1940

 My son turned up today eager to start a campaign, we had settled on Many Rivers to Cross, where the Germans are attacking in 1940 and trying to push the British back while building a bridge to enable their armour to surge into France. I was defending a village with an excellent line of defences, the only problem was that I had to throw dice to deploy, hopefully getting the right scores to cover the whole battlefield. 

Well I didn't and ended up with all my patrol markers on my left flank. At my disposal I had four squads of infantry and some AA machine guns, Stewart had taken a Schutzen platoon from 1st Panzer division and his supports included a Pioneer squad and a Stuka bombardment. In came the Luftwaffe and set two of the buildings on fire causing long streams of smoke to hinder the lines of sight, I forgot all about my AA guns in the excitement. As I started to deploy I fell victim to more Luftwaffe nonsense and my mortar team took five shock on turning up as did one of my infantry squads, I tried to bring a Senior Leader on to save the mortar but was then subject to a Shabby Nazi Trick in the shape of a fifth columnist who nullified my leader.

Luftwaffe causing mayhem.

 

I managed to end the turn and the Luftwaffe flew off, Stewart now began to move troops against my right, leading with the huge Pioneer squad and a Schutzen unit, I managed to shoot up the Pioneers but it took time. My Senior Leader was still in thrall to the fifth columnist and I lost the mortar squad when I ended the turn. Stewart decided to call a halt and withdraw before I started to shoot up his platoon. Round 1 to the British.

Under fire.

The Pioneers and Hans and Heinz.

Bad move.

I now had the opportunity to counter-attack but the disparity in the support points put me off along with the terrain I would be fighting across, so I handed the Initiative back to Stewart. This time I left off the extra squad and took a MMG and a sniper team, Bob and Bert, I rolled really low. The Jerries came prepared this time along with a bucket full of support points, a mortar barrage, flamethrower and Pioneer squad, the Luftwaffe were refuelling and rearming.

Once again I had all my patrol markers on my left and Stewart managed to close me down fairly quickly giving me very little ground on which to deploy, I simply could not stop the Jerries taking the right flank. I cocked up again and brought on MMG far too soon, retaliatory fire killed three of the crew right away despite being in heavy cover. Then all hell broke loose as the mortar barrage hit, right on target, Bob and Bert were taken out and my other squads pinned down for four phases, Stewart used this time to move into the village and waited until the smoke cleared.

Jerry flanking my position.

 

The Pioneers again lead the way.

 

Boom, incoming!

The barrage ends my hopes.

  was done for, I had hoped to injure his core platoon as they advanced but having suffered losses which dropped my morale from nine to four I had to think of the battles ahead, I withdrew having barely scratched the Boche. The baddies now decided to opt for 'Blitzkrieg' so they have to attack the next table with the same men and supports they used for this table, no big deal as they lost no one, but they get one move nearer their goal. 

And yes, once again it is Chain of Command, Matt turned up today and we started a second Abbeville campaign, much different from the first and with different forces, the British from the 51st Highland Division against the German 57th Division. The last one was very difficult for the British to win and the third battle was pointless, we both agreed.

So this time I was again the attacker for the first three games, and for this one I took an extra infantry squad, a mortar and brought back Bob and Bert the sniper team and my ace was a Vickers VIC tankette, which it was doubtful the Germans could knock out but could drive it away. Matt also took an extra squad and his usual foul French collaborator, Louis to snipe away at my boys. The terrain was such that the Boche would be sitting in a large wood while I had to get them out of it.

Near Abbeville, again.

I slowly deployed what I could as my JOP's were quite far back, so it took time to get into a position for my assault, this allowed Matt to get a decent firing line in place, he still had one in reserve and of course Louis turned up. I had to spend time and orders on hunting Louis but I got him fairly quickly, I then had an idea to push the tank up the road and capture the furthest away enemy JOP, but I left it too late and instead put the tank to use supporting my upcoming advance. This came as my men moved into the wood along the roads, I had managed to outnumber the three German squads in front of me and this helped in the prolonged firefight which ensued.

Onwards boys.

Clank, clank.

Looking for the Fifth Column.

It was not all plain sailing however as my tank proved fairly useless at hitting the enemy and several Bren teams and NCO's hit the dirt or were wounded, somehow the teams left behind held up as my morale plunged to six. I was also able to take advantage of a good number of double turns to start to punish the Hun, Matt's morale fell to four and with a couple more Bad Things Happen rolls to make he handed over his sword.

Jerry waiting.

 

Here we come.

 

Closing in.

