Cisterna Refight

Knowing I needed a bit of a refresher with the Rapid fire! rules, I organised a game over the Christmas holidays. Adam and Simon Griffiths are regular RF players so I knew I could rely upon them to keep things moving and Andy Sangar is a relaxed opponent who knows his way round a WW2 tabletop battlefield so an enjoyable day was anticipated.

I thought it would be interesting to see how my new Ranger battalion handled under the RF rules so I set up a scenario based upon the Ranger attack at Cisterna in January 1944. This was the debacle that led to two Ranger battalions being completely wiped out.

Our refight was a little altered to take advantage of the forces I had available. One and a half Ranger battalions were deployed strung out along a road leading from the American front line to the town of Cisterna. 

Cisterna town

They were accompanied by the Ranger Cannon Company (a single 75mm M3 GMC halftrack in RF terms).

Surrounding them were a German infantry battalion and a Fallschirmjaeger battalion reinforced by additional companies and a Panzer IV.

Both sides had attached artillery and the promise of tank reinforcements if the battle went on long enough.  

The Americans had infiltrated through the German positions during the night and dawn found the two sides at point blank range in some cases.

The fighting was bloody and quick - I think in the end we got through four or five turns before both Ranger battalions threw a 1 on their morale rolls and routed or surrendered as conditions dictated.

An enjoyable game, then, and I think I've got a better a idea of how RF will play on the day.