Chain of Command - 29 Let's Go, Game Four

The US troops press on into St Germain du Pert on a mopping up operation after a hard battle to take the village

Last week we played our fourth game in our linked campaign with a replay of scenario three in '29 Lets Go' that sees us refighting on table three on the map below, looking to clear the village of St. Germain du Pert of German troops who have been enfilading the main road to Osmanville with their fire.

The link below will take you to the first post covering our initial games in this campaign and the background to starting it.

Chain of Command - Devil is in the Detail

In the last game Ian, commanding the German forces, forced Steve and I to go away and rethink this battle after we had only just grabbed a bloody draw after seemingly been staring our first defeat full in the eyes.

On reflection we felt we had not stretched the German defences enough, but worst still had our troops poorly deployed and unable to mutually support one another leading to our attacks going in piecemeal and being defeated whilst others could only look on and do nothing to help.

This time we were determined to do things differently and not squander the opportunity to get the US series of wins back on the road, conscious that poor old Ian was probably reeling from the casualties he sustained in the last battle for this village with a lot less opportunity to repair those losses than us.

The picture above gives an idea in the slight change made to the US attack in that this time all three US squads supported by their two platoon commanders deployed supporting each other around the hedged field top left with two bazookas and a flamethrower attached.

In addition the US tanks quickly deployed from the road taking advantage of an extra vehicle with a troop commander aboard better able to coordinate their movements and set up over-watch as the US infantry closed on the nearest building.

We had concluded from the last game that it was imperative for our tanks to get onto table first and get deployed wide of the road to give them over-watch down the road into the village able to reply on any deployment by the Germans be that infantry weapons or Marder IIIs from behind the rearward buildings, that so badly shot up our infantry in the last battle.

The battle reflected the casualties sustained in the last fight as far as the Germans were concerned in that Ian could only afford to hold one part of the village in force and he had decided to make the church and its high walled graveyard his main point of defence, leaving the farm buildings, that had caused us so many casualties in the last attack, open to being taken quickly by a squad of our infantry.

However the reward the German force attained for its repulse of the first US attack was an opportunity to strengthen their position with the addition of a minefield that they chose to place astride the road next to the church wall, as seen in the picture above.

That said, the squad approaching the corner of the churchyard, using the hedgerow as cover, whilst others were on over-watch during their movement suddenly caught the wrath of the MG42 and its supporting riflemen as up they popped along the church wall and delivered a withering fire.

However this time they invited a prompt response as both a supporting squad of infantry to their right and three Shermans on over-watch to their front, replied with small arms, machine-guns and HE fire that punched holes in the wall and killed and wounded the troops along it.

Ian's men were taking a beating in the firefight and so he deployed the Panzerschreck that missed our tanks in the last battle but left the armoured troops cautious about getting to close to the buildings in this particular battle.

It still took the German team two more shots to get a successful strike against the American tanks but in the end a rocket streaked out across the open ground and the first tank was struck effectively enough to knock it out hitting the troop commander's vehicle in the centre; but luckily both he and his crew made a successful bail out and retreated to the safety of the hedgerow behind, as their tank cooked off.

Whilst the duel between the German infantry and US armour went on the US infantry closed on the village, taking the farmhouse on the furthest side of the road from the church and deploying the flamethrower in the field, to fire its deadly load into the churchyard via the large iron gates facing the road, catching German troops falling back from the battle they had had on the front wall.

The effects in terms of casualties were moderate, but the effects of double shock were most impressive and when further rounds of tank HE and hull machine-gun fire were thrown in for good measure, the German troops in the church-yard were left reeling and forced to try and take cover as best they could, behind the building.

Facing this onslaught of fire the Germans were left with no other card to play other than trying to get the Marder's into the fight, but this time the Americans were ready for such an eventuality and the US tanks were well sighted along the road to get in an early strike damaging the gun on one of the arrivals, leaving it with just its machine-gun.

Now occupying the farm house, the US infantry were also able to deploy the bazookas with one achieving a hit causing shock on the offending crew but leaving the Marder in a dangerously close position to the infantry nearby.

With the German command teetering on one more morale point to cause them to break off the combat, the US tanks fired and one got a grazing shot on the hull of the German AFV that was not enough to knock it out but serious enough to cause its crew to abandon it and enough to break the Germans will to resist any further.

Wow! What a game, the best so far. All of us around that table were exhausted with the tension the game produced in that the battle was both hard fought and never predictable, being only over when it was over.

Ian played a hard, well fought defence with limited resources and pushed the American force to battle for a win all the way and both Steve and I were as much relieved at closing the game out as any other feeling.

