KG Klink in Greece, Fight #8

All,

Morning, 13 April 1941

Here we are, continuing Kampfgruppe Klink's campaign in Greece.  The first battle saw Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen Battlegroup take a key mountain crossroads manned by members of the British Royal Engineers supported by Armored Cavalry from New Zealand.  The fight saw the Germans infantry nearly eliminate the Commonwealth battlegroup, which fell back in disarray.  Captain Freitag pressed his advantage, immediately pursuing south down, where it ran into defensive positions manned by the remnants of the New Zealand 21st Infantry Battalion.  1st Schutzen then evicted the NZ 21st Inf Bn from its positions, forcing them to fall back.  The third fight saw 1st Lt Ginter's 2nd Schutzen moving secure a crossing over the D3 bridge, forcing the 27th MG Battalion back.  The fourth fight saw Major Bohm's 2nd Recce Battlegroup push back the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment after some fierce fighting.  The fifth battle saw Captain Freitag's beleaguered 1st Schutzen Battlegroup defend the B3 bridgehead against attacks by the British Rangers/9th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and the Royal Engineers/New Zealand Cavalry, pushing the former back and destroying the latter!  The sixth battle saw Battlegroup Wehner (1st Recce) attack and destroy the Lee Force/Australian 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, though they suffered so many casualties they were in then combined with the 2nd Recce battlegroup.  The seventh fight saw Lt Loeb's Panzers absolutely shellack the Allies' 4th Hussars, seeing the final defeat of Allied armored reserves, opening the road to the campaign objective of Servia, and unhinging the Allied defensive line.  For the next fight we are back with Lt Loeb's panzers, looking to complete the destruction of the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment as they attempt to escape the German encirclement.

Overview, north is down.  This is a Commonwealth withdrawal, so the Germans will enter from the east table edge (far left) and the Allies will enter at bottom right, working to get their troops off table at top right.  The road is improved (at least in terms of 1941 Greece), there is a small hamlet consisting of three stone buildings at bottom left, and a few patches of trees scattered about, but the dominant terrain feature is the hilltops dotting the countryside (clockwise from top left): Hill 124 (top left), Hill 372 (top right), Hill 219 (right), Hill 205 (bottom right), and Hill 162 (center bottom).

I'm playing with very simple terrain so that I can lay it down and scrape it up as quickly as possible, to get in a lot of games as quickly as possible.

I'm playing solo using Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command, modified a bit.  I've bumped it up a level (using multi-based stands, not individual troops), I simplified fire and melee combat, and morale (5Core concepts, as always), as well as movement (I like dicing for movement, but it significantly slows things down for me).  I changed the CoC Dice so that it represents indirect supporting fires from Higher HQ, and I did away with the Patrol Phase.  I love the Patrol Phase, but it doesn't work for me playing solo, so what I do is designate an attacker and a defender; both sides start completely off table, using their Command Dice to deploy on table (as normal), but where it differs is that I basically give the defender a deployment area of half the table, and he can deploy anywhere in that area, even dug in, so long as it's at least 6" from any attacker.

If you're now wondering, then, why do I still call these rules "Chain of Command," it's because the entire game revolves around the use of Chain of Command's brilliant activation system (command roll/Command Dice), the use of leaders' command initiative, and the 'Force Morale' concept of declining Command Dice and morale to breaking.  To me, that's the heart of the system, and it makes for a fun game.

The opposing forces, with Germans on the left and Commonwealth on the right.

I'm playing these games in 10mm using figures from Pendraken and Minifigs UK, roads from Fat Frank, hills from Warzone, buildings from Crescent Root, rivers from Wargamers Terrain, and trees from Gunner at Signifer.

Battlegroup Loeb (AKA, Panzer): consists of the CO stand (far left), one platoon of Combat Engineers in trucks, two platoons of Panzer Mk IIIs led by their company commander, and one platoon of Panzerjaeger Is.

*This battlegroup is actually being personally led by Colonel Klink, represented by the CO stand, while the battlegroup commander, Lt Loeb, is the single Panzer IV at top left.

