1917 Fictional Strafexpedition Game 3

Sacher Regiment’s first battalion attacked to the right of the previously documented efforts of 2nd battalion.

1st and 2nd company with a platoon from the 501st sturmbattalion were tasked with capturing either the village of Pecorino or the trench on the hill to the southeast. 1st company and the stormtroops had orders to take the village, while 2nd company would keep the defenders on the hill occupied.

The village and trench were held by companies of the Fagioli Brigade, 212th infantry regiment, second battalion.

After an initial bombardment, 1st company advanced on Pecorino via the road, while 2nd company attempted to cross the vast expanse between themselves and the hill.

I never realized how askew that middle trench section was!

The Italians look on.

A second bombardment preceded the first attacks on the town. Early exchanges of rifle fire went in the defenders' favor.

On the Austro-Hungarian left, 2nd company led by the notably cautious Hauptman Morganstern, struggled to get their advance going.

After an attempt by the stormtroops to take the town was pushed back, the lead platoons of 1st company joined in the effort.

The combination was too much for the Italian defenders and the Austro-Hungarians captured Pecorino.

All that was left was to hold the village against any counterattack.

Meanwhile, 2nd company had managed to engage the Italians on the hill, albeit with heavy losses.

Still, Morganstern, pushed the remnants of his company forward to overrun the machinegun emplaced in the trench and then drove off an Italian platoon.

After repeated failed attacks, the Italians made a last-ditch effort to contest the village. Although the company hauptman was killed in the fighting, the Austro-Hungarians held on.

The Italian commander, Lt. Colonel Pioli, who had managed the fighting from within the trench system, realized he could not mount an effective attack on the village without pulling the remaining platoon from the hilltop position to support the sole remaining platoon in the trenches behind the village. 

He ordered the trench abandoned and the men to rejoin the rest of the battalion to the south.

 

*****

This is scenario 14 from One Hour Wargames. The Italians have to keep 1/3 of their troops within 12" of the hill and 1/3 within 12" of the village during the fighting.

Rules were Trench Hammer, 2nd edition (not officially released - it's a living document if you purchase the rules, you have access to it) and some rules from the Trench Hammer Expansion.

Rather than treating the bases as sections (the default scale in Trench Hammer), I treated them as platoons. Calling the bases companies and the groups of bases battalions would also work, with some range adjustments, but platoons/companies fit in better with the existing campaign battles.

My only other rule adjustment was limiting rifles to a max of 12” range, while machineguns had a much more generous range of 40” - besides matching the rules I had been using, this meant MGs could fire at a distant target without being subject to a firefight (which happens within 12” per the rules), making them quite dangerous.

Why change the set of rules I am using in the middle of a campaign?

I wanted my company commanders to have more to do - and while I had grafted some things onto GASLIGHT from Contemptible Little Armies to do that for the battalion command, the company commanders did little more than shoot and fight, albeit heroically

I also wanted the units to last longer than they had been. Trench Hammer can play very fast, with hits doing on average 3-4 points of damage. However, units can regain lost hit points through either commander action or by executing certain orders and so have a chance to come back from near oblivion and did so, in some cases units did so repeatedly.

The next battle will involve 3rd and 4th company as they press 2nd battalion’s advance further into Italian territory.

One last bit of news, my dog, Peppermint, had cataract surgery on both eyes on Thursday. He was essentially blind going into the surgery. While the healing process is long, and there are any number of possibilities that might undermine the success of the surgery, he can, at least as of now, see and it is exciting beyond words!

1917 Fictional Strafexpedition Game 2

Major Neurath was ordered to press on with 5th and 6th company, 2nd battalion, Sacher regiment, to support the stormtroops of 3rd company,501st battalion, lead by Hauptman Mahler, in their effort to capture Fromagio. The trench line was held by 9th Company, 3rd battalion, 212th Regiment supported by a machine gun platoon.

The attack was preceded by a heavy barrage on both the left and right trenches.

That pile of blankets in the upper right is actually our dog.

The Italian machine gun platoon quickly reduced the numbers in 5th company.

But further scheduled artillery cleared the right trench and 5th was able to take it without opposition thereafter.

However Italian reinforcements arrived and launched a counterattack to reclaim the trench.

On the left, the stormtroops easily overran the few remaining defenders, and Neurath redirected 6th company from planned attack route to instead aid 5th company. Meanwhile, an additional Italian company had arrived and moved into positions within Fromagio.

With the right trench cleared, the stormtroops, supported by an MG platoon, assaulted the town.

With the remnants of 5th company (amounting to less than one platoon) holding th right trench, 6th company proceeded per their original attack plan, and moved to attack Fromagio from the West. However, Lt. Colonel Dattoli arrived with another of his battalions MG platoons to the rear of 6th company which forced them to break off their attack to deal with the threat.

Although not pictured, the fighting was fierce. 6th company was badly mauled by the machine guns before they were silencedt. Major Neurath, who had reluctantly moved up to aid 6th company, was killed by none other than Lt. Colonel Dattioli in a dramatic shoot-out. The Lt.Colonel himself being wounded and captured by a squad from 6th company.

Meanwhile, the battle within the town limits raged, with the stormtroops emerging victorious in the end. 

It was a costly win for the Austro-Hungarians. 

Major Neurath (admittedly as much a liability as anything) was killed, as was Hauptmann Hass of 5 company (in the storming of the right trench when it was still held by the Italian machine gun platoon). 5th and 6th company were both nearly wiped out by casualties, as were the stormtroopers. As such, the advance by 2nd battalion on this prong of Sacher Regiment's attack must halt.

On the plus side, the capture of Lt. Dattioli, to join his 2nd in command, Major Lizzio, was something of potentially great value.

The next game will take a look at how 1st battalion did on their advance.