Fields of Fire: Normandy Campaign - Mission 1 - Turn 5

HQ Higher Event

No HQ symbol is found on the Action Card, so no Event occurs. Eerily quiet from the HQ on both sides!

Friendly Command Phase

Activation Segment

• BN HQ Impulse - Not on the map, so CO HQ is activated automatically.
• CO HQ Impulse - Draw a 4/3 card. -1 for Green, = 3 Activations (& 1 Saved). Activate 2nd Plt HQ & 3rd Plt HQ. Save 2 Activations.
• 2nd PLT HQ - Draw a 5/3 card. -1 for Green, +1 Under Cover = 5 Activation (& 1 Saved).
• 3rd PLT HQ - Draw a 3/2 card. -1 for Green, = 2 Activations.

3rd PLT has been a real laggard so far.

I am going to push most of 2nd PLT forward into the Hedgerow/Bocage (R2C4), and then push the 3/2nd Plt, which is already there, forward into the 2nd Objective Hex.

3rd PLT, meanwhile, is going to skirt the Minefield and get into the Village where I hope to gain a chance to spot the Sniper and force him to fall back.

Activation Segment - Orders:

• 2nd PLT: Platoon Move into the Hedgerow/Bocage (R2C4). Units marked as Exposed. Everyone goes into cover, which overloads the cover again. But now 3/2nd is in communication. He leaves a Phone line behind him.
• 2nd PLT: 3/2nd Plt attempts to infiltrate into the Objective 2, the Woods at R3C4. 3/2nd is Line, so he draws 2 cards, but is not successful, so he is marked as exposed. Activity Marker is changed to Heavily Engaged.
• 3rd PLT: Platoon move into the Village (R1C2). 3/Wpns (Bazooka) goes into the Upper Story. Everyone else into the Strong Building. All units are marked as Exposed.

Initiative Segment

• 1st PLT HQ: Draw a 3/2 card. -1 for Green = 1 Activation (& 2 Saved)
• 1st PLT HQ: 2/1st Plt attempt to Infiltrate into the Cemetery. he draws 2 cards (Line) but fails, so he is marked as Exposed while ducking quickly into cover. This does, however, change the VOF marker on the Orchard (R3C1) to Small Arms.

• XO: Fires off his RSP, which causes all US Units to Cease Fire. This is intended to protect the US unit on the Obj2 card, which is currently under US fire. PDFs and VOFs are replaced as US Units re-open fire. Small Arms VOF on Objective 2 (R3C4) from the unit occupying the card itself. Small Arms and a PDF are placed in the Orchard (R3C1) coming from the cemetery. The units in the AP and the Hedgerow card adjacent hold their fire since there is a US unit on the card in their LOS.

• XO: 1 Activation (& 1 Saved)
• XO: Calls for Indirect Fire from 1/60mm to the 1/2nd German Position (R1C4). Place an "H" VOF on the card.
• 1st SGT: 1 Activation (saved, he now has 4 saved)
• General Initiative: Draw a 5/4 Card! 4 Activations.

General Initiative Orders:

• 3 Wpns (Bazooka) in the Upper Story attempts to spot the Sniper. Base draw is 2 cards. +1 for being at a higher elevation; -1 for Sniper/FO; -1 for Under cover = 1 card. No luck.
• 3/2nd Plt (R3C4) attempts to seek cover. The card allows him 4 draws, and he finds cover with the last card drawn.
• 3/2nd attempts a grenade attack against the Foxhole cover marker. The German units are not in Good Order (they are LATs and Pinned) so they do not get to make a reciprocal attack. 3/2nd draws 2 cards, looking for a grenade icon, but is not successful. A Grenade Miss marker is placed instead.
• 3/1st atop the AP also attempt to spot the Sniper. Base draw is 2 cards. +1 for being at a higher elevation; -1 for Sniper/FO; -1 for Under cover = 1 card. He is also unsuccessful.

Offensive Mission: Higher HQ Event

An HQ symbol appears, and a subsequent draw of 10 means the Germans counter-attack! Random PC markers are placed all over the map and my nice quiet ride may be at an end.

Luckily, I am currently Heavily Engaged, so there will not be too many cards drawn for each marker, which should limit the damage.


