Chain of Command - Sicily

 Wargames Soldiers and Strategy magazine's recent issue (WSS131) has an article and scenario by Too Fat Lardies' Nick Skinner for a British platoon in Normandy.  While I don't have any figures or terrain suitable to Normandy in 1944, I realised that I could easily set up this scenario using my figures and terrain for Sicily in 1943!  Sam from Trumpeters has been interested in playing more Chain of Command, so Arthur and I set up the table, and invited Sam over to try out the scenario.

I read up on using real world fire and maneuver tactics using Chain of Command, including an article by Len Tracy in the 2023 Lard Mag.  With this research in mind, I decided to take the Canadian platoon.  Sam as a result took the German defenders.

Here is the battlefield.  The Canadians have been tasked with clearing the Germans from the orchard and farmhouse in the foreground.

Canadian platoon.  Two senior leaders (lieutenant and sergeant), three sections of infantry, engineering mine clearing squadron, mortar FOO and Cobault the Sherman tank. 

German reduced strength platoon with senior leader, two squads, tripod-mounted MMG, sniper and Panzer IV (although Sam chose to take the Stug III instead).  Germans also get a single minefield.  

Patrol phase (click on the photo to magnify):  the patrol phase ended up in the centre of the table.  With lots of cover on the table, we were able to place our jump-off points closer to the middle of the table than in many other CoC games that I've been in.  Canadian JoPs are visible by the bend in the road, tucked into the sharp wall corner and tucked against the table edge.  German JoPs are at the rear of the orchard, inside the farmyard wall and in the farmhouse itself.  There is a fourth German JoP at the far table edge.

Close up of a couple of the German JoPs in the farmyard and farmhouse representing the primary targets for the Canadian attackers.

Canadians start off by deploying two sections from their JoP (the CMP truck).

First time this has happened for me!  Four sixes for a random event.  We ended up with 'Jabos' - overhead aircraft had everyone hitting the dirt for two phases.

 

Cobault enters the table.

First Canuck section is pinned, while the sappers try to clear the minefield.

Canadian sections move out of the line of fire of the sniper, but not before the corporal and sergeant are both wounded.

Sappers finally clear the minefield, as Cobault and the unpinned section move up to push the Germans out of the orchard.

Only to have the Germans spin around and take up a position on the other side of the barn!

Canadians capture one of the German JoPs, as well as the German medic who had been left behind when the infantry withdrew!

Third Canadian section moves up to support the advance.  Beside the barn, you can see the PIAT team trying to line up a shot on the Stug.

What's this?  The German leutnant takes a depleted German squad on a wild chase for the Canadian JoPs!

Faceoff between the Stug and the Sherman!  The smoke behind the Stug marks the covering fire that the Canadians had just set on the German MMG.  

Amazing armour save by Cobault!  

While the tank vs Stug battle goes on, Canadian third section lines up to attack the farmyard.

Brave German officer occupies two Canadian JoPs but can't for the turn end to get rolls on the BTH table.

PIAT team takes out the Stug.

Canadian third section assaulted and wiped out the second German section (no photo, sorry!) then moved to capture the JoP in the farmyard.  That was enough to take the German force morale to zero and a victory for the Canucks.

This was a tough, close fought game. The dice gave some crazy results.  Sam got a crazy number of double phases, but then was cursed by bad results when rolling to hit or damage.  There were lots of shots by the two armoured vehicles that either missed, or caused either minimal or no damage.  Sam's sniper missed an unlikely number of shots.  

I was disappointed not to have my usual 2" mortar.  On the other side, Sam's Germans had no anti-armour capability other than the Stug.  I only had limited success with my attempts to use the fire and maneuver tactics, so I am eager to try again to see if I can figure them out.

Thanks Sam for a great game!

More Dangerous Dames and some other stuff

 I finished up a few miniatures from my backlog.  Partly inspired by the upcoming Mad Dogs with Guns Gangster campaign, I finished up some of the backlogged Pulp Figures' Dangerous Dames, along with a couple vehicles and some scatter terrain.  Plus a couple figures from the lead mountain!

First up, some Pulp Figures.  Central three are from the 2020 Dangerous Dames kickstarter (gradually clearing out the backlog!).  I call the lady on the left "the ornithologist", she might end up being a interfering busybody/helpful citizen who can inform the police (or the press) about illicit goings on in Chicago as our gangster run rampant!

These three are French resistance fighters from the Wargames Atlantic 3D STL print files (printed by Only Games).  However they are sufficiently generic that they could also end up in gangland rumbles!

A couple of figures that finally got cleaned up.  The winter soldier is HLBS British intervention in the Russian Civil War (now Tiger Miniatures) - unfortunately the rest of his unit has since disappeared from my collection!  The ranger on the right is one of Faramir's rangers of Ithilien, suitable for any sort of fantasy gaming.

