Trench Hammer With Trenches

I played through the first Trench Hammer scenario again, this time treating the German positions as trenches. Trenches are a tough nut to crack; not only do they offer the best protection in terms of To Hit modifiers, but they also halve the damage inflicted on a unit in them.

In response I gave the British some support. As well as upgrading their rifle squad to a Lewis gun squad, I also gave them a Vickers machine-gun.

I wnet for the same approach as before with the British, moving the rifle-granades into cover on the flank to try and keep the German machine-gun suppressed whilst the other squads moved to eliminate it. The Vickers also moved up though the cover, with the aim of setting up in the shell-holes.

(I randomised the positions of the shell-hole, both the ones on the British side of the table and, to a lesser extent the one making up the German position. This changes the way the game plays out a little each time.)

On the other flank the bomber squad and two Lewis squads moved up behind the hill. They were aiming for the cover of shell-holes on the forward slopes, but couldn't have reached them on the first move and didn't want to end the turn exposed on the hill itself. A second turn dash would see them safely ensconced in cover.

The rifle-grenades took fire from the Germans, whilst the Vickers got into position and set up. The German MG had taken a couple of hits from the grenades. The Lewis squads moved into cover.

The right-hand Lewis squad took fire, both from the German MG and the accompanying squad. Both units hit and did enough damage to eliminate the squad.

With half of the supporting fire on the left now gone, the British needed to be bold. Whilst the rifle-grenades and Vickers provided covering fire, the British officer moved over to the bomber squad who were still lurking behind the hill. Officers in Trench Hammer can allow units some extra move distance, and I worked out that the boost would allow the bombers to rush over the hill, into the craters on the other side and assault the German MG position.

The Vickers failed to inflict any hits, the rifle-grenades missed altogether and, when the officer moved, a sharpshooter killed him.

Undeterred the bombers moved into position, but couldn't assault this turn, as they used a Redeploy action..

The Germans were still looking confident.

The rifle-grenade squad took some casualties, however.

The Germans fired. All combat at less than 6" is considered an assault, so both target and firer roll simultaneously. The HMG fired and missed, whilst the bombers inflicted a hit or two in return.

This meant that the bombers had won the assault, and the machine-gun had to retreat. The bombers could occupy its position, but a unit cannot go within 1" of an enemy unit, and I felt that the position occupied by the gun wasn't large enough to hold the bomber squad without them being too close to the supporting German squad. So the bombers stayed where they were.

The German machine-gun was now badly hit and caught in the open, so the British needed to be bold if they were going to eliminate it. The bombers assaulted one of the supporting squads, but once again the covering fire from the rifle-grenades and the Vickers was less than useful, and they went in against a confident and prepared enemy.

Needless to say they were repulsed, although were lucky to only take one hit.

The only viable option for the Germans was to move their machine-gun back into position, despite the hits it had taken, as there was no cover it could reach further back. The German officer chivvied the gunners back into place, and was narrowly missed by a stray bullet.

On the German right, the squad there continued its firefight with the British Lewis squad, with both sides inflicting little in the way of damage on the other.

The rifle-grenades fired at that machine-gun position. The German gunners, still shaken from the earlier assault, were scattered, knocking out the position.

The Germans took out the Vickers in return.

I felt that the British hadn't won more than a minor victory at this stage, since whilst the machine-gun was gone, the German position was still strong, and they could bring up another to replace it. I felt that the British really needed to occupy a German trench in order to compromise the position and force the Germans to pull back.

To that end the bombers moved up and assaulted again.

They failed to oust the Germans, and I decided that the British would now fall back.

So a minor victory to the British. The trenches are a tough nut to crack; maybe the British need a dedicated assault squad as part of their force, but that means I'll have to print off and assemble one.