot of effort into the research, design and play-testing of this campaign. It is solely his campaign - I have just “borrowed” it. Thanks Ahriman667!

The overall campaign structure for the Canadians are as follows:

Unit: A Coy/RCR/1 CIB

Composition: [US# 38/26] Leader x3, 4-5-7 x9, 2-4-7, 1-2-7 x3, LMG x4, 51mm MTR x3, PIAT x3

• On OFFENCE add 1-2-7x1, MMGx1 [US# 40/28]
• On DEFENCE add 1-2-7x1, HMGx1 [US# 40/28]

ELR: 4

Command structure:

Capt. R.G. Liddell (A Coy Cmd)

Capt Dillon (A Coy 2IC)

Lt M.C.D. Bowman (Pl Cmd)


** Cpl Chapman

**Note: I am additionally using the “Personal Leader Optional Rules” (I think originally found in basic Squad Leader) and so I have added my own personal 7-0 leader to the fray. He gets promoted by securing more elan points (positive actions) than cowardice points (negative actions)

On a personal note, I used to be an officer with the RCR so this campaign holds high interest for me. Additionally, as a student and teacher of military history, I have also visited Sicily and Ortona, in part to help get a better grasp of what our guys went through. Previously in my career, I actually met Captain Dillon (see above), who at the time was serving as our honorary Colonel of the Regiment, and who would be one of the few original regimental officers to survive the war.

If you wish to read more about the Canadians in Sicily/Italy, I highly recommend Mark Zuehlke’s four books.

I hope you enjoy my continued ramblings!

12471



Mission #2 - The Road to Valguernera

Where: Valguernera, Sicily

When: 18 July, 1943

Mission Type: Take the Highway (5)

Enemy: Germans; specifically elements of the 104th Panzer Grenadier Regiment

Historical Narrative:
The next seven days after the landings, the RCR were”…eating dust – breathing dust.” as they pursued the fleeing enemy forces across the island. The Commander of the 1st CIB leap-frogged his battalions through a series of objectives, until finally at Valguarnera the Royals ran into the Germans, engaging them throughout the slopes and wooded knolls. Communications became a problem as the deep ravines and gullies played havoc with the wireless communications of the Regiment; the forward companies would eventually lose contact with their BHQ and thus be unable to call in supporting artillery fire.

On the morning of the 18th, the Royals found themselves situated on a razor-backed ridge, overlooking the road leading eastward into Valguernera. Between them and their objective (Valguernera) lay a series of small hills and knolls and a troublesome enemy platoon that was holding up the advance. At 1030 hrs, the Battalion CO, L.Col. Crowe, decided to put pressure on the Germans by ordering the attack to go ahead, with A Coy leading (B Coy followed closely behind) down the high feature.


SETUP


12472


All three boards are randomly generated, although the two western boards had to be hills and the eastern board had to be a village (boards 15, 2, 12). I have also developed a random overlay generator so you will additionally see a copse of woods, a marsh, a pond, and an open ground hex spread around the three boards. I also generated the suspect locations of the German forces based on the "Take the Highway" mission and based on the shortest road network from the FBE (in this case the southern edges of boards 15 and 2) and the EBE (eastern edge of board 12).

Basically, I have to clear the road network of all suspect counters/Germans before time runs out, probably turn 11 but maybe later. Looking at the map, the longest portion of the road network runs between the two ridges, yet the possible enemy locations are sparse. Near Valguernera, the road network passes through a small village, and Canadian reconnaissance has determined that there is a large enemy presence in this village.

I have determined that I will detach #2 platoon (Capt Dillon/Cpl Chapman) to clear the road between the ridges. Concurrently, #1 platoon (Capt Liddell) and #3 platoon (Lt Bowman) will advance towards the western portion of the village and clear it towards the east. #2 platoon will rejoin A Coy once they have completed their task. Each platoon has a PIAT, at least one LMG, one mortar, and an officer. Capt Liddell has also taken the MMG team with him. Turn #1 will follow hopefully tomorrow...in the meantime, enjoy another view of the battlefield below...

