(Part 2 of 3) "Fire and Movement" - "Battalion Attack" : First Rules Outing

British Infantry assault the "Farm Complex Crescent": 

The line of two hundred British Tommies formed up in two companies to attack the "Farm Complex Crescent" (see below):   

One company (see below, top right) assaults the leading farm hex and inflicts three casualties (poor attack dice rolling as only one one platoon hits out of three, needing 3+ on a d6) while the other moves up into a close assault position for next round (see below):

Note: Platoons from different companies cannot participate in the same fire combat or assist assault combats onto the same target hex. 

The Germans respond by extracting a high price on the exposed British platoons in front of the central wood inflicting three casualties. The German platoon chose to shoot at two adjacent hexes rather than assault one hex to try and make more British units spent and therefore inactive on the British player turn.

This allowed a fresh German platoon to move up into the defensive position of "farm house crescent".

Footnote (in forthcoming turns): 
As these two German platoons are from different companies the British will protected from a nasty doubling up (as each platoon can fire on two adjacent hexes) because the two defending platoons are from different companies cannot attack the same hexes. If they had been from the same company the fire attacks would double up because of the 'extra' coordination of fire discipline implied (see below, the red British mortar marker separates the two platoons in question). The attack preference in future turns for these two platoons will be to close combat assault individual hexes.  

Stands removed from casualty losses are "1 German" and "1 British" and from ammunition expenditure (1 British, because it effects attackers only). The Germans losing the "spent" platoon in the leading farm complex, the British opting to lose one from their extreme right wing (which had little chance of making a headway) and one from the middle. There are now six active attackers to the defenders four remaining platoons: 

The British moved a infantry platoon into the lead farm complex and the Germans countered by occupying the wood adjacent to it. Crucially this meant that five British platoons have remained in the 'open' as they are flipped to the "fresh" status.

Decisive Combat Round:

After an incredible sequence of five successive ones on close assault combats which meant that both sides 'blew or missed' what were game winning chances in the fire fight for the 'middle wood and adjacent farm complex'. The Germans managed (eventually) to 'break the bad luck duck' and taking a British platoon out in a close assault.

Note: In the rules a hex stacked with two platoons on the receiving end to a close assault automatically loses one stand - effectively double casualties, six casualty points. After the return British phase the ammunition expenditure rule also removed another British platoon levelling the active platoon count at four a piece (see below):

The wind had clearly been taken out of the sails of the British attack, but there was four turns left to play. The Victory points were clearly in favour of the Germans 4 (as in the four British platoons broken by fire combat [note not removed because of ammunition expenditure])to the British 2 (for the two German platoons broken by fire combat). The likelihood of getting British platoons to the German baseline now seems rather remote. 

Next: Can the British conduct a fighting withdrawal?