Mission #3 - A Coy/RCR Campaign, Sicily to Ortona, Italy, 1943

[BigAl737]

While the Canadians were fortunate with their smoke DRs, so too were the Germans by not suffering ammunition shortage. It’d be interesting to replay this assault with the mortars smoke depleted and see a very different result. That would make for an interesting Journal article (in fact, so would this entire campaign AAR). It’s nice when your plan in ASL works out. But I see you’re not done yet. I don’t know where all those Germans were hiding (I’m guessing there’s no SASL rule to spawn them in foxholes) but they’re still a force to be reckoned with.

These threads are excellent Mark. I’m getting more and more motivated to play this game again.

 

[ChappyNS]

While the Canadians were fortunate with their smoke DRs, so too were the Germans by not suffering ammunition shortage. It’d be interesting to replay this assault with the mortars smoke depleted and see a very different result. That would make for an interesting Journal article (in fact, so would this entire campaign AAR). It’s nice when your plan in ASL works out. But I see you’re not done yet. I don’t know where all those Germans were hiding (I’m guessing there’s no SASL rule to spawn them in foxholes) but they’re still a force to be reckoned with.

These threads are excellent Mark. I’m getting more and more motivated to play this game again.

Thanks for your comments Al! And I hope you do get re-motivated to play SASL and get some AARs up here I am now fully convinced that VASL is the way to go with SASL. I may have to start dressing up the photos with arrows, circles, text, etc

With reference to the "hiding" Germans, you know it's bad when you roll for the first of two S? counters in one hex and you get: S, S, L ...ouch.

I noticed two things I have to correct: I have to remove one of the acquisition counters because you don't acquire with smoke, and the smoke fired from the mortar in the DFPh (on German hex L5) is dispersed smoke, not full +3...only +3 smoke in PFPh!

 

[dlazov]

Cheering the Canucks along by this Yankee!

 

[Eagle4ty]

Thanks for your comments Al! And I hope you do get re-motivated to play SASL and get some AARs up here I am now fully convinced that VASL is the way to go with SASL. I may have to start dressing up the photos with arrows, circles, text, etc

With reference to the "hiding" Germans, you know it's bad when you roll for the first of two S? counters in one hex and you get: S, S, L ...ouch.

I noticed two things I have to correct: I have to remove one of the acquisition counters because you don't acquire with smoke, and the smoke fired from the mortar in the DFPh (on German hex L5) is dispersed smoke, not full +3...only +3 smoke in PFPh!

Oh yeah, been using VASL for years to do SASL (kind of miss pushing counters around though).

 

[ChappyNS]

TURN 4a (CDN)

I am doing this turn non-narrative as well since so many things are going on that need detail

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No juicy Cdn RE this turn either! Failed self-rally attempt for PIAT section, and German HS fails to rally as well, but the Ger 468 discovers the Inf gun and mans it...uh oh
PFPh - At the start of the PFPh, the dispersed smk in L5 is gone, and the other 4 hexes flip to dispersed smk (+2). Mortars A and B try to fire smk into L5 again...Mor A runs out of smk but Mor B succeeds, this time placing +3 white smoke! This is huge as you will see soon. The section in N3 who is CX, will OP fire (and therefore lose one plus DRM in the AFPh)
Movement! The section in O4 assault moves into the smk in N3, causing the Inf Gun to fire. The ammo shortage finally comes to my advantage and the gun malfunctions! Next, Cpl Chapman moves to the broken section in J2 while Capt Liddell moves to the brush in K3. The scouts race to the right in cover, then climb onto the hill but are ignored with everything else that is coming at the Germans.
DFPh - the 8-1 stack has a self-preservation fire order at concealed stack in L3 but there is no effect. In L5, the squad not in foxholes tries to dig their own but fail.
AFPh - the OP fire section fails to impact the Inf gun crew
Adv! - 2 Pl concealed stack in M3 advances into inf gun hex...CC! Scouts advance to K5 which is key.
CC - ambush! Concealed, ambush and with 3-1 odds, the Canadians easily slay the 468 gun crew and therefore maintain their concealment...also key. The pic above is the end of the Cdn turn.