12473
 

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ChappyNS

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TURN 1

12481
It had been hot, dusty week for the Regiment. Moving inland, the terrain was becoming more rocky, dry and climbing ever upward. Roads were really only tracks, if you were lucky enough to have access to one. This potion of Sicily was sparsely populated and hence cross country movement was common.
Capt Dillon took a long swig from his canteen, enjoying the liquid even though the water temperature was very warm. 2 Pl's task was to clear the longest stretch of the road leading to Valguernera. Unfortunately, this portion of the road network was a valley with steep hills on either side of the road. He needed good observation and height advantage for his mortar team, so he dispatched Cpl Chapman (who had displayed good leadership at Pachino airfield) and his mortar team to climb the ridge to the west of the road and fire at targets of opportunity. While he watched the mortar team scramble up the ridge, he directed his platoon to advance northward toward the first intersection where the enemy was no doubt defending. Hopefully this day would go smoothly...
Lt Bowman and his 3 Pl was, like the last mission, placed in the centre of A Coy's advance. The initial advance was easy along the road network, but soon his platoon had to climb up the easternmost ridge towards the village.
Capt Liddell had received a personal congratulation from the CO after the capture of Pachino airfield. It was only a week ago but it seemed like a year had passed. His men were hot and sore - the terrain on this island was so unlike Canada. Here there were no lush fields, no forests, no cottage country with extensive lakes. It was a dust bowl.
The company commander was well aware that the nature of the enemy had changed as well. The Italians had little stomach for this fight, but the Germans were now involved in stiffening the defence and they would be a tough opponent - the 104th Panzer Grenadiers were seasoned veterans. Liddell had most of A Coy under his direct supervision (exception: 2 Pl) and he directed them to advance towards the base of the easternmost ridge. There were plenty of trees to cover the advance towards the village. Other than being extremely hot, the day was sunny and clear, with blue sky in every direction. How would this day end?


TURN 2

12482

Capt Dillon noted that Cpl Chapman had the mortar set up and ready on the ridge to his left, so he sent a rifle section forward to investigate the intersection. The soldiers crept through the trees until they hit a stone wall. As they were preparing to negotiate the wall, small arms fire erupted from the other side of the stone wall across the street. It was accurate and deadly as one soldier was hit in the arm. The section melted away and fled back to the wooden house where Capt Dillon waited for news. Apparently a veteran German NCO was defending the intersection with about 10 soldiers who had an anti-tank rifle in their possession. Dillon ordered the section with the LMG forward to the same wall, where they were ready for the German fire this time. They hunkered down behind the wall and waited for the next plan of action.
Lt Bowman noted the small arms fire that had erupted to his left - he couldn't see anything because of the high ground in between. Like the last mission, he began experiencing difficulty passing his orders on. There was some confusion, yet two of his rifle sections acted independently and moved forward across the lower level of the ridge. Some of the buildings of the village came into view temporarily. Some enemy noted the presence of the advancing Canadians and they abruptly ran to the building across the street, nearest to A Coy.
Capt Liddell and his soldiers were passing through the woods at the base of the ridge when he heard German voices coming from the village - presumably A Coy had been discovered. The jig was up. It was time to get things going. As he moved through the wood, Liddell's signaller said, "Sir, message from higher!" He handed the handset to the company commander. "Shit!" said Liddell. He had received some bad news. Unbeknownst to regimental intelligence, the Germans had reinforcements deployed nearby, and they were now alerted and advancing towards A Coy...

Note: I rolled the RE number for the Germans and there are now 14 x S? counters on their way towards A Coy. I am getting really good at rolling the enemy RE on these missions! See the photo below to see the upcoming problem...yikes!

12483
 

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TURN 3

12485
Capt Liddell grabbed the "Take the Highway" mission card, held it up to the sky and said,"Hey! Creator! You did the enemy reinforcements wrong! There shouldn't be any. Give us a break!" Capt Liddell was correct. After I posted Turn 2, I remembered something about a special rule for this mission when rolling on table A11. You are supposed to subtract 1 from the coloured die. Since there was no real impact so far, I removed all of the S? counters that came onboard as reinforcements last turn. Instead I applied the correct result: the 8-1 German leader has battle hardened to 9-1.

Following that hit to German morale, I rolled the first Canadian RE of this campaign so far. I was able to reduce the number of original S? by a DR (which was a 7). First, I removed all of the S? that gain a benefit to activate, such as height advantage and stone buildings. The next priority were S? that were close to other S?. This was a huge development in favour of the Canadians, but would it be the final decision maker? Back to the battle...


