Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) sent through another battle report featuring Kiwis in the Italian Campaign. The combat is again in Casino town against the Fallschirmjaeger, but this time around the Hotels Excelsior and Roses.
The scenario
Setting: Setting: Hotel Excelsior, Casino, Italy 1944
I wanted to give Stevens new armour rules / musings a test drive and have a look at the fighting around the Hotels Excelsior and Roses. Robert asked me for a game at short notice so I threw this scenario together.
Inspiration
Forces
A reduced strength Fallschirmjager Company with a Stug and a pack 40 defending against a Kiwi company with 3 Shermans.
Table
Special rules
Special rules:
- Kick off at noon and 4 pm finish, 30 minutes pass on a 5,6
- German OP may be on the cassino slopes and see the entire table.
- 2nd story of buildings can see over normal crossfire blocks.
- Bogging down rules in use.
- Blue start lines for kiwis and red for Germans deployed on a map.
- Objective was to capture the Hotel Excelsior.
- Balagan armour rules/musings
- Kiwis regular morale , Germans veteran.
The Game
Rob played the Germans and I the kiwis. I pushed the left flank with two of my platoons but found it impossible to injure the Germans in the hotel of roses to the point of extinction due to their veteran rallying capabilities. The 2nd storey LOS variation caused a lot of casualties on that flank. Rob revealed his Stug fairly early on and took out his first Sherman after several rounds of us slugging it out, he then redeployed and a lucky roll of 3 hits caused a instant kill on my second Sherman. I did manage to clear the Hotel of roses; Last hurrah was a last-ditch movement on my right flank with my remaining platoon but they suffered a similar fate to their mates on the left flank by then I had run out or resources and time.
Reflections
I’m still liking the armour rules, moving clock worked well, “all seeing” German op in the cassino slopes worked reflected the situation at Cassino.
I don’t think I will let 2nd storeys of buildings oversee and I will return to normal crossfire LOS rules.
I don’t think we used 5d6 for Sherman (HE) anti-personnel fire (I think only 4 as per the rules) I think Steve now allows the MG and the main gun to fire at the same time and target?
[Steven: My current Armour House Rules allow the main gun to group fire with the machine guns. For a Sherman that is 4d6 for the main gun and 4d6 for the machine guns. I explained in post Anti-personnel Rating – Revising Crossfire Anti-tank Rules 4, that 4d6+4d6 is roughly the same effect as a single role of 5d6, so my revised rules give the vehicle a to shooting ability of 5d6.]
Perhaps a 2nd company of Kiwis and a larger table (this one was 5 by 4 feet) and I can make one as large as 8 by 5 feet.