Our platoon earning a well earned break after four gruelling battles clearing the road to Isigny

This week we are taking a break from our normal Tuesday gathering but will be back next week to resume the fight along the coast from Omaha beach to Isigny as our troops are ordered to neutralise the threat of a German held position to the right of the road, the radar station at Cardonville, table four.

So far in our four games we have committed a total of four platoons with attached support, totalling 189 men and nine Sherman tanks.

Our losses have not been inconsequential with fifty men killed and wounded and four of the Shermans knocked out.

In return we have killed an estimated twenty-one German soldiers, injured another twenty and knocked out a Marder III and a 7.5cm infantry gun.

Still lots of hard fighting ahead with at least two more scenarios to go and Ian, Steve and myself are progressing up the learning curve in discovering the delights that Chain of Command has to offer.

Thanks to Jason for setting up the games with his delightful collection and guidance throughout.

More anon
JJ

Chain of Command - The Devil is in the Detail

As an 'Historical Wargamer', I have always been a fan of the Too Fat Lardies and their ethos of 'playing the period, not the rules' which very much ties into my own way of thinking about wargaming and the history I am attempting to get a little closer to understanding, whilst having some fun in the process.

In addition Rich Clarke and Nick Skinner have produced rule sets that very much chime with historical themes I am very interested in, most notably World War II and the Late European Campaigns in France, The Low Countries and Germany in particular.

My wargaming habits tend to operate on themes, as I very much enjoy immersing myself thoroughly for a few years in a given period to gain that understanding I mentioned and hence I have not tended to be the fashionable 'butterfly' type of wargamer constantly flitting between projects and forever distracted by the latest 'new thing' to hit the wargames press.

Thus prior to starting this blog way back in 2012 I had spent a good few years playing a lot of WWII in 15mm using mainly Battlefront 'Flames of War' figures and models but of course using the Lardies, 'I Aint Been Shot Mum' for which my rather large collection of Normandy companies, British, German and American are built around, not to mention quite a bit of terrain.

The blog's start date coincided with a shift of themes as I yearned to return to another 'true love' Peninsular War Napoleonics and the result of that recent reacquaintance is documented here on JJ's. That and the most recent theme shift, where I have not only moved my focus to the Roman Principate, but also into a totally different scale, 28mm, with all the terrain building implications that has required.

Unfortunately, during this theme shifting, a very significant, award winning, set of WWII rules was published by the Lardies looking at Platoon level combat, 'Chain of Command' that clashed horribly with my focused work on gaining a clear understanding of modelling British Reverse Slope tactics.

Thus although I purchased the rules and all the 'gubbins' that went with them on day one, and have played them, sort of, since, I have not really had the focus to sit down and explore what was immediately obvious to me; that Chain of Command are a very clever well thought though set of rules that reward a closer study to really appreciate the detail and insights they can offer when looking at this level of WWII combat.

The D-Day Landing Beaches with Omaha indicated and where the campaign game is focused after the US landings

Fortunately I was not alone in having this glaring gap in my wargaming education and other regular wargame friends with a similar interest also felt the need to get better acquainted with this set of rules; not to mention having the offer from another of our regular circuit, Jason, who was closely involved in their development and who knows them from cover to cover, offering to run one of the campaigns at his place to enable that closer look at how they play, one on one and with the context of thinking about the next game and the consequences of the choices made in the one being played.

The '29 Lets Go' Game Campaign Map detailing the various tables our actions would take place on

Game Two Bloody US Victory
So with Steve M and I taking the US command and Ian taking command of the Germans we arranged to meet over at Jason's on a Tuesday night for the next few weeks to play through the Chain of Command Campaign supplement '29 Lets Go' that recreates the 29th US Division fight to clear the coast road from Omaha beach to Isigny and eventually Carentan thus linking the two bridgeheads and US forces operating from Utah beach.

We played the first game last week which, as I suspected, was a steep learning curve for all of us as we grappled with the mechanics and consequences of the decisions we made, that certainly changed our approach to this the second game in the campaign ladder; after the US forces successfully broke through at Cambe and progressed to Arthenay where we were tasked with tackling a German delaying force hastily assembled to prevent any further US advance.

The map below gives a view of the US plan to establish three mutually supporting Jump Off Points (JOP's) and this pre-game set up and planning phase is for me and I think a lot of other regular CoC players a fascinating part of the whole game and can really make or break a successful outcome in how you stake out the ground before the bullets start to fly.

US JOP plan for Game 2

Following the first game we were all a little more cagey in our deployment on to table, perhaps too much so from a US perspective, and both sides were looking to try out new support options, an aspect it seems that every regular CoC player has a strong opinion about as to what they always look to take.

