29, Let's Go! Probe at La Cambe

We finally got to start our first Chain of Command campaign using the CoC At the Sharp Edge campaign system and the first pint sized package campaign 29, Let's Go! Scenario One, the Probe at La Cambe was played yesterday at the Hobby Bunker in Malden, MA. This is an historically based campaign following the action of the 176th American Infantry Battalion as it has been ordered forward to secure the Bridge at Isigny, as a part of the day after D-Day actions, June 1944.

The real good news was that Mike, with whom I have been playing CoC, has started to paint up some Americans, they are still in the painting process, but he was able to field a full platoon with some supports and a couple of tanks for our game. I understand his Soviets are well underway as well. So any way on to the action. As usual, I forgot to take a lot of photos, but there is enough to tell the story.

We had a platoon each of infantry. The Germans had 12 support points with which I took a Pak 38, a Roadblock, one entrenchment and an 8cm mortar. Mike had 19 support points with which he had two Shermans and 2 snipers. I diced up a morale of 8 and Mike had a starting morale of 11.

Here is the view looking west, the American starting point is in the foreground and the German are in the far ground, to win the scenario the Americans have to fight there way down this road or worse the Germans to withdrawn voluntarily or by a failure of morale. The ground is all hard and the hedges are hedges not bocage (using my bocage though). The houses are all stone, and they and the stone wall are hard cover. With the hedges being light cover.

The German right flank, the fields slow movement but provide no cover. I got my roads finished, they came brown from the Wargamer's Terrain but I wanted tarmac, so I airbrushed them dark grey then added successive coats of lighter grey with the airbrush. the edges were then painted with the same shades of green as my terrain mat and bocage bases. I think everything is starting to come together. I put in a central grass verge, but I think I will it in a bit more though.

The German JOP's. I screwed this but as I did not put one in  the house. I think I got a little too offensive when I should have been thinking defense.  I did want to get forward on my left flank, but there was little cover there.

The Americans JOP's, there is one also in the stone house to the right where I was hoping to place one/

This is abut half way through the game, I had a tough time with my dice throwing several 4 and 5's early on, which is not really a lot of help. I have already lost half of the squad on the right and they have had to get back to cover. On the left is a LMG team with my FO. There really was a dearth of 1's early on in the game.

Here an American squad, that have advanced from their right flank in an attempt to take cover, I was able to destroy this unit without too much problem, but I was suffering quite a bit of attrition. 

I had 10 points of support available to me, I knew that the Americans had at least two Shermans in their force so I thought an entrenched Pak 38 would be useful, but it was of little help as once Mike saw the road block I placed half way up the road he went to his left flank with his first Sherman. I did have an off table 88 on his right flank but really there was poor LOS to his left and I did not get to fire it. Mike also had two snipers that slowly eroded the AT Gun team and by the time the game was over the gun had been abandoned.

Mike's 2nd squad advancing on his left flank. He was very successful with this, I had expected him to advance his tanks first, but he advanced his infantry for which I was a little unprepared.

Using casualty markers from Warbases UK, very handy. I use a red square for shock and the dial, change over to yellow when they are pinned. I also use a black rectangle to measure casualties on a multi figure support base. It worked well.

An American squad just before their demise. I used a Chain of Command dice, to bring on my 3rd squad to ambush them. 

I only got to fire my medium mortar once in the game, and by the time I got it done there was only a single American sniper in the 18" square barrage area before the turn ended. In the second turn when I called up the barrage it failed and was out for the rest of the game! Those 4 support points went down the train quickly.

I did get to take out one of the Shermans with a Panzerschreck which appeared on the road in ambush with another Chain of Command dice. These can be quite useful.

My troops scrambling backward as the German morale was failing.

Although I lost by a morale failure it was a great game. I lost 10 men and a JL, while Mike lost 16 men. Unfortunately for me, the Americans have plenty of reinforcements so start each scenario with a fresh platoon. By applying post battle attrition rules from At a Sharp End, I have lost 5 men from my platoon permanently and 3 for the next battle. Leutnant Fuch's men faith in him has dropped and his platoon is going to suffer a -1 on their next Force Morale throw. It is going to be a tough campaign!

