Counter Attack at Cinque Lapins

Last weekend I solo played the 'Attack-Defend' scenario as the Germans launched a counter attack on Lt. Black and his platoon from the London and Oxford Fusiliers, as they would.

Germans got a platoon of Panzer grenadiers and with a roll of 12 for support options I took two StuGs. For the Canadians I hemmed and hawed and finally took the ubiquitous Sherman tank.

During the Patrol Phase, remembering the carnage on the German right, I concentrated on patrolling into the farm and around the left of the town. For the Canadians I tried to consolidate on the town but also pushed patrols out to the right to shut down the German probes.

End of Patrol Phase. Canadians in blue, Germans in red.

Location of JOPs

If you can see them, the Canadian JOPs are in two back gardens and a 15 CWT truck in a field. The Germans also have an Opel Blitz in a field and two JOPs in the farm.

As the game progressed the Germans put one section into the trees facing the hotel and two sections deployed from the farm. The Canadians reacted by quickly getting a section each into the hotel and the shop. The third section deployed from the terrace houses to the left of the hotel. Some MG42 rounds hitting the brick work around them caused some frantic scuttling into the brush on their left.

German right flank facing the hotel

3 Section covers the Canadian left

First shots

2 Section moves into the hotel

3 Section takes cover

At the farm, one German section moved out of the barn, with its poor fields of fire to try and take the shop. But 1 Section got there first and started laying down fire. The Germans replied in kind, two MG42s putting a horrible amount of lead through the shop windows. Two Canadian riflemen went down.

After deploying the PIAT team to the upper floor to cover the road and the 2" mortar at the intersection under Lt Black's control, Sgt Bedford took charge in the shop, directing the defense.

The Germans had moved tactically and taken cover but they now found themselves in a cross fire from both the shop and the hotel.

On the left, the German third section moved from the farm to try and flank the Canadian position. But help arrived as the Sherman tank rattled up. Seeing that the road was blocked, the tank moved to the right to protect the Canadian JOP which was vulnerable to the German flanking move.

Somewhere around this time, Lt Black got another game saving run of initiative, rolling double 6s for four consecutive phases.

The Sherman moved up to cover the JOP and opened fire on the German section, killing the section leader and some grenadiers. Lt. Black and Sgt. Bedford directed fire on the grenadiers in front of the barn. Even with the hard cover from being tactical in cover, the Canadians rolled a lot of 6s eventually shooting down the entire section.

The Germans facing the hotel tried to support, killing a few more Canadians. With the threat from the farm eliminated, 2 Section in the hotel switched it's fire to the trees. A good burst killed the third section leader and broke one of the MG42 teams. The German Force Morale collapsed and it was game over. With half of the German platoon down, including all three section commanders, it was time to fall back and regroup.

Unfortunately for the German side (and my  game objective of refreshing my memory on the armour rules), the Germans never got enough junior leader activations to get the StuGs into the fight. The Canadian platoon, with a second senior leader, meant they could take full advantage of some command rolls with two 4s which kept the rifle sections firing when it was critical.