WiP Complete - 3 Rare Tanks

With various jobs around the house complete I was able to focus on finishing the three tanks I started some time ago.  They are rare-ish because few were made in the case of the Tetrarch (100-177) and Panzer II Luchs (100); and the more numerous Panzer III was reduced to a handful of survivors by the late-war period which I game.  They are all 1/76 scale, white metal kits, by MMS Models.

The A17 MkVII Tetrarch, in this case the CS version, is intended to support my Airborne platoon and is painted in a two-tone brown camouflage pattern.  I had thought it was going to be pretty dull when I put it together but I find the finished look rather pleasing.

The Pz II Luchs, this was a nice kit although there were some casting flaws but it captures the rather 'cute' (can tank be cute?) look of the original.  The markings, for a 9th Panzer vehicle in Normandy, were a real pain.  The red, four-digit serial goes over some vision slots and decals refused to adhere to this uneven surface.  So, I had to paint these freehand, not great up close but from a distance they're okay.

The Panzer III, Ausf J, is one of my favourite tanks and I've painted it up as one of the training tanks forming Panzer Kompanie 'Mielke' at Arnhem.  That unit had several Pz III of various different marks not all of which are known so I've taken the liberty of assuming one was an Ausf J.  I've given it the serial number '28', as what I've read says they had black two-digit serial numbers on the turret and one of them was '29'.  The commander seems to be doing his Usain Bolt impression, what that's all about I'll leave to the imagination.

And finally, an even rarer flight of fancy.

ADDENDUM: I perhaps should've pointed out that the Airborne flashes on the Tetrarch are my first attempt at printing my own decals.  Didn't do too good a job of varnishing them before use to protect the ink from the water - but live and learn.

Rabbit Holes and Sidetracks

A few posts back, before I started playing in the current Chain of Command campaign (the last three posts), I posted on some work in progress (WiP).  I had hoped to have completed those items by now, but in addition to the campaign and some DIY chores I also started on some other items.  Anyway, here's a quick update on what has been finished, including a few of the distractions.

First, here's my Bromefield[1] M1800 Iron 10" Howitzer, being tried out for size by one of my RHA crews (the RA crews are still in the painting queue).

Also, as I'm rather proud of them and haven't posted them before, here's my rocket troop, featuring a Phoenix Miniatures crew and scratch-built launcher.

Getting back to the original WiP items, here are the WW2 20mm items that have made it across the finish line.  

The Unic P107 half-track and Daimler Scout Car, with their respective crews are the only original members of the last WiP post.  So, they deserve a few more photos, starting with the P107 with driver, gunner and a few infantry ...

... and then removed for when they disembark to be replaced by based troops.

These figures are joined with steel wire inserted through them, the rigid grouping being enough to hold them securely in place without wobbling.

By contrast the Dingo Scout Car has its crew fixed in place - there is a driver in there, honest, you just can't see him.

The other completed items, indicated by yellow arrows[2], consist of two MG, and one ATG, entrenchments, a kneeling figure and some casualties.

The entrenchments were the result of messing with Milliput when filling the tanks that haven't as yet been completed - I always make up too much.  The larger gun emplacement was a set of plastic 1/72 sandbags that came with a Checkpoint kit (Hasegawa IIRC) and thought I might as well do them as well.

The dead figure was found when going through my stash looking for crew for the P107, and got included as I'm short of German dead.  Likewise, the kneeling figure was missing his right arm, and half his right leg, cut off for use in a previous conversion, but as I also found a spare arm I thought I'd repair him being short of kneeling figures.  And with some other spare parts (6 legs & 1 arm, mostly from the crews for the Dingo and the unfinished tanks), together with some of the spare Milliput I fashioned another grisly addition to the collection.

The final distraction was finishing off a Hinchliffe 25mm Hellenistic General that had been sitting half-painted on the window ledge for longer than I care to admit.

