Audet Ambushed: A Platoon Forward Game, Part Three

Normandy, June 8, 18:20 hours

The crack of grenades was still ringing in his ears as Audet took stock of the situation. Matthieu's rifle section began to secure the hedgerow, while Pte. Leblanc checked the two prone forms left on the ground after the brief fight. One was clearly dead, but the other German was holding up his uninjured arm in an indication of surrender. Audet noticed that both Germans wore camouflaged smocks and helmet covers, unlike the ones he had seen previously, who wore their plain fieldgray uniforms. "Watch that one", he said to Leblanc.

Climbing down from the hedgerow on to the road, Audet saw Padre Huard praying by the carrier that had contained Matthieu's Bren section. The crew stood nearby, their heads uncovered. Looking into the passenger compartment, Audet saw two bodies, both covered with gas capes.

His Sten gun held loosely, Audet headed for the front of the ruined convoy, passing the burning truck in the centre of the column. It's cab was fully engulfed in flame. The crew of the lead truck were standing back from the flames, smoking cigarettes with expressionless faces. Beyond them, where the lead carriers had been ambushed, he saw Doc Armand kneeling and working beside a prone figure. Close by, two more men sprawled nearby, their battledress dusty. Dark brown stains surrounded the torn serge fabric where the Spandaus had caught them.

Cpl. Legros and several of his riflemen watched the doctor working. Audet didn't like the way they had left the road and hedgerows uncovered. He grabbed Legros' shoulder to get his attention. "Report."

"My Bren team. Arsenault and Gagnon are dead. LaRoche got one in the chest. Looks bad."

"OK. Secure this site. You and your men make sure the doc is covered. I'll call in for help. Where's Sergeant Beaulieu?"

Legros shrugged. "Dunno."

Back in the center of the column, Audet found his platoon sergeant sitting beside the road, smoking a cigarette, his eyes unfocused. One side of Beaulieu's face was splashed with drying blood.

"Is that yours?"

No answer.

"I said, is that your blood, sergeant?"

Beaulieu shook his head, pointed to the carrier where the two bodies lay.

Padre Huard came up beside Audet. "I think he's in shock."

Audet pushed his helmet back and looked around. "Stay with him, Padre. Corporal Côté !"

Two section's leader trotted over to him. Audet was relieved to see that the man's eyes were alert behind his spectacles. "You're acting sergeant. Send two men with a stretcher up to help the Doc. Get the rest to secure this road until we get some help. I don't want to get hit again."

From there, Audet went over to his carrier to call his Company. He wasn't looking forward to speaking to the Major.

****

So the aftermath of the action is not great. For each soldier who got a killed result in TW&T, I rolled a 1d6, with the result of 1-2 lightly wounded, 3-4 seriously wounded, and 5-6 dead. The results are unkind. Two of Legros' One Section Bren team are dead, and the third is seriously wounded. Two of Matthieu's Three Section Bren team are also dead.

Since Sgt. Beaulieu's card only came up once at the end of the fight, my artistic license is that he was shocked into immobility during the fight. Having two men killed beside him evoked memories of the Great War, perhaps, hence his being incapacitated at the end.

For the Freeform Event at the end of the fight, Audet wants Sgt. Beaulieu removed from his platoon. That is a possible result on Platoon Forward's All Knowing Odds Table, but a "10" result means not now. That result isn't helped by Audet's abrasive personality and by his lack of success in the mission. Doc Armand thinks a day's rest is all the sergeant needs, and Major Charpentier agrees with the Doc. It looks as if Audet will be stuck with his crusty old sergeant for a while yet.

Now there are two rolls to be made on the Fixed Events table.

The first is a 5, Player Character. The subsequent roll is a 4, Character Noticed. A subsequent roll of 5 means that a squad leader has been noticed, and that squad leader turns out to be Legros. Legros has been noticed by his surviving section mates. His coarse personality does not help, but the roll is a "5" on a 1d6, so that is not a bad result. Turns out that what's left of his section thinks Legros has done a pretty good job of keeping them alive, and they blame Audet for their casualties.

The second Fixed Equipment roll is a 2, meaning Equipment. The result is a "5". meaning additional rounds of somethig. I decide that since Division has learned some lessons from its contact with 12th SS, extra PIAT anti-tank rounds will be issued. No 18 Platoon will get a case of three PIAT rounds to go with their PIAT and its six standard rounds. Someone will have to carry that gear.

Sadly, no replacements are available for No 18 Platoon for now.

Audet has limited opportunity to interact with Major Charpentier, but he senses that his Company Commander is acting cool to him. Audet knows thay Doc Armand and Padre Huard have spoken well of his conduct in the ambush, particularly during the melee in the hedgerow. However, he fears that Charpentier may have deflected any displeasure from the Colonel onto Audet's shoulders, rather than accept the blame for ordering a road move in an area that is still unsecured. Audet was hoping for some recognition for bringing back a prisoner from 21st Panzer Division, but Charpentier treated this as nothing very special.

