Tactics in 'They Shall Not Pass'
Days Two and Three: February 22 – 23, 1916
By Doug McNair
March 2007

The Battle of Verdun continues in today’s episode of my They Shall Not Pass replay. As the first day of battle ended, the Germans had breached the northernmost French trenchline in several places. They’d isolated two French infantry regiments near the western town of Brabant, and forced the French units on the central plateau to retreat to the second trenchline. One demoralized French infantry unit surrendered to the advancing Germans, and the rest rushed to support the out-of-supply units while reconstituting the defensive lines as best they could.

The battle continues . . .

Turn 2: February 22, 1916

a) Weather Phase

The French player rolls a 5, meaning the good weather continues to hold. This means all units move normally this turn, and German artillery barrages continue to get a +1 column shift from aerial spotting.

b) German Organization Phase

All German units are in supply and none are demoralized. The German player gets three replacement points, and he spends them to flip one pioneer unit from the 7th Reserve Division (at the west board edge, north of Brabant) to its full-strength side, plus one infantry unit each from the 18th and 3rd Corps (on the central plateau at the trenchline breach) to their full-strength sides.

c) German Bombardment Phase

German artillery continues to barrage French units, since interdicting their movements won’t become important until French reinforcements arrive. At the western end of the battlefield, 7th Reserve Corps and the German offboard heavy artillery barrage two French infantry units holding the village of Brabant, which is the road junction and linchpin of the entire French western flank. The barrage scores an M1 result, and both French infantry units there roll over their morale and becomes demoralized.

Next, one of 18th Corps' corps-level artillery combines with the offboard heavy artillery to barrage a full-strength French infantry unit trying to plug the breach west of the village of Haumont. The unit is out in the open and the roll of 4 scores an M1 result, and the French unit rolls a 10 and also becomes demoralized.

Then one corps-level artillery unit each from 18th Corps and 3rd Corps combine with an offboard heavy artillery shot to directly barrage the French XXX Corps HQ and its corps-level artillery in the town of Louvemont (south of the second trench). The roll of 4 on the 15-18 column scores an M1 result, but unfortunately, both units make their morale checks and are unaffected.

Finally, one artillery unit each from 3rd Corps and 5th Corps combine with the offmap naval battery to hit two reduced-strength units in the trench hex southeast of Beaumont. Their roll of 5 on the 11-14 column scores an M1 result, which demoralizes one of the units but not the other.

d) German Movement Phase

Germans advance to attack positions on the front-line hexes they barraged, and also to attack a French artillery unit in the second-line trench southeast of Beaumont to prevent it from providing defensive support to other units. Other German units advance to attack additional French units to force the remaining French artillery to choose which of their infantry to support.

e) German Assault Phase

First, two infantry and a pioneer unit from 7th Reserve Corps attack the two demoralized French infantry units in Brabant, with support from both of 7th’s divisional artillery units. The attack is at 6-1 odds, and given Brabant’s importance the French fire defensive support and bring the odds down to 2-1. The Germans roll a 4, which scores 2 step losses on each side. The French hold the line, losing their lower-morale unit and keeping the town. The Germans take one step loss and retreat to avoid the other (the Pioneer can move that stack again in the breakthrough movement phase).

Next, 7th Corps attacks the out-of-supply infantry unit in the trenches northwest of Brabant at odds of 3-1 (no artillery support). They roll a 5 and score three hits to one, forcing the unit to flip and retreat through Brabant to the hex southwest of it. This is no help to the demoralized unit in Brabant, which was hoping that the unit would stop there and prevent it from surrendering when the Germans advance next to the town in the Breakthrough Movement Phase.

Then, 7th Reserve hits the out-of-supply French unit in the trenches northeast of Brabant from two different sides at 3-1 odds (once again the French have to save their artillery for closer-in attacks). The Germans roll a 2 and only score a 2/2 result, but that’s all it takes, since the unit is being hit from both sides and thus can’t retreat away from the units attacking it. It takes both hits as step losses and dies (permanently, since it was out of supply at the time), and the Germans take one step loss and retreat.

Finally, 7th Reserve hits the demoralized French infantry unit on the road west of Haumont. If that unit doesn’t hold the entire French flank will be turned, so the XXX Corps artillery fires defensive support and reduces the attack odds to 3-1. The Germans roll a 3, doing two step losses on each side and forcing the unit to flip and retreat. The Germans take both hits as step losses and advance next to the fleeing demoralized unit.