So, as the next CoC campaign game is not scheduled for a while yet, I should be getting on with completing the tanks[3], which are pretty well advanced, for my next post.  Well, once the last of the DIY chores is done - they don't take that long but I'm a world-class procrastinator.

Notes:

[1.]  I have seen various spellings for 'Bromefield', and last time went with 'Blomefield', but Bromefield seems more common so I'm now using that until corrected.

[2.]  The MG teams and ATG occupying the entrenchments are just added for aesthetic effect and to show the fit.

[3.]  A Tetrarch, a Pz II Luchs and a Pz III J.

The Old, the Quick and the Obsolescent

With another so-called heatwave making painting difficult / unpleasant, I am using the time to make up some metal kits.

First out of the blocks was a British M1800 Bromefield 10" Iron Howitzer ('The Old').  This will be a drop-in[1] option for my 20mm Napoleonic gun crews.  This piece, was only used in sieges during the Napoleonic period and rarely at that, BUT it's just so full of character I couldn't resist getting one.

The armoured vehicles are to fill out my 20mm WW2 collection, and add some recce capability ('The Quick'), and some second-rate equipment ('The Obsolescent') that was fielded in NW Europe when there was nothing better available - it's also cheap (support points) in Chain of Command.

The kits are by the now sadly defunct MMS Models, and clockwise from bottom left are: a Panzer II 'Luchs' (light recce tank); a Panzer III Ausf J (still awaiting its main armament, a 5cm KwK 38 L/42); a Unic P107 half-track (a French hand-me-down used by 21st Pz); a Daimler Scout Car[2]; and a Tetrarch CS to support my upcoming Airborne platoon.

Of these, I have to say my favourite is the Panzer III, and I'm justifying getting one on the basis of several being in Panzer Kompanie Mielke at Arnhem; and I'm particularly partial to the marks with the short 50mm gun.  But, having put the kit together I have to say I found the Luchs has rather caught my fancy. 

All these kits will need some additional cleaning and filling, but I'll do them all together in a single session when they're all ready.  With the exception of the Tetrarch, I will be fitting figures to the vehicles (removable in some cases) which is why most still have their hatches missing - they will be fitted when I work out how the figures will be placed / posed.

Notes:

[1.]  I mount my gun crews on a large base and their guns on a separate base that can be dropped in amongst the gun crew.  This has two benefits: one the gun being on its own base is closer to the correct height compared to the gun crew; and, two I can easily swap between 6pdrs, 9pdrs and howitzers.

[2.]  Note the roof folded back, Chain of Command only lists the Daimler Scout Car as roofless but all marks after the first had a roof that could be folded back.

When it's Too Hot to Paint

Courtesy of the recent heatwave (well it's a heatwave by UK standards) which makes the fumes more noxious, the paint dry too fast, and the temper too short, I've stopped painting for a bit.  Having, like most gamers, a mass of stuff needing doing I thought I'd use the time to finish of some other jobs i.e, my 15mm Ludus Gladiatorius set up and replacement Platoon Boards for my 20mm Chain of Command collection

Ludus Gladiatorius

The arena for my 15mm gladiatorial gaming has already featured in a previous post covering how it was converted from a chocolate box.  But at the time I hadn't completed all the cards and tokens I intended to use. These have now been made and packed away in the arena-box.

The cards describe the characteristics of the different gladiator types for the players, along with tokens used to indicate choice of any special action played or where a thrown net, or spear, has landed.  All in all, with the rules, special action reminder sheets and dice it's quite a pile of paraphernalia to accompany the figures.

The cardboard frame inside the arena-box not only provides compartments to keep these elements in place but for gaming is placed in the lid.  This not only allows cards and tokens not in use (not figures) to placed out of the way in it ... 

... but also lifts up the playing area (base of the box) when placed inside the up-turned lid to give a raised, and (IMO) pleasing, appearance to the arena in play.

This long drawn-out project is thus now officially done and dusted.

