Know Your Djellaba?

Know Your Djellaba? Building A Goum Company From Road To Rome with Simon McBeth I had been waiting for several years for the Late-War French to be made properly official by being added to a hardback Battlefront book and, with the release of Road to Rome, I had to wait no longer. I had assisted writing the French Expeditionary Corps Intelligence Briefing and had used French in the Late-war setting since my first tournament at the original Panzerschreck in 2002. Last year I won the New Zealand Nationals with a 1750 point Tirailleur Company which won seven of the eight games played. My interest in the Late-war French also extended to writing the briefing for the 2nd Division Blindee a few years ago. With Road To Rome out, I took the opportunity to have a look at the Goum lists, something I had not run before. Here are my thoughts on list creation for the Goum and how to get the best out of them. Learn more about Road To Rome here...

Firstly, for those who do not know, during the 20th century France used the Moroccan people as a local Gendarmerie to supplement their regular forces. The men were a tough, self-sufficient people bred for combat in the harsh mountainous regions of Morocco and Algeria. During the First World War, France was able to move regular troops home to fight the Germans and leave the Goums to defend their colonies. In World War Two, the Goums were not used in combat in France in 1940 and as a part of the surrender were kept in North Africa as a part of the Vichy forces. When France changed side again they joined the First French Army for the invasion of Italy. The Goum were used around Monte Cassino to break through the previously impassable mountainous terrain to turn the flanks of German defensive lines. They gained a reputation as very fierce soldiers and were feared by German and Italian troops for their savagery and trophy taking (Dolph Lungren in Universal Soldier styles).

As peasant mountain troops they were lightly equipped and wore sandals and djellabas (traditional woollen coats) dyed in tribal colours and patterns. They were poorly treated by both their white officers and the French High Command and were occasionally used as sacrificial troops to force German units to reveal themselves to waiting Allied artillery. The basic troops in the list are the Goums themselves. They are Fearless Trained but have the special rule Fierce Tribesmen which lets them hit on 3+ in assault. I see this list as one that will utilise assaults by large Goum platoons supported by French platoons that can deal with the rest of an opponent’s force. The balance of platoons in the company will enable the Goum to get into position to win the game for me.

Special Rules The Goum use the same rules as the Tirailleur Company - the US rules found on pages 236-240 of the rulebook (except Automatic Rifles, Excellent Communications and Under Command) and the following: Assault Troops Goum platoons re-roll failed Motivation Tests to Rally from being Pinned Down. Cautious Movement Goum Infantry and Man-packed Gun Teams are always Gone to Ground, unless they Move at the Double, shoot, or assault. Fierce Tribesmen Goum Infantry hit on a roll of 3+ in assault combat. Mountain Men Goum Infantry and Man-packed Gun Teams are Mountaineers (see page 61 of the rulebook). These rules all aid the Goum platoons in getting to the objectives and clearing out most resistance. Impassable terrain? No worries. Shooting at my troops in cover? Make that more difficult! I’ve broken up the list builds into three sizes, 1250, 1500, and 1750, and discussed my thoughts behind each level and each platoon chosen.

The 1250 List

Moroccan Mountain Infantry Company (Goum) (Fearless Trained) Goum HQ   with Company HQ upgraded to Command SMG teams. 60 points Combat Platoons   Goum Platoon   with HQ Section & three Goum Squads. 215 points Goum Platoon   with HQ Section & three Goum Squads. 215 points Support Platoons   Tirailleurs Anti-tank Platoon   with HQ Section & three M1 57mm. 90 points Spahi Platoon   with one Cavalry Recon Patrol. 135 points FEC Tank Destroyer Platoon   with four M10 3in GMC. 295 points Artillery Battery   with HQ Section & four M2A1 105mm. 185 points Air Observation Post   with L4 Grasshopper AOP upgraded with Column Security. 40 points Total Points: 1235 points

Company HQ & The Goum Platoons (Page 233) Alright, let’s start with the basics. The two Goum Platoons and the CHQ are the basis of any list of course. There is no decision making here as this is what we are building, right? Well, not quite. There is a question about the size of the platoons and whether sniper teams are needed. I, for one, don’t use sniper teams in my infantry companies as I believe they are not much use against the armoured forces you will meet in at a competition – the 50 points can be better used elsewhere. As for the size of the combat platoons, bigger is better in this case. The combination of being Trained, therefore more likely to suffer casualties, and only being Rifle Teams (remember Goums don’t have the Automatic Rifle rule) means that numbers are needed. If they were Veterans I would consider smaller platoon sizes. These are your assault troops and the rest of the list should be built to get these fierce warriors into close combat. Once in combat, being Fearless with 3+ to hit in assault will make holes in most people’s defending platoons. I have upgraded both Command teams to SMGs as well. The points were available and the RoF3 can be used to help pin or clear the way for assault. Tirailleur Anti-Tank Platoon (Page 227) I always include this cheap little platoon in my FEC forces. While they have the No HE rule, their rate of fire and ability to be Concealed when Dug In helps the Goum Platoons defend a lead objective. The No HE rule will allow you to shoot at soft skins like recon jeeps so it will keep the opponent honest and make removing Gone to Ground a touch more difficult. In Defensive Fire or defending in the Assault phase, the 57s will act as the Bazookas that the Goum do not have. The platoon is Veteran as well, aiding it in its ability to defend the Goum. Spahi Platoon (Page 237) Another must have for the FEC. The four-team-strong Spahi Patrol is the eyes and ears of the company. Veteran recon is essential in combination with the Artillery battery and the Tank Destroyers in using Eyes and Ears (obviously) and being able to remove likely ambush points that the enemy can use. FEC Tank Destroyer Platoon (Page 239) The French differed in the use of the tank destroyer from the Americans. They removed the security section and treated the vehicles like the British. Four Veteran M10s can cause a fair bit of damage to the enemy if you can flank them. Be careful though! The light armour is a downside for return fire – trust in your Veteran status, use cover and roll high! These are your main AT asset so protect them. Artillery Battery (Page 239) The FEC Artillery enjoys all the bonuses of the US artillery namely Time on Target and the access to the AOP. Use the AOP as an observer for your artillery and pin down the enemy so the Goum can assault. In a pinch the artillery can also be used as an AT asset. Time on Target against the top armour of tanks can be quite effective. Ideally, if used for anti-armour duties, they should be used in concert with the M10 platoon to whittle down a single target platoon. AOP with Column Security (Page 210) Column Security is used to limit ambush locations in combination with your Spahi Patrol. They will force back the enemy allowing your Goums to get into cover so they can use Cautious Movement to approach objectives or assault targets. When not used as recon the AOP is used as the main observer. Get the AOP in behind the line of sight blocking terrain pieces and pin down or destroy enemy artillery or high rate of fire light vehicles.

