Cold War Commander: Germany 1985

It's always great to meet new gaming buddies. This past week I met up with Michael and Matt and the three of us played a game of Cold War Commander.  Michael was a great host and set up an interesting game for us.

Michael sent us the following pre-game briefing:

"The United States has deployed it's crack National Guard units to fill holes in their lines. The 1/69 is being rushed to the front as we speak. Losses have been extraordinary, but the US war planners anticipated such losses after studying the Arab Israeli conflicts. They therefore, feel completely confident in the ability of the equipment being fielded by the National Guard units. Of course no one on the ground asked the Private or the Sergeant how they feel about rushing into a modern battle inside a M113 with only M60 support, and not the sexy M60a3s.

The only hope is the Soviets are also experiencing the pains of war.....

The US will field 2 Infantry companies and 2 tank companies. Battalion has also assigned AA, artillery and air assets to support the move.  S2 does not anticipate enemy in the area of operations [AO]. The move to the front should not encounter any opposition."

Matt and I split the Americans while Michael commanded the Soviets. Matt and I had a tank company and infantry company apiece, and split some other assets (mobile mortars, Forward Air Observers, etc, between us)


An early airstrike strikes the advancing Soviet tanks.

The other Soviet forces, including all of their infantry, took a solid position in cover within the town. While it kept them relatively safe, they also got rather bogged down there.

Matt's Americans attempt to move up the road under fire from the town.

Fire is exchanged, and the Soviet forces peeking out are destroyed, but most of them are well out of line of sight.

Soviet helicopters fire missiles at Matt's tanks.

Meanwhile I try to advance my infantry inside their carriers, only to have them torn apart by opportunity fire from the Soviet tanks. Each of these counts as two kills and suddenly I'm worried about my force's break point.

However my tank force performs much better. Between attacks on their own turn and opportunity fire, my tank company has managed to decimate their Soviet counterparts while avoiding any kills themselves. Keep at 'em boys!

The Soviet tank I've been firing at has seen better days.

There are only a few platoons left.

We attempt several times to use our air support to dislodge the town's defenders, but our luck hasn't been enough and most of the attacks go wide. There are some hits, and the score is very close.

Sadly, I had to leave a bit early due to work the next morning, so I didn't see the endgame. I'm told that neither side managed to break the other, but they called it a Soviet victory by a slight margin.

This was my first time playing CWC, and it was very fun. I like the combined arms aspect in particular. 6mm is a bit smaller than I'm used to, and there's a lot of abstraction (1 stand = platoon), but everything worked when it was on the table. I'd definitely play again, and anyway was glad to meet some new people to game with.

Ambushed Convoy (Vicksburg Campaign)

 (Full scenario rules and previous battle report for this scenario here.)

The last that anyone heard of Major Wilhelm Tritchel (Fritz) was an urgent call for reinforcements as he prepared to assault the Martian installation at Panther Burn.  Against his will, Colonel O'Malley, in charge of the northern section of the Mississippi Delta, obeyed orders from Divisional Command in Vicksburg and sent a battalion of strong armored forces south to support the young Major.

As the battalion rushed south to support Tritchel's offensive, there was no way for them to know that Tritchel attacked without them. There was no way for them to know the man they were sent to help was already dead, shot down as his men broke around him at Panther Burn.

With the battalion streaming down the road, thinking that the ground ahead of them was held by friendly troops, they did not suspect that the Martians were waiting for them...

Rising out of swamps or dug-out hollows to either side of the road, the Martians stood up to full height.  The convoy stopped for a moment, the men frozen in fear for mere seconds before springing into action.

The commander ordered his men to press forward to break out of the ambush, rather than fall back. Whatever else happened here, Tritchel (he thought) was depending on him. 

Meanwhile the tanks, transports and towed artillery found itself stuck in a dangerous traffic jam.

The infantry and mortar teams at the rear of the column moved at one to the left.  The commander hoped to concentrate his force in one direction, maybe taking a few Martians down as they fled the ambush. However bad the situation, the humans reacted quickly and with relatively cool heads (they won initiative the first round).

Tanks turned and fired, concentrating fire on a few tripods, hoping to think out the enemy ranks before they could move in for the kill.

Choosing two tripods on the left near the front of the column, the tanks opened up.

An assault tripod with black dust exploded among the incoming fire from the tanks, damaging the tripod next to it.  Aside from damage to its armor, its weapon systems were crippled.

Further back on the line, tanks and machine gun fire destroy a more lightly armored Scout Tripod.  Reacting so quickly to the emerging threat and with such accurate fire, the American forces seemed poised to possible turn the situation around.

