Fourth & Final Battle for Castle Hill

We are at last posting the final battle over castle hill. The previous one ended in a Major American Victory and saw the 91st Cavalry retain control of the critical vantage point. The 1st Fallschirmjager-Division has pieced together one more assault to drive the American's off of Castle Hill.

 As you can see, the map is much like it was for the third battle. The only real difference is the rotation in the map. Castle Hill has been turned to show that the Germans are striking from another location. All terrain points work as they did in the previous one and in the bottom left hand corner as small village template has been placed to provide a little difference to the table.

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(Unfortunately there will be no pictures for this battle as it took place before we had our camera back!)

The forces involved stayed the same for the most part. The Americans kept their format down exactly, but the Germans dropped the troublesome recoilless rifles and were issued two MG42s in their HMG platoon. 

The two forces deployed according to a No Retreat mission, the Americans dropped their HMG nest in front of Castle Hill, guarding the flanks of the hill were two Barbed Wire stands that were purchased with the HMG Nest. 1st Dismounted Cavalry was given the lion shares of the LMGs again and placed in Ambush. The Germans deployed across a long front with the 2nd FJ Platoon being split to create a Kampfgruppe. These two platoons were deployed on the German side of the town, the HMG platoon was placed in the clearing between the two broken forest templates and the 1st FJ platoon with my Infantry Ace deployed on the German side of the broken forest template facing Castle Hill.

1st Turn:

Germans have turn one and begin with their platoons advancing. The Kampfgruppe and 2nd FJ platoon moves up through the small Italian hamlet and take up position along the stone wall that divides the Italian yards/gardens. The 1st FJ platoon moves up into broken woodlands. Finally, the HMG platoon was setup in prepared positions with clear shots on American the HMG nest. During shooting, the Germans knock it out in a truely devestating display of firepower. (of the twelve "shots" nine hit successfully followed by two successful firepower checks.) 1st FJ platoon stormtroopers to better position themselves in woods, as do the Kampfgruppe and 2nd FJ platoon.

Americans choose not to spring their Ambush but they receive reserves in the manner of the 2nd Dismounted Cav. Platoon, who move up towards the ruins.

2nd Turn:
Germans HMG platoon repositions and moves up so that it can provide fire upon the ruins and then stormtroopers into their new firing position. The 1st FJ, led by Hauptmann Starke, move out of the broken woods and then stormtroopers to position themselves in the rubble surrounding castle hill. Kampfgruppe and 2nd FJ hold their position for now. 

Americans still hold thier ambush and the 2nd Dismounted Cav moves and occupies the ruins. Mortars arrive from reserve. (Surprisingly ineffective this game, accounting for only one destroyed FJ Team.)


3rd Turn:

Germans prepare to launch an offensive across the entire front. 2nd FJ platoon break cover and try to cross a clearing and make it into a stand of broken trees. 1st FJ, still led by Hauptmann Starke, pushes them through the rubble and within assault range of the 2nd Dismounted Cav. The Kampfgruppe remains in position to provide support and to cover the HMG gruppe's flank. The HMG's direct their fire into the ruins and in another immpressive display of firepower, manage to not only pin the dismounted cav., but inflict a casualty as well. With this turn of events (had not really planned on pinning the platoon or launching my assault this soon), the Infantry Ace Hauptmann Starke seizes the moment and leads the 1st FJ out of cover and into an assault. However, on the otherside of the battlefield, the2nd FJ fail to stormtrooper into the broken trees and are now stuck out in the open...

The Fallschirmjagers charge into the ruins and lose two stands to defensive fire but deliver 3 hits. One of which is the placed on the platoon commander. The company commander takes charge of the platoon and leads his dough-boys into a counter attack, destroying another FJ stand. It now stands 5 American teams to 4 German teams. Germans counter attack and destroy an additional stand. The assault ends with the American's having had enough and are forced out of the ruins. The Germans Consolidate on the outside of the ruins in a defensive posture.  Germans now contest the objective. (For those who have followed these reports, this has been the farthest the Germans have managed to get in their assaults!)

