Chain of Command x 4!

 

It seems I might be starting to lose interest in posting to my blog, this does not indicate though that I have lost interest in gaming. Three weeks ago in 5 days I had 4 games of CoC. By now I have completely forgotten the details and in one of the games I even forgot to take any photos. But this is what we have.

Game 1

This was the next game in myself and Graham's Too Many Rivers campaign. We played at Graham's house and this was my second go at Table 5, but turn 6. This was a must win game for me as if I lost and Graham's engineers arrived on table 6, this would give an automatic marginal victory to the British. I was fighting with a platoon missing a whole section and I had minimal support. I felt that the only thing I could do in this scenario (1940 Blitzkrieg) was to drop the British Force Morale so I went with the Bunker Buster with its mighty HE effect. The British have a tendency to stay in buildings and behind walls so the reduction of cover with HE would be useful. I can not remember exactly how the game went but here are some photos.

I do remember that my FM dropped to a point where I had to withdraw thus opening the door to a British victory in the campaign. Graham rolled a d6 and got a 5, a British Marginal Victory in the campaign. Well played Graham.

Game 2

This was an introductory game for one of our club members who had yet to play a WWII miniature game. Helge is primarily a painter now aside from being an important member of the club's Général d'armée and Saga squads. He does, however, have extensive experience in the Warhammer world as well as other fantasy games. He is an excellent player, I am not sure if I ever have beaten him in any game.

We played at his place as he does have an extensive collection of terrain and a very nice gaming room. I brought a 20mm British and German platoons with some supports and we played Attack and Defend scenario from the V2. It was quite a game and Helge had very little problem picking up the mechanics as well as the strategy of the game. I hope to see him again at the CoC table. No photos, I am afraid.

Game 3

The next day I went for a 28mm game at PY's, with whom I have been playing the longest in Montreal in respect to CoC. He also has an excellent gaming room and beautiful terrain and figures. He is in the middle of the Von Luck campaign with Graham so we decided to play whatever he had set up on the table. This was table 2, I believe, and I played the attacking Germans against a well entrenched British Airborne platoon. Again the Attack and Defend scenario from v2.

This was quite a good game and I came close to seizing one of the objectives but time and Force Morale ran out before I could do it. PY played a great game but he probably had 10 double phases to each of my one. This really stymied my advance. Of note is there was some debate about the Attack and Defend scenario design in the game the day before with Helge. There certainly no problems in this game and the scenario was put further to the test 2 days later at the Abyss.

Game 4

This was my last CoC game for the year and it was with Michel, another club member. He has extensive experience with WWII rulesets, I believe most recently with BattleGroup. He has been very open to trying CoC though and this was his third game. I set up the table and brought the figures to the Abyss, our local gaming club. As noted this was again the Attack and Defend scenario. Michel has had enough experience with CoC so we played full game including the Patrol Phase and Support selection.

This was again an excellent game with me playing the Attacking Brits against a German Grenadier platoon. We played along the short axis of the table to speed things up and this worked quite well.  Michel covered his right flank with barbed wire. I made the mistake of splitting my forces trying to attack on both flanks. This did not work out well for me and although I was able to weaken the Germans it was not enough and again a FM failure happened before I could seize the objective. Well played Michel, another challenging game.

Well it was great series of CoC games to end the WWII gaming season, on to 2026!

Many Rivers-Turn 5-The Open Road

To carry on with our Many Rivers campaign, myself and Graham got together at his place a week ago for the 5th turn on a new table. The Germans are finally able to bring on some vehicles, which would be useful in the Blitzkrieg scenario as victory is determined the attacker getting 2 units off the table before the defenders accumulate 2 Chain of Command dice.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 3 men)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (7)

1 Minefield

2 Entrenchments

Extra Section

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 3 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (12)

Shabby Nazi Trick

Engineer Team

Red Dice

251/1

PGB

PzII

Game

Looks easy enough

I not sure what I was thinking but I played a horrible Patrol Phase which saw me well back without any cover aside from on the right.

I got my troops on, but the destruction was so massive I completely blanked on taking photos

Summing Up

Again this was a fairly quick game and I withdrew because my loses were massive. I probably should have packed it in after the placement of the JOPs. In a game where I needed a 3 on my CD, I kept on getting 4s. I should also note that Graham had I 5 double phases in a row just before the end of the game. I did get my 251/1 with an infantry squad half way up the table but by then I had lost almost half my platoon and the Brits had 11 CoC pips. Really going to have to rethink how I play the next attempt on this table. What a disaster!