US Recce team advances tactically 

In addition to support their are the force specific tactical options to consider and so in this second game the US squads were throwing forward their recce teams to do the 'Find' bit of  'Find, Fix, Flank and Finish'.

Sherman tanks on overwatch

With all the extra thinking going on in this second game, we didn't complete the action in one night and with 'yours truly' not able to make the second part of this scenario it was left to Steve to grab what turned out to be a very bloody US win with both US tanks knocked out and over half the platoon dead or wounded, but as they say a win is a win and a bloody win is better than a bloody loss.

Game Three - Bloody Draw
Yesterday we played game three that sees US forces forced to divert attention to German forces harassing their left flank advance along the Carentan road from a village just off it, St Germain du Pert.

The map above was the US planned JOPs which sees the US able to flank attack this German held hamlet securely ensconced in thick stoned Norman buildings.

The game didn't really go to either sides plan with both of us rolling poorly on the 'Force Morale' table and thus giving ourselves little breathing space to absorb casualties and other force upsetting issues.

Guess whose keeping an eye on things!

Both sides employed armour and an early US flanking attack was repulsed with heavy losses but leaving the Germans badly depleted from the bombardment delivered by the US tanks supporting the infantry attack.

US recce team approaches the first set of buildings, feeling out the German defence

The Germans tried to break the US force by taking out a tank with Panzerschreck fire from the church, but at long range the Sherman survived the fire and quickly drove off the team, killing one member and delivering a couple of shock to boot.

Now that was a nasty surprise

With both forces teetering on breaking with just one morale point left the US force tried to force the initiative by charging the churchyard wall to finish off a battered and pinned German section that had been brassed up by the US tanks only to see the German section dispatched but loosing a US squad leader that tipped them into a force morale break at the same time.

The US flanking attack takes heavy casualties from the Marders and the farmhouse to their front

So a bloody draw that sees us replaying this scenario next week hoping to learn the lessons learnt from this game.

The firefight left both sides battered but with the US getting the worst of it

I have to say that CoC is living up to all our expectations and as a group we are all enjoying progressing up the learning curve and with aspects of this rule set making it very obvious why they have become the go-to set for a lot of WWII wargamers.

The other aspect that really adds to the games we are playing is that we can finish them in a reasonable amount of time and with all the continuity that a linked campaign like this has to offer.

Needless to say I now have some plastic WWII figures on order so I can build some CoC specific platoons in 15mm on single bases rather than use my IABSM ones.

The good news is that I already have the tanks and heavy weapons not to mention a lot of NW Europe terrain and am planning to add this great game to my regular repertoire.

Battle for Walmington-on-Sea - Chain of Command

Another year, another summer game with friends from the Devon Wargames Group up at Chez Chaz in deepest darkest North Devon, in the most glorious summer countryside in God's own county.

Trust me when I say that there is a reason why Heaven rhymes with Devon!

So last year we were deep in central Italy in 210 BC at the battle of Numistro with Hannibal dancing rings around the Romans.

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2017/06/battle-of-numistro-210bc.html

This year we fast forward to the dark summer of 1940 when Britain stood alone, at bay and facing the threat of invasion from the Nazi menace. Fortunately the country could draw on deep reserves of fortitude, courage and skill at arms so exemplified by Captain Mainwaring and the platoon of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard ready to defend home and hearth.

The map of Walmington which provided the inspiration for our table and should help to locate where various actions happened throughout the battle

The briefing for the players paints the scene:

"Well its all gone wrong for the British, Dunkirk was a disaster, the Scottish Division was captured in France, Spain attacks Gibraltar, British Regulars sent to take the Canaries. Basically the defence of the UK is in the hands of newly raised TA units and volunteers.

Therefore great efforts have been made to bolster the country defence by inventing new weapons. The Great Panjamdrum being an example. Churchill as ever wants to promote these inventions and boost moral and has gone to the South Coast.

Not everyone is happy with the war effort and some want Churchill gone, so a group of BUF's have contacted the Germans with Churchill's intentions.

The Germans as usual are fighting amongst themselves as to who gets Hitler's favours, so when Hitler gives the order to capture Churchill alive and bring him back to Germany all the services come up with their own plan.

The stage is set, what happens next the historians will argue about for years afterwards......."

German naval forces gather off shore

It's early morning in June in Walmington and a summer sea mist hangs over the sleepy English seaside town, Sergeant Wilson and Private Pike gaze out from the sea front bunker towards the wire after a long night on duty eagerly anticipating  being relieved by Privates Walker and Frazer and getting home for a well earned breakfast.