Americans finally pop their Ambush to devestating effect. The 1st Dismounted Cav platoon springs their ambush and mercilessly guns down the 2nd FJ Platoon...to the man. Hope for a stunning German Victory are over. However, the 2nd Dismounted Cavalry platoon fails to unpin so the American's can not capitalize on the pinned German Fallschirmjagers!

4th Turn:
Germans: Hauptmann Starke orders the HMGs to move up into the ruins to support him and the 1st FJ, who manage to unpin. The Kampfgruppe falls back so it can cover the HMGs advance. The 1st FJ is waits for their heavy fire support to reach them so they go to ground in the ruins.

Americans: The Allies now find themselves behind the eight ball. 1st Dismounted Cavalry pull out and move at the double across the clearing towards the Ruins atop castle hill. 2nd Dismounted Cav Platoon recovers from being pinned and advances into the ruins under the cover of their only LMG. They attempt to retake the position so begin trying to pin the Fallschirmjagers with the LMG scoring only two hits. Rifle fire from the rest of the platoon adds another hit but still no where close. Mortars are called in to bombard the position and force their heads down. Ranging in, the mortars manage to score a hit! However, due to their strength of only two mortars, the hit is re-rolled...and MISSES! Fallschirmjager's remain unpinned. However, the American Infantry Ace, T. Highway, proceeds with the assault anyway. He cant afford to let the HMGs get inside the ruins.

The Germans riddle the assaulters with defensive fire from the 1st FJ and Hauptmann Starke, who is covering his men from the second floor of the ruins. The Americans are thrown back by weight of fire and one American Team is destroyed. Unfortunately, the 2nd Dismounted Cavalry fail their motivation check and they break cover and fall back, quitting the field entirely. The Germans now control the objective.

With the German MG42s a move away from the Ruins and the Kampfgruppe a turn behind them, the 1st Dismounted Cavalry have no chance to reach their before the Germans take the position over defensively. The Mortars are in a position to rush in and contest the objective however, they would be unsupported and would not hold it for long. The American's cede the field to the Germans! 1st Fallschirmjager-Division retakes Castle Hill!

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The Game ended in a Major German Victory. My opponent suffered from a few bad rolls in very key moments. Just as my 2nd FJ platoon suffered from a flopped storm trooper move. Overall Im rather pleased with how I played this. I Wish I hadnt lost that one platoon, but it was the dice's fault. I was hoping I could get them into that forest and force his ambush back even further as well as leaving him with no choice but to deploy it on the second objective. My opponent wished that he had done something else with that HMG nest. He had not counted on my knocking it out first turn and felt that he had placed it to far out and exposed.


Hope you have enjoyed the Castle Hill portion of the campaign. Most of our 500pt force has been painted and we are moving on to the next turn and 700pts. Look forward to posts involving the board. This one was rather easy seeing as we had all the terrain for it, aside from our Castle Hill Building. However the next turn takes place within the town of Cassino at focal points: Continental Hotel, Train Station, and Nursery. All which we will hopefully be able to create to some effect.

...And those currently opposing the 1st Fallschirmjäger-division, The 91st Cavalry!

The following are a few images from my friend displaying the work he has been doing on his 91st Cavalry (Recon)!

Command elements of his force. The sniper that wastes ammunition (if you remember him) as well as those damnable Mortars in the back under the command of the 2iC.

An HMG Nest that he created based on the overhead image of one from the Cassino Intelligence Book. Works out pretty well.

Also, a close up of the 1st Dismounted Cavalry Platoon! As they usually are, sporting two LMG teams and four rifles. However, when tasked with holding an objective they tend to add an additional LMG from their jeeps.