Offensive Mission: Enemy Activity Phase

• German Sniper (R2C1): The Sniper, so long as he is not spotted, continues to attack the card which brought it into play, so there is no change for the Sniper.
• German A/C Fire Team (R3C1): This unit is pinned under cover. A draw of "3" (out of 4) indicates he attempts to Rally and remove the Pinned marker. He draws one card (-1 because LATs are Green) which has no Effect.
• German Paralyzed Team (R3C1): This unit is pinned under cover. A draw of "1" (out of 4) indicates he takes no action.
• German Litter Team (R3C1): This unit is pinned under cover. A draw of "4" (out of 4) indicates he falls back, which takes him off the map.
• German A/C Fire Team (R3C4): This unit is pinned under cover on a US-occupied card. A draw of "3" (out of 5) indicates he attempts to Rally and remove the Pinned marker. He draws one card (-1 because LATs are Green) which has no Effect.
• German S/C Fire Team (R3C4): This unit is a Fire Team under cover on a US-occupied card. A draw of "5" (out of 5) indicates he falls back, into the Woods (R4C4); he goes into cover and is marked as Exposed. This removes the unspotted marker from the German squad currently under cover on that card.
• German Paralyzed LAT (R3C4): This unit is a Paralyzed Team on a US-occupied card. He automatically takes no action.
• German 1/3rd Plt (R4C4): He has opened fire, but is not under fire. A draw of "1" (out of 4) indicates he takes no action.
• German Sniper: Randomly selects to target the 1/3rd Plt (flipped) with sniper fire.

Mutual Capture & Retreat Phase

No one meets the criteria, so this is skipped.


Mutual Vehicle-Aircraft Phase

The Jeep was not activated, so this is skipped.


Mutual Combat Phase

Update Fire Missions

There are no Fire Missions to Update, so this is skipped.


Evaluate Potential Contact Markers

I drew randomly to determine the order in which contact markers were exposed and then resolved. For simplicity in transcribing, however, they are ordered from bottom left to top right:

• Orchard/Grove (R1C1): Potential Contact "B". Two cards drawn, no contact.
• Village (R1C2): Potential Contact "C". One card drawn, no contact.
• Orchard/Grove (R1C3): Potential Contact "C". One card drawn, no contact.
• Cemetery (R2C2): Potential Contact "B". Two cards drawn, no contact.
• Hedgerow/Bocage on Hills (R2C3): Potential Contact "B". Two cards drawn, Contact (the results of this contact are shown below).
• Hedgerow/Bocage (R2C4): Potential Contact "A". Three cards drawn, no contact.
• Woods (R3C4): Potential Contact "B". Two cards drawn, no contact. (The original Contact Marker was also "B", so only one was resolved.)

Hedgerow/Bocage on Hills (R2C3) Contact:

• A draw of 8 indicates this is an HMG Nest which, checking the Force Packgage table is a Squad and an HMG Team.
• The Squad is drawn first, and the 3/3rd Plt (S/L) is selected. Placement draw is 10 so the Squad is placed Right Front at Max LOS. This unit is able to fire at "L" Range, and the US Units are on a 2 Elevation Hill, so the map is extended over the Woods (R3C4) to R4C5, where a Hedgerow/Bocage is placed. At least this card has white edges on the side facing the US troops, so it will have lower cover. The Sqaud is placed, spotted, under Foxholes and spotted, per the Force Package Table.
• The HMG Team draws for placement, and gets an 8, which is Left Front at Max LOS. This unit has a range of "V" so it can fire from 3 cards away, which is also going to extend the map. I start by drawing terrain for R1C5, with the result being Hedgerow/Bocage. Since the LOS will not be blocked by this card, I draw again for R0C6, which is a Church. The HMG is placed under a Foxhole on this card.
• As a result, in the US-occupied Hedgerow/Bocage, the HMG changes VOF to "A", adds a Crossfire marker and places PDFs along the firing path. This causes the PDF to cross a card with a Potential Contact Marker (Hedgerow/Bocage at R3C2), however because the German unit is firing upward, the marker remains in place. The newly-placed German Squad also places PDFs, but there is no other effect.
• The US 1Wpns (MG) places an "A" VOF marker on the Hedgerow/Bocage containing the German 3/3rd, firing over the head of the US units in the Woods at R3C4. The PDFs along this path are flipped to the reciprocal side.

Combat Effects Segment

Once again, resolving from lower left to upper right.

