WWII Street Fighting

Scenario Three:
C'Est La Gruyere

By Samuel Scott

Dawn breaks on a Belgian city, to reveal that German and French forces have become intermingled during the night.

Players: 6 Set Up: Divide the table into nine zones as in scenario one. Number the zones 1 through 9. After the units have been assigned, each player should map their starting zone and then mark down the starting positions of their unit. Players should not reveal to any other player the composition of their unit. The umpire will then collect all the maps and place all the forces.

Each turn on a roll of 4,5, or 6 on a d6, a unit may communicate either with any other unit, or with an offtable headquarters. Communication must be written and no more than 6 words. Communication is only one way. To respond to a communication, a unit must re-establish contact on a subsequent turn.

The off-table HQ will order each side to assemble around their command group and await further orders. The off-table HQ will not be able to say where the command group for each side is. If all the troops on a side manage to assemble around their command group. They will be given their group objective.

    French Group Objective: Retreat across the bridge and off-table
    German Group Objective: Capture the bridge

FRENCH FORCES

Completely Lost Armor

    1 Char B "Don Quixote"
    1 Hotchkiss H39 "Sancho Panza"
    1Set Up: Zone 6

Utterly Disoriented Infant

    2 Infantry Platoons: each with 8 Rifle (1 with Rifle Grenade), 1 LMG, 1 Pistol, 1 MMG
    1Set Up: Zone 1

Hopelessly Befuddled Support Group

    1 75 mm Field Gun with Truck (4 Crew armed with Rifles)
    11 Infantry Platoon: 8 Rifle (1 with Rifle Grenade), 1 LMG, 1 Pistol
    11 Command Group (3 Officers)
    1Set Up: Zone 8

GERMAN FORCES

Panzertruppen who refuse to ask directions

    1 Pz II
    11 Pz III
    11 Officer Group: 3 Officers with Kubelwagen
    1Set Up: Zone 4

Wandering Minstrel Panzergrenadiers

    1 Armored Infantry Platoon: 6 Rifle, 2 SMG, 1 LMG, 1 Sdkfz. 251 1 Sdkfz. 222
    Set Up: Zone 9

Hauptman "I thought You had the map" Kartoffeipuffer and the Dusseldorf chapter of the Hells Angles

    1 Pz. IV (3 HE, 1 Smoke Round)
    1 Recon Squad: 2 Rifle, 2 LMG, 2 Motorcycle Combinations
    1Set Up: Zone 3

C'est la Gruyere Play Test:

The test of this scenario was somewhat hampered by a shortage of players. In the end, the German side was run by two players and all three French forces were run by a single player. The first turns of play were especially hard on the vehicles of both sides. The Char B was the first to go after being shot in the butt by the Panzer IV and destroyed before getting off a round. The Panzer II was the next to be knocked out when it found that the ambush position it had taken on the French Panhard armored car was in the midst of some extremely ticked off French infantry, who dispatched the vehicle with close assaults. The Panhard, after surviving the ambush of the Panzer II, then went toe to toe with the Sdkfz. 222 and the two vehicles succeeded in destroying each other.

After this flurry of activity, things began to swing against the French. The crew of the French 75 mm gun had the Panzergrenadiers totally cowed until they were picked off by a German LMG team which had set itself up in a church tower. Two platoons of French infantry were moving down a road towards their Command Group when they were sandwiched between the Panzer IV and the Panzer III and shredded. The French were the first to hear what their overall objective was (to retreat across the bridge) and, after the R35 picked off the Panzer III with a flank shot between two buildings, the surviving French infantry made a break for the bridge. Unfortunately for them, the Germans could bring fire from four machine guns down on the bridge and only a single empty truck managed to make it across and escape. The Germans never actually figured out what their objective was, but high honors have to go to Hauptman Kartoffelpuffer and the Dusseldorf Hells Angels who together knocked out the Char B, the French 75, and caused the bulk of the infantry casualties.

The Germans held the field at the end of the game, but because they hadn't actually found out what their mission was, let alone made any steps towards completing it, they could only be awarded the most marginal of victories.

WWII Street Fighting

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© Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum
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