Il Duce Land Grab

We haven't been able to get on with our Gembloux Gap campaign due to real life butting in, however I had the terrain on the table so I asked mate Rob if he was free for a Thursday afternoon game of Chain of Command. For something different he said he would bring along his Italians, putting more thought into it we came up with Italian mountain troops attacking French mountain troops, the French being the defenders and under my command.

French blue, Italians green.

 Neither side gets a large choice of supports from these lists and once Rob had made the support rolls I ended up with five points, I took an MMG and a medic, the Italians had an infantry gun, MMG, small mortar and a medic. As the game began I made a bad mistake and did not put a Jump Off Point next to a ruined building but the one behind it, this was to cause me some pain as the game played out due to it limiting my line of sight. I took up a defensive position inside a house on my left and inside a small wood on my right, I supported this flank with the MMG which deployed to the upstairs, or what was left of it, in another shelled house.

Rob was quite happy pounding away with his guns and mortars at my left flank and only slowly did this affect the squad in the house as I kept rallying shock off, he also sent a squad through the wood on this side to add to the pressure, two more squads cautiously advanced in the centre keeping concealed behind hedges and a tall wall. A very brave Italian section got too close to the men in the house and suffered for it, Italian morale dropped. As the fight continued the job of removing the French from their position was getting harder and Italian morale fell even more. I now wanted to bring on my last squad with the idea of counter attacking the wood on my left and sweeping away the enemy right and pressurising the gun and MMG but they refused twice to turn up.

 When they did turn up it was to save my army, from being comfortably in front in quick succession I lost a Junior and Senior leader and my men in the house routed. Rob took advantage of a triple phase and French morale in the end mirrored that of the Italians, both being on a shaky five. Flushed with the scent of victory the Italians now threw it away by moving on my squad in the wood on my right flank, sadly for them I was waiting and managed to get a hail of fire on them from the defenders, MMG and rifle grenades. Rob had hoped his men would weather the storm but the shot and shell was too much, meanwhile my reserve squad had deemed to turn up and managed to get into the vacated house on the left to oppose the Italians opposite who had now taken roost in the damaged house I should have taken at the beginning of the game. Italian casualties climbed and Rob surrendered.

An interesting game with no armour and not much in the way of support. A tough one for the Italians as it usually is when attacking in Chain of Command, although Rob was putting a ton of lead into the house on my left flank at first he mainly caused shock and few kills, I had to counter this by using my Senior leader to bolster their morale. Once he had killed both leaders it was all up for those men and the survivors fled, it was unfortunate that his men advancing on the position were still a turn away from getting there and my reluctant reserves turned up at just the right moment. To cap it all Rob had brought two of the excellent pork pies from the butcher in Grange, so a double win for me.

At the club on Tuesday night we ran through some rules written by Stuart for his take on Battlestar Galactica, all the models and playing pieces had been designed and printed by Stuart on his bank of 3D printers. I have to confess that it was only at the end of the game that I got a grip of the movement system so I think it is back to the drawing board for Stuart. He had brought some WWII ships for Rob which had been newly printed and they were simply beautiful but I really do not want another period.

 I received my two new buildings which I decided I needed for Project Operation Chariot. I was very happy with the large factory from Gamecult for only £20, it looked to be complex when I opened the box but it went together quite painlessly. I think I now have enough to complete my harbour complex so it only remains for me to organise the big day. Not next weekend as I have mate Matt coming for a weekend of gaming.

 Also off the production line are my three new Panzer 38(t)'s for a future campaign in Russia, I also managed to get a good deal on these and they came in at just over £12 each. They are a lovely kit and very easy to put together.

 I am not done yet as I have a Russian BT-7 for the same campaign to paint and a truck for my French motorised infantry, I do not doubt I will have these ready for next weekend just in case.

The LMF (Legendary Map Fund) has taken a hammering this week as I have invested in a new mouse for the downstairs PC, a new keyboard for the upstairs one and a cover so that in future I do not cover this one in paint. I also treated myself to another scholarly tome covering the war between the Byzantines and the Persians which allowed the rise of Islam as both were exhausted after decades of warfare.