Blow The Bridge - A CoC AAR

I wrote this scenario to play a game of Chain of Command with Craig at the club last weekend. Although Craig has the CoC rules, he'd never played a game before.

The British are advancing across the relatively flat and open countryside of the Netherlands. Their objective is to capture a bridge over a canal, which will allow armoured units to cross the canal and outflank a strong German defensive line.

The British forces available are;

1 rifle platoon (HQ plus three sections, as per the rulebook)

1 recce section (2 Universal carriers with Bren teams and a junior leader)

1 Wasp flamethrower carrier

The German objective is to defend the bridge for as long as possible, which will allow an engineer section to place charges.

The German forces available are;

1 rifle Zug (HQ plus three sections, as per the rulebook)

1 tripod-mounted MG42

1 4-man engineer section. Their role is to plant charges, not fight. If fired upon, they count as being in light cover. They will active as for a team without a leader or can be activated by the German senior leader.

The Germans also have two lengths of barbed wire, two prepared defensive earthworks and a single minefield. These will be placed after the Patrol Phase.

To win the scenario, the engineer team must be on the bridge to place the charges. Placing a charge takes two actions. Each time the team uses two actions while on the bridge, place one small dice on the bridge to represent a charge. Once four charges are in place, the team must withdraw to safety to blow the charge. The charge can only be blown by first spending a CoC dice. To blow the charge roll 1D6. If the roll is 1 or 2, the charge doesn’t go off. The German player can attempt to blow the charge again using another CoC dice.

The rest of the German troops must prevent the British from;

1) crossing the bridge

or

2) killing the engineer team

In the patrol phase the Germans will use three patrol markers and the British will use four (because they are attacking). The British will also have two free patrol moves before the patrol phase properly commences.

The game will be play across the width of the table. The canal will be down the centre of the table, with the bridge placed in the central third of the table. The canal can only be crossed by using the bridge.

The British will start the patrol phase from either the left corner or the right. (roll 1d6 1-3 left, 4-6 right)

The Germans side of the table will be in three sections left, centre and right To see where the Germans will start the patrol phase roll 1d6 (1-2 left, 3-4 centre, 5-6 right)

The table was laid out as shown below. The canal and bridge were my own pieces. The rest came from the club's stock of scenery and terrain. I am pretty sure that the Dutch-style buildings are by Hovels. Both sets of troops were from my 15mm Peter Pig late war collection.

The Germans would be defending from the side of the canal with the hamlet, with the British attacking from the other side of the canal.  

This shot below shows where the Germans placed the minefield, barbed wire and earthworks once the patrol phase was over. You can see the early deployment by the British player (me).

The carriers start to arrive. 

I deploy more troops. My aim is to secure the canal bank either side of the bridge, where I can enfilade the bridge itself. My plan is to hold the Wasp carrier back and then charge it at the bridge to force the defenders back.

Craig began to deploy the Germans, planning to get troops into the static defences quickly.

Elsewhere the tripod-mounted MG42 starts finding its range and causes shock and casualties on my right-hard infantry section. My plan is not going according to expectations.

The engineers get onto the bridge. I really need to start targeting them, but I am worried about that MG42.

I get a section up into the ruined buildings by the canal. Unhappily, there are defenders just across the water.

I deploy a Bren team from one of the recce carriers. My plan is to clear the German bank here, giving me a chance to shoot at the engineers.

I really need to neutralise the German infantry on my right, who are forcing me to withdraw. The answer is smoke from the 2" mortar.

I open fire on the Germans opposite the bombed-out houses, then hit them with more smoke. Worryingly, the engineers are getting on with the job of rigging their charges on the bridge.

One more activation sees them place the final charge, and I've still not managed to do anything to stop them. Craig has a CoC dice too.

He uses the CoC dice and rolls for the effect of detonating the explosives. With a roar, the bridge blows up. The Germans have won. 

OK, so that was really a pretty quick game. It would make an excellent start to a mini-campaign, but I think that the scenario needs tweaking to make it harder for the defenders. I think that only needing four charges made it too quick and easy. Perhaps it should have been six? Also, I think that once the CoC dice was available, the probability of the bridge blowing was pretty high. Maybe it should have required a 4+ to blow the charges? On reflection, I also think that the engineers should only have been deployed by using a CoC dice, rather than by the SL bringing them onto the table. I am thinking that perhaps they should have come on from the edge of the table in a truck.

Finally, I think I was too cautious. I should have sent the recce carriers hell-for-leather at the bridge to take control of it. Either that, or I should have taken a tank instead of the carriers. I reckon having a tank would have given me the advantage. A Cromwell with the 95mm CS howitzer would have been useful, or maybe just a Churchill IV with a 75mm could have tipped the balance, so long as I kept it out of Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust range.

