So, I wanted to play a game of CoC, it was not serious and was merely a training game for both Simon and I, my games with Stewart went fairly quickly but then he has been playing the game for some time, so this would be very different.
We rolled a dice for the scenario and got an Attack and Defend situation, I was the attacker and had to force Simon's Russians from the table or capture the very end house. I took a StuG III, and an infantry gun along with an adjutant for my supports, the main troops were an infantry platoon, Simon had Soviet infantry along with a flamethrower (natch), a heavy machine gun and a 37mm anti-tank gun, a pretty little thing.
I hastily brought on a squad and put them on the front line behind a hedge, a mistake as it turned out, Simon then managed to get two squads and the HMG on, these gave my boys a lot of hurt. I then managed to get the StuG on but it couldn't hit a barn door, we have been here before. The 37mm coughed and came close to damaging my tank, I was a bit perturbed, I then forgot to bring my infantry gun on. My squad was now dangerously reduced by the weight of fire turned on it, and I did not want to bring another squad on to suffer the same fate. Shortly after this I did get the infantry gun on along with a squad which I put in the house, the gun also seemed to make a half hearted effort to kill Russians.
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| Survivors (forgot my JOP) so used Patrol Marker. |
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| Commies! |
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| Everything but decent ammo. |
I thought I had an up to date rule book but on reading the Errata found that only small changes had been made and I had to type up several paragraphs to add or change, they are now in the rear of the book with pointers in the main book. There is a lot to remember in this game.
Now just for fun I have quickly drawn the battlefield below with houses, hedges, cornfields and one hill, black circles are German JOP's and red Russian, if you are a CoC player what would you have done? Bear in mind if the supports had been even average it may have been a walkover (thinks wishfully). I now wonder if I should have used only three Patrol Markers which would have let me move much further forward and may have knocked the Russian JOP's further back as I got three free moves.
After playing many games, I finally figured out the value of 3 Patrol Markers if you are defending. MOst of the time when defending you want to stay back, but at the same time you do not want the attacker to get up the board. By using 3 PM's agressively and getting them locked down as quickly as possible you limit the number of times that an attacker can move his PM's. Remember once one side is locked down the patrol phase stops.
ReplyDeleteI am wonder if you read Rich Clark's Tactical Primer on how to play CoC.
I haven't but am watching the CP videos on tactics etc. I'll look it up.
DeleteJust emailed it to you
DeleteThanks John.
DeleteAll Quiet on the NW Frontier I see. I doubt there is ever a game played where some rule is omitted or misinterpreted!
ReplyDeleteYes, waiting for my opponent, got off to a flying start but think Stuart was on hols. Simon only has Russians hence Ostfront. Getting a bit carried away with terrain at the moment.
DeleteI'd have considered retreating with your forward squad rather than leaving it exposed? Maybe the SL could have popped up to manage the shock before getting them moving? The Adjutant would have kept the off table troops in order.
ReplyDeleteIf they were too shocked to move then perhaps going tactical, turning soft cover in to hard cover might have helped them hang around a bit longer.
Also, what john-d-t-n about patrol markers! ;o)
All that junk on the back of your Stug seems to be lifting the nose and putting the gunner off his aim, lol!
Cheers
Matt
Retreat did come to me but too late, I should have brought them on with a 3 rather than a 2 and gone on Overwatch. Also the HMG takes their cover down one. Also brought on the SL, but again too late. A bit over cautious really.
DeleteI can only echo what John and Matt have said. It will take a few games to get the hang of.
ReplyDeleteThat's my problem Phil, would love to play more but just can't, frustrating.
DeleteThe biggest temptation for new players is to deploy too soon. Deploying is something to do when you see a very clear advantage, after all your men are hidden until they deploy and that is a good thing, is it not? As the attacker you want to temp the defender to deploy so that they are no longer hidden and then you can plan how to attack. As the defender you don't want to deploy until you know the attacker's main avenue of approach. In either case you want to deploy in a position of strength. In this game the defender deployed in strength to outgun your squad, but he also showed most of his hand by doing so. Your option was to deploy more of your units to gain fire superiority, or pull back and deploy elsewhere once you know where the defenders are situated. CoC is very much a game of chicken, you want to make your opponent blink first and show his hand, this gives you the initiative and then you strike hard where he is weakest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, I realised I was too quick to set up as soon as the bullets started flying, I was happy all the Russians turned up but my HE firing was really bad to add insult to injury. Nice blog by the way, lovely work on the Cromwell.
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