The Strategic Corporal

Late June, 1944. British SOE has identified one SS-Oberführer Ebbe Deitrich as an individual possessing vital intelligence needed for the continuation of the war effort in France. Local French resistance groups have reported seeing Oberführer Deitrich and his entourage taking shelter in a small bombed out hamlet, some distance behind the allied lines. Members of No. 10 Commando, who had been inserted behind enemy lines before the invasion, are tasked with infiltrating the ad-hoc SS command post and, if possible, capturing Oberführer Deitrich alive for interrogation.

The Men

The four-man Commando team selected for this mission comprises of Captain Macy (Welrod silenced pistol), Sergeant Barlow (De Lisle silenced carbine), and Corporals Dunnegan and Feron (Silenced Sten).

The Mission

The Commandos begin their infiltration from the east. Their basic plan is to split their forces into two and approach the house where Oberführer Deitrich is believed to be from two different directions. If they can reach the house undetected, they stand the best chance at capturing Deitrich alive by attacking from two directions at once. The men have observed some sentry activity but will not know the exact extent of the opposition they face.

Ed. note: because I am playing this scenario solo, from only one side, I wanted to add as much fog of war as I could. Before starting, I designated several areas enemy sentries could possibly be, marked with question marks on the map. Once line of sight was established with one of these “blanks,” I rolled on a table to determine who the enemy was, what direction he was facing, and if he was moving or stationary.

Captain Macy moves up along the north, peeking around a corner and gaining LOS to a sentry. As the sentry is not facing him, Captain Macy signals for Corporal Dunnegan to move forward. Macy attempts to neutralize the sentry with his silenced Welrod pistol, but misses the shot.

Ed. note: I goofed on the rules at this point. After Captain Macy fired he should have received a noise marker, which would have caused the SS sentry to investigate. I was able to ret-con this mistake in later, however, with one of the special “infiltrator” abilities which you will see showcased later on in the mission.

Sergeant Barlow and Corporal Feron move in to the south. During the patrol phase, several SS sentries begin to roam…

The next infiltration phase, the action stays with Barlow and Feron. Barlow moves in silently through one of the bombed out farm buildings, while Feron dashes along the outside wall. This causes a noise marker to be placed on Feron, which draws a sentry toward the noise, and directly into the sights of Barlow’s De Lisle carbine. Barlow lines up the shot, and drops the sentry with a single tringle pull. One SS scumbag down.

A noise marker is placed on Barlow which would have drawn the attention of the other sentry, but Captain Macy is able to use the “Deception” infiltration ability so that the sentry is prohibited from moving during the patrol phase. With that taken care of, Corporals Dunnegan and Feron move forward, and make LOS to another potential sentry “blank.” Corporal Feron rolls on the sentry table, and the original sentry marker is removed and instead replaced with two potential enemies.

During the next patrol phase, one of the possible enemy contacts roves to the outside of the building and reveals himself. Corporal Feron attempts to take him out with his Sten gun but misses. Sergeant Barlow drops him instead with another well aimed shot from the De Lisle. Again this causes noise, and with Captain Macy having already moved, draws enemy attention. The SS sentry begins investigating, and ends the patrol phase directly behind Barlow, with only a wall separating the two!

During the next infiltration phase, the rest of the team moves into position surrounding the target house. Sergeant Barlow, with a sentry being so close to him, must make a decisive action. He decides to round the corner of the wall, firing his De Lisle point blank at the sentry… and misses.

Alarm!

Things begin happening rather quickly. The sentry facing Barlow dives at the commando, attempting to take him down in hand-to-hand combat. The surprise of the encounter must have shaken him however, as the brawl end in a draw and Barlow retreats further into the farmhouse. An SS sentry steps out of the target building and fires at Corporal Dunnegan causing him to retreat to safety. Corporal Feron responds with a long burst from his Sten, and the sentry bails off table!

Before Oberführer Deitrich has the chance to fully respond, Captain Macy rushes inside the house and engages in hand-to-hand combat, attempting to wrestle SS leader to the ground. An unarmed SS radio operator joins the melee but is beaten back. Oberführer Deitrich is captured! SS reinforcements are beginning to arrive, however, so it is time to boogie.

Macy and Dunnegan begin withdrawing back to allied side of the table. An SS sentry attempts to rush Sergeant Barlow again, but this time is cut down by the De Lisle. Feron lets loose another burst from his Sten and sends an SS scumbag scurrying back.

The following turn, arriving SS reinforcements are able to get a flanking position on Feron, who does not survive the resulting fire. Barlow responds with the De Lisle, which once again drops its enemy.

The rest of the team is able to withdraw safely. Mission accomplished, but with the loss of a good man.

Enemy casualties: 1 captured, 4 KIA
Friendly casualties: 1 KIA (Corporal Feron). His sacrifice will not be in vain, as intelligence gathered from Oberführer Deitrich should further the Allied war effort and save Allied lives.

The game played is FiveCore from Nordic Weasel Games.
The VTT used is Owlbear Rodeo.
The map is by 2-Minute Tabletop.
The tokens are by Historical Battlefields.
Dice were rolled by me, John Mayes.