Before he retires for the night, Audet draws up this roster for No. 18 Platoon.

Platoon Commander: Lt. Denis Audet with one soldier as a signaller with the platooon radio set.

Platoon Sergeant: Sgt. Beaulieu (ordered to rest for a day)

No 1 Section: Cpl. Legros and four soldiers, plus one soldier who is recovering from serious wounds. Audet has decided to use the section as a Bren team plus to have one soldier carry the platoon PIAT and others to carry the PIAT rounds.

No 2 section: Cpl. Côté and six men, plus one soldier recovering from serious wounds and two recovering from light wounds. Cote has the section organized as a two man Bren team and himself with four soldiers as the rifle team.

No 3 section: Cpl Matthieu and seven men. Matthieu has the section organized as a three man Bren team and himself with four soldiers as the rifle team

Audet Ambushed: A Platoon Forward Action, Part Two

The ambush scenario in Platoon Forward requires the side being ambushed to traverse a table from one edge to another. Accordingly, I set up this Normandyish scene with a main road and some side roads. The blinds on the board indicate possible German ambush sites, which are rolled for randomly as per PF's mecnahism for determining the type and number of OPFOR. As per the ambush rules, the ambushing side has six turns to wreak havoc before relieving forces come to the rescue, at which point the game either ends or is continued with the ambushing side taking on the relievers. The ambushers are outnumbered by a factor of 1-3 or thereabouts.

As with other Denis Audet games, I am playing them solitaire, using Too Fat Lardies' Troops, Weapons and Tactics rules. Normally I would use 20mm or 1\72nd scale rules for these games, but given the number of vehicles needed for the convoy I am using my 15mm kit. All the infantry shown below are manufactured by Battlefront, as are the carriers. The trucks are from Old Glory. The buildings are from Paper Terrain by Scitt Washburn, which I highly recommend for affordable buildings.



Cpl Legros leads the way with three section as the convoy sets off.

"Is he going to be decorated?" Audet asked Dr. Armand as their carrier clattered along a narrow dirt road.

"He should be." The RMO was referring to Pte Roy*, from the regiment's antitank platoon. He had been found dead beside his 6 pdr gun, and everyone was saying that his actions were deserving of the Victoria Cross. "If it hadn't been for Roy and his gun, the Jerries would have overrun A Company. Hell of a way to spend our first night in France."

"A decoration would be good for us, for the Regiment" said Audet. He allowed himself a brief vision of being at Buckingham Palace and having the English king pin a medal on his dress uniform, maybe an MC. That would be good.




The Canadian convoy enters further on the board. The first blind in the village is a dummy blind. Phew! But wait a moment ... the second blind is the real deal, Gefreiter Letkeman and his panzer grenadiers.

In the back of the carrier, the Chaud's chaplain, Padre Huard,** was dozing, his head pillowed against a canvas satchel stuffed with medical equipment. He and the RMO were good friends, and often entertained their fellow officers with debates about science and religion. Audet, not much of a churchgoer, felt uncomfortable around the padre, but he acknowledged the good he did to the men. Huard's simple burial service for Cpl Yergeau two days ago had meant a lot to the men of 18 Platoon.

Looking ahead, from his place in the middle of the column, Audet saw Sgt. Beaulieu in the carrier ahead of him, along with the three man Bren gun team of Cpl. Matthieu's Three Section. Ahead of them was one of the three lumbering trucks they were escorting, and ahead of it was Matthieu with his rifle team. Leading the convoy was Legros with 1 section, in the lead two carriers, with the lead truck between him and Matthieu. Looking back, Audet saw the rear most truck, and behind that, he knew, Cpl Cote and two section brought up the rear. From what he could see of him, his men were enjoying the novelty of riding instead of marching, and the gradual cooling of the oncoming evening was pleasant.



Achtung! Gefreiter Letkeman watches and awaits his opportunity. Battlefront Miniatures painted by my friend James Manto.

***

Letkeman signalled his men to prepare to fire. He wished he had some panzerfausts to see off the little tracked carriers, but Leutnant Krauss had said they were reserved for the frontline boys and couldn't be wasted on raiders. At least he had four Spandaus to put to good use. Just a moment more, let the two lead carriers pass, then the first truck, let that get into his other LMGs' field of fire, now a second truck ... "FIRE!"



The situation at the moment the ambush is sprung. The middle truck and Beaulieu's carrier are right in front of Letkeman. The two lead carriers with Legros' section are passing one of Letkeman's two LMG teams.