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Secure

Men’s opinion: -2

CO’s opinion: -1

German Platoon #3: 10 dead and 4 missing next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion:  -1

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 0 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

Many Rivers Turn 4a-Farm and Road

Getting a bit behind in my blog postings. This is a game from about 10 days ago at my place featuring a Blitzkrieg from Table 3 to Table 4 in our Many Rivers campaign. I had won our last game and decided to Blitzkrieg the next table with the surviving forces from the previous battle.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 4 men)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (12)

AAMG 1

2 Minefields

2 Barbed Wire

2" Mortar

Extra Section

Demo Team

Demo Team (free)

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 3 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (19)

Shabby Nazi Trick 1

Red Dice 2

Smoke Barrage 2

le.18 IG 4

Stuka Attack 4

Pioneer Squad 6 (10 men)

Game

The table, the 3 area of bushes represents clumps of trees, not forests. They block LOS and provide Light Cover. They do not slow movement.

Patrol Markers and JOPs from the German attack area.

View from the Britisg=h defensive line with the Stuka attack, not a whole lot of success destroying buildings, just one which was inconsequential.

Side view of the table, this was the Going with a Bang scenario from the 1940 handbook. Graham had to take out 2 culverts to win the game. I added in the railroad track for the fun of it but we treated it as a road for game purposes as laid out in the scenario.

Lots of smoke in this game

Summing Up

Well this was a fairly quick game with the British withdrawing before they could destroy either culvert so the road is now open to the German advance and in Turn 5 they are now able to bring in AFVs. Graham was a bit unlucky with the placement of his JOPs as neither was close to a culvert so he had great difficulty deploying his demolition teams. He decided to withdraw to preserve his platoon.

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Secure

Men’s opinion: 2

CO’s opinion: 0

German Platoon #3: 3 dead next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion:  -2

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 1 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

It was a busy week and I have 2 more CoC reports to post!

Many Rivers-Turn 4-Farm and Forest

Myself and Graham got together at his place last Sunday week for the next game in the Many Rivers campaign. We finally had moved on to another table, this time playing the Swift to Support scenario from the 1940 Handbook. As you can see I was extremely lucky with my support roll get 19 support points. Graham ended up with 9. Both platoons were in good shape but I should note that my other 2 platoons are pretty shot up.

Forces

Guards Platoon #2 (missing 1 man)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (9)

AAMG 1

Infantry Section 4

4 Emplacements 4

Schützen Platoon #3 (missing 4 men)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (19)

Shabby Nazi Trick 1

Red Dice 2

Smoke Barrage 2

le.18 IG 4

Stuka Attack 4

Pioneer Squad 6

The Game

I got boxed into a corner with my JOP's. Graham stayed well back. The Stuka Attack resulted in the large barn being in ruins which was a significant advantage for me as this is solid cover for the British with a good LOS over the hedges.

This photo is from pretty late in the game, as I had forgotten to take photos as usual. I held off with the smoke barrage which landed right on target until I had my troops ready to advance rapidly forward. I also waited to see where Graham was to set up his defence. He eventually placed all 4 sections behind the hedge on his right flank. I used my large Pioneer Squad as the main advance. As you can see above they got quite shot up. I had a strong firing base on the hill on my left flank.

Base of fire with SL, IG, squad and 5cm mortar.

As you can see the British suffered quite a few casualties and shock from my firing base with at least 2 teams routing. Graham decided he had enough and withdrew. Game over!

Summing Up

German Platoon #3

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy

Men’s opinion: 0

CO’s opinion: -1

German Platoon #3: 3 dead next game

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead , 5 missing for next game

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead, 4 missing for the next game

British Platoon #2 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Happy 

Men’s opinion: +1

CO’s opinion:  -1

British Platoon #2: 2 dead, 2 missing next game

British Platoon #1: 5 dead, 2 missing next game

Next Game

I have decided that I will use a Blitzkrieg to attack the next table using my same force. The 5cm Mortar will be out of ammo and we decided that it would be unreasonable for the Pioneer Squad to be intact as they lost 6 figures, so using the casualty table they will be down 5 men for the next game.

Many Rivers Turn 3a Blitzkrieg!

 

Myself and Graham got together yesterday for our next turn in our Many Rivers to Cross Chain of Command campaign. It had been May since our last game so we were both a little rusty, I should note that this is the first time we used CoCV2 for this campaign, it seemed to meld easily with the OB and support information for the 1940 Germans and British from the Blitzkrieg Hand book. We had the game at Grahams.

Forces

Guards Platoon 2, FM 10 (fresh)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (18)

Barbed Wire 2

Minefields 2

2" Mortar

Pregame Barrage

Sniper Team

MMG Team

Infantry Section

Schützen Platoon 3 FM 9 (still fresh)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Unchanged Supports (18)

Engineer Team

Shabby Nazi Trick (fifth columnist)

Red Dice

MG34 Tripod Mount

Pregame Bombardment

Extra Schützen Squad

IG18 IG

Patrol Phase

The JOPs are circled, not the best Patrol Phase for the Germans. Graham did a very nice table.

