Ouch, again

 Back to Chain of Command and the next game in our Abbeville campaign. I am now fighting to the end with this platoon albeit I do get reinforcements if required, which I am sure they will be as Matt can replace his platoon with a fresh one if he needs to.

For support I chose an A10 tank and a Universal carrier with a bren and a Junior Leader, I had plans to use this as a mobile pillbox. Matt went all Panzerwaffe again with a Pz 38(t), one of my favourite tanks, along with an extra squad. There would be two ammunition dumps on my side of the battlefield and I had to blow both or force the Germans to retreat, I received two free demolition teams for this but still felt it would be a hard one to win. I have played this type of scenario several times and have never been successful.

British end of the village.

German approach.

The Ammunition dumps.

I quickly put troops in an orchard which controlled the approach to the dumps while Matt had, as seems usual in these games, to come at me over open ground. I also brought on my tank and Matt parried with his, the armour would spend several phases duelling before my tin can exploded. Meanwhile the Germans built up a firing line and peppered the orchard, I reinforced the boys there and bullets flew between us, I had also backed up my men with the Universal carrier. Matt brought his usual French saboteur which I had to spend time to deal with, grrrr.

The saboteur makes a quick getaway.

So much for the British armour.

Matt attacks the orchard.

Things looked to be going my way and I got quite a few double turns, quite soon a couple of German squads were fleeing rearward, then I lost my tank, this gave heart to the Jerries and my guys in the orchard began to suffer from the steel monster. The game also picked up as my morale fell to one while Matt's dropped to three, Matt only needed a decent command roll to receive bragging rights. Then things went pear shaped for him, I got two good command rolls and ran my carrier into his line and captured a leader, I think I got something else during the round as the resulting Bad Things Happen test put the Jerries on zero, I had won. As I counted the cost it turned out it had been a Pyrrhic victory, my platoon had been cut to ribbons. I have yet to roll for reinforcements and I need something really high for that, I could have slunk off but where would the fun have been in that.

Pz 38(t).

Boom, got one, one more to go.

Game winner, for you Fritz the war is over.

We should of course have the Jerries fighting again on this table but to be honest with my losses and more Boche support points I don't think it would be worth it. I have now fought a couple of 1940 campaigns and have another going with my son, yes I know the Jerries should win but in a wargame the underdog should still stand a chance however slim, the next game may put the kibosh on things.

Friend Simon fixed my PC problem recently and had to return to install another drive, I took the opportunity to offer him a game here in the Bunker and he chose ACW. I found an old disc with my collected ACW scenarios from various sources and chose another of Paul Stevenson's, Harris's Farm. It is 1864 and the Union are running out of men in the East and have brought garrison troops and heavy artillery units in to serve as infantry, I believe this was their first real fight and they suffered for it. 

In the scenario the huge new regiments are split into three green battalions each and their officers are rated Poor so their command and control is almost non existent, on the Confederate side the troops are mainly veterans and many are elite albeit some are only 200 men strong. The Union must hold three farms and a crossroads while the Rebs need only to capture one along with the crossroads, a hard task for both sides.

View towards the Reb lines.

The Union in the distance.

I  took the Union and tried to move them to the front as quickly as I could but it was slow going, the Rebs came on quickly and my forward troops were swept away by the surprise attack. I did eventually manage to build up a decent battle line but had only managed to take one of the farms, I did however control the crossroads. It looked like my left was fairly safe but there were some furious firefights in the centre and the pressure was building up on my right. 

The Federals rush for the front.

Simon rushes his troops forward.

Although my lines was beginning to stabilise I was losing out in the firefights as my casualties were double those dealt out to the Rebs. As Simon now began to push forward against my right I got two guns up to hopefully chase him away and anchor my defences. It was not to be, the battery ran out of ammunition and one gun crew were shot down around their piece. I now tried to surprise the Rebs and threw three charges at them, I felt safe as I now had a line behind which could be a refuge if things went wrong, although it was still a desperate move.

Union right under pressure.

It turned out to be a disaster, all the charges were stopped and had to retreat, the resulting morale checks also put paid to my 'safety' line and as the smoke cleared my right was shattered. I called a halt, I had nothing left to hold on to the crossroads. Simon's luck was certainly in during this game, he won the firefights and several times dealt out devastating casualties (two sixes) which ensured the defeat of my charges. Having said that for green troops my boys held out quite well, but it was a struggle with only one order per three battalions to get them to do what I wanted before the Rebs hit. Nonetheless a good days fighting.

Union centre forms up.

More Federals make it to the front.

Some skirmishers are chased away.

Alas it costs me my right flank.

I have now finished my fourth American vehicle, a M8 Hellcat that I picked up at Claymore, it is a really nice looking tank and a lovely kit, I have some tank crew given to me by Robert and after I get this last squad done I will get on to them. 

Not a lot else going on, I have a wedding to attend in Scotland next weekend, a flying visit up and down in the one day, made easy by the fact I don't drink anymore. I have a couple of games sorted for next week but then a bit of a struggle as Matt is away looking at battlefields, lucky sod. I might so do some Italian Wars solo. 

The Atlas is still not complete, I suspect September now as  real life takes up more of my time.