Capt Dillon rallied his soldiers and instructed his leading section at the wall to distract the Germans. Those lead soldiers crept along the stone wall and were successful at drawing the fire of the elite landsers on the opposite side of the street. This was what Dillon was hoping for. He gathered up the remainder of the platoon and began to run past some buildings, scooted across the road, and took up a position to outflank the tenacious enemy guarding the intersection.

Lt Bowman finally got his orders together, and hence coordinated the move of the remainder of 3 Pl to join the leading section. He could see 1 Pl soldiers very close by, to his immediate right. Everyone was trying to use the same cover to enter into the village with the least amount of enemy fire as possible.

Capt Liddell commanded his mortar and MMG teams to engage the German squad in the wooden building to their front. His firebase would probably remain here for awhile since the had cover and good fire positions. Meanwhile, he instructed 1 Pl to move forward left, using the trees and wheat fields as cover. He too climbed the small slope so that he had a good visual of his soldiers. While glancing downward, he noticed that the Bren gun of his lead section had jammed, and the soldiers worked fervently to try and clear the malfunction as soon as possible. Other than this small portion of bad luck, Liddell was very satisfied so far with the progress of A Coy...

 

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TURN 4a (CDN)

12490
Cpl Chapman finally got the mortar team sorted out as they noted the German squad in the wood. Two mortar bombs were fired in rapid succession. Cpl Chapman looked through his binoculars and noted the German commander leap up and start giving orders. Just as he did so, one of the mortar bombs exploded and Chapman noted a burst of blood from the officer's arm and he dropped immediately to the ground while the squad cowered at this unexpected development. Capt Dillon ordered his two camouflaged sections forward into the woods to come to grips with the enemy squad. The Germans fired point blank with no effect as the Canadians suddenly dashed into their location, bayonets fixed. The German officer was seen limping away into the road while his men fought for their lives. But the surprise was complete, and the Canadians annihilated the German squad without loss. The German anti-tank rifle was located and carried by one of the Canadian soldiers - war prize.

Lt Bowman charged forward with his platoon and occupied a tall wooden house, a mere 80 meters from the German squad that was being targeted with mortar bombs and MMG fire. The jammed Bren gun was deemed inoperable and another Bren jammed - a bad day for the LMGs! The A Coy scouts bypassed him and hid behind the hedge to his front. Capt Liddell's men were advancing through the wheat field to his right when suddenly an enemy squad with a MMG and an officer opened fire on them, causing them to flee in panic. This platoon of German infantry would be a hard nut to crack...

TURN 4b (GER)

12491
The recently discovered German officer pointed emphatically at the Coy scouts hiding behind the hedge. The MG42 team fired a long stream of rounds into the hedge causing the scouts to flee to Lt Bowman's wooden house for protection. There was more fire coming from the German platoon but it was ineffective. Capt Liddell had grown tired of the German squad directly in front of him in the house. The MMG and Pl mortar had been firing at them to no avail for a couple of minutes now and still the pesky enemy maintained their composure...until Liddell order the squad with the last operable Bren gun to engage them....the squad broke under fire and crawled into the street behind their house.

Meanwhile, Capt Dillon watched the wounded officer trying to crawl away from his dead men and comrades. Dillon didn't have to give the order: his men targeted the lone figure who refused to surrender and gunned him down. Finally, the first intersection along the road network was now clear and it was time to advance up the road to see if there was some more resistance from the 104th Pz Grenadiers...
 

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TURN 5

12497
Capt Dillon had 2 Pl do a quick search around the intersection, then gathered his troops and they double-timed down a side road, still heading north.

Lt Bowman continued having struggles with his communications, so his platoon remained in place, searching for enemy flank attacks and snipers.

Capt Liddell had the two mortar teams and the MMG engage the Germans in the two houses. Some bombs struck home but did no apparent damage to the enemy. Liddell had two of his rifle sections move forward to the hedge and the now vacant wooden house. The German officer directed the MG42 to engage the soldiers behind the hedge, and once again they broke and fled. The other section with the Bren moved to the hedge and then into the wooden house. They were now the focal point of the advance and all enemy forces were now in their view. Of course, they drew all the fire of the Germans, but the house gave them the protection they needed to keep alive. Liddell rallied the section with the PIAT, while a German sniper caused the MMG team to break and run, leaving the MMG in place.