The town has been in a state of high alert and excitement ever since news spread that Mr Churchill had arrived in Walmington late last night ready to inspect the town defences later today.

The first German Naval assault troops prepare to head for the beach

As Pike continues to look through the binoculars commandeered from one of the sea front amusements a slight gap in the mist allows a more extended view of the beach front and the sea beyond. Slipping another penny in the slot and adjusting the lens to the new limits of visibility his eyes are drawn to a long sleek grey boat, side on to the shore, with a bright red flag swinging limply from a mast at the stern. Smaller craft packed tightly with the grey soldiers are moving away from the larger vessel and heading in towards the beach.

Sergeant Wilson has gone to the back of the bunker and the small desk and chair, ready to complete the log book with a note of the night's events including the time earlier that morning as German aircraft were heard passing quite low over the town.

His attention is interrupted by an urgent call from the vision slit as Pike maintains his position behind the viewfinder "Uncle Arthur, Uncle Arthur, I think the Germans might be here!!"

Gliders of Sturmabteilung Witzig litter the meadows at the back of Walmington

As events unfold on the beach front, the sleek gliders of the elite glider Kompanie of the 7th Falschirmjager Division fresh from their success at Fort Eban Emael in Belgium the previous month circle and line up for a landing in the meadows close to Private Godfrey's cottage near the railway viaduct.

The assault detachment, Sturmabteilung Witzig, is led by Hauptman Rudolf Witzig, Knights Cross holder and newly promoted following his gallant leadership during the attack on the Belgian fort. He is ably supported by Lieutenant Muller and they have been tasked personally by Reichsmarschall Goering to make sure that Mr Churchill is taken by them to the U-boat waiting for them off shore on the beach at Walmington.

Forces are mustered and plans discussed

To aid the German glider troops in their mission they have been given details of the BUF teams operating within the town who are under instructions to provide assistance and intelligence, although how much they can be trusted, both Witzig and Muller remain unconvinced.

Final adjustments made to the various commands

Speed for the German force will be key in taking full advantage of the reduced visibility until the sun burns off the morning mist and enables the defences to ascertain the threat before them. If the British are able to summon nearby regular and naval defence forces the mission to capture the British Prime minister and effect an escape by sea will become less likely by the hour.

The players receive a final briefing before the first troops are placed on their jump off points

As the German glider troops disembarked and quickly made their way to the road bordering the landing zone and fronting the outskirts of the town. local defence forces could be heard barking orders and assembling within the town. Perhaps events on the beach has caused alarm and the glidermen could only hope that their attention would be in that direction.

Witzig's glider men advance towards the houses making use of cover and the mist

As two groups move forward the LMG team and sniper cover the advance

The alarm had also alerted the British 5th Columnists and the Bradenburg Commando team sent to support them.

Led by the arrogantly superior Lord Percy, his teams of agents and saboteurs made for their assembly points ready to misdirect teams from the Local Defence Volunteers and cause as much disruption to the defences as possible, only resorting to armed action at the last possible moment in support of German ground forces.

Local Defence Forces are on high alert with the Prime minister in town

The first German Naval Troops hit the beach

The first shots emanated from the seafront as the first of the German naval landing teams came under fire from the beach front defences centred around the command bunker cunningly disguised as a ticket kiosk among the buildings of Stones Amusement Arcade.

Corporal Jones pulls on his battle-bowler and runs out of the shop to join other LDF troops on the alert for German Paratroops

LDV commanders sent runners to the church to ring the bell and alert the wider defences of a potential German invasion as other couriers were sent to warn the Prime ministers body guard team of the threat.

The PM's body-guard now had a larger problem on their hands as the PM quickly dressed prompted by the sound of gunfire outside his suite of rooms at the town hall.

Grabbing his Homburg hat and Thompson sub-machinegun whilst gulping down his early morning malt, the old man suddenly became enthused for the battle and ready to lead the locals in their defence of the town; all this whilst scowling at a certain Herman Hesse who had been delivered to the town hall that previous evening claiming to have come from the Fuhrer with some cock and bull peace offer to end the war.

British Naval troops join the defenders patrolling the streets

With the defenders well and truly alerted the fighting quickly multiplied throughout the town with the German glider troops quickly overpowering LDV road blocks whilst fending off arriving regulars and TA soldiers sent to investigate reports of glider landings.

A section of Muller's glider men prepare to defend the landing zone from arriving British TA and Regular troops

Muller oversees the rest of his platoon as they start to infiltrate the defences

Lord Percy's men set up a cordon on the church preventing the bells from being rung whilst attempting to set up an ambush on the PM's convoy.

This did not end well for the Percy's saboteurs and many were killed in the fighting with the PM's team and LDV men with elements of the local Morris-men troop grenading the last defenders in the church.

