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.

CoC Anti-Tank Trainer - Game 1

My last post described the terrain for what we described as an anti-tank training game as John wanted more practise in Chain of Command when faced with an enemy with more armour support.  To this end, John's Panzergrenadier platoon was upgraded to elite but had only 5 points of support[1] against the Brits 17 points[2], all of the latter being spent on armour.  The Germans, being elite, started with a force morale of 11, and the British who also rolled well started with a force morale of 10.

The scenario was the 'Flank Attack' and the patrol phase saw the British with all their jump off points (JOPs) up one end of the table where they could exploit the available cover - JOPs are denoted by the white star markers in the photo below.

The Germans, who, as the defenders in this scenario, were heavily constrained by having far fewer patrols than the British ended up with all their patrol markers in their defended corner - see below (one, not marked, is inside the church, at the back up against the middle window).

The Germans then deployed a minefield blocking the exit from the Derelict Farm (see previous post for building names) which I had been planning to use to give my tanks some cover.

In this scenario the attackers, the Brits, go first and I started by bringing on some armoured recce, a Stuart, on the road half-way down the long side of the table facing Station Row Cottages (the meaning of the yellow arrow will be explained later).

  And, in close-up.

The Germans as typically for defenders did not deploy any of their forces saving them for when there were some juicy targets to engage.  My intent was to threaten their JOPs with the Stuart and force them to deploy some anti-tank weapons which I could then target to make it safer for my Shermans to come on.

I then promptly forgot the plan and brought on both Shermans in my next phase; one following up behind the Stuart (the hedge by the tanks marks the edge of the battlefield but I haven't cropped it as I think it looks better left in) ...

... and the other on the road running alongside the Derelict Farm; both were placed on overwatch.

Surprisingly, this rash move didn't trigger an immediate German response, so in my next phase I deployed two infantry sections; one in the Derelict Barn and the other in the Derelict Farmhouse (a 2" mortar team was at the same time deployed in the farmyard).

As you can see from the photo above, I don't actually put figures in buildings, but on a full-size floorplan (one for each floor) which is left off-table[3].  These troops were placed on overwatch but the markers are placed on the table next to buildings.

With all but my last section, and redundant PIAT team, committed, and with John rolling two 6's for a double phase, he decided it was time to act.  First, he brought on a section round the far side of the church safely out of the line of fire of my tanks.   

On a more threatening note, the first of John's two Panzerschreck teams deployed by Station Row Cottages (at the location marked by the yellow arrow in the earlier photo of the Stuart being deployed).

The Panzerschreck team were just out of the overwatch arc of the Sherman accompanying the Stuart.  So, safe from any retaliation, as unlike the Shermans the Stuart wasn't on overwatch, they fired at, and hit, the Stuart.  The Stuart survived, just, but suffered two shock[4] and the driver was killed (two activations being required for another crewman to take over his position).

John then rolled the command dice for his next consecutive phase and got three 6's, which meant another consecutive phase the end of the turn after this currnet phase which would mean my Shermans would come off overwatch!  In this phase John, safe in the knowledge the next phase would also be his, advanced the section behind the church to threaten my exposed JOPs in the orchard.  The Panzerschreck team was also able to fire again and hit the Stuart with another rocket which this time proved fatal.

In the same phase the Panzergrenadier section continued its advance against my leftmost JOP in the orchard, crossing the hedge and entering the field containing the orchard.  This did expose them to my fire from my Bren team on overwatch on the first floor of the Derelict Farmhouse, which needing 6's to hit elite troops at effective range, did nothing.

In his next phase, his third consecutive phase, the Panzerschreck team fired their last rocket at the Sherman by the burning Stuart but missed!  They were now out of ammunition and unless they managed to resupply from a JOP no longer posed a clear and present danger.

Also, at this time the Panzergrenadier section continued its advance towards my leftmost JOP in the orchard - sorry no photo.

At last it was my phase.  I had lots to deal with but my command dice limited my options.  I opted to deploy my last section, led by my platoon sergeant (senior leader), in the edge of the orchard to catch the advancing Panzergrenadiers in the open at close range.  And punish them they did inflicting two kills and one shock[5].

In the next, German, phase the Panzergrenadiers opted to rally off their shock and return fire.  But, thanks to some fickle dice and the light cover provided by the orchard the impressive firepower of their two MG42 teams only managed to inflict four points of shock.

The next British phase saw more punishment meted out to the Panzergrenadiers caught in the open.  The senior and junior leaders, with the British section in the orchard, rallied off all the shock before they fired again, this time killing two more men and wounding the junior leader. 

