WW2 Supers d6: SST 11: Mission Five: Anzio Devils Birth

[ateno]

Koda will throw a javelin with a luck point at the wielder of the semi auto rifle. No talent use.

Koda

[kipper]

Phil continues to feed ammo to 'Mike', meanwhile keeping watch on the windows of the house as well.

[beniliusbob]

MSGT Blanc

Blanc drops onto his belly and begins crawling towards the artillery nest, muttering curses and hoping his teammates keep up the covering fire.

[Zhym]

Nado will try to put a bullet in the enemy that's going for a weapon.

[max_vale]

Approximately 12:20 AM, February 9th, 1943; Just over the Borgo Santa Maria Bridge, Anzio, Italy


The battle at the '88 House' continued to rage in the dark, cold night near Anzio, Italy....

At the little house serving as a barracks for the detachment of German troops, Phil Heuron continued to feed 7.92mm rounds from a belt into the MG 42, nicknamed 'Hitler's Buzzaw', being fired by his comapnion Mark 'Mike' Battaglia as a couple of German Kar 98s opened fire from a window a few rounds buzzed by, scarily close to hitting the two Forcemen. Battaglia let out a string of curses, some in Italian, as he raked the windows with the MG 42, the barrel starting to glow and give off steam in the cold, night air as the windows exploded from the violence of the high volume of fire....

Meanwhile, the other 4 members of SST 11 advanced or fired upon the troops in the large 'fox hole' dug for the Artillery pieces with MSGT Blanc falling to his belly and commando crawling towards the pit while his teammates fired automatic weapons and in once case, threw a javelin, all at the only man attempting resistance....

The one German Artilleryman who went for his semi-automatic rifle was suddenly hit by a virtual wave of steel as .30-06 rounds from SGT Tom Nado's Johnson LMG and .45 rounds from LT Chisholm's Thompson slammed into him and made his entire body involuntarily shake and twitch from the impacts. Finally, a steel javelin slammed right into the center of his torso, dropping him to the ground, DEFINITELY never to rise again as Kado finished his excellent throw.....

The two Artillerymen who fled into the night vanished out of sight as the two hugging the ground of the pit raised their hands and in high pitched, terrified voices yelled out, "We Surrender, we surrender!" in German, Italian and English.....several times over......

A long few minutes later, Blanc finished his crawl to the edge of the pit to see the two terrified German soldiers looking at him with scared eyes and Mark/Mike let go fo the trigger and the shattered house showed no signs of movement or enemy fire coming back towards the MG nest.....

[Rex]

Chisholm

"Get them secured quickly."

He moves up and tries to lay some cover fire on the windows the Germans were firing out of.

[ateno]

Koda will retrieve his javelin and looks at the 88.

"Do you think we have enough time to turn this around? Or should we spike it?

He steps back and grab his Goggles and starts to put them on.

Koda

[Rex]

Chisholm

Seems it would take too many men to use it properly. Everyone good with spiking it?

[max_vale]

OOC: Your mission is to spike them.....you each have a demo kit for that reason......HOWEVER....if all of you worked together, you COULD lob some rounds towards the German lines....though you don't have any specific targets visible in the night right now.....

[Rex]

Chisholm

"Spike it!"

[kipper]

Phil remains in readiness on the MG42 with 'Mike', in case the Germans in the house get any heroic ideas.

[beniliusbob]

MSGT Blanc

Blanc works on tying up the two German soldiers while the squad is spiking the artillery piece. Assuming there isn't time to get the POWs back over the bridge, he disarms them, ropes them, and gags them as tightly as possible and looks for a spot in the bushes where they can be left securely until the end of the mission.

[max_vale]

Approximately 12:25-1:00 AM, February 9th, 1943; Just over the Borgo Santa Maria Bridge, Anzio, Italy


The men of SST 11 complete their assignment with LT Chisholm moving quickly to help Koda and Nado to get the '88s' stuffed with the Composition B demolition kits down their barrels and Master SGT Blanc directing the 'where and how' to put the charges (he has the best Demolitions Skill); and shortly a pair of booms echo through the night as the barrels are blasted outward with holes and bent metal, rendering them useless....

As this was happening, CPL Heuron and TSGT Battaglia maintained a vigilant watch on the House, but no more shots or movement were forthcoming from it, so quickly after the explosions that signaled the end of the Artillery pieces, they got orders to move out. Mike/Mark took a last wistful look at the 'Hitler's Buzzaw' MG 42 and said, "Man...shame we can't bring THAT back with us...", to which Phil just grinned and said, "You wanna carry it?" and Battaglia just shook his head and they quickly moved with the others and the two prisoners they had trussed up.....