A small part of Operation Bagration - a Chain of Command AAR

Operation Bagration was the USSR's 1944 Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation, launched in June, with the aim of destroying the German Army Group Centre. Obviously, something that big is a bit ambitious for a game of CoC, but it provides a rationale for the game that Brian and I played out last Sunday at the club. The game was played in our preferred 15mm scale.

The Eastern Front was new ground for both of us but Brian had his Russians ready and I had another opportunity to field my late war Heer Zug.

The scenario we were playing was No. 6 - Attack On An Objective. Under the circumstances, it seemed appropriate that the Germans would be the defenders. The attackers, Brian's Soviets get 2D6 support points, with the Germans getting half, rounded down. Brian rolled a 7, which, applying the force ratings gave him a whopping 10 points. I had a measly 3 points. I just knew that Brian would be bringing some armour, so I chose a minefield, to block out one line of attack and a Panzerknacker team, possibly to counter his armour, but also because it would give me an extra MG42 to play with.

Here is the table after the patrol phase. I would be defending the fuel dump just behind the church in the village. I placed the minefield roughly in the centre of the table, which I hoped would prevent any frontal assaults.

Here is the table from the German viewpoint.

My plan was to deploy one squad in a fairly advanced position on my left, with the aim of occupying the farm near the minefield. This took longer than planned as the Soviet Wrath Of The Gods delayed my deployment.

I also had a squad on overwatch in the village church.

The arrival of the Beast From The East, a.k.a Brian's armoured support, a very large, nasty and worrying ISU-152. His infantry were deploying on his left, threatening in outflank my right. 

I had a squad deployed on my right and I used the MG42 team to good effect on a Russian squad which had occupied a cornfield in an advanced position on Brian's left flank. I really wanted to keep that squad out of the game, allowing me to move troops to enfilade the Russians from my left.

My right flank squad seemed to have things under control.

Unhappily, the ISU-152 was able to cause considerable damage to the church, forcing me to evacuate (no photos). Foolishly, I pushed the squad in the church forward into the area with the craters, in an attempt to outflank the Soviet advance. These suffered further casualties from the 152mm gun.

After first trying a long-range Ambush, which failed, I had to deploy my Panzerschreck team, pushing it forward until it was within a more effective range of the Beast From The East. The results were spectacular, with four net hits on the ISU's side armour, the Beast exploded. One thing less to worry about.

With the armour gone, I deployed my Panzerknacker team as an extra (and much needed) MG42 team. Its fire would be directed by my Zug's senior leader.

My plan to outflank the Soviets from the right continued, despite the weakness of one squad, reduced by the ISU-152 to a junior leader and a MG42 team.

My MG42s were causing the Soviets a lot of problems, mounting losses and plenty of shock, however, my own force was looking pretty threadbare too. Brian had a run of five game phases in a row, due to rolling a succession of four double sixes on his Command dice. This enabled him to push his troops right down my right flank, threatening to get around behind me and taking the objective, which was only lightly defended by this point.

However, as I much as I was losing troops and gaining shock. the Soviets were losing them faster, this was a race to see who would run out of men first.

I stopped taking photos, but I had the Squad which was reduced to an MG42 rout, later followed by both the Panzerknacker team and the right flank Squad being wiped out. My Force Morale was plummeting, but not as fast as Brian's. My 'Schreck team occupied one of Brian's JoPs and he also saw a Squad rout and have his last effective troops pinned. By that point, he was only rolling two Command dice, and was unable to remove any shock or end the turn (amazingly, we were still on Turn One, right to the end of the game). Finally, the game ended. With all his troops pinned and unable to do anything, the Soviet assault just petered out, but the cost to my defenders was huge. I'd won, but the price was so high that the Zug was no longer an effective force. 

So, perhaps this game illustrated the reality of Bagration rather well. Despite astronomiocal losses, the Red Army did manage to destroy Army Group Centre in Byelorussia. By the end of June 1944, the German 4th Army no longer existed and the 3rd Panzer Army was no longer an effective fighting force. Operation Bagration maked the beginning of the end for the Germans in the East. losing around 400,000 men and tanks and other vehicles that they were unable to replace. When you consider that, at the same time, in Western Europe the Germans were being expelled from France with huge losses. there was only really one end to the War possible.