Also, in this phase the Sherman fired at the Panzerschreck team that had just fired their last rocket at it, but only managed to inflict two shock.

In their next phase the Germans deployed their second Panzerschreck team in an entrenchment by the churchyard.

They promptly engaged the Sherman by the Derelict Farm and hit it, but failed to knock it out.  However, the hit did render the Sherman's main armament inoperative for the rest of the game; a real blow as I was relying on my tanks' H.E. capability to offset the difficulty of hitting elite troops with small-arms fire (owing to their superior ability to exploit the ground).

The Panzergrenadiers caught in the field by the orchard again elected to stick it out and persist with the firefight.  And again, their hits mainly inflicted shock, albeit only three this time and with one kill.

 

The British content with the way the firefights were going pressed on, the infantry continuing to punish the Panzergrenadiers in the open while the tanks and other infantry sections tried to eliminate the latest Panzerschreck team that had appeared.  The former was successful pinning the shrinking Panzergrenadier section, but the latter failed badly. Luckily, in the next German phase the Panzerschreck missed and the junior leader with the Panzergrenadiers was reduced to rallying off just one shock from his pinned section.

In the photo above, the smoke behind them was part of an effort by the British prevent any help for the pinned section coming from inside the church as another German section that had deployed earlier into the churchyard was not able to do so and was already taking fire.

In the next phase the second Panzerschreck team fired and missed and was, like the first team now out of ammunition.  The first team had by this time reached a JOP point, but on attempting to resupply rolled a '2'; no ammunition available.  However, they were close enough to have a point of shock removed by the late arriving senior leader, his other command initiative being to remove shock off the section around the front of the church.  

The following British phase saw a hatful of 6's thrown to wipe out the what was left of the Panzergrenadier section in the field.

Other firing pinned the first Panzerschreck team by the JOP, and inflicted more kills and shock on the section in front of the church.  In return the Germans could achieve little other removing shock.

The next British phase was the clincher, three 6's on the command dice to end the turn after the phase.  This was exploited by piling some more shock on the first Panzerfaust team which was enough to break them (two or more shock per figure) and see them rout off the table at the end of turn.

The British command dice for their second consecutive phase rolled another two 6's, meaning yet a further consecutive phase after this one.  At this point John acknowledged the hopelessness of his position and conceded with a view to having time to play another game again before going to the pub.

A quick post-mortem noted John's bad luck with his Panzerschrecks, but the targeting of the Stuart rather than the Sherman early in the game was a mistake.  Also, the probe to threaten my JOPs with his Panzergrenadier section, while effective in forcing me to commit what troops I had left in reserve, should have been abandoned as soon as that objective was achieved.  It was possible for his section to win the resulting firefight but with my men in light cover offsetting his elite advantage plus a senior leader to help rally off shock and occasional supporting fire from other British units able to engage him in the field, the odds were against him.    

For the second game, we decided to swap sides and to save time play a repeat of the battle with the same JOPs.

To be continued...

Notes:

[1.]  With their 5 support points the Germans opted for, an adjutant, a minefield, an entrenchment for one team, and a Panzerschreck team. 

[2.]  The British with their 17 support points opted for two M4 Shermans and an M5 Stuart.

[3.]  My buildings don't have detachable roofs and anyway, troops in them can't really be seen. 

[4.]  The brown dust (shock) markers, that actually look like small brown bushes.

[5.]  In this photo, there is a full section of Panzergrenadiers but one crouching figure is obscured by the hedge.  As I only have a limited number of dead figures it should be noted that sometimes dead from previous phases are pinched to be used elsewhere.  Hence, sometimes the number of dead and alive doesn't always add up to the starting strength of a unit.

CoC Anti-Tank Trainer Scenario

John is coming round for another Chain of Command (CoC) game, probably our swan song with version 1 as version 2 is due for release at Partizan later this month.  Because we don't want to start another campaign until we have the new rules this one's going to be an anti-tank refresher.  We're using the Flank March scenario as we haven't played that one.  John will have a Panzer Grenadier platoon and 7 points of support to try and hold off my British infantry platoon with 19 points!  As the object of the game is to get more practise in how to cope when only one side has tank support, the brits may only spend their support points on AFVs and the Germans may not spend them on any AFVs with an anti-tank capability.

I have just set up the terrain in the cabin as shown below: 

The Germans will be defending the corner containing the church and the British will be entering from either, or both,of the opposite table sides (the top and righthand sides in the above).

