Last weekend I took part in a Blitzkrieg 1940 themed Chain of Command weekend down Bristol Independent Gaming organised by Andy, giving my new Dutch army a run out. The event gave each player four games and had a campaign element to encourage players not to try pointless death or glory Commando comic charges at the enemy!
My first game was against Troy, a local uni student who had never played the game before, indeed his only wargaming experience was having played Stargrave with fellow student Elliot using pizza boxes as terrain! Despite this, he handled his German force very well deploying one section on one flank utilising the railway station for cover.
Whilst the Dutch infantry deployment was delayed by Stukas, fortunately my Pantzerwagen M.36 arrived...
And turning a corner managed to surprise a section of advancing Germans!
Bravely they decided to try and charge the Dutch armoured car and toss a grenade in the hatch - which they failed at and saw their NCO wounded!
However that was the high water mark for my Dutch, the Carden-Loyd carrier was driven off my German MG34 fire!
And Troy concentrated his remaining force in the gardens of the houses, bringing overwhelming MG34 fire - and a flamethrower - to bear, forcing the only Dutch section which got past the Stukas into headlong flight!
My second game was against David with a 2nd Wave German platoon, complete with Panzer!
David had to clear the Dutch from the table, so I hid two sections in the orchard...
Whilst David hid one of his in the garage across the road!
My third section advanced on the Germans who had swiftly captured one of my deployment points...
And with the help of the second section's Lewis gunner and a MMG in the Kazemat (bunker), managed to wipe out the enemy unit.
However with the main gun on my Pansterwagen being disabled by a lucky Panzer shot, the game soon turned into one with the German tank just chasing my troops around the board firing HE and MG's at them, whilst they tried to be anywhere but near the Panzer!
However by the time the game ended the Dutch still had a lot of troops on the table so Andy declared it a winning draw for them as the Germans hadn't cleared the defenders from the battlefield.
The next day saw my lads up against Troy once again, this time both of us tasked with searching a village for reported hidden intelligence...
The Dutch section here finding a nice sofa and some cutlery in the building next door!
Troy clearly hadn't read the no Commando comics tactics and one of his sections managed to lob a hand grenade into the hatch of the M.36 Pantserwagen! (10+ on 2D6 on his first roll!)
Despite this set back things generally went favourably for the Dutch...
An MG34 team that appeared...
Walking into the fire of a Dutch infantry section and routing.
Another section uncovered the intelligence - a German who had been hiding in a cupboard!
Needing to stop the Dutch getting the prisoner to the safety of their table edge, the Germans rushed forward relying on overwhelming firepower...
Whilst this did not work against the Carden-Loyd carrier...
A different section overwhelmed their Dutch opponents in a vicious melee!
However it was too little, too late as the Dutch successfully escorted the captured asset to safety and victory!
My final game was against Frazer with his somewhat reduced Schutzen platoon (they had taken a lot of casualties in the previous games) on a very flat and empty looking table...
Tasked with holding the two sectors I deployed into, I went with a mix of forces including the Carden-Loyd carrier with its useful machine-gun and a Kazemat with a 47mm AT gun in case the Germans had any panzers (lesson learnt from game two!)
Frazer consolidated his surviving troops into two large sections...
And advanced rapidly across the board luckily managing to claim several successive phases on his dice rolls!
I employed entrenchments for one section this time in an effort to help slow down the German advance...
However despite wounding one of their NCOs, the Germans charged across the flat fields of the Netherlands.
Desperate times called for desperate measures and I ordered an artillery barrage on the Germans, even though it would catch some of my troops in the fire zone.
However despite this, and casualties caused by an off-table machine-gun, Frazer managed to get two teams off the table in double quick time.
However he left the Dutch still in charge of the battlefield so Andy awarded victory to the doughty tulip lovers!
Overall the weekend was very enjoyable, especially as I hadn't played that much Chain of Command and was using a new army with some peculiar characteristics - looking forward to Case Orange Twee!
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