Here is my campaign tracker, I am hoping it is pretty straight forward.

Some Clarifications of the Dux Britanniarum Rules

updated May 20, 2015

Over the last couple of months, I have asked a lot of questions on the TFL Forum about Dux Britanniarum ruleset, the members of the Forum were very helpful, so I thought I would place what I have found in one place.

 CARDS

• Card Sequence: Cards are only played on activation of a Noble, not at any other time. If a card is played in response by the non-phasing player, then that activation may take precedence (the example being the Step Forth card being played in response to a possible attack). The phasing player can change his initial plan and does not lose his cards if already played.
• Fate Cards: When a noble is activated he can use the Fate cards of either suit. The suited cards can not be played otherwise. The bonus of playing a suited cards is that it adds +1D6 to the combat D6 total if the Carpe Diem card is played. The unsuited cards can be played anytime ie. as an offense or defense.
• Cards used in combat modify only the first round of combat.
• When using a CI to buy a card you do not have to exchange a card, but at the end of your turn you can only have 5 cards.
• EVADE Card: Evade facing away from the enemy maintaing formation (a common house rule is that a shieldwall would would break and evade in a mass formation. Playing a Carpe Diem counters use of this card.

COMMAND

• Only Lords can command other Nobles groups.
• When attached to a group and leading a combat the noble can only issue commands to groups within 3” and only rally shock off group to whom he is attached. If attached at the rear then normal command rules apply.
• Captured Nobles do not cause a morale test, only the Lord.
• Killed Champions pre-battle do not cause a morale test.

ACTIVATION

• Activation: In respect to movement and going into formation, it can be done with one activation but cost 1D6 in movement.

MOVEMENT

• Movement: Unless the group is moving up to a certain point (to include terrain features or joining another group), the full distance has to be taken from the throw of the D6.
• Nobles Movement: Move for free when attached to group, otherwise costs 1 Activation.
• Unattached Nobles Movement in Varying Terrain: No clear rule, will go with the same modification as harassing troops.
• Attaching and Detaching Nobles: Is at no cost and can be carried out twice in a single activation. Does require CI for movement to attach.
• Movement through Varying Terrain: No hard and fast rule but Rich Clarke suggests the following; Imagine the obstacle is some boggy ground which reduces movement by one pip per dice. That ground is 5" away from your unit. You roll 4, 2 and 6. I'd let you move 4" with the first dice as you can move that full distance without getting into the bog, but then the 2 and the 6 are both reduced. 
• Movement through Unbarred Doors and Gates: Costs 1d6.
• Facing: A group can move in any direction without cost. It just moves in that direction, it can turn around etc, with no cost. But at the end of movement it ends up facing in that direction. If the group then wants to change facing or go into an allround stance then 1D6 is subtracted from the movement.

MISSILE ATTACKS

• Missile Kills on Formations of Units: Per firing player, may select one unit in a formation.

ZOC

• ZoC: If an attacking group fails to engage in combat because of failure of movement, the ZoC does not stop the attacking group at 4".

CHAMPIONS

• Champion: Is attached to the Lord, if the Lord joins a group for combat the Champion does as well. He can not act independently.

BUILDINGS

• Groups in Buildings: Do not offer support to other groups outside of buildings.

LOSING ONE”S AMPHORA

• Test for morale when it happens not when group leaving the table.
• Moves facing away unlike a routed group that moves facing the enemy.

RAIDS

• If Saxons fail raid then British awarded 2 points.
• If British fail morale then Saxons get two points.
• Throwing a 1 on a looting tests means that building is empty in raids with multiple buildings, forcing the Saxon to move on to the next building.

ROUTING GROUPS

• If routing and contact enemy group or formation the routing group is destroyed.

APPLYING HITS

• In combat throw for hits, then assign the hits equally to each group. If there are an odd number of hits the attacker assigns them unless the defender is in shield wall or up hill.