Around 1 AM they crossed the bridge and were soon back inside the lines of the 1st Special Service Force. The other patrols came back and everyone was very excited as all the missions were conducted successfully. A lot of praise was given and several prisoners and captured papers were acquired. The men of SST 11 were soon happily snoring in their bed rolls.....

Then next couple of days were more of the same.....long, slow days of Artillery duels, sounds of fighting in the distance on other sides of the Beachhead; dealing with cold drizzle and then nights of Forcemen going on 'patrols' across the bridges with darkened faces and coming back with grins and stories of defeated enemies, destroyed installations or weapons and captured bits of gear....

One enterprising Forcemen came up with some stickers and they were soon passed out to everyone in the unit; the stickers had the FSSF symbol on it and words in German that translated to, "The Worst is Yet to Come"....


[imgurl=]https://www.deespressoliber.com/cdn/sho ... 1687981540[/imgurl=]

These were stuck to the bodies of dead Germans killed by the patrols and also placed on destroyed bits of equipment or in buildings used by the German units......part of 'fear tactics'......and they payed off! A diary captured by a patrol from a dead German officer told how the Germans were convinced an entire Division of 'Schwartzer Teufel' (Black Devils) faced them across the Canal and these blackened-faced commandoes were fearless killers. In a very short time, the Forcemen would have a new nickname......'Black Devils Brigade'.....


Afternoon of February 12th, 1944, Town of Borgo Santa Maria, Italy; FSSF HQ Building


Around 1400 hours, LT Chisholm receives orders via a runner to report to General Frederick's CP (Command Post) and he quickly gathers up SST 11 and they move quickly to the HQ building. Inside they see Frederick, LT COL Moore of 2nd Regiment, Major Edward Thomas who commanded 1st Battalion of 2nd Regiment and Captain Adna Underhill who commanded 2nd Company of 1st Battalion, along with several senior NCOs....

Frederick points to the first of two maps clipped to a large easel and launches right into it.....

"This map shows the entire Anzio front.....in the North, the Brits are getting hard by Jerry and the US 3rd Division is catching it too. Now, our side is relatively quiet....partly due to our standing job of scaring the hell out of the enemy and making them believe they're facing a lot more than 1 small Brigade....but also because I suspect they are sitting back and awaiting reinforcements to make a strong counter-attack. I think we need to take advantage of them sitting back and waiting...."

Here, he points to the second map, which shows a small town at a cross roads....

Sessano1.pdf

(27.69 KiB) Downloaded 17 times

(Ignore the numbers and the dates....I got the date wrong for the game by mistake...doh!)

"This is the town of Sessano, across from Bridge number 5. From our patrols and captured prisoners, we've learned the Germans have an understrength Company....about 100 men....based here. They think our patrols won't hit such a town of this size with an entire Company in it and even if we did; it'd be foolish as it'd be impossible to hold it come daylight as it's too exposed." Here he turns and gives a predatory smile; "That's why we're not going to HOLD it. Tonight, we're going to assault the Town in the darkness....Captain Underhill's Company with conduct the Raid, supported by the Talent Team and after driving the enemy from it; will retreat back across the bride over the canal right before daylight.....leaving a ghost-town and some more 'remember us' stickers in our wake." He nods to Major Thomas and Captain Underhill...

"Right....the town has a Company of about 100 Germans with perhaps 10 MGs scattered about and no indications of any armor or Ubermenschen attached. However, there IS a known unit of German Armor some 3-4 miles away to the South in Borgo Piave; so if they manage to get word to them during our raid, they will be coming up from the road to the West. In addition to SST 11; an attachment of 4 Bazookamen from various Platoons throughout the Force will accompany Captain Underhill's Company to provide extra 'punch' and as a defence against any unexpected Armor that may show up."

Captain Underhill turns to Chisholm and takes in all of SST 11 with his calm but intense gaze. "Okay....may plan is to have my 2nd Platoon establish a base of fire from the South side of Town while 1st and 3rd Platoons hit the Town from the West and East respectively.....avoiding the Minefields we've been informed of. Your team and the extra Bazookas will swing out to the East with 3rd Platoon and hit the rear of the town, where we've been informed the Company's Mortars are set up in a Sangar and after taking them out, will take up positions to defend against anything coming up the road in response to our assault. Questions?"

[Rex]

Chisholm

"No questions, it sounds simple enough. But that is what worries me."

[ateno]

"Question, of the tanks could come from the west, why are we coming from the west, should we not be available in case the armor shows, instead of having to run thru the town to help?

