Matt turned up for our third game of the second Abbeville campaign. I will not sugar coat this, it was terrible from the British (me) point of view.
The scenario was all wrong, the defenders got the same amount of support as the attackers, 14 points, they started the patrol phase halfway along the table and I was relegated to one corner, so basically my Jump Off Points were together on the table edge, I had got nowhere due to the huge expanse of open ground between me and the German edge.
 |
| The German edge. |
 |
| My edge, aaagh! |
I had taken a Vickers MkVIb with a HMG and a Bren carrier and two MMG's, the idea was to put up a wall of lead and grind down the defenders from long range as I could not send infantry to their deaths across No Man's Land, toys or not. I got my machine guns, tank and a squad behind a hedge on and felt good as I knew Matt would be in the trees opposite. Then the Jerries began to turn up, and it was me who started to lose figures with my squad having to hide behind any rock or outcrop to remain alive. I usually got to use three or two command dice due to getting sixes or fives so never had enough to concentrate fire on the bad guys.
 |
| This will sort them out, not. |
 |
| Matt's forlorn hope. |
 |
| Quick, hide lads. |
I then moved another squad and one of the MMG's into the one house facing the enemy, this along with moving my useless tank around meant I really could not muster a decent volley against the Boche. Matt then brought a squad on in an awkward place to tempt me out of my line, fat chance the way the game was going, I picked on this squad with almost everything I had and although sending them packing it took time, too much time. My tank failed miserably to hit or kill anything, even in the open.
 |
| Heavy metal. |
 |
| Not so heavy but enough. |
The game descended into both forces at the opposite ends of the table throwing dice and hoping for hits and kills, Matt did far better than me, he had his moments with the dice as well but once his infantry gun and armoured car were deployed I could not match the hurt coming my way. I didn't even have anywhere to bring on a third of my troops where they could survive. I lost a squad, MMG and a Senior leader and gave up as my morale plummeted, along with mine. A good win for Matt nonetheless.
What a complete mess this scenario was, I could have taken a mortar bombardment but shy away from these due to my experience with V1 but in the end you really need one if you are attacking across a completely open battlefield, I will not forget this, oh, and no more Vickers MkVI's, it has been hopeless in every game so far. Do not go near the Abbeville campaigns if you play Chain of Command, unless you are the bad guys.
I just had to get this off my chest, thankfully I have a more upbeat post coming on the heels of this one, more anon.