 At last a game I was more than happy with, I felt I had used my command rolls well and that meant a lot, Matt expected me to be caught entering the wood but he had deployed too far back, if he had been further forward I would have been shot up before reaching the cover, but then again I would have sat in my wood and the nearby house and traded shots across the road. In the next game we are back with a British advance across fairly open ground, deja vu?

There won't be a lot of Chain of Command for the next post and maybe the one after, this Saturday and Sunday will be a War and Conquest marathon with Rob Broom, eight different armies will be in action from the Trojan War up to the Fall of the West. I really am looking forward to this. 

Frustrated Moi!

 Good friend Billy turned up from beyond The Wall for a couple of days of Chain of Command a welcome visit. I found three linked battles we could easily do in the time allotted as a full campaign would be out of the question, it was an attack on a town, the first table the approach, the second the outskirts and the third the town itself. It was originally with Americans as the attackers however I do not have Americans so changed it to somewhere in East Prussia in early 1945 and I took the Soviets, Billy chose Panzergrenadiers for his defenders.

I had to tweak things as V2 of the rules are now out so we went for Probe, Attack and Defend and finally Attack on an Objective, the only other thing we took from the original was that the Soviets had to use six support points on armour. The terrain was fairly open for the first battle so I took support which hopefully would injure the defenders at the opposite end, an infantry gun, a HMG and a Lee tank. The Germans had very little in the way of support and ended up with some entrenchments.

First table, Jerries at the far end.

M3 Lee, a good tank for this.

Fritz waiting.

My top man gets wounded.

So near yet so far.

Billy set up two of his squads on the edge of a wood and I started to deal out casualties, I also set up my LMG squad in a wood and this added to the firepower heading Fritz's way. At an early point we got to the third turn which meant the Final Countdown had started to end the game, I still had nine phases to go to get along the open ground and prayed for a double turn to cross this and exit a unit off the table, I took my time and still pelted the enemy line, eventually they withdrew as the clock ticked down, I now just needed to go forward. However we were on Sudden Death where any double six would end the game. What did I throw after waiting ages for a double six, a double six, the game was Billy's.

How was the game, I was disappointed that I didn't manage to get more results from shooting up two squads, I might have managed to throw my tank and some infantry up long before the end of the game was nigh, but even with his reserve squad holding the wood anyone in the open would have simply been shot up, I really did need that double move to sprint for victory, just not when it happened.

 For the second game I had pretty much the same force, this time I had to capture one of two objectives, again Billy kept his defenders way back almost on his table edge, I pushed my men up the table looking for firing positions. I sent my tank up in support and it found itself ambushed by a panzerschreck team which took me completely by surprise, I almost cried as the tank went up in smoke, but wait, Billy had misunderstood the rules and the ambush could not happen, I did a little dance in my mind while Billy regretted showing his ace in the sleeve. The tank quickly backed off out of range, however in fear of the 'schreck it didn't do a lot more.

Second table, far end the baddies.

Infantry gun.

Once again.

Jerries dug in, again.

I managed to get right up to the defenders, again holding the rear area, and a fierce firefight ensued, it was hampered by the fact my supporting heavy weapons could not get a line of sight on the Jerries or were hiding from a real ambush. I was extremely frustrated at my efforts to break the two squads holding the line, although I slowly reduced them and had stunned or wounded every officer in the area Billy kept holding on while my own casualties mounted. I was reduced to four morale points but still kept plugging away, a decent couple of phases also reduced Billy to four, it was a race to the bottom. I was then reduced to two and Billy still had four or three, whoever got decent Command dice would win. Neither of us could manage it, then I threw two five's, absolutely useless, Billy took the lead with a double turn, that was it, I had to take two morale checks and they took me to zero Force Morale. I looked forlornly at my tank which had at last arrived to turn the tide, too little too late.

Part of my frustration was in throwing double turns or turn ends time after time, this actually reduced me to two or three command dice which were mostly useless to what I needed while giving the Jerries multiple CoC points, I think about one and a half CoC dice at least, maybe two. The endgame became very exciting with both sides hoping for that last throw which would force morale checks which would secure a win, sadly I did not get them.

 The next day we were set up for the Soviet attack on the village, it had been a long day and I did not sleep well and got smart or confused and changed for a SMG platoon thinking they would be more useful at urban fighting, I wanted more infantry but had to use six points on armour, so out again came the M3 Lee to which was added a regular rifle squad. Billy put down a minefield on the main road and again took a panzerschreck, although he tried to confuse me talking about German tanks.

Third table.