The third LMG team is sited with a clear line of sight down the road, able to engage the head of the column. It opens fire head on at the two carriers with Legros' section on board.

***
Sgt Beaulieu was telling the boys how they were spoiled having these little carriers, and how in the Great War he had been lucky for a ride in a stinking boxcar on the occasional train. "Marched our feet to nubs, we did."

Private Cournoyer, the No 2 on the Bren, laughed obligingly, just as all hell broke loose. He pitched forward, and Beaulieu felt something hot splash across his face. Old instinct kicked in, and he threw himself down in the back of the carrier, then felt a heavy weight as someone fell on top of him.

Behind him, Audet's eyes widened as he saw two men in the carrier ahead of him topple over, then was thrown off balance as his own carrier braked hard. He could hear at least two MGs, the distinctive Jerry sound, like canvas being ripped hard, sending a chill down his spine. The fire all seemed directed forward of him, and he could see muzzle flashes from the hedge about twenty five metres ahead and to his left. Now he could see two men leaping from the back of the carrier ahead, Beaulieu and another soldier with a Bren gun, and crouch behind their vehicle. Ahead of them was a loud WHOOOMP as the middle truck exploded into a fireball. He didn't see anyone get out.

Doc Armand and the Padre looked around them, their faces alarmed. "Stay down!" Audet told them, his mind racing.

***

The first two turns don't go well for the Canadians. The MG fire from Letkeman and one of his half sections causes two casualties on the passengers in Beaulieu's carrier, both from Matthieu's Bren team. The carrier crew must take a morale check and fail resulting in the passengers bailing out and the carrier retreating. Beaulieu and the surviving Bren gunner bail out. They get a few ineffectual shots off before taking covef under a hail if German kead. Letkeman's other section opens up on the truck, causing many hits, killing the crew and destroying the vehicle. It explodes. At the head of the column, both carriers transporting Legros' section fail their morale checks. The one carrying Legros and his rifle team turns to flee, while the second, carrying his Bren team, gets a result of passengers dismount.

The German's opening fire ends the first of six turns. The first draw of the second turn is, incredibly, the Tea Break card. Not a bad way to simulate shock and fear among the ambushed. The Germans open fire again. Legros' Bren team suffers two casualties. Beaulieu and the remnant of Matthieu's Bren team take several shock points. German fire is less effective this turn. Canadians cower.



A truck burns while Beaulieu and another soldier have scrambled out of their carrier and try to take shelter.


Turn 3 and the Canadians start reacting. The lead truck halts, its crew scrambling for the ditches. The rearmost truck's driver panics, and tries to reverse on the narrow road. Unfortunately, he does this as Cote tries to push forward. One of his carriers rolls badly and collides with the reversing truck, jamming both vehicles and blocking most of the road.



The two lead carriers retreat towards the centre of the column, leaving Legros' hapless Bren gun team cowering on the road, where they are all shot down. When Legros' car finally comes up, he is able to dismount, and directs his rifle section at one of Letkeman's two half sections.



Legros in action. Canadians begin to fight back.

Cpl. Cote is activated, and while his Bren team scrambles dazed from the wreck of their carrier, Cote leads his rifle team through the hedge and begins to try and outflank Letkeman. They get a few shots off and the shock begins to mount on the Germans.



Cote begins to stalk Letkeman, who is feeling less than comfortable now.



Audet is now activated. Leaving the Padre and the Doc in the relative shelter of the carrier, he goes to join himself to Legros' rifle section. That's Audet on the left, pointing decisively.



More Canadian reactions. Cpl Matthieu leads his rifle section to shelter behind the burning truck, and opens fire on Letkeman, who is now taking fire from three sides.



The German LMG team posted at the far left has a clear shot down the road and takes out the lead Canadian truck. All three trucks are now immobilized or burning.



Gefreiter Letkeman, a veteran, knows that the Tommies are over their shock and outnumber him. One of his half sections has taken a casualty. Time they were going. Joining one half section, he directs the other to withdraw a bound, set up their LMG, and cover his withdrawal. That way they will leapfrog back and break contact, trusting his other LMG teams will do the same.



Every game with Audet includes one use per game of the Heroic Commander card. Audet is a jerk, but he's a brave glory hound and the Heroic Commander card allows him to do something incredibly brave and rash. The HC card comes up now, just after Letkeman begins to pull back. Sensing that the German fire is slackening, Audet grabs Legros' arm, and waves his Sten at the hedge with his other hand. "A l'assaut les boys!" The Canadians charge forward, and roll enough movement dice to push through the hedge and into Letkeman and his half section. The ensuring Close Combat is a near thing, but the result is that the Germans lose two men and take some shock. They lose the melee and fall back 12 inches. Letkeman survives and his men fade away into the Norman countryside.
The ambush is over.

