Although the later war uniforms are slightly different I've decided I'm not that bothered about the difference, having done the panzerfausts I'll add some later tanks to the collection in the future probably.
Thursday, 15 August 2019
Chain of Command WW2 Germans
When I bought the Partizans for the Russians I also invested in a pack of Germans with panzerfausts to allow my early war Germans to expend into the mid and late war period:
Although the later war uniforms are slightly different I've decided I'm not that bothered about the difference, having done the panzerfausts I'll add some later tanks to the collection in the future probably.
Although the later war uniforms are slightly different I've decided I'm not that bothered about the difference, having done the panzerfausts I'll add some later tanks to the collection in the future probably.
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Rommel Mid War American v German
Andy and I played another Rommel game last night, this time a one-off Mid War game.
For a change I went for a low army size and maxed out on artillery intending to defend. Andy picked a high army size so I got to choose the scenario and went for 'Evacuation' in which the attacker has to capture three out of five objectives which are removed after a varying number of turns.
As the defender it gives you some tough choices such as how many objectives to defend at all (if you try to defend all five your force will be spread too thin), which objectives to concentrate on defending (the ones nearest the attacker have to be defended for the shortest time but are more vulnerable than the ones further back) and if you can afford to sacrifice any units to delay the enemy.
The terrain didn't go great for the Americans with a low number of 11 terrain choices and Andy getting to choose terrain first only two of the objectives ended up in cover. The Americans deployed to defend four of the five objectives. The Armored CC deployed so that it could withdraw after luring the Germans into an attack onto a second objective the Americans didn't actually plan to defend with the Infantry RCT defending the other three objectives and the American artillery park:
Having deployed the American infantry defending an objective that would have to be held for eight turns looked a bit isolated. They would need support quickly to hold on as they were bound to be attacked in strength:
The Germans line up to begin their attack. They have a new toy in the form of a Nebelwerfer which is a very effective short-range artillery base. Contributing 5 strength to an attack (albeit with short range) doubled to a potential 10 by using a tactic it looks dangerous and was of immediate concern to the Americans!:
The Germans use road movement to advance quickly and launch some attacks all of which are beaten off with losses on both sides. As anticipated they have committed a lot of units to attacking the objective held by the American Armored CC:
They also attack the isolated American infantry in the town, they take heavy losses and only just hold on:
The battle lines after the initial German attacks:
The Americans reorganise their forces and withdraw from the objective on their left according to plan. The American infantry in the town on the right will have to hold on a little longer until the Armored CC can help them. The only attack from the Americans consists of using 'Jabos' to blow up the Nebelwerfer, the Germans having forgotten that any German unit that made a road move in the previous turn can be targeted by Jabos who inflict a single hit. Artillery only have one hit so it destroys them! While having no actual effect beyond it's loss the Americans are heartened by the removal of the Nebelwerfer threat and the Germans slightly upset their new toy didn't last long:
The American infantry hold on despite taking more losses:
The Germans make one last attack on the vital town. Both sides throw everything into the combat. The American infantry only just hold on, two units being eliminated and the third reduced to a single strength point! With a little more luck the Germans could have won the game here:
The Americans have held the town long enough now and the survivors evacuate it. The final two German objectives are strongly held by the Americans and with night approaching it looks like the Americans will hold on:
The Germans continue to attack but have taken heavy losses weakening their ability to inflict damage on the Americans. On their side the Americans have a front line of almost spent units but also enough fresh units to defend the remaining objectives:
The American perimeter is much reduced but the evacuation has almost been carried out now:
German attacks continue but with little chance of success:
Night is about to fall with the Americans holding on for a victory:
Another great game which we really enjoyed. It could easily have gone the other way on a couple of occasions when the American infantry in the town on the right only just held on.
As ever the choice of where to spend your Ops and what to defend/attack was crucial and the more experience we both gain the harder those choices are. My choice of a small army with lots of artillery did work out in the end, unusually for the defender I inflicted a lot of damage on the German units which meant that while they had a lot of units left at the end most of them were very weak.
Without the artillery the weak American infantry and armor would have survived the German attacks but not inflicted any damage on them so it certainly played it's part.
The plan to appear to defend the town on the left, drawing German units towards it before retreating to concentrate on the other objectives also worked to a great extent.
Having played a lot of games with me as the Americans and Andy as the Germans I think perhaps next time I will try the Germans while Andy has some British he is keen to use.
For a change I went for a low army size and maxed out on artillery intending to defend. Andy picked a high army size so I got to choose the scenario and went for 'Evacuation' in which the attacker has to capture three out of five objectives which are removed after a varying number of turns.