Shooting breaks out close to the Prime minister's car as the British Fifth Column make their presence felt

Too late to be of assistance Muller's glider men broke into the church after dispatching the LDV troops to their front only to be met by another grenade attack from the Morris-men.

Enraged at this dastardly unsoldierlike behaviour the English folk dance group were gunned down to a man as the German troops sprayed the area with machine-gun fire.

The E-boat lands a naval assault team on Walmington's Jolly Roger Pier and Pavillion

Meanwhile the German beach assault was going nowhere fast as naval landing parties came under intense British machine-gun and small arms fire each time they attempted to move past the wire and gain access to the town.

As German troops land on the beach they start to come under uncomfortably accurate small arms fire 

The beach and wire is booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices which are unpredictable and extremely dangerous

The British naval troops are supported by their own improvised weapons systems

The German troops on both sides of the town had a qualitative superiority that was being neutralised over time as better and more British troops arrived to bolster the defence.

The Great Panjamdrum awaits arming by the 'boffins' based in the town and busy preparing the weapon outside the Tiffany's Cinema

JJ's participation in this epic battle amply recorded with a picture of the family business in years past

The viscious fanatical Morris-men dance troupe who were unmercifully hunted down by Lt Muller's glider troops after war-crimes committed in Walmington church. None lived to tell their tale.

As the German situation became more desperate so did the measures they felt forced to take but the rivalry between their forces only helped to exacerbate their inability to cooperate.

So as Muller's German glider troops prepared to exit from the front of the church to close with the British PM's convoy of vehicles the PM's car was suddenly hit by fire from the off-shore German E-boat that only caused the column to evade down a street away from the glider-men and thus remove the possibility of snatching the great man and enabling a negotiated withdrawal.

Under cover of smoke Muller's men dash across the square to occupy Walmington's St Aldholm's Church

The British regulars start to close in combat with Witzig's men. no quarter asked, none given

The battle was reaching a crescendo as both sides realised that the German assault had stalled and now the attackers were fast becoming the defenders.

The British forces were now pressing their attacks and finishing the fight with close up hand to hand, bayonet and grenade attacks.

The streets become deadly as desperate German glider troops fight battles with ever-growing numbers of British reinforcements

In no time Muller was dead and his platoon reduced to just one section holding the church and with Witzig's platoon desperately holding off British naval troops supported by mobile support guns.

The British regulars rushed the church after laying down heavy suppressive fire which despite the ensuing shock still left the glidermen the victors of the hand to hand fight when it came, with three casualties to two, but which only left one gliderman standing holding the machinegun.

Seeing the situation was hopeless and with his platoon leader dead and the rest of his comrades likewise or captured, he surrendered and the church was recaptured.

The British secret weapons are deployed including the sheets on the washing line drawn across the beach front to obscure German gunnery

Sensing the end of the battle the German E-boat and U-boat put down suppressive fire on the town with their heavy cannons as their naval troops gathered the wounded in preparation for a withdrawal.

With this the British Home Guard deployed their remaining secret weapon as bed sheets on washing lines were quickly hoisted behind the wire to obscure land targets from the German boats.

The British vehicles enable them to reposition troops and weapons around the town once the attackers positions are known

Thus our Battle for Walmington came to an end with German plans foiled and the country saved from invasion.

The rules used were another Lardy favourite in the club, 'Chain of Command' which were perfect for this kind of large scale game and played very well indeed.

As you might imagine it takes quite a bit of work pulling these kind of games together and Chaz and Clive did tremedous work on the terrain, buildings and vehicles that help capture Walmington on Sea and the battle.

Our game was, as always, very much a joint effort for all the players involved with all of us tasked with contributing units to the game and as with last year we like to run a friendly painting competition where all players get to vote on each others work for the award of the prestigious Summer Game Painting Trophy.

Last year's winner was Vince who brought along his offering for this year together with the trophy ready to defend his title.

I present the various units that were put in the competition with the final offering being this year's winner of a U-boat conning tower and crew modelled by Clive.

JJ's FJ Platoon, I came a distant second

Clive's winning entry

Last year's winner Vince presents the trophy to the winner in 2018, Clive

Our game was played all day Saturday with an evening meal to follow and much fun and laughter throughout the day.

Thanks to Chaz for herding the cats and creating yet another game to stand along all the others, many of which have been reported on here on JJ's.

The team for Summer 2018, left to right - JJ, Nathan, Steve M, Chaz, Andy, Vince, John, Clive, Mike and Jason

A good time was had by all and I look forward to bringing you a report of the next game in 2019.