Storming the Citadel-Game 5

We played the 5th game in our Storming the Citadel campaign several days ago at the Abyss. This was on table 6 as Graham (Soviets) had made a decision to withdraw from table 5 without defending it. This allowed him to get a new platoon and consolidate his forces. This gave him an extra section automatically as well as his supports. I decided to bring on my second platoon as well. The scenario was Attack on an Objective and was played as laid out in version 2 of the Chain of Command ruleset with the only limitation being the supports as laid out in the campaign.

Here are the JOPs with the PMs still on the table. This is looking from the German left flank with the German entry in the farground. My JOPs were all in the rough ground. You can not see it but the Soviets had a JOP behind a hill in near right on the table.

Forces

Germans (FM 10)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 2)

Supports 12

PGB
SdKfz 251
SL
PZII
Kublewagon

Soviets (FM 8)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.2) with extra infantry section

Supports 9

Marsh
DSHK HMG Tm
Flame Thrower Tm
ATR

Game

I believe I might have been a little aggressive in this game when I deployed. I had 3 mobile units with the plan to advance them rapidly and capture the JOP behind the hill. I was able to do this with a team in the Kubelwagon (this should have just been a scout team). The PzII and the 251 both also deployed early to lay down fire. I placed all my squads also down into the 2 areas of rough ground. Graham was cautious in deploying his sections, I should have waited and I am not sure in retrospect if my approach should have been on my left flank. Notwithstanding the Soviets deployed a section which quickly destroyed the LMG team in the Kubelwagon. At this point my FM was better then the Soviets and I had lost about the same amount of men but my initial plan had failed. I felt it best to withdraw ceding victory to the Soviets. I had reach table 6 in 5 turns and I felt I had time to reassess my plan of attack.

Summing Up

Storming the Citadel Game 4

We played the 4th game in our Storming the Citadel campaign 10 days ago at the Abyss. This was the first game where the Germans were not given an automatic advance in the campaign. I continued to use my Platoon 1, Graham does not get a new platoon until Table 6 but he has managed his forces in an excellent fashion.

Forces

Germans (FM 9)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 1)

Supports 10

251 w/2crew and LMG

PzII

Adjutant 

PGB

Soviets (FM 10)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.1)

Supports 5

Flamethrower team

MMG Team

Game

Patrol Phase

JOPs

Rapid Deployment of 2 German Squads

Oh Dear a PzII

and a 251 with the 3rd squad almost to the objective

Soviet counter attack

PzII deploys some smoke to protect the advance

This was actually a closer game than it looked above. The Germans were able to get their 251 to the objective but the crew got badly mauled from Soviet MMG fire. I was able to start the Final Countdown and it seemed that the Soviets would not be able to get a unit to back on the objective to recapture it and when there FM hit 5 they decided to withdraw. 

Graham subsequently decided to abandon Table 5 to the Germans and move to table 6 where the last battle will be fought. I was initially surprised but when I thought about it his force overall morale is quite good and he gets his one replacement fresh platoon on that table. It looks like the Soviets will have to hold off the Germans at least 3 times on table 6 to hold off a major German victory. The Soviets are able to build up their fixed defences over these games which will make it increasing difficult to take the objective.

Summing Up

Another German victory but this game was quite close with the Final Countdown at 2 when the Soviets withdrew. 

 

Storming the Citadel Game 3.

Delayed report for our third game in the storming the Citadel CoC campaign. 

Forces

Germans (FM 10)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 1)

Supports 10

Pregame Barrage (free)

SL

251/1

251/9

Soviets (FM 9)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.1)

Supports 5

2 minefields (free)

3 entrenchments

Flamethrower Team

Game

This was a very short game as you can see from the photos below.

Looking from the German right flank, 2 Soviets JOP's close together!

this an end of the game shot

the germans were able to get their troop carrier on the the table and with assault deployment were able to shut down 2 jops before the soviets could deploy.

providing covering fire

ditto

Summing Up

This was somewhat of a disappointing game but it is what it is. The Soviets withdrew, no attrition on either side.

Chain of Command-Glider Landing

 

A couple of weeks ago myself and William got together at L'abyss to play a CoC game from the 1940 handbook. We played with William's 15mm figures, he took the Germans and I took the French defenders. I did find the writing in respect to Glider Landings in the source book a little obscure, but after some thought we played the Attack on an Objective (scenario 6) from the V2 rulebook.

The PM as well as the JOPs, William designed and made some gliders which act as the German JOPs on his MDF laser printer. They were quite nice

Here is a photo from the end of the game. the French got a pretty good defensive position set up and was able to drive off the Germans. 

It was an interesting game, I would have to play it one more time to get a better sense of the game play with the gliders. But it was fun and thanks to William for setting it up.

Three CoC Games!

 

The week before last I got in 3 Chain of Command games.

US Paratroopers vs German Volksgrenadiers

Attack an Defend scenario from v2 set in the Hurtgenwald

British Rifle Platoon vs German Grenadiers

Hasty Defence scenario from the 1940 Handbook set in Belgium

British Airborne vs German Panzergrenadiers

Attack and Defend scenario from v2 from the Von Luck campaign

Three victories....that is a rare event.

Storming the Citadel-Game 2

A couple of days ago, myself and Graham got in a second game in our Storming the Citadel campaign. I had already played this scenario with William as documented in the previous blog post. I had won but it was a close run thing.

This time we played on Graham's table as you can see below.

