Wednesday War - Chain of Command Op Spa

This game sees the first of 'game four' in our Chain of Command campaign as the Germans attempt to capture Spa in Belgium

 

In the first three games the SS commanded by Matt made short work of the American platoon commanded by Elliot.  In the Centre the Soviets ably commanded by Neil repulsed the initial attack by Chris's German Heer platoon and continued to push them back towards the start line.  In the south a bitter series of actions took place on the outskirts of Meiz  with the British finally pushing back Frazer's Panzergrenadiers

 

Prior to this weeks (game four), campaign game was played.  There were two requests for redeployment, the first by the Americans was held up at HQ and the second was accepted by the German commander and pulled the battered Heer platoon to a quieter sector.  The unstoppable advance of the SS was to meet a delaying action by the Soviets under the command of Neil.

 

 



 

The soviets were holding a tree line in the west and the SS were advancing down the road from the farm in the east.

 

The battlefield

 The Germans start deploying along the road

The soviets try to push the Germans back hard and fast with armour but a long range shot from the panzershrek team knock out the KV-1

 A few points of shock start to build on the lead German squad.

The HE fire from the T34 forces the lead squad to fall back - unfortunately they run through the 'shrek team and dump 5 points of shock  causing them to fall back as well

As SS reserves arrive the German commander calls up his Flammpanzer to shift the Soviets that are arriving to support the T34

The Germans lob smoke grenades to cover their position as a second squad arrives to move up the left flank

A hasty barrage lands amid the soviet position, fortunately for the Russians most of the their units are unaffected but the reduced LOS prevents the T34 from causing much trouble

 The soviets are wisely holding the line waiting for the SS to cover the open killing ground

The SS move into the wheat field  trying to get a base of fire going

Fanatical the SS are, suicidal they are not and they hold position  waiting for the Forward Observer to shift the barrage onto the soviet infantry

Morale in the Soviet postion is still remarkably high

 The Flammpanzer gets into range and prepares to fire

 Unconcerned the reds swig vodka and shout rude words at the SS

 Whoosh!  The first time a flame tank has been in action a timely use of a CoC dice for the SS

 The results are horrific and the morale takes a big knock dropping to 5

 With the KV-1 burning it is up to the T34 commander to take action

 Having slowly edge to the flank the commander is now in a position to take a shot

Lucky for the Soviets it's a good shot and the Flammpanzer is knocked out. 

The German moral was on 10 with the soviets on 5 and it looked like trouble for the Russians.  Neil was fortunate to get 3 turns in a row and remove most of the shock from the burning squad before they fled the table and the moral affected the command dice.  With reluctance the SS withdraw.  Whilst their morale is still high the casualties are mounting and another battle is just over the horizon

The seemingly unstoppable advance by the SS towards Spa has been stopped for the time being.

Will the soviets dig in or counter attack?  The British have the same choice to make before they fight battle 4 and the Americans are on the attack for the first time since the campaign started.  Casualties are starting to have an impact on the other German and American platoons. 

Showdown at Windy Springs

The outpost town of Windy Springs, sat in the bottom of Sweet Valley. The nearest city was 107 miles to the north, so visitors were rare, with even essentials like the postal service only visiting every other week.

 

 

Unlike a lot of the towns in this region of east Texas, Windy Springs didn’t have the luxury of a railroad and so all traffic was horse drawn. On a usual, hot sunny day, when the sky was cloudless, you could see visitors before they could see the town, as the dust cloud they kicked up appeared on the horizon.

 

 

Sheriff Curtis “One Shot” Stygers, know as one shot because of his inability to hold his liquor not because he was accurate with his pistol, resided over the town; and had the enviable record of one of the most crime free towns in the State.

 

 

Little did “One Shot” realise that after the events of October 15^th, his sleepy little town would not be the same again….

Chain of Command Campaign Pictures

Its our second week in our new gaming location, and this week we had two tables of Chain of Command as our campaign continued.

Below are some shots from the game between Binx's Germans and Lordybloke's Soviets...

The Germans, near their jump off point, cover the flank from the safety of the ruins

A full table shot as the Soviets close in on the Germans position

The Soviets cover the advance of their compatriots further up the battlefield

The Germans hunker down in the graveyard, one foolish soldier attempts to get a better view

The Soviets right flank, a mixture of painted and err... brown warriors

Chain of Command Campaign - Turn 2

Turn two of the Chain of Command campaign - Objective Spa.  The German movements are in red and the Allies are in blue.  At the top of the map the 12th SS push forward against the unprepared American forces.  In the centre the Panzergrenadiers have been pushed back beyond their start positions and in the south the Axis initial failure has been met with success as another assault finally succeeds

Chain of Command Spa Campaign - Turn 1

 

 

We have started a Chain of Command campaign using a map covering the Belgium town of Spa.  This is a fictitious setup to include all players and their respective platoons.  This is the outcome of turn one.  The basic setup is the failed Ardennes offensive.

Allied victories 2

Axis victories 1

	Unit	Position	CO's Opinion	Men’s Opinion
Neil	Soviet Rifle Platoon	1	+2	+1
Elliot	Armoured Rifle Platoon	2	-1	-1
Simon	British Infantry Platoon	1	+2	+2
Frazer	Heer Grenadiers	1	-2	-1
Matt	SS Panzergrenadiers	2	+1	+2
Chris	Heer Panzergrenadiers	1	-1	-1