Operation Martlet: Probe Into Fonteney II (Table 1, Turn 2)

 Once again, the Scots press through the mist and smoke, intent on pushing through the outer posts of the German defense. Lt Muir has lost a total of eight men from his platoon, three being patched up and five dead. Once again, he’s supported by a Churchill AVRE from the engineer company, though this time his platoon also has an attached sniper and a forward observation officer from battalion. Oberscharfuhrer Mahler has lost four, two wounded and two dead, and notably his attached Panzer IV support. His platoon of panzergrenadiers still has their strengthened building to anchor their left flank, and this time have been allocated a five man rifle team from the company’s reserve platoon, lead by a Scharfuhrer. Mahler has put one of his squad’s panzerfausts with that team, hoping to hide them up his sleeve.

The mist and smoke again wreck havoc on Lt Muir's deployment plans, initially only seeing Sgt MacKay and Cpl McPhee deployed with his section into the wheat field, the location of so much action on their previous attempt. Unfortunate very little arrives to support their advance: a single sniper in the wheat and a Churchill AVRE from the road. 

Up rumbles the Churchill

All the same, they probe forward with the support of a blistering naval bombardment. They cross the road to their front, preparing to capture a known German jumping off point from their previous encounter, and initially, it looks like the bombardment may have suppressed the defenders. Scharfuhrer Schildkraut, seeing the tommies cross the road to his front, gets his machine gun teams to open at close range to the exposed Scots. The opening salvo of MG fire and grenades sees two riflemen killed and Sgt MacKay knocked unconscious. McPhee quickly has his squad return fire at the exposed Germans, killing two, but is knocked out in the ensuing fire fight. His section grabs him and their platoon sergeant, pulling them behind the barn to their rear.

MacKay’s fateful advance, as seen from the hardened chateau

Schildkraut quickly rushes his men to the nearby woods for some cover, just in time as a British sniper fires with a near miss. Not knowing where the sniper is, and with so few men, he has the remainder of his squad shelter deep in the woods. The Churchill rumbles forward, unsupported by infantry. His main gun trained the direction of the spotted Germans, they don’t see Mahler’s five rifle and panzerfaust armed grenadiers tucked into the hedge along the road. Just as the lumbering behemoth rolls past, they fire into its rear armor, finding a weak point and knocking out the tank. At this point, Muir sounds the withdrawal for the second time time this morning. 

All said and done, the Scots lost one man killed, and two to the regimental aid post for a quick patch up, while the Germans, having policed the battlefield, found that their two men “killed” just needed a quick dusting off and a hot cup of coffee. The fusiliers of B Platoon, along with their Company CO, we’re not too pleased with how the day went, while the Panzergrenadiers and their Kompanie CO were really quite happy with the outcome. However, the morning mist is burning off, and the Scots are preparing to jump off once more into the breach. 

This time my brother was in town and joined my wife for the game. They made the calculated risk to try to seize one of my jump off points and press down an unsecured flank, and it almost worked. I couldn’t seem to get anyone to deploy under the naval bombardment, but I finally managed to get one squad out at the last (and potentially most opportune for me) moment. With PcPhee’s section falling back, they attempted to rush the Churchill through, realizing they’d have little to lose of it didn’t make it. All said, they played well despite the mist and their naval bombardment failing at the last second. 

Caleb