The game (and campaign) end with a British Victory!

Scenario

After their first attempt at the church on the outskirts of the Bas de Rainville, Kampfgruppe Von Luck was forced back into the town itself. Defeating the counter attack in the narrow streets, the Kampfgruppe sent forward 2 Platoon to finish off 13 Para. It was now 1300 on 6 June 1944. If the Orne Bridges were not recaptured soon, the invasion would have a much stronger chance at success.

Terrain

We are back to the church, just outside le Bas de Rainville. Rather than use my Cigar Box Battle mat, which looks great but photographs as grey, I pulled out an old felt cloth and we played on it. It did the trick and it’s nice to look at the pictures and see green. You can click on the pictures to see a larger version and more of the table.

Once again, there is limited cover for the attacking force, with low hedges and a low wall providing good cover for any defenders.

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Forces

13 Para had lost 17 men in the last two engagements. They had some trenches from their previous defence of the churchyard but limited support options. Their platoon was reduced to 2 sections, neither at full strength. They had no mortar or snipers but did have a PIAT. With their points they took gammon bombs and a Bren team, though, as always, I was aware of what they had or how the platoon had been reorganized.

The German forces were in a much better place. 2 Platoon, while bloodied badly in Game 5 and down by 10 men, was reinforced by the men of 1 Platoon, now held as a company resource. So it was a full platoon with 3 sections of Panzergrenadiers.

The Plan

Last time we fought over the churchyard, the Paras held back and were able to defeat me in detail as I was slow to commit to an attack. This time, my plan was to put broad pressure across the entire area. A Forward Observer (FO) would call mortar fire down on the churchyard initially, and then shift to pin the right flank as I advanced. A sniper would provide the ability to impact troops in trenches, which must have been left behind from last time. Finally, I had a support squad in a Unix (modified French armoured half-track).

1st Squad would hold the left and provide support to the FO. 2nd Squad would go up the middle to the churchyard, and 3rd Squad would move up the open ground on the right. 2nd Squad would support 3rd Squad’s advance until the mortars were ranged in, and then both would rush to the wall and hedge. The support squad in the half-track would be committed to the final attack on either flank.

The Fight

Force Morale for both sides was at 9 as we started. The patrol phase was not surprising, with JOPs in similar locations to the last fight.

I started with a double phase and brought 1st Squad on my left, 2nd Squad on along the road, and 3rd Squad in the field. The FO joined 1st Squad and, as Lucius responded by waiting, contacted the battery for a ranging shot.

A succession of double phases saw a support Bren team appear on the right and fire at 3rd Squad, but at range only managed to inflict some shock.

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3rd Squad returned fire, and even at range managed to kill half of the Bren team and pin the remainder. The battery then joined in, blanketing the centre of the table. So far, everything was according to plan. I knew what the support option was, and the Bren deploying early was easily dealt with. Once I got the barrage to shift, I’d be able to advance on the left with the support squad and 1st Squad and end the battle! Or so I hoped.

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A poor roll (with lots of 5s) saw no reply from the Bren team, so I fired at them again, and the sole surviving member broke and fell back. Para FM remained steady as I advanced 2nd Squad closer to the church wall, a little too far in front of 3rd Squad to be honest.

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There was no response to 2nd Squad, so I pushed 3rd Squad up and brought the Unix on in accordance with my plan.

Then The Para Pl Sgt came on and started to calm the panicked Bren gunner (now called Bren Solo).

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I accidentally rolled 6 dice instead of 5 for activation so re-rolled… and rolled a turn end! The mortar barrage stopped! I continued to advance without any cover, which was a fatal mistake. I should have put 3rd Squad into overwatch with 2nd Squad in support, rather than move them both up, but I was overconfident after the easy defeat of the Bren team. No matter, the troops eagerly advanced and then I contacted the battery again and they were available! Advancing was clearly the right thing to do, right?

And then Lucius rolled another turn end. Drat. And brought on 3 Section with its Brens and Stens. I was far too close with 3rd Squad to the hedgerow and they were hit hard. The Junior Leader (JL) was killed in the first shot and my Force Morale dropped to 7.

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The next phase was the same but with the Bren Solo adding to the fire. My 3rd Squad was now pinned. A roll of 5,5,4,1,1 left me with few options, so I brought my sniper on (who missed) and had my FO call in a ranging shot. Seeing half of the Paras deploy made me really sensitive to the lack of Command and Control where the majority of my troops were, so my Pl Comd came on with 1st Squad.

The Paras then got 3 phases back to back which saw 3rd Squad wiped out. I used a Chain of Command die to avoid one Force Morale test, but my morale was down to 6 now. Not good. Even worse, Lucius used a Chain of Command point himself and ended the turn. My barrage was cancelled AGAIN!

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My FO attempted to contact the battery again again, and was given a response that there was no availability this turn. My sniper was distraught at this news and missed again, but the Unix half-track advanced a short distance and fired at 3 Section. Bren Solo was killed without additional drama and 3 Section lost 2 men of their own. That was more like it!