Post Christmas big IABSM AAR

The club normally meets on Sunday afternoons, but over the Festive Season, we didn't meet up on either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. However, we did have a Thursday afternoon session on the 28th. I offered to put on and umpire a big game of I Ain't Been Shot Mum for two players a side. This would be a 1944 game, with the British forces pushing forwards into the Low Countries after the Liberation of France as part of the advance towards the Rhine.

What I wanted to do was put on a game with a lot of tanks but also have plenty of obstacles to aid the weaker side (in this case weak was relative). The field was laid out on four tables, creating a long battlefield with plenty of cover and dead ground. Here it is, seen from behind the German position.

The scenario was as follows;

After the end of the Battle of Normandy, Allied forces are pushing eastwards into the Low Countries. German resistance is stronger than expected but patchy in places. Defence in many cases depends on ad hoc formations made up from whatever troops are available to counter the advance of the Allied armour.

This scenario is one such encounter.

A British tank squadron and a company of motorised infantry have been tasked with taking a river crossing.

An ad hoc German Kampfgruppe is opposing the British advance.

 

The German force was:

1 weakened Kompanie of Panzergrenadiers (veterans)

Co HQ (with 3 Panzerschrecks) L3 BM (2 x SdKfz 251)

2 x Zugs each with L2 BM

1 section of 4 x MG42

1 improvised Rifle Kompanie (poor regulars)

HQ – 2 x tripod MG42, 2 x Panzerschrecks L2 BM L1 BM

1 rifle Zug L1 BM

1 Zug of Panzerknackers (2 x MG42 teams, 4 riflemen, 8 x Panzerfaust shooters) L2 BM

1 ad hoc Panzer Kompanie

HQ – 1 x Tiger I L3 BM (veteran crew)

1 x Panzer IVH (average crew)

Zug 1 – 3 x Panther G L2 BM (average crews)

Zug 2 – 4 x Panzer IVH L2 BM (green crews)

Anti-tank Zug

3 x Stug III (average crews)

The British force was:

1 squadron of Cromwell IV and Sherman Vc tanks (all average crews)

HQ – 3 Cromwells (1 with 95mm CS howitzer) and 1 Sherman Vc L3 BM

4 troops, each with 3 Cromwells and 1 Sherman Vc each with L2 BM

1 company of motorised infantry (the infantry are dismounted from their vehicles) all good regulars

Co HQ – 1 x 8 man rifle section L3 BM L1 BM (in a halftrack)

3 x rifle platoons each with L2 BM

1 carrier section – 4 x carriers with Vickers MMGs (can be mounted or dismounted)

1 flamethrower section (4 teams in a halftrack)

For this scenario, the following conditions were applied;

The Germans may defend in depth on both sides of the road. The Germans must defend a river crossing at their end of the table.

Some of their tanks have been recycled from battle-damaged vehicles and the German deck includes the Vehicle Breakdown chip. When this is drawn, roll 1D6 for each tank that has already been deployed (don’t roll for tanks under Blinds). Only roll once for each tank.

Any tank that rolls a 1 is broken down and will be immobilised for the rest of the game, but can continue to fire. Any shock against an immobilised vehicle will be doubled.

Any tank that rolls a 2 will suffer a failure of the turret traverse and will only be able to fire in a 90 degree forward arc.

The Panzerknacker Zug is split into two sections, each with 1 x MG42, 2 riflemen and 4 men with Panzerfausts. Once the Fausts have been fired, these troops revert to being ordinary riflemen.

The Germans have four pieces of field earthworks and one small pillbox.

The Germans can deploy hidden or under blinds, They have no dummy blinds.

The British will deploy under blinds and have two dummy blinds.

The 95mm CS howitzer fires smoke shells only, as do the 2” mortars in the British platoons.

The British are to advance along the road, which is hemmed in by trees on both sides to take the two bridges over a river defended by a German force. Only the larger bridge can support the weight of tanks, but smaller vehicles can cross both bridges. The terrain is undulating and visibility is broken up by the trees and hedges. The ground suits the defenders and is not prime tank country.

Intelligence reports that the bridges are well-defended.

I allowed the Germans to deploy up to halfway  along the length of the table, with the British being limited to a deployment zone that was one quarter of the table deep.

The Germans chose to deploy with everything hidden in their deployment zone. I didn't know where they had placed their units, but I assumed that the pillbox would play a role. The British deployed under blinds on both sides of the road but pretty soon they had had a number of elements spotted.

The 2" mortar of this platoon quickly started to lay down smoke to prevent the defenders from firing on them. On the British right, more tanks and infantry advanced towards a hill, spotting some German defenders, Panzerknackers and MG42 teams from the weak Landser Kompanie. These were quickly eliminated by mass machine gun fire from the tanks (well, the Cromwells actually, the Sherman Vc tanks not having hull MGs) and the Vickers-armed Carriers. The power of the machine guns was pretty much devastating.