As the defender it gives you some tough choices such as how many objectives to defend at all (if you try to defend all five your force will be spread too thin), which objectives to concentrate on defending (the ones nearest the attacker have to be defended for the shortest time but are more vulnerable than the ones further back) and if you can afford to sacrifice any units to delay the enemy.
The terrain didn't go great for the Americans with a low number of 11 terrain choices and Andy getting to choose terrain first only two of the objectives ended up in cover. The Americans deployed to defend four of the five objectives. The Armored CC deployed so that it could withdraw after luring the Germans into an attack onto a second objective the Americans didn't actually plan to defend with the Infantry RCT defending the other three objectives and the American artillery park:
Having deployed the American infantry defending an objective that would have to be held for eight turns looked a bit isolated. They would need support quickly to hold on as they were bound to be attacked in strength:
The Germans line up to begin their attack. They have a new toy in the form of a Nebelwerfer which is a very effective short-range artillery base. Contributing 5 strength to an attack (albeit with short range) doubled to a potential 10 by using a tactic it looks dangerous and was of immediate concern to the Americans!:
The Germans use road movement to advance quickly and launch some attacks all of which are beaten off with losses on both sides. As anticipated they have committed a lot of units to attacking the objective held by the American Armored CC:
They also attack the isolated American infantry in the town, they take heavy losses and only just hold on:
The battle lines after the initial German attacks:
The Americans reorganise their forces and withdraw from the objective on their left according to plan. The American infantry in the town on the right will have to hold on a little longer until the Armored CC can help them. The only attack from the Americans consists of using 'Jabos' to blow up the Nebelwerfer, the Germans having forgotten that any German unit that made a road move in the previous turn can be targeted by Jabos who inflict a single hit. Artillery only have one hit so it destroys them! While having no actual effect beyond it's loss the Americans are heartened by the removal of the Nebelwerfer threat and the Germans slightly upset their new toy didn't last long:
The American infantry hold on despite taking more losses:
Support for the beleaguered American infantry is moving up and they don't need to hold on much longer. Much of the German force on the American left is going to take time to get back into the action:
The Germans make one last attack on the vital town. Both sides throw everything into the combat. The American infantry only just hold on, two units being eliminated and the third reduced to a single strength point! With a little more luck the Germans could have won the game here:
The Americans have held the town long enough now and the survivors evacuate it. The final two German objectives are strongly held by the Americans and with night approaching it looks like the Americans will hold on:
The Germans continue to attack but have taken heavy losses weakening their ability to inflict damage on the Americans. On their side the Americans have a front line of almost spent units but also enough fresh units to defend the remaining objectives:
The American perimeter is much reduced but the evacuation has almost been carried out now:
German attacks continue but with little chance of success:
Night is about to fall with the Americans holding on for a victory:
Another great game which we really enjoyed. It could easily have gone the other way on a couple of occasions when the American infantry in the town on the right only just held on.
As ever the choice of where to spend your Ops and what to defend/attack was crucial and the more experience we both gain the harder those choices are. My choice of a small army with lots of artillery did work out in the end, unusually for the defender I inflicted a lot of damage on the German units which meant that while they had a lot of units left at the end most of them were very weak.
Without the artillery the weak American infantry and armor would have survived the German attacks but not inflicted any damage on them so it certainly played it's part.
The plan to appear to defend the town on the left, drawing German units towards it before retreating to concentrate on the other objectives also worked to a great extent.
Having played a lot of games with me as the Americans and Andy as the Germans I think perhaps next time I will try the Germans while Andy has some British he is keen to use.
Thursday, 8 August 2019
Chain of Command 'Storming the Citadel' Scenario Three 'Panzer Marsch - the assault continues!'
As we had started early we decided to play another game with the Germans renewing the assault on Butovo.
Jerry elected to use the same platoon as in the last game and re-organised them into two squads after their losses. Leytenant Kravtsov reallocated some men to make his squads more even in numbers.
This time Jerry again got the maximum 15 SP while the Soviets were allocated only 6 SP. Presumably some of the support from the first attack had been reallocated to other areas!
Kravtsov decided to take a 45mm AT gun and three entrenchments, again it was a tough choice as if the Germans didn't opt for a tank as in the first attack the AT gun would be wasted. Without the gun though the Soviets have no answer to a tank so really I feel they have to take it.
