The Maginot Fort, France 1940 (Chain of Command)

Battle 4 of our France 1940 campaign featured Maginot Casemate Saint Antoine holding the line against the German recon troops. Also featured was 9 Platoon, trying to survive as the rearguard covering the retreat from Verneuil-Grand.

Maginot Casemate Saint Antoine (at sunset I guess).

The German advance continuing west...

Battlefield and Deployment

90. Auflkarungsregiment has driven A Company from Verneuil-Grand and is now pursuing them into open country. Only it's not entirely open