Operation “Tiny Serpent” (part 2)

After all the technical difficulties of the past few days, I finally find the time to do part two of the after action report. For those interested in how things went so far… here you can find part one.

Anyway, if you thought there was a lot of action when we stopped playing the other friday, it got even hotter by the when we picked up last friday. In the middle the Lanzer who had just botched his Panzerfaust shot on the Jeep grabbed for his MP40 to finish things off that way. But just like he had done when the Jeep had been attacked the last time, the .30cal gunner swung around and riddled the attacker with bullets before he could get another shot out. Things seemed safe enough, still his Lieutenant felt the crossroads were not a good place to stay and kept his foot on the accelerator. But the vehicle was not fast enough yet and was an easy prey for the German sniper in the bell tower. A shot rang out and the machine gunner sank down in the back of the Jeep, badly wounded and out of the fight. Now the officer put the pedal to the metal just to get out of there.

At the same time the first two Americans on the left flank started scaling the bocage to get into the fields in the middle, only to find two Germans with SMG´s awaiting them between the cornstalks. The first ran into an immediate wall of fire . While unwounded his spirits were badly shaken and he was out of the fight as well. His comrade managed to get a shot off before his Garand jammed, but it only served to give the German Feldwebel a short scare. While he was still trying to clear his rifle, he was killed by German fire. With only one GI combat ready on that flank, the fight there was virtually over.

Panzerschreck

In the centre, the loader for the Panzerschreck would not let his comrade be killed in vain, picked up the AT weapon and took aim at the Sherman. Only the tank rumbled on relentlessly and was too close to fire. Cheered on by his Leutnant he moved further back into the graveyard. Would he still have enough time before the tank would crash through the bocage and try to run him over? Whose grave would it be? The Sherman reached the hedgerow and its tracks cut into the growth relentlessly. Suddenly the tank lurched to a halt… it had gotten stuck! The tank commander was well aware of his perilous situation. The soft belly of the tank was in plain view of the enemy and all the weapons could not be depressed enough to fire, so he shouted for the driver to get the tank moving again. Too late… the Panzerschreck fired. It found the weak bottom armour right at the bow machine gunners station, killing him instantly and setting the .30 cal ammo on fire. While the tank started cooking off, the crew tried its best to get out, but only th commander and gunner managed to.

Burning Sherman

At the same time the American infantry kept on advancing on the next bocage line, confident, that they had driven all the Germans from their positions there. But one man with an MP40 was still lying in wait patiently. The GI´s were almost on him when he started spraying them with well-aimed bursts from his SMG. The first two were killed instantly, one went to the ground and took cover while two more went down severely wounded. While shouts for their medic rang out, one of the remaining soldiers fired back, killing the German, but still the cost was horrendous.

Machine gun position

At the same time the German riflemen who had earlier occupied this first line had arrived at the fall back position in the church ruins and were forming up around the HMG positioned there. Whoever was to make it this far would be in for a nasty surprise. After checking that none of his men that had been hit were still alive, the German Feldwebel on that flank went to follow them. But at that very moment the last two remaining Americans scaled the bocage. Not wanting to be caught in the open, he turned around and charged while firing his MP40 from the hip, killing one of them. This only left one soldier and the medic combat ready on the right flank… not rosy either.

German Feldwebel

In the centre the second Panzerschreck team had reloaded and moved out to get another shot into the Sherman’s flank, only to find the other Panzerschreck had been faster. The gunner from the Sherman saw them out on the dirt road and sprayed them with his Grease Gun, killing one and severely wounding the other. So at least one small piece of revenge had been exulted.

The Lieutenant was trying his best to get to the scene and sped up his Jeep to throw off the German snipers aim, but it was too little, too late. Another report from the bell tower and his brains were all over the place.

At this time the Americans decided to call it a day. Only two soldiers, the medic and the two tankers were still combat ready, the rest were either dead (which included the officer and all NCOs) or wounded and out of the fight. At the same time the Germans had superior numbers and consolidated their position in the church ruins. The fight was over!

Caring for the wounded

All in all it became a fast and furious end to the game. It finally saw me rolling far better and therefore the Germans making the decisive shots when it counted. And I am already looking forward to the next game!