Operation Martlet: Striking at St Nicholas (Table 4, Turn 7)

 With the counterattack ground down, Lt Clavell and his fresh platoon is charged with continuing the attack toward the Rauray Ridge - their first objective being the farm at St Nicholas. Stationed at the farm is a platoon of 12 SS troops, led by Oberscharfuhrer Schnatz. Schnatz and his men are strengthened by an integrated Panzer IV, which they'll husband to their rear, and allow the main effort to be carried by another piece of equipment up their sleeve - a Panther. 

For his attack into this mildly open terrain, Clavell is supported by two Churchill AVREs from the brigade's engineer company, an additional rifle section from a sister platoon, and a sniper team. His patrols push up, securing ground in the orchard and in the wheat field to the northwest, reporting potential German activity in the opposite wheat field, and in the farmhouses to the southeast.

St Nicholas' Farm

The British Jump Off Points

German defensive positions

The Brits begin their push towards the farm, sending their sister section into the orchard and he Churchill into the road. As the Churchill maneuvers to the west, the Panther nestled in the wheat field fires on the Churchill, rattling their hull. The Churchill returns fire, but the spigot mortar reflects harmlessly off the side. The German machine lines up one more shot, connecting with the Churchill. 

Panther in the wheat field

Churchill AVRE pushes west

As Sgt Buckley directs his men forward under the 2" smoke he's laid down, they hear a large explosion behind them - the Churchill. It must've taken a hit to its ammo magazine and a cloud of smoke rises on their flank. His heart sinks, yet he continues to push his men forward. As the rifle section closes on the farmhouses, they direct the mortar's fire to land smoke - blocking the farmhouse's view of the orchards.

As the section makes a bee-line for the barn door to apply pressure on the Germans, Scharfuhrer Peppler deploys his squad in the upper story of the farm house. Hearing the movement below him, he orders his men to toss two grenades through the smoke. One explodes below them to no effect, but the other bounces off the window pane and lands at their feet! Fortunately, it's a dud and does no harm - lucky break.

As a grenade explodes off to their side, the British rifle section runs through the smoke and gets inside the barn, setting up the Bren. They get inside just in time - as they shut the door behind them, the Panther clears the barn and rotates to position all its weaponry to cover the orchard. Unfortunately for the Panther, they've exposed their side to the main line of British advance, and the second AVRE takes advantage of the opportunity. 

Second Churchill presses up behind the KO'd AVRE (Sherman proxy)

Before they can get a shot off, the Panther commander notices his predicament and orders his driver into full reverse. They tank another shot from the spigot mortar to no effect, and return fire of their own. Their 88mm shell hits the turret, and the main gun is knocked out. The AVRE commander orders his tank into the orchard, unable to effectively combat the Panther, and they slip out of sight. 

With the Churchill threat neutralized, the Panther pushes back to face the orchard in an attempt to isolate the rifle section that has sheltered itself in the barn. All of the barn's entrances are covered by Germans, and help has to move past the watchful eye of the German tank. In an attempt to extricate their men in the barn, Buckley orders the PIAT team into the road to take a shot at the Panther's side armor. The first shot lands short, exploding in the road. Hastily reloading, the fire an additional round - this one connecting with the rear of the machine. Smoke begins to rise from the engine compartment, and the PIAT team ducks behind the hedge.

The Panther moves to cover the orchard

The PIAT team take advantage of the Panther's distraction

The limping Panther slowly reverses away from the orchard, directing its main armor and armament down the road. As the behemoth withdraws into the wheat, Scharfuhrer Bergander brings his men up through the wheat, and puts his MGs in overwatch, covering the location where the PIAT fired from. 

Bergander's men in the wheat

The British section leader orders his Bren to set up in a slit window with a view of the German wheat field and preceded to spot for the 2", hoping to blind the Germans. Unfortunately the smoke shell went long, and Bergman's squad caught sight of the Bren gunner. They swung their own machine guns around and opened fire. The Bren gunner ducked away from the hail of bullets, then quickly returned fire of his own, a round striking Bergander, knocking him to the ground. 

