Villeroux Blitzed!

Squeezed in a bit of Early War Chain of Command with good friend George, continuing our Gembloux Gap pint sized campaign.  For various reasons this series of games, started back in the late Summer, had stalled, so it was great to get things going again!  After breaching the front line at Perbais, George’s Germans squeaked a very close win at Noirmont.  The next phase of the campaign sees my brave French trying to stem the German tide at Villeroux.  Here’s the map of the table from the PSC (copyright TFL, no infringement intended).

George kindly hosted the game in his spacious and well equipped gaming room — which is also technically the local post office, where George greets his valued customers with a cheery smile and a jolly wave.

Anyway… we played the game using the now familiar-to-many means of zoom and FB messenger with a wide battlefield view and a roving mini-tripod mounted camera.  I plumbed the laptop into my TV for a better view.

Now, I don’t have any in-game pics (tho George will) but highlights were:

• George purchasing a Preliminary Barrage as a support option then rolling three 6’s on his command dice for the very first phase of the game.  An auspicious start for the French I mused?
• He then proceeded to get several more consecutive turns and so was able to bring practically divisional strength to the table before I got a look in!
• My first few phases saw some bizarre command dice rolls including ones such as ‘6544’, all of which meant the initial French response was less athletic and more arthritic.
• The VB grenadiers hurriedly unloaded their cargo of grenades to little effect, watched their leader get cut in half by a 20mm shell, then promptly headed for Paris.
• But cometh the hour, cometh the man… My 2IC (an “inferior senior leader”), the venerable Sergeant-Chef “Papa” Fromage, stepped up to take command of a 75mm gun and a Groupe de Combat, to inflict quite a few casualties on the enemy, including three direct hits on George’s Panzer II… take that Fritzy!

There were plenty more moments of action and drama, but the continued pressure from the ferocious Germans meant that the French were eventually forced to sound the retreat to the rear.  George’s relentless propaganda machine has provided an AAR here.

A great game with lots of laughs!  My thanks again to George for going to all the effort of hosting.  It’s worth noting that George is very well looked after by his smashing missus Evelyn, who brings him regular and plentiful supplies of coffee and sandwiches!  This was, I think, a major boost to his strategic plans 😉