1st Lt Loeb (veteran of Poland, France, and now Greece, with five tank kills to his credit, winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class and 2nd Class)   

2nd Panzer Platoon - Officer Cadet Fahrmann (2 tank kills)

Vehicle Two - Sgt Fittzbaum (1 tank kill)

Vehicle Three - Sgt Mayer (1 tank kill)

Vehicle Four - Cpl Peske 

Vehicle Five - Sgt Mettner 

3rd Panzer Platoon - Sgt 1st Class Friessler (4 tank kills)

Vehicle Two - Sgt Jurgens 

Vehicle Three - Sgt Zedler 

Vehicle Four - Sgt Harms 

Vehicle Five - Cpl Geiger (1 tank kill)

Panzerjaeger Platoon -Sgt Dittrich (IC2, 2 tank kills)

2nd Anti-Tank Vehicle - Cpl Hamburg 

3rd Anti-Tank Vehicle - Cpl Halstenburg 

Assault Engineer Platoon - 2nd Lt Orstens

1st Engineer Squad - Sgt Barkstrom (IC2)

2nd Engineer Squad - Sgt Klivens 

3rd Engineer Squad - Sgt Hafl (IC2)

4th Engineer Squad - Cpl Dilbertt 

The Commonwealth force: Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment 

Commanding Officer: Major Hogan

1 x Carrier Platoon (Platoon Commander, 3 x Rifle Section, 1 x 2" Mortar, 1 x Boyes anti-tank rifle, 6 x Universal Carrier)

1 x Rifle Platoon (Platoon Commander, 3 x Rifle Section, 1 x 2" Mortar, 1 x Boyes anti-tank rifle)

1 x Weapons Platoon (Platoon Commander, 2 x Vickers MGs, 2 x 3" mortars)

Anti-Tank Platoon (Platoon Commander, 2 x 2-pdr ATG)

I've got a bad feeling for the Aussies; it was hard enough for the defenders to stop the German attackers when they got to do 'ambush' deployment, but now these guys are going to be on the move, having to withdraw to the southwest.  Even that would/could be interesting against an infantry battlegroup, but these are the German panzers!  Quite the tall order; I guess that's why you're not supposed to let tanks get in behind you ;)

The fight begins, and since the Aussies are on the run, I let them go first.  The Aussies got next phase, too, so they load up and go all out: Major Hogan brings on his Rifle Platoon (top right), Weapons Platoon (which sets up to cover the movement, center bottom right), and one of his 2-pdr ATGs (limbered at top center).

The next phase doesn't go so well (two CoC dice, for a total of 2 of 6, but then they lost a '6' and a second '4'), so they only get to keep pushing their Rifle Platoon south (which is left in this photo), where they just pass the 2-pdr ATG.

The Germans respond, bringing on both tank platoons and their engineers, mounted in trucks.

The Aussies get another two CoC dice (4/6) as Major Hogan (center bottom) keeps his Rifle Platoon moving (top left) and gets his #1 ATG crew into position (left), where they unlimber their gun and prepare for action.

The Aussie Weapons Platoon (bottom right) opens fire on the German Engineer Platoon (top left)...

The 3" mortars are off target but manage to suppress V5 of Officer Cadet Fahrmann's 2nd Panzer Platoon (red bead at bottom center), while the Vickers MGs tear into the column of trucks (center).  The last two trucks in column are immobilized, forcing the 3rd and 4th Squads to dismount (both suppressed), while the lead truck is pinned and the one following is suppressed!

Colonel Klink immediately jumps into the fray, ignoring the inaccurate mortar fire and very accurate MG fire to rally his troops and direct traffic!

The Engineers, half in trucks and they other half on foot, move forward (top right and center, respectively), as Sgt 1st Class Friessler's 3rd Panzer Platoon (left)...

Pushes ahead, up to Hill 124 (sorry, I changed the perspective on ya, looking from top left to bottom right of the table, Aussies at top, rest of Germans at bottom right).

Sgt Mettner rallies his crew in V5 (bottom left) as OC Fahrmann pushes the rest of 2nd Pz Plt forward (far right).

Where they open fire on the Aussie Wpns Plt (top right), suppressing an MG and a mortar team and pinning the other MG team.

Sgt Dittrich's Panzerjaeger Platoon enters the battlefield, passing Sgt Mettner's V5/2nd Pz Plt.

The Aussie Rifle Platoon continues running for its exit on Hill 372 (top left), as Major Hogan sets about rallying his Weapons Platoon (bottom right, with ATG1 dismounted at center)...

Both MG teams rally successfully, but the suppressed mortar team panics and runs (top center)!

So he orders the rest of Weapons Platoon to join them in falling back (right, from knoll at left).

The gallant crew of ATG1 (bottom right) gets into the fight, firing solid shot as fast as they can at 2nd Pz Platoon...

And they immediately score, cracking open Officer Cadet Fahrmann's vehicle.  He's okay, but he and his crew are forced to bail out (loss of Command Dice and Force Morale), while V3 and V4 were both suppressed as well.