The Panther swiveled to bring his weapons to bear on the barn, the British troops now revealed. As he's maneuvering, Buckley grabs the PIAT team and the 2" team and orders them up the orchard. Simultaneously, the rifle section in the barn backs out of the structure, using the smoke as cover, falling back deeper into the orchard.

With the Panther slowly swiveling back to face down the road, the PIAT team moves up to use the hedge as cover and fires a round, which goes wide. Once again showing incredible skill at reloading their launcher, the team fires a second round, again going wide. The Panther, having maneuvered to face the threat, fires it's main cannon and hull MG at the PIAT in the hedge. The loader killed, the remaining gunner breaks, falling back into the orchard.

Buckley falls back with the PIAT and rallies off their shock, pulling them back up the orchard to join with the rifle to their front. He gets the group of men together and leads them back up the orchard, planning on using the rifle section to engage the panzergrenadiers in the field while the PIAT engages the supporting Panther. Simultaneously, the wounded Churchill leaves the orchard under a screen of smoke laid by the 2" in an attempt to draw the attention of the Panther.

Buckley rallying the HQ troops

Churchill AVRE swings wide under smoke cover

Buckley gets his group of men forward and orders the section up to the hedge while the PIAT hangs a few feet back. The rifle section rushes up to the hedge, throwing grenades over and across the road, and begin firing once in a proper position. The resulting combat kills one of the Germans, but the remaining panzergrenadiers swing their machine guns to face the hedge. The 2" lobs a smoke shell to cover the rifle section, but it goes long - landing behind the Germans. 

The MG-42s hose the hedge down to little effect. As the Panther is swinging back around to face the most immediate threat in the hedges, a PIAT round connects with its side. Fortunately, the armor holds and does little damage. The Panther responds with an HE cannon round and the hull MG to the hedge, suppressing the men using it as a firing position. Buckley drags the PIAT gunner away from the hedge, ordering the section to cover their withdrawal. Their continuous fire brings down two more Germans.

Bergander, having bandaged his wound, withdraws his crumbling squad into the smoke to their rear. Scharfuhrer Ruel takes his place, getting his MG-42s on line in the wheat. Their offensive fire reduces the British rifle section to mere tatters, causing them to flee the hedge, dragging their wounded corporal with them. With this final setback, Lt Clavell orders the general withdrawal - they'll try again shortly.

The ragged panzergrenadiers, holding their defensive position

British troops fall back under cover of smoke

Sgt Buckley organizing the withdrawal

In the end Clavell's platoon only lost one man to the aid post, the rest of the casualties were attached units. Schnatz and his platoon were able to police the battlefield after the British withdrawal, taking care of their wounded. With the minor injuries sustained, they should be at full strength the next time the British attack. Clavell's men feel he was looking out for them and are pleased for that. His CO, however, would like to have seen more effort on Clavell's part. Regardless, Clavell's outlook remains secure. Schnatz' men, despite his lack of losses aren't particularly impressed, clearly not aware of the realities of combat against the overwhelmingly supported Allies. His company commander is well pleased and Schnatz is feeling merry - a kind way of saying he's taken to the bottle.

Schnatz and his men are taking the opportunity to dig in and entrench their positions here, knowing that Clavell will have to attempt another clearing of St Nicholas' farm.

The Germans first win since we left the outskirts of Fonteney, and a fun game at that! The Churchills came on piecemeal, which allowed the Panther to deal with them in turn. With them neutralized and the PIAT unable to score a solid hit, it was difficult for the Brits to push up the narrow lane of the orchard. The support that the Brits are getting is beginning to feel overwhelming, so any win that I can claim is a breath of fresh air. -A- is using her supports wisely, husbanding her infantry for when a position needs to be taken. Before she withdrew, she was able to advance one of her JOPs forward in the orchard, making contesting her advance in the next game particularly difficult. We'll see when we get there!


Caleb



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