The Second World War, Rapid Fire Reloaded, 10mm

Even though there were just two if us this week, Chris and I decided to go on a  trip to Sicily. This scenario was dreamed up by Australian gamer Mark Piper, and posted on the Rapid Fire Reloaded FB group. So, as I had all the kit, we decided to take it for a spin. One problem though – was thanks to an MOT mix-up (an annual car roadworthiness test in the UK), the box with roads got left in a garage somewhere. So, we had to imagine they were there! In this one, the Germans held the village of Grammichele – halfway between Gela and Catania whoi know their Sicily – and the advance by the 1st Canadian Division led to their spearhead advancing on the place. In reality Grammichelle was a hilltop town, but Mark solved that terrain problem by making the table flat. The Germans deployed above the blue G-G line, and the Canadians were below the red A-A one. The defenders of Kamfgruppe Hahm consisted of a Pz. Gren. bttn. from the Hermann Goring Div., bolstered by a flak detachment which included an 88mm gun, and two small companies of tanks – two each of Pz. IIIs and Pz. IVs. The Canadians had two rifle battalions, carried into battle either on the backs of tanks or in commandeered vehicles, two squadrons of Shermans (of the three Rivers Regt.) and a pair of self-propelled guns.The aim was to get 16 figures – roughly half of a battalion – above the line marked AA-AA on the map. That essentially meant Grammichele itself. The Germans had a few tricks up their sleeves though. they used ‘concealment markers’ – the numbered markers you can see above, as well as hidden Italian ‘box mines’ deployed on the approach roads, off-table artillery support, and a FW-190 fighter bomber as air support. This wasn’t going to be easy! I decided to advance my tanks up the left-hand road, with my second battalion advancing up through the olive groves running up the centre of the table. As soon as I appeared though, so did the Focke Wulf, which promptly knocked out my lead tank! Fortunately the tank riders were further back in the column, and they quickly dismounted, before the aircraft re-appeared!My next problem was the ’88’, which Chris revealed on the upper left side of the table – perfectly covering the road I was driving up! I also started taking fire from the German tanks, which appeared in the top-right of the table. The range, though, made it hard for them to score a telling hit. Meanwhile the German artillery  began pounding my infantry of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regt. (‘The Hasty Ps) as they emerged past the central olive grove. All in all, things weren’t going too well for my Canadians. The ’88’ was my biggest problem, which I temporarily solved by dropping smoke in front of it, to screen my Shermans. I couldn’t do much about the panzers though, which Chris had started to move, with the Pz IV’s staying put, while the Pz IIIs began moving through the town to get closer to me. At least my two infantry battalions had advanced past the centreline of the table, probing the olive groves ahead of them as they went. The 2nd battalion’s support team in their carriers found the top-left olive grove was deserted – all the ‘concealment markers’ there were dummies, so they deployed in the cover of the wall surrounding the trees. They could help take on the ’88’ when the smoke cleared. The rifle companies, though, were having a tougher time of it, as the German mortars and off-table artillery made life difficult for them. The men of the 2nd bttn. were crossing the open ground between the left-centre olive grove and the one held by the support team. The 1st bttn.’s men, who’d jumped off their tanks, were advancing up the left-hand road, hoping to make it as far as some roadside cover before the smoke cleared from in front of the ’88’. All in all I was in something of a quandary. I was taking casualties and the Germans weren’t. Their fighter-bomber was causing trouble, as was their artillery and tanks, and I hadn’t even fired a shot in anger yet! Fortunately, we were running out of time. So, we took pictures to record where everything was, we noted down casualties and such-like, and began packing everything away. We’ll finish the game in a few weeks, and it might also give me time to figure out how to assault the German-held town. If you have any ideas, please sent them to me as a comment! My ‘left hook’ seemed like a good idea, but so far it hasn’t won me any favours. However, I’ve got my pair of Bishop self-propelled guns at the back of the table, and all they’ve done so far is to help lay a smoke screen. Perhaps they can help me turn things around…

Tags: Rapid Fire Reloaded