TURN 4b (GER)

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No RE for the Germans and they again fail to rally that HS. Cpl Chapman rallies the PIAT section. Yay!
PFPh - 8-1 stack again has self-preservation fire order and this time with two adjacent targets they use spray fire...spray and concealed are halved FP and halved again (then doubled for PB) but there is no effect. And since the scouts advanced to K5, L5 (Kessel) now has a self-preservation fire order but they are firing out of +4 smk and the scouts pass their Pin DR.
DFPh - check this out. The scouts fire first on the 8-1 stack, no effect but they could have. At the opposite hexside, 2 Pl becomes unconcealed and fires with 32 FP at the 8-1 stack. The average roll generates a 3MC! Also, the Germans are now considered to be encircled with one less morale. With this tragedy, the entire stack (8-1, 2 x 548,1 x 467) breaks easily! Sweet! Next all three mortars fire HE at L5 but nothing but acquisition. The two sections in N4 also fire at L5 with no effect.
Rout - the encircled Germans MUST surrender! One section in 2Pl are now guarding them (too bad I don't get any VP for them). This is a huge blow to the Germans and the second VPO hex now lies free.


Well, that is one way to skin a cat. As you can see, the combination of smoke, concealment, and encirclement is a deadly thing.

I must say, this goes against the "stack rule" of not stacking lol. But it is working! And honestly, if I didn't stack in this situation I highly doubt I would have near the same results. Normally I only stack like this for safe movement with a leader out of LOS. In real life, if I had squished my entire platoon into a 40 metre space, my company commander would have raked me over the coals. Normally we spread out so that indirect fire won't take out the entire sub-unit. But again, in this situation, it works amazingly well. Thoughts?

The mission isn't over yet! But with 6 turns remaining and the backbone of the Germans being crushed, I am hoping the Canucks are successful. But sometimes the war gods step in and throw a wrench into everything...sometimes...

 

[ChappyNS]

TURN 5

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Through a choking smoke cloud, Gefreiter Kessel looked on with grim helplessness at the surrender of his company commander and a platoon of landsers. So quickly the Canadians had surrounded the commander - he had no choice but to lay down his arms. And now, Kessel realized that he was next. Kessel looked down the hill at his friend, Neubauer, who had again failed at getting those five soldiers back in action. More failure. The smoke was beginning to become thinner and suddenly his position was being riddled with MG rounds and random mortar bombs exploding all around. His men took cover in their foxholes while the men without those precious hiding places hugged the ground wherever they could for protection. Suddenly, the amount of firepower directed at him tripled in intensity and he was done. And so was his squad in the holes. They quickly jumped out of their holes and went running downhill. As Kessel was running towards his friend, a bright red spray emanated from the back of his friend's skull and the soldiers who were with him ran away in separate directions (the first Canadian sniper attack kills the leader and the HS with a random selection roll of 5, 5). Kessel and his men dove for the trees, terror engulfing their minds.

Meanwhile, Capt Liddell ordered 1 Platoon to creep forward. He knew the firebase was dealing out deadly fire, and he was going to take advantage of it. 1 Platoon, the elite of A Coy, suddenly jumped into the enemy's location. They Germans were caught totally surprised, and they were quickly dispatched by the Canadians, leaving behind a MG34 for capture. Liddell's first of three objectives had been cleared, and now he just had to hold it.

Capt Dillon ordered the thirty or so prisoners of war to be transferred to 3 Platoon, for Bowman's platoon was once again acting as firebase as well as charged with holding this objective. Dillon also ordered the infantry gun destroyed as a grenade was thrown down the barrel. (2 VPs!!)

Kessel summoned his internal strength, and with anger and determination, he grasped his MP40 and jumped into action. He had had enough of this bad situation - it was time to turn things around! (Kessel battle hardened to 8-0 on a self rally roll of "2")

1Lt Bowman was ahead of the game. He looked through his binoculars at the other peak, some 200 meters away. He ordered the MMG and all three mortar teams to engage the small wood at the top of the hill. As the mortar bombs dropped and exploded, he noticed about ten Germans trying to take cover. He relayed the information to the company commander, who ordered him to keep up the suppression for phase two of the mission...

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[ChappyNS]

TURN 6

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The smoke finally disappeared on top of the southernmost peak, and 3 Pl had orders to replace 1 Pl on the objective. 1 and 2 Pls would be on the move north, using cover to advance to the northernmost peak on this hill feature.

1Lt Bowman got to work with the mortars again. Knowing the Germans were hiding in the trees, the mortar bombs began to drop incessantly. One was so well placed that it blasted the enemy squad to pieces (rolled a "2" with a -1 TEM for the woods). Next the mortars focussed on another suspected location - the olive grove. But after a couple of bombs it was determined that there were no enemy there (S? was a dud). Since there were now no targets, the MMG team was ordered to pack up and move with the assaulting platoons. Cpl Chapman was leading 2 Pl, while Capt Dillon was with Capt Liddell and 1 Pl, having a conversation on what was to happen next. Meanwhile, Bowman's 3 Pl moved into the German foxholes and secured the objective on top of the hill.

