Great War Chain of Command AAR -Training the German Army

 I had Kevin, Peter and Doug over yesterday for another Chain of Command WWI trench bash.  This time we played Scenario 6 from Stout Hearts and Iron Troopers, training the Imperial German Army with an attack on an entrenched position.  The setting is spring 1918, during the famous Michael offensive.  The initial attack has passed over this British position, and the Germans are mopping up the isolated defenders.

Although the Patrol Phase is very important for Chain of Command, I skipped it for this scenario.  The Germans were given two jump-off points at the two shell craters on the right hand side of the image below.  The British were assigned one section each in the bunker and the two craters, which represent earthen dugouts.  

The pregame setup included a preliminary barrage, which inflicted shock and a few casualties on the British in their dugouts, and also created the breaks in the wire that the German force will pass through.

In the shot below, the Germans are advancing on the right against the rifle grenade section.  As the enemy is so close, the British simply used their rifles as rifles, no benefit to firing rifle grenades.  The markers behind the Germans show the two points of shock that have been added.

The Germans also had a sniper, who kept up a steady harassments on the defenders.

The rifle grenadiers were able to repel the first German squad, but then had to face the follow-on from the next squad.

German soldier up front issues an eviction notice to the Brits.  Note the shock markers and orange smoke representing a pin marker.

Aaaand the follow-on squad takes the trench.

Meanwhile on the left of the British line, a squad of German grenadiers comes on to issue their own eviction notice.

In the bunker at the centre of the line, the Lewis section continues to fire on any enemy they can spot, but it isn't enough to hold back the Hun.  The soldiers are actually inside the bunker, but their models have been placed on top for reference. 

German grenadiers approach along the trench line.  An uncannily accurate barrage of grenades subdues the British defenders (no, really, Doug rolled amazingly well, hit after hit, as each grenade toss became harder!).  Overwhelmed, this broke the force morale for the defenders, and they fled off the table.

It was a good game, despite a few errors on my part.  When the first German squad broke, I didn't transfer any of their shock to the following squad when the survivors fled through them.  Peter, playing the Brits, didn't send his runner at the first opportunity, so by the time he got off the table to alert the platoon HQ and the reinforcements, it was too late for them to arrive. Another challenge for the Brits was having their three sections isolated from each other.  This was a deliberate part of the scenario, so perhaps in a future play through I'll see if the British player can act to bring sections closer together to support each other. Intriguingly, the Germans attacked with an LMG squad rather than using it to suppress the defenders - and I'm certain the soldiers wouldn't have appreciated all the 'bullet sponge' comments before they broke!  

I'll try this scenario again, I think, with a few tweaks on the layout to make sure the Brits get a chance to bring on their platoon commander.