Chain of Command: Kampfgruppe von Luck Game 2, The Grizzled, and Three Cheers for Master

Panzergrenadiers making their tentative way through an orchard.

Martin and I played Game 2 of our CoC campaign this afternoon. The scenario required my Germans to cross the table dominated by a cluster of walled buildings on one end, and couple of hedge-enclosed areas. I did pretty well in the patrol phase, managing to secure a Jump-Off Point in the middle of the table.

The scenario called for a lot of vegetation... Those are all the trees I own.

Unlike in his previous game, Martin did not deploy his units early, forcing me to probe along the orchard with one section. This section was quickly engaged by a Vickers hidden in the attic of the building overlooking the road and orchard.

I sent another section up the other fork of the road and pushed into the woods. This section was then engaged by another section Martin deployed in response.

At this point I must state that Martin rolled incredibly well, managing to rack up three chain of command dice to my one, rolling several phases in succession, including four sixes and a random event that forced me to deploy another one of my squads before I intended, causing them to be exposed to enemy fire.

With my squads under fire (and one of them broken) I sent in my secret weapon: a Grille M proxying a Lorraine Schlepper (f). The big gun forced the Vickers in the attic to withdraw, whereupon I decided to push my luck: I sent the section on the left running towards the table edge, while the Grille put pedal to the metal and rolled down the road.

Martin quickly redeployed his Vickers and stopped my squad on the left, and with one of his (many) chain of command dice ambushed by Grille as it raced forward.

With my momentum lost and Force Morale low, I called a retreat.

Fg, wahj, Martin and I then played a couple of boardgames.

The first was The Grizzled, a WW1 themed co-operative card game where players take runs playing cards that represent either group adversity or personal psychological trauma. The aim of the game is to play through the deck and not accumulate too many of one kind of adversity during each round (whereupon the game is lost) - if you survive till the end of the deck, you have survived the war.

I generally do not like co-operative games, and this is no exception. The theme is pretty dark, and we felt that it can probably be re-themed to depict bomber crews during WW2 or infantrymen during Vietnam.

The next game we tried was Three Cheers for Master. This is a competitive tower-building/climbing game where foreminions make minions stack themselves atop each other so they can form the most impressive cheer-leading tower for the master.

I am not quite sure we got all the rules right, but the game looks like it has a lot of potential for strategic play. I would liken it to a game of Robo Rally where the cards you play stay relevant until the game's end. I would certainly like to give this game another try.

Chain of Command: Old Hickory Games 1 and 2

fg's GIs make their debut

I currently playing two of TFL's Normandy campaigns concurrently: Kampfgruppe von Luck versus Martin's British Paras, and Old Hickory versus fg's US.

For the first scenario I decided to attack along the rail line, hoping to use my superiority in support points to quickly roll over the US defences. Fg set up a minefield before his Jump-Off Point on the ridge, and a wire obstacle in front of the fence guarding the approach from the north.

To develop the enemy, I sent one section moving tactically along the road towards the railway station, while another was sent on my right flank to try to put pressure on the gun position on the high ground overlooking my approach.

The opening moves

Fg's MMG defending the fence line of the station quickly decimated my squad. I decided  to risk it and sent my Panther in before he could deploy more units.

My Panther also debuts!

The 3" gun on the ridge took aim at my Panther's side armour, and rolled a stunning 8 hits on 10 dice! By contrast, my 11 points of armour only managed to save against 2 of those hits - the tank explodes, causing the squad beside it to flee the battlefield.

Game 1 was a crushing defeat for the Germans.

With still a lot of time left, we decided to proceed to Game 2. FG did some redeployment, but I decided to come down the same road again, hoping that he had shifted some of his forces away.

This time round I decided to go the anti-infantry approach and took an FO, an MMG, *plus* an infantry gun - surely this time I will triumph?

My FO called down a barrage on the station, and my infantry gun put down effective fire on the American gun position on the ridge, but was unable to cause any significant casualty due to their prepared position.

A glorious start to the battle as the mortar barrage lands on target!

After a seemingly auspicious start, the German attack petered out as the dice god abandoned them and favoured the Americans. The FO was sent fleeing with some good shooting, the barrage lifted, and the Americans fought back with a vengeance. I was unable to roll well enough to bring more troops onto the table, nor did I wish to now that the volume of fire was becoming deadlier. I finally decided to abandon the attack when all three of my support units were destroyed. I have not brought in any of my organic platoon other than the Senior Leader.

