A taste of 1940's 'O' Group

After being all at sea we decided to return to the land and try out “O Group” again using Phil’s very nice minis and terrain. We played the third scenario from the recently released 1940 Handbook from Reisswitz Press. As we didn’t quite have the correct minis for this scenario we just went with a German 1st rate battalion and a French 2nd rate battalion, both with some support.

The initial French attack on the left and right flanks went well and on the left they managed to get a platoon into the woods on the hill overlooking both the farm and the village of Montcornet. The single German platoon in the walled field next to the farm was looking decidedly outnumbered, although the FOO in Montcornet was doing a sterling job of providing fire support, thus keeping the heads down of the platoon in the field next to the T-junction.

The French advance on the right soon stalled as the Germans deployed the whole company, thwarting any outflanking move. The French pushed their troops forward on the left and managed to push the platoon out of the walled field, although some Germans appeared in the farm and stalled this advance.

Soon the French platoons on their left flank were starting to take casualties and/or were suppressed. At this point the French armour turned up only to be ambushed by a PaK 36. A hit and one severly shocked tank crew. The second tank drove off the road and headed towards the fields. In response the Germans deployed some Panzer IIIs and soon both French tanks were knocked out. At this point the game was called as it was time for me to head back North and the French were looking very unlikely to take their consolidation point and the German armour was looking very menacing.

Free World Forces sweep the village of My Lai

For the second time in three days Free world forces attempted to sweep the villages and hamlets west of My Lai.

This time Major Williams had decided to personally oversee the mission following Friday’s media disaster, when Captain May perpetrated what has been described on TV and in the Press as a war crime, due to his indiscriminate shelling and shooting of civilians. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but his career in the US army is decidedly uncertain.

The American platoon decided to adopt a more “hearts and minds” approach, quickly securing and searching three hamlets.

Food caches were located and destroyed. Even when an NVA ambush was encountered whilst searching a hooch, remarkable restraint was displayed in only using small arms fire to retaliate. Eventually however the NVA did enter one of the villages in some numbers and fierce fighting broke out.

Major Williams decided discretion was the better part of valour and called in the artillery to help neutralise the threat. 155mm shells were followed up by a close assault that broke the NVA unit.

Things got even better for the Americans when their two M113 ACAV reinforcements entered the fray rolling up the road and engaging the enemy with 50cal machine gun fire.

The fire was not as effective as hoped but it did mean the Gooks kept their heads down. Comrade Chris finally managed to launch a close assault out of the jungle against the exposed flanks of the M113s. One withdrew into the dense bamboo, leaving the other a burning wreck. Once more the Major turned to the “Red Legs” to save the day. However garbled communications meant a blue-on-blue artillery strike that killed civilians and GIs alike. The second strike was more effective and Comrade Chris’ continued to desert him with poor saves. Cue more dead Gooks.

Meanwhile the two other squads continued a textbook search and destroy mission. They spotted NVA forces in the final village and closed to the edge of the jungle looking out over the paddy fields. Desultory NVA small arms fire was ineffective, and following a round of M16 and M60 fire the squad charged in and overwhelmed the defenders.

Comrade “Chris” looked at the battlefield and conceded victory to the “Yankee Running Dogs”. The body and cache count were deemed a major success by US High Command in Saigon and the operation would be cited for many years as a textbook “search and destroy” operation. A complete contrast to events of a few days before.

A few post-game observations one a new set of rules for us. Easy to say that I enjoyed the game as the victor. However, “The Men of Company B” are quite thought provoking different. When I started gaming Vietnam in the 1980s, most rulesets focussed on the combat albeit trying to recognise it was “different” to say WW2. In this game the real objective isn’t just killing the enemy. It is more subtle. My observation to Chris was that a test of good rules is longevity and a V2 that proves that (a) the author has learnt from feedback and (b) they are popular enough to warrant a second edition.

Simon

The Battle of Cat Ban

My first game of Peter Pig's The Men of Company 'B'. Their game of Vietnam, home of jungle, helicopters and asymmetric warfare. Forces were an 'average' American Platoon under the command of Captain May supported by two tanks and an Average NVA Platoon led by Comrade Chris supported by nothing but the righteousness of their cause!

