Hell on Wheels, the Saga of My Dogfaces Trudging Across Europe and the Med

[bigjackmac]

All,

I am back!   I haven't posted a batrep in ages; I've played a few games with different rules, but they all left me cold, aggravated, and frustrated, so each time I threw in the towel and went back to painting.  I suppose I've known all along what I needed to do to get my mojo back: go home If you're not aware, 5Core Company Command is home, my happy place, the set of rules that's never let me down.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to go back home; too caught up in wanting to try different rules, I suppose, but damn I'm glad I did.  For the first time in a LONG time I played a wargame and actually had a bunch of fun doing it, and I absolutely can't wait to play more.

Part of my issue was also venue; that is, ongoing campaigns that actually didn't fit well with 5Core Company Command (5CCC).  I'd played a ton of 5CCCC on my 'Cuba Libre' blog, but there is a bunch of admin stuff and painting I need to do before I get back to that.  I'd played a bunch of 'Kampfgruppe Klink' with 5CCC, but it doesn't feel right anymore, I want something bigger (higher echelon, but without losing individuality and without taking too long; this is where I've spent most of my time so far, haven't found a suitable solution) for Operation Barbarossa.  Then there were others, like 'Two Brothers' (Vietnam), my Marines in WWII, French IndoChina, my Israeli War of Independence, etc..., that aren't ready or don't match up well.  So, what to do?  Start a new campaign, of course

So what did I do?  It's time to follow some dogfaces trudging through and across the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation, kicking some Nazi butt!  And who better to lead them than Lee Marvin???


This is Major Lee Reisman, Commanding Officer of "Task Force Reisman," a combined-arms force of roughly battalion size, consisting of the following:
-1 company of tanks (four platoons, two each of M-3 Stuarts and M-3 Grants)
-2 companies of infantry (three rifle platoons, each)
-1 armored reconnaissance company (1 platoon of M-3 Scout Cars and two platoons of halftrack-mounted armored infantry)
-attached heavy weapons (a platoon each of M1 37mm ATGs, M1917 MGs, 60mm Mortars, Combat Engineers, M-7 Priest Self-Propelled Guns, and M-3 GMC Tank Destroyers)

And what shall we watch them do? Here's my (once again, overly ambitious) plan:
-Operation Torch, the landings vs Vichy France in French Morocco
-Tunisia, from assisting 'Blade Force' early on through Kasserine, to the bloody end
-Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily
-Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy (Salerno)
-Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio, up to Rome
-Operation Dragoon, the landings in Southern France
-Cracking the Siegfried Line/Hurtgen Forest
-The Battle of the Bulge
-Operation Grenade, Into the Ruhr

But let's not get ahead of ourselves: right now it is approximately 0400 Local Time on 8 November 1942, off the coast of French Morocco, near Port Lyautey, the assault elements already forming up in their landing craft for the run into the beach, which everyone hopes will not actually be defended by the poor souls of the Vichy French Army.  The plan for TF Reisman is for both infantry companies to land simultaneously, Dog Company on the left and Easy Company on the right, with two platoons of tanks landing between them, able to support in either direction, as appropriate, with the remainder of the Task Force in reserve and scheduled to arrive approximately two hours later in the second wave. 

Of course, things do not go according to plan: with Allied Forces coming from various locations (primarily the US and UK), the need for operational secrecy, and the ever-present threat posed by German U-Boats, there wasn't much time or opportunity for amphibious exercises and rehearsals.  Add to this the fact the transports were not combat loaded ("last on, first off"), confusion as to the nature of the landings (Allied officials were attempting political overtures to ensure French cooperation/non-aggression right up to the last minute, to the point preparatory naval and air bombardment was not conducted), and horrible weather, and the green US troops were lucky to get ashore at all!

