Leutnant Meindl cast his eye over the wounded in the old, stone barn. He would have to trust that the British would treat them well as prisoners of war. There was no way he could complete his mission and evacuate them. He made sure several of the less severely injured had loaded weapons – he did not want the French peasants taking revenge before the British arrived. They would surrender the moment a Tommy appeared.
Turning around at the sound of boots on the road he saw reinforcements arriving that would bring him back up to strength. There was no time to waste! Their lightning attack had driven the British patrol back in to the village, but he knew he had only minutes to reach his objective. Once the British realised what was going on they would whisk the General away. Meindl actually admired Montgomery, he had been with Rommel’s forces in North Africa and knew the fighting qualities of the tough little Englishman. He hoped that he could capture him alive; he would like to talk to the man.
A mortar round exploded nearby and brought Meindl out of his brief reverie. Issuing a rapid series of orders he got his men moving into the village, covered by staccato bursts of MG42 fire. The British were sure to put up fierce resistance and casualties were inevitable but capturing the British General would throw the Allied attack on Caen in to chaos.
Game two of our little campaign is set just minutes after the first encounter. Mike’s FJs are advancing in to the village of Authie whilst a hurriedly assembled force of British attempt to hold them back to allow a more cohesive force to be mustered. The scenario is from the CoC rulebook “Delaying Action”. The FJs will get up to two goes at this scenario – if they do not achieve a win within two games then the British are deemed to have evacuated Monty and the daring German plan has failed.
German Force
Elite FJ platoon from the rulebook.
Deployment, etc as per the scenario.
British Force
Regular British platoon from the rulebook.
Deployment, etc as per the scenario with the following additions.
Must spend at least 2 points of support on entrenchments, mines or barbed wire.
Optional extra rules (which, in the excitement, I forgot to apply!). Whilst the British are well organised, the surprise attack of the FJs has resulted in some confusion – and possibly even some spilt tea. To represent this, roll a D3+1 after the Patrol Phase is complete. This is the number of teams or sections that may deploy as normal. Any team or section deployed after these must roll a D6, on a 1-5 they deploy as required, on 6 they are delayed and the command dice is wasted.
The Patrol Phase is complete; the positions of the JoPs are noted. Germans first.
British JoPs.
Mike wasted no time in getting his men on the table and heading for the checkpoint near the centre of the village.
Mike's view of things.
The German Sniper was on top form and managed to take out his British counterpart (lurking on the upper floor of the farm house) with almost his first shot!
Smoke initially provides good cover for the British, especially from the tripod MG42, but those dastardly Germans began using it to screen their advance!
The British start to reveal their positions as the Germans close in.
Ambushing with a flame thrower! Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
With his brave Tommies falling, shock mounting and morale dropping, Lieutenant Carruthers makes a mad dash from the house to reach the garden and boost his men's morale, but alas Mike used a CoC dice to interrupt with the German MG42 team in the edge of the wood (which I had forgotten about - doh!?) and they filled the air with bullets. The poor fellow was shredded, costing 2 precious points of Force Morale.
With that and some further heavy casualties on the remaining section from the MG42's, the British were forced to withdraw. Another victory to Leutnant Meindl's men. But again they'd taken quite a few casualties to capture the southern half of the village. Can they make it three in a row and maybe capture Monty?
Another superb game of Chain of Command. Mike is proper gentleman wargamer so, many thanks for a super evening of gaming. Looking forward to game three.
Following the example of a blog I admire greatly, I've added the following section.
Lessons Learned
Turning around at the sound of boots on the road he saw reinforcements arriving that would bring him back up to strength. There was no time to waste! Their lightning attack had driven the British patrol back in to the village, but he knew he had only minutes to reach his objective. Once the British realised what was going on they would whisk the General away. Meindl actually admired Montgomery, he had been with Rommel’s forces in North Africa and knew the fighting qualities of the tough little Englishman. He hoped that he could capture him alive; he would like to talk to the man.
A mortar round exploded nearby and brought Meindl out of his brief reverie. Issuing a rapid series of orders he got his men moving into the village, covered by staccato bursts of MG42 fire. The British were sure to put up fierce resistance and casualties were inevitable but capturing the British General would throw the Allied attack on Caen in to chaos.
Game two of our little campaign is set just minutes after the first encounter. Mike’s FJs are advancing in to the village of Authie whilst a hurriedly assembled force of British attempt to hold them back to allow a more cohesive force to be mustered. The scenario is from the CoC rulebook “Delaying Action”. The FJs will get up to two goes at this scenario – if they do not achieve a win within two games then the British are deemed to have evacuated Monty and the daring German plan has failed.
German Force
Elite FJ platoon from the rulebook.
Deployment, etc as per the scenario.
British Force
Regular British platoon from the rulebook.
Deployment, etc as per the scenario with the following additions.
Must spend at least 2 points of support on entrenchments, mines or barbed wire.
Optional extra rules (which, in the excitement, I forgot to apply!). Whilst the British are well organised, the surprise attack of the FJs has resulted in some confusion – and possibly even some spilt tea. To represent this, roll a D3+1 after the Patrol Phase is complete. This is the number of teams or sections that may deploy as normal. Any team or section deployed after these must roll a D6, on a 1-5 they deploy as required, on 6 they are delayed and the command dice is wasted.
The Patrol Phase is complete; the positions of the JoPs are noted. Germans first.
British JoPs.
Mike wasted no time in getting his men on the table and heading for the checkpoint near the centre of the village.
Mike's view of things.
The German Sniper was on top form and managed to take out his British counterpart (lurking on the upper floor of the farm house) with almost his first shot!
Smoke initially provides good cover for the British, especially from the tripod MG42, but those dastardly Germans began using it to screen their advance!
The British start to reveal their positions as the Germans close in.
Ambushing with a flame thrower! Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
With his brave Tommies falling, shock mounting and morale dropping, Lieutenant Carruthers makes a mad dash from the house to reach the garden and boost his men's morale, but alas Mike used a CoC dice to interrupt with the German MG42 team in the edge of the wood (which I had forgotten about - doh!?) and they filled the air with bullets. The poor fellow was shredded, costing 2 precious points of Force Morale.
With that and some further heavy casualties on the remaining section from the MG42's, the British were forced to withdraw. Another victory to Leutnant Meindl's men. But again they'd taken quite a few casualties to capture the southern half of the village. Can they make it three in a row and maybe capture Monty?
Another superb game of Chain of Command. Mike is proper gentleman wargamer so, many thanks for a super evening of gaming. Looking forward to game three.
Following the example of a blog I admire greatly, I've added the following section.
Lessons Learned
- Even if defending a fixed position, and in hard cover, it pays to avoid fire fights - especially when enemy squads are armed with two MG42s.
- Before moving Senior Leaders, make sure you recall where your opponent's HMG is located!
- Don't be afraid to use a CoC dice to end the turn and clear any (scattered) smoke if the enemy are using it to screen their advance.
- If you have an unpainted Vickers MG then paint it before you play! ;o)
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