In the next view, from the attacker's (British) perspective it can be seen they have good cover approaching from the left, but limited access for their armour.  The direct approach has room to manoeuvre but little or no cover.

The next two photos show the terrain from the narrow table sides, the first showing the second approach route for the Brits.

And, finally from the German perspective.

Stuttering to Victory at Maltot

Firstly, an apology for getting sucked into the game again and not taking enough photos, hence the use of some dodgy ones.

Game 6

So, with the table all set (see last post) we quickly did some die rolling to see if John's Germans recovered any casualties, and how many elite SS panzergrenadiers would rock up as reinforcements.  They answers were: none and the maximum possible - John rolling a '6' for reinforcements so gained 15 panzergrenadiers.  With a replacement drafted in for his senior leader, captured hiding in an outhouse in the last game, John's platoon was now organised as follows:

• 1 junior leader with panzerfaust and a reinforced LMG team of 5 men (army).
• 1 junior leader with 2 LMG teams of 4 men and 1 panzerfaust (SS).
• 1 junior leader with 1 LMG team of 5 men and 1 panzerfaust (SS).

My British platoon was fresh and at full strength (36 leaders and men)

The Force Morale rolls saw the Germans start at '10' and the British at '9' and the following patrol phase resulted in the jump-off points (JOPs) shown below.

The British then diced for support, hoping for a generous amount as received in the two previous games, but...

So, just 2 points of support for the Brits and 1 for the Germans, who respectively opted for a 2" mortar team and a stretch of barbed wire.  The Germans went first but, as defenders, held off deploying until they had a better idea of what the British were up to.  

Over the next few phases, the British deployed one section in the 'Shot-up House' and one in the 'Stone Station' with the two 2" mortars deployed alongside the latter.

The mortars soon enveloped the 'Old Rectory' in smoke.  Then, with all in place, the final section deployed from the Shot-up house into the road[1] and, in the next phase, started to cautiously (tactically) advance towards the Old Rectory.

The Germans decided to let them come closer before reacting.

In my phase, I started to have second thoughts about what he might throw at me and how I would respond.  And, ooh err, on careful reflection, I realised my chaps were pretty much out on a limb as the two 'covering' sections, in hard cover, had poor fields of fire and could offer little support.

Realising my plan was a stinker, I seized the window or opportunity offered by the delayed German response, plus the luxury of three attempts to take the objective to win this scenario, and withdrew my platoon to start over again. 

Net result: no casualties to either side and on to Game 7 with the same forces and the same scenario / table.

Notes.

[1.] This was an error, with a section in the Shot-up House I mistakenly forgot my JOP was behind the house not in it, and thus couldn't deploy this far forward.  Luckily it had no real impact on the game. 

Game 7

This time the British got off to a better start rolling a force morale of 9 to the German's 8.  This allowed the Brits to go first in the patrol phase which helped to offset getting only 2 free moves instead of the four they had in the previous game.  As a result, the JOPs were in almost exactly the same place as before, the only difference being a JOP behind the Stone Cottage instead of in it.  

This time, on rolling for support I got 7 points and John got 3 (half the attacker's support points rounded down).  I selected the Churchill IV tank and, as before, an additional 2" mortar team.  John opted for an entrenchment for a team, another length of barbed wire and a minefield which, added to the barbed wire still in place from the last game created quite an obstruction[1]:

I took the first phase and immediately rolled an 'end of turn' and not much else.

In my next phase, the first of the second turn, I managed to deploy the Churchill and my 2" mortar teams by the Stone Station as in the previous game.

Then John in his first phase of the game, rolled an 'end of turn'!  However, this early in the game he decided to hold fire and wait for the British to advance into a more exposed position.

After this the action settled down along the lines of the previous game with the British saturating the Old Rectory with smoke while the Germans patiently waited for the British infantry to advance out into the open. 

The difference this time was that my two covering sections were in the Stone Cottage (as before), but the other was now in the Stone Station instead of the Shot-up House.  Also, the PIAT team had deployed with the platoon sergeant in the Shot-up House and the platoon commander with the section in the Stone Station.  While this was taking place, my Churchill slowly crept forward, with the gunner on overwatch, not wanting to get too close to all those panzerfausts.  

Now, feeling much happier about the level of fire support available, the section in the Shot-up House once again ventured out into the road and in the next phase went tactical.