CAMPAIGN CLARIFICATIONS

• The initiative in respect to choice of raid or battle lies with the Saxon player
• To win the campaign the Britons have to regain a lost province.
• In the career paths, each step has to completed before going to the next.

COMBAT DEFINITIONS

Update 4,11,2014

I have added this chart from a UK player with the nom de guerre"Old Guy". I find it very helpful not just because he is using the same interpretation of the rules in respect to units engaged with an oblique attack, but also because it is an excellent aide memoire re interpenetration and allocation of hits. Many thanks to him. A discussion of this issue can be found on the TFL Forum

HOUSE RULES:

• Ransom Rule: A player can ransom back a captured noble, throw a d6 =>4 then 2 gold otherwise 1 gold. The player then gets to add a card for this noble to the card deck.
• Rivers: throw d6: =>5 there is a river, throw d6: 1-4 short axis, 5-6 long axis, throw d6 for sector lay according to terrain, throw d6 -1-3 stream:4-6 river

Chronica Iohannes: Raid on Ravenhill Farm

We had our second game in our Dux Campaign last Thursday. This time the Saxons dealt a significant blow to the Briton as detailed on Adam's action report on his blog the Fencing Frog.

This game went quite smoothly with only a few questions, I plan to update my clarifications of the Dux Brit rules in a separate blogpost with a detailed FAQ.

We are hoping to have our next game set in March 551. I understand everyone has survived the harsh winter.

German Armour

These AFV's have been on my desk for a couple of months now, waiting to get their decals. I like decals but they are a pain to put on. I have to apply gloss over the area, then apply the decal, then apply gloss and then apply matt. I think you get it! All the decals are from Aleran, first class and excellent service.

Three of the tanks were painted by myself last winter and 4 of them were purchased painted but the rest were painted in the last couple of months. The ones previously painted and purchased underwent extensive modification with stowage, camouflage and rust applied.

I have been building tank units for Bg Chain of Command, which allows the fielding of tank platoons as support to the the infantry platoons. Since tanks usually come in boxes of 3 from PSC, it is pretty easy to paint up several. I think I am pretty stocked up on mid war with some late war, but really no early war. Anyway on to the photos.

A tank column moving through NW Europe

A Brummbär (Sturmpanzer 43), support list 8. This was purchased painted.

Two StuH 42, one purchased and one painted by myself for last years Challenge. A support list 7 or half platoon for Big CoC with a -1 list rating. These are from Armourfast.

StuG III, a support list 6. Here we have a full platoon, with a +4 rating for Big CoC. Three are from PSC, they are modeled as Ausf G, the Armourfast model is a Ausf F.

Panzer IV's from PSC. all but one painted by me. These Ausf G are support list 7, 4 tanks is a slightly under strength platoon, so a +6 in Big CoC.

Panzer III, a support list 5. This is also an undermanned platoon so these Ausf J, would be a zero in Big CoC. These are from PSC.

A Tiger II, unknown manufacturer. I purchased this painted and it appears to be all resin. This is a support list 11, but Big CoC allows an Tank Ace to be used, so this is a support list 13 option!

CoC: Delaying Action at Arthenay

I recently purchased the 29, Let's Go pint sized campaign from TFL. These are great little booklets that are less then $6 and come as a downloadable full colour PDF. I suspect many more are planned.

The campaign booklets are to be used with the Sharpe's End Campaign supplement for Chain of Command. This was has uni-directional 5 scenario structure which involves the exploits of an infantry platoon from the American 176th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division which landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. They were ordered to advance west in order to secure the bridge at Isigny. In their way was the 914th Grenadier Regiment of the German 352nd Infantry Division.

After having a look through the booklet, I decided to go with the 2nd scenario which is a type 4 scenario (delaying Action) from the main rulebook. The challenge for me is having the correct terrain pieces to play the game, this scenario was the best choice. A basic regular infantry platoon was used for each side with 5 CD. 

I took the Germans and Mike took the Americans (we substituted Canadians), Mike had 19 supports and I had 10. Mike diced a morale of 11 and I had a morale of 8. I can say I was a little concerned! 