Chain of Command v2

Many of my recent posts have covered changes in these rules with the new edition, including a recent post on the replacement Force Morale and CoC Dice trackers I made as the changes had rendered my previous ones defunct.  

As well as rule changes, the organisation of the various platoons has also been changed to better reflect those actually used by the combatants.  So, with foam-board plus my trusty Stanley-knife and steel rule I've made replacement boards for my British and German infantry platoons.

After my opening paragraph about painting in hot weather, I should perhaps own up and admit some paint was involved in this process to colour the sides of the foam-boards in the 'pits' that hold the figures.  The shapes depicted in the pits match the base sizes I use for my figures which are on a mix of single and double figure bases.  Also, I use different base shapes to distinguish junior and senior leaders.

As my German infantry have recently been posing a lot as panzergrenadiers I also made up a specific panzergrenadier platoon board.  Likewise, I made one for my planned British airborne platoon, most of the figures for which were delivered while I was typing this post.

What Next?

So now I have to decide what to start prepping for the painting table once this heat breaks in a day or two.  Aaaargh!  The agony of choice! 

CoC v2 - New Rules vs Old - Questions?

This was my first game using the new (2nd edition, or 'v2' for short) Chain of Command (CoC) Rules.  The table / scenario was covered in the previous post but for clarity the table is shown again here with the names used to describe various features.

The Set-Up

The Force Morale dice favoured me with a starting value of 10 while John was unlucky to only start on 9.

I felt the patrol phase went badly for me, with John (German) getting a jump of three moves before the phase started.  That, the large amount of cover, and the fact that defender jump-off points (JOPs) have to be at least 12" in from their base edge saw all three of mine constrained to being in and around the buildings; two of them looking quite exposed in the farmyard.

The German JOPs were well advanced and more handily placed, two either side of the road leading to / through the buildings and a third over on the German's righthand edge of the table - see composite image from the German viewpoint below.

This meant John's panzergrenadiers were going to start pretty close my JOPs and have a good head start on their right to get a team to my base edge.  This game would've been over pretty quick under the old rules, where exiting a team off the defender's base edge was all that was required to win a Probe scenario.  The new victory conditions for this scenario require the attackers to capture a JOP in addition to exiting a team off the enemy's table edge; there's also a turn limit to put the attacker under time pressure.

At this point I forgot (D'oh!) to place my barbed-wire entanglement (1pt.); my other support options being a Vickers MMG (3pt.s) and an additional 2" mortar team (2pts.s) for a total of 6 support points.  Unlike my last game, this time I treble checked my sums and so didn't end up deploying more than the allowed level of support.

John's chosen support options were: a tripod mounted MG42 (3pt.s); a mortar bombardment (4pt.s); a sniper (2pt.s); and, a Red Command Die (2pt.s), for a total of 13 support points.

The Game

John as the attacker took the first phase and immediately decided on a left-flanking and right-flanking approach to prevent me concentrating against a single line of attack.  To this end he brought on two sections: one from his far right JOP heading towards my unprotected left, and the other, plus a senior leader, from the orchard JOP moving towards the Compressor Building.  These can be seen, viewed from the British perspective, in the top left corner and middle right of the image below.

My Command Dice didn't allow me to bring on a section in response, although at this stage I wasn't sure I was ready to commit one.  I was able to deploy my lieutenant (senior leader) in the upper floor of the Derelict House with a 2" mortar team behind it.  The lieutenant immediately directed it to fire HE against the German section on their right flank but to no effect.  The Germans continued their advance on both flanks and this time I responded by deploying a section in the Compressor Building (but not yet in a position to fire out).  Also, I deployed my PIAT team in the ground floor of the Derelict Farmhouse (why I did this I can't think[1]), and a second 2" mortar behind the farmhouse.

The deploying 2" mortar immediately lobbed HE at the left flanking German section inflicting a point of shock (the photo also shows the appearance in the next German phase of the FO controlling their off-table mortar battery.

