Chain of Command - bank holiday weekend game

As we've the luxury of a long weekend we decided to run a third game of Chain of Command. This contest pitted Oberst Kurt Stiner's fallschirmjäger against a platoon of Red Army infantry under Leytenant Nigelski

The Scenario 

We opted for a simple encounter scenario fought across Russian farm-land, so clearly before Steiner had made himself unpopular with the high-command.

The Patrol phase yielded a slightly better position for the German's, with them closer to the farm, however the Russians did have a decent flanking position.

The setup

 

The Battle

The game opened with the Germans deploying squads just behind the farm and in field covering their right flank. The Soviets responded with an infantry squad on their left flank in the woods and 2 * maxim MMGs in cover on their base-edge opposite the farm. In the early exchanges the Germans had the better of the shooting, damaging the Soviet squad on their flank. 

The early phases as both deploy their first units

 

German right flank opens-up on the Russians

 

A maxim covers the farm and the corn field

The Germans took the early initiative advancing their central squad into the farm-house and opening-up on the Soviets deployed MMGs. Their early fire was not especially effective though and they soon found themselves under fire from both maxims and a sniper team. Casualties soon mounted under this onslaught.

Germans capture the farm

 

German casualties mount

 

The maxims blaze away 

Eventually the pressure on the German squad in the farm-house became unbearable and they became first pinned and then broken. At this point Steiner showed his mettle and dashed across open ground to try and rally his broken squad. It left the gap open for the Soviets though who quickly deployed a squad and advanced it rapidly into the now abandoned farm.

Steiner rushes forward

 

The soviets stroll forward to the farm 

Sensing a clear advantage the Russians occupied the farm and advanced their flanking squad into a supporting position. They turned a maxim on the Germans in the corn-field and kept-up some pressure on the broken squad. A persistent failure to roll well enough for a turn-end meant though Steiner's squad was just about hanging in there and could not be routed.

In desperation the Germans deployed their final squad opposite the farm and commenced a lively fire. This was sufficient to push back the Soviets in the farm-house but was not enough to save the day as the final Soviet squad moved into a flanking position. We ended the game with a Russian victory - not bad for Leytenant Nigelski's first game    

Soviets occupy the farm

 

Soviets move into a flanking position

 

A consolation goal - the Russians lose a squad

 The Verdict

Another enjoyable game of Chain of Command with all agreeing it was a fun encounter, completed in about 3.5 hours. The decisive factor this time was that the Soviet maxims were well sited with good fields of fire - with some infantry and sniper support they accounted for two German squads. German shooting was perhaps a little unlucky.

The real winner was probably the farm-house which acted a bit of troop magnet and accounted for the better part of three squads.    

Steiner looks glum