The patrol phase went better for the Germans this time with the Soviets not having such good jump off points:
The Germans had obtained armoured support this time in the form of a Panzer IIIN:
They also deployed a squad in the broken ground with the HMG again and called down a mortar barrage:
Cursing his luck with the ZIS-3 not being available Leytenant Kravstov asks the 45mm AT gun team to deal with the Panzer. They hit the target but the shell bounces off harmlessly:
The Panzer returns fire killing two of the gun crew. The valiant survivors reload, aim carefully and put another shell into the tank. This time it brews up!:
The Germans are somewhat demoralised at their tank being destroyed:
With the tank out of action the second German squad joins its comrades in the brush. Apart from the AT gun the Soviets have not yet revealed their positions:
The German leader urges his men forward to assault the town again. After their last experience they lack enthusiasm!:
Both German squads are advancing:
They reach the fence unopposed. The German observer has moved the mortar barrage over to try to hit the Soviet AT gun:
With perfect timing Serzhant Davidov and the 4th Squad open fire putting down several of the fascists:
One German squad is almost wiped out. The second crosses the fence and tries to move up:
Three Sailors are down but the Navy men continue to fight on:
The 3rd Squad under Serzhant Novikov open up on the other German squad. German casualties mount quickly:
Leytenant Kravtsov directs the fire himself and the fascist dogs run for their lives.The second assault has been repulsed!:
The Soviets lost 3 men only one of whom was killed from the Platoon. The brave AT gun crew was wiped out but as a support unit they can be replaced. German losses were again substantial.
This time Jerry was unlucky that his tank was blown up by a rather weak AT gun. I think moving the mortar barrage to take out the gun was probably a mistake for the Germans, they would have been better off concentrating on stopping the Soviets deploying in front of their advancing men.
The Germans will now have to organise another assault. They have one platoon which took a fair bit of damage in games 1 and 2, a second which was all but wiped out in games 3 and 4 and an unused platoon they really need to save for later on in the campaign.
Leytenant Kravstov's men are holding on, slowly being whittled down but the men are optimistic and the Company Commander is pleased with Kravstov's performance to date. The Germans certainly can't afford any more defeats like the last two.
Jerry elected to use the same platoon as in the last game and re-organised them into two squads after their losses. Leytenant Kravtsov reallocated some men to make his squads more even in numbers.
This time Jerry again got the maximum 15 SP while the Soviets were allocated only 6 SP. Presumably some of the support from the first attack had been reallocated to other areas!
Kravtsov decided to take a 45mm AT gun and three entrenchments, again it was a tough choice as if the Germans didn't opt for a tank as in the first attack the AT gun would be wasted. Without the gun though the Soviets have no answer to a tank so really I feel they have to take it.
The patrol phase went better for the Germans this time with the Soviets not having such good jump off points:
The Germans had obtained armoured support this time in the form of a Panzer IIIN:
They also deployed a squad in the broken ground with the HMG again and called down a mortar barrage:
Cursing his luck with the ZIS-3 not being available Leytenant Kravstov asks the 45mm AT gun team to deal with the Panzer. They hit the target but the shell bounces off harmlessly:
The Panzer returns fire killing two of the gun crew. The valiant survivors reload, aim carefully and put another shell into the tank. This time it brews up!:
The Germans are somewhat demoralised at their tank being destroyed:
With the tank out of action the second German squad joins its comrades in the brush. Apart from the AT gun the Soviets have not yet revealed their positions:
The German leader urges his men forward to assault the town again. After their last experience they lack enthusiasm!:
Both German squads are advancing:
They reach the fence unopposed. The German observer has moved the mortar barrage over to try to hit the Soviet AT gun:
With perfect timing Serzhant Davidov and the 4th Squad open fire putting down several of the fascists:
One German squad is almost wiped out. The second crosses the fence and tries to move up:
Three Sailors are down but the Navy men continue to fight on:
The 3rd Squad under Serzhant Novikov open up on the other German squad. German casualties mount quickly:
Leytenant Kravtsov directs the fire himself and the fascist dogs run for their lives.The second assault has been repulsed!:
The Soviets lost 3 men only one of whom was killed from the Platoon. The brave AT gun crew was wiped out but as a support unit they can be replaced. German losses were again substantial.
This time Jerry was unlucky that his tank was blown up by a rather weak AT gun. I think moving the mortar barrage to take out the gun was probably a mistake for the Germans, they would have been better off concentrating on stopping the Soviets deploying in front of their advancing men.
The Germans will now have to organise another assault. They have one platoon which took a fair bit of damage in games 1 and 2, a second which was all but wiped out in games 3 and 4 and an unused platoon they really need to save for later on in the campaign.
Leytenant Kravstov's men are holding on, slowly being whittled down but the men are optimistic and the Company Commander is pleased with Kravstov's performance to date. The Germans certainly can't afford any more defeats like the last two.
