We played the Canadian attack on San Martino, 17 September 1944, adapting a scenario written for Battlefront WW2 to our preferred Flames of War rules. The original scenario with historical background is linked here:
http://www.fireandfury.com/scenarios/sanmartino.pdf
To adapt the scenario to FOW, we doubled the given number of infantry bases, guns, and tank models. We also increased the playing area by a factor of 1.5 (giving us a playing surface of 72″ X 54″). The increased number of teams conformed to FOW platoon organization and fit well on the table. This scenario made for a good three player game, with an option for a late-arriving fourth player to join the game in progress. The scenario turn limit of ten turns seemed a bit generous to the attackers but proved to be just right.
The scenario provides a lot of mortar and artillery batteries, but Battlefront tones down their effect by requiring a roll each turn to determine whether each battery is available. We roughly incorporated this rule into our game. Battlefront classifies batteries as “organic” “direct support” or “general support”. Using a D10 die, the following rolls must be made by forward observers (FO) or company commanders (CO) to use each type of battery:
Organic: FO 3+ CO 4+Direct Support: FO 4+ CO 5+General Support: FO 5+ CO 6+
Both Canadian FOs could thus call on their own organic 25-pdr troop, and if successful, then call for the full battery, and if successful, then call for the remainder of the regimental artillery, all hitting a single location as a “Mike Target”. The effect of a full battery firing added +1 to the to-hit rolls of the bombardment, and the effect of the full battalion of artillery firing added +2 to the to-hit rolls.
Situation: The Allies are fighting through the Gothic Line in September 1944. The small town of San Martino is on a steep ridge overlooking the coastal plain near Rimini, and it must be taken by the Canadians in order to deny its use by the Germans for artillery observation.
Objective: To win, the Allies must completely clear the town of all German defenders. If both sides have units in the town, the result is a draw.
Terrain: The town of San Martino sits astride a three-level ridge that runs north-and-south along the long axis of the table. The third-level apex of the ridge blocks the line of sight to most of the town from the Canadian deployment area in the southeast corner of the table. The small stones in the photos indicate the crest lines. A church with a tall tower is located near the northern end of the town. The town is surrounded by farms, orchards, and high hedges/tree lines.
Forces: The scenario provides detailed orders of battle, but in general…
The Allies have two rifle companies of the Canadian Seaforth Highlanders, each with three platoons and a FO with an organic troop of four 25-pdrs on call. The force is further supported by an organic 3″ mortar battery, a HMG platoon, two flamethrower teams, two additional full 25-pdr batteries in direct support, and a mixed company of British Churchills and Shermans. Also, an optional third infantry company can enter play on Turn 5. If the Canadians elect to use the optional company, it will lower the level of their victory. The Allies also have a preliminary bombardment that affects movement on the first turn, and a second turn smoke bombardment. All units are rated Confident Veteran.
The Germans are defending with a reduced German Fallschirmjager company with two platoons, one HMG in a bunker, and a FO with an organic battery of 120mm mortars and a 105mm artillery battery in direct support. By scenario rule, every German team has an equivalent dummy team placed on the table at the start of the game. The Germans also have a Pantherturm bunker off-table to the east, on Level 0, and a FLAK 88 gun off-table to the west, on Level 4. We determined that both of these guns had the range to hit any targets they could see, and all shots would be at long range. The Germans are rated Fearless Veteran. Given the very small size of the German force, the rules for company morale were not applied to them.
Dummy Teams: Not knowing how spotting works in Battlefront, we determined that dummy teams would be “spotted” during the shooting phase of the Allied turn. Each Allied platoon shot as normal, and if any hits were obtained, the Germans had to reveal whether the target was real or a dummy. If the target turned out to be real, then any hits were resolved as normal. If the target was revealed to be a dummy, then every hit would remove a dummy team from the table. This was simple and worked well.
Set Up:
By scenario rule, the Germans start the game dug in on the backside of the ridge, behind the town to the west (this area is marked in orange in the photos). The objective area is the town itself, and it is marked in blue in the photos. Only the German HMG bunker and its dummy are set up within the town. Due to the preliminary bombardment, which is falling on the town, no Germans may move into the town on the first turn, and the HMG bunker begins the game pinned down. The Germans are given 10 (doubled to 20) dug-in markers to place within the area of the town.