That charge concluded the fighting. The two German LMG teams break contact. The Germans lost three men. The Canadians had suffered five casualties, and the severity of these casualties will be checked in the next installment. Audet's mission had failed. The convoy would not get through. Two trucks were destroyed, with two crew killed. A third was damaged, along with a carrier. Not the outcome Audet had hoped for, but at least he has survived and has a sharp little fight in the hedgerows to point to, witnessed by the RMO and Padre from the carrier.

In our next installment, perhaps tomorrow night, we'll see what the result is for Audet.




*Pte L.V. Roy did exist. He and his 6 pdr played a vital role in protecting the Chaudiere's A Coy on the night of June 6-7. when they were nearly overrun by halftracks and troops from 21st Panzer Division. Roy never received a posthumous decoration but is still remembered in the Regiment today.
**Padre Huard also existed. He was a Roman Catholic priest serving as the regiment's chaplain in Normandy, and by this account, he was a good one.

Audet Ambushed: A Platoon Forward Action, Part One

Readers of this blog from a while back will remember my WW2 character, Lt. Denis Audet, who came to light using Joe Legan's campaign and scenario generator, Platoon Forward. Audet is a young, brash and egotistical platoon commander leading No. 18 Platoon of Le Régiment de la Chaudière , a French Canadian infantry battalion taking part in the first days of the Normandy campaign.

Audet has survived two engagements. On D plus one he led a successful platoon attack on a hill, and on D+3 he took a village church that the Germans were preparing to use as an observation post. As a result of that second action he earned the notice of his Company Commander, Major Charpentier, which is great because Audet is as ambitious as Lucifer. Audet's platoon is relatively unscathed, having lost 1 man killed and one seriously wounded in the first action, and two lightly wounded in the second. The dead man, Cpl. Yergeau, led section one and was replaced by Cpl. Cote, who was promoted from within the section.

Audet's men respect his courage, but they also recognize that their platoon sergeant, Denis Beaulieu, is hostile to Audet. Beaulieu is a veteran of the Great War and wants to get through this war in one piece. Two of the section leaders, Legros and Matthieu, are part of his clique, whereas Cpl. Cote, who leads two section, is ambitious and educated, and wants to hitch his star to Audet's.

Here's a quick summary of the cast of characters:

Audet's boss is Major Michel Charpentier, OC D Coy. Not the best soldier in the army

Personality: Idealistic
Interest: Government
Combat Temperament: Even
Combat Leadership: Level 1
Background: Average family
Special Skills: Fluent Anglophone

Platoon Commander: Lt. Denis Audet Lvl 3 Big Man
Personality: Egotistical
Motivation: Position
Not fluent in English

Platoon warrant officer: Jean Beaulieu, Level 2 Big Man
Personality: Glum
Motivation: Hedonistic. He is a Level 2 Big Man. Beaulieu is a veteran of the Great War who reenlisted. He is emerging as Audet's nemesis. Audet wouldn't mind getting rid of him.

No 1 section (Cpl Jean Legros and seven men, - 1 wounded and 1 (Legros) promoted in first action)
Cpl Legros Personality: Coarse
Motivation and Interest: Position (wants to get ahead)
Combat Temperament: Bold
Combat Leadership: Level Two Big Man
Background: Son of a military family


No 2 section (Cpl and six men, minus one badly wounded in first engagement and two recovering from lit wounds from the second engagement)
Sgt. Pierre Cote
Scholarly
Motivation: Position.
He can speak English well - he learned it at seminary but when the the war came he left his studies to enlist. Now that he's seen the world, he would like to get ahead in it as something other than a priest. Level 2 Big Man.


No 3 Section: Cpl. Louis Matthieu and nine men
Egotistical
Motivation: Wealth.
He and Beaulieu are tight since he's a natural scrounger and trader and manages to get a lot of creature comforts for Beaulieu and his cronies. Francophone only. Is sure that there's a way to get rich out of the war. Level 2 Big Man.

Optimally the sections are divided into a six man rifle team and a three man Bren gun team. One and Two sections are under strength and Audet has not yet received any replacements.

Ok, enough recap, on with the story.

Normandy, June 8, 17:00 hours.
Denis Audet was pleased to be summoned to see his company commander. After he had delivered his report and prisoners to Charpentier that morning, he had sensed that the Major was pleased with his work and had been hoping for good things all day. No. 18 platoon had been relieved from the little village they had captured that morning and been allowed a rest in regimental lines that afternoon. Word around the lines was that their Division was being heavily engaged by German counterattacks and that it wasn't going well.