But get ashore they did; they had a heck of a time forming up, with units missing each other in the dark and chop, then promptly headed towards shore, where French shore batteries added to the chaos by engaging the Allied Fleet.  Dodging incoming shells in the dark, in heavy seas (enough to swamp several landing craft), without land-based beacons, the inexperienced Americans were tossed up on shore in a confused mass of cold, wet, miserable, confused, and scared GIs.  Small unit leaders, or at least those able to function, immediately set about untangling the units and getting them moving inland, waiting to see would the Frenchmen turn out to be friend or foe.


A look at the map, north is up, the Allied invasion fleet out to see to left (west).  At top right is Hill 88, and just below it is the river "Wadi Sebou."  At far right is the outskirts of the town of "Mehdi," and just below it are karst bluffs rising up out of the sand, matched by a similar escarpment at bottom center, just off the south end of Dog Company's invasion beach.  There is a coastal road running north-south just beyond the beach, with an artery running east into Mehdi.  The remainder of the area is desert pocked with broken ground and scrub brush.

Americans are in their landing craft at far left (west) and the French deployed across their baseline at far right (east).  The French artillery battery is atop Hill 88 (top right), the Rifle Platoon is dug-in on the outskirts of Mehdi (far right), and the Weapons Platoon is dug-in atop/behind the southeastern bluffs (bottom right).


The US force: the US has a Company Commander, a company of infantry (-), a platoon of armored vehicles, and a platoon of support.  The units are understrength and intermixed, in order to demonstrate the chaotic nature of the landings.
CO: Captain May, Dog Company commander
2nd Lt Carney and his 2nd and 3rd Squads from 2nd Platoon, Dog Company
2nd Lt Morris and his 1st and 2nd Squads from 1st Platoon, Easy Company
2nd Lt Olsavsky and his 1st and 3rd Squads from 3rd Platoon, Easy Company
2nd Lt Figures and Sgt Simpson's M-3 Stuarts from 1st Tank Platoon
Sgt Dawson's M-3 Grant from 3rd Tank Platoon
Sgt Martin's M-3 GMC Tank Destroyer from the Tank Destroyer Platoon
Sgt Humphries' 1st Squad from the Combat Engineer Platoon
Cpl Tolbert 's 3rd Squad from the Machine Gun Platoon
Cpl Noonan's 2nd Squad from the 60mm Mortar Platoon


The Vichy French defenders:
-Commanding Officer, Capitan Oulette, who's heart really isn't in it, but their Commandant is quite the committed Quisling, having already arrested several officers who refused to fight, now threatening executions for cowardice in the face of the enemy and vowing traitors' families will face repercussions
-A reduced Battery of one 25mm ATG and one 75mm dual-purpose gun.
-A Weapons Platoon of 2 machine guns and one 81mm mortar
-A Rifle Platoon of a Platoon Leader and three rifle squads


On the run in, receiving enemy fire from The Kasbah.


And hitting the beach!


The French guns on the bluffs hammer away mercilessly at the untried dogfaces.


The CO, Captain Mays, braves intense enemy fire to move over and rally Lt Carney's 2nd Platoon, ordering, begging, pulling, and kicking his men to claw their way off the beaches!


The climax of the battle is reached as US troops advance to the enemy trenchline.  Will the doughboys prevail, or will the Frenchmen throw the invaders back?  Well, you'll have to click on the link to find out
https://hakunamatatawars.blogspot.com/2023/01/hell-on-wheels-operation-torch-fight-1.html

Man, what I fight!  As simple as it was, I can't tell you how much I needed that, I really had a lot of fun and feel like I'm back to my old (wargaming) self.  It's been quite a long time. Even if I did force the French to put up a much stiffer fight than they chose to do in real life.  In any case, next fight coming soon.

V/R,
Jack

[fsn]

Good to have you back.

Ambitious as ever, and a great read.

[pierre the shy]

Great start to your new project there Jack - your battle report writing skills have certainly not deserted you! Your table and figures look very nice - is that a beach mat you're using?

Gaming should be fun, not a drag, so good for you going back to 5 Core rules if they are your first choice.

look forward to reading more of Major Reisman's war.

[paulr]

Jack is definitely back

      

[fred.]

Jack is definitely back

That he is!