Gefreiter Kessel had pleaded with his soldiers, and now they had finally listened. They gathered up their gear and awaited his plan. Suddenly, there were two "whoosh" sounds as German mortar bombs flew overhead and impacted to the north and west. (although there was no ENEMY RE rolled, the special rules for this mission state that every ENEMY PFPh if a 31-33 is rolled, there is a mortar mission(s). I rolled two German 81mm FFE:1s. Fantastic!)

Narrative time out. So...S8.71 says that each must be placed on the two biggest stacks closest to EBE, minimum US# of three. Therefore, the first FFE:1 was hex L5, and the second was L4. The one in L5 corrected to R8. Now here is where it gets confusing. Rule S8.73 says: "AUTOMATIC CANCELLATION: An ENEMY FFE is automatically cancelled before resolution (even if just corrected) if the US# sum of ENEMY units within its blast area is greater than the US# sum of FRIENDLY units." There are no ENEMY units, but there are 6 x S? in the blast area. So if the blast activates the Germans (and may also injure them), then there are in fact Germans there, which means the FFE:1 would have been cancelled before the resolution happened! It is a "what comes first, the chicken or the egg" scenario. I have ruled that the FFE is cancelled since the Germans could be there (especially since it is also a VPO location). What do you guys think about this one?

The other FFE in L4 corrected off board and so it is cancelled too. Whew, I narrowly escaped that one!

Kessel wanted to exact some revenge and retake the objective. The squad commander took him aside and said, "Gefreiter, there is no way we can charge uphill against a company of enemy dug in and using our foxholes. We will be slaughtered! You must change your mind!" Kessel calmed down...his blood was up, but the squad commander made sense. "Men, dig in and prepare for the Canadian assault!" Once more the spades started clanging against the rocky soil, and the men were so far unsuccessful...

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[dlazov]

Not quite sure of the FFE ruling, but poor Kessel needs all the help he can get, lol...where is the Gebirgsjägers or Fallschirmjägers??? Lol

 

[ChappyNS]

Not quite sure of the FFE ruling, but poor Kessel needs all the help he can get, lol...where is the Gebirgsjägers or Fallschirmjägers??? Lol

the Fallschirmjagers will be in the finale of this campaign - Ortona...you can bet on it....Ortona became known as "Little Stalingrad" for a good reason. Lots of fighting before that though!

 

[ChappyNS]

Not quite sure of the FFE ruling, but poor Kessel needs all the help he can get, lol...where is the Gebirgsjägers or Fallschirmjägers??? Lol

Do you see what I mean though diazo? The enemy know where their own troops are. So if they drop arty on suspect counters that turn into their own troops, then that violates the rule (and hammers their own comrades) , and that is why I eliminated the FFE

 

[Eagle4ty]

Ran into that may times. I just changed to FFE HE to Smoke (hey, maybe the ENEMY was contemplating pulling back). However, there is an old army saying, "feces occur".

 

[tommyl]

I agree with eliminating the FFE. S? are still ENEMY units per the Terms and Definitions (although I have no idea what their US# would be).

Another idea would be to just place a spotting round and then randomly correct till the FFE blast area would include a Canadian unit.

 

[dlazov]

Still mulling this over, but the comparison of FRIENDLY to ENEMY Unit Size # does not count S? counters. S? are not known, what I can ascertain is you only check for known enemy units.

 

[ChappyNS]

Ran into that may times. I just changed to FFE HE to Smoke (hey, maybe the ENEMY was contemplating pulling back). However, there is an old army saying, "feces occur".

hahaha yes that is hilarious That's an interesting idea to change the HE to Smoke. I think I will do that next time

 

[ChappyNS]

I agree with eliminating the FFE. S? are still ENEMY units per the Terms and Definitions (although I have no idea what their US# would be).

Another idea would be to just place a spotting round and then randomly correct till the FFE blast area would include a Canadian unit.

The fact that there was no Canadian units even near the FEE (yet there were 6 x S?) made this an easy call. Now just imagine if there were Canadian units mixed with S?....that would be a challenge. This is worthy of a judgement call by a SASL creator, unless it has already been ironed out somewhere

 

[ChappyNS]

TURN 7

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Not much happened this turn. It was basically a move turn for A Coy. A minimum of 3 turns remain but will probably end on turn 10.

 

[BigAl737]

You need Paul Weir to compute the average US# of a suspect counter

 

[daniel zucker]

a S? is the same as a concealment counter, i.e. a regular ? counter when playing ASL, for LOS spotting when directing OBA

 

[ChappyNS]

You need Paul Weir to compute the average US# of a suspect counter

sorry but that one was lost on me

 

[Paul M. Weir]

Me too!