This was all looking rather threatening, but with a section in Compressor Building and my 'massed' 2" mortars I was feeling a little more secure.

That nice warm feeling was quickly shattered as the German FO (see previous photo) called in a mortar bombardment targeted against the Derelict Farm (the red Pin Marker being used to denote the aimpoint).  Even worse the bombardment came in on target and immediately fired for effect.  Luckily not a 'Devastating Bombardment' but bad enough, especially for my exposed mortar teams (4 dead and two shock), one being wiped out (British Force Morale dropped to 9).

Even the section in the Compressor Building (one dead and two shock) ...

... and the PIAT team in the Derelict Farmhouse[2] (one dead) were not safe!

Now I was starting to panic!  The only good news was that the Germans approaching the Compressor Building were caught 'Danger Close' and so needed to stop for the duration of the bombardment.

In my next phase, my senior leader rallied the shock off the surviving mortar crew and the section in the Compressor Building advanced up to the end of the building to be able to fire at the German left-flanking section[3].  As they couldn't all fit in the extension at the end they still suffered from the next bombardment phase (one dead and one shock); elsewhere the bombardment only managed to kill one 2" mortar crewman. 

Next in line to fire at the section in the Compressor House was the panzergrenadier section facing it[4].

This was all at close range, even for the Obergefreiter's MP40, but, thanks to the hard cover, it only inflicted five shock, which left them teetering on the brink of being pinned (8 figures with 8 shock).

At the same time the German left-flanking section continued to advance ...

... and a third section, followed by the second senior leader, deployed in the woods heading towards the farmyard.

If I was panicking before, I was bricking it now, which probably explains my forgetting to take photos for the next couple phases.  

In my phase the section in the Compressor Building fired back at the panzergrenadiers outside and, despite the large amount of shock, did inflict some damage as the Germans were in the open.  Realising this was not going to be enough I deployed my Vickers MMG team by the Compressor Building on the side away from the road (the photo is one taken from a later phase but is just as appropriate here).

This inflicted a lot of casualties on the panzergrenadiers, without photos I can't recall the numbers but wiped out one section causing German Force Morale to drop to 8.  

The next German phase was the final phase of their mortar bombardment which, apart from pinning the British section in the Compressor Building with a couple of shock, was curiously ineffective - a sign of things to come?  However, the left-flanking panzergrenadier section inflicted a hatful of shock on them and they broke (British Force Morale dropped to 8), a lucky low die roll seeing them stop just short of leaving the table.  

Also in this phase, the central German section in the woods advanced to the wall surrounding the farmyard, perilously close to my two JOPs (actually only one team made it to the wall the other being a few inches short.  

My next phase was a double phase; this was heaven sent!  With no '1's on the other Command Dice, I was unable to fire the Vickers MMG against the now depleted left-flanking panzergrenadiers.  But, more importantly, I needed to do something about the section threatening my JOPs in the farmyard and I still had a section in reserve.  But where could they usefully deploy?  Could I line the wall the Germans had just come up to?  Deploying so close to enemy troops did not seem something likely to be allowed in the rules, or so I thought, but we both searched long and hard and could find nothing prohibiting it![5]

So, that's what I did, deploying my last section, and my platoon sergeant (senior leader) to man the wall for some point-blank firing on the enemy[6].

John immediately used his available CoC die to interrupt and fire first - I was hoping he'd forget, but he didn't.  The shooting was at close range with one team at the wall firing at me in the open, and the other being further back having to afford me hard cover.  The resulting 16 fire dice was catastrophically bad, only resulting one shock on each team and one dead Bren gunner!  

In reply my sergeant ordered up a couple of grenades (both hit) before unleashing 13 fire dice at close range against a target in the open - it was pretty ugly with their junior leader going down stunned dropping German Force Morale to 6.  

The next phase gave me a CoC die to end the turn[7].  The section at the wall now finished the job, wiping out both teams (German Force Morale drops to 4 losing one Command Die and their Red Command Die!), and at this point I picked up the camera again.