Great start to what is expected to be an epic campaign 

[bigjackmac]

You guys are the best!  I sincerely mean that, I appreciate the outpouring of support.  'Real life' has made it to where I don't get to play as much as I used to/as much as I'd like, and with the lack of time to play and post I haven't had time to spend much time perusing and interacting on the forums, and I've really missed the fellowship.  But you guys are great, and I appreciate how you welcome me back, like I was never gone; I don't have the words to properly convey my gratitude!

With a little bit of down time these past couple weeks, I've knocked out about a dozen games; still working on the batreps, but I figure I should be able to get them written and post probably one per week, which will hopefully carry me far enough into the year that I have more to play, so that's sort of my plan going forward.

"Ambitious as ever..."
I know no other way, it is my essence

"...is that a beach mat you're using?"
Yes it is, a 6' x 4' mat that's almost a 50/50 split between land and sea.  It's from a company here in the States called "War Sigil Mats," and kind of expensive (about 120 USD).

Thanks for all the kind words, and I'm glad to hear you guys enjoyed the fight.  More to come!

V/R,
Jack

[fred.]

*Group Hug* 

We all know the pressures of real life and how they impact on gaming and hobby time. 

I like the casual 'I've knocked out a dozen games'

I've managed two in a week and thought that was good going

I'm off to have a look at the 5 core range now

[Steve J]

That is a great opening game for sure old chap! As with your other canpaigs, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Battlegroup progresses.

Over the years I was always on the look out for the 'perfect' set of rules for my WWII games, only to realise that actually BKCII ticked all the boxes for me, so since then I've used these for small engagements of a couple of Companies up to several Battalions aside.

So glad you've gone back to your first love of 5CCC, which for you ticks all the boxes for sure. Great to have you back!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Good stuff

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great report Jack, good to have you back

[bigjackmac]

Fred - Calm down, we can't be doing anything that could make the missus jealous!      But I am serious, about being appreciative of the fellowship; you guys see I play pretty much all my games solo; I've got friends in 'real life,' but none of them are wargamers, so you guys are my only opportunity to interact with like-minded individuals, and I was definitely missing it.  I highly recommend 5Core, but they're not for everyone, and the mechanics can seem a bit overwrought and strange at first glance (I hated them when I first played them, just wasn't grasping what the point was until I actually had the good fortune to speak with the author about them) so, to that end, if you have any questions or issues, I'd be happy to help.  I'm told I have the ability to explain some of the mechanics in a much more simple and straightforward manner than they are put forth in the rules.

Steve - Thank you Sir, much appreciated.  Yeah, I don't know what it is about wargaming that keeps us looking for something else, even when we're quite happy with what we've already got.  "Ooh Shiny!" is REAL   5Core is definitely my sweet spot, but I must admit I keep looking back at BKC as well (and volume 2 is still my favorite; didn't have the first version, but I bought and played the heck out of BCK II for awhile, and bought III and IV).  I've really enjoyed your 'BKC on a small table' campaign in Italy.

And thanks to the Lords as well, I appreciate it

V/R,
Jack

[kipt]

Jack,
I believe all the forum is happy to see you and your stimulating reports return to the Pendraken pages.  Thanks.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Kipt, I'm happy to hear that!  It's my pleasure to post the batreps and talk about wargaming.

V/R,
Jack

[Steve J]

I'm not sure if you've seen or heard about this series Jack, but your planned campaign reminded me of this, so I thought I'd share it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_(miniseries)

[bigjackmac]

Thanks for posting that, Steve!  I hadn't seen that before, will have to see if I can find it.  I suppose the 3rd Infantry Division is the one I've most closely followed with regards to 'Hell on Wheels,' but it's not entirely perfect (that is, I'm still doing my own thing a bit).

V/R,
Jack

[Martin1914]

That looks and reads fantastic Jack! An impressive amount of work. Looking forward to following this.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks a bunch, Martin, I really appreciate it! 

I played game this morning, it was fantastic!!! 