Ordering his men to push on rather than continuing to engage, the American commander ordered several American units in the front to withdraw from the fight after taking their parting shots.

But at the center, the dangerous traffic jam continued to present a serious problem to a quick escape.

The Martians, having taken fire as they emerged from their hiding places, pushed quickly forward to catch the fleeing humans.

Dust and gas wielding Tripods quickly caught up with the infantry at the rear and began to lay horrific fire on them.

Meanwhile, sweeping shots from heat rays burned countless men alive at the center. So many tanks so close together presented a perfect shot for the massed invaders.

Infantry crawl out of the burning wrecks of transport trucks and take cover.

The sheer devastation wrought by the Martians in the first minute of their attack left the Americans reeling and unable to respond as their mighty tanks burned before their eyes. The Martians pressed into close contact before the human defenders could react. (Martians won initiative for round 2).

The armored infantry carriers are melted to slag by heat rays, but the armored infantry inside manage to extricate themselves and move into the fields. Shock canisters from the Grenadier Tripods quickly find and decimate them.

With Martian heat rays and artillery falling upon them nearly everywhere, individual units of American soldiers begin to panic and break, ignoring the officers trying to organize them.  The tentacles of the Martian war machines find them seconds later.

Meanwhile, three tripods block the end of the road to prevent any more humans from escaping.

Mere minutes after the Martians emerge, all of the American vehicles burn together along the whole stretch of road.

Only scattered doughboys remain, and the Martians hunt them through the swamps and fields like rodents.

A few brave souls rally together and actually charge the towering tripods, throwing their grenades at close quarters. Surely the sheer pluck of these men has to be acknowledged, even in the face of the futility of the unsupported and scattered attacks.

Two minutes after the first Martians were sighted, only a single squad of American doughboys remains of the once-mighty battalion. All fall together in that forgotten cornfield.

Yet another set-back for the 29th Division defending the Delta. With their reinforcements crushed, the defensive line on the Yazoo river stands alone.  Will they hold their ground, or will the Martians break them too, finally breaking the Memphis rail line and isolating Vicksburg itself?  Find out next time!


Scenario Notes:  This is the "Convoy" Scenario I've played several times as both sides. So far, there has not been a human victory, although I came within 1 point of winning once.  Full details here, but in brief, the Martians get 1 point for each human unit they kill, while the humans get a point for each human unit they exit off their chosen short table edge, and one for each Martian killed.


Sadly, despite winning the first initiative, the humans were pretty well trounced.

Final score:
Martians: 17    Humans: 8

OOB:

Americans - 2000 points (roughly)
3 MKIIs
2 MKIIIs
1 MK IV
1 MKII Command tank
1 Armored Infantry Carrier
1 flivvers (3 elements)
1 heavy artillery (towed)
2 mortar teams
2 rough riders
2 HMGs
7 infantry
2 armored infantry

Martians - 2500 points (roughly)
2 Veteran Assault Tipods
1 Veteran Assault w/ Black Dust
2 Assault Tripods
2 Assault Tripods w/ Dust
2 Assault Tripods w/ Green Gas
3 scout tripods w/ Targeters
2 grenadier tripods.

Chain of Command: España!

Last night, Fritz and I played our first game of Chain of Command: España - the  version of Too Fat Lardies' platoon level skirmish game set in the Spanish Civil War. It was my second game using the rules, so I'm sure I was doing some things wrong (let me know if you see anything). 

Below is the board. Yeah, not especially Spanish, I know. I finished painting the figures and I was so jazzed about getting in a game and learning the rules that I jumped the gun a little. Hoping to have more appropriate terrain in the next few weeks. Right now, most of my stuff is geared towards All Quiet on the Martian Front, but I suppose that's what imagination is for. 

We streamlined things a bit (didn't use the rules for multiple floors for instance) just to learn, and I put together two even strength platoons and used the limited support I had ready for the table.

The Nationalists (played by Fritz, my favorite Fascist) were the aggressors, and started out by rolling double sixes on the command dice - two turns in a row. Not actually a great time for that roll as I have nothing on the board for him to shoot at. He deploys a rifle section and they immediately take up position in two of the ruined buildings overlooking the road.

In response, my brave Republicans deploy into the factory directly across the street from them.

My men are immediately fired upon (Fritz put a team on overwatch), but with no effect.

A Republican sniper team takes up position, shooting ineffectually at the Nationalist mortar team behind the hill.  Actually, that sniper hit nothing all game - too much vino on siesta I think.

