All,
0230 Local Time
9 November 1942
Near Port Lyautey, French Morocco
The French forces, feeling their oats after stonewalling Task Force Reisman at 'Murderville'/'The Meatgrinder' and defeating several attacks by the 60th Infantry Regiment of the US 9th Infantry Division on 'The Kasbah,' and have decided to sally forth with armored forces to counterattack the US invasion beaches!
Chaos reigns on the US beachhead, in equal parts due to the inherent confusion in conducting an amphibious assault, horrible weather at sea, and seeing their first actual combat. Dazed and confused young men are wandering to and fro while as other sit, listless, with units intermixed and scattered, with ammunition, supplies, and casualties haphazardly strewn about. Major Reisman and his XO, Captain Thigpen, work tirelessly to untangle the mass of men, machines, and gear, sorting it out and directing traffic, looking to get his force organized for optimal combat efficiency. The TF Reisman defensive line, such as it is, is not dug in, and consists of a smattering of inter-mixed infantry squads and weapons simply flung out in a line running roughly north-south on the eastern end of the town of Mehdia.
Overview, north is up. The edge of Mehdia is just visible at bottom left, while the village of Jalaat is at top right and the village of Bilal is at bottom right. Hill 41 is at left center, Hill 33 is at top center (with an unnamed hill just right of it), Hill 25 is at far right bottom, and here is a citrus orchard at center top. A bend in the river, known as the 'Wadi Sebou,' is visible at top left. The US forces are spread from top center to bottom center, while the French have a column in the northeast (top right) and southeast (bottom right).
The opposing forces, with US at left and French at right.
The US will start with the forces at top right (two platoons' worth of infantry, a .30-cal MG, 1 60mm mortar, and a 37mm anti-tank gun -ATG-, commanded by 2nd Lt Olsavsky of 3rd Platoon, Easy Company) on the table.
Then the US will receive two waves of reinforcements: first, Major Reisman will lead another .30-cal MG, another 37mm ATG, and an M7 Priest into the fight. These will be followed by three M3 Grants under 2nd Lt Searcy.
The French have two rifle platoons, two MG teams, an 81mm mortar team, three Laffly armored cars, and three R35 light tanks, led by a Commanding Officer (CO), Executive Officer (XO), and a Weapons Platoon Leader, split in two columns.
The French (top right) push forward as American infantry on Hill 41 (bottom left) and in the orchard (left top) engage them with small arms and machine guns.
As well as their 60mm mortars.
But the French mercilessly pound Hill 41 with their own mortars…
While their infantry and armor press home the attack under withering fire!
A savior steps forward! But will it be enough?
I suppose you'll have to check the blog to find out ;)
link
Next up we have Captain Henry leading the second assault on 'Murderville' and 'The Meatgrinder.' Let's hope it goes better than the first…
V/R,
Jack
covers the basics for this WWII theater of war.