The open approach proved to be difficult. For the next game I will have to considered a more concealed approach, which will no doubt be slower.

Chain of Command: Kampfgruppe von Luck Game 1

After a long hiatus (almost five months), we got back into Chain of Command by playing the first game of the Kampfgruppe von Luck campaign.

The first scenario is pretty straightforward, and features a German advance along a road to probe at the British perimeter. Martin rolled well for his "dispersal" and turned up with almost his entire platoon, and the patrol phase went well enough for him so the British managed to set themselves up behind a hedge.

Fg, commanding the Germans, deployed his leading section close to the British position, and then promptly called down a mortar barrage... that deviated and caught both the British and Germans under the impact area. If you look at the boundary of the impact area as indicated by the white smoke tokens in the photo below, you can see that the platoon commander and the Forward Observer team (on the top right corner) are just outside it.

After two phases the British have had enough and decided to pull out; fortunately for them they were close to their Jump Off point and could do so without excessive penalty. The Paras are now understandably upset but not yet demoralised, while the Germans are feeling quite optimistic. However, the next scenario will see the Paras fighting from better defensive positions...

Elhiem Miniatures Red Army Scouts

I still have to paint the shields and glue them onto my Iron Wind Metals Chaos warriors, but in the mean time I decided to paint up the Elhiem Red Army Scouts I bought a while back.

As you can see from the photo above, some of the figures look better than others, but over all they are nice figures that fill a niche.

They blend well enough with the Zvevda figures I already painted. Here they make up a Soviet Scout Squad under the Chain of Command rules: a sergeant, and two teams each with two men with rifles and two with SMGs.

I think the Scout rules offer an interesting tactical option for the Soviet player, and I hope to borrow wahj's Soviet platoon for a game against my own Germans soon.

Chain of Command: Arnhem Game 3

Martin and I played the last game in our short Arnhem campaign on Sunday. Wahj and fg also turned up to spectate, but I wanted to play the Germans myself for one important reason...

The scenario depicted the defence of the Oosterbeek perimeter. The British hold the far (east) end of the table, and the Germans must take the large building which served as their anchor on this flank.

The game started poorly for Martin as I rolled a '9' on the Support List, which meant he could not take a 6-pounder - and I knew that.

With 17 points to spend I took my secret weapon, a Forward Observer for a mortar battery, and an extra squad mounted on a half-track.

I planned to suppress Martin's forces with a mortar barrage and then send my secret weapon speeding down the road to attack the British, but the careless FO was shot and killed before he could call down the shots. I then deployed two squads of infantry to try to outshoot martin's forces, which have by now deployed in a defence line.

'Steady, lads!'

Frustrated by the inability to cause any significant casualty on the Paras and the smoke from their mortar, I decided to darn the torpedoes and sent my Flammpanzer down.

When it got within range, I managed to get two consecutive phases. The result was carnage.

Martin's brave PIAT troopers fired round after round at the Flammpanzer, at one point causing the driver to lose his cool and wounding the tank commander, but when both PIAT teams were killed, the Paras knew their game was up and retired.

Once again I enjoyed the game. I think it reflected how desperate the Paras' defence was, and how for the German even if the result of the whole operation was never in doubt, individual battles could still be a touch and go affair - had Martin disabled the Flammpanzer, it would have been near impossible for me to take the position without any artillery support.

This will likely be the last game of the year. We plan to play two CoC campaigns next year, but we do have some ways to go in terms of painting and terrain-making before we can kick them off.

In case I do not post again this week: have a good Christmas.

Chain of Command: Arnhem Game 2

The battlefield. The Germans hold the northern (far) end of the table.

We played the second game of our Arnhem campaign on Sunday. Martin played the Paras, and wahj took command of the Germans. The scenario depicted Day 2 of the battle, when the British had to evict the Germans in a cafe overlooking the drop zone for the second wave.

I took the scenario off the internet, and based the placement of the area and linear terrain on Google street view.

With a large open area to cover, Martin deployed one section in the wreckage of the glider and one in the barn. wahj responded by deploying one section in the wooded area at the road junction, and one from the upper floor of the cafe.

Unable to overcome the opposition with small arms fire alone, the British called down a mortar barrage on the German position. The impact area covered both the woods and the cafe, and wahj was unable to lift the barrage as he did not have as many Chain of Command dice as Martin did.