The Canadian advance into the village had turned into a crawl. They would need something fortunate to happen in the next few minutes to turn the battle back in their favour...
 

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Just sat down and to my joy see this was posted 5 minutes ago. Great timing. Thoroughly enjoying these AARs. You’re a good storyteller. Thanks!
 

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TURN 6

12499
The heat of the day, the exhaustion of the last week, and the fear of death (or worse) finally caught up to the Canadians. Combining this with the confusion of battle meant that Capt Liddell was on his own - his other commanders were unable to get their men going. He saw it happen before and he was sure he would see it again.

Note: 3 out of 4 commanders failed their command DR this turn. And worse, a total of 5 rifle sections also failed their DR after their commanders failed. Pretty much a waste of a turn with one exception...

Liddell ordered both mortars to continue pounding their targets, while the Bren gun section in the wooden house engaged the MG42. The German MG squad realized the close danger they were in and raked the house with more fire, this time convincing the Canadian section to flee from the house and move back to the woods with one of the mortars, where they went to ground and tried to bury themselves in safety.

There was only one section within earshot of the company commander, and he ordered them to do a left flanking on the MG42. They double-timed across the main road network and moved into a wooden house. Meanwhile the mortars continued their fire. The rightmost mortar team were deadly accurate with a bomb. The bomb must have entered a hole in the roof of the building and exploded within. Screaming and yelling, all in German, was heard coming from that house. The German squad had had enough, and they fled into the larger stone building to their rear where the other broken German squad was hiding. The German officer knew that this was an important time for him to act and heal the cracked line of defence that had been created. He left the MG42 and zig-zagged at full speed across the street and into the large stone building. He was pissed, and he was going to tear a strip off of his soldiers...

Liddell, although highly frustrated, noted that he had two tactical opportunities open up for him: the first, he now had soldiers across the street and they would be able to approach the MG42 with tons of cover; the second, another German squad had left their defensive positions, leaving some blind spots for his soldiers to advance. Would they follow this time?
 

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TURN 7a (CDN)

This would be a significant and positive turn of events from the Canadian perspective

12513
Capt Dillon and 2 Pl advanced cautiously to the second intersection. The wooden house overlooking the intersection had smoke coming out of the chimney, but there was no visible activity. He ordered a section to cautiously advance to the house. They crept up to the windows, tossed in a grenade, and waited for the explosion. As soon as the grenade detonated, they ran inside the house, spraying the contents of the rooms with small arms fire. But there was nobody home. Clearly, soldiers of the 104th were recently here, but they had withdrawn, and by the looks of it, they had withdrawn recently and hastily. Dillon was happy...intersection number two - clear!

Meanwhile, at the village (see above) Capt Liddell was happy that his soldiers were following orders this time. The mortars continued their unrelenting bombing of the enemy, hoping to keep their heads down. A Coy scouts charged forward towards the large stone building where the German officer was trying (without success) to rally his broken soldiers. As the scouts ran at full speed across the street, the MG42 team opened fire, but the scouts were quicker and they evaded the deadly MG. They moved into the stone building and came face to face with the broken enemy soldiers, who promptly crawled into the street, accompanied by their frustrated officer who was berating them constantly.

Capt Liddell ordered Lt Bowman to take control of the firebase, then ordered two sections to occupy the much fought over hedge and wooden house to the front. As they moved into their positions, they drew more fire from the MG42 team, again with no effect. Liddell then ordered 3 Pl, with a section of 1 Pl, to charge across the street while the MG42 was busy. He accompanied them as they charged across the street and entered the main stone building adjacent to the main road network. Liddell now had 40 angry Canadian soldiers a mere 50 meters from the MG42 team...

TURN 7b (GER)

12514
Leutnant Zoll was exasperated by the unresponsive nature of his platoon, and fully realized the impending doom of his situation if he didn't do something quickly. He was positioned in the middle of the street with Canadians closing in around him. He started kicking members of the squad who were considered elite, but they would have none of it. He next turned to the other squad, fired a burst from his MP-40 into the paved street, and watched with incredulity as the squad jumped to their feet, screamed obscenities at the Canadians, and charged the Canadian scouts in the stone building. The tired scouts were swarmed and surprised at close range by the berserk Germans, who eliminated all of the scouts brutally in hand to hand combat.