Koda

[max_vale]

Captain Underhill turns to Koda and replies, "Sorry Staff, I should've been more clear....your unit and the attached anti-armor boys will swing all the way West of the Town and hit the Town from the rear and then set up along that road.....we believe the mortars will be there as well and we will DEFINITELY need them taken care of." (Here he points to the oval shape on the map....the believed location of the Mortars....which will probably have some protection as well)

OOC: The top of the map has the road the armor would come from.....the Bazookamen would tell you guys the weapons are best used at pretty short range, which mens finding a good hiding place....a la, somewhere along the road....so the idea is to swing out to the Top Right part of the Map and then hit any German units, particularly mortars placed there, first....and then set up for any possible reinforcements coming down the road. Does that make sense? Sorry if it wasn't clear)

[max_vale]

Almost Midnight of February 12th, 1944, Approaching the Town of Sessano, Italy

Captain Underhill's Company, with the attached SST 11 and Bazooka team of 4 soldiers carrying a pair of the rocket-launchers moved across the bridge, all with their faces painted black and stealthily moved into position.....

By 15 minutes before midnight, they had crept up to the NE side of the town and split into their groups for the assault. First Platoon, led by the Captain, would make a sweeping attack to the left and hit the Town from it's 'Front' side AFTER Second Platoon with all 3 of the Company's Mortars would lay down a barrage of fire to get the German's attention and hopefully scare the beejeezus out of them. While THAT was happening; Third Platoon would swing around to the Right and hit the Town from 'behind and on the left side' and SST 11 and the Bazooka men would take the extreme Right Flank and hit the Mortars at the rear of the Town and then defend it against any incoming vehicles......that was the plan at any rate....

Just a minute or two before the stroke of midnight....the night was dark and a chilly wind was blowing through it....and then the three 60mm Mortars and pair of .30 caliber LMGs shattered the night's silence as 2nd Platoon opened up with the initial barrage. Tracers screamed through the night, coming from both sides as the 'lights in the night' came buzzing around, looking for targets and the assault was on!.....

First Lieutenant Walter Rawlings, leading 3rd Platoon quickly called out to his men; "Schneider, take 1st squad and hit that building where that Kraut MG is firing....Meyer, you take your boys and hit that next building hard where the lights just came on....Cooper, drop that figure on the roof over there!" "You got it El-Tee!" came the Boston accented voice of the Marksman Cooper, who raised his Scoped Springfield and fired a shot that dropped the German figure off the roof. Rawlings turned his darkened face towards Chisholm and nodded as he said, "Okay...you fellas do your thing and take out those mortars and any more Jerries you find back there. Adamanski, stick with them and take out any Tanks or Half-track that come down the road towards us", he finishes with a message to the Corporal leading the Bazooka teams. "You got it Leftentant", the Canadian answered with an easy grin.....

With that, Chisholm nodded to Rawlings and moved the men of SST 11 out. Moving quickly, they circled the town and moved in close at the rear of the town and they could see the first couple of German Mortar rounds go firing out of the tubes and in that brief moment of light, they saw a German MG nest about 20 yards from the Mortar pit and about 100 yards from them. They also saw maybe 3 or 4 more Germans in a Sangar about 50 yards away from them, the closest targets to their current position. A pair of lights in the dark caught the New Englander's attention and he glanced over to see a Truck coming closer and closer to them.....it wasn't a half-track or worse, a Panzer...but it wasn't good....

Adamanski looked at Nahum and asked, "Want us to take 'em?" while the rest of SST 11 also looked at their leader for orders....


OOC: Okay, right now the known enemies are 3 or 4 Germans in a Sangar (pit with rocks lining the edge) about 50 yards aways; a sand-bagged MG nest with at least a pair of Germans manning an MG 34 or 42 in it about 100 yards aways; the Mortar Sangar with probably 8-10 Germans manning a pair of Mortars maybe 120 yards away.....and a Truck coming up the road, probably 200-300 yards from them now.

[Rex]

Nahum

"When the truck is about 100 yards out we hit it, the sanger, and the machine gun at the same time. Once a target is down switch to the mortars. Short range weapons with me on the sanger. Bazooka on the truck and everyone else on the machine gun."

Hopefully this makes sense.

[ateno]

Hearing the orders, Koda will get in a firing position and start aiming at one of riflemen in the MG Pit, and will fire when ordered.

Koda

[kipper]

Phil readies his rifle and awaits the order to open fire.

(I assume he's on the sangar as he has a carbine?)