• US 1/3rd Plt in Orchard (R1C1): +0 for Small Arms VOF; -3 for Sniper; +1 for Card; +1 for Cover; +1 for Pinned. Final Modifier is 0. The result is a HIT. The Hit Effects draw (Line) shows "LC", so the 1/3rd is removed and a Litter Team and a Casualty are placed on the card.
• US Fire Team in Orchard (R1C1): +0 for Small Arms VOF; +1 for Card; +1 for Cover; +1 for Pinned. Final Modifier is +3. The result is a MISS. The Pinned marker is removed.
• US Fire Team in Cemetery (R2C2): +0 for Small Arms VOF; -1 for Crossfire; +1 for Card; +3 for Cover; +1 for Pinned. Final Modifier is +4. The result is a MISS and the Fire Team is unpinned.
• US 1/1st Plt in Cemetery (R2C2): +0 for Small Arms VOF; -1 for Crossfire; +1 for Card; +3 for Cover; +1 for Pinned. Final Modifier is +3. The result is a MISS and the Squad is unpinned.
• US 2/1st Plt in Cemetery (R2C2): +0 for Small Arms VOF; -1 for Crossfire; -2 for Exposed; +1 for Card; +3 for Cover. Final Modifier is +1. The result is a MISS.
• US 3/1st in Hedgerow/Bocage on Hills (R2C3): -1 for Automatic Fire VOF; +2 for Card; +1 for Cover; -1 for Crossfire. Final Modifier is +1. The result is a PIN, so the unit is Pinned.
• US 1 Wpns in Hedgerow/Bocage on Hills (R2C3): -1 for Automatic Fire VOF; +2 for Card; +1 for Cover; -1 for Crossfire. Final Modifier is +1. The result is a HIT and the Hit Effect (for Line) is "C", so the MG becomes a casualty.
• German A/C Fire Team in Orchard/Grove (R3C1): -3 for Heavy VOF (Mortars); +1 for Card; +2 for Cover; +1 for Pinned; -1 for Burst Icon. Final Modifier is 0. The result is a HIT. The Hit Effects draw (Green) shows "PP", so the Fire Team is replaced with a Paralyzed LAT, which remains Pinned.
• German Paralyzed LAT in Orchard/Grove (R3C1): -3 for Heavy VOF (Mortars); +1 for Card; +2 for Cover; +1 for Pinned; -1 for Burst Icon. Final Modifier is 0. The result is a MISS, so this Paralyzed LAT is no longer Pinned.
• US 3/2nd in Woods (R3C3): All Pinned VOF is +2; -2 for Exposed; -1 for Grenade Miss; +2 for card; +1 for Cover. Final Modifier is +2. The result is a MISS.
• German A/C Fire Team in Woods (R3C3): +0 for Small Arms VOF; +2 for Card; +1 for Cover; +1 for Pinned; -1 for Grenade Miss. Final Modifier is +3. The result is a PIN.
• German Paralyzed LAT in Woods (R3C3): +0 for Small Arms VOF; +2 for Card; +1 for Cover; -1 for Grenade Miss. Final Modifier is +2. The result is a MISS.
• German 3/3rd Plt in Hedgerow/Bocage (R4C5): -1 for Automatic Fire VOF; +1 for Card; +1 for Cover. Final Modifier is +1. The result is a PIN.

Changes to VOF and PDFs:

• The Orchard/Grove (R3C1) is no longer generating any fire, so the PDF is flipped and the crossfire marker removed from the units in the Cemetery. VOF remains the same.
• The elimination of 1Wpns in the Hedgerow/Bocage on Hills (R2C3) reduces the VOF on the German 3/3rd Plt in Hedgerow/Bocage (R4C5) to Small Arms.
• The VOF on the Orchard/Grove (R3C1)is reduced to Small Arms, after the Mortars are done.
  

I reduce the German 1/1st Fire Team in R3C4) (to 2). Mortar Ammo is reduced (to 4). German 2nd HMG Ammo is reduced to 7.

Clean Up Phase

All of the Exposed Markers are removed, as is the Grenade Miss marker.


Conclusion

My first casualties and the unfortunate elimination of 1 Wpns mar the effort.

All things considered, however, it could have been a lot worse, what with the German counter-attack.

That said, getting into Row 3 is going to be hairy under the current situation, as the Germans have a line of units past our Limit of Advance causing problems.