"Hello, Audet.". Salutes has been left behind in England, thanks to German sniping. Charpentier lit a briar pipe and Audet briefly considered whether the type a la pipe look would work for him, He didn't think it would. "The corporal you brought in as a prisoner told us about a German field hospital belonging to their 716th Division, about five kilometers from here." The major pointed to a map with his pipe stem. "As you know, things are still pretty unsettled between here and the sea. We're still getting stragglers and fellows wanting to surrender, and some who want to keep fighting. Too much work for the Provos to handle, which is why D Company has been tasked with rear area security for now. Captain Armand, the Regimental Medical Officer, is not too busy right now and wants to see this hospital. The Jerries are just waiting to surrender to someone, so it might as well be us. Is your platoon rested from this morning?"

Rested enough, Audet thought. "Yes, sir." When he had last seen them, he had thought they had been resting too much, and he had ordered Sgt. Beaulieu to get them busy cleaning kit and stripping weapons.

"Good. I want your platoon to escort the RMO to this Jerry hospital so he can assess the situation. Your men can provide security overnight until we can get Brigade to collect them tomorrow sometime. Hard to tell when that will be exactly with the Germans pushing back at us/"

"How's it going, sir?".

Charpentier looked thoughtful as he drew on his pipe. "Tough going. Brigade says we're up against their Hitler Youth Division. Crazy Nazi kids with good leaders. Well equipped. This could take a while. The sooner I have your platoon back tomorrow the better, as we'll likely be going into divisional reserve soon. I've assigned you transport from carrier platoon and some lorries the doc requested to move the seriously wounded. The walking wounded can march to the beach. So go report to the RMO and get over there before sunset. Secure the place tonight, and once the redcaps show up in the morning, help them get Jerry to the cages, and then get back here. Questions?"

"No sir." Charpentier nodded dismissal, and Audet left the little cottage serving as D Coy headquarters. It sounded simple enough, and there might be the chance of some loot, either a Luger for Papa or maybe something shiny for Yvette. And if what the Major said about those Hitler kids was true, there would be fighting to come, so an easy job and a bit of a rest would be good. Audet smiled as he remembered what the Major had said about him getting the job done. That was a sign of good things to come.

He began looking for Sergeant Beaulieu to give his warning order. The grizzled old guy would not be happy. He never was with any mission. Tant pis. Too bad. Another good job under his belt and Audet felt he could persuade Major Charpentier to take the old Sergeant off his hands and let him promote Côté in Beaulieu's place. Audet found Beaulieu's negative attitude annoying, and he was sure it was rubbing off on the boys. Maybe two wars were too many for Sgt. Beaulieu.



****

Gefreiter Willi Letkeman watched the Tommy jeep pass by in a cloud of dust, and was pleased that hits panzer grenadiers had remained calm. The section's two MG42s could easily have finished off the little vehicle, but he was after bigger game. The Tommy's motor had faded, the driver unaware that he had also passed Letkeman's two LMG teams three hundred metres further down the road. Those teams had also kept silent, under orders not to fire unless they heard him shoot first. Letkeman was satisifed with his men's fire discipline and concealment. He had orders to ambush supply or troop convoys, and to remain in position until sunset, at which time he was to pull back and return to battalion. Letkeman looked up at the sun and judged another two to three hours of light. This little road was quiet, but he was confident something good would come along. Until it did, they would wait.

*******

So, as you can see by this sinister piece of foreshadowing, it might not go so well for our brash and rather shallow hero in his next fight. In the aftermath of the morning's church battle, the PF system generated a result that a non player character wanted to tag along with Audet on the next mission, and that led me to think of the RMO. Why would he want to tag along? Something of a medical nature, and given the fluid nature behind the front in the first few days, a German field hospital wanting to surrender seemed a good idea. In fact, I believe an incident like this is mentioned in one of Mark Zuelkhe's books on the Canadians in Normandy. The idea seems sound.

Now the bad news. The next mission rolled is an ambush. Normally in Platoon Forward, you play the ambusher, but with an idea already in mind for Audet's mission, it seemed to make sense that he would get bumped, either by cut off German dead enders or some of the 12th SS? Well, Audet's had a good few scraps. Let's see what happens when things don't quite go his way.

Audet's Church: A D-Day Plus 3 Skirmish

This post is an attempt to remember a solitaire game I played several months back was a busy summer, using the characters generated with the help of Platoon Forward as described in previous posts. The scenario I rolled up with PF was Scenario Card F, a Platoon Attack, and the randomly generated objective as a Key Building. Of course, in a Mad Padre wargame, the key building has to be a church. In keeping with Lt. Audet's abrasive and glory-seeking nature, there would be no way that he would pass up another chance to gain attention. A further assumption of mine was that in the first few days after D-Day, given the historical role of the Chaudieres as rear security, any German opposition would likely be scattered and disorganized. You may feel from this AAR that Audet got off lightly. Perhaps. One gets attracted to the imaginary troops that PF gives you. No doubt in future, Audet's challenges will increase.




