Probe of British forward line near Verneuil-Grand, Chain of Command, France 1940

We continued our France 1940 campaign, with a second battle on the following day of the German invasion, which saw the German reconnaissance units attack in strength against the 12th Derwents' forward line near the cemetery just east of Verneuil-Grand.

The cemetery of Notre-Dame du Bon Secours near the battle (well, not really - actually a generic cemetery I made with cardboard headstones and recycled printed paper terrain walls from another project. Also, as I'm only working off modern maps, I'm not sure the cemetery existed there during the war, but anyway, alternative timeline etc etc..).

Setup

Terrain layout and basic scheme of movements. I'll have to improve my phone camerawork - some glint keeps happening.

The mission was a Probe of the 12th Derwents' forward positions on the Route d'Ecouviez. The Germans elected to move up the main road to Montmedy and to occupy the woods west of a large pond on their left as a jump-off point. They would be attacking with two full platoons plus support: A motorcycle recon platoon and a heavy machine gun platoon equipped with ZB37(t) tripod machine guns.

The 12th Derwents were facing them with just a single infantry platoon (7 Platoon) and limited support. 7 Platoon's usual commander, Platoon Sergeant-Major Lennox was absent at the RAP with a non-battle injury [I hadn't converted the figure intended to represent him yet] and Corporal Archibald Scully was in charge, expecting only to be on trench-digging and wire-stringing duty. 1 Section was digging uphill on the left flank, 2 Section was in the barn on break after digging a gun pit, and 3 Section was on watch across the road on the right flank. Suddenly 3 Section reported lads from 8 Platoon, many wounded, running up to the lines and passing the position. Lieutenant Stephens ran up to CPL Scully with a worried expression on his face: "Get ready - the Germans are..."

Blitzkrieg!

The lead German motorcycle infantry squad tears down the Route d'Ecouviez.

The buzzing rumble of dozens of approaching motorcycles and at least one armoured vehicle finished the young Lieutenant's sentence for him. The lead German reconnaissance unit raced toward 7 Platoon's wire obstacle roadblock, then went through a farm gate into the field to bypass it. There they saw 7 Platoon's half-finished trench and dismounted ready to fight.

"Who's manning the bloody trench?!" yelled CPL Scully. Wide-eyed with shock and embarrassment, 2 Section grabbed their gear and rushed out of the barn, immediately engaging the Germans in a close-range firefight, with casualties on both sides. It was on. [My German opponent rolled double 6 on his first Command Dice and in a double phase, rushing to where I'd pre-planned my entrenchments per a house rule. In doing so he'd also shut down the Jumping-Off Point from which I could have deployed a team to the entrenchment. Usually entrenchments are deployed with their occupying team, but I hadn't had my phase yet of course. So we resolved the situation as thematically as possible, noting the house rule probably needs work].

2 Section rush out of the barn to fight the German motorcycle infantry before their carelessly unmanned entrenchment can be taken over. 1 Section ran over to the barn to take up that position.

A mob of civilians appeared, walking down the road toward the British positions but halted upon seeing the barbed wire roadblock and crouching in fear as hundreds of shots rang out.

7 Platoon attempts to stabilise the line

1 Section, still in their digging kilts [I'm sure that's not a thing, but of course WW1 Scots are the figures I've got], entered the barn and house and joined in the fight against the lead German squad, and together with 2 Section, gained the upper hand, inflicting seven casualties and breaking the unit.

However as they did so, a second German section deployed into line further up the road and joined it's fire with the Germans' platoon light mortar. This fire hit 2 Section hard as most of them were unable to take cover in their unfinished trench [entrenchments were only for one team, regrettably]. Corporal Russell Warrick was hit and soon the rest of his section were all killed or wounded around him. 1 Section was unable to cover 2 Section as their line of sight up the road was blocked by the civilian refugees. A medic rushed over to tend to the wounded, and soon CPL Warrick was patched up (the medic also happened to be a member of the Divisional band and carried his bagpipes with him, which led to witty comments from some of the cheerier wounded).

2 Section, having driven off the lead enemy squad, are in turn wiped out by heavy German MG fire. The lead enemy squad's last three men were able to rally and continued to fight with their MG34.

Lewis gunner Private Huw Jeptha Dick is the last of his section to fall (yes, I know haha it's a funny name combination: nobody chooses the name their born with, and I certainly didn't select it. It was the online random name generator. Actually quite a few of my machine gunners got names along a similar theme, weirdly).

More German fire rained down, though, and CPL Warrick, already previously wounded, was hit again. There was no time for proper treatment though, and, seeing the danger to the French civilians on the road, he rushed out to guide them off to safety.

