Below you will find the fourth in a series of articles from Brett Dedrick featuring a playthrough of Panzer Expansion #4 Scenario #37: Delaying Action at Ernage. The first three parts can be found here. Enjoy!

Turn #4

The only thing harder than getting a new idea into a Military mind is to get an old one out. 

B.H. Liddell Hart 

Spotting

Everyone is spotted except for the German PzIICs off board and all the French units in the South. 

Command Phase 

On the North part of the map, for the Germans, most Rifle Squads and the Smoke making Vehicles will Move while everything else will Fire. The French will issue Fire commands except for the H-35 stack which will move. Below is the Northern part of the map. 

Ed. Note: This is potentially a HUGE mistake by the French. The S-35 stack needs to move out of the way, or they’ll get overwhelmed by the German Infantry. 

On the Southern part of the map, all the French are moving. The PzIICs still have a Move command on them. 

Private, why are we stopping?”

“The Colonel says he saw Frenchy tanks southwest of us and we need to stop, dismount and charge the tanks.” 

“What?” 

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” 

Overheard from German Troops exiting their Halftracks 

Initiative Phase 

German Roll – 71 +20 = 91 

French Roll –13 

The Germans will Fire first and Move second. 

Combat Phase 

Since we are using the Morale rules and a Command unit was just killed, some units are now going to be required to take a Forced Morale Check. Which units? Below is the passage for the rulebook (7.13). 

If a unit’s formation has not yet reached its Cohesion Point, combat and non-combat units are required to immediately take a Morale Check whenever a unit: 

Has a formation command unit eliminated that is within Command Range. 

What this means is that any unit that is part of the H-35 Command tank’s formation and is within its command range of 6 hexes must take a Forced Morale Check. That means that all of the S-35s and all of the H-35s in hex 27K1, must make that check. Page 39 of 61 

Ed. Note: This is the main reason to not put your Command tank at risk. 

Below are the Morale Check table (called the Break Point) and the Modifiers for Morale Check (called Break Point Modifier). 

The French will use the France ’40 line. 

So, what happens when you are Broken (Break) or Hesitate? From the rulebook (7.1.5.1 and 7.1.5.2): Any unit with a HESITATION/ON or HESITATION/OFF counter has the following limitations: 

1. -3 to all AP combat
2. -10 to all GP combat
3. May not initiate Overrun, Close Assault or Hand-to-Hand combat.
4. If in Hand-to-Hand combat the modifier is -10.
5. Moves at normal speed; automatically changed to HESITATION/ON if currentlyHESITATION/OFF.
6. For Called or continuous Indirect Fire response, the modifier is -1.
7. All units with HESITATION/OFF counters automatically recover during the Adjustment Phase.

Any unit with a BREAK/ON or BREAK/OFF counter has the following limitations: 

1. Does not count as an active unit for command purposes; have their command span reducedto 0.
2. Applies a -2-spotting modifier by moving 2 down on the table.
3. -5 to AP combat.
4. -20 to GP combat.
5. May not initiate Overrun, Close Assault or Hand-to-Hand combat.
6. If in Hand-to-Hand combat the modifier is -20.
7. Moves at ½ speed (round down); this is cumulative with other movement modifiers.Automatically changed to BREAK/ON if currently BREAK/OFF.
8. For Called or continuous Indirect Fire response, the modifier is-2.

French Comment: Mon Dieu! 

German Comment: Ja Baby! Also, I’m not going to fire the rest of the SPW 251/1s because the best I can do is get a Suppressed result and the unit they’d fire at is already suppressed. 

All of the French S-35s will fire at infantry within 2 hexes of them. 

Ed. Note: Here you can see the effects of a broken unit, firing. The French tanks were completely ineffective. 

Movement Phase 

Now OW commands on anybody so there won’t be any Fire in the Movement Phase. 

However, the Close Assaults come before the actual Moves and there is a lot of German Infantry units that will Close Assault. 

First the French H-35s in hex 27K1 will move. They’re in Woods so they’ll have to make a Bog Check. 

Since two of the unbogged units are broken they will half move (or one hex). 

Now the French Armored Cars will move. First is a Bog Check for AMD 35 #2. 

AMD-35 #2 moves out of the woods and joins up with AMD 35 #1 and moves towards the Germans. 

Ed. Note: It’s as I thought, the French forgot that the Armored Cars are Recon units (which each gets their own command). 

Now the Southernmost French Light trucks (each carrying a CA37) will move. One Light Truck was bogged last turn and must roll a Bog Roll. 

