"Operation Cornichon" - Game 3 - Turn 4 to End...

...and yet another wet/excessively windy weekend (and no curry was involved...) saw me finish the WWII skirmish game...

This game was a lot of fun - I do like these rules...  simple enough to pick up and play almost immediately, with enough nuances to provide tactical challenges whilst not bogging the game as a whole down...

Turn 4:

..and the French win the initiative and chose to move first this time... for the first time in the game we have some compulsory morale checks to complete first, and as the German commander had hoped, the French section em-placed on the top of the hill failed and broke... the German section facing them passed.

Despite scoring four hits on the French 3^rd section the Germans get no casualties! The game ends with one casualty a side... both sides pass their end of turn morale check.

Turn 5:

....yawnnn.....the French win the initiative again...

In their compulsory morale checks, the French 3rd Section break again – one more fail and they will "disperse" (see Post Match Analysis comment..)

I then threw a dice for the reinforcements (a standard  section c/w leader so 8 men in total – leader, 5 poilu's with rifles and LMG crew of 2), and they confirmed that entry would be this turn, at entry point 2, which is the road heading north..

The remaining French (1^st) section advances cautiously (slow movement, but gives cover benefits for shooting) so as to bring more of their weapons to bear.. the German 2nd Section (the one in the field nearest the barn) facing them does the same.

On the open flank the German commander moves his other section more quickly towards the hill - the barn blocks line of sight and there is no one else to shot at them.

In the firing phase, both sides again cause one casualty – both sides fail their morale..

Breakpoints: French  (10 left) German (6 left)...

Move 5: Reinforcements have arrived, French 3rd section behind the hill have failed morale for the second time, French 1st Section are behind the barn.

Turn 6:

French win again...! Getting boring..... 

During the compulsory morale checks, as expected, the French 3^rd section (the guys who started on the hill) fail their morale check again and are dispersed (and those count towards their break points, so the French now have 4 left before BP). The French 1^st section also fails it's morale check and breaks retreating 11” towards the bridge. The German section passes..

Despite winning the initiative, the French chose to move 2^nd.

All units on both sides remain stationary (for best shooting bonuses) apart from the German section who are on the move, and they move closer towards the foot of hill.

In the firing phase the German chose to target the French HQ unit as it is easier to spot/concentrate fire on – despite one hit they fail to cause casualties. In their firing the French cause another casualty (#19) on the section in the field opposite, but the Germans pass their morale test.

Turn 7:

French win again... (Germans have never won the initiative in the whole game..!)

During the compulsory morale checks, and to everyone's surprise, the French 1^st section recover to suppressed!

French chose to move 2^nd so the  German 1^st section continues to move along the foot of hill towards the town. The French 1^st section make a cautious move, and turn to face the Germans (best they can do in their current suppressed state).

French firing is largely ineffective, but the German firing results in the French C-in-C being killed!. The HQ section recovers morale.

BP’s – French (3 left) German (5 left)

Turn 8:

French win again...

There are some compulsory morale checks – the French 1^st section breaks and again retreats a further 11” - they end up on the bridge - the Germans almost have victory in their hands.

The French chose to move 2^nd, so the German 1^st section doubles along the foot of the hill towards the barn, using it as cover between them and the French reinforcement section.

Firing – one German casualty (#18) and the section fails morale and goes suppressed.

BP’s – French (3 left) German (5 left)

End Turn 8 - French 1st Section on the bridge, remains of the French HQ are on top of the hill, reinforcements have not really moved since they arrived in order to preserve firing bonuses.. German 1st section on the right is just visible - suppressed..

Turn 9:

French win the initiative again... !

Compulsory morale checks – 1^st section breaks again dispersed – French reach breakpoint so they are now on special force/side level morale checks.... basically they cannot improve, only get worse. The German 2^nd section passes their morale and recovers

Realising that all is almost lost the French reinforcement section does a double time move towards the barn - no shooting this turn for them, but a much better firing angle for next turn.....

In the firing section there is shooting from all sides, at the end of it though despite some hits, only the Germans get the kills - two to be precise on the reinforcement section - who fail their morale test.

In the French force morale check, the reinforcement section fails again and retreats off the table leaving it to the Germans....

Game over - German win....

Post Match Analysis:

• First off, the butchers bill - not all of the French would be classed as "dead" as the sections were dispersed rather than destroyed....

...and the Germans... 2nd Section took a real pasting...

 

• Rules worked well on the whole - albeit it was a fairly limited test in that I didn't have any HE capability, and we never got a close assault in (both are fairly comprehensively covered in the rules, they just didn't occur in the game) The one area I'm not sure about is the morale check...  on the whole it works well, but there is no account taken of how many casualties the element has taken overall only in the move that the test is being taken which seems to be a bit of a glaring omission?? I think that for future games I may put in a modifier for "half strength".
• The morale status of a unit is easy to track - good => suppressed => broken (very similar to the AWI rules I use, so I use the same pins). The rules are a little unclear on the transition from suppressed to broken and what happens when - one section in the rules makes reference to broken units retreating a move, the very next section states that they are dispersed  when broken...  I'm assuming a typo, and I played it that an already broken unit failing a morale test would disperse..  seemed to work..
• As expected, the morale is a key quality differentiator - if I was to play this game again I would be tempted to make either the French or the Germans class 3 - not both - it would be a much closer game.

I enjoyed that - thanks for the idea Jeff!

End Game - French survivors head for home......