The Battle For Carenvan part 2. A Bolt Action Batrep

"Meanwhile. on the other side of town"

    This is the second part of our 3 part mini campaign set in the fictitious town of Carenvan in Normandy. In the previous scenario we had a setting, two historically themed and contemporary forces and a simple mission; destroy the enemy. Often when we are playing these campaign games forget to keep note of how many turns we've played and we generally play till we're running out of time then look at what we have left on the table and base our conclusion on that. This is because gaming time is precious and needs to be made the most of and we get really immersed in the game and the setting and forget everything else. Which is a victory in itself, right?

      This time however we decided that we should play an actual scenario from the book rather than a "let's bash each other over the head and see who has the least lumps on their head at the end" game. So we set up the terrain then chose our scenario, in this case Key Objectives. We ended up with 4 objectives and, after setting them up we got cracking.

       As is the norm nowadays with our campaign games, neither side revealed what they had brought to the battle which makes things just that wee bit more tense, we find. Anyway, on with the batrep 1500 points of Fallschirmjager v 1500 points US Airborne

A low flying Typhoon on a sortie over Carenvan. Not part of the game I was just
messing about with my new phone camera and a nice, blue backdrop. We are a bit
 obsessed with playing games on tables that are rule book quality

      The Fallschirmjager troops sheltered on the outskirts of the town as the RAF Fighter roared overhead. All day long this had been a regular occurrence and they were getting heartily sick of it. "Damned Jabos; where the hell are our fighters; where's the bloody Luftwaffe?" grumbled Gefrieter Steinkopf. "Stop belly aching, Steinkopf, they're probably busy elsewhere" replied Leutnant Pratzki, instantly unconvinced of his own reply "How's your head?"  he asked, changing the subject. Steinkopf raised a hand to his bandaged head, wincing as he did "It's fine, sir; nothing to worry about"

      Pratzki looked at Steinkopf; his uniform was torn in about a dozen places, his head was so swathed in bandages that he couldn't wear his helmet. He was lucky to be alive, reflected Pratzki, after that Jabo had hit the truck Steinkopf had been travelling in. The others who had been in it were either dead or on their way back to the rear in an ambulance; the company's first casualties since the Allied's had landed the day before. Steinkopf had refused to go back with the others so Pratzki had decided to keep the young blond NCO with him for the moment rather than risk him with one of the squads.

     These squads were now grouped around him as they waited till the Jabos had definitely gone. Pratzki signalled the commanders forward. They moved up quickly accompanied by the two armoured vehicle commanders; one commanding an assault gun, an old French vehicle with a howitzer stuck on top, the other a tank destroyer; the best the regiment had been able to get hold of in the current situation. Along with them was a feldwebel from a reconnaissance unit who had joined them with his 250/9. 

    Pratzki briefed them quickly "We know there are enemy forces in the town but exactly where we'll have to find out. The colonel wants us to take the church on the far side of the square as the artillery need the tower as an observation post. Feldwebel Klimpt, you will take your men and work along the south side of the square towards the church. Gefrieter Kandinski, you and your men will join me in supporting Klimt. Leutnant Schiele, you take the remainder and hold the area behind the chateau. Initially you will have the armour supporting you; understand? Good, also keep your eyes open for the quartermaster, Captain Gruber. The CO wants him back"...

The Fallschirmjager's held this corner of the main road junction which was a key objective for the US paras

The All American airborne was also keen to seize the barn in this farm as a
defensive position to block any enemy coming into the town square 

The Germans wanted to gain a hold on the church. It's tower offered
good views of the area just inland from the invasion beaches

Finally, this barn, unbeknown to the US Paras, was the hiding place of the Fallschirmjager's battalion quartermaster 

who had been unable to move due to the American advance....and possibly drinking too much brandy the night before. The Fallschirmjager wanted him back...and any brandy he had left

  

View of the town square from the American side

The Lorraine Schlepper moves up besides Leutnant Schiele's men to cover the large junction.

Leutnant Pratzki and Gefrieter Steinkopf. Pratzki has just ordered Kandinzki's squad into the cafe.

...as Klimt and his men move into the deserted farmyard

    Crouching by the barn yard wall, Lt Chester "Chesty" Rockwell III chewed on an unlit cigar. His men were pushing forward in bounds through the small town, attempting to get themselves into as advantageous a position as possible before the Germans arrived in force. His small force was predominantly a mixed bunch from different battalions within the 82nd who had found themselves scattered across the Cotentin Peninsula after their hazardous drop two days beforehand. 

    Fortunately, some support was trickling in from the beaches, not as much as they'd like but beggars can't be choosers, he mused. Among the reinforcements was a troop of Shermans, one of which had been allocated to him as well as a squad of Rangers and a half track full of infantry. These last were rumbling forward too far in advance of his own men and leaving themselves open to an ambush from the Krauts. He shouted to the Ranger squad as they passed him, all alert. "Sgt...." damn, what was their sergeants name again..."Sgt Warhol!" the Rangers sergeant turned towards him "Yes sir!". "Get those idiots in that half track to stop and deploy. The Krauts'll be here any minute!" Sgt Warhol nodded and started jog trotting after the M3 half track, waving is men forward as he did so. At the moment a shell landed near the half track, causing the driver to brake hard and then slam the gears into reverse. "Lucky son's of bitches" muttered Chesty..