07:45, 8 June, 1944 Normandy - within the lines of La Regiment de la Chaudiere,

"Things are going well for us. The Division is ashore, we've linked up with the British, and we're taking ground. Just as importantly", Major Charpentier paused to look around at his platoon commanders, "D Company succeeded in our first tasking yesterday. We took some casualties, but the CO is pleased that we pushed out and straightened our sector. Well done all."

Lt. Denis Audet was hoping to hear the Major praise 18 Platoon for their role in the company attack yesterday, but was disappointed as the OC continued. "Today is maintenance and routine patrolling, but we do have one special job. Our recce platoon heard some motors and noted some vehicle activity here, at Eglise St. Michel. They also report that the church is suitable for an OP that could overlook our battalion lines. I need a platoon to have a look at it and if possible take the church. You were all in action yesterday so I'm asking for volun ..."

Charpentier stopped as a hand shot up. Audet saw Capt. Cournoyer roll his eyes but he didn't care. "My boys can do it, sir."

"Good. Go get the recce brief from Lt. Aubin and report back in an hour with your plan and your support requirements."

Here's the table I rolled up using Platoon Forward's terrain generator.
Canadian side, left to right: Forest, Building, Hill
Center, left to right: Forest, Significant Building, Open
German side, left to right: Open, Open, Swamp

Since it was Normandy I interpreted the open areas to be hedged, and since there is a significant building in the centre, that seemed to require roads and perhaps suggest a road junction. Here's the result.



18 Platoon was sitting near the foxholes they had slept in the night before, eating a breakfast of compo rations: tinned fruit, biscuits, and coffee. Adjutant (French for Warrant Officer) Beaulieu was telling the new corporal, Legros, about his adventures with Legros' pere in a barfight in the last war when Lt. Audet came strolling over with a worrisome purpose. "Have the platoon ready to move in thirty minutes, Adjutant. Light fighting order. We have a patrol."

Beaulieu climbed to his feet, feeling every one of his forty three years in his bones. "Us again, sir?"

Audet grinned and slapped the older man's shoulder. "Us again. Natural choice. We showed them we're the best, eh?"

As Audet walked away, Beaulieu took a long drag on his Players and threw it to the ground. He looked at his corporals. "You heard Clark Gable. We're the best." He shook his head. "Idiot."

By 09:00 18 platoon has been briefed and guided into position by two scouts from recce platoon. Audet had surveyed the ground through binos with in company with recce's Lt. Aubin. He was reasonably happy with his supports. He had been hoping for a tank, but a vehicle from the Carrier Platoon would give him some recce capability and another Bren gun, while the same Vickers HMG team that had worked with him in their last fight had been reassigned. Major Charpentier had approved his plan and now it was time to go.



Lt. Audet briefs Major Charpentier on his plan while the men of two section crouch ready in the hedges on the start line. Command group are plastic figures by Valiant.



This small image looks bigger when you click on it. The blue text and arrows show Audet's plan as follows. Vickers HMG and 1 section under WO Beaulieu will move onto the hill and establish a firebase to cover platoon's advance. With that covering fire, Audet will lead 2 section towards the church at the right moment, while three section with the Bren carrier will probe up the road into the village and look for possibilities to outflank the church posititon.

The black shows the force that PF generated for the Germans. In addition to dummy blinds, the Germans had an infantry section with a Big Man in the church, a heavy AT gun behind the church, two tanks, an MMG section at the crossroads, and a Forward Observer in contact with a four gun 81mm mortar section. Since German resistance would still be firming up just three days after the invasion, my premise is that the infantry and the FOO belong to 716th Div and have orders to hold the church and the village, the other elements belong to separate formations, most likely 21 Panzer Div, and are not attached or supporting. So the two tanks, Pz IIIs, and the AT gun, a towed 88mm, are passing through and have orders to exit the board.

Gefreiter Lothar Schreiber sat on board bench in the little church steeple and listened to the conversation in the street below. Janke, his sergeant was in the street, sharing a smoke with a Luftwaffe leutnant commanding the 88 and crew tucked in alongside the church. Schreiber was impressed at the careful placement of camo netting and twigs to conceal the gun and its heavy mover. He could appreciate the need for it. A few minutes ago a flight of jabos had passed low over head, hunting for targets further inland. For the last three days all he had seen were Tommy aircraft, and he wondered when one would get bored and strafe his steeple just for sport.



Limbered 88mm gun and heavy mover, carefully tucked behind the church. I've had this model for years and never used it until this game. ESCI, I think.


