Nijmegen weekend - Big CoC at BIG

Last weekend, it was time to go down to Bristol Independent Gaming for two days of 15mm Chain of Command to play out a number of scenarios in and around Nijmegen during Operation Market Garden in 1944.

Day One

The weekend was excellently organised by Jimmy, who set up three interesting tables for the first day. The first represents the Hunnerpark, with the bridge over the Waal off at the top left. SS Panzergrenadiers would be defending the approaches to the bridge along the left of the table, with 82dd Airborne coming from the right Both sides had limited armour support.

The second table represents the approaches to the railway bridge. This would be an all-armour affair, with Guards Armoured coming up against Jagdpanzer IVs.

Finally, the road north of Nijmegen with 82nd Airborne attacking from the top, with the road defended by an ad hoc Heer Zug, made up of rear echelon troops.

The fighting was fierce on all three tables, with the Allies coming out victorious in the latter two encounters, but being forced to withdraw from the fight in the Hunnerpark dues to heavy losses. In early random event caused this house to the south of the park to catch fire. This was a mixed blessing for both sides, but overall it favoured the defenders.

The Panzergrenadiers had a huge superiority in firepower, with two MG42s per section, and these really swung the result.

This PaK 40 was a threat to the 82nd.

This single Guards Armoured Sherman was a problem for a long time, but was finally knocked out by the Jagdpanzer.

Even though the 82nd were able to use the smoke to try and outflank the defenders, their numbers were too few to take the bridge without armour so the US commander decided to pull out.

The fight in the marshalling yards was a real cat-and-mouse affair, with the Allies finally gaining the upper hand, knocking out all three Jagdpanzers for the loss of one Sherman.

On the final table, the 82nd managed to push out the Heer Zug defending the road.

This final table was in the balance for a long while, but the superior abilities of the 82nd won the day in the end.

Day Two

The second day was a single huge game of Big CoC, i.e. Chain of Command with multiple players on each side. The rules can be found here, on the TooFatLardies blog. Of course, you'll still need the main rules to play this amendment.

The scenario was set in Lent, a suburb of Nijmegen north of the road bridge over the Waal. The premise was a German counter-attack from the direction of Elst, north of Nigmegen to try and recapture the Waal bridge, which even though the south end was still in German hands after Day One, the defenders had been forced to withdraw due to the Allies taking the northern end of the bridge and bringing armour up over the rail bridge.

Here is the view from the German end, looking south. the low-lying land either side of the road was boggy, meaning that armour risked bogging-down if it chose to drive across it at anything other than slow speed. The Germans needed to get infantry across the open ground to try and hold the crossroads in the centre of the village.

A good patrol phase saw the Germans get jump-off points (marked by SdKfz 251 half-tracks) in the woods to the right and also up on the edge of the table on the left.

The final German JoP was close to the road at the German end of the table.

The Germans received a lot of support points, giving the Panzergrenadiers an additional section and the Heer Zug two extra sections. They also got two PaK 40 guns and an additional Senior Leader.

Before long, the Heer Zug was in action close to the hedges, threatening one of the Allied JoPs.

The Panzergrenadiers and guns on the right stayed on Overwatch, awaiting developments ahead. The Armour, in the shape of four Jagdpanzer IVs was held in reserve off-table.

A Panzerschreck team was sent towards Lent, to try and get close to the action, but also to see if the Germans could advance a JoP. Unfortunately, it was targeted by mortar fire and killed.

The Panzergrenadiers once again used their MG42s to great effect, pinning on section of the 82nd and causing shock to another.

 On the left, the Heer Zug moved through the woods, while the section by the hedge survived a bout of hand-to-hand combat, wiping out thie opponents, and threatening an Allied JoP.

Meanwhile, the Allies in Lent were getting troops into the houses. The village was looking like a tough nut to crack, especially with the arrival of the Guards' tanks.

As the Heer Zug made ground through the woods, the detached section captured the JoP. Events were pushing Allied Morale down, but their position was too strong to take by a frontal assault. The tank Troop Firefly had a view all along the road, making it risky to bring on German vehicles.

The 82nd troops were forced out of the upper stories of the buildings, meaning that the flat ground outside the village was now dead ground.

Heavy accurate MG42 fire was causing the 82nd a lot of casualties, but what was needed was some aggressive movement. The Heer Zug was taking a lot of fire too, so the SS Panzergrenadiers began to advance through the dead ground where the Allies couldn't see them.

Finally, the Jagdpanzers began to slowly attack. This paid off handsomely, when the lead Jagdpanzer knocked out the Firefly after a short exchange of fire.

The German infantry finally got to the hedge, but were immediately fired upon from the buildings.

The Panzergrenadiers also captured another Allied JoP, causing another drop in Force Morale.

Another Sherman was brewed-up by a Panzerfaust shot. The Allies were now down to a single tank.

That last Sherman took out the leading Jagdpanzer.

The Germans managed to get infantry inside the village, but fresh 82nd sections appeared, inflicting many casualties. Although the Allied Force Morale was getting low, and they had lost a couple of Command Dice, it was difficult to see how the Germans might get them out of the buildings without taking a lot of casualties.

As we were out of time, Jimmy, who was umpiring called time. All the players agreed that although it was a minor German win, overall, the counter-attack had failed in the aim of getting the Allies out of Lent and taking back control of the crossroads.

So, all in all, an excellent weekend of gaming. Thanks to Jimmy for organising the proceedings and to Dave, Dee, Andy, Ed and John for being such good allies and opponents.