Then the attacks against the second trench line on the central plateau go in. The French divisional artillery there is pinned down and can’t fire defensive support, but all defending units are in trenches, so there may be hope. The 18th and 3rd Corps coordinate their attacks, and the first hits the trench just southeast of Beaumont. Even with the trench bonus it goes in at 7-1 odds since one of the units there is demoralized. The attack rolls a 6, doing four step losses and wiping out both half-strength units in the hex, with no damage in return. The dying French units can’t roll to try and produce remnants, because their printed morale is less than 7. Two German pioneer units were participating, so they and the units stacked with them advance into the hex, and after leaving one behind the rest can move beyond. They surround Beaumont with German Strong ZOC, potentially cutting the supply line to a French unit in the trench west of Haumont as well!

Then Germans hit Beaumont at odds of just 1-1 (they need to drive the French out of there to keep French ZOC from cutting the supply line of the German advance). The Germans roll a 6, scoring two hits to one! The French take a step loss and retreat into the trench to the southwest, entering strong ZOC from the Germans that broke through to the road south of Beaumont. That forces both retreating French units to make morale checks, and the high-morale Chasseur succeeds but the low-morale infantry with it fails and becomes demoralized.

The last German attack hits the French 51st Reserve Division artillery and an infantry unit in the trenches farther southeast of Beaumont. Third Corps commits all its divisional artillery to the attack, and after the trench penalty it’s at 3-1. The Germans roll a 4, doing two hits to each side. The French infantry takes a step loss, and it and the divisional artillery retreat from the trench.

f) German Breakthrough Movement Phase

The French artillery support for the western units near Brabant has helped hold the line there, and the three German pioneer units of 7th Reserve Corps can’t advance south to turn the French flank. But the French center is now breached, and three German pioneer units lead others into the woods and trenches southeast of Beaumont, getting close to the French HQ at Louvemont.

g) French Organization Phase

The French unit in the trench west of Haumont is indeed out of supply, but the units that reatreated from Beaumont and Brabant are not. Then the French player tries and fails to rally his demoralized reduced-strength unit in Brabant, and it surrenders since it’s alone and next to German units. But the demoralized unit that retreated from the road west of Haumont rolls a 5 and rallies, surviving to hold back the German advance. The demoralized reduced-strength infantry that retreated from Beaumont fails to rally, but it’s stacked with an undemoralized unit, so it doesn’t surrender even though it’s next to German units.

No French reinforcements arrive yet, but they get one replacement. They use it to flip to its full-strength side the infantry unit that retreated from the trench with the 51st Division’s artillery unit.

h) French Bombardment Phase

The French Left Bank artillery barrages the lead units of the German western advance, on the road west of Haumont. It rolls a 5 and gets an M result on the Germans. The pioneer unit on top of the stack makes its morale check, but both infantry units under it fail and become demoralized!

Thus inspired, the French rail gun barrages the highest stack of German units moving south through the woods near Beaumont. It rolls a 5, once again scoring an M result! This time a pioneer unit and an infantry unit both make their morale checks, but a third infantry unit fails and becomes demoralized! If anything could help French esprit de corps at this point, that was it!

i) French Movement Phase

With the lead German units of the western advance demoralized, the French pull a light screen of reduced-strength units into the second trench south of Brabant and Haumont, with a brave Chasseur unit and a not-so-brave half-strength infantry unit moving out ahead of the trench line to screen the divisional artillery so it can provide defensive support.

The other Chasseur unit abandons the demoralized infantry unit in the trench west of Beaumont, since the Germans can bypass that position too easily. It takes up position on the road southwest of Beaumont, and another infantry unit uses strategic movement to join it while a third moves in behind it from the trenches to the north.

Another infantry unit uses strategic movement to move to Louvemont to guard the corps artillery there, and the HQ pulls back to the fort at Douamont (where it will be invulnerable to barrages). The rail gun pulls back even with the road east of Vaux, and then the right flank pulls in and uses strategic movement to throw together a haphazard defensive line (of sorts) on the central plateau.

j and k) French Assault and Breakthrough Movement Phases

The French hold position.

l) Mutual Recovery Phase

Both players flip their artillery units to their front sides, and play proceeds to . . .