Liddell's two rifle sections at the hedge and house, one with the only serviceable Bren gun, spied the German officer trying to rally his troops. They then noted about ten Germans who jumped up suddenly and charged into the building and out of sight. But there was still a squad in the street. They poured accurate small arms fire into their location and noticed that one by one the Germans were riddled with rounds and failed to move anymore. Miraculously, the German officer was spared, although he fled into the building to his rear.

Liddell knew his scouts were doomed and cursed under his breath. He saw the officer flee away from his eliminated squad, and so Liddell focused on the MG42 team to his front, who had just sprayed his building with bullets. Liddell had a lot of firepower at his disposal, and the MG42 team broke and left their gun behind as they crawled away from the Canadians and towards the German Leutnant who lay cowering in the house. Other than losing the scouts, this past two minutes had been extremely successful, and Liddell was not about to let the Germans have any breathing room. He raised his arm high and issued the order, "A Coy....charge!!!!"
 

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TURN 8a (CDN)

12532
Capt Dillon advanced 2 Pl further up the road on the way to Valguernera. He remembered the company commander's orders group: there was now only one more intersection between 2 Pl and the village with suspect German activity. He deployed the platoon and moved up the road where there was a copse of woods covering the intersection. Fortunately there was no fire coming from those trees, and 2Pl had now cleared the third and final intersection point along the main road network. Check! He radioed Capt Liddell and informed him that his mission was complete, and that 2 Pl was on the way to help.

For the remainder of A Coy in the village, the order was to charge. On the extreme left, the one section from 3 Pl charged forward and dashed into the stone house. As soon as they occupied the windows on the other side of the house, they drew fire from a German squad that was previously unknown. Note: this was the last at-start suspect counter eliminated. No new surprises unless the Germans get an RE.

Liddell's elite section with the PIAT stormed across the street and occupied the MG42 position. They found the gun laying there, still smoking from the large number of rounds fired from it. The evidence was there: a small mound of empty casings. The section commander ordered the gun to be taken and aimed towards the house where the German officer had fled. The other elite squad in A Coy jumped over the infamous hedge and ran down the street. They ducked into the stone building where the scouts had been slain, intent on some revenge...

TURN 8b (GER)

12533
Leutnant Zoll got a grip on himself and shook off the fear that had gripped his mind. He was angry at himself, a veteran of the Russian front no less, and here he was cowering in front of his troops. His personal energy in regaining himself poured into the squad that was broken with him in the house and they too grabbed their weapons and took up firing positions in the windows. They noticed the Canadians turning the MG42 around to face them. Zoll quickly gave his squad the fire order, and rounds poured into the MG nest causing the Canadians to break and do nothing but hug the ground for their lives. Zoll next looked to his front left where the berserk squad had eliminated the scouts. They fought at close range, firing point blank at the Canadians with little effect. The Canadians fired back, killing half of the Germans there and exacting some revenge. The remaining Germans fled into the graveyard and on into another house.
Zoll wanted his MG42 back, and he would do his best to make that happen...
 

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TURN 9a (CDN)

12543
Capt Dillon and 2 Pl were moving down the road at a slow run. They rounded a bend and there was the village in plain view. They could see A Coy about 200 meters up the road, firing and being fired upon. Dillon was hoping he could get there in time to support the other platoons.

Capt Liddell was encouraged to see his section with the MG42 regain their composure and take the gun under control again. He gave fire orders to his mortars and most of the company but other than keeping some enemy heads down there was no noticeable effect. He wasn't winning the firefight, so he decided to move some of his men forward. He had two sections in his location, so he ordered one section to assault move into the street adjacent to the MG42 team, followed by the two section. The men moved out of the building and proceeded to move. Meanwhile, the PIAT section in the wooden house ran forward and joined the elite squad in the large stone building, moving upstairs to the next level.

Leutnant Zoll saw about 10 Canadians assaulting into the street. He ordered his squad to fire and the Canadians broke and fled. A second group of enemy did the same thing and again his squad fired accurately, killing half of the second group and also forcing them to flee back where they came. He smiled...perhaps his platoon could hold on after all.