Seeing the firepower of the Unix, 3 Section fell back from the hedge and on my phase the turn ended. My Force Morale was low but I could still do this. 3 Section was down to 7 men, and there was only 1 more section of Paras hiding somewhere on the table. I had 3 squads of my own and some armour. As long as my Force Morale remained intact, I could ignore 3 Section and sweep around from my left and win the game.

My FO contacted the battery and a ranging shot came in as I put 1st Squad and the Unix on overwatch.

Lucius then moved 3 Section into the trenches behind the hedgerow to avoid the barrage that was sure to come.

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My next phase left me few options, so the Paras, getting a double phase decided to charge 2nd Squad, sheltering behind the church wall. In support was 1 Section (who deployed just prior to 3 Section charging) and the Pl Sgt. The hand to hand fighting was brutal as the Paras shouted and stabbed. Despite the advantage the wall gave me I lost the fight, with 8 casualties and my JL wounded. My Force Morale dropped to 4! Lucius lost 5 men scattered nicely between the teams, and 3 wounded leaders, which dropped his Force Morale dropped to 6.

Okay. Not good. My Force Morale was 4 and the Paras while down a lot of men, were still at 6. I called the barrage on and was going to shift it to catch the lot in the open of the churchyard and had the Unix fire, killing yet another Para. Another phase and this messy fight would be over. The mortars would wipe out the Paras and I’d be free to attack the Chateau.

It was then that a solitary figure ducked out from the side of the churchyard carrying a PIAT. He aimed and hit the half-track, causing it to explode and 6 hits (maximum number!) to the passengers. The survivors debussed in a hurry but the damage was done. My Force Morale dropped to 2 and the remaining Germans fled the field before the artillery could finish the last of 13 Para.

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Aftermath

Kampfgruppe Von Luck withdrew to the south to lick its wounds. It had taken enough casualties that the fight had gone out of the men. The mortar battery having been called so many times and then hung up on, was fed up and shifted their fire to a more communicative Kampfgruppe. Without their flank secure, it would be pointless for 21 Panzer to attempt the Chateau and then the Orne bridges. 12 Para would hold the bridges and 13 Para the area to the east until reinforcements arrived in the evening.

The Germans had lost 18 men from their core platoon and 2 from a support squad. It was a close game despite the size of my force and the relative weakness of the Paras. Lucius set up his defence well, and echoing historical tactics, made good use of hand to hand combat to push my men back. Were I to do this again, I’d have not taken a sniper, but instead a second Unix. I would have pushed one up on each side, so that 3rd Squad would be able to take the hedgerow and have 2nd Squad in support to flank anyone in the trenches. I also wouldn’t have broken with my plan and left 3rd Squad out there hanging – which I did twice on the same map! Well, live and learn. The game was very fun and went back and forth quickly and enjoyably.

Parting Shots

Wow! That was quite the campaign! It started in October and then, following a busy winter and pandemic season, finished off in 3 games within a month. Next time we’ll hopefully have a better consistency to the gaming schedule as after long breaks we make mistakes with the rules. Despite the delays it was really enjoyable. There are minor issues with the rules being unclear (especially with multiple leaders in hand-to-hand combat) or unrealistic (mortars), but that is picking fly poop out of pepper when compared to the overall game design and campaign rules.

From my perspective as the German player this campaign was great fun. Our play styles changed throughout, and while Lucius adapted his strategy in Game 5, I didn’t react fast enough to the tactical situation in Games 5 and 7. My original plan would’ve made it a closer run thing, but this all goes to show how good Chain of Command is as a game – we can bolt a campaign system onto it and get realistic outcomes where your tactics and considerations of the enemy courses of action are key to success. We’ll definitely be playing another campaign again soon!

From the plucky Para commander:

I thoroughly enjoyed this campaign and it produced two of the most exciting CoC games we have played yet, both of which happened to be on the same map. In the beginning I was definitely intimidated by the three platoons and amount of armour that I would be facing. The first few games I tried my usual approach of the best defensive is a good offensive but that only resulted in lost tables. I decided to change that during our first battle of “The Church on the Flank” and waited and waited and waited until the majority of the Germans were deployed, giving them less flexibility and set about attempting to engage them in close combat and destroy them in detail. I also came to the realization that force morale is how the game is won and attempting to get into section on squad shootouts wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

The flexibility of the Para platoon was definitely a key factor. It gave me the ability to switch up my orbat enough to field two relatively strong sections plus my PIAT and 2cm even though I had suffered numerous casualties. The rent-a-section for 4 support points is also a screaming deal.

The one dislike I had for the campaign and the rules in general is the use of mortars and their almost instantaneous ability to drop rounds on the table. However we have a house rule in development for them that we hope to try in our next games/campaign.

As I said before, this was an excellent campaign that left the last 3 games right on a knife’s edge and could have gone either way. In the end though, the plucky Paras held out and history was repeated.