The Situation

France, late June 1944. Early in the morning, Lieutenant Anderson personally leads a four-man American scout team, seeking possible safe passage through the dense hedgerow country the Americans have been fighting in for weeks. Only one of the scouts returns, badly wounded. A second team is dispatched to retrieve the fallen and potentially save any who may still be alive. Lt. Anderson is well liked and losing him would be a serious blow to the men’s morale. The Germans, meanwhile, continue to lie in wait…

The Team

The task of retrieving Lt. Anderson and the wounded scouts has fallen to Sgt. Buck, who has been friends with Anderson since Sicily. He chooses four men to accompany him on the rescue: Privates Roman, Cline, and Roth, all riflemen, and Corporal Branson, a bear of a man who can handle the BAR like it was a child’s toy.

The Mission

As the Americans approach the ambush site, Buck divides his team in two. Riflemen Cline and Roth go with the BAR on the left flank, approaching the suspected machine gun nest from the cover of a hedge row. Buck takes Pvt. Roman and advances along the field, staying close to the protection of a low stone wall.

Danger lurking just beyond the hedgerow.

The German machine gun team spots the approaching Americans and opens fire, causing Buck and Roman to dive for cover behind the wall. Crouching low, they are out of sight for now.

The German squad leader takes this opportunity to dash across the road into a flanking position where he will have a clear line of sight to the enemy.

Roman sees the silhouette of the German squad leader’s helmet peeking over the stone wall, draws a quick bead, and fires. He rolls double ones, and the squad leader goes down!

The German machine gun nest retaliates by firing another long burst into the field, causing Roman to flinch and dive back into cover. The German squad leader, meanwhile, miraculously recovers: Roman’s round had only grazed the top of his helmet, briefly knocking him down.

The German squad leader once again peeks over the low wall to fire on the Americans, but Sgt. Buck has his grease gun trained on the position. A steady -thump-thump-thump- emanates from the gun, and heavy .45 caliber slugs smash all around the German squad leader. The German panics, and gives up his position!

Thinking twice about that grease gun.

The Americans roll a “scurry” for their next turn, which allows them to reposition without fear of reaction fire. Buck and Roman move within arms reach of the first downed scout, but cannot yet leave cover for fear of MG42 fire.

So close. Hang on brother!

The BAR team, meanwhile, has managed to clear the hedge and enter a small grove of trees, looking for a position to provide a good base of fire.

The following German turn does not see much action, but the German squad leader manages to regain his nerves and prepares to get back into the fight.

Buck throws a smoke grenade over the wall in an attempt to provide some concealment against the German machine gun. The grenade bounces slightly and pops. The resulting smoke screen just manages to obscure the LOS from the machine gun to the first downed scout.

Roman moves forward under its cover and checks his downed comrade – walking wounded. Under the protection of smoke, the wounded scout begins making his way to safety.

The smoke clears the next turn however, once again leaving Roman exposed to machinegun fire. MG42 rounds rip through the air, and Roman panics, hunkering down next to the low wall.

On the American turn, the BAR team finally moves into position to provide support by fire. The MG42, being otherwise engaged, does not notice the impending threat. The loader has keener eyes and takes a pot shot at Pvt. Cline as he emerges from the brush, causing him to flinch. Branson opens up with the BAR and looses a long burst into the machinegun nest – the MG42 goes down, and the loader flinches!

The following German turn, the machinegun team manages to recover and return fire against the Americans. Pvt. Roth has a rapid change of heart and flees backward toward the hedgerow, while Branson and the BAR dive for cover

Attacking MG42s is not for the faint of heart.

With the BAR team hunkered down, the action returns to Buck and Roman in the field, still crouching behind the low wall and desperately trying to reach their downed comrades. Buck is in position to see where Lt. Anderson lies fallen – the furthest from cover, Anderson must have been leading from the front, as usual. Buck throws his last smoke grenade in front of Lt. Anderson, but the wind picks up and the smoke dissipates to quickly to be of any use. The German squad leader has since managed to regain he bearings and rejoin the fight. He hurls a grenade at Buck – the grenade bounces harmlessly away, but lands right next to Roman! The grenade explodes, instantly killing him. The Americans have suffered their first casualty. Buck returns fire, but only causes the German squad leader to duck back behind cover.

Branson, meanwhile, has managed to get his BAR back into position, and begins to once again lay down fire on the German machinegun nest. The volume of fire is to much for the MG42 gunner, who panics and flees off table!

Without covering fire from the MG42, the German squad leader is now dangerously exposed on his right flank.

Sensing the desperation of the moment, he decides to charge forward and engages Buck in hand-to-hand combat. This catches Buck by surprise, and it costs him his life. Two American lives have now been lost in an attempt to save three.

The BAR team, seeing their beloved sergeant go down, respond with a bayonet charge of their own. Screaming and hurling grenades, they charge the lone German occupant of the machine gun nest.

One grenade lands true, and the German rifleman is downed in the resulting blast.

The German squad leader has lost all of his support, and decides that discretion is the better part of battle. He flees off table, living to fight another day.

The surviving GIs gather around their beloved Lieutenant and check his condition: the dice have fallen, and so has Lt. Anderson. The battle may be won, but to the men, it feels like a hollow victory.

One more day in Normandy.

Thank you for reading this battle report, I hope you enjoyed it. The game was played using "FiveCore" by Nordic Weasel Games, a fun little set of skirmish rules that generates strong narratives such as this one. FiveCore may be found at Wargame Vault. NWG may be found at their blog.