Capt Liddell closed his eyes and hung his head low...that assault was a disaster. There were dead Canadians in the street and the remainder were in his location, terrified about what had just happened. To make matters worse, the elusive German sniper had struck again, and again broke the MMG team. He could really use 2 Pl soon...

TURN 9b (GER)

12544
Leutnant Zoll was happy to see the half squad near the cemetery rally themselves. He gave fire orders for the whole platoon but there was no effect on the advancing Canadians. He noticed the Canadian officer trying to rally his men but after the last successful volley in the street, Zoll saw that there was no moving them, which was a major bonus.

The mortars continued their work, at least keeping the Germans honest. Liddell watched his MG42 section arm their PIAT, take aim at the wooden house, and fire it. Up until now, no PIAT bombs had hit their intended target, but this one crashed against the wooden walls of the house and exploded, blowing a large hole in the building and forcing the Germans inside to exit the rear of the building and out into the street. The German officer joined them, leaving yet another building vacant. Liddell had yet another opportunity to press the initiative and deal a blow to the enemy.

TURN 10a (CDN)

12545
Capt Dillon was having problems with his radio, so he stopped and yelled, "Cpl Chapman, take the platoon forward!" Chapman wasted no time rushing 2 Pl up the street and into the stone building, noting that he was one room over from Capt Liddell. Chapman deployed half of the platoon upstairs, with the other half at ground level.

After some unsuccessful fire fighting, Capt Liddell ordered the mortars forward, since their target had moved back behind the house. Liddell ordered another section forward to take the vacant house, but the half-squad near the cemetery had other ideas and broke the section in the street, causing them to run back into the stone building. Not much had been accomplished, but now 2 Pl was here, and that was a lot more firepower that could be brought to bear on the enemy!

TURN 10b (GER)

12546
Leutnant Zoll once again rallied his soldiers - he had lost track of how many times he had done this. The question was: how long could he keep this up? Once again all of his platoon engaged the enemy, but he had few guns and the Canadians were in good cover. It would be almost impossible to make any headway to prevent the use of the road network, and it was getting late in the day. Zoll also noticed the arrival of another full platoon of Canadians - the situation looked very bleak for his own platoon
 

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ENDGAME

Leutnant Zoll could hear the enemy tanks and trucks in the distance, getting ever closer. This was going to be a major assault on Valguernera and he and his men could do little to stop it except waste their lives for nothing. It was time to warn higher HQ and more importantly, to fight another day. Zoll gave his depleted platoon the hand signal to withdraw; everyone fired a last prolonged burst in the enemy's direction and then slipped quickly away to Valguernera proper.

Capt Liddell read the intentions of his withdrawing enemy, but he and his men were spent. Nine of their friends would not be eating rations and telling stories with the company tonight. However, they succeeded in clearing the road network, and he watched as the remainder of the Regiment arrived by truck without incident (thanks to A Coy), dismounted, and advanced towards Valguernera.

"Lt Bowman, front and centre now!" The startled officer ran over to his company commander. "Sir!" Liddell looked him up and down with a snarl on his face, then broke into a smile and said, "Congratulations Mr. Bowman, you have been promoted to 1st Lieutenant. You will procure some bottles of Italian red wine tonight and ensure the company officers get some. Understand?" Bowman's eyes lit up and he thanked his company commander before running off to give his platoon the good news Promoted! 7-0 to 8-0 so his command control will be better.

There was only one turn left (with a chance to extend the game by a turn, but unlikely) and the Germans were boxed in by the entire company and really unable to improve upon their mission to control road network hexes any better. So the Germans did the right thing and withdrew. I gave them the proper VPs as if they were still in their current positions.


VICTORY POINTS

German: Casualty VPs (2) and 1 VP for each unbroken unit within 4 hexes of the road (5) = Total 7 VPs

Canadian: 1/2 VP for every contiguous road hex controlled from FBE
and NOT within normal range and LOS of unbroken enemy. 42 road hexes controlled = Total 21 VPs

Canadian victory!