Somewhere in Vietnam Captain May commanded his force on a sweep and clear mission searching for enemy caches reported to be in the area. Unknown to him Comrade Chris in charge of elements of the 116th NVA Regiment were rushing to intercept him. This started well for Captain May with the initial search revealing the enemy radio set. Maximum value to the White Star Forces! On the other flank of the operational area though things were less rosy as Comrade Chris arrived with the command cadre and seeing an American squad in a village on the far side of the road called in supporting mortar fire and then let fly with small arms fire. This quickly escalated into an artillery duel, supported with rifle and machine guns pinning both the American and NVA in place.

They say that innocence is the first victim of war, in this case it was the Vietnamese peasants who ended up paying the price although American Casualties started to mount. Turn 2 saw the arrival of the second NVA squad who ended up (after diversion rolls) next to the successful American searchers. A roll to indicate how many troops had been gathered revealed the maximum number present, a policy that would be repeated for the rest of the battle.

American searching in the middle of the table revealed a low value objective as well as a high value objective; these positives were balanced by the NVA shooting up the initial American squad and then assaulting them. Tragically for the people's defenders they took significant losses and the assault failed although the fire fight beforehand saw the Americans shooting further peasants in what the capitalists referred to as 'an accident'.

The third squad of NVA arrived eager to exact revenge on the Yankees. Reinforcing the key battle point the initial American Squad was now sandwiched between the NVA. Again, the maximum number of patriots had reported for duty. Further fighting saw the American taking even more casualties. Whilst the ongoing artillery battles inflicted more especially as the Americans had run out of peasant to shelter behind.

The American Armour arrived in support two M60 tanks and being some distance from their supporting infantry were reluctant to advance too quickly. They did however bombard the NVA command group for no discernible effect. American morale started to sag.

The final NVA squad arrived (at maximum strength of course) and assaulted the tanks in their flank. No effect! Curses! Having failed to Assault the squad was caught in the jungle at close range. The tanks opened fire and casualties were caused. Fortunately, no peasants were present to share the Hi-Explosive.

The final American squad arrived to search the North of the board, having decimated both the other American Squads NVA forces headed North to counter the Americans. The American Command Group tried to move North to support them, got caught in the open and shot up. The PC was knocked out with Captain May badly injured - oops - no more Artillery (for the US at least).
With cries of American pain from around the table and the single American Squad being surrounded Captain May called time on the game.

The final scores Americans 43, NVA 76 - a good win for the NVA.

Overall a good game with a total time of about three hours, not bad considering we were learning the rules. Very much a game where the two forces are trying to achieve different things with the American needing to find supply caches and limit casualties both their own and those of the local villagers. The NVA meanwhile want to inflict casualties and prevent the Americans from searching. The American had some bad luck in the game but ultimately got pinned down in the centre of the board by the NVA and failed to do enough searching.

Chris

'O' Group in Normandy

Today we played our second game of 'O' Group. The British were attacking with objectives as marked (1), (2) & (3). The junctions at 1 & 2 are the Phase 1 objectives and the bridge at 3, a Phase 2 objective.

The British pushed up a single platoon on the right to occupy La Haye and another platoon on the left to occupy the woods. However, the Germans were very aggressive and managed to suppress the attack on the left...

and quickly followed up with a close assault which pushed the Brits out of the woods. The Brits pushed up a second platoon on their right and managed to suppress the defending German platoon.

With mortars raining down on La Haye the Brits brought up a couple of Honeys which were quickly dispatched by an ambushing PaK.

With the British attack on the right bogging down the main thrust moved back to the left with a single platoon managing to capture Foy. The Brits brought up some reserve armour but these immediately came under fire from a couple of Panzer IVs.

Although they had captured the objective things were not looking good as the solitary platoon was surrounded by Germans and suppressed. 

At this point the game was called as we had run out of time.

The British attack on the right had been held off and although they had captured the objective of Foy their position was precarious to say the least.

'O' Group, a test game

Today we played a test game of the new 'O' Group rules from Reisswitz Press as a rules learning experience. The game was set in Normandy and had a British battalion of three companies attacking a German battalion also of three companies.

