Operation Martlet: Probe Into Fonteney (Table 1, Turn 1)

 The Royal Scots kicked off their attack at daybreak Sunday, 25 June 44, probing into the town of Fonteney through heavy mist and cloud. Their objective being to push a unit through the German perimeter and off the table edge. Lt Muir’s platoon was provided a jeep, and were supported by a Churchill VII AVRE, a Vickers MMG, and a naval bombardment. The Germans had an integrated Panzer IV H, they fortified the stone residential building, were allocated an entrenchment for the Panzer and an adjutant for the fight.

The Outskirts of Fonteney

The Outskirts of Fonteney

The patrol phase saw the Scots claim Jump Off Points in the wheat field, behind the west timber frame home, an along the western road edge. The Germans claimed the rear of the walled off residential area, the timber framed farm house and the eastern edge of the field, and just south of the road. The Scots did well to push up far along the battlefield, claiming ground a short sprint away from the German edge.  

The Scots’ JOPs

The German JOPs

The skirmish opened up with two German squads, Scharfuhrers Bergmann and Schildkraut, deploying into their fortified building, rushing towards the windows with the knowledge that the Scots had been spotted only a short hop away across the road. The Scots respond, bringing in their initial force through the mist into the wheat field on the east side. Sgt MacKay,  the 2” mortar team, and Cpl Riley‘s section find their way to their jump off points and move slowly through the wheat with the 2” putting down smoke along the road in front of them. 

The Scots push through the wheat

Scharfuhrer Herring and his squad deploy into the open behind the barn, preparing to use the British smoke to cover their sprint to the nearest trees for cover, while the platoon’s attached Panzer IV begins it’s rumble up the road. Meanwhile Oberscharfuhrer Mahler grabs Schildkraut and his squad, redeploying them into the second house within the compound. 

The Panzer IV presses down the road

The two German squads initially in the hardened chateau

Riley‘s section presses into the woods at their front in an attempt to catch the German squad in the open, but are unable to reach their firing position in time before the Germans make it to the trees of their own. Seeing how few have made it through the mist, Riley decides to have his section fire off a volley and pull back behind the woods. They put down some fire and withdraw, but not before two MG42s open up, killing three riflemen and wounding Riley. The 2” fires a smoke round, covering the section’s withdrawal.

Riley’s men begin pulling back behind the trees

The 2” continues to cover the road ahead in smoke, covering the deployment of the attached Vickers MMG. Hearing no word of the other two sections or the Churchill, Sgt MacKay pushes the Vickers into the woods previously occupied by Riley and his men, and pushes Riley’s section laterally behind the church. 

The Vickers MMG is brought up through the wheat

The smoke slowly drifts away (at a turn end) and the previously lost Churchill appears at the north end of the road and presses forward. A Jeep with two of Cpl Murdoch’s riflemen also come in from the road and attempt a flanking move out to the west, but are quickly cut down by machine gunners in the chateau. The Germans tucked into the woods open fire on the Vickers, killing two and pinning the rest down. Riley’s men have a turn of luck and find a cache of wine (random event) behind the church and feel at least a bit better about their circumstances.

As the Churchill slowly rumbles forward, the Panzer fires a round, bouncing it off the armor but still startling the driver, who immediately kicks it into reverse. The corporal in the tank orders his crew to engage the panzer, who subsequently return fire, killing the German Panzer gunner. Sgt MacKay orders the PIAT to fire at the enemy tank, but the shot goes wide, exploding harmlessly nearby. He gets the 2” to drop smoke to cover them, but if too goes wide. Lastly, he shouts at the Vickers to put down fire on the Germans across the road, but they’re too surpressed to be of much use. 

The approaching Churchill AVRE

The PIAT round exploding nearby

Mahler, having redeployed Schildkraut’s squad into the farmhouse near the courtyard, pours machine gun fire onto the PIAT, 2”, and Sgt MacKay, causing them to fall back through the wheat. Sgt MacKay rallies them as best he can, but the PIAT routes off the field. The pinned Vickers MMG team keeps pouring fire on the nearby squad of Germans, killing one machine gun loader and wounding Herring. Herring has his two MGs return fire, causing the Vickers team also to withdraw out of the woods and into the wheat, eventually leaving the field entirely.

The Panzer moves towards Herring’s squad, but in making the turn towards the wood, exposes its side to the Churchill. The British tank fires, cleanly knocking out the Panzer, and the crew bails. 

Herring and the knocked out Panzer IV

Cpl McPhee and his section find their way through the morning dew and gather behind a wall on the west flank of attack, keenly aware of Scharfuhrer Bergmann and his squad across the road in the hardened building. Unable to find the opportunity to cross the wall and road, McPhee and his boys receive a hail of grenades, losing one man killed. Across the road, one of the German riflemen fumbles his grenade before getting it out the window, killing him and another.

The Churchill continues its advance, pounding the occupied buildings, and Mahler has Schildkraut’s squad hop the wall towards the hedges along the road with him. As the Churchill passes the nearby church, Mahler orders two men to rush the hedge with their Panzerfaust, knocking out the Churchill.

Panzerfaust Ambush

With one final effort, Reilly, seeing the Germans fall back from the hedge and into the courtyard, takes his section for one push down the road, past the Churchill wreckage. As he’s in the road, the MGs of Bergmann’s squad catch them, killing a couple. Seeing the writing on the wall, he pulls back into the wheat field and Sgt MacKay orders the platoon’s withdrawal.

In the end, the Scots lost 5 men dead and 3 were sent to the field hospital, who should be back in the action within a few hours. The Panzergrenadiers had 2 killed and 2 sent to their field hospital. As could be expected, both the Company Commander and the men of the platoon on the British side went down slightly, and they went up slightly on the German side.

My wife, -A-, pressed on valiantly, pushing forward by the skin of her teeth. The mist was very unfriendly to her and her British platoon, while my Panzergrenadiers seemed mostly unaffected by the naval bombardment. Against the wall, she gathered the force that she had, and made a good go of it. If nothing else, she knocked out my integral Panzer IV, which I never should’ve left in the open. Good lessons learned on both sides!

Caleb