A solo CoC AAR

OK, it wasn't supposed to be a solo game of Chain of Command, but my opponent didn't turn up at the club last Sunday. Still, these things happen, so I decided to press ahead and play solo, and although the game lacked an element of surprise, it was still a relatively interesting exercise with some useful maxims reinforced (see my comments at the end of the report).

The scenario chosen was No. 3 Attack and Defend, with the British attacking. They rolled a 8 for support options, thus giving the German defenders 4pts of support.

The Germans would be defending this fuel dump behind these ruined buildings and along the road towards the German right flank. With the 4pts of support, I chose a tripod mounted MG42, an excellent defensive weapon which rolls 10D6 when firing.

The British would be attacking from the relatively open ground on the left, across the cornfields. Withe 8pts of support, I chose a carrier recce section, one with a 2" mortar and the other with a Bren team, plus an additional carrier with a Bren, both choices with junior leaders.

Looking from the British side towards the German position. The carriers would deploy from the road entering from the table edge.

With higher Force Morale (9 to 8), the Germans rolled first, but I chose not to deploy, waiting to see where the British would be coming from. The first British section deployed in the trees on the British right, opposite the bombed buildings. The British had the next phase, after rolling 2 sixes, and proceeded to then get two more phases in succession. I got things moving quickly, getting more troops on the table and advancing.

A second section deployed in the trees in the centre, going onto overwatch, with the recce carriers moving up along the road.

Finally, the Germans got to deploy, getting a section inside the factory ruins. A decent start, I think.

 These were joined by the tripod MG42 behind the hedges at the road junction.

The British began to lay down smoke so that their infantry could get up close to the hedge. The rest of the Germans advanced to form up a firing line behind the hedges, note the line of craters, which I decided were caused by RAF Tempests in an earlier phase of the battle firing on some now-departed Germans.

With the German Senior Leader on the table, he was able to keep on activating the tripod MG42 which managed to wound the right-hand section's junior leader, taking British morale down to 7.

In the centre, the Germans began to pour fire across the road into the British behind the hedges. Using the Maschinengewehr characteristic, the junior leader of the right-hand section directed the section MG42, causing casualties and shock, even though the smokescreen was blocking line of sight for the rifle section.

On the German left, the British Platoon Sergeant was using two of his three command initiatives to direct the Bren gunner to fire at the tripod MG42's position. The Bren scored two kills and a point of shock, but the British were wary of advancing into the face of more MG42 fire.

The Germans played one CoC dice to end the Turn, removing the smokescreen. The British were then able to see their wounded corporal to return to the fray. The German Panzerschreck team got off a shot towards the carriers but missed. The platoon lieutenant then ordered the 2" mortar team to start laying down more smoke.

The British were getting bogged down. Accurate MG42 fire was suppressing them pretty well and a series of poor command dice rolls was stopping the carriers from getting into the action. Perhaps the British would have been better off with a tank as support?

The British rifle section on the left was really taking a pasting and began to move across behind the smoke to avoid more losses from the MG42 across the road.

On the British right, things were going from bad to worse. Shock was mounting, casualties rising, include another wound to the section corporal (reducing his command initiative to one) and the section was soon Pinned.

With casualties mounting and little chance of a breakthrough, it seemed a good point to stop. British force morale was down to 6 and the Germans were content to sit back and use their MG42s to suppress the British. Time to call it a day.

Here is the final position. Both the right- and left-hand British sections are Pinned and much reduced in numbers and the central section is stuck behind a cornfield with its corporal reduced to one command initiative. The largely ineffective carriers are stuck doing nothing of use, having been scared by one single shot from the Panzerschreck.

So, what did I learn from this game?

Firstly, MG42s are key to success for the Germans. Site them well and use the section Obergefreiter to direct their fire whenever possible. This cannot be stated often enough; the MG42 is an excellent defensive weapon with excellent suppressive fire abilities.

Secondly, when attacking a German defensive position, don't try and win with your infantry alone. You'll need a lot of lucky dice to make it happen. The way to win is to use firepower, either with a tank or, even better with off-table mortars. If the British had had a FOO and off-table 3" mortars, the Germans would have had a lot of exploding stuff raining down on them, allowing the British to outflank them on the German right.

Thirdly, when defending Do Not Deploy Too Early. Wait and see what the enemy are doing first.