Turn 3: February 23, 1916

a) Weather Phase

The weather stays good, which is not good for the French.

b) German Organization Phase

All German units are in supply, but both lead infantry units of the 7th Reserve Division’s western advance fail to rally and stay demoralized. They can’t attack, so that cuts the strength of the 7th substantially. However, the demoralized infantry unit in the woods southeast of Beaumont does rally, so the German central thrust will continue at full-strength.

The Germans then use their three replacements to restore a pioneer unit in the center to full strength, and do the same for an infantry unit north of Beaumont and another with the 7th.

c) German Bombardment Phase

The 7th’s corps artillery plus an offboard heavy artillery shot hit the reduced-strength infantry unit in the trench on the extreme French western flank. The German player rolls a 1 and there’s no effect.

Then both of the 18th’s corps artillery units combine with offboard heavy artillery to pound the two forward French units blocking the road southwest of Beaumont. The barrage is on the maximum 19+ column, but it only rolls a 2, and both roadblock units make their M morale check!

Horrified at this unexpected display of French resolve under fire, 3rd Corps pours its artillery into the same hex, combining with the last shot of the offboard heavy artillery. Once again the attack is on the 19+ column, and this one rolls a 5, scoring an X result. The infantry unit with the Chasseur takes a step loss, and both units fail their M2 morale checks and become demoralized.

The infantry unit in the backup roadblock position behind them is outside the range of the last German corps-level artillery, so the German naval battery fires at it, and rolls a 6! The French unit fails its M1 morale check and becomes demoralized, but the ZOC of the units ahead of it should screen it from the German advance and keep the roadblock intact.

The last German corps-level artillery hits a French infantry unit on the plateau south of the central German breakthrough, and German optics once again prove superior, with the attack rolling a 6! But the French unit rolls a 4 and passes its morale check, meaning only the roadblock units are demoralized.

d) German Movement Phase

All three pioneer units of 7th Reserve Corps stack with most of its remaining undemoralized infantry, and move to attack the French western flank. The demoralized units pull back westward behind the advancing units, and one infantry unit stays adjacent to the out-of-supply French infantry unit in Haumont to pin it down. Then the other German corps fan out to attack the demoralized French units in the trench and road west of Beaumont, plus the French infantry units forming a thin line from the central town of Louvemont eastward.

e) German Assault Phase

The 7th’s attack on the left-flank French unit is at a base strength of 20 – 2, but the French player commits his divisional artillery (screened by the Chasseurs and infantry ahead of the trench), and drops the odds to 2-1 after the trench penalty. The Germans roll a 2, scoring a very painful result of one hit to three. The defending French unit alights from the trench and avoids a step loss, but the Germans lose a pioneer unit (all of the 7th’s are reduced now) and take a second step loss from an infantry unit before all the rest of the units retreat to avoid the third hit (they’ll advance back into the trench in the Breakthrough Movement Phase).

Then the 7th attacks the infantry and Chasseurs out ahead of the trench. They leave their pioneer unit out of the attack to keep it from getting killed, but the 2-1 attack rolls a 1 and does just as badly as the attack to the west. At least they’re not attacking a trench this time (meaning they can round-down the step losses they must take), so one of their infantry units takes a step loss, and then they retreat two hexes northwest to Brabant. The thin and battered French western flank is victorious!

Desperate for some kind of victory, the last infantry unit of the 7th attacks the out-of-supply French infantry unit in the hill town of Haumont, with help from an infantry unit of 18th Corps. After column modifiers the attack is at 3-1, and this one does better, rolling a 4 and scoring two hits per side. Each side takes one step loss and retreats.

Then the Germans get down to the more serious business of the central assault. First, a pioneer and infantry unit that broke west from the woods south of Beaumont attack the two demoralized French units holding the forward roadblock. Both German units are from 25th Division, so only 25th Division’s artillery can support the attack.

The French counter by throwing in 51st Division’s artillery, and the attack goes off at only 2-1 odds. But it rolls a 6, scoring three hits to one! The French Chasseur takes the hit to preserve the other unit, and they retreat two hexes southwest down the road. The German pioneer unit and infantry advance and surround the French unit in the trench southwest of Beaumont with German ZOC, putting themselves adjacent to the demoralized backup roadblock unit.