In the very next German phase, they rolled another 'end of turn' and the smoke covering the British section in the road promptly vanished, and me, without a CoC die to my name, unable to do anything about it.  In the German's next phase, John, after rolling two '6's(!) on his command dice, used his CoC die to spring an SS LMG team ambush[2] from the far side of the crossroads.  This seemed a heaven-sent opportunity for the Jerries, as all my covering units had lost their overwatch status at the turn-end. 

Lady Luck, obviously felt sorry for me as John only managed 2 kills and one point of shock; one kill was on the Bren team and the other turned out to be a light wound on the section leader (I'm using the red pin marker to remind me the section leader is wounded). 

My luck held as I rolled a '1' on the bad things happen test and avoided any impact on my force morale.  At this point, John decided not to withdraw his ambush team but leave it in place to take advantage of a third turn on the trot.  Just to rub it in, his command dice for his third phase rolled another two '6's!!!  But just as he was feeling he could do no wrong, Lady Luck promptly sucker-punched him in the gut as the LMG team failed to score a single hit (5+ needed at effective range)!    

In his fourth consecutive phase, he finally threw less than two '6's on his command dice (phew!), and the LMG team managed another kill and point of shock on the exposed section.

In retrospect 2 dead, a wounded junior leader, and 2 points of shock seemed a small price to pay for three rounds of MG42 fire in the open.

At last it was my phase, and with a rather spiffing command roll, I could get in plenty of retaliation.  Firstly, the senior leader in the Shot-up House took off both points of shock from the shot-up section and told them to fire back and see if they could roll the '6's necessary to hit the elite SS panzer grenadiers.  And yes, they could!

The section in the road was then promptly screened again by some more smoke before their shooting was added to by the section in the Stone Station and the Churchill firing high explosive (HE).  This left the SS looking a bit subdued with one dead and just one point of shock short of being pinned.

Realising they had bitten off more than they could chew, they tried to fall back out of sight and rally, the German platoon commander (senior leader) even deploying into the church to rally off more shock[3].  However, their movement dice betrayed them and left them open to more fire, which saw them pinned and dropping like flies (photo taken a little later, after the shock had been rallied off and yet another German 'end of turn' had removed the pin marker). 

While this was going on the section in the road had fallen back into the Shot-up House so were unaffected by the disappearance of their protective smokescreen.  However, as the SS LMG team had still not managed to escape the British arcs of fire their fate was all but inevitable...

...and the resulting bad things happen tests for a section wiped out and a junior leader wounded, and then killed, saw the German force morale plummet from 8 to 4!  The Germans were now reduced to just 4 command dice and with only their senior leader on the table deploying any more troops would be problematic. 

Feeling a lot more confident, the British now set about restoring their smoke screen to cover the resumption of the weakened section's tactical advance to the Old Rectory.  This time they were accompanied by the senior leader (platoon sergeant) and the PIAT team.  This elicited no response, so in my next phase the sergeant seized the bull by the horns and ordered his men to double up to the Old Rectory.  A good set of movement dice saw them advance right up to it, close enough to shut down the JOP inside.

With Old Rectory occupied the only exit from the church holding the German senior leader was covered leaving the senior leader trapped inside (again!).  Also, as the JOP in the Old Rectory had been captured the Germans would have to think twice before using their CoC die to end the turn to remove British smokescreens.  The Germans decided not to deploy any more troops at this stage so the Churchill fired HE at the church and in one blow inflicted 3 kills, killing the senior leader inside.  

John spent his CoC die avoiding the resulting morale test, but I then played mine to end the turn which removed his captured JOP bringing the German force morale down to '2'.  this meant I could remove another of his JOPs and he was reduced to just three command dice.  At this point John conceded and the campaign was won.  

And to finish, a quick view of the field of battlefield, as at the end, from German side (the absence of smoke is due to my ending the turn with a CoC die to eliminate the JOP I had captured).  And sitting in the middle, the German's nemesis, the Churchill tank.

So ends our learning campaign, I think this last game has reinforced the imperative to eliminate the other side's armour, if they have any.  John had a few opportunities to try, but they were risky.  On the other hand, the price of leaving the Churchill to do its own thing was catastrophic.

Now, after a short break we'll have to start another campaign.

Notes:

[1.] I was surprised that John opted for more static defences and then didn't place these to impede the approach I had explored in the previous game.  Equally surprising was his decision to, again, not choose an adjutant.

[2.] As an ambush is only a single team, I think we might've made a mistake in deploying the junior leader with it, but as it was a one-section team it doesn't seem unreasonable. 

[3.] With no adjutant, the remaining three, off-table, German sections would now need to roll 4+ to successfully deploy when called upon.