75th Anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino and Northern Italy (Gaming The Battles)

Firstly, real life has overtaken everything recently and I’ve not had nearly as much time to play the games and update this project. The 4th and final battle for Monte Cassino started 11th May 1944, so I am already a few days late in missing its 75th Anniversary, but I thought I would update with a battle report first before looking at the Allied break through.

During the Second Battle of Monte Cassino, on the night of the 17th February the 4th British Indian Division were tackling the defenders at Point 593 up on the hill. Meanwhile, in the valley, the New Zealand Division were tasked with taking the town of Cassino. Under the cover of darkness and artillery bombardment, the Division crossed the Garigliano and inched toward the town. The 28th (Maori) Battalion was tasked with advancing up the railway line and to take the station. Many of the bridges had been removed which limited armour support and so the men of 28th Battalion were left largely unsupported in the assault. Their route of advance was also obvious to the defenders and many of German mortar crews had ranged in on points along the railway line making the advance treacherous.
As day broke on the 18th February, under a continual smoke bombardment, the 28th Battalion were able to achieve their objective and capture the station. They dug in and held for most of the day until a German counter attack led by two tanks was launched. With no dedicated anti tank equipment beyond the standard PIAT, they were ordered to hold out for as long as possible before eventually being ordered to fall back. Following the battle, Kesselring, commanding the German defenders, expressed surprise that the 28th Battalion had taken and held the station but even greater surprise that the German counter attack had succeeded. It would appear that he had overestimated the support that 28th Battalion actually had.

This battle will be a condensed version of the events around the Cassino Station. I’ve reduced the forces to a table top sized battle rather than a Battalion sized action – despite all the preparation for this project, I don’t have enough models to carry out Battalion sized activities!
Forces:
Both sides are rated as Confident/Veterans
28th (Maori) Battalion
HQ – 1iC and 2iC Infantry teams
3 identical Infantry Platoons of HQ, PIAT team, 2” Mortar Team and 6 Teams. They’re considered Rifle/MG teams under FoW standards.
90th PanzerGrenadier
HQ – 1iC and 2iC Infantry SMG teams
3 Identical Infantry Platoons – HQ and 9 Teams counted as MG Teams
1 Platoon HMG (2 teams)
2 Panzer IV tanks
I’ve opted for Panzer IVs here as I can’t pin down what actual armoured support was used. I’ve read conflicting reports stating it was either a Panzer IV or an Assault Gun.
Victory Conditions:
The Allied player receives 1 Victory Point for each Platoon in good spirits exited off of the board. They also receive 1 VP for each Turn they hold the station beyond turn 5.
The German Player receives 2 VP for each Platoon destroyed and 1 VP for each Platoon reduced below half strength.
Special Rules:
The 28th Maori Battalion cannot begin the retreat until the start of turn 5.
The station is considered in Maori hands if there are units either on or in the main station building. The German Player can contest this if they have units within 1”
The Maori platoons must exit the board by getting within 3” of the corner of the table behind the station.
There was a near constant smoke bombardment during the day. At the start of every turn, 3d6 are rolled and the total doubled to give the spotting distance in inches. No unit outside of this distance can be targeted, otherwise the smoke does not provide concealment unless any unit specifically fires their own smoke.
The Germans are the attackers and start the first turn.

Understanding the Map:

I’ve used three letter acronyms for the units in the text and on the map. GGP means German Green Platoon and the Germans have Green, Blue and Red Platoons. BOP is British Orange Platoon and the Maori have Red, Orange and Green Platoons. And yes, it should realty be MOP rather than BOP but I had cut and pasted a lot of the map before I realised and couldn’t be bothered going back to change it, so apologies to labelling the Maori as British.

The green lines are hedges, dark grey lines roads and the red line is the railway. White blocks with no writing are buildings.