Canadian Losses: two HS equivalent were killed (one in H-t-H combat by the berserk Germans; one as a casualty MC result "12") but only the H-t-H casualty is considered "eliminated from OB". I randomly generated a replacement HS, but unfortunately it is 2nd line (2-3-7)

Canadian promotions: Lt Bowman was randomly selected and earned promotion to 1Lt, now an 8-0 leader. Cpl Chapman gained 3 more elan points using the personal leader optional rules (total now 8) and he will need two more points to be promoted to Sergeant.

Seasoning: one section gained battle hardening to elite (4-5-8), so now one full platoon (1st Pl) are considered elite

THOUGHTS


This one could have been worse but the Canadians had some help with ER#15 which allowed me to remove 7 x S? from the board. The Germans are tough. If you look at their G2 (Squad roll) and G3 (leader roll) in 8/1943 (at this time), they both get a -1 DRM. Additionally, on the G3 chart, the leader gets an additional -1 DRM if the German squad you just generated is elite, and the chances of that are common - a DR of 6 or less!

For the second time this campaign, I had to detach a platoon to complete a different geographical part of the mission. I don't like dividing the company up like that, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and accept what mission limitations you are given.

Command Control is so important. Again, during one turn, 3 of my 4 leaders failed their DR, and an additional 5 sections failed their DR as well - virtually the entire Coy was frozen in time. Additionally, I had a hard choice during this battle: do I always move the leader with the troops (2 hex range for Cmd Control) or do I need the leader to rally the troops and thus fall behind and out of Cmd Control range? The usual choice is to keep up with the soldiers, but twice in this battle the Canadians suffered several breaks in one turn, and a leader was needed to rally them as quickly as possible. Tough choices! But I am sure you guys have already discovered this when playing SASL.

RANDOM STUFF

Between both battles so far, the PIATs have been fired about a dozen times with only one hit so far - and it was during this battle.

No Canadian sniper has been activated yet, although axis snipers have been activated 4 times (yes they are on the defence and get a slightly higher SAN, but hey!)

Two Bren guns malfunctioned this battle, and both of them were eliminated with a "6" roll to repair. Thankfully, both are considered retained for the campaign.

My Canadians failed many more NMC than they passed during this battle. It got to the point where I would drop the dice into the dice tower and say "Broken!" before I saw the result :) I am just going to attribute that to a long, hot, dusty week on rocky, hilly terrain!

Mortars rock! Even the "baby mortars" when your chance to get a result is modified by a +1 or +2, if they fire enough with ROF something good is bound to happen once in awhile!


Thanks for reading. I know there are no exciting computer graphics with explosions, etc, so keeping this narrative interesting (at least somewhat?) is a challenge.

The Canadians are 2 for 2, but they have a long way to go. Their next battle will be for Nissoria, Sicily using the mission: "Cautious Advance". Thanks again!



 

BigAl737

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Your narrative is fantastic. A very fun read. No need for computer graphic explosions and sfx. I make my own explosion visuals and machine gun sfx as I read along. And my heart dropped when I thought there was a German company and more coming down the road early on. I’m hooked...I’m really pulling for the company in their next mission. Replace the scope on the sniper rifle and press on Captain o7
 

ChappyNS

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Your narrative is fantastic. A very fun read. No need for computer graphic explosions and sfx. I make my own explosion visuals and machine gun sfx as I read along. And my heart dropped when I thought there was a German company and more coming down the road early on. I’m hooked...I’m really pulling for the company in their next mission. Replace the scope on the sniper rifle and press on Captain o7
Thanks Big Al!

The scope seems to be ok on the sniper rifle, but I need to stop the sniper from eating hard tack biscuits during the advance :)
 

tommyl

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Love reading these! Wish I could weave as good a narrative. I'm currently doing a SASL campaign with a British Company. My current mission is in Sicily as well. If you have access to Chapter F, consider using the Olive grove (13.5) and Vineyard (13.6) terrain modifications.
 

ChappyNS

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Love reading these! Wish I could weave as good a narrative. I'm currently doing a SASL campaign with a British Company. My current mission is in Sicily as well. If you have access to Chapter F, consider using the Olive grove (13.5) and Vineyard (13.6) terrain modifications.
Thank you! And that is a great recommendation about the terrain modifications...I will definitely consider that, maybe make a random roll depending on where geographically I am in the campaign.
 
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