Not too long ago, after my Rangers had scouted the Italians' forward positions near Ponte Dirillo and tested their strength (Rangers Lead the Way: US Forces push out of Gela at Ponte Dirillo), the time had come to launch a breakthrough into the defenders' lines with armored support (playing the "Attack and Defend" mission).
A fresh platoon of Darby's Rangers advanced to the attack, supported by an M5 Light Tank and an M8 "Scott" HMC and their patrols soon encountered the Italian outposts, which were identified as belonging to the 4e divisione "Livorno".
The battlefield from the perspective of the advancing Rangers; in the upper left, within the northern sector, the first houses of Ponte Dirillo can be seen.
The "Livorno" patrols try to prevent the Rangers from getting too close to Ponte Dirillo and also aim to deny them the farmstead in the foreground as a secure starting point for their attacks. Consequently, the Ranger patrols work their way forward along the flanks within the plantations.
Both Ranger squads have deployed and immediately take heavy casualties—primarily from the Livorno squad stationed north of the farmstead. Meanwhile, a second Italian squad advances through the date plantation and manages to capture the Rangers' Jump Off Point (JoP) there. However, they are forced to retreat back into the cover of the palms shortly afterward to escape the "Scott's" HE shells. Simultaneously, the M5 succeeds in capturing the Livorno JoP located south of the farmstead.
The "Scott" advances to the edge of the date plantation and covers the Italians with high-explosive fire, yet the following Ranger squad still has to take further losses.
Another Livorno squad advances toward the date plantation to support their already heavily depleted comrades and trying to get the attention of the Rangers.
But it is too late. The Rangers seize the initiative (rolling a double phase), unleash a volley from their Garands followed by a hail of hand grenades, and storm the Italian position, backed by the fire of the "Scott." The Sergente is unluckily clipped on the helmet by a shell fragment and loses consciousness, while the Italian soldiers press themselves deep into every available fold in the ground to escape the firestorm (Pinned). The charging Rangers prove to be too much, and the survivors raise their hands and surrender—for them, the war is over.
Another overview of the situation.
The victorious Rangers dig into the position of the defeated Livorno squad to prepare for a potential counterattack by the fresh squad. However, the Livorno platoon's Tenente—now wounded himself—orders a retreat and is forced to abandon Ponte Dirillo.
Conclusion
As so often, the Patrol Phase tells a story of its own that no other rule system can replicate. You almost never just march onto the table edges and advance toward each other; instead, as seen in this game once again, you suddenly find yourself playing across the narrow flanks. This ensures that no two games are ever alike, even if you were to set up the terrain identically every single time.
The subsequent fight was extremely costly for both sides. Thanks to the Chain of Command points system, it was characterized by a high degree of movement and never degenerated into a static war of attrition, despite the dense terrain that might suggest otherwise.
Ultimately, fortune favored me because Max became laser-focused on capturing my JoP in the date plantation—at that point, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the mission objective of capturing one of the two object markers myself and if he had played a waiting game I would had to go over to the attack and this would have failed I´m very sure.
His impetous attack gave me the chance to defeat him piecemeal and grind down his Force Moral. I was further aided by some terrible dice luck on Max's part, as his leaders were wounded one after another, including one of his two Senior Leaders. Combined with the loss of one of his JoPs, it simply became too much to handle after a while.
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