I send a squad out of the factory to try to flank the force in the ruins, but Fritz is able to match the move, deploying his second rifle section to back up the first. A squad moves out of the church and fires causing some heavy casualties and shock to my men.

The situation at the center seems likely to turn into a grind, so I decide on a strategy of a grand maneuver. I deploy my other rifle section far to my left, and they start firing at the single team that Fritz has guarding the rear.

Fritz, his jump off points suddenly threatened, deployed his MMG team to support the LMG team already on the scene. Having just deployed, the MMG shoots with half dice, and does little against the approaching riflemen.

However the weight of numbers is starting to extract a toll on the right. Despite taking cover (tactical stance) in the ruins, the rest of the exposed team is wiped out causing the first drop in force morale.

At the same time, the LMG team in the factory is cut down, leaving only the gunner remaining without a loader.  That leaves one intact squad in the building, along with my Teniente (Senior leader) and Section Sargento. This is a really big problem considering they are directly facing almost the entire Nationalist platoon across the street.

Now it's a race. I need to get my other section around the townhouses and into Fritz's rear before he surges across the street and finishes my men off. I leave the men in the factory to hold the ground, and try to double-time the action on the left. The rifle section cuts down the MMG team before they're able to open up again, but the LMG team remains with two men left.

Meanwhile, the LMG team on the right is finished off. Morale takes another hit. The loss of that gunner is made worse by how badly I needed him intact if there's close combat.  I should have moved him back while I had the chance...

Fritz moves a squad out into the ruins, threatening the remains of the rifle section with the potential to flank them. There's nothing I can do. Everything except a mortar team is on the table, and there's no guarantee I can get them in (my senior leader is on the table, so I have to roll for deployment), even if I had the dice (which I don't).

The rifle section on the left continues to advance, slowly moving and shooting, but the LMG is still up, even if there's no loader. He's already broken (he should have been moved back - but we missed that), but he's also in the way and I lost movement killing his loader. Further, Fritz brought his sniper up on the hill. I'm not too worried about that - If I can get around the building I'll be out of line of sight anyway.

Things are getting flat out desperate on the right. More casualties, including my Section Sargento - more lost morale. There's now only three men standing, plus the Teniente and his flag bearer (counts as a rifleman).  Across the street are two bloodied but largely intact sections of riflemen. We're outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1.

The section on the left finally gets around the corner. One team breaks off and forces the sniper team to withdraw from their position and off the table (sadly this doesn't hurt enemy morale or count as loss of support).  I take a jump off point, which knocks the Nationalist morale down by two.  If I remember correctly, we're both hovering around 6 or 7 at this point (started with 10 each). It hurts, but the initiative passes to Fritz before I can rush my men around to his rear.

Fritz orders his Nationalists to charge across the street (all of them) leading to two close combats at once. One team rushes my MMG which I'd brought up to support the factory, and the rest surge towards the factory itself. We both know it's the moment of truth, and I'm pretty certain that this is the end for me.

I use my one Chain of Command die to interrupt the turn before they get there and open up on the charging infantry in the open. Sadly, the dice turn on me cruelly, and there's only one casualty. I should have saved it to avoid a force morale check... oh well, live and learn.

Or maybe just learn...

The close combat goes about as well as I expected. Meaning it was a slaughter. Everyone but the Teniente is killed outright, the Teniente himself being wounded and forced to flee the building.

We made the fascists pay for every drop of Republican blood however. Several casualties and shock, plus the Nationalist Teniente was killed in the melee, dropping Fritz's force morale to a 5. Sadly, mine was now a 4 - meaning I lost a command die. Ouch.

My own leader is alive, bleeding, and running for his life. (Turns out leaders can't rout, but oh well, it's dramatic).

The Nationalist troops, looking to avenge their fallen leader, pour out of the windows, giving chase. They overrun a jump off point, dropping my morale to a pitiful 3 (and losing me another command die).

The team which overran the MMG breaks into a sprint to take yet another jump-off point (bringing my morale and command dice to a 2), even though they then take enough shock from the run to effectively pin them.

Perhaps refusing to give up, or perhaps unaware of their Teniente's death, the rifle section on the left activates with my single remaining command die and manages to take another Nationalist jump-off point. My hopes to similarly reduce their command dice are dashed when Fritz uses a Chain of Command dice to avoid the morale check. 

Meanwhile the Nationalists pin down my fleeing Teniente in the open field but can't seem to close the deal. They call in a mortar shot which finally frags him.  All Spain mourns for you, Teniente!

A fun and very intense game, despite still having to look up lots of rules. I'm looking forward to playing again soon, perhaps with some more appropriate terrain!