With perfect timing, the German Panzer Company Commander, 1st Lt Loeb, arrives on scene and immediately begins rallying the troops (far left, the Panzer IV amidst all the Pz IIIs).

V5/2nd Pz Plt moves up the road, past the PzJgr Plt, to rejoin his comrades (right, on road), as Colonel Klink leads the Engineers forward (center).

Back with the Aussies, the Rifle Platoon reaches the base of Hill 372 (top left), Weapons Platoon moves that way (center top), ATG2 comes on (still limbered on Hill 305, right), and Major Hogan moves up (center), looking to see what ATG1 has got going on.

*I am cheating a bit for the Aussies (you can thank my affection for Shaun and Jimmi for that), allowing their suppressed mortar team to move with them as they're falling back.  Normally suppressed teams are not allowed to voluntarily do anything except attempt to rally, but I figure it makes sense to allow panicking troops to keep moving back if that's what the rest of their unit is doing.

The plucky gun crew keeps firing at 2nd Panzer Platoon (top left)...

And I'll be damned if their second shot doesn't knock out a second panzer!  And it's ugly: the 2-pdr solid shot penetrates the Pz III and ignites ready ammunition, immediately killing Cpl Peske and his entire crew and suppressing V3.  Cpl Peske had fought his tank through the Fall of France and now Greece.

Major Hogan (center right) cheers on the crew of ATG1 as his Carrier Platoon enters the fray.

The Germans get kind of screwed: they roll four CoC dice, and it was the wrong time for that, they need to be moving.  Furthermore, they hadn't rolled any CoC dice previously, so they were only at 4 total.  This seriously limited their options during this phase.  V3's crew rallies (off camera to bottom) as V2 and V5 push forward, firing on ATG1, pinning the crew.

The Aussies get two more CoC dice, bringing their total to seven, so Major Hogan immediately calls on a nearby battery of 25-pdrs to fire on 3rd Panzer Platoon in vicinity of Hill 124 (off camera to bottom left).  Then he rallies ATG1 (far right bottom) before moving south (center top), where he orders his Weapons Platoon (just right of him) and Rifle Platoon (top left) to continue falling back.

The Carrier Platoon pushes south.

And ATG1 (bottom right) fires a third time...

Another penetration, knocking out V5 and suppressing V2!  V5's commander, Sgt Mettner, is killed in action, though his crew manages to escape.  Sgt Mettner was also a veteran of Poland and France, with one tank kill to his credit.

The Germans roll up two more CoC dice and now have six, so Colonel Klink calls in the Stukas, hoping to catch the Australian Carrier Platoon in vicinity of Hill 219.  He then rallies the Engineers' 4th Squad...

Then leads them and 3rd Squad forward (bottom left), where they open fire on that bastard anti-tank gun (top right) that's already knocked out three of his tanks and killed two of his veteran tank commanders!  The small arms fire is relatively ineffectual, managing only to pin the Australian crew.

Lt Loeb, the Panzer Company Commander (bottom left, with Colonel Klink and the Engineers above him) rallies Sgt Mayer's V3...

Then pushes forward (right, just below burning tank) and rallies Sgt Fitzbaum's V2 (red bead).

Sgt Mayer's V3 pushes ahead and opens fire, keeping the Aussie gun crew pinned down (top right).

*I can't believe how many times ATG1 has been missed by the Germans at this point.

SFC Friessler pushes 3rd Pz Plt (left, with 2nd Pz Plt and ATG1 battling it out at top right) southwest towards Hill 372 (top left), looking to cut off the Australians' escape.

Sgt Dittrich orders the rest of his platoon to hold (bottom left) as he scouts ahead, moving into position atop Hill 162 (far right).

The Commonwealth artillery begins falling, but it's long and only manages to suppress one German tank.

*It wasn't actually long, they just rolled like crap, getting one '6' on 3K 4S dice.  That really let the Aussies down...

The Carrier Platoon pushes past Hill 219 (left) as the Rifle Platoon nears the exit (top center) and Weapons Platoon reaches the base of Hill 372 (far right).

ATG2, still limbered, moves up (bottom right), as their comrades manning ATG1 (center) again take 2nd Pz Platoon under fire (top left)...

Shot number four knocks out a 4th tank and suppresses Sgt Mayer's V3 (far right).  This time the tank knocked out is the Panzer Company Commander's!  The crew bails out, carrying their severely wounded leader with them.  Lt Loeb will miss the remainder of the campaign in Greece.

But just then the wail of sirens is heard as Stukas dive on the Australian Carrier Platoon...