"He's been gone too long." The Luftwaffe leutnant was peering up the street, hoping to see the military policeman return on his motorbike. The chaindog was route control for this sector, and had held the gunners in place while he went to check that the route further inland was safe for transit.

"Be nice if you could stay, sir. We could use your support. Same with the Panzer boys." Janke pointed to the orchard across the road from the church, where two Pz IIIs, also heavily netted and concealed, were parked, their crews lounging about.

"Sorry. Got to get back to my unit, wherever they are. Been wandering for three days now, ever since the Tommies arrived. And as for the Panzers, while, they don't talk to the likes of us air force types."

Schreiber was about to chuckle at the joke when Moller, number two on the MG42, elbowed him and pointed out the belfry to the south. "Actung! Tommies on that hill."




1 section and the attached HMG move onto the hill and come off their blinds.

Beaulieu heard the first rounds of MG tearing the air above him. They were shooting high. He had expected the Germans to have opened fire earlier, but perhaps some sentry had been snoozing. "Get to the crest and let 'em have it. All fire on that church." Now rifle fire was coming at them as well, and gouts of earth were kicking up closer to them. Cpl. Legros and his Bren team had already flopped down and seconds later started chugging out rounds at the church. The riflemen of One Section joined them and Enfields began cracking. Two of the Vickers team arrived a moment later, toiling under their burdens, and began setting up their weapon. Their third man lay crumpled twenty feet back. Beaulieu raced over to him, retreived the heavy ammo boxes, and staggered back to the machine gunners. "Spray that f'n church good."

The sound of fire to his right was Cpl. Matthieu's signal to start 3 section moving on the road to the left of the church. With the Bren carrier leading the way in a cloud of exhaust, he and his men cautiously went forward, some hugging the walls of a ruined brick cottage, others crouching behind the carrier. Within minutes they realized that they had walked into the firelane of a machine gun, and three section was pinned.

Inside the church it wasn`t much better. Schreiber and his LMG crew huddled for dear life behind thick stone, keeping well away from the open spaces in the belfry. The fire from the hill had picked up and wasn`t stopping. Through the din he was aware of a young landser calling from the stairway. `Sgt. Janke is dead, corporal!`
Verdamnt! `Well, keep shooting!` he yelled back, then cringed as another burst of 303 lashed the steeple.

The Germans took an unlucky break early on when their Big Man in the church, Janke, was killed. Presumably he looked out a window at the wrong time. The character of Schreiber would be the replacement if the dice favoured it. Meanwhile, as 1 and 2 sections and the HMG under Audet and Beaulieu remained active, peppering the church, Matthieu would not have his card come up for many turns, effectively taking him and three section out of the game.

The German 88 had its card come up several times and did the sensible thing, pulling away from the church and towards the German rear, where it safely exited despite a few shots from the Bren. The two Pz IIIs followed. Without an effective infantry leader in the church to coordinate with them, they did the sensible thing and retreated off the board edge, since this was an assembly point on a road move and not a staging area for combat. One tank did take a shot at the Bren carrier which was visible down the road, and while the shot was a near miss, it convinced the driver that escape and survival was his best bet. His exit only seemed to convince Matthieu and 3 section to remain invisible and under cover.



Gefreiter Schreiber watches from the steeple in dismay as the second PZ III pulls out of its leaguer and heads away from the fighting.



PZ III covers the withdrawal of the towed 88 and fires a shot at the Bren carrier.



Which promptly flees back down the road and off the table.

Leutnant Gunther Horst and his radio operator had been driving cautiously towards Eglise St. Michel, following instructions from the day before to identify an OP to direct the fire a section of 81mm mortars. His major had said something about stabilizing the front line but as Horst heard small arms fire he had doubts that there was any front line. Signalling his driver to halt, they left the kubelwagen amidst some trees and crept forward until he had a line of site on the village.



The FOO Lt. Horst sets up in the woods with a line of sight to No 3 section.



Mortar shells begin to fall on No 3 section (background) while Audet starts 2 Section towards the church.


Matthieu and his section flattened themselves against walls and buildings as mortar shells began to fall nearby. The corporal could see from the postures of his men and the expressions of a few nearby that they were thoroughly pinned. He wasn't going anywhere, but he lifted his head briefly as he heard a new sound, tank tracks. The reassuring shape of a Sherman appeared in the roadway (a random event generated an Allied reinforcement).



Through his binoculars, Audent could see fragments of stone flying from the walls of the church as the Vickers gun continued to lash it. The rate of return fire from within the church had fallen off considerably. Now was the time. "Follow me, les boys!" Once again his men were sprinting behind him. There was a brief burst of Spandau fire from the steeple, and a man staggered and fell behind him, but they were through to the wall now. "Grenades, ready and ... now!" A flurry of grenades were tossed through the windows, with bangs and screams. A soldier kicked the door down and Audet stepped forward, Sten gun spraying. There was no return fire, the nave of the church was littered with six field gray forms, sone still, some moaning. "Kamerad", a voice called from the steeple stairs. Gefreiter Schreiber and his surviving No 2 had had enough. Minutes later, WO Beaulieu on the hill twatched his lieutenant wave jauntily from the steeple. "F*** me, he did it again!"