At this point wahj decided to deploy the support pre-selected by me: a section of Panzergrenadiers on an SdKfz 251. The intrepid halftrack barreled towards the Brits sheltering in the glider wreckage...

Then Martin revealed his support: a six-pounder gun. The first shot failed to damage the halftrack, and a hail of small arms fire caused the crew to bail out. But just as they thought themselves safe, the second round from the six-pounder blew the vehicle up, killing most of them.

With the threat on his left eliminated and the opposition in the centre pinned, Martin sent his remaining forces down his right flank, skirting around the impact area.

The British race down the right as the Hanomag burns in the right background.

Eventually the German section in the woods were eliminated, and the British captured the two German Jump-Off Points there even as their flanking force was ready for the final charge. When the barrage lifted, the Germans knew what was coming next, and surrendered (their Force Morale ran out).

The attack was pretty textbook, and showed once again how effective (heavy) mortar can be in the game

The next game will depict a German attack on the Oosterbeek perimeter.

Chain of Command: Crimea Campaign Game 2

T34-85 rolls onto the battlefield

We played a quick game of CoC on Sunday. wahj wanted to try out a tank rider platoon and T34, and fg played the Germans.

We played the Delaying Action scenario. I set up a village using the three Russian buildings fg passed me, and deployed about 9 feet of fences which I recently painted.

fg did better in the Patrol Phase and managed to get Jump-Off Points across the middle of the table.

wahj advanced in two prongs, and rather early in the game sent in his T35-85. Knowing he was going to pick a tank (I cheated), fg had chosen a Pak 38, which took it out in one shot.

It came to to an infantry fight, and that's when we realised that the SMGs weren't much good in a non-urban setting.

After an exchange of fire, two of the sections broke and fled. The platoon commander, knowing that failure is not an option, sent the final squad in a suicidal charge against the Germans, but it was a foregone conclusion.

The final charge.

Perhaps in our next game we can try fielding Green Russians, which will give wahj the option of fielding more than one tank, or a tank plus other supports.

Chain of Command: Crimea Campaign

wahj managed to paint up his platoon of Soviet infantry plus supports in under two weeks, so to celebrate that feat I hosted a teaching game so he and fg can learn the joys of Chain of Command.

I picked the introductory "Patrol" scenario. We rolled a '2' for support, which gave me 2 points for a light mortar, while wahj picked a mortar and a Maxim. I did poorly for the Patrol Phase, effectively leaving wahj 3/4 of the table, but had an edge in rolling high for my Force Morale.

As usual I played cautious, waiting for the Soviets to commit their sections before choosing where to unleash my firepower. wahj sent a Scout team to probe on on flank and a section on the other. I deployed one section in a woods to cover the scouts, and another to take up position behind a fence to block the Soviet section.

wahj then sprung his Maxim gun on a hill looking down along the fence and caught my section in enfilade.

The Germans make a run for it.

The same scene from a different angle, showing the Maxim in its superb position, supported by a section. In the middle right you can see my other section in the woods, and in the upper right corner a third Soviet section goes for my right flank.

A closer view of the third Soviet section moving through teddy bear fur wheat field and pass haystacks made of the same.

With one section pinned and slaughtered in the open, a second in the woods covered by a Maxim and another section, I had but one undeployed section left. In a Western Front game I would just withdraw. But this isn't the Western Front...

As the third Soviet section neared my Jump Off Point on my right flank, I deployed my last section in a cabin and opened up. It wasn't enough to turn the tide as the Soviets took some Shock but returned fire effectively, killing my LMG team.

At this point I checked the cabin (which fg had just brought for the game) and realised there wasn't a back door on the model...

Against the British or the US, my men would have surrendered. But this isn't the Western Front... The section commander led the men in a suicidal charge against the Russians, losing all six men but taking six enemies with them. The Russians broke and fled back across the wheat field until rallied by their platoon leader. At this point I had a Force Morale of 5 versus wahj's 4, but I decided to concede the game.

Once again, it was a tense game for me. I made the mistake of deploying one section in an exposed position early in the game, and suffered for it.

wahj handled the Russians boldly, as he should. This was a game that felt very different from the slow, methodical, smoke-dominated (and frustrating for the Germans) games I played with Martin. With no teams to speak off, the Russian platoon was basically just three sub-units plus support, which limited their tactical options but made each one more critical.