As my orders were basically defensive, I took two entrenchments, a medium mortar and a Pak 35 AT gun. Little did Mike know that I also had a pair of Marder II's hidden on his left flank. I also started the game with two CoC dice (these last two were part of the scenario design). Mike selected a Sherman tank, a 6pd AT gun,  a medium Mortar and I think a MMG gun team.

My camera's battery died while I was adjusting the white balance, so these photo's were taken with my iPhone, which is somewhat dated.

Here is the terrain looking toward the east, that of the American advance. I had some received some new roads that day, they do need some work. The bocage here are hedges rather then true bocage so can be fired from, are a medium obstacle and provide soft cover. I was able to advance my two JOP to my right and left flanks almost half way up the table. Mike got a little stuck and was able to get his JOP to just in front of the hedge on my right flank.  

Most of the action was not photographed but essentially you can see that I laid down a strong defensive perimeter to the right and the left of the road, with entrenchments on both sides. The stone wall abutting the house was also hard cover. Mike slowly and surely advanced his troops but did suffer significant loss from the my entrenched troops. This photo is from pretty late in the game and you can see that many German troops were lost as well, fortunately I was pretty lucky on my morale throws unlike Mike who was whittled down to a 5 pretty quickly.

Mike's 6pder and his FO.

Blurry, blurry, blurry, I have my troops dangerously running across the road to get to hard cover. My FO was planted in the orchard behind the hedge, you can just make out my truck mounted Pak 35 entrenched.

I was really hoping that Mike would advance his Sherman so I could shoot at it with my Marders, they could be only activated with a CoC dice.

Is this game the main tactic appear to be a Mortar barrage and I would say most damage was done by German 8cm mortar. 

I made 4 barrage markers to delineate the area of the barrage, you can see one of them above, they are a lot of work and I definitely need at least 6-8 more.

Mike packed it in when his morale fell to 4, so a German victory, I really thought I was not going to win one, but I think the dice gods favoured me. I believe it is the first time that Mike played the Canadians (substituted for Americans); he, as I, found that Commonwealth troops have to play a slow advance while whittling down the Germans before they attack!

The Return of Iohannes

Good news, it looks like a second copy of the famous dark age script, Chronica Iohannes has been discovered in the vault of the Church of St James in Rawcliffe, Yorkshire. Rawcliffe, an attractive village dating from about the 12th century, has been called the Queen of Villages. It is near the market town of Goole and lies on the banks of the River Aire. Although the present church dates from the 19th century it is known that there has been a religious structure there since the 14th century.

The priests at St James (a very high Anglican church) have always been known for their learning and many have been collectors of old scripts. It however was quite a shock that a second copy of Chronica Iohannes was discovered in a previously undiscovered crypt under the Creyke Chapel. This version, the Rawcliffe Chronicle, differs somewhat from the Lindisfarne Chronicle in the starting date as well as some of the names of Saxon invaders as well as the chronology of events.

I feel that this version, since it is more complete, will be better on which to base our Dux Britanniarum campaign. We had our first game last Thursday and although there was still some debate the rule mechanics, the game went quite well and I am pleased to say that Britons repelled the Saxons in their first encounter. An excellent pictorial of the battle can be found on Adam's blog, the Fencing Frog. The Saxon Characters are listed below. I have carried over the Britons from my solo campaign, but I did re-dice the attribute of my champion Uther as he was originally a horseman, but alas is without horse.

I had a 4+ victory, so I earned A Thief's Hoard, added 2 warriors and the priest Iohannes to my retinue. I think I will probably upgrade Antoninus from a Tribune to a Praefectus. This will allow me to build some Watchtowers once I gain some more loot. Our next game will be set in Oct 550, hopefully in actuality next Thursday!

Dux Mechanic Clarifications: A few things came up in our game, most of them were resolved with reference to the rule book, but help was also sought from the trusty denizens at the TFL Forum.

