Chain of Command "Many Rivers to Cross" PSC Game 2 "Farm and Forest"

Having driven the Germans back from the village in the first scenario the Soviets now face the challenge of continuing their counter-attack and pushing forwards again. This time Gary's Germans have a strong defensive position based on a large farm complex. The Soviets are still limited to man-portable support weapons while the Germans can't bring any support on until turn 2.

With an impressive 15 support points I went for a barrage, an engineer team, four entrenchments, an AT rifle (as I was sure Gary would pick a tank this time) and the two MMG which had worked well in the first encounter.

The patrol phase limited the Soviets deployment points greatly and the approach on the left was heavily defended by minefields and wire:

The initial appearance of the Soviets with an infantry squad deploying in the forest on the left:

The Germans, mindful of the effective 'Wrath of the Gods' Soviet barrage deploy quickly themselves with one section taking up residence in the farm building next to the orchard:

A second German section arrives in entrenchments to defend the side road:

Thinking that attacking on the left was impractical the Soviets set up a firebase facing the farm. With a squad of sailors and two MMG, all entrenched, they have a lot of firepower:

Continuing the build-up of forces another Soviet squad begins to advance through the woods on the right:

The Germans are not idle themselves though and another section arrives at the farm. Having ended the turn their support options are now available and a Panzer III rumbles forward. Having only a single AT rifle to take on the tank is not ideal for the Soviets:

The tank moves up to engage the Soviet firebase:

Ambush! The Soviet AT rifle team appear and loose off a shot at the Panzer III. It misses. They quickly retire to safety before the tank can respond:

Fire from the sailors and the two MMG has driven the Germans back from the windows of the farm building:

A double turn gives an opportunity to the Soviets. They rush forward the squad on the right to attempt to close with the farm complex without taking too many casualties:

So far so good:

The dash forward continues and the squad manage to reach the fence line. There is a depleted German section in the orchard but they remain out of sight for now. The Panzer III can't get a shot at them either without moving:

The Panzer III is still a major threat though. The sailors and MMG crew are starting to take hits and one MMG has started to move into the forest to allow the AT rifle to take it's place in the entrenchment:

The Soviet squad at the farm moves along the fence out of sight of all the Germans. The small German squad in the orchard retreats behind the fence into the farm complex:

Fire from the Panzer III and the German sections in the farm buildings is rapidly taking it's toll on the Soviet firebase. Several men are down and the Leytenent is wounded and unconscious. The AT rifle, having already missed in a second ambush, deploys are tries again. It get's a critical hit but the only effect is a point of shock and a reduction in speed for the Panzer III. It isn't going anywhere though so that's not a problem:

Return fire from numerous German MG and the tank wipes out the AT rifle team and continues to cut down the sailors and MMG crew. Not many Germans are being hit in reply and the situation is looking desperate with no way to counter the tank now for the Soviets:

There is a small amount of success though as the German section in the blue farm building has taken a few losses and is now pinned:

The Soviets pour in more fire and the German section breaks!:

Having reached the orchard the squad on the right had been awaiting developments in a bit of a stand-off. They decide to move around the orchard to the rear of the farm:

They move to the rear of the farm and engage the German mortar team in close combat. With many more men and attacking from the rear the odds are very much in the Soviets favour:

The resulting fight is short and brutal. Two Russians are killed and the mortar team is wiped out. This is especially pleasing to the Soviets as one of the mortar team was "Boris", a turncoat Russian farm worker who was fighting with the Germans (apparently his father had owned the farm originally and been sent to the Gulag!). The traitor is felled:

The Germans are now in a desperate situation with one section broken, another in the other house badly damaged and the Soviets breaking into the farm complex. They decide to withdraw and the Soviets have achieved their mission:

A game which certainly could have gone either way, initially the Russians took the worst of the firefights but as the game went on the luck swung the other way a bit. The table was more interesting than it appeared on the map with limited sight lines and a number of choices for both sides.

I have to admit when the AT rifle team went down I thought it was all over, without that the Russians could do nothing to the Panzer III which was very effective in the game. However, partly due to the large number of support points I had which gave me substantial firepower against Gary's infantry and partly due to my taking a chance rushing a section to the farm complex which paid off, in the end the tank wasn't quite enough to swing the game.

The sheer size of the Soviet squads also played a part, the sailors in particular took huge losses (5 men) but were in action to the end only becoming pinned and never breaking. Gary's ten man sections just couldn't absorb the losses the same.

In total the Soviets lost 13 (8 from the core platoon and 5 from the supports) casualties while the Germans lost 10. At the end the Soviets had a force morale advantage of 1 so of the 8 men from the core platoon 3 will never return, 2 will miss the next game and 3 will be available from the next game.

The next scenario is 'Farm and Road' where the Germans have to blow up some culverts. The situation is looking good for the Soviets but there is still time for the Germans to turn it around!