We hope to have another game soon - this time with tanks.

Chain of Command: Arnhem Game 1

Martin and I finally kicked off the first game of our Arnhem campaign. More models are ordered and on their way, but we had enough to play the first scenario.

The scenario depicts the Paras probing the German defences in the vicinity of Wolfheze. For this campaign Martin is limited to infantry support, jeeps and universal carriers for vehicles, and the 6-pounder for anti-tank guns, while artillery represents mortars and perhaps the pack howitzer.

The Paras enter from the left side of the table, and must move at least one unit off the opposite edge. This was admittedly a difficult scenario for Martin, as I held the half of the table with the cover.

In our first Patrol Phase I bungled and left an unguarded corridor down my left flank, which meant the game was essentially over before it started, so we decided to do over.

The first section of Paras creep tactically along the hedge.

A Flak gun (counts as HMG) reveals itself!

One contact is made, we got so involved in the fighting I neglected to take photos. What happened next was I deployed a section in the building and started trading fire with the Paras behind the hedge, while Martin sent in another section to bolster his attack. My section in the building was wiped out (the Paras can really put out a lot of firepower, and Martin rolled very well), but by this time I have deployed another section in the orchard, while a third section was sent round it to try to flank the paras.

With my third section committed, Martin sent his last squad down my right flank, rushing for the table edge. I then sprung my surprise: I have a fourth squad hiding behind the hill near the table edge! To my horror, however, my squad came off worse in the firefight, and I had to recall the flanking squad from my far left to come back to defend the flank. With victory hanging in the balance, Martin charged his depleted Paras into my squad - the Paras were wiped out, but they took enough of my squad to make further defence futile; there was nothing left to prevent the other two squads from moving to my right.

We were both surprised by the offensive power and the tenacity of the Paras. Their 6 Command Dice also gave them the initiative for most of the battle, and Martin's use of smoke rounds from his mortar rendered most of my movements irrelevant.

That said I did not choose support that will negate the Paras' weaknesses: artillery and armour. In my next game I shall not be so merciful...

Chain of Command: Normandy Game 4

Martin and I played the last game of our campaign on Sunday.

For the final game, we depicted a German counter-attack on a British-held village.

The set-up was simple: Martin held a village at one end of the table, and I entered from the other end. I managed to get two Jump-Off Points into the woods near the village, but I needed a bit of heavy support to get across the open ground.

For once I am the attacker and I managed to get some decent support in the shape of a StuG. I planned to suppress the Brits with HE fire, and then gain a foothold when they evacuate a building, then proceed to reduce another one. Martin on his end chose a second 2" mortar as his support, and proceeded to lay a sea of smoke in front of my StuG. With only 4 Command Dice and a starting Force Morale of only 5, I could not remove the smoke. At the same time, Martin's PIATs took potshots at my StuG.

The StuG makes its entrance.

A flurry of activity in the village.

After several rounds of waiting for the smoke to lift and then trading ineffective shots, I changed my plan and had the StuG drive round the woods on the left so it would be exposed to only one of the PIATs. This soon paid off as I managed to eliminate the squad in the building on the left. My infantry crested the hill, ready to charge into the building on the right once the StuG has supprssed the squad inside... and then the StuG got hit by a PIAT round and became immobilised and the crew panicked and failed to support the infantry.

Caught in the open, my infantry squad was cut down by fire, and the attack failed.

The PIAT finds its target!

I enjoyed the campaign very much, and we plan to do an Arnhem campaign the next year. This will of course require more buildings than we currently own, but I have the feeling we can use the VSF terrain boards fg and I have made but never used for the city streets.

I have just purchased some OO scale pdf buildings from Scalescenes to see if they can be a cost- and time-effective way to have a decent urban terrain done up. The kit doesn't look easy to assemble, but hopefully the result is worth the attempt.

Chain of Command Campaign: Normandy Game 3

Game 3 was another nail-biter.

We played the Delaying Action scenario, with my Germans trying to delay the British so they can withdraw their forces south. For the terrain I took inspiration from the Teaser scenario in the latest issue of Miniature Wargames and laid out a table bisected by a wooded ridge.

Martin rolled low for force support and I ended up choosing a sniper team, thinking that I have enough cover on my side of the table to use him to good effect.

The opening moves of the game saw me quickly occupy the wooded ridge on either side of the road with one section each. I set up Overwatch and waited for Martin's sections to break the cover of the woods and a low rise.

