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| Game setup prior to the Patrol Phase: Flanking Attack |
Chain of Command (CoC) commences with the patrol phase, which is rather different and reflects pre-game reconnaissance. Being a Flank attack, the British
deployment area was one corner quarter of the battlefield, while the Germans advanced
their tokens from two edges. It certainly made for a different symmetry to start from. The Germans advanced their 6 markers from both edges while
we Brits pushed hard in one direction only. In the end James had snuck a
Jump off point nicely up the closer long edge of the board while the Germans on
the other side were locked down before advancing far onto the board, so we could
try and make the most of the wooded terrain with open fire lanes to the front
which the Germans would have to advance through.
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| Battlelines are drawn after the Patrol Phase completes |
The German Perspective-Deployment: Our plan was
cunningly simple and fiendishly clever....as the scenario simply called for us
to break the British Force Morale before our own was reduced to 3, and our
forces had the firepower advantage, we determined our best course of action
would be to set up in good cover and pour it on the hapless British till they
had had enough...
The Germans
deployed first, with a few squads and a Pz IV (James was still scarred by the
game where it never came on and didn't want to take any chances!). I then
rolled well for my phase, getting 2 sixes to gain the next phase also. I
quickly deployed an infantry squad in the woods, and ran up to the hedge to let
the advancing Jerry squad have it. Lots of dice were subsequently thrown
and while it could have been worse, that German squad was pinned and a
shadow of its former self. A good start I said to myself..
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| That that Jerry! Brits open up on advancing SS PzGrenadiers in the open |
German
Perspective- Surprised as we were by the
aggressive British patrolling, my Panzergrenadier comrade found his forces
caught in the open as they tried to take up their positions against the
hedges...my Wehrmacht lads were able to exploit the advanced patrol areas on the
British right flank and start a firepower duel with the Brit MMG that appeared
behind the ruined farmhouse. My Platoon Commander, starting on the table,
dispatched the Panzerschreck team to an advanced position on the opposite side
of the field, so they could put some wunderbar HE into the PIAT team skulking in
the farmhouse....
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| "Made a diary entry this morning. Simply says: Bugger!" |
...which is
where my opposing number thought it was time to bring on another squad into a
flanking position and bring up a Tiger tank for direct fire HE in support.
Coupled with HE shots from the advancing Pz IV on the right flank, it was a grim
day for that squad and the three remaining chaps beat a hasty retreat as the
broke. That said, exchanging one regular Infantry squad for an elite
PzGren squad with 2 MG42s was well in my favour, just don't ask the NOK. On our
right flank we deployed an infantry squad and a MMG to cover the wire obstacles
and a long range exchange of fire with a German squad commenced with mild,
mutual attrition.
German
Perspective- The temptation to advance the Tiger
forward to crush the Britishers once and for all was ALMOST overwhelming for my
comrade, but he held his Teutonic discipline and held back, thus not subjecting
the Tiger to being swarmed...the PzIV had a cracking good time pumping HE
rounds into the British lead section, whilst the Bow MMG sprayed the PIAT team
to keep its head down...
One of the
support options the Germans took was a preliminary bombardment (for 2
points). Given the nature of the game with no units on the board when the
battle starts, this is executed in an abstract fashion - a 50% chance that a
unit will actually deploy until the first Turn ends. This turned out to be
invaluable as British units continued to fail to deploy (having been deployed by
shells, diverting around shell holes etc etc). This included a few
infantry squads and both Churchills which let the Panzers roam freely in the
meantime. For 2 points, it was a very effective support option, and one
which makes sense for a counterattack too. The Churchills did eventually
come on, through the one access point over a bridge and the lead tanks started a
long range duel with the Pz IV, which started well, tapered off in the middle
and the less said about the end of it the better from the British side of
the house.
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| There goes the 5 quid that tank's driver owes me... |
As a result, my Churchill was stuck on a bridge behind a
flaming wreck (again) and unable to get into the battle.
German Perspective- The PzIV had
entered Overwatch as soon as the rumbling of lost tanks was heard down the
road...this proved an excellent psychological weapon more than actually
effective, as the first shot went wide.
We got right into the vehicle rules
over the next few phases as each side hit but failed to penetrate, whilst the
Tiger managed to fire an 88mm HE round at point blank into the nearest British
squad to little effect....
Back up at the main
forward line, the infantry clash continued unabated with lots of lead flying in
both directions.
The PIATs were
brought into action against the PZ IV, scoring a couple of hits to wound the
Commander, damage the bow MG but not knock it out completely.
German Perspective- That was a
bummer..... fine German engineering right
there....
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| PIAT teams in the building take aim at the Panzer down the road |
The infantry
firefight, supported by close range fire from the Tiger, was starting to
really knock the British around now, with Force Morale down to 6 having lost
another infantry section unit and the MMG . The Germans were also down to
6 though, having had a number of leaders wounded along the way. At this
point we had a really interesting set of interruptions which showed the mechanic
very nicely. It went something like this:
- Brit Player 1
declares shooting by an Infantry section onto an enemy squad
- German Player 1
expends a CoC point to interrupt this action to fire with the squad being
targeted.
- Brit Player 2 declares an interruption with a separate Brit rifle section to fire at the same German squad (ie before it could
fire)
- German Player 2 declares an interruption with the Pz IV
to take the second British squad under fire.
In resolving this in
reverse order, the:
- Pz IV inflicted 2
casualties and 1 shock upon second British section.
- The second British
section opened up on the Germans, also inflicting 2 casualties and 1 shock on
the German section, which resulted in it being pinned.
- The now pinned
German squad engaged the original British section with much reduced firepower
due to being pinned, with minimal result, and
- The original British
section engaged the German squad, inflicting further
casualties.
That sounds complex
but it was quite straightforward to determine and execute.
EDIT - it also appears that we did this quite incorrectly, and that only a single interrupt is possible. Pity, as this was pretty cool.
At this point we had
run out of time (4 hours) and had only just gotten the last of the units onto
the board (except my Sgt, who has never actually made it onto the battlefield in
3 games!) and a draw declared. Comrade James's Pz IV earned its first kill
ring (which painted on after the battle) while my Churchill has now survived 3
battles, two by hiding on a bridge concealed by the wreck of a flaming
comrade!
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| Comrade James's Pz IV proudly sporting its new kill ring |
German Perspective- We had just deployed the 81mm
off-board mortar battery FO and the Sniper team, but sadly were unable to bring
either to bear.....the off-board fire support mechanic looks particularly interesting, especially coming from a Bolt Action background, as there are
opportunities for multiple fire missions in one game, and the choice between
using spotting rounds for better accuracy or going straight to FFE for speed
quite realistic.
Overall a most enjoyable game, but we did
spend a bit of time looking for different rules and mechanics, particularly the
second level effects like Tank HE vs Infantry, or the effects of "Slow Tank" and
"Heavy Armour" attributes. We found them all eventually (thanks mostly to
the online FAQ it must be said) but it did slow down the game. much of
this was an artifact of our inexperience though. Having played two games now, we'll consolidate our
thoughts on the CoC system and publish that separately.
Aficionados of this Man Cave blog may recall that last year I was subjected to unethical coercion by Comrade James when he bought me the British Army book for Bolt Action last year...when he knew I didn't have any figs or the core rules, yet. Clearly, I folded like a deck of cards and got into the game.
Now available for pre-order! 
This week Comrade James devised
another of his stellar historical scenarios for a 2 v 2 (4000 point) Bolt Action
game: The Battle of Breville, Normandy, June 1944. The historical situation was thus:
