In WEGO Combat Mission sometimes you need to watch a turn replay several times in order to catch every incident and nuance. Turn 30 was one of those turns. Unexpected encounters, narrow escapes, KOed vehicles, ricochets, near misses, routs, casualties… the following report has a bit of everything.
The turn’s myriad moments of moment in chronological order…
T+3. Supporting fire from the top floor of the castle fells one of the two Sicherung squaddies vying with ammo-short Venison.
T+6. Reluctant to disengage, Pyle’s Sherman is walloped by another mystery round. Meanwhile, in the woods near the castle Hood, Greenwood, and Forester reduce that troublesome enemy HQ to three individuals.
T+11. His ears ringing, Pyle’s gunner has a go at the advancing German halftrack and misses.
T+14. As the Sherman begins reversing, a German ‘sound contact’ briefly manifests in the midst of Nottingheim village.
T+28. Forced to dog-leg by a lineside embankment, Spencer’s M3A1 is struck and holed by what sounds like a light flak gun firing from the vicinity of the station.
T+31. A second or two after the flak gun’s (?) probable position – a tree-screened pit – appears on the map, the gun looses another volley, eliminating the US halftrack. Happily, all three crewmen manage to bail out.
T+33. Near the castle entrance and facing incoming from front and rear, the surviving Sicherung soldier goes prone and stops firing.
T+34. At least one Allied unit spots the enemy asset that has been bothering the Sherman. It’s a gun of some kind located close to the Black Squirrel Inn.
T+36. Carlson runs into the retreating SS squad again, causing the latter to take to their heels.
T+39. Rounding the corner of the castle at speed, the British HT gives the Black Squirrel gun a generous helping of piping hot .50 BMG.
T+45. A few seconds after sighting the tell-tale rectangle of a gun shield near the station, the advancing Churchill is plinked by the weapon behind that gun shield. Johns decides the time has come to button up.
T+47. The Black Squirrel gun retaliates, almost hitting Fletcher’s HT as it darts for dead ground behind a stand of pines.
T+48. The Churchill hoses the station gun.
T+49. Pyle’s gunner gives the Black Squirrel gun crew something to think about, and up at the castle the Sicherung survivor decides to scarper.
T+50. A German infantry unit horribly exposed in the field east of the castle succumbs to pressure from Marian’s men and Fletcher’s HT.
T+50. Busy spraying nearby Brits, including Oaks the PIATman, the SPW 250 /1 almost certainly doesn’t notice the imminent threat to its left.
T+53. The station gun somehow manages to miss the hulking Churchill. A second later, the Churchill returns the compliment.
T+54. Braving MG 34 fire, Oaks braces himself and squeezes the outsized trigger of his Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank. Result – one kaput Sonderkraftfahrzeug!
T+55. Once again the Black Squirrel gun gets showered in dirt.
T+56. The remarkably resilient/feisty German platoon HQ suffers another casualty meaning Hood and Co (seven men in total) will outnumber ther opponents more than two to one at the start of Turn 31.
T+60. The Churchill’s turret front gains some fetching silver spangles.
The situation at the start of Turn 31:
Tuck’s bombardment is roughly a minute away. The lack of mutual targeting lines suggests the Black Squirrel gun may be suppressed, or in the process of bailing out.
The station gun doesn’t seem to be targeting the Churchill at the moment – another encouraging sign.
Turn 31 orders here, please. Commenters are cordially invited to suggest moves for the following seven unit groups. First come, first served. Order execution is usually Monday morning at 0700 GMT.
(See screenshots for unit locations)
– Captain Hood’s party (Hood’s HQ (4 men), Sergeant Venison’s rifle squad (2 men, low ammo), Forester’s squad (1 man), Sergeant Greenwood’s squad (6 men, split) + Corporal Fletcher’s M5A1 halftrack)
– Lieutenant Marian’s men (Marian’s HQ (4 men) + Sergeant Sherwood’s rifle squad (10 men, split) + PIAT team + 3 inch mortar team)
– Sergeant Bowman’s Archer TD
– Sergeant Johns’ Churchill VIII
– Sergeant Pyle’s Sherman
– Lieutenant Costner’s platoon (Costner (2) Olander (12), Carlson (4), + bazooka man(1))
– Captain Dale’s party (Six POWs armed with pilfered rifles and pistols) + Corporal Whitehand’s team (Two POWs armed with a pilfered Panzerschreck)
Please start all order comments with ‘ORDER’ and any later revision comments with ‘REVISED ORDER’. This will help me distinguish firm instructions from suggestions and advice.