  

US Rangers squad moved forward under intense fire

    The small half track rumbled forward past the Lorraine Schlepper and stopped just forward of it. Up ahead, Feldwebel Kant spotted the American infantry sprinting across the road. Dropping down behind the 20mm cannon, he let rip a burst of fire. Two of the Americans fell to the ground hit whilst the rest took cover. Peering ver the the autocannon's barrel, Kant traversed the turret looking for more targets and saw the flash of the Sherman's gun a split second before it's 75mm shell torn into his half track....

The German 250/9 burns fiercely after being hit by the Sherman. 

Sweet revenge. The Marder destroys the American Sherman. The Americans

 had the satisfaction of destroying the Marder in return with a well aimed bazooka shot 

later in the battle.

The US bazooka team goes tank hunting.

Sgt Deezle and his men attempt to skirt around the German flank

...whilst Cpl Wadjakowski and his men move into the courtyard of the Startled Hare Inn

...and out the other side. In the gateway can be seen the unfortunate Fallschirmjager squad led by Feldwebel Klimt, These were wiped out by Sgt Deezle's squad in a rather one sided combat (I can't remember ever seeing so many 5s and 6s in an assault; damned Yankees!!)

After skirmishing with Lt Pratzki and Gefrieter Kandinzki's squad, Cpl Wadjakowzki and his men take stock of their situation 

Meanwhile Gefrieter Kandinzki and the remnants of his squad put down covering fire on the American light howitzer as Lt Pratzki and Gefrieter Steinkopf make their way forward

Cpl Wadjakowzki and his men stick to their mission and make their way into the barn

    PFC Murtaugh hefted the bazooka around and took aim at the Self Propelled Gun by the burning half track. "You next, you dumb Kraut" he muttered and pulled the trigger. The bazookas round rocketed toward the German and ricocheted off it's front armour. "You got him, Jake, you got him!" shouted his loader. "Reload, you son of a bitch! Reload!" The loader stopped celebrating and fumbled to reload the bazooka. A slap on the shoulder and the cry "Loaded!" followed and Murtaugh brought the bazooka into the aim but his sights remained empty; the German armoured vehicle was gone. A flash followed by a nearby detonation caused both bazooka men to duck. Near the walled garden of the chateau a German panzer-schreck team were busy reloading, their first shot missing the bazooka men by a couple of feet. "Sons of bitches" muttered Murtaugh, aiming his bazooka at the panzer-schreck team, he squeezed the trigger... 

The American bazooka team and German panzer-schrek team begin their deadly duel

...while the Lorraine Schlepper team gather their wits

The US Infantry moved into a good fire position by the large, red house

and quickly drew the attention of the Fallschirmjager's light howitzer

   Lt Chesty Rockwell III rolled onto his side, coughing and spitting blood mingled with tobacco. His head rang and his body ached from the concussion of the shells impact. Wiping his mouth and spitting more tobacco he silently swore off cigars for life..at least for the time being. 
Nearby in a growing pool of blood lay the body of his runner, Chesty groaned in impotent rage then turned as he caught the sight of Germans advancing towards the barn. As they reached the wall surrounding the barn, Chesty was stunned  to see two of them pitch forward onto the ground by the wall as the other three threw themselves behind it's protective bulk. By the large, red bricked house, the half track's .50 cal had opened up on the Germans as they ran across the road. 
Determined to finish them off, Chesty grabbed his rifle and  moved up beside the barn, out of sight of the Germans,,,,,

Lt Chester Rockwell III in a bit of a pickle

    Chest heaving, Leutnant Pratzki lay in the cover of the church wall. He could hear the wounded Americans by the gun calling for aid and took some small comfort from that. The light howitzer had been a menace to them as they advanced but luckily he and Gefrieter Steinkopf had managed to put pay to that particular threat. "What now, sir?" said Steinkopf. "Now? Now we wait for the rest of the company to join us" he replied, pulling a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes from his chest pocket

Postscript
And there it ended. The Fallschirmjager held the road junction where the had started and had seized the church. The Americans had captured the walled farm building and contested the barn with the Germans so a draw was the result.

Highlights for me was hitting AND THEN destroying the Sherman. A very rare event with my dice rolling. The low point, from my perspective was Klimt's squad firing from point blank range at the Yanks and missing with every shot. The Yanks then shrugged off their pin and beat the living daylights out of Klimt's klutzes which all but handed the barn yard objective to the Americans.

So the battle for Carenavan goes on with the third batrep due soon (spoilers!! We've already fought the third battle and it was a doozy!! 2000 points a-piece and lots of armour and explosions....but more about that in my next batrep)
Till then, pip pip