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More pictures are coming! As well as the final battle report on the fight for Castle Hill! (however, still no pictures.) Also to look forward to are pictures and layouts for our Cassino & Continental Hotel battlefield that we will be working on. So, while we get our forces ready for that there will be no Battle reports for the next few weeks! However we will have plenty of interesting things to come.

One final picture to send you off! The current 1st Fallschirmjäger-division / Kompanie Starke! All seven hundred and five points of it.

Leading Elements of 1st Fallschirmjäger-division \ Kompanie Starke

Here are the first assembled photos of painted units from my 1st Fallschirmjäger-division. In total, this just encompasses the first 500pts for the Infantry Ace campaign we are running. Its nothing major and everything is either in a state of being based or needs based.

This is my infantry Ace/HQ Command Team and 2iC team. Hauptmann Starke and 2iC Leutnant Lapp

A close up of Leutnant Lapp

This is the HMG Heer Gruppe Fultz. This was the first unit that I started painting back when I was working on 352. Infantriedivision. However, I have since chosen to stick with the Fallschirmjagers and because this unit was already partially painted, I finished them off as a Heer Platoon. I do have a Fallschirmjager HMG blister that will replace them, but right now they proudly fight along side the parachutists!

A side shot of HMG Heer Gruppe Fultz

This is Fallschirmjager Zug Eberhard. Currently it is shown as 1 section strong, the other section is currently being painted and has not yet been "washed/shaded". Once they are, this will be a 2 section strong FJ Platoon which will eventually be a full FJ platoon once we move to 700pts.

A side shot of FJ Zug Eberhard. Still working on getting the base color for the ground right, so that is why there appears to be two different color groups there. The command team and the team in the far back left were done first. However, I like how the other two came out and think I will stick with that setup.

 

 

That is all for now unfortunately. I will have additional photos of the entire kompanie as a whole, however those will be unpainted.

3rd Battle over Castle Hill

This is the third installment of our battle of Castle Hill. Once again, the 91st Cav. is defending, however instead of the mission being Cauldron it is instead No Retreat and all the familiar faces are involved in this battle.

As said before, the 91st Cavalry is defending in this mission and once again, are bringing two platoons of dismounted cavalry, the two mortar sections will be grouped under the 2iC to bolster Platoon strength as well as an HMG Nest.

The 1st Fallschirmjager-division is bringing the usual two FJ platoons with two sections each, along with recoilless rifle weapons platoon. However this time, they will be deployed together and not broken up between the two FJ platoons. The 2iC will also be splitting one of the FJ platoons in half and creating a Kampfgruppe.

Having learned mistakes from the previous battle, I figured I had a good handle on what I wanted to do. Objectives were placed once the board was arranged and as you see, the objectives my friend was forced to defend dictated where his Ambush would be used. (The Objs. are the white circles).

A quick reference key for the above map. The Dark green "blobs" are hills. The two on the table edge were treated as being covered with olive groves and various other foliage. The gray markings are broken ground/rocks and the entire hill in the center was treated as blasted rubble. The two black squares are ruined buildings. The tan brown blobs with dark brown splotches are craters and an the dark green splotches are forest templates. However, due to the German initial preparations of the area, they are not really forests but instead, blasted and cut down forests giving a broken ground feel. IE it provides cover but not bullet proof like the rubble.

Turn 1

The first turn went fairly quick. The Germans advanced with the cautious movement through the broken woods. The 2nd FJ platoon closing on the far left objective marker, supported by the Kampfgruupe. Hauptmann Starke took the 1st FJ platoon to the edge of the woods and waited for the recoilless rifles to move into position and knock out the HMG nest that was sitting in the center of the blasted hill.
The Allies sprung their ambushing dismounted cavalry on the hill right above the far left objective and ineffective fire did nothing but pin the 2nd FJ. The HMG nest attempted to shoot at the rifles but failed to score any casualties.