The Germans were in the North with the British attacking from the South. The British 1st phase objectives were the crossroads for B Company on the right and the built up area on the left for A company. B company's 2nd phase objective was the built up area on the German left. A company's 2nd phase objective was the bridge on the German right.

The British started off with three infantry platoons deployed, but the Germans had no on table assets. The British won the initiative and advanced infantry and combat patrols and managed to remove one of the German combat patrols, leaving a bit of a gap in their line. However, the Germans deployed an infantry platoon into the built up area to their left and immediately opened fire on the British platoon that was advancing on them. The platoon was very quickly suppressed and eventually lost a section. The Germans also brought on their MkIV tanks to help hold this sector.

In response the British brought on a couple of Cromwells but the defenders of the built up area were proving difficult to dislodge. 

As B company's advance was grinding to a halt it was decided that the main attack should shift to A company. However, the Germans were defending tenaciously and the British platoon in the centre woods was pushed back. The British advanced a platoon into the woods on the left, removing a German combat patrol. At the same time they deployed two Churchills which advanced down the road to try and support the troops in the woods. As one Churchill rounded the corner it ran headlong into a 75mm PaK round, which damaged the tank. The tank fired back causing some shock on the PaK crew.

Final image shows where we had gotten to as we finished, with the Germans holding off the infantry/tank attack on their left, but with the British infantry starting to outflank them on their other side of the table.

I am sure we got a few things wrong or forgot about but as this was a test game to learn the rules everyone involved was happy with the experience although one person might have enjoyed it more if they had bought the rules.

As regards future Zoom 'O' Group games, the 'to do' list includes,

Create some infantry platoon tags (one per platoon to highlight the platoon position)
Create force lists, with a deployed location record column (which can also be used for ambush locations).
Look at a way to make the battalion HQ order totals clearer (bigger dice)?

Delaying action at Marnach - 16 December 1944

As if to prove there is no scale in which we won't play WWII, one of Thursday night's games saw a 10mm game set during the opening phase of the Battle of the Bulge on 16 December 1944. The unsuspecting American infantry company was concealed in the small town of Marnach, and was to be assaulted by Kampfgruppe Cochenhausen (i.e. II Battalion, 304th Panzergrenadier Regiment).

The battlefield - Marnach at the far end.  

The Germans deployed in three companies, with two on the right flank and one, slightly more exposed, moving up the main road to the left. The first few turns were pretty uneventful, with the Germans advancing quickly towards the crestline in front of the town. The Panzergrenadiers on the left, arguably due to a degree of impetuousness on the part of the company commander, cleared the ridgeline, and heedlessly ploughed forwards, seeking out the hidden American forces suspected to be in the town. In short order they discovered a series of American defensive positions,with US infantry waiting in ambush. However the Americans must have been half-asleep as their opening volleys failed to have much effect. This marked the start of several rounds of attrition as the Germans attempted to close with the Americans skulking in their foxholes.

Having located the enemy, the 2nd and 3rd German companies moved up  in the centre and on the right. The Kampfgruppe commander at this point realised he could not see over the ridgeline in order to direct artillery onto the Americans and thus moved macht schnell up the road to a better vantage point. The centre company began to bring fire onto the Americans as the 3rd company on the right flank maneuvered in the limited space available to assault into the town.

Closing to assault 

While the US commander started to look a little queasy at the number of angry men in grey coming towards him, the US defense settled down and began to inflict casualties on the Germans, slowing the left and centre lines of advance to a crawl. This was aided by the dismounting of several machine gun equipped recon teams into the houses behind the main defensive line. The left hand German company was being whittled down and as it assaulted the dug in infantry was quickly reduced to half-strength. The 3rd company on the right fared better, managing to to break into and clear several of the defended houses on the outskirts of Marnach. However this came at the cost of almost 50% casualties. 

At this point we decided to call the game. The US infantry had done well, slowing the German advance to a crawl and inflicting heavy casualties in return for relatively light losses. If time had allowed the following turns would have seen the arrival of two US Sherman platoons and a Panzer company, but it seemed unlikely that they would change the overall outcome of the battle - the US forces would have probably succeeded in delaying the Germans for long enough. 

The game was fought using Battlefront rules from Fire and Fury Games and using Pendraken miniatures (I think).