Chain of Command Italy 1943
Probe
It has been awhile since Kati and I have worked back around to a ww2 skirmish so as today is my holiday and I finished up painting my ww2 Americans, it fit the bill. We played Chain of Command as it is still the house favorite for ww2. The Italian Campaign holds a special place in my heart for a few different reasons: first I think it is one of the most over-looked campaigns of the western front. With its extreme terrain, bloody battles, and variety of forces and nations, I think it is perfect for wargaming. The last reason I enjoy reading and gaming Italy is my Grandfather served in the 5th army for the entire campaign, and as a man I both loved and respected, I like to think that I am honoring him and the other men who fought there.
We set up a pretty standard little village table with some forest and rocky ground around it. We rolled scenario 2: probe, out of the book.
I played the Americans. the lists that we used are from a great site called tiny hordes that has a great selection of forces for the entire campaign. the italian theatre CoC lists
The American 1943 platoon moral 11
HQ
Lt. (senior leader)
Sarge(senior leader)
Bazooka team
3 rifle squads
Nco
bar team: 2 crew 1 rifle
rifle team 8 rifles
and I selected a M4 Sherman as my support
Kati played a motorized panzergrenadier platoon from 1943. Interesting thing about this list was the size of the platoons which the list said was due to them using trucks over half-tracks like the armoured version.
the German motorized panzergrenadier platoon: moral 9
HQ
LT. (senior leader)
FW(senior leader)
AT rifle team
3 LMG squads
Nco
LMG team: two crew 5 rifles
LMG team: two crew 4 rifles
Support was one barbed wire section. The Germans were a +5 compared to my -1 and I rolled a 3 for support giving Kati only 1 point to spend.
The patrol phase made it pretty clear that the village was going to be the scene of some pretty heavy combat.
Turn 1
Phase one went to me. Rolling a 5,5,1,1,4 on the dice didn't give me a lot of options so I chose to bring in my first squad and sarge at the hedge line looking into town.
Kati deployed two squads one on either side of the village and put them in overwatch.
On my second phase I deployed my second squad in the tree line which Kati responded to with her overwatch. I fired back but the LMGs of the PGs put out a lot more firepower. They scored 10 hits resulting in a kill and 7 shock compared to my 4 hits.
It's hard to see but Kati deployed her final squad behind a large rock near the road into town then her squad on the right continued to fire at my left.
My first squad moved up behind a house and I deployed my final squad. At this point I have a strategy in mind....if the dice would go my way.
The fire fight on the left continues
Board layout end of phase 3
Kati moves the center squad behind a hedge.
My tank finally enters the table on the road.
Its first act is to shoot a HE round round straight down the road scoring 2 kills on the Germans ducking behind the hedge.
My left becomes pinned down.....I should have pulled them back but they were keeping her right occupied.
My tank inches up (pun intended) while my right moves and begins a firefight with Kati's left. My bazooka takes their old position.
My left breaks too early but I guess that's what 20+ dice a turn does to a squad.
The German AT rifle deploys and takes a shot at my tank and misses completely. My worry quickly disappeared.
Even though the Germans on my left had complete disregard for cover they seemed to be winning the fire-fight that ensued on the side of the village as well.
My strategy became clear as my men moved up the road behind my tank.
Kati's AT rifle pings off the M4s armor a few times and the tank fired on the PGs with minimal effect as I worked up the road.
This is the picture of the point of the game where it all goes downhill for me. Unpictured is my right flank being pinned down and Kati's right flank starting to move towards the center. I had built up 1 Chain of command point and was working on a second and I knew my time was running out.
During Kati's turn I use a CoC point to get up and try to run for the board edge....5 inches short.
I take fire from all sides and quickly get pinned down. She also ends the turn using a command point, removing one of my squads from the table.
Turn 2
Turn 2 phase 1 sees my men and tank attempt to fight their way out of a mess. And they do take a few Germans with them but not enough to stem the tide.
Kati's phase sees my last squad break and I admit defeat.
Final table shot.
It was another fun game of CoC. My idea of using the village-tank combo didn't pan out in the end. Truth be told I didn't anticipate the amount of fire from her squads and my men just could not compete. I probably should have changed my tactics and turned the tank and men and attempted a punch through the Germans left but hindsight is 20/20.
Until next time.