Turn2

2nd FJ repositions itself to give it a better front facing against the dismounted cav, the 2iC moves up behind to support. The Rifles move in range of the HMG nest and blow it to pieces. With the nest now gone, the Company Command leads the 1st FJ out of cover and surging towards the hill with a stormtrooper move.
The Allies receive both reinforcements, the 2nd Dismounted Cav platoon and the mortars. The 1st Dismounted cav. leaves the LMGs to pin down the 2nd FJ and close for assault. The exchange destroyes the 2nd FJ.

Turn 3
2iC leads the Kampfgruppe into an assault with the 1st Dismounted Cav and win. The LMGs were to far away to provide defensive fire and the platoon commander and supporting rifle sections are killed. The Kampfgruppe is down to the 2iC and one stand of FJ. In the center, Hauptmann Starke leads the 1st FJ to the base of the hill and take cover among the rocks, preparing for the eventual assault into the building. The Rifles move up to join them.
Allies move the 2nd Dismounted Cavalry platoon into the ruins and take up a defensive position. The Mortars are in the rear to provide direct fire and indirect fire support. With the Platoon leader dead the 1st Dismounted Cavalry is stuck on their hill guarding the far left Objective. The Company Commander can not afford to move out and assume command.

Turn 4+
For the sake of sanity, the rest of the battle will be wrapped up here. The 2iC would move to join the 1st FJ and Recoilless rifles infront of the building ruins and add weight to an already intense close range fire fight. Both Company commanders are guiding fire for their men as a battle of "go to ground" or not to "go to ground" erupts. In the end, several turns pass with each platoon attempting to shoot at the other in Bulletproof cover. However, the Allies have effective mortar fire which starts digging the Germans out while the German Recoilless Rifles fail to effectively do anything since it is down to one gun, having already lost one to mortar fire. In the end, an ill-fated desperate assault is launched against the enemy who was unpinned. Casualties are taken but the Germans manage a foot-hold after Hauptmann Starke and the 1st FJ are wiped out in the ensuing string of counter-attacks. However, the net result is a Pinned American Cavalry Unit, so the 2iC charge with his supporting 2nd FJ section, killing another Allied base, but being destroyed in the process. It came down to a final assault by the RR command team, which, promptly fails, and then fails, his platoon morale check. Game ends in a blood bath, leaving few if any Fallschirmjager survivors! 91st Cav. defend the hill AGAIN!

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After-Thoughts:
While the game ends in a Major Allied Victory there is one thing that is learned! The Allied Infantry Ace, T. Highway did not have his second medal which allowed him to re-rolled his failed close combat attack. This is significant because in a couple of the final exchanges, this was a very big decider! So, in a effort to be fair, the 91st Cav still get the victory, however Hauptmann Starke was not counted as being destroyed or fleeing the field for the battle. Thus giving the Germans 3 experience points instead of two! Hurray gamemenship!

Thoughts on the battle? Well I felt I played a better game. My friend once against presented a solid defense and those mortars once again, proved to be the bane of my existence. Im done with the Recoilless Rifles at this point level and going back to my beloved HMG 42s! Their weight of fire is a necessity for pinning and their Range gives them more flexibility then the shorter ranged rifles. We also learned a little more about using our Company Commanders to the full extent as far as command and control.

Also, There will be one more 500pt battle which will get posted and then its on to the 700pt Turn 2 battle of Cassino. Most likely there will not be another battle for several weeks after this next post goes up due to several personal matters that will be dealt with! Also, a trip to Dragon Con at the first of the coming Month will prevent us from playing. However look forward to a few Terrain posts as we get our town ready for the ensuing conflicts. Finally battle reports, after this next one, will start containing pictures on the account that once again, we will have access to our Digital Camera!

That is all!

2nd Battle for Castle Hill

After the successful assault by the 91st Cavalry, they were left in place to defend Castle hill. Still operating under the first phase of the offensive, players were restricted to 500 pts. The 91st Cavalry would be in defense mode, while the 1st Fallschirmjager-division would now be launching the assault. We decided that the mission would once again be Cauldron.