Once again he held back and put his defenders in positions well back when they did show up. I rushed forward, trying to get my SMG bonus's and soon had all my squads deployed, it was only then I realised my mistake and that they had a range of 18", and most of my squads were out of range. I used the tank as a jump off point and then retreated it to a position where it could cover some buildings at the end of the village, once again it was ambushed, hit and immobilised, you do not need armour if you have a panzerschreck. At this point I gave up and pulled my troops back from their forward positions in the rubble as they only provided targets for MG 42's. The game was up and I shook my head.

Into the rubble.

Sneaky.

Grenadiers just waiting.

Billy offered another game and he would take the Russians, there was a hint of 'I'll show you how it's done' there, I said he should take rifle squads but he was adament on using the SMG's. The Soviets came on quickly apart from the tank which again was keeping out of the way of an ambush which meant it was basically useless. The game followed the same process as before, I deployed squads well back and shot up the Red infantry without fear of retaliation, although their LMG squad and the rifles tried they were outshot by the grenadiers and forced to pull back. Billy bravely tried to swamp my right flank but I covered this with my last reserve and the effort came to naught, as did a probe on my left. He got close but the short range and the wall of fire the grenadiers could throw out stopped him. I got one game in the pan.

Billy captures a house but is out of range.

Hiding behind the ruins.

 

Time for my grenadiers to let loose.

This one was almost impossible for the Soviets to win with an SMG heavy force and I honestly do not think a rifle armed force would have had much more of a chance. I made a mistake and suffered for it, but it only meant I realised I was on a hiding to nothing quicker.

The games threw up some strange results, as the attacker my Force Morale was usually lower than the defenders. My throwing the double six to ensure my defeat in game one made us both laugh. The insane amounts of double and treble turns I got in game two got me nowhere and merely built up Billy's CoC points. I took a pre-game barrage in game three and my first or second roll ended the turn and made it pointless. I have not mentioned the Soviet sniper team of Svetlana and Anastasia, who turned out to be hopeless, both for me and when Billy changed sides, no Hero of the Soviet Union or Red Star for those two, back to the kitchen.

I don't care what many CoC players say about the realism of the game versus certain others and how realistic tactics win the day. Yes there are many mechanics in the game which you can use to make the pendulum swing your way and some you ignore to your peril. But in the end it all comes down to the five Chain of Command dice, if you don't get a good spread you are doomed until the next phase, for example if you have only one Senior Leader and get four 4's, three are useless. So, like every other wargame is luck still a part of it, yes and no, the challenge is to get the best out of the roll you get but, there is always a but, some times you are just stuck. I have played a couple of games with the use of the 'Red' dice which allows you to throw six dice and although there are restrictions the game flows much better. A ramble but I now have combat fatigue.

So, a visit from an old wargaming opponent who wanted to have a dram with me and some games, despite my wailing and gnashing of teeth at thowing buckets-o-dice and seemingly getting nowhere, a great couple of days, and very much appreciated.

The Battle of Ravenna

 Back at the club again, Bolt Action against 'Lucky' Jimi. I took the British and Jimi brought his winter Jerries, I debated whether to penalise his movement due to ski's but thought better of it, it was a friendly game after all. I stole Matt Crump's scenario from a couple of weeks ago, we both had a senior officer stranded with his vehicle and we had to protect him while capturing the enemy one.

I took four infantry squads a MMG, Cromwell tank, Humber armoured car and a truck, Jimi had four squads a truck, halftrack, MMG, panzerschreck and a StuG III. I have not played Bolt Action for a long time and cannot muster the enthusiasm to read through Version 3, you almost need scaffolding to hold it up due to the amount of guff in it, so we went with version 2 and some common sense.

I decided to put a squad and the armoured car on defender duty while I attempted to take the rest to capture the Party bigwig on my right. There was a tank duel at first and I lost the Cromwell but still decided to push my infantry forward, I had also managed to get the Humber into a position where it could fire on the flank of the StuG, I needed a lot of luck to penetrate but I could deal out pins, there was so much going on around the StuG that Jimi forgot to move it. The British get a free (no idea why) artillery observer, losing my tank forced me to use him and my artillery barrage caused a lot of disarray in the German defenders, no more mister nice guy.

Fat Hermann, party big wig.

 

Major Bracegirdle.

 

That changed things.

Slowly but surely I closed in on the Party faithful while Jimi lost several morale throws and failed to move, this happened to me as well but only once, in keeping with his usual bad fortune Jimi also got two FUBAR's and several units fled for the rear. This meant he now brought a couple of squads in to attempt to take my Officer, but I was ready and brought in my last unit to ensure he couldn't manage this while I took fat Hermann prisoner, game over.