Chain of Command 'Storming the Citadel' Scenario Three 'Panzer Marsch!'
After successfully defending the artillery observation post before falling back from the minefields Leytenant Kravtsov and his men find themselves defending the village of Butovo.
This is the first opportunity for the Soviets to delay the German attack and they have a decent defensive position to defend:
Both sides rolled maximum for SP giving the Germans 16 SP and the Soviets 11. Kravtsov suspected that some German armour would appear this time so took a ZIS-3 AT gun, a sniper, a flamethrower team and three entrenchments.
The patrol phase went well for the Soviets giving them jump-off points in the town while the Germans were confined to the small area of scrub on the Soviet left. The Germans were using a fresh platoon so were at full strength.
The action opened with the Germans revealing a HMG and an artillery observer in the scrub. Serzhant Novikov deployed with the 3rd Squad and opened fire on the HMG:
Serzhant Suslov and the 1st Squad also deployed, successfully targeting the fascist artillery observer and killing him with help from the sniper:
The 3rd Squad has finished off the German HMG for the loss of a single man, German morale is dropping quickly:
The Germans reveal a Panzer Grenadier squad which opens up on the 3rd Squad. Despite being in hard cover the remaining five men of the 3rd Squad are downed leaving only Serzhant Novikov to continue the fight!:
Another Panzer Grenadier squad joins the first:
Urged on by their officers the fascists advance at the run towards the brave Serzhant!
Reacting quickly Kravtsov places his 4th Squad in the entrenchments vacated by the 2nd Squad while the 2nd Squad takes position next to them. Both Squads open fire inflicting heavy losses on the Germans:
Leytenant Kravtsov personally directs the fire and the Germans are cut down:
One Panzer Grenadier squad is wiped out and the second breaks. German morale collapses and the attack is beaten off:
The Germans lost many casualties, total Soviet losses were 7 (3 dead, 2 light wound, 2 return to duty) all from the 3rd Squad.
I had the best of the luck in this scenario (apart from when five of the 3rd squad got hit in one go despite being in hard cover, 5 out of 7 dice came up '6'!). I had decent command rolls when I needed them and a couple of very useful double turns.
To my surprise Jerry didn't select a tank, instead having a preliminary bombardment, the 8cm mortar battery, a HMG and I think maybe a second senior officer. I only used the entrenchments and the sniper from my support though I tried to get the Flamethrower into action I couldn't quite manage it.
The Germans will have to regroup and resume the attack, They now have two weakened platoons while Leytenant Kravtsov's men are still a viable fighting force.
This is the first opportunity for the Soviets to delay the German attack and they have a decent defensive position to defend:
Both sides rolled maximum for SP giving the Germans 16 SP and the Soviets 11. Kravtsov suspected that some German armour would appear this time so took a ZIS-3 AT gun, a sniper, a flamethrower team and three entrenchments.
The patrol phase went well for the Soviets giving them jump-off points in the town while the Germans were confined to the small area of scrub on the Soviet left. The Germans were using a fresh platoon so were at full strength.
The action opened with the Germans revealing a HMG and an artillery observer in the scrub. Serzhant Novikov deployed with the 3rd Squad and opened fire on the HMG:
The 3rd Squad has finished off the German HMG for the loss of a single man, German morale is dropping quickly:
The Germans reveal a Panzer Grenadier squad which opens up on the 3rd Squad. Despite being in hard cover the remaining five men of the 3rd Squad are downed leaving only Serzhant Novikov to continue the fight!:
Another Panzer Grenadier squad joins the first:
Urged on by their officers the fascists advance at the run towards the brave Serzhant!
Reacting quickly Kravtsov places his 4th Squad in the entrenchments vacated by the 2nd Squad while the 2nd Squad takes position next to them. Both Squads open fire inflicting heavy losses on the Germans:
Leytenant Kravtsov personally directs the fire and the Germans are cut down:
One Panzer Grenadier squad is wiped out and the second breaks. German morale collapses and the attack is beaten off:
The Germans lost many casualties, total Soviet losses were 7 (3 dead, 2 light wound, 2 return to duty) all from the 3rd Squad.
I had the best of the luck in this scenario (apart from when five of the 3rd squad got hit in one go despite being in hard cover, 5 out of 7 dice came up '6'!). I had decent command rolls when I needed them and a couple of very useful double turns.
To my surprise Jerry didn't select a tank, instead having a preliminary bombardment, the 8cm mortar battery, a HMG and I think maybe a second senior officer. I only used the entrenchments and the sniper from my support though I tried to get the Flamethrower into action I couldn't quite manage it.