The Germans were unwilling to show their hand at all and most of their troops remained unspotted and hidden, holding their fire and pretty much inviting the British to advance. The British managed to discover a Zug of Stug III tank destroyers behind a hedge.

Despite massed fire from the two British left flank tank troops, these Stug IIIs remained unharmed and soon caused havoc on the single Cromwell troop in front of them. The infantry platoon was also suffering from accurate fire from a tripod-mounted MG42 in an earthwork. The British advance appeared to be stalled on the right.

On the British left, the tanks were pretty much stuck in a traffic down in the unsuitable ground on this side of the road.

The platoon supporting these tanks, cleared away the German infantry screen  opposing them and started spotting more Germans. These were a tougher prospect than the Landsers - hull-down PZKfw IVs and the Tiger.

On the German left, the remaining tanks were revealed (a poor photo, unfortunately);

And the Germans also revealed a previously unseen Zug of Panzergrenadiers covering the central lake and road junction.

A different view of the German Panzerfront, a daunting sight for the British tanks.

At this point, the  clock was ticking and there was little time left to reach a conclusion. However, it didn't look too healthy from the point of view of a British tanker. Regretfully perhaps, the British commanders decided that discretion was the better part of valour. One tank troop was a set of burning wrecks and one infantry platoon had taken a lot of casualties from machine gun fire. The Germans remained in a solid defensive posture, with the only casualties being from the screen of Panzerknackers and MG42 teams.
   

So, an interesting game, the Germans playing a canny waiting game and the British being unwilling to advance too far into the unknown, even declining to use the Allied Armour Bonus chip whenever it emerged from the bag. Discussing this afterwards, the consensus was that after the attritional horrors of the Normandy campaign, the British regulars tended towards self-preservation rather than Tally Ho-style heroics. We agreed that once the location of the German tanks was known, the appeal of advancing towards those long 75mm guns (not forgetting the 88mm on the Tiger) was limited, to put it mildly, especially as they were adequately protected by those unharmed and fresh veteran Panzergrenadiers.

A D Day scenario for the US Airborne - an AAR for IABSM

This scenario, played out by myself (Germans) and Kev (Americans) at the club last Sunday concerns a company of US Airborne troops dropped inland from Utah Beach as part of the D Day landings. C Company’s dropzone is in the region around La Forge, a small hamlet on the road west from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Unfortunately, the company’s three platoons have been dispersed and need to join up in La Forge and consolidate their position and prevent German troops from attacking the landing zone. 

 

Capt. Eugene O’Neill, commanding C Company has set up his Command Post in the hamlet and deployed Able platoon in defence. Baker and Charlie platoons are scattered around and are attempting to find their comrades. Capt. O'Neill has to hold on until troops from Utah Beach can reinforce him. These are represented by a platoon of M5A1 light tanks.

So far, the US troops haven't been attacked, but German forces moving towards Utah Beach have spotted the Americans and need to eject them before joining the forces opposing the seaborne landings.

 

US forces

HQ : (1 blind +1 dummy)

Capt Eugene O’Neill (L4)

Lt. Marvin Doolittle (L3)

2 x bazooka teams (2 men each)

2 x Browning 0.30 LMG (3 crew each)

Able Platoon: (2 blinds + 1 dummy)

Lt Doug Gatsby L3)

3 x sections(10 men)

1 bazooka team

1 60mm mortar (4 man team)

Baker Platoon:

Lt Steve Austin (L3)

3 x sections (10 men)

1 bazooka team

1 60mm mortar (4 man team)

Charlie Platoon:

Lt Harry Cooper ( L3)

3 x sections (10 men)

1 bazooka team

1 60mm mortar (4 man team)

Tank platoon (on the road, heading for the village)

5 x M5 light tanks

Lt Lou Reed (L2) 

German briefing

American parachute troops have landed and are all over the countryside. One group is in the vicinity of La Forge. A company of Panzergrenadiers with vehicles has been dispatched to round up the Americans and prevent them securing the roads. Because of the risk of attack by fighter-bombers against large columns moving on roads, the German forces will arrive in separate groups. Two Panzerjägers are available but will not arrive immediately.