One Bren Carrier is knocked out and its associate Rifle Section suppressed, while two other vehicles are pinned.

*Wow, neither sides' supporting fires did much of anything...

SFC Friessler pushes 3rd Pz Plt up and around a nearby knoll...

Where they (bottom left) engage the Carrier Platoon (top right) with enfilading fire...

Which is much uglier than the Stuka attack: two more Bren Carriers are knocked out, one is pinned, the 2" mortar crew is killed, and the Platoon Commander and 1st Section are forced to dismount, though they're in good fighting shape.

Sgt Fittzbaum pushes his Panzer III forward, firing as he goes, suppressing the Australian Anti-Tank Platoon Commander...

As Sgt Dittrich pushes his PzJgr I forward, firing as he goes, suppressing the crew of ATG1!!!

The Aussies suffer a terrible roll, rolling four '4s,' of which they can only use one (they only have one Senior Leader on the table).  Major Hogan sprints to ATG1 and rallies them (bottom left) as ATG2 deploys (right), looking to defeat 2nd Pz Plt (off camera to left bottom), then focus on 3rd Pz Plt (top left).  That wasn't the plan, but circumstances dictate...  Weapons Platoon gets up on Hill 372 and gets set up (right top).

Where once I thought the Aussies might actually make it, the noose now appears to be tightening: the Germans get next phase, and so they push 3rd Pz Plt up (left top).

Where they (bottom right) continue pouring fire into the Aussie Carrier Platoon...

The Carrier Platoon's Commander, a Rifle Section, and a fourth Bren Carrier are put out of action, which is enough to cause the remaining two Rifle Sections, Anti-Tank Rifle team, and Bren Carriers to surrender.  A stunning blow for the Aussies...

Back on the Australian left, Sgt Fittzbaum pushes his tank forward, guns blazing, looking to overrun the crew of the incredibly accurate anti-tank gun crew...

The gun is knocked out and the survivors (including the ATG Platoon Commander) surrender!

Sgt Fittzbaum pushes his tank forward (center, from bottom left), attacking Major Hogan and ATG2!

The last Aussie ATG is knocked out, its crew and Major Hogan's command element forced to surrender!!!  Morale collapses...

And the Germans move in to mop up, capturing the entire Rifle Platoon and Weapons Platoon!

The Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment battlegroup is eliminated, and Colonel Klink immediately pushes the Panzer Battlegroup west, where they encounter the "Wellington Force" (C8 from D8).

Well, that was a much harder fight than I expected!!!  I was expecting a bit of a pushover, German tanks overrunning Commonwealth troops withdrawing on foot, but that's not how it played out at all.  Sure, the Aussies got really lucky with ATG1 getting four kills on four shots, but they got screwed on the bad fire mission, which didn't do anything to slow down 3rd Panzer Platoon, which allowed 3rd Pz Plt to jump in and catch the Carrier Platoon in the open and rip them a new one.  The Aussies were really counting on the Carrier Platoon using its mobility to get in close to 3rd Pz Plt, dismount, and really get in amongst them, tying them down and allowing the rest of the battlegroup to get off the map.  'Twas not to be...

Casualties:

German losses: 20 casualties and 3 tanks knocked out (two Panzer IIIs and one Panzer IV, though one Panzer III was immobilized and able to be salvaged

Commonwealth losses: 30 casualties, 100 captured, with four Universal Carriers destroyed and two more captured

Characters:

1st Lt Loeb, Panzer Company Commander, was badly wounded and will miss the remainder of the campaign in Greece.  He receives his third Wound Badge, and now has one for Poland, France, and Greece

Sergeant Mettner, tank commander with one tank kill to his credit and veteran of Poland, France, and Greece, was killed in action
Cpl Peske, tank commander and veteran of France and Greece, was killed in action

Awards:
Lt Colonel Klink, Kampfgruppe Commander, was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class, for intrepid gallantry in personally braving intense enemy fire to rally members of 2nd Panzer Platoon and Engineer Platoon, then advance them in a daring envelopment that cut off and destroyed the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment

Sergeant Fittzbaum, commander of Panzer 2, 2nd Panzer Platoon, was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, for close assaulting the deadly enemy anti-tank position that cost the battlegroup four tanks, knocking out both guns and capturing the enemy commander

And it goes without saying that that damn Aussie anti-tank gun crew won the Victoria Cross.

Next up we witness Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen battlegroup again defend against a Commonwealth attack, this time by the British Rangers/9th King's Royal Rifle Corps conducting a spoiling attack in an attempt to buy their comrades more time to withdraw from the German encirclement.

V/R,

Jack