The Game

This was a challenging game, first because it was a Blitzkrieg, I felt it did not adhere to the rules for support generation in the campaign so we felt it best to go with the support generation as determined by the scenario rules for Swift to Support in the 1940 Handbook. I had the same supports as Turn 3 with 18, so the Brits got 18. This is a lot of supports for defence.

This was my base of fire on my left flank with a planned advance on my right. It looked pretty lethal with a 5cm Mortar, an IG18, a Schützen squad and a SL.

Graham put down an SL and a 2" Mortar in the farmyard compound. The SL had LOS so smoke started to come to block my base of fire. I have some questions about this as there did not seem much I could do about it. I will have to check with the TFL cognoscenti though as something did not seem right.

There is nothing like the effectiveness of the 2" British Mortar

Graham had deployed 3 of his sections as the game progressed, one on his right flank and 2 behind the fence in the farm compound. By now we had both deployed our MMGs in entrenchment. They were both destroyed by the end of the game but I was take to take out the Vickers first.

My advance squad did very poorly as you can see and ended up breaking on the next phase. 

I had deployed my last squad on the road, but by now it was too late and once the squad in the opened broke my FM dropped to 3 and I decided to withdraw. Luckily I had not lost many of my core platoon (5 figures) so the cost to the platoon was limited.

Summing Up

German Platoon #3 (Final FM 3)

Platoon Leader Outlook: Content

Men’s opinion: -3 (FM roll -1)

CO’s opinion: -2

German Platoon 3: 2 dead, 2 missing

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead 

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead

British Platoon #2 (Final FM 8)

Platoon Leader Sociable: Affable (FM roll +1)

Men’s opinion: +1

CO’s opinion:  +1

1 missing next game

British Platoon 1 has lost 5 dead

I think I was really against it with the British having 18 supports in defence. I did set up a nice firing line to cover my advance but I could never get my advance moving along, I might of waited too long. I did kill quite a few Brits but the difference in the FM made an easy recovery for them.The good news is that I did not lose a lot of men and on the same table the British will have many fewer supports although there are quite a few fixed defences on the table. We will just have to see how it goes.

Many Rivers to Cross- Turn 3-The Village

Ten days ago myself and Graham played our 3rd game in the Many Rivers campaign. This was the Germans third go at taking table 2 and really they had to take this time. The campaign is designed so that the Attackers have increasing support for each go at a table. Also as this is the third turn, the Germans can now have heavier weapons including manhandled infantry guns as well as antitank guns. I had a very good roll and ended up getting 18 supports, which I felt would be enough to turn the tide. This was 3 times the support that the Brits would have. 

 Forces

Guards Platoon 1, FM 11 (missing 2 soldiers)

FR 0, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (6)

Entrenchments

2" Mortar

A9 CS Tank

Schützen Platoon 3 FM 8 (fresh)

FR +1, 5CD, Regulars

Supports (18)

Engineer Team

Shabby Nazi Trick (fifth columnist)

Red Dice

MG34 Tripod Mount

Pregame Bombardment

Extra Schützen Squad

IG18 IG

Patrol Phase

I was happy with the results of the PP

The Game

This game was much different than the previous 2, and the German firepower with the increased support made a big difference. Graham also had very poor dice, where mine were quite good. The game was short taking well less than a couple of hours. Graham populated the 2 buildings in the centre with a section each but with the IG18 firing with 2 squads, as well as the 50mm Mortar team and the MMG team at close range all firing, it was not long before the section in the bunker started to crumble. Both the SL and the section JL were hit with the Bren team being wiped out. This cumulation of FM tests brought the British FM down quickly and Graham decided to withdraw. Finally the British were pushed out of The Village.

Summing Up

German Platoon #3 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Content

Men’s opinion: -3 (FM roll -1)

CO’s opinion: -1

German Platoon 3 Intact

German 1st Platoon has lost 5 dead 

German 2nd Platoon has lost 8 dead

British Platoon #1 

Platoon Leader Outlook: Affable (FM roll +1)

Men’s opinion: -1

CO’s opinion:  -1

5 dead, 2 missing next game

Well that was a very plucky defence by the British holding The Village for 2 turns with a single platoon. The Germans have now seen 3 of their platoons in action. Fortunately, Platoon 3 survived this combat with no losses, the CO has ordered them to Blitzkrieg the next table. This will see platoon 3, with the exact same supports, advance without delay to the Farm and the Forest.