CPL Warrick, though twice wounded, heroically runs out on the road under German fire to shepherd the French refugees to safety (we don't have civilian minis yet, so you have to use your imagination with the German Patrol Marker).

3 Section holds the right flank

Meanwhile, 3 Section alone held the fight on 7 Platoon's right flank, fighting from their gun pit and a small wooded area near a track. They had no answer to the Sdkfz.222 rolling down the track toward them, and were faced with one and then two tripod machine guns that shredded the trees and tore up the ground around their gun pit. Several men were hit, including CPL John Howse. As he fell, wounded, into the gun pit he instructed his section to keep their heads down.

German heavy machine gun teams set up along a hedge opposite 3 Section and unleash hell.

3 Section hold the right in the face of heavy fire.

Suddenly, LT Stephens jumped into the gun pit, seemingly from nowhere. He strongly reiterated what CPL Howse had told them and, seeing the Sdkfz.222, started yelling behind him for someone to bring up the Boys AT rifle, "for God's sake" [I had rolled not a single 1 on my Command Dice to bring on the anti-tank team and the Chain of Command dice hadn't got there yet].

Soon 3 Section was down to just two men, and although CPL Howse was able to finish bandaging his shoulder [thanks to a Turn End], the German armoured car was bearing down on them and was now followed by a column of motorcycle combinations.

The Sdkfz.222 bears down on the last of 3 Section.

The Boys AT rifle shows up

Finally, Private Waller of 8 Platoon, with MacPharlain of 7 Platoon in tow, appeared in the treeline to the left of 3 Section and took a shot at the Sdkfz.222. Their shot missed, and in response they received a barrage of fire from several machine guns, the German light mortar and the Sdkfz.222 itself as all attention focussed on the threat to the German armoured support. Seeing the AT rifle crew almost pinned down by enemy fire, LT Stephens left the relative safety of the 3 Section gun pit and ran over to the team, rallying as much shock off them as possible. However, as more fire poured on, they became Pinned, and both Waller and MacPharlain were hit (Waller killed and MacPharlain wounded) and the Boys AT rifle destroyed. As no more could be done there, LT Stephens ran back to the gun pit, covered by the Lewis gun, which opened fire on the approaching German motorcycles, killing at least one rider.

Retreat

LT Stephens began to consider mounting a charge with grenades on the nearby Sdkz.222, but looking at each of the three men with him, reconsidered - it would be suicidal to order such an action, and they would be cut down by the several automatic weapons trained on them.

Waiting for an opportune moment, the last three men of 3 Section, together with LT Stephens, leapt from their pit and ran into the trees, dodging the shots of the approaching German armoured car.

3 Section withdraws.

On the left flank. 1 Section withdrew from the roadside barn in good order and Corporal Warrick escorted the French civilians to safety before getting back to the lines to get his wounds more thoroughly treated.

1 Section withdraws, and CPL Warrick helps the French civilians out of danger.

German infantry worked to tear away the barbed wire across the road and the armoured car and motorcyclists raced through the fields past the cemetery before taking fire from the village and pulling back to a safe distance. The move against the village would have to wait.

Aftermath

The German Aufklarungs units have taken the British forward positions and are right up against A Company's main defences at Verneuil-Grand. Although the one German motorcycle squad that charged forward took heavy losses, the 12th Derwents, outnumbered, outgunned and outmanoeuvred, came off worst, with 15 casualties including three dead (Russel Waller, Daryl Findlay and Egan O'Kerny) and four others severely wounded. None have been captured by the enemy as yet, and all wounded have been recovered.

LT Stephens, having been in charge (or at least the senior leader present) in two losing battles with heavy losses, is now in the bad books with Company HQ and with the men (with penalties to Support Points and Force Morale when next he is in command). A Company is in a bit of trouble, with around a fifth of the men and leaders having been killed or wounded, and the Germans having apparently fairly minor losses. However, we'll see whether I can turn this around at the main defensive line, where I can form up in strength in a built-up area.

Hero of the moment was CPL Warrick. He is likely to be Mentioned In Dispatches for leading the counterattack against the German motorcycle troops, and then despite being twice wounded, rescuing a number of French civilian refugees in danger of crossfire. A bitter man even before the war, Warrick now bears a grudge against the Germans for the shock of this day (compounded by his shame in having neglected the manning of his section's gun pit at the critical moment).

Note: The broad campaign system we are using, as well as the calculations for casualties, CO's opinion, mens' opinion, and system of awards for bravery etc, were all from the Too Fat Lardies' At the Sharp End campaign supplement for Chain of Command. The generation of leader character personalities etc was done using Platoon Forward by Joseph Legan.