German forces

Wave One (arrives when German blind chip is first drawn) 2 blinds plus 2 dummy

Oberleutnant Stefan Wurst (L4 Big Man)

3 MG42 MG teams (2 men each)

3 Panzerschreck teams (2 men each)

1 SdKfz 250/10 with 37mm PaK and 1 SdKfz 250/9 with 2cm cannon and MG42

Zug One - Feldwebel Otto Klein (L3 Big Man)

3 rifle squads (8 men each)

2 Panzerfausts

1 additional MG42 team

Wave Two (chip goes in the bag when German blind chip is next drawn) 2 blinds

Zug Two - Feldwebel Uwe Seeler (L3 Big Man)

3 rifle squads (8 men each)

2 Panzerfausts

1 additional MG42 team

2 x SdKfz 251/9 (75cm L24 howitzer)

Wave Three ( chip goes in the bag when German blind chip is drawn for the third time) 3 blinds

Zug Three - Feldwebel Hans Helder (L3 Big Man)

3 rifle squads (8 men each)

2 Panzerfausts

1 additional MG42 team

3 x SdKfz 250/9 with 2cm cannon and MG42

The German A/T chip goes in the bag with Wave Three

Panzerjäger Zug - Leutnant Georg Ritter (L3 Big Man)

2 x Marder III 75mm Pak 40

 La Forge - a sleepy Norman hamlet

The first US platoon arrives from this side of the village

The Germans will approach from this side

The Germans begin their advance under blinds, spotting the Airborne platoon in the paddock surrounded by hedges in the hamlet. On the right more German troops move to occupy the walled garden, again under blinds.

Having been spotted by the Americans in the village, the German Zug takes cover in the walled garden. This will prove to be a problem in the coming battle. 

Both sides exchange fire, no casualties are caused but both sides take some shock. The noise of the shooting is bound to attract other troops to the area. First to arrive is a second US airborne platoon, quickly followed by more Panzergrenadiers and some SdKfz recce halftracks. A couple of SdKFz 251 halftracks with short 75mm howitzers also arrive.

Things start hotting up as more fire is exchanged. So far, neither side has suffered many casualties, but shock is slowing things down. The Germans seem reluctant to advance and this allows the US Airborne to start consolidating their position when the final platoon arrives. This platoon takes up a defensive position behind the bocage lining the road to prevent the hamlet being outflanked by German infantry. The German SdKfz 251/22 with a 75mm Pak 40 near the walled garden opens fire on the hamlet but misses, and this brings an instant response from the US bazooka teams, who destroy the vehicle after a couple of shots. 

By now, all forces apart from the US tanks and the German Panzerjäger Zug are in action. Both sides are also taking casualties, mainly to heavy fire from the LMGs of both sides.

The platoon defending the hamlet is suffering from MG42 and howitzer fire as the Panzergrenadiers begin to advance across the open fields towards their enemy.

Realising that being stuck in the walled garden is pointless and unable to move along the road due to a US platoon behind the bocage, the German troops climb over the wall and begin to advance across the ploughed field towards the hamlet. A second Zug moves up in support.

However, time is running out because the US cavalry has arrived in the shape of five M5A1 tanks. Where are the Marder anti-tank guns when they are needed?

The M5s immediately open fire with machine guns on the Panzergrenadiers caught in the open, inflicting both shock and casualties. The much-needed Panzerschreck teams seem paralysed with fear and are stuck in the middle of nowhere, unable to do anything useful. 

A section of Panzergrenadiers eliminates the US LMGs in the hamlet and advances over the wall towards the houses, causing the US commander to beat a hasty retreat. 

There is still no sign of the Marders, who must have fallen foul of the Allies elsewhere in the area, and the machine guns of the American tanks are decimating the Panzergrenadiers caught in the open in the ploughed field. Elsewhere on the battlefield, the third American platoon defending the road behind the bocage, has destroyed a whole section of Panzergrenadiers and pinned another in the open. Oberleutnant Wurst, the German commander is forced to admit that his assault has bogged down and reluctantly decides to beat a hasty retreat before the US tanks destroy his complete company.
 
We had to call a halt at this point because we had run out of time, but I think that my position (i.e. the German one) was decidedly weak. My infantry were taking a pounding from the tank machine guns and I doubt that my SdKfz 250 halftracks would have stood much of a chance against the fairly weedy 37mm guns of the M5s. I am assuming that their 20mm guns would have been pretty ineffectual against the slightly tougher armour of the US tanks. I really needed those Marders and it was a huge mistake to get the 75mm SdKfz 251 involved early on because it would always have been vulnerable to bazooka fire.

Getting a whole platoon of Germans boxed into the walled garden was a mistake too, especially as an American platoon pitched up almost immediately on the other side of the road, effectively blocking the exit.

Another thought-provoking game, with the victor's crown going to Kev's American Airborne troops.