Max and I used our monthly CoC game last Saturday to further refine our self-designed scenario.
It is roughly based on a reconnaissance-in-force in which a central object has to be captured - in our case a farm dominating an important crossroads.
A normal patrol phase is played, followed by a reconnaissance phase of variable duration in which only light troops, scouts and motorised squads may be deployed, the number of which is secretly determined by both players (but the more troops are deployed, the more difficult it becomes to bring reinforcements into play).
All other troops then appear in the normal game following this phase.
Max took over a platoon of US Parachute Infantry (Elite), which was reinforced by a squad of Goumiers and a 57mm Anti-Tank gun.
Opposite them was a platoon of Fucilieri of the ‘Livorno’, reinforced by a squadra esploratori, a squad of Brixia mortars, a FIAT 3000 and a SPA AS.37, in which one of the Livorno squads embarked, and I had also allowed myself a Red Dice ... 2 wasted support points, as it turned out ...
The farm that needs to be secured
The Battlefield, the Italians will enter it from this side.
Just another small village on Sicily.
My squadra esploratori could enter the farm first even though it had to take its first losses.
First squad of the US Paras take defennsive position at the edge of an Olivie grove.
While a squad Fucilieri disembarked from their transport and entered some buildings within the village and not to soon, as just a few moments later a squad of Goumiers appears.
Suddenly a bazooka team of the Paras appears and the transporter turns into a smoking wreck.
After another squad of Paras is deployed, devastating crossfire hails down on the isolated squad of Italians in the farm and the losses take on disastrous proportions.
My squad of Brixia mortars ...
... in combination with a squad of Fucilieri was able to distract one of the enemy squads and inflict heavy losses on it,
but could not prevent the attack on the few remaining defenders of the farm by the other squad of Paras.
The Paras try to mitigate the fire of the mortars with smoke grenades.
The farm has been captured by the Paras, the commander of the Italians has fallen together with the defending squad and the rest of the platoon is now hastily retreating from the battlefield.
Conclusion:
The Red Dice failed me completely, only once it showed a usable two - otherwise the whole game only fives/sixes, exactly the two numbers that don't count with it ...
Above all, however, I made some fatal mistakes and therefore deserved to lose:
I should have let the motorised Fucilieri squad disembark at the farm instead of sending them into the village.
This would have allowed me to better mitigate the losses and hold the farm together with the scout squad, but above all it would not have been completely isolated there, as was the case in the village.
Because of this isolated position, I was forced to activate the squad in the village at all times - on the one hand to reduce shock, which accumulated over time, and on the other to be able to return fire from the Goumiers and the bazooka team.
And in the end, it were exactly these orders that I lacked elsewhere, for example to bring my reinforcements into play.
Max, on the other hand, played it smart, focussed his fire on the few defenders in the farm and therefore deserved his victory.
Congratulations!