• Raid Points: It seemed somewhat unclear from the book whether the Britons were awarded points when the Saxons were unsuccessful. This was clarified as being the case in most of the raid scenarios (church, village, farm and cattle raids).
• Amalgamation of Groups: The British start the game with 3 groups of Levy, the question arose during our game as each group suffered attrition would their footprint reduce accordingly (specifically could you use 2 movement trays instead of 3). It was felt that the groups can indeed reduce their foot print but they still remain separate groups and thus have to be identified in some way.
• Attachment of Leaders: Leaders can attach and detach to groups freely without CI cost, but if they have to move to do this than this requires a CI.

Chain Of Command: Scenario 4

Myself and Mike had our 3rd game in 4 weeks of CoC. Like our last game, we set up the terrain and then diced for the scenario. Scenario 4 came up this time: A Delaying Action. We then diced for sides, I won and picked a British Infantry Platoon, Mike took the German Grenadiers. Diced again for Attacker/Defender, I won and chose to be the attacker. We then diced for Morale, I ended up with 9 and Mike 10. Finally we diced for supports, I rolled a 7, Mike as the defender got half a 3. Our supports were blinded, but I picked a Paratroop section (6) and 1 entrenchment (1). I know Mike picked a 5cm mortar (2), I am not sure what his choice was from list 1.

So the game started with the patrol phase, I think Mike got the better of me here. I was hoping to advance my markers on my left flank. The scenario runs the long edge of the terrain. My set up was in the far ground of the below photo and Mikes was in the foreground. Mike had 3 patrol markers all placed outside of 6" of his short edge of the table, and placed with 6" of each other as his starting position. I placed 4 patrol markers on one spot on my short edge ( I selected the dead centre). My objective in the game was to capture the German JOP marked with the red x in the photo and hold it until turn end. I will now let the photos do the talking.

German JOP's in yellow and British in blue. The crops to the right are broken ground but do not block LOS, they do not provide cover. The cornfield on the left of the road in the foreground is broken ground, provides light cover and blocks LOS. The road is lined by bocage with some gaps. It is a major obstacle.The stone wall around the house is hard cover but is low and does not block LOS. It is a medium obstacle. The trees are heavy going and block LOS and provide light cover. The house is two story with at least 2 windows on each side. I have ordered some roads which I hope will so arrive, I am hoping they will improve the look of my terrain.

Mike very quickly set a squad in the upper story of the stone house.

I started off well by laying down smoke.

Mike rapidly moves his second squad to the bocage as a defense on his right flank.

I rapidly advance my first section along the bocage to provide cover, the German line up their LMG in the cornfield edge.

Mike throws four D6 and a mortar barrage fall right on the section where my main advance is taking place, few loses are suffered but both the German and British units are pinned.

I aggressively advance my second section up the road along the edge of the bocage and my 3rd infantry section through the crop fields, the advance seems to be going well.

Meanwhile Mike has placed his 3rd squad along the stone wall. It is not obvious in the photo, but I elected to advance my airborne section along my right flank. This ended in disaster. Mike through 2D6 and was able to hammer the unit with his well fortified squad. They broke and the JL was wounded and they were thrown back. I was able to rally them with the SL Master Sergeant but thew very poorly on the morale table and dropped to a morale of 5. I really misplaced my entrenchment at the start of the game, it should have been placed in the tree line so my advance was blocked by the trees.

As usual when the action got heated I forgot to take any photos. Suffice to say despite rallying the paratroopers, they were weakened significantly, they advanced with their sergeant and were able to engage in combat and defeat a German squad but their JL got killed and they lost 2 more morale points ( every time I had to dice the morale table I threw a 6)! I was down to a morale of 4 and now had only 4 Command Dice. I was able to advance my first section across the road and combat the German squad, I again was able to win but at significant cost . Again my dice on the Morale table failed me and I dropped to a Morale of 1.......Game over, a German victory. Mike played well he was careful with his troops, I burned off troops rapidly and it cost me. Really played the British incorrectly. Next time I have to remember lay down smoke, advance carefully, use the Bren team to lay down fire. Only combat when the enemy is weakened.