The 1500 List

Moroccan Mountain Infantry Company (Goum) (Fearless Trained) Goum HQ   with Company HQ one Command team upgraded to Command SMG team. 50 points Combat Platoons   Goum Platoon   with HQ Section & three Goum Squads. 215 points Goum Platoon   with HQ Section & three Goum Squads. 215 points Support Platoons   Tirailleurs Anti-tank Platoon   with HQ Section & three M1 57mm. 90 points Spahi Platoon   with one Cavalry Recon Patrol. 135 points FEC Tank Destroyer Platoon   with five M10 3in GMC. 370 points Artillery Battery   with HQ Section & four M2A1 105mm. 185 points Priority Air Support   with P-47 Thunderbolt. 190 points Air Observation Post   with L4 Grasshopper AOP upgraded with Column Security. 40 points Total Points: 1490 points

The Force is still basically the same so the aim of supporting the Goum platoons to get into assault is still achieved. I have, however, removed one of the upgrades for the Company HQ teams to fit everything in. The FEC Tank Destroyer platoon has been upgraded to have the unique fifth tank destroyer to the platoon. This is a great option to improve the anti-tank ability for the Goum company as ten Anti-tank 12 shots from ambush is fantastic. It also extends the life of the platoon by adding the extra team.

The 1750 List

At this mark I’d aim for at least eight platoons. At 1500 points having seven platoons is not a major drama, especially when you need to get the right support for the Goum platoons. Here are several options for the remaining 255 points and what I like about each. Option One: Tank Platoon (Page 193) The US Tank Platoon gives a few options for the Goum. Their mobility is the main thing as it adds a bit more ‘go forward’ for an infantry company and can get places quicker than the infantry to secure jumping off points. For 250 points you can get three Sherman M4 or M4A1 tanks but with no upgrades. The main downside is the American tankers are treated as Allies meaning your Company Commander cannot reroll any failed Morale tests. Option Two: Spahi Light Tank Platoon (Page 238) By dropping the last SMG upgrade for the CHQ Command teams you can afford the five M5 Stuarts from the Spahi Light Tank platoon. The Stuarts are fantastic as mobile machine gun pillboxes and they are great at getting into position to strike at or deny ambush platoons.  Use them to clear AA halftracks, trucks or guns from shooting at your AOP or for intercepting light reserves. In a pinch their Anti-tank 7 can still take out a Panther through its side armour!

Option Three: More Goum (Page 233) Adding a third rifle platoon for 215 point expands your force to be able to take casualties yet still remain effective on the assault. The extra 35 points could be used to add a supply wagon to the Ammunition and Pioneer platoon for extra defensive options such as the Barbed Wire and Minefield. The downside I see to the extra Fearless Trained platoon is that it will dilute the effectiveness of the support platoons as they would have to cover three Trained platoons rather than two. This is probably the weakest choice for the eighth platoon in the force. Option Four: More Guns (Page 239) The US artillery is good, not as good as Kiwi artillery (what, me parochial?), but still good. Twice as many guns cannot be a bad thing especially when two batteries are using Time on Target on one platoon. At 185 points the addition of a second battery allows for one battery to support each Goum platoon and has 70 points left over. This allows for the addition of some LMGs or HMGs from the Goum Weapons platoon. These could be attached to the Goum Platoons for improved ROF and to bulk up the number of teams in each platoon. Option Five: Tirailleur Platoon (Page 225) While diluting the support allocation to three Goum platoons may be not ideal, adding in a third platoon of Veteran Tirailleur allows you to have the third, reasonably self-sufficient, platoon to hold objectives or threaten secondary objectives. If you add in the optional bazooka for 20 points then the platoon costs as much as the second artillery battery. You could then also get the Weapons Platoon’s machine-gun teams. So many choices! For maximum effect I think the options of the Light Tank platoon, or the second Artillery battery or the Tirailleur platoon are the best ones. I would probably choose the M5 Stuarts as mobility is lacking somewhat in the force (even though we have M10s and the recon troop). Sure, the Goum can double 16”/40cm but Trained troops at the double? Yeah, no thanks.

In Summary The Goum are an interesting list and a player will have to be subtle using them in an open competition. The lack of high Anti-tank assets is noted but I think is more than made up for with the excellent US Artillery rules and the unique five-team Tank Destroyer platoon. Pushing the Goum into position to assault the targets is achieved by the use of the combined skills of the support platoons. Isolate targets with the artillery and Stuarts, deny ambush points with the recon and AOP, weaken or eliminate armour assets with the M10s and finish off with the Men from the Moroccan Mountains. ~ Simon.