(Rather than preparing to pincer the foxhole, we’ll try and get some competent eyes on the village)
ORDER: Greenwood ‘A’
Cancel current orders
MOVE FAST southeast [14, 3, 2-3]
MOVE CAUTIOUSLY eastnortheast [14, 4, 3] to get a view of the centre of the village (upper half of square [15])
ORDER: Greenwood ‘B’
Continue for 30 seconds
MOVE FAST southeast to where Greenwood ‘A’ are now
MOVE CAUTIOUSLY in direction of foxhole, stopping 30 metres short
ORDER: Cpl. Spencer’s vehicleless crew
MOVE to [14, 3-4, 2]
MOVE CAUTIOUSLY east to [14, 4-5, 2]
ORDER: Sgt. Venison
MOVE CAUTIOUSLY 5 metres northnortheastwards (to have a better view of the castle track, and to force anyone who engages them to do so from less cover (scattered trees rather than tall pines))
(It was in the salad days of Turn 13 that I joked about earning the epithet “Bloody Shambles”.
No jokes about it now; and, what’s more, I’ll demonstrate that I deserve to keep it.)
ORDER: Sgt. Scarlet’s vehicleless crew
MOVE FAST east into tall pines at [7, 3, 5] keeping to the north of the hedgerow
Go PRONE
ORDERS: Lt Costner’s Platoon:-
Costner – Continue MOVE to 30, 4, 4. Then 30, 5, 4, then 30, 5, 3.
Lincoln – No further orders.
Carlson – RUN to 30, 5, 4. Then MOVE to 30, 5, 3.
Olander – SPLIT, BOTH RUN to 30, 2, 4.
Olander – MOVE to 30, 2, 2.
Shanley – MOVE to 30, 2, 3. FACE S.
ORDER: Pyle’s Sherman – UNBUTTON. MOVE to 29, 5, 3.
ROTATE towards 14, 3, 5.
ORDERS: Dale’s Party:-
Dale – Continue to TARGET Sec unit circa 21, 3, 1.
Whitehand – No further orders.
ORDER: Bowman’s Archer – REVERSE to SW cnr of 29, 4, 4.
ROTATE gun towards Black Squirrel Inn.
ORDER: Tuck 25pdr – Continue to TARGET Foxholes 15, 1, 5.
ORDER: Fletcher’s HT – No further orders.
ORDERS: Marian’s Platoon:-
Marian – MOVE to 29, 4, 1.
Sherwood ‘A’ – PAUSE 15s, RUN to 21, 4, 4 keep to West side oftree line. Then MOVE to 21, 4, 3, Face SW.
Sherwood ‘B’ – RUN to 21, 4, 4 keep to West side of tree line. RUN to 21, 4, 4 keep to West side of tree line then MOVE to 21, 4, 3, Face SW.
PIAT team – MOVE to EMBARK HT.
REVISED ORDER: Sherwood ‘B’ – RUN to 21, 4, 4 keep to West side of tree line. MOVE to 21, 4, 3, Face SW.
It’d be mildly overstating it to call that a cliff-hanger ending.
Might be good for Tim and his nail-biting writing, and readers who enjoy the suspense of what happens next. On the other hand, the inconclusiveness is terrible to compose commands against.
Will the fight against a two-man HQ unit be over in two shots, or will it be more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr2GeWiDrdY
Tim,
Was wondering if the proximity of the prisoners (in square 37) prevented Shanley and Olander from moving during the turn?
Would also be handy to know the ammo situation for Tuck, Dale and Archer.
Thanks.
Sorry, not sure what happened there. I may have seen Olander’s squad (Shanley and Olander amalgamated at the end of the last turn) ‘taking cover’ and wrongly assumed it wouldn’t take orders. Or I may just have forgotten to task them. Let’s just say they were busy frisking the suspiciously-willing-to-surrender SS men.
Tuck : 26 rounds. Dale: LOW. Archer: 7H, 18A, 7T.