Chain of Command 24 hours to Basildon Scenario 1 "Larks in the Park"

Having seen Jerry and Dave play the PSC "24 hours to Basildon" set during a fictional invasion of Britain by the Nazi's in 1940 I was keen to give it a go myself having painted up a lot of figures for the period. Gary kindly agreed to take on the Germans so we set up the first scenario "Larks in the Park".

The initial games are played with the British using a Local Defence Volunteer (LDV) platoon which is sadly lacking in both numbers and equipment. They have no LMG, around a 1/3 are armed only with shotguns and another 1/3 with improvised weapons.

In view of this with six support points available I felt the only option was to go for a Vickers MMG (three points), an entrenchment for the MMG (one point) and a Lewis gun for one section (two points) to give my force at least a minimum ability to put some firepower down. The scenario also gave me a group of 'Have a go hero's" who count as a tank killer team in case the Germans deployed armoured cars which they were allowed.

The table looked reasonably set for defence but had fixed jump off points which were quite poorly located (in my opinion at least!). The German objective was to get two teams off the opposite table edge:

The Germans begin by sending an armoured car down the road and some infantry into the woods on the left. The armoured car is a difficult opponent with the British having to rely on the "Have a go hero's" and machine gun fire to drive it off:

The "Have a go hero's" attempt to deploy but are flummoxed by a shabby Nazi trick in the form of a 5th columnist who sends them in the wrong direction!:

However, Cpl Lewis's section of the LDV is harder to fool, they know that the 5th columnist isn't a local, arrest her and successfully deploy behind the hedge:

In an attempt to steal a march the Germans deploy a liberated Austin A7 containing an LMG section.

They race down the road hoping to burst through the British defences:

The British deploy their Vickers MMG covering the road, it has a lot to do with German infantry advancing through the woods and the armoured car and Austin to take out!:

The "Have a go hero's" deploy and attempt to close on the armoured car, as much to distract it as anything:

The Vickers MMG takes aim and sprays bullets into the Austin A7 killing two of the occupants and causing it to crash killing the last one. First strike to the Brits!: 

Corporal Wallace and the first LDV squad (with the Lewis) deploy into the stables and fire upon the advancing German infantry:

The third LDV squad under Corporal Roberts together with the C-in-C Colonel Square (retired) deploy behind the Vickers providing moral support (and spreading any potential casualties around!). None the less the Vickers loses two crew to German fire:

Having finished off the Austin the Vickers turns it's attention to the German squad in the open and begins to inflict losses on them:

Another advantage of destroying the Austin is that it is now blocking the road:

Remarkably the "Have a go hero's" manage to survive a burst of machine gun fire from the armoured car and close in to throw their Molotov cocktail! It bursts into flames and demoralises the crew somewhat but does not finish it off:

Sgt Hutchinson has been co-ordinating the efforts of the "Have a go hero's" and Cpl Lewis's squad who defend the right flank:

The Germans bring on another squad and switch the axis of their attack to the woods where it will be harder for the Vickers to provide support:

Cpl Wallace begins to move his men over to support Cpl Lewis and cover the road:

The valiant Vickers crew have done the Germans significant damage but are eventually broken with only one man left standing and flee to the rear: 

Having inflicted significant losses on the Germans and held them up for a while Colonel Square decides that it is time to withdraw. Without the Vickers and with the "Have a go hero's" having used up their Molotov cocktails the British have no answer to the armoured car. In addition Cpl Lewis' section is badly outnumbered in the woods and, while if they stand they may inflict more losses on the Germans, they will probably be wiped out if they stay:

It was great to get back to CoC and an enjoyable game for both of us. The PSC (when well designed) really make you think in a different way to one-off games. If we had continued I might have managed to kill more Germans but would probably have lost most of my force doing it. 

Both sides only have two platoons for the entire campaign (though my second platoon is a much better Home Guard one) so it is important to avoid taking heavy losses too early. As it is the Germans lost 9 men which means they will be down 4 men killed and two more wounded will miss the next game. The British meanwhile only lost 3 men (plus the Vickers crew who, being supports, don't count!) of which 1 is dead and one wounded who will miss the next game.

The next scenario, "What's behind Bully tonight?" sees the LDV attempting to destroy an important culvert to slow the German advance down. With only 5 scenarios in total it may be time for the Brits to make a more determined stand......