Epilogue: The Canadian close assault on the church was an amazingly lucky run of sixes, and wiped out the defending rifle section. With two of the three LMG crew surviving in the steeple, there seemed to be little point in further resistance. THe advent of the Sherman was enough to scare off Lt. Horst and the MMG team at tbe crossroads. Lt. Audet had his church and his casualties had been amazingly light. One killed from the supporting Vickers crew, and two riflemen lightly wounded from 2 section during their assault on the church. A very small bill for a decisive victory. In the next post, we'll see how Audet fares in his quest for recognition and promotion. Thanks for reading, and blessings on your die rolls. MP+

D Plus Two: After Lt. Audet's First Fight

(Thanks Joe for letting me post here, and good luck getting ready to go to England. Here's a continuation of the Platoon Forward narrative I started in Audet Takes His Hill, about a callow and vain young French Canadian subbie in Normandy. MP)


After a long absence, I've had time to continue the story started with Platoon Forward and Lt. Denis Audet, a vain, ambitious and brave young commander of 18 Platoon, Le Regiment de la Chaudiere, who won his first action on 7 June, after landing on Juno Beach.

Using PF to generate this platoon, the original leader of 1 section was Cpl Francois Yergeau, a likeable and cheerful young man with a bent for mechanics thanks to working on the family farm. Yergeau also spoke some English, an asset in a Francophone battalion within an Anglophone brigade. Unfortunately, Cpl. Yergeau was killed seconds into the platoon's first engagement, an assault on a hill some ten kilometres inland from Juno Beach, as part of the brigade's consolidation on 7 June.

Yergeau's death required a replacement character, so I used the PF system to generate Cpl. Jean Legros.

Personality: Coarse
Motivation and Interest: Position (wants to get ahead)
Combat Temperament: Bold
Combat Leadership: Level Two Big Man
Background: Son of a military family

So Cpl Legros is quite a fighter, but no choirboy. A good soldier to take over 1 Section, which lost another rifleman in addition to Cpl Yergeau. With his coarse temperament, military background and low rank, a perfect backstory for Legros is that he is the son of a veteran of the Great War, a sergeant who served with the Chauds in the trenches. He's a natural ally for the platoon sergeant, WO Beaulieu, himself a Great War vet who likely is a friend of Legros' dad.

So Audet is lucky in his NCOs. All three section leaders and his Warrant Officer are all Level 2 Big Men in Too Fat Lardies terms, so they are all good soldiers. However, Beaulieu doesn't like Audet and Beaulieu's two cronies, Matthieu and Legros, will side with their Warrant. The more scholarly Cote, who is also ambitious, is likely to seek his Lt's patronage. A talented bunch, but some interesting potential for undercurrents and tensions.

Now to run through the Platoon Forward after-action checklist. The result is that a player character has been noticed, one of the squad leaders, who turns out to be Cpl. Matthieu of 3 Section. A further roll shows that Matthieu has been noticed by the men in his section, and another roll shows it is a positive reaction. Interpreting that result, Matthieu has just led his men in their first action and he performed reasonably well as a leader. Finding the wine and chickens in the captured farmhouse didn't hurt his standing either. So, Matthieu's popularity goes from 0 to +1 (in PF popularity ranges from -2 to +2). Seems like a minor result, but we shall see how it figures in subsequent actions.

I also decided to check the character of Audet's boss, and so invented the character and the name Michel Charpentier, the Major commanding D Coy.

Personality: Idealistic
Interest: Government
Combat Temperament: Even
Combat Leadership: Level 1
Background: Average family
Special Skills: Fluent Anglophone

This, the Major is a good staff officer but no skilled soldier. As an idealist, he is that rare Quebecker who believes in the war as one of liberating the homeland of la France, and wants to see the sons of Quebec fight well and earn their place as equals in Canada. Perhaps he has even preached such sermons when addressing the men of his Company, who doubtless listen indifferently. He's travelled outside of Beauce to become fluent in English, perhaps working for a big Anglo-owned firm in Montreal. The Battalion CO has his eye on the Major for a possible staff job with Battalion or as a liason to Brigade, but wants him to get some combat experience first.

His even temperament allows him to tolerate Audet's Egotistical personality somewhat, but the ambitious young Lieutenant is not his favourite platoon commander. However, Audet has shown the major in his first fight that he can get results.