Perfect killing zone... if only the British would oblige me by advancing into the open!

Martin on his part picked an extra 2" mortar team to lay smoke, plus a Forward Observer with a 3" mortar battery, and proceeded to pound my sections.

I held on to my positions despite casualties, but my MG fire failed to exact a similar toll on the British. Martin patiently waited for the artillerymen to do the work, and finally, down to an MG section per side of the road, I decided to withdraw to my secondary line of defence. My Force Morale has fallen to 4 and I now had only 4 activation dice instead of the 5 I started out with.

This was the moment Martin was waiting for; he pushed one section towards the ridge on his right, and deployed another to advance on his left, and was going to bring his FO and mortar onto the low rise to cover them...

Then disaster struck: his lead section movement roll left them just short of the cover of the wooded ridge. Just then I had the right dice and deployed my sniper team! Which proceeded to miss.

No matter - I had just the die roll to deploy the MG team from my last section with its section commander, who proceeded to direct deadly fire onto the British in the open... for three consecutive phases!

The British broke and ran for the cover of the low rise, and the commander redirected the MG's fire on to the British on the low rise, killing a Junior Leader.

Sniper! Four shots, one wound. Back to school with you!

Meanwhile, the British section on the left made it to the cover of the ridge. But with one MG team on their right and two to their front (if they dared to break cover), they decided to wait it out and withdraw under the cover of darkness (Martin spent a CoC die to bring his Jump-Off Point forward so he could withdraw them safely) - and frankly, at this stage in the war, the Germans were happy to let them.

Despite the success in the final stage of the battle (all but one of the British casualties were caused by a single MG team!), I still lost more men than Martin. My men now hate me so much, if I screw up again I am likely to be shot by "an enemy sniper, at close range, while in camp".

Martin isn't in a much better position either. He called for reinforcements but rolled low, meaning he will start the next game 6 men down. What's worse, two of his Junior Leaders are new and will have a lower command span and Command Initiative.

The final game will depict a German counter-attack on the British position. Hopefully I will roll high enough for force support to deploy more toys.

Chain of Command Campaign: Normandy Game 2

You can tell when a game was particularly exciting when the AAR contains few photos because the players were too involved in the game to remember to take them.

The second game in the campaign depicts a battle during Operation Bluecoat proper. Martin's British have been  tasked to roll up the flank of the German forces, which has been anchored on a village along a road.

I thought I did OK for the Patrol Phase, and had Jump Off Points which allowed me to deploy into all but one of the buildings on the table.

Martin rolled high on the Force Support, giving him 10 points and me 5 points to spend. Gambling that Martin will not pick a tank after the last battle, I chose an IG 18 and a Medic.

As it turned out I was correct: Martin chose to field a section of Paratroopers (he is planning to paint a whole platoon of them) and a Forward Observer with a 3" Mortar battery.

Martin started aggressively, pushing his paras and one section towards my position straight off. I deployed one section against his paras on my right, and in my centre I deployed one MG team and my infantry gun (seen in the foreground in the photo above - they were deployed inside a ruined building which we removed to facilitate play). Caught in the open, the infantry section was almost wiped out, while my other MG team kept the paras pinned behind another building.

I thought I had the game in the bag at this point, but then Martin's FO went to work and called down a barrage on my position. Pinned by the fire, I was unable to move my men or deploy more onto the table. To makes matters worse, I rolled very few 5s on my Command Dice, so that I could only lift the barrage once - when I used my second Chain of command die to end the turn, Martin (who had more dice) simply continued the barrage.

Under the cover of the barrage Martin withdrew the battered section. The shelling also killed my entire section on the right (leaving a wounded Junior Leader barely escaping with his life) such that the paras found themselves without opposition all of a sudden. As he moved another section to outflank me on my left, I knew the game was up and ordered an orderly retreat while I still could.

We both enjoyed the game very much; it was a tense game from beginning to end. We also enjoyed the support we deployed - I think I might pick a mortar battery of my own in the next game if I can!

My crushing defeat disappointed my CO and made me very unpopular with the men. With 8 men down for the next game, I decided to call for reinforcements and received enough men to bring my platoon up to full strength.

Martin on the other hand managed to impress his CO, although the high number of casualties he lost did not endear him to his men.

