75th Anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino and Northern Italy (Gaming The Battles)
The 4th and Final Assault on Monte Cassino (Turn 1 and 2)
Before I start, I’ll include the tactical maps again. For reference, PBP = Polish Blue Platoon, PRP = Polish Red Platoon etc. FGP = Fallschirmjager Green Platoon.
The view of the defensive position as the Polish begin their advance
Some of the Fallschirmjager's defensive positions. Note the MG nest looming over the battlefield on the hill
Turn 1 Polish:
The only way the Polish can win this is to get forward and do it quickly. They can only move at tactical speed due to the special rules around the terrain however every unit barring the mortar platoon moves as far forward as they can toward the German lines. The tactic is to attempt a two prong attack and try to overload the two end trenches.
After moving, the Polish try some hopeful shooting at the well dug in Fallschirmjager. It’s largely pointless as any hits that are on target just bounce off the rocks and trench line. However, just when the shooting seems to have drawn a blank, Polish Blue Platoon manages to land a punch and destroys one squad from the Fallschirmjager Blue Platoon. First blood to the Poles!
Turn 1 German:
The Fallschirmjager aren’t going to move but they are going to lay down a lot of fire, which is exactly what they do. Polish Blue Platoon on the Polish left flank takes a lot of incoming fire and loses 4 squads and finds itself pinned down. Meanwhile, Polish Green Platoon also takes hits, getting pinned and losing 1 squad. A fair amount of damage handed out in turn 1.
Turn 2 Polish:
All the pinned units are able to unpin and the entire company advances again. MG1 is able to use its full rate of fire this turn and does so to good effect, killing another squad from Fallschirmjager Blue Platoon and pinning them into position. Polish Blue Platoon also adds their fire and kills another squad from their opposing Blue Platoon.
Polish Yellow Platoon is also able to pick off a squad from F.Green Platoon whilst the remaining shooting from the other Polish rifle platoons and mortar team manage to pin the remaining Fallschirmjager in place. Compared to the previous assaults on this table, the Polish numbers are already causing problems for the defenders.
Turn 2 German:
Blue and Red platoon are able to unpin but Green remains with their heads down, seriously impacting their rate of fire.
Polish Blue Platoon takes some serious incoming fire this turn from the German trenches and is wiped out to a man. The Fallschirmjager heavy MG teams turn their fire on their Polish counterparts and Polish MG1 is destroyed. The Polish left flank is suddenly just the Orange Platoon, still with some distance to cover to reach the German trenches.
The Polish on the right flank fare better and Fallschirmjager Green Platoon is only able to remove 1 squad from Polish Green Platoon. The rest of the Polish right flank survive unscathed.
Tactical Map at the end of Turn 2
More great battle reports, @redvers. Indeed, after everyone else had failed, it would be up to the Poles.