Saturday was the day again: we met for another game of Big CoC at my home - the scenario was ‘Attack on an Objective’.
Max took over a platoon of the 2nd US Armoured ‘Hell on Wheels’, which was supported by a troop of 3 Shermans.
Opposite them was a platoon of the Italian ‘Livorno’ led by Daniel and a troop of Semovente 75/18 led by me; the company commander had also assigned us an FOO from an 81mm mortar battery.
After the Allies had landed, the US Armoured were able to take up position in a small village near Piano Lupo and waited for reinforcements to be able to hold the approach to the landing zone.
The ‘Livorno’, on the other hand, had orders to clear this village at all costs to enable the troops following them to attack the landing zones at Gela.
Both sides sent patrols ahead (Patrol Phase), during which the Americans succeeded in pushing the ‘Livorno’ off one of the roads and confining it to a fairly small part of the battlefield.
The battlefield in the early morning
A US patrol enjoys what the cellar and fruit trees have to offer (Jump Off Point)
One of the Italian squads begins its advance from the small farmstead ...
and the FOO wants to use the ridge to direct the fire of the 81mm mortar battery ...
Unfortunately, he is discovered and a few explosive grenades from a suddenly appearing Sherman later he pays for his carelessness with his life.
However, the crew, including the squad leader, cannot boast of their success for long - the approaching Semoventis take him out with a few well-aimed volleys.
All that remains is a burning wreck
Italian infantry on the advance, supported by Semoventes.
The apple tree orchard protects the further advance of the Italians from the LMG salvos of the Americans from the village.
In the firefight between the 3 Semoventes and the remaining 2 Shermans, the latter lose out - while the Semoventes suffer only light hits resulting in some shock, from which the crews quickly recover, another Sherman is blown up and the other has to retreat from the battlefield at all..
The Americans try to alleviate the growing pressure on the village by advancing on the Italian flank.
While the infantry squads of the ‘Livorno’ prepare to encircle the village.
The Semoventi split up - 2 support the attack on the village by firing explosive grenades at the occupied houses, while another Semovente, together with the squad remaining in the farmstead, takes the US infantry advancing on the flank under fire.
As a result, the losses of this squad rise sharply and its advance comes to a halt.
After the remaining bazooka team has also been taken out by the Italians, the commander of the US Armoured Platoon orders his troops to evacuate the village and retreat - with no way of stopping the Italian assault guns, defeat is only a matter of time now.
This brought an exciting game to an end, in which Daniel was able to bring his Italian infantry forwards with excellent coordination and put Max under pressure again and again with his US Boys, without any major losses of his own.
And this despite the fact that he has only played a few CoC games!
To be honest, we also had luck on our side - while the Shermans mostly only managed to score ‘equal hits’, we had ‘the pope in our pocket’ when rolling the dice and his Shermans burst like his hopes of victory 😅
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