Welcome support for the Major.

Easy target.

Potential game winner.

The game moved swiftly and was a bit of fun, the artillery bombardment really played havoc with the German morale, I have always been more than dubious of the 'free' units in Bolt Action but with the loss of my only tank and the Jerries having upgraded MG fire I felt it necessary to give me a fighting chance. I still feel guilty, although I have been on the recieving end many times of the 'free' something rule. 

I found myself with a free week and in desperation I decided to go solo in order to get my Italian Wars collection on the table, I looked for inspiration in my three scenario books and settled on the Battle of Ravenna from 'All is Lost Save Honour' published by Helion and Co. and on which I worked along with the authors Colin Ashton and Conrad Cairns, a must for beginners to the period. I use Furioso rules which are well suited to solo play as once the initial deployment is set the Initiative system can take over and the battle runs itself. One good thing about solo is you can use your common sense in all situations despite what the rules say. Not shown on the map are the arquebusiers I allowed to line the ditch.

To the battle, the duel between the artillery of both sides which I allowed for a couple of moves changed little as the French especially could not hit a barn door, which was a shame as they had far more guns. One unit of Gendarmes on the right threw caution to the wind and charged the enemy, they managed to defeat some Papal men-at-arms who had tried to intercept them and then charge the Spanish gun line wiping out a complete crew. They were then in turn charged by some Spanish men-at-arms, beaten and dispersed.

View from the French positions.

The Imperial defence.

The battlefield.

Meanwhile the French and Spanish light cavalry skirmished with each other on the French left while the French infantry slowly, very slowly made their way forward, they immediately began to suffer from the arquebusiers lining the ditch, they needed to get a move on before their casualties increased. It was now apparent that the French wanted to crush the Spanish centre before their flanks were attacked.

The French reach the ditch.

French pikes break the Imperial gun line.

The Landsknechts break through.

Imperial right.

Attacking across ditches or other defences in Furioso is difficult and this was proven as most of the French assaults became disordered, but the opposition were mainly arquebusiers and these were all swept away, although some put up a struggle before running. As the French breasted the ditch the Spanish pike blocks moved forward, several brutal melees ensued, the Italian's on the French side failed miserably and were defeated however the Landsknechts destroyed their enemy and the French pike engaged more of the Spanish in a to and fro melee. On the right the artillery still hammered away at each other while more French pikes drove into the Imperial left, the Imperial cavalry falling back from the pikes or faltering and failing to change direction. The fight here was still anyone's, as both sides now manouvered for an edge.The crises of the battle was fast approaching.

Landsknechts meet more Papal infantry.

Spanish pikes undecided, left or right?

French artillery.

French pikes pushed back.

Renaissance Uber Eats arrives.

Most of the infantry cresting the ditch were held or actually routed apart from the Landsknechts who smashed their way forward, to their right a French pike block which had kept up with them was then pushed back by some incredibly tough Spaniards just as it seemed the whole Imperial centre would break. 

At this point the Imperial army had reached its break point despite from a wargamers standpoint looking like it could overturn the result and maybe, just maybe grab the win as the French also were one point away from breaking. As I pondered this a look at the casualties on the side showed the Imperials, despite outnumbering the French had been roughly handled so I let the rules dictate the winner. I have to say that throughout the French seemed way more keen than the Imperials to get to grips with the enemy, their Initiative dice were generally much higher than the enemy who, as in reality, were far more cautious. The attack on the works was a daring move but paid off just in time. 

I have a lot coming up over the next four weeks, I have mate Billy coming for a couple of days from north of the Wall for some Chain of Command, then my son for the same on the following Sunday, then a week later I will be fighting Rob Broom over a weekend of War and Conquest, and after that a little holiday for a week in darkest Northumberland. I also hope to fit something in with Matt Crump as well.

So, that's it for now, still nothing on the paint tray although spent time doing a few map projects for Helion while waiting for the Atlas author to get back to me, nothing complicated. I almost forgot, Ken Reilly (Yarkshire Gamer) wants to take his outstanding 'Relief of Forli' to Claymore this year and is asking for volunteers, I have put my name down and if available I will be there.

I did start looking into a CoC mini campaign and I have the framework ready along with the German OOB based on 6th Panzer Divisions attempted relief of Stalingrad, but I have put it aside at the moment due to visits from family and the large IW game, but like Macarthur "I shall return" but will keep my feet dry.