Here’s the map after the French move. 

Now the Germans will move. 

Since the Germans are Close Assaulting the French S-35 tanks, they will do this BEFORE Movement. 

Before the Infantry can Assault they must make a Tank Fright (7.6) check. Basically, this is just a morale check that Infantry must make before they can move in order to Close Assault. Here’s the Rule: 

Prior to executing Close Assault attacks, leg units must first pass a Forced Morale Check (see 7.1.3). This option applies to all forces in 1940 & 1941. At their discretion, players may also apply this option at any time during the war to leg units with Green Unit Grade. 

This Morale Check does not use the Spotted Unit Morale Check modifiers. All of the other listed Break Pint modifiers are applicable. 

Upon executing and Advancing Attack (see 6.6.1.1) conduct this Morale Check prior to executing the move. The Tank Fright Morale Check does not in and of itself trigger Overwatch Fire, the unit must still actually move. 

If the Morale Check result is Break, mark the unit with a SUPPRESSED/ON counter instead. If the result is Hesitate, mark the unit with a SUPPRESSION/OFF counter instead. If the unit passes the Morale Check, it conducts the Close Assault normally. 

Since the Germans are 2 hexes away they will be using an Advancing attack, so they make the Morale Checks BEFORE they move. 

OK men Let’s go get those French Tanks! Here’s what we’ll do…” 

“Arrrrgggghh! Let’s Get em!” 

“Guys wait…oh well, CHARGE!” 

Heard from the troops of Rifle Squad #8 

Now come all the Close Assaults. 

Normally, since the French tank is BU you’d make all other French units in the hex Suppressed. But we’ll wait for that until after the Close Assault as all French units maybe gone. 

German Comment: That tank is like WAY dead. I mean I think the troops of Squad #9, attacked the S-35, killed everyone inside, then took out their wrenches and took apart the tank, piece by piece. 

German Comment: Squad #4, seeing Squad #9 taking apart the French tank, decided to do the same. 

German Comment: Squad #5 went one better and pulled out their Military issued Swiss Army knives and took apart the last French Tank… with their eyes closed and one hand behind their back…then stepped back and lit it on fire…then roasted marshmallows over the fire.

French Comment: Oops.

Ed. Note: This perfectly shows why you never advance tanks without Infantry cover. If you don’t have infantry, don’t move close enough to be assaulted. This entire turn also illustrated the sometimes-devastating effects of losing a command vehicle. Designer’s Note: The Unsupported +30 modifier was not applicable in this situation as it only applies to close terrain, e.g., Woods, not Clear terrain. So, one of the French S-35 tanks survived, but was Suppressed. With all the German infantry present, it really wouldn’t affect the outcome.

2nd Air Phase 

None. 

Adjustment Phase 

All the SMOKE ON Smoke goes to SMOKE OFF. 

All the SUPPRESSION ON counters are flipped to SUPPRESSION OFF. 

All the BREAK ON counters are flipped to BREAK OFF. 

All the HESTITATE ON counters are flipped to HESITATE OFF. 

North part of the Map at the end of the turn: 

Southern part of the Map:

French end of Turn Comment: That was a disastrous turn. Losing all 5 of my tanks in the North cost me not only all those VPs but basically leaves me defenseless in the North. Unless I get very, very lucky next turn, this game is over. 

German Comment: Well that went well. I really was surprised that the French tanks moved up so close. Now all I have to do is survive his Fire next turn, then load up my halftracks with infantry and run as fast as I can to the French board edge. 

Ed. Note: The French player is correct. This game is basically over. I do like the fact that he’s willing to go another turn which is a lesson I think all gamers should learn; just because you can’t win, don’t deprive the other player of their win by quitting. On a side note, you’ll notice that the southernmost H-35s only rotated their turret one hexside. This is because their TT # on their data cards is a 1 which means that when they rotate they can only rotate 1 hexside. In this case it doesn’t make that much difference but had the Germans tanks entered the board and then moved right behind the French tanks, the French tanks would NOT have been able to slew their turrets to attack the French. So next turn the Germans would have gotten a free fire on the rear of the French tanks, without having to worry about return fire. 

Next Week: Scenario #37 Replay Turn 5

---

Previous Articles:

Panzer Expansion #4 Scenario #37 Replay Part 1 — Introduction and Turn 1

Panzer Expansion #4 Scenario #37 Replay Part 2 — Turn 2

Panzer Expansion #4 Scenario #37 Replay Part 3 — Turn 3