Forces

Germans (FM 9, Supports 3)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (less 7 men)

Adjutant

Pregame Barrage

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2) (less 6 men)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Game

Patrol Markers and JOPs

The only photo I took of the game, as you see Graham placed the 8 minefields Straight across the table, but more importantly they were at least a foot from my closest JOPs. I placed a PG squad in cover next to the forward JOPs. I was hoping my PGB would allow me to get forward quickly to the minefields. It did not work out that way. Graham entrenched one section on his right flank. Although this was a long range he was able to weaken both my squads. I placed a 3rd squad on the left with the SL and advanced my squad on the right.. In response, he placed his entrenched 2nd section in the clump of foliage close to the minefields. A battle of attrition ensued. This went back and forth and I was able to drop his FM to 6 but by now I was suffering attrition as well. I still had not placed my engineer teams. I checked the loses on both sides and I could see I had lost fewer men than the Soviets, so decided to withdraw. Like Scenario 1 in this campaign, this table is only played once. Best to reserve my troops for the next 2 battles, where I have to actually win the table to advance. 

Summing Up

Well that will be it for a while as Graham is going away at the end of March for a couple of weeks and this sojourn in Montreal has come to an end. 

Crossing the Minefields

 

William and myself got together for a quick CoC game a couple of days ago. He wanted to play theSoviets again but this time we set up a 1942-43 game using one of the scenarios from the Storming the Citadel campaign. Incidentally, this was the next game in my campaign with Graham. 

The Germans have to clear 4 minefields of the 8 placed on the table by the Soviets (2 of which are dummies). They get 2 free engineer teams and the Soviets get 6 free minefields.

Forces

Germans (FM 11, Supports 1)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon

Adjutant

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Patrol Markers and JOPs

Half way through the game, with the entrenched Soviets giving the Germans hell. William did put down a 2nd entrenchment next to the first while I put my last platoon behind the engineer team. There was a lot of shooting back and forth but ultimately once weakened, I initiate Handgranaten to charge.

It was an interesting game, I am not sure it is possible to clear 4 minefields in this game, I did identify 2 dummies and cleared one before the Soviet FM dropped to zero. Although, I ultimately won the assault on the entrenched Soviets it is pretty tough even with the Soviets being pinned. It took 2 rounds and it was only on the second that I broke through. 

Eastern Front: Storming the Citadel

This past Monday myself and Graham got together to start a new Chain of Command campaign, this one centred on the Eastern Front during the Kursk offensive. Graham has recently painted a platoon of AB Soviets and we wanted to get them on the table.

The campaign is pretty simple, and to win a major victory the Germans have to blast through 6 tables in 7 turns. Three of the tables are one off battles, but it is still a challenge as table 3, 4 and 6 can be fought over several times. We play the games using CoCv2 scenarios but tables 2 and 5 are quite novel in their objectives so we will go with those scenarios as written in the campaign. Of course, the orders of battles and supports as listed in the campaign booklets will be used. I should note that the campaign uses all 6 basic scenario types as listed in the rulebooks and it is notable that they are played in order!

Scenario One: Eyes Down!

This is played as the Probe. Minimal terrain on the table with the Germans having to drive the Soviets off the table by dropping their Force Morale to a point where they lose a Command Dice.

Forces

Soviets FM 9-Supports 6

1942 Rifle Platoon

Replen Point

5cm Mortar

Medic

Sniper

Germans FM 11-Supports 5

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon

Sniper

Senior Leader

Game

Of course, I only took few photos.......

.....the game was about 90 minutes, it started as a bit of a slugfest and really could have gone either way but I think my dice were a little better and having the higher starting FM helped the Germans being the victors in this first game.

Summing Up

Graham has done a very nice SS to track progress.

Hopefully we will get to game 2 this coming week.

On to the Eastern Front

 

I have been wanting for sometime to play some Eastern Front games. There is no question that most of the TFL campaigns for CoC are for the Western Front with a significant focus on Normandy. All good....but playing the Soviets is always a challenge especially because of the significant changes in platoon organisation throughout the 2nd World War. Most of my gaming on the Eastern Front has been during the Winter War with large 14-15 man platoons with no team structure. Version 2 of Chain of Command which covers 1944-45 has significant changes with smaller sections and now broken in 2 teams. My previous post details some work on Russian buildings so I was excited to put them on the table. I offered to put on game with my William so we met at the l'abyss this past Saturday.

Scenario 3: Attack and Defend. Patrol Markers and JOPs. Soviet Attackers from the left and German Defenders from the right. The Objectives were the Oil Tanks and the Ruined Building.

Soviets (FM 9, Support 12)

V2 Rifle Platoon

Captured Panzerfausts

Pregame Bombardment

Entrenchment

Mortar Bombardment with Extra Phase

Maxim MMG

Germans (FM 10, Support 7)

V2 Grenadier Platoon

MG42 MMG

Ig18 IG

Adjutant

It was a good game, I did not take any photos until the end. The game was quite close with the Soviets capturing the Oil Tanks within a few phases. William was also able to land the Bombardment quite accurately which covered my MMG, IG as well as one Grenadier squad and the Rifle team in a 2nd squad. It looked like I was doomed but I was going into the end game with a good advantage in FM as the Soviets were a bit unlucky in their FM throws. I was able to Handgranaten the Soviets who had captured the Oil Tanks while throwing 3 grenades (I had 5 commands), this was enough to break the section but also rout several leaders. I was a bit lucky with my dice, it was an excellent tactical game with William aggressively attacking. 

My next CoC game will feature the start of a Eastern Front campaign with Graham, stay tuned.