And finally a couple of vehicles and bits of scatter terrain.  The Company B Model T has been sitting around for many years!  It is one of three that I bought 15 years ago.  One of the three was converted into an Armoured Autocar, and the other was chopped up to make a minefield look authentic.  The driver was converted from a Warlord Games US GI jeep driver, with a headswap with a Wargames Atlantic resistance fighter.  The tractor is an MDF creation from Sarissa.

And finally some bits of scatter terrain from JTFM.  Can never have too much scatter terrain!

Top view to show off the bed of the Model T.

Empire to Revolution - Hunting Expedition

 Arthur found the scenario 'A Hunting Expedition' in the Empire to Revolution supplement for Through the Mud and the Blood.  It's actually an excellent intro scenario for M&B.  Each side gets only a single level II leader and a squad of soldiers, so players can quickly learn the basics for movement, spotting, firing and special tasks, as well as the use of blinds.

In this scenario, an ambitious young Austro-Hungarian officer has taken a squad of soldiers (represented by German soldiers as I don't have any A-H in my collection) to seek a prisoner to interrogate, while on the Russian side, a group of Cossacks are on the search for some tasty provisions, which they hope to find in the barn.  In the photo below you can see the table setup by Arthur - I think he did an excellent job, it looks great.  Russians enter on a blind at the top (as seen above) and Germans from the left.

Germans entered on a blind, but were immediately spotted by the Russians.  

Russians were spotted in the second turn!

Russians immediately started to run for the barn.  Thanks to a few turns in which the 'time for a snifter' card came up before the Germans could activate, the Russians had a bit of a head start on the run.  M&B isn't a game to play if you want your troops to activate reliably, but I like the unpredictability - even when it doesn't go my way!

Russians reach the barn while the Germans are still mucking about in the orchard.

Germans reach the edge of the orchard as the Russians emerge from the barn, and immediately start a fire fight.

Russians keep pulling back toward the table edge, but their progress is impeded by the accumulation of shock.

The Germans manage to wound the Cossack officer, who is left behind as the remaining Cossacks flee the field.  

This is a nice, quick scenario.  Our playthrough really demonstrated the effect of the 'snifter' card, as there were many turns where one side or both failed to activate.  This is either a great example of M&B's approach to 'fog of war' or maddingly frustrating depending on your take on the rules.  As I mentioned before, I like the randomness but recognise how annoying it can be for someone who prefers more predictability in a game!

Bolt Action Stalingrad - God of War scenario

 Lisa's Bolt Action Stalingrad campaign is pretty much done, but as a completionist, she wants to finish up the remaining scenarios in the book.  So last night we played the God of War scenario.  The Red Army has launched Operation Uranus, and for the purposes of our battle, an outnumbered German platoon (officially Romanian, but you gotta go with the forces available!) tries to hold back two Red Army platoons, one infantry and one armoured.  The Germans have the advantage of some pretty significant defences, but will it be enough to allow them to hold the line?

My JTFM trenches have been getting some good use in recent games, and I was pleased that I could finally use my German bunker as well.

Arthur was so excited to field his Soviet naval infantry, so decided he needed to dress the part!  In fact, his platoon was pretty diverse and included naval infantry, a squad of partisans, the ever-popular SMG squad, the obligatory free inexperienced rifle squad, and, for the first time in action, the quad Maxim machine gun mounted on a GAZ AAA truck!

The German tripod mounted MG inside the bunker in the centre is nearly immune to the firepower the Red Army can bring to bear, but the crew can still be suppressed.  The red disks are pins that it is accumulating from the fire being brought to bear on it.  You can see that the German defences also included barbed wire and minefields.  These did not slow down the Russian advance but did channel their attack somewhat.

The Red Army has a lend-lease M4, known in Soviet service as the Em-Cha!  I teased Lisa that it showed up with a British crew and markings :)

Red Army T-26 flamethrower tank shows that there is one significant exception to the German bunkers near invulnerability!

German defender with a WWI-era MG08 machine gun tries to hold the line.

Communist-allied Brigata Garibaldi partisans prepare to assault the German trench.  Their allies, the inexperienced riflemen, have already been wiped out!

German defenders defenders are barely holding on, but they repulse the partisans!

Red Army armour overruns the veteran Panzergrenadiers.  They should have been ready, but whiffed their tank terror save and fled from the oncoming metal behemoths.  The German front line folded and move the emphasis to the second line.

My German 88 was another unit making a long-delayed tabletop debut.  It was pretty fearsome at first, eliminating a Russian howitzer with its first shot, but then later struggled to hit anything for the rest of the game.  The army list only allowed the Germans a single artillery piece, so I wanted to be certain they had the best.  With a range that covers the entire tabletop, ability to use direct or indirect fire, a ferocious armour-piercing power, and a large crew that allows it to keep operating after taking several hits, this was worth the points.  Or it would have been if I could have made a few more decent rolls to hit!

But ultimately, it too was taken out!

The Red Army flamethrower tank turned its attention on the German officer hiding in the big bunker, and that was pretty much the end of resistance.  The Red Army triumphs!