The Germans then attack the demoralized French unit in the trenches southwest of Beaumont. The French corps-level artillery is the only one that’s in range of the attack, but it’s being attacked itself this turn so it can’t fire support. The Germans leave their pioneer unit out of the attack to avoid losing it, and the 7-1 attack scores four hits to one. The French unit is wiped out, and after a step loss the Germans take the trench (they can’t go beyond it since the pioneer wasn’t participating).

Two German infantry units and a pioneer then attack Louvemont, with 5th Division’s artillery supporting. The 3-1 attack rolls only a 1, taking a bloody nose just like the 7th did to the northwest. The French infantry and artillery pull-back to the third trench line with no losses, while the Germans take a step loss and retreat two hexes north.

German 3rd Corps mounts an overwhelming attack on a XXX Corps infantry unit holding a forward position three hexes to the east-northeast. XXX Corps artillery can’t support it since it was attacked this phase, but the Germans only roll a 2 on their 7-1 attack, and the French unit retreats two hexes to the trench northwest of Douamont after taking a step loss. The Germans luckily spared their reduced-strength pioneer unit, leaving the infantry to take a step loss.

German 5th Corps finally gets in an attack on the next French infantry unit to the east, but they’ve outrun their artillery support while the French still have theirs. The attack is at 2-1, but the Germans roll a 6, forcing the infantry unit to flip and retreat two hexes south to the fort at Douamont (with XXX Corps HQ). The 5th Corps units don’t want to get even farther away from their artillery, so they pull back one hex to avoid a step loss rather than advancing.

5th Corps could also launch an attack on a French unit in the trenches southwest of Ornes, but they know the French would throw in their divisional artillery and make the attack another bloody-nosed affair. So, they hold off.

f) German Breakthrough Movement Phase

The survival of the French left-flank unit means the Pioneers of 7th Reserve Corps can only lead their units south to the village of Samoneaux — going beyond would let the French unit move northwest and cut them off from behind. But that at least gets 7th Reserve into the western trenches. Farther east, German pioneers lead two stacks of units south to cut the roads east and west of Louvemont.

g) French Organization Phase

Only the French unit in the eastern trenches which the German 5th Corps declined to attack is out of supply. All three demoralized French roadblock units southwest of Beaumont fail to rally, but the only one that’s adjacent to a German unit is full-strength and therefore doesn’t surrender.

Then the French reinforcements begin to arrive. French XX Corps HQ and artillery plus 37th Division appear on the road southwest of Verdun. This is a much higher-quality outfit than the French formations that have been fighting the battle up till now. The French also get one replacement, which they give to the French infantry unit valiantly holding the extreme western flank against the German 7th Reserve Corps.

h) French Bombardment Phase

XX Corps’ artillery is too far away to bombard any Germans, but XXX Corps’ artillery can now barrage the Germans northwest of Louvemont. It rolls a 5 and scores an M result, but all three German units in the hex make their morale checks. Then the French rail gun bombards the same units and rolls a 6 for an M1 result, demoralizing the pioneer unit there. Finally, the French left-bank artillery can’t reach the hex west of Louvemont, so it barrages the Germans on the road southwest of Beaumont, and rolls a 5, scoring an M result. But the Germans hold morale.

i) French Movement Phase

The 37th Division and the XX Corps units head straight north on the road using strategic movement, and their lead units get as far as Bras. Continuing on that route will take them straight into the western shoulder of the German bulge, which is thinly spread because its pioneer units left others behind to make maximum advances in the German Breakthrough Movement Phase. XX Corps’ artillery also moves up to where it can start barraging German units next turn.

As for the front-line French units, the west-flank units that bloodied the German 7th Reserve reoccupy the trenches. Then a full-strength unit farther east pulls back to the roadblock position while the demoralized units at the roadblock run for the third trench line (thus giving themselves a +1 morale bonus in future). The French right flank pulls farther in, and strong units from 14th Division take up position in trench and road hexes to block the German advance.

The French hold position for the rest of the turn, and Day 3 ends with the German central advance having reached the midpoint of the map, but with their western flank battered and stymied by a few brave French holdouts. French reinforcements are coming up the western road and more are on the way, so the Germans need to smash and grab the third trenchline next turn so they can hold it against the resurgent French.

Can they do it? Tune in next time and find out!

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