I'm looking at posting fight #2 on Wednesday, hope to stick to a regular Wednesday 'release' schedule

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

0930 Local Time
8 November 1942
Near Port Lyautey, French Morocco

"@#$%," exclaimed Major Reisman, frustrated with the slow pace of operations being carried out by his combined arms task force.  They'd landed nearly five hours ago; sure, confusion about what posture the French defenders would adopt caused apprehension, dismal weather caused delays and units to become intermixed, and then there was the natural hesitation and fear of the unknown caused by green troops seeing their first combat, but the Major was severely nonplussed, nonetheless.  On the Task Force's left, Dog Company had run into very stiff resistance, but dogged determination by its commander (Captain May, who was awarded a Bronze Star w/V for his combat leadership in the battle) led to the Yanks carrying the day, while on the right, Easy Company had the good fortune to land opposite a French unit that was only too happy to cast aside its weapons and surrender (despite the threats of retribution from their Commandant).

But that was exactly the point: following Dog Company's victory, Major Reisman had ordered Easy Company to rush forward and seize the back end (east) of the town of Mehdi, thus bottling up the French garrison there.  But that was over two hours ago, and here was Captain Kirkland, Easy's commander, still standing on the landing beach!  "What the hell are you doing, Captain!  And why aren't you behind Mehdi by now!!!???"  "Sir! We're still attempting to untangle the units and..."  "Look here, Kirkland!  If you want to keep those Captain's bars you will drop whatever nonsense you're up to, grab the nearest men with guns you can find, and go, secure the @#$%ing east end of that @#$%ing town!  Do you understand me?"  "Yessir!"  And off Captain Kirkland went...


The table, north is up.  The town of Mehdi stretches across the top of the table, with Hill 27 at bottom left, Hill 32 at bottom right, and sheer bluffs present at top right. 

The Americans are bunched into the southwestern (bottom left) corner.  The French garrison of two rifle platoons, their CO, and the ATG are in the town, right up against the northwestern table edge (top left), with the MG and Mortar holding Hill 32 in the southeast (bottom right) and the Laffly armored car sitting astride the hardball road in the northeast (top right, between the bluffs).

The concept here is this: the French garrison in the town is caught completely off guard, expecting a head-on attack from Easy Company (which is just off camera to the west-northwest, or top left), with heavy weapons support in the southeast (bottom right) and a (very small) armored reserve in the northeast (top right).  But the threat is not coming from ahead of them, it's coming from their left flank, and they are caught with their pants down!

But all is not great for the Americans: Major Reisman's intent was for Captain Kirkland's force to drive east and then north to seal off the back (east) end of Mehdi, pocketing the garrison, but the good Major didn't allow Captain Kirkland to properly organize his forces, so he's got a mixture of troops from different companies and, more importantly, his infantry platoons are understrength and lacking transport.  So Captain Kirkland intends on pushing his mechanized forces east and north to encircle Mehdi, but his infantry are going to have to take a more direct route, lest they arrive well after the battle is over...


The American attack jumps off and immediately runs into trouble.


"Sacre bleu!"  The French commander, over the initial shock of Amis appearing on his undefended left flank, makes a tactical decision: this is no longer an attack-defense battle, it is a fighting withdrawal!  The French commander's goal is now to get as many of his men safely to the rear (off table to the east).


French armor pops out of its ambush positions and makes its presence felt...


With their infantry leaving town, the French anti-tank gunners spike their gun and haul ass down the street, looking to escape the encirclement.  Will they make it?


Or can the Yankee armor (bottom left) slam the door shut?


A desperate and bloody melee (look at all those casualties!) breaks out as the advancing US infantry closes with the French rear-guard position...

But you're gonna have to check the blog to see how it turned out
https://hakunamatatawars.blogspot.com/2023/01/hell-on-wheels-operation-torch-fight-2.html

Next fight coming soon!

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Allez le bleu!
What a fight

[paulr]

     

I like the way you have characterised the Americans

I also agree with MGs suppressing armour in the right circumstances

Definitely "An entertaining, and very interesting fight!"