Chain of Command: Case Orange...

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!

Chain of Command: Strike From Above!

Next weekend I'm participating in a Blitzkrieg themed Chain of Command weekend down BIG, which is a tad daunting as I haven't played a lot of CoC. Not having a suitable platoon for the event, for reasons unbeknownst (though I suspect it is my love of stroopwafels) I decided to raise a Dutch platoon, comprising mainly May 40 Miniatures The core of which is now painted with the support current sat in the conservatory drying before the next painting stage... Posts about all this to follow when everything is done, but those models that had been finished were rolled out earlier this week to face Phil's (also brand new) Fallschirmjäger, both of us keen to see how our armies (both with their unique 'issues') would fare.

We played the Strike From Above scenario from the Blitzkrieg 1940 handbook, the rather bare table representing the local Dutch terrain. Phil had to roll for the arrival of his Fallschirmjäger forces and luckily saw his first...

And second sections arrive having equipped themselves with weapons from the supply canisters.

The news of German paratroops having landed nearby saw the Dutch deploy a Carden-Loyd carrier...

And an M36 Pantserwagen (Swedish Landsverk 181). I was hoping these support choices would run riot against the Fallschirmjäger and that they had no anti-tank rifles or similar.

Two Dutch Mitrailleurgroepen (sections) the arrived one inside the farm courtyard, one to the rear. Without a lot of cover I was wary that each Fallschirmjäger section had two MG34's! The second (below) was short of three men as they had been detached to man a Kazemat (bunker) with the section's Lewis gun.

The M36 moved up and started firing at the first Fallschirmjäger section...

To the rear Phil deployed a 'Shabby Nazi Trick' in the form of a Fifth Columnist who started (ineffectually) sniping at the Dutch Mitrailleurgroepen behind the farm.

Inside the courtyard the first Mitrailleurgroepen moved into the main building (the NCO politely ringing the doorbell!)

Meanwhile the first Fallschirmjäger section inched forward towards the Pantserwagen...

In a "should have gone to Specsavers" moment I hadn't realised this section had a flamethrower team attached (a cursory glance had left me thinking it had an additional MG34). Getting within range it opened fire on the M36...

The crew of the Pantserwagen abandoning their vehicle and running for safety (hopefully I won't make this mistake again!)

Meanwhile the Carden-Loyd carrier was popping away against the second Para section causing the odd casualty and Shock.

Getting within close range of the MG34's the carrier was driven back as the German machine-gun fire hammered the AFV!

The Fifth Columnist kept up sniping at the Dutch Infantry...

Eventually managing to inflict a point of Shock (which was Doubled) on the Mitrailleurgroepen.

With the third German paratroop section having belatedly arrived and equipped itself from the supply canisters, the final Dutch Mitrailleurgroepen deployed in the courtyard ready to engage any enemy who broke in.

However they were not to be needed as the Forward Observer (who had been hidden in a forward position since early in the game) called down an off-table 80mm Mortar barrage! It deviated slightly, but caught the third Fallschirmjäger section in its fire zone, inflicting Shock but most importantly Pinning them.

Keeping out of close range the Carden-Loyd Carrier continued its firing at the second Fallschirmjäger  section...

Slowly but surely attriting them.

Similarly the first Fallschirmjäger section was being slowly reduced by the first Mitrailleurgroepen Lewis gun firing out the top window of the farmhouse. Return fire had proven ineffective.

Phil tried to move the flamethrower team forward but they came under fire from the Lewis team in the Kazemat who inflicted excess Shock on the team, pinning them. At this point Phil concluded the day was not going to be his and conceded the field of battle to the Dutch.

Something of an unusual game of Chain of Command, the lack of terrain hampered the infantry only Fallschirmjäger but as Phil said, it is the type of place you'd parachute into, not a wood! From a Dutch point of view I didn't really use the core platoon (apart from two of its three Lewis guns), again the lack of cover meant I was very wary deploying the infantry in the open to get mown down by the six MG34's the Germans had.

We're going to give it another go next week, possibly with a couple of terrain tweaks, be interesting to see if the Fallschirmjäger adopt different tactics and succeed in their nefarious scheme to seize all the Dutch bicycles!