Phil and I enjoyed another game of Chain of Command last week as US Airborne were pitted against Elite Panzer Grenadiers. With ‘The Patrol’ being the chosen scenario there wasn’t going to be a great deal of support points kicking around. With the difference in Force ratings and the single die rolls for support options The US Airborne gained seven support points compared to 1 for the Panzer Grenadiers. The Americans chose a MMG team and another Light Mortar team and the Germans opted for an Adjutant.
Both sides scored well on the Force Morale rolls with both of them starting on 11 with a dice-off deciding who would be the ‘attacker’, the Americans won.
The Patrol phase was a tactical victory for Phil’s Germans allowing him a much better deployment zone than the Americans, who were left with one jump off point out on a limb. This would prove costly later on in the game.
With the Americans having the initiative and an extra Command die they were able to set up a defensive position in the cover of a wheat field with good views on all flanks.
Phil’s Panzer grenadiers made good use of cover through the woods on the American right flank covering their approach and allowing them to build up their forces ready for the attack.
From this point forward it became a game of attrition with the Americans unable to press the attack through lack of men. And the Germans not having enough support to weed the Americans of their positions.
Force moral see-sawed with the advantage moving from one side to another as Junior Leaders were wounded on one side and a jump off point (American) was lost on another.
After three hours of play and a very enjoyable game time was called which ended in an victory for the American Airborne. Force morale was still pretty good with both sides accumulating a number of Chain of Command dice to stave off moral checks but the Germans had lost more men and it was unlikely that they would be able to inflict enough losses before becoming wiped out themselves.
The number of casualties suffered would have been considerably less if we had been playing a campaign game as the Germans would probably have withdrawn after losing their first section and attempting a different approach in the next game. We had a good discussion about the pros and cons of both armies and how they would fair in a campaign especially the US Airborne, good in defence but I think they’d struggle to achieve a successful attack due to lack of numbers (I don’t have enough figures for three full sections, maybe I can convince Phil to lend me some of his!! :D).
We hope to return to these two armies in the near future, this time as a mini campaign so keep an eye out for more reports coming soon.
Williton Gamers 