The junior leader survived as he was stunned in the first phase's fire so escaped being a casualty in the second and then recovered as it was the end of a turn.  We have always played that leaders with no troops left under their command leave the table (removed).  Once again, we searched the rules but could find nothing covering this situation so played it that way anyway.

HELP!  If this is wrong, please correct us and point out where in the rules it says what does happen in this situation.

Also in this phase, I deployed another section in the Compressor Building vacated by my broken section, and the Vickers cut down even more of the Germans facing the Compressor Building but with a surprising lack of any shock.

In the next German phase, John decided his depleted section should double away from my Vickers MMG to get out of what was an increasingly one-sided fire-fight.  Unfortunately for him, their movement dice did not allow them to disappear into the depths of the orchard and safety.

Next was John's third attempt to deploy his 'hesitant' sniper, which again failed with no senior leader off-table to chivvy on the men.

In my phase I got my second CoC die which again had to be used to end the turn[8] and this time start the 'Final Countdown', which with John's Force Morale at only 4 it would only last four phases. 

With John pulling his forces back to reorganise for a second attempt I, believing the final countdown to be just that, relaxed and focused on rallying off any shock.  

John then, finally, deployed his sniper, missing my platoon sergeant but killing one of the riflemen in the farmyard ...

... and continued to advance his right-flanking section, shown here with some shock from my remaining 2" mortar that had replenished from a friendly JOP.

It was now, as the final countdown ended, that I found out it was anything but final, as the game continued!  I really should've read this bit of the rules more thoroughly.  So in my next phase, to provide more protection to my JOPs, I brought my section in the Compressor Building across the road to the farmyard.  Unfortunately, the Bren team didn't make it all the way across the road.

In John's next phase the depleted panzergrenadier section that had fallen back from the Compressor Building were now in position to fire down the length of the road and promptly wiped out my Bren team caught short crossing the road.  A lucky roll of '1' on the 'Bad Things Happen' table left my Force Morale unmoved and John's four Command Dice did not allow anything else of note in the phase.

My next phase saw me roll three '6's to end the game, a win for the plucky (or should that be lucky) Brits.

That all took longer than I had anticipated as we were doing a lot of rule checking, as in retrospect more had changed than I'd realised - I'm obviously not good at reading rules cold.

So, OLD vs New - what do I think!

I can't think of a single change that wasn't (IMO) a better representation of the action represented.  The mortar barrages and limits to British 2" mortar ammunition are much better.  

The contents list and index are much improved; the sequence is probably better laid out but being familiar with the old set did see us looking in the wrong place a few times.

Storm of Steel for the weapons we used worked well, although I hate the name and have concerns (untested) about it being used for any small arms.

The deployment of heavy support weapons coming with entrenchments seems much better as these would be unlikely to deploy out in the open.

The changes to the Force Morale tables, such that different units lose Command Dice at different levels didn't seem to offer much in our game, but maybe in other games, who knows?  That said, my peg-boards tracking Force Morale, CoC and Command Dice, now need to be redesigned and re-made.  The same goes for my platoon orbat trays as both the British and German standard infantry platoons have changed - still it's better than re-basing figures.

The use of CoC points as well as CoC dice is useful giving more ability to react in an emergency and varying the cost of these actions is an improvement.  

Overall, on one play through, I think the changes are an improvement, but we've decided we need at least another game before diving into our next campaign.

What do you, if a CoC-player, think?

Notes:

[1.]  The only utility I can imagine I saw in this was being able to use it to fire at any Germans taking cover behind the wall around the farmyard as the lieutenant was in the building and could direct them to do so.

[2.]  As mentioned in previous AARs I don't put figures in my building (no removable roofs) but place them off-table on card floor-plans the same size as the buildings.