At the end of Game 2, the score is:

British
CO's opinion +1, Men's Opinion 0
Casualty: 3 lost (total 5 lost), 2 Miss Next Battle, 2 Returned to unit

German
CO's opinion 0, Men's Opinion -6
Casualty: 4 lost (total 7 lost), 3 Miss Next Battle, 2 Returned to unit

Reinforcement 8 men

Game 3 will probably be played in two week's time.

Chain of Command Campaign: Normandy Game 1

Martin and I played the first game of our projected 4-game campaign this afternoon.

I set the campaign against Operation Bluecoat, but we did not use historical units or maps for our narrative. The opening game is set a few days before the launch of the operation, when the British are probing for weakness in the German defences.

The first game of the campaign was a Probe scenario, where the British need to get at least one team to the German baseline. Martin rolled a 6 on his Force Support, which gave me 3 points to spend. I decided to spend them all on obstacles: a minefield to cover the road junction to deny his quick access to my baseline, and two barbed wire entanglements to further restrict his movements.

The battlefield viewed from the eastern end. The Germans (entering left) have mined the road junction and set up barbed wire obstacles.

I did poorly in the Patrol Phase, leaving me with one Jump-Off point on the western side of the table and on the edge at that. Martin rolled a '6' on his deployment roll, quickly advancing to behind the barn and the hill on dominating the open area between my table edge and the barn.

Martin sends all three squads onto the table while I could only deploy one.

One British squad advances to the bocage.

I attempted to push the British squad on the hill off with an MG team, but this was shot up by the accurate fire from them. It took a few lucky rolls by the squad in the broken area before Martin was persuaded to withdraw. This gave me an opportunity to dash the squad across the open ground to seek shelter behind the barn.

The depleted German squad, now without its LMG, runs towards cover, but also closer to the enemy!

Meanwhile I pushed one squad on my left to the edge of the bocage, where they traded grenades with the British - my guys came off the worse. With the situation seemingly deadlocked, Martin revealed his Force Support choice: a Sherman!

I rushed my Platoon Commander forward with the Panzerschreck team, and he managed to land a shot on the tank - two Shocks and Commander wounded, but the tank is still operational!

Decisive moment of the game - if the Germans fail to take the tank out, they will have to fall back.

Martin returned fire with the Sherman, but the shot only managed to cause a Shock. He then ordered the mortar to screen the tank with smoke rounds... 

Smoke screen!

but I spent a Chain of Command die to remove it, and ordered my Panzerschreck team to fire a second shot. Martin rolled poorly on his armour save, and the tank was blown up!

With his trump card taken out, Martin decided to cut his losses and withdraw his platoon. Having lost 4 men against my 6, he managed a Losing Draw, which earned him the displeasure of his CO, but the men were less critical of his performance. Conversely, my CO was happy with my performance, but the same could not be said of my men.

At the end of Game 1, the score was:

British
COs Opinion -1, Men's Opinion +1
Casualty: 2 Lost, 1 Miss Next Battle

German
CO's Opinion +2. Men's Opinion -2
Casualty: 3 Lost, 2 Miss Next Battle

The next game in the campaign should be in 4 weeks, and may see a higher number of Force Support. I certainly hope to be able to field a gun or maybe even some armour of my own... Let's hope Martin rolls high again.

Chain of Command Game 1

I apologise for the poor photos in this post, but the crank handle on my tripod broke and it's only when I have to shoot without it that I realise how difficult it is to get proper photos of a game while trying to come to grips with a new set of rules.

Anyway, after several months of preparation, I finally played a game of Chain of Command with Martin this afternoon.

Martin's British are recently rebased figures from many years ago when we used them for Crossfire (remember Crossfire?) while my Germans are Plastic Soldier Company figures painted by Dragon Painting Service operating out of Hong Kong. I will get some clear photos of them the next session. Promise.

Anyway, Martin and I played the simple Patrol scenario. I think we got most of the rules right, the exception being the one regarding leader casualty.

The British at their Jump-Off points

A smoke round saves the British section caught in the open and in the sights of a German section.

The game played pretty much as promised: with a high level of tension as you can spend a few phases without having a go, and very often you will not have the die-rolls required to activate your sections in a coordinated way.

We both made good use of our "national characteristics" - I delivered deadly fire with my leaders directing LMG shooting, while Martin managed to save one of his sections from a crossfire by using smoke rounds fired from his 2" mortar.

We feel confident enough to have a go at it with vehicles the next game.