The Germans will have to regroup and resume the attack, They now have two weakened platoons while Leytenant Kravtsov's men are still a viable fighting force.
Friday, 2 August 2019
Chain of Command 'Storming the Citadel' Scenario Two 'Clear The Way'
As the first scenario in the campaign didn't take that long to play Jerry and I moved on to the second scenario, 'Clear The Way'. In this scenario the Germans have to clear 4 minefields to claim victory. If they win they get an extra patrol phase move in scenario three, if the Soviets win they get a free minefield for scenario three.
Jerry elected to use the same platoon he used in scenario one. The Soviets had two SP this time and again used them on entrenchments.
The patrol phase didn't go so well for the Soviets this time and they ended up pinned in one corner of the table defending a hill and a patch of rough ground:
A weakened German squad takes up over-watch in some rough ground:
Two more squads deploy near the minefield. One of them is down to four men but has two LMG so is still a threat firing:
Leytenant Kravstov deploys the 3rd squad in entrenchments to open fire at the Germans on over-watch:
The 2nd squad deploys on the hill again in entrenchments and attempts to wipe out the small German squad on their left:
One German squad cautiously advances through the gaps in the minefields. In the background a mine-clearing team attempts to clear one of the fields:
Both the weakened German squads open up on the 2nd squad. Despite being low in numbers having two LMG per squad gives them a lot of firepower. Serzhant Grekov, commanding the 2nd squad, is wounded and four of his men are down. They are forced to abandon the position:
Leytenant Kravtsov rallies the 2nd Squad:
Now Leytenant Kravtsov had to make a decision: withdraw now without having suffered many losses or fight on and hope to effectively wipe out the German platoon which had been further reduced in numbers in this fight while risking taking more losses which he could ill afford. Deciding to fight on for now Kravtsov deployed the 4th squad in the entrenchments on the hill:
The firefight went badly for the Sailors though with Serzhant Vaskov being wounded and then killed and three more of his men being hit:
At this point Leytenant Kravtsov decided to pull back. Having lost seven men and Serzhant Vaskov already he didn't want to risk further losses.
German losses in the two attacks would probably mean that their platoon would have to be replaced for the next scenario while the Soviets have not lost that many men from their single platoon.
This game showed the difference between a single game and a campaign game. When I withdrew my platoon was still in reasonably intact. I had one section left to deploy and two of the three German squads were in poor shape. If I'd fought on there was a good chance I'd have won the scenario but, having won the first one, I didn't think the extra losses would be worth it for a minefield and the German platoon was probably unusable for a while anyway.
Looking forward to scenario three where Leytenant Kravtsov and his men will be defending the village of Butovo.
Jerry elected to use the same platoon he used in scenario one. The Soviets had two SP this time and again used them on entrenchments.
The patrol phase didn't go so well for the Soviets this time and they ended up pinned in one corner of the table defending a hill and a patch of rough ground:
A weakened German squad takes up over-watch in some rough ground:
Two more squads deploy near the minefield. One of them is down to four men but has two LMG so is still a threat firing:
Leytenant Kravstov deploys the 3rd squad in entrenchments to open fire at the Germans on over-watch:
The 2nd squad deploys on the hill again in entrenchments and attempts to wipe out the small German squad on their left:
One German squad cautiously advances through the gaps in the minefields. In the background a mine-clearing team attempts to clear one of the fields:
Both the weakened German squads open up on the 2nd squad. Despite being low in numbers having two LMG per squad gives them a lot of firepower. Serzhant Grekov, commanding the 2nd squad, is wounded and four of his men are down. They are forced to abandon the position:
Leytenant Kravtsov rallies the 2nd Squad:
Now Leytenant Kravtsov had to make a decision: withdraw now without having suffered many losses or fight on and hope to effectively wipe out the German platoon which had been further reduced in numbers in this fight while risking taking more losses which he could ill afford. Deciding to fight on for now Kravtsov deployed the 4th squad in the entrenchments on the hill:
At this point Leytenant Kravtsov decided to pull back. Having lost seven men and Serzhant Vaskov already he didn't want to risk further losses.
German losses in the two attacks would probably mean that their platoon would have to be replaced for the next scenario while the Soviets have not lost that many men from their single platoon.
This game showed the difference between a single game and a campaign game. When I withdrew my platoon was still in reasonably intact. I had one section left to deploy and two of the three German squads were in poor shape. If I'd fought on there was a good chance I'd have won the scenario but, having won the first one, I didn't think the extra losses would be worth it for a minefield and the German platoon was probably unusable for a while anyway.
Looking forward to scenario three where Leytenant Kravtsov and his men will be defending the village of Butovo.
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