We continued our WW2 Sicily theme by playing part of the Battle of Troina (August 1-6, 1943), focusing on the action around the Ponte di Failia (Failia Bridge).
The historical background, map, orders of battle, and other details can be found in the attached website. Since the original scenario was written for Flames of War V.3, we simply adapted it for Flames of War V.4, and used the unit stats from the V.3 “North Africa” book.
https://wargamerabbit.wordpress.com/2017/06/10/troina-1943-fow-aar/
In the scenario, elements of the U.S. 26th Infantry Regiment are defending Monte Basilio in the NW quadrant of the table, and are being attacked by elements of the German 1st Bn., 115 Pz.Gd. Regiment and elements of the Italian Aosta Division coming from the NE quadrant. In the SE quadrant, elements of the 2nd Bn., 115 Pz.Gd. Rgt. are defending against an attack by elements of the U.S. 39th Infantry Regiment coming from the SW quadrant. Thus the scenario is like playing two games in one, with the Germans attacking in the north and the Americans attacking in the south.
The 10’X5′ table was set up with the long axis running north-south. The terrain is generally open and hilly, with a few farmhouses and orchards. The Troina River is dry and its steep banks are covered with brush which provides concealment. The river can be crossed by infantry at any point, but vehicles can only cross via the bridge or the ford. Monte Basilio is covered with numerous shell holes which provide hard cover.
In the north, the dug-in 26th Rgt. deployed in depth on Monte Basilio, overlooking the northern arm of the river. All units started on the table except for the A&P platoon which was in delayed reserve. A forward objective was placed near a farmhouse near the bridge, and a rear objective was placed near the summit of the hill, in the NW corner of the table.
In the south, the Panzergrenadiers and Pioneers of the 2nd Bn. were dug in along the forward edge of their deployment area, behind one minefield and three barbed wire obstacles. Three StuG IIIs were emplaced in weapon pits behind the front line. The defenders had one objective placed in their forward area near the bridge, and a rear objective was placed near a large farmhouse in the SE corner of the table.
In addition, a fifth objective was the bridge itself. The side that controlled the most objectives at the end of the game would be the winner.
The game began with both sides conducting a preliminary bombardment against the other side’s defenses. U.S losses in the north were fairly heavy, with one platoon in the far north losing half of its teams. German losses in the south were lighter, and included one StuG III that was knocked out by the bombardment.
The German attack in the north began with three Pz.Gd. platoons advancing into the dry riverbed, with one platoon making a pinning attack in the far north while two platoons made the main attack toward the two objectives in the center, supported by attached HMGs and a battery of PaK 38 antitank guns. Two Italian Fucilieri platoons and a battery of Semovente 47/32s were held off table as delayed reserves.
The American attack by the 39th Rgt. in the south started more slowly. The original scenario delayed the start of this attack until mid-game, but in the interests of time and player involvement, we began this attack on Turn One, but the Americans only started with two infantry platoons and a combat engineer platoon on the table, supported by off-board artillery. A third infantry platoon, a Sherman tank platoon, and a self-propelled cannon platoon would arrive as delayed reserves. One infantry platoon moved along the riverbed toward the bridge, while the other infantry platoon and the engineers moved over the hill in the south, toward the German Pioneers who were defending a large orchard.
Both sides were well supported by artillery. The U.S. had a 60mm mortar battery in the north, two off-table 105mm batteries, and an off-table 155m battery linked to an AOP and available each turn on a D6 roll of 4+. The Germans had an off-table 105mm battery, and an on-table Nebelwefer battery with six launchers. The 155mm battery pinned the Nebelwerfers, which neutralized them for several turns until they could unpin. The other artillery on both sides took a steady toll of each other’s infantry.
Contact was first made by the combat engineers of the 39th Rgt. in the far south. Their unarmored bulldozer was eliminated as it approached the barbed wire obstacle, but that did not prevent the engineer teams from crossing the wire and winning an assault against the defending German Pioneers. This pushed back the Germans in the large orchard.
The infantry platoon of the 39th Rgt. in the river was the first to reach the bridge, and in a firefight with one of the attacking Pz.Gd. platoons, the U.S. initially prevailed. However, this U.S. platoon then received heavy fire and it rapidly lost strength until it was eliminated.
In the north, the German platoon in the far north was hammered by U.S. artillery and mortar fire and was soon eliminated. The assaulting German platoon in the center had more success, and was briefly able to control the objective at the farmhouse near the bridge. However, the Germans were too weak to stop a U.S. counterattack on the following turn, and were forced to fall back to the riverbed.
At this point, both sides were badly bloodied and calling for reinforcements. In the far north, the Italians finally arrived, with their Semoventes leading two Fucilieiri platoons. In the south, the Americans received their Sherman platoon, which moved toward the large orchard in the south. Later, a U.S. infantry platoon, backed up by a SP cannon platoon, moved along the river toward the bridge. These reinforcements added impetus to both attacks.
In the south, two Shermans moved through the large orchard and found themselves on the flanks of the two German Stug IIIs. Two shots resulted in two knocked out Stugs. The reinforcing U.S. infantry platoon recaptured the bridge, then suffered heavy losses to Nebelwerfer fire. The SP cannons survived the Nebelwerfer fire, then squeezed past the wire near the river. Meanwhile, the German defenders around the forward objective were steadily attrited by continuous artillery fire.
In the far north, the Italians crossed the river and, against the odds, successfully assaulted the defending U.S. platoon. Unfortunately for the Italians, the Americans passed their motivation check to counterattack and forced the Italians to fall back. Meanwhile, the scattered and battered remnants of the PanzerGrenadier platoons dug in within the river bed near the bridge.
The endgame saw the survivors of the American platoon in the far north fall back to the hilltop, where they joined the dug in A&P platoon to defend the rear objective. The Italians moved forward and occupied the original U.S. positions, but were unable to advance further. Nearer the bridge, the Americans made a weak assault against an even weaker Pz.Gd. platoon in the river and eliminated it. In the south, the unstoppable Sherman’s broke through and contested the rear German objective, while the forward objective fell under U.S. control. Finally, with a last gasp, the survivors of the last remaining Pz.Gd. platoon advanced and contested control of the bridge with the survivors of the reinforcing U.S. infantry platoon.
From start to finish, the game had been a total kill-fest, with both sides taking heavy losses. In the race to mutual annihilation, the Germans ran out of men first, leaving the Americans in control of the battlefield. The final result saw the U.S. controlling three objectives, and two objectives were contested, for a 3-0 U.S victory!
As a final note, this was a very fun scenario to play. Kudos to Wargamerabbit who designed it. The original scenario was designed to be played as a large convention game, but we managed to play it to a conclusion with only four players (including one relatively inexperienced FOW player) in just over four hours of playing time.
- TJ