The Allies start the game in the southeast corner of the table, in the open woods surrounding the red brick “Palazzo”. This area is marked in pink in the photos. Due to the preliminary bombardment, the Allies cannot enter the town on Turns 1 or 2. If the optional infantry company is used, we ruled that it would enter the fight 12″ behind the front line of either of the other two companies.
Opposing Plans and Deployment:
The Germans deployed with a dummy platoon in the front line, real platoons in the second and third lines, and a dummy platoon in the fourth line. The real HMG bunker was placed in the town to cover the graveyard, and the dummy bunker was placed at the edge of town covering the front of the church. The dummy CO and the FO were placed to move into the church, and the real CO was deployed between the two real platoons. Having very few men, once in position, the German commander planned to keep his mens’ heads down — only shooting in defensive fire — and using dead ground as much as possible to avoid British observation and fire, and falling back when the British artillery ranged in. The Germans would use their off-table mortars and artillery to attrit and disrupt the Canadian infantry, and the off-table Pantherturm and 88 to engage, and hopefully destroy, the British tanks.
The two Canadian commanders planned to have one company make a frontal attack to pin the German defenders, while the other company made a rapid advance down the east side of the table to strike the German flank and rear. The tanks would advance over the low ground to the east to avoid the 88 to the west, then climb into the town to provide fire support. The mortars and 25-pdrs would be used to soften up the defense while these maneuvers took place, and all attacking companies would strive to meet in the rear of town by the end of the game. Forces were divided accordingly, with C Company making the frontal attack with the HMG platoon in support, and A Company making the flank attack with the mortars and tanks in support.
After Action Report: Both sides executed their plans as intended. A Company moved briskly around the eastern flank of the town, losing some teams to German mortar fire but always unpinning. C Company took two turns spreading out to the west before turning and advancing on the town, and then was pinned down by German artillery, so the frontal attack was somewhat delayed. The Canadians used most of their Turn 2 smoke barrage to mask the 88 and the Pantherturm, and the tanks used the cover of the smoke to move out of the deployment area. On Turn 2 the Germans moved into the buildings and prepared positions in the town, and the FO moved into the church tower. The Canadian mortars could see the church and began a multi-turn bombardment of it, which had little effect but did cause the Germans to spread out a bit.
By Turn 3, A Company’s FO was ensconced in a farm house and began calling in barrages from his 25-pdr troop. These barrages were sporadic, as several of the availability rolls were failed. One platoon from A Company moved to the eastern edge of the town where it came under mortar fire. By Turn 4, the leading tanks reached the town and began machine gunning the forward German positions, revealing several dummy teams.
By the mid-game, C Company finally reached the apex of the ridge. Its FO was emplaced in a farm house to the west and began calling 25-pdr fire on the center of the town. This fire, along with the tank machine guns, pinned the second line of the German defense, and the survivors of the A Company platoon launched an assault through the graveyard. This assault was bloodily repulsed by accurate defensive fire from the defenders and the HMG bunker, and the three surviving Canadian teams were moved to the rear to avoid losing the platoon. A C Company platoon was able to assault the western end of the German line and won a foothold in the town. Fire from the 88 began to knock out some of the Churchills, which had moved to an exposed position on the apex of the ridge.
In the late mid-game, the C Company FO was able to call a couple Mike Target bombardments on the third line which killed some German teams and caused the remainder to fall back. More British tanks were lost to the 88. The four surviving tanks, wary of moving into range of the German panzerfausts, remained stationary, firing their main guns. The Canadian players decided that the situation did not require the commitment of the third rifle company (and the third Canadian player had still not arrived!).
The end game saw two platoons from A Company assaulting the church and the last German-occupied house on the north end of the town. The close combat in the church lasted several rounds and drew in almost all the remaining German defenders before the Canadians finally prevailed. The assault on the last house was also successful. The Canadians had taken the town, but had few survivors with which to hold it!
On Turn 9, the last four German teams tried to retake the last house. Unfortunately for the Germans, a smoke barrage on the church failed to range in, and the assault was barely repulsed by defensive fire, which claimed three of the assaulting teams. With only the CO and the FO still surviving (plus the HMG bunker, which had no targets and which all the players forgot about!), the German commander threw in the towel. The result was an ahistorical major victory for the Canadians!
Conclusion: This was a very good scenario. With the Germans defending cautiously, the game played at a very fast pace. The ample Canadian artillery had an effect, but was not too powerful due to the initially limited lines of sight, the hard cover and constant shifting of the German positions, and several failed availability rolls. It was a close game that could have gone either way at the end.
- TJ