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!
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