Sunday 8 April 2018

Chain of Command US v German Flank Attack (2)

Read the previous part of this game here before continuing

The US troops behind the fence continued to exchange fire with the beleaguered Germans in the woods.
Despite the arrival of their commanding officer the Germans proved inaccurate with their fire, whilst the Americans were having one of those days when they just couldn't miss.

Eventually the Germans pulled back and the Americans were able to switch their fire to the squad approaching their left flank.

Meanwhile behind on the outskirts of the village the US troops continued to pour fire into the fallschirmjagers in the building, eventually wiping them out.


By this time additional German troops were deploying into the nearby building and so the US section pulled into cover behind one of the larger buildings.


The Germans attempted to push up on the American squad in the centre, however the assaulting infantry were caught in the open and the fire of their MG42 squad was ineffective.


Judicious use of Turn Ending CoC dice at this point pushed the Germans close to the Force Morale of 3 that would hand victory to the US and so, in desperation the remaining undamaged squad left their building and moved to out flank the Americans.


They were met by a hail of fire from the US troops


Despite some dodgy moments the American firepower proved (just) too much for the Germans who broke and (with the aid of another Turn Ending dice) took Force Morale down to zero, leaving the Americans in charge of Tromnee-sur-Ilq.

Another good fun game that had plenty of swings and changes of fortune.
General B had a poor day with the dice whilst mine ran hot all evening.
At least until the end when I couldn't roll a four to save my life and the shock began to pile up on the American squad in the open.

I'm enjoying Chain of Command, though it does feel a bit like the game breaks down into a series of long ranged firefights where the decision making is about who you activate, rather than what they do. You know they're going to carry on firing, and if possible removing shock - the only question is what dice you get to do that.
Maybe this is an accurate recreation of war, or maybe we're just not very good at playing the game well but it does feel as if the game is a bit static for long periods.

Next week I'm on the attack, pursuing the fleeing Germans.

2 comments:

  1. Enjoyed reading these. With regards to firefights, that's WWII for you, how often do to we hear or read, "the only enemy I saw was either dead or a prisoner" a lot more than I looked him in the eyes from my experience anyway. CoC is best played like a narrative rather than a game, IMHO. A lot of criticism are things like, well my tank suddenly won't move because I couldn't make a 3, well perhaps the tank commander thought he saw a panzerschreck sticking through the hedge, that you couldn't.
    Anyway you are enjoying the games and I have enjoyed reading about them, what more could you want besides the command dice you want when you need them :~)

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  2. I agree, a pretty accurate simulation of WW2 combat. And TBF it's only in retrospect it felt like I was repeating actions, at the time I was caught up in the action.

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