Chain of Command Case Yellow Campaign Game 2 'Blitzkrieg' German v British

The second game in the Case Yellow campaign saw my Germans taking on Rory's BEF in a 'Blitzkrieg' scenario. To win the Germans have to exit two teams off the opposite table edge, reduce the BEF force morale to 0 or make them withdraw voluntarily. The British can win by playing two CoC dice to call up support before the Germans can achieve their victory conditions

The support roll gave me a mighty 18 support points and Rory an insignificantly less 15SP! Assuming that Rory was bound to take AA guns I didn't bother with the Stuka and went for the Adjutant (1), Jean Claude (1), 5th Columnist (1), Entrenchment (1), Pioneer Team (1), Pre-game Barrage (2), Red Dice (2), le.18.7mm gun (4) and StuG III (5).

Force morale started at an unhelpful 8 for the Germans and a as good as it gets 11 for the BEF (feeling confident after Rory had won his last two games!).

The Germans are attacking from the right, the British defending the left:

British JOP's with the German ones in the distance. A minefield was discovered at the crossroad:

The British deploy their mortar crew in the woods. Jean-Claude lurks in a hedge behind the British lines and takes a shot causing two shock on the mortar team:

Unfortunately a nearby Morris C9 AC spots him and promptly shoots him dead!

The first German troops deploy, the Red section behind a stone wall. They are accompanied by the StuG (just out of shot):

The British attempt to deploy an AT gun to take on the StuG. However, Captain Mainwaring (the 5th Columnist in disguise!) persuades the crew that now is certainly not the time to arrive and the gun does not appear:

The British have deployed a MMG and a section to engage in a firefight with the Red section. Despite the odds the Germans are inflicting more damage:

Yellow section deploys in the wood to add their fire commanded by Feldwebel Beckenbauer:

The StuG and the British AC have been exchanging fire. The StuG survives a critical hit from the AC then fires back and forces the AC to flee:

British resistance starts to crumble! The survivors of the MMG crew run for it:

The StuG moves up to add its HE shells:

The British mortar crew put up some smoke (the round counters) but it fails to block the German's view:

The StuG continues to fire:

The British section turns and routs:

The British deploy a 2pdr AT gun:

The StuG retreats to safety while the German infantry pour fire into the AT gun:

The fire is too much for the gun crew who take hits and shock:

Just as it appears everything is over for the British and the Germans will break through the British roll 4 sixes from their five command dice. This ends the turn (which is bad for the British!), signifies the fall of rain and, crucially, gives them a free CoC dice. As they already have one they can immediately end the game with the arrival of their support forces! Victory goes to the British.

For a while it looked like an inevitable German win but Rory's refusal to retreat saved the day. He only needed three more fives from his command dice anyway so it was certainly closer than it looked on the casualties (the Germans only lost two men in the game). Both sides found it hard to bring men on through pre-game barrages which probably affected the British slightly more especially once I deployed 'Captain Mainwaring' as the 5th Columnist! 

Oddly enough the men's opinion went up after this defeat having gone down following the first game's victory! The platoon is still  in excellent shape to continue the campaign next time....