The 91st Cav. had the usual make up of two dismounted cavalry recon supported by the small force of mortars. The load out for each of the platoons was most of the LMGs were in the platoon that would be defending the building. The second would be predominately rifles. Mortars were once again grouped into their own platoon. In addition, because the Germans were effectively 20 pts over the 500 limit. 91st got a HMG Nest and 3 stands of Barbed wire.

The 1st Fallschirmjager had its traditional two, two section Fallschirmjager platoons. The platoon of Recoiless Rifles were split up and one was assigned to each of the FJ platoons. Another addition was a HMG nest that would be "snuck in" and deployed to support the advance.



Again, using Cauldron the Building was set in the middle of the table and the objective within it. Americans deployed their HMG in the front of the building facing the German's side of the table. Due to Random Deployment, the HMG nest was dropped down in the Rear area, facing the Allied table edge. (This was exactly what I wanted. My initial hope was to use it to pin down reinforcements and delay them. In reality this turned out to be a terrible decision.)  Independent teams were dropped, his within the building mine on either side. The Battle commenced and his force that deployed in immediate ambush went inside the building...now bristling with LMGs, dug-in, gone to ground, and in foxholes, and even without those they were in the bullet proof cover of the ruins. A particularly hard nut to crack.


The game was short, unbelievably short! So much so that I cant even recall the number of turns nor do I really want to.

German Reinforcements were pretty spot on, however due to the terrain and the HMG the allies had, I could not do what I had planned in bringing up a platoon on either side of the ruins. So instead, my Infantry Ace is now stranded and both platoons begin moving up along the right board side. HMG begins pounding away at the dug in troops, but since they are in cover and gone to ground, I need 6s to hit them. (a continuous theme for the entire game). The allied reserves were on a delay so I had time to move. Getting the first platoon into position, I start hammering with the recoilless rifle, which  its 16' range means it has to be within range of his LMGs. Luckily I am able to get it into position and have it start doing its thing. Still needing 6s to hit, this does not happen much. He is, at this point, content to keep his head down till reinforcements and those damnable mortars make an appearance.


Turn three rolls around and the American's receive their second infantry platoon. It steps on right near my delaying HMG nest. However, it rolls miserably on its defensive fire, he gets in there and knocks it out. Nothing now exists to slow his platoon down. Meanwhile, my own have not made any headway against his dug in force. I believe it is the fourth turn that his mortars show up, his 2nd platoon is moving up on my right flank with me now attempting to assault the Barbed wire and clear it out. However, this action results in heavy casualties. I effectively no longer have the manpower to assault the building on the hill. He has lost only a couple of bases and a full platoon is now moving up supported by long range mortars that will be able to pound me out of my dug in positions. I throw in the towel and salvage what remains of my Fallschirmjagers.

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As I said, this was a pathetically short game. Well played by my opponent and plagued by poor decisions strategically and tactically on my end. First off, with his infantry gone to ground I couldnt hit them, couldnt hit them to pin them and so I couldnt assault them. (any assault without pinning them was suicide. 4 dug in LMGs would have been 20 shots. not happening). Further more, while the recoilless rifles do have decent firepower, their range is miserable. Furthermore, by not keeping them in their platoon, I crippled my platoon's ability to effectively advance in cover. The last mistake I made was putting my HMG so far out that it could not be supported nor effectively support any attacks on my end. It was knocked out with ease and yielded me nothing. Meanwhile my opponent's defense was complete. The platoon inside had superior firepower, the HMG supported the defense and the barbed wire did its job in restricting any potential assaults paths.

The net result was a Stunning Allied Victory. 0 Platoons lost on his part, he destroyed one of mine. Hats off to him for the complete victory!

Next battle will be another 500pt, however it will not be Cauldron. I will be adjusting my force while his will be the same. Hopefully it goes better then this one!