[3.]  Being in what, we agreed, was a substantial building of two or more stories, the section in the Compressor Building was not pinned by the bombardment.  Also, while the extension at the end nearest the Germans was only single-storey it was out of the bombardment zone and troops getting there could fire out and be fired at.

[4.]  My barbed wire (1 support point) can be seen just peeping in the right-hand side of the photo.  As I forgot to place it at the right time we put it somewhere out of the way - and this fleeting glimpse is its only contribution to the game.

[5.]  I have since found the rule that allows you to deploy into close combat (section 9.1.2).

[6.]   The wall, as a medium obstacle, allows the active player to choose whether or not to enter close combat if within 4".

[7.]  In accordance with the Probe scenario rules, any CoC die gained by the defender must be used to end a turn.  After the second turn is ended in this way the game starts to draw to a close placing the attackers under time pressure as the next end of turn will end the game.

[8.]  My broken section didn't leave the table recovering to pinned status as I had rallied off some shock since they broke.

 

Ready for my CoC v2 Debut

Before embarking on our next Chain of Command campaign, John and I need a few familiarisation games with the new, improved, second edition of the rules, or CoC² for short.  

Today I set out my table based on the 'Probe' game scenario from the TooFatLardies' Kampfgruppe von Luck 'Pint-Sized' Campaign (pdf) - see the map below.  

My best attempt to replicate this is shown below, viewed from the German's side of the table.

In the campaign description the road from the Y-junction up to the farm is a sunken road.  As I couldn't easily recreate that I opted for high banked bocage hedge either side of the road which will both provide good cover and obstruct movement (especially vehicle movement).

As could probably be inferred from the map, the scenario sees a German Panzergrenadier platoon, from 21st Panzer, attacking a British Airborne platoon just after D-Day (D+1).  As I don't have any airborne troops I'm using a regular British platoon in its place, and giving them an extra 2 support points to compensate for their lower platoon force rating.  This gives the British 6 support points against the German's rather scary 13 points given they only need to get a team to the British baseline to win the game.  However, if the game is over pretty quick it will give us a chance to re-set and play again, as after all the name of the game is practise.

The game is in a couple of days' time but the AAR will be along eventually.

CoC Anti-Tank Trainer - Game 2

This game was repeat of that in the last post, but John and I swapped sides.  The battlefield was left as it was in the last game including the JOPs and deployed defences: a minefield and an entrenchment.  

John, as the British, had the same three tanks as I used in the last game.  I as the defending Germans opted for something a little different for my 5 support points.  Unfortunately, as I write this up, I now realise I spent far more than 5 support points!  As well as an additional Panzerschreck team, I had a 7.5cm IG.18 infantry gun with five crew and junior leader plus an entrenchment to deploy it in.  All this totals 7 support points and this cheat goes a very long way to explain why I managed to 'win' the game, and why the result is very much a moral victory for John.

Oh, the shame of it!

Anyway, for what it's worth here's an abbreviated account of how this played out.

John got off to a great start, rolling enough of 6's to give him three consecutive phases!  First, he occupied both floors of the Derelict Farmhouse with a section, ...

... then deployed his 2" mortar team in the farmyard and put another section in the wood next to the Derelict Farm; all this being overseen by his platoon sergeant (senior leader).

Then, with smoke for cover, he brought on both Shermans, one down each road as I had done in the previous game, although this time not led by the Stuart.  One towards Station Row Cottages ... 

... and the other on the road running past the Derelict Farm.

After all this, I got my first phase of the game and a good command roll allowed me to deploy both Panzerschreck teams to take on the Shermans.  One missed and the other only succeeded in rendering a bow machinegun inoperable.  They immediately suffered from some return, overwatch, fire; the team in the entrenchment losing a man and taking a point of shock.

Also deployed in this phase were two sections in the churchyard ...  

... who promptly flayed the British section that had advanced to the edge of the wood; almost all the losses and shock fell on the unfortunate Bren team who were wiped out[1].

The British then withdrew their depleted section further back into the wood to escape the hail of fire coming from the churchyard.  In return, the British tanks managed to wipe out the weakened Panzerschreck team and inflict some shock on the remaining team.

The next phase for the Germans was a double phase, and in the first of these the remaining Panzerschreck team again fired at the Sherman by the Derelict farm, and this time they made no mistake and the tank was hit and blew up.

In the following consecutive phase, the Panzerschreck team fired their last round at the remaining Sherman but missed.  Also, around this time, the Panzergrenadier sections in the churchyard, their job down against the infantry in the wood, retired back round either side of the church so as not to provide a target for the remaining Sherman.

With the Germans having all fallen back to escape H.E. fire from the Sherman there were no targets available to the British.  This included the surviving Panzerschreck team, still both alive but carrying two shock, who withdrew to the JOP behind the church to replenish their ammunition only to find there was none available.  

So, over the next few phases the British started to advance their infantry to provide close support for their remaining Sherman, and brought on the Stuart in support.  

All this time, the Germans stayed in cover behind the buildings while the British approached closer and closer as shown below (not seen is the PIAT team also moving up in the road alongside the Derelict Farmhouse).

Then, fate delivered the Germans another double phase and end of turn.  In the first phase some of the Panzergrenadiers behind the church started to move back into their firing positions and the last, off-table, Panzergrenadier section deployed by the Station Row Cottages.  The British spent their only CoC dice (these were as rare as hen's teeth in both games) to interrupt and open fire with the section behind the hedge but to little effect.  In return the Panzergrenadiers annihilated what was left of the section accompanying the Sherman (this was the much-weakened section that had been in the wood earlier)

Then in the following phase, after the British smoke was removed, two Panzergrenadier sections were able to fire, one wiping out the PIAT advancing down the road (this was an attempt to bring down the British Force Morale which was already getting shaky), and the other firing at close range on the British section advancing along the hedge who had lost their Tactical Movement marker at the end of the turn.

To make the most of the close-range target I used my only CoC die of the game at the earliest opportunity to interrupt John's phase and again fire at section behind the hedge.  This fire reduced them half-strength and pinned. 

This left the British with not much that could shoot back apart from their tanks who inflicted some losses and shock on both German sections.

The next German phase delivered the much awaited '1' on a command die allowing them to bring on their final support asset, a 7.5cm IG.18 in an entrenchment.

This gun, which should never have appeared (I didn't have enough support points to pay for it!!!), was able to deploy in a position where it could engage the British tanks in flank. 

Having only a limited armour penetration capability it selected the Stuart as its target and, needing a score of 4+, managed to score 3 hits from 4 dice.  As if that wasn't bad enough the Stuart then failed to get a single save from its 4 dice and promptly blew up.

At this point, as we were both keen to get down the pub, and the British Force Morale in response to the loss of the Stuart had sunk to 3, John conceded. 

Needless to say, there was a bit of a post-mortem down the pub, but as the game was spoilt by my use of excess support, the validity of the following 'lessons'(?) could be called into question.  

1). In both games the effectiveness of the German Panzerschreck was a serious threat to any armour.  Having infantry in close support can make them vulnerable so better options would be to either lay on a mortar barrage to suppress a large area or make sure you have a CoC die in hand so you can interrupt the Panzerschreck and either shoot it first or move the tank to safety.

2). If deploying infantry anti-tank weapons to attack the armour or other troops to attack any accompanying infantry it is best done with as much firepower as you can bring to bear i.e., if one team / section is good, two is better.  Also, once this has achieved the desired effect move them to safety, and in this respect behind buildings is better than in them when there are H.E. firing tanks around.

Notes:

[1.]  We pretty much always forget to divide the hits between the teams before rolling to find the effect - what we do in this circumstance is dice to see which teams suffer the effects (shock and kills).   This can, as in this case, lead to some extremely unbalanced distributions.  Clearly, we must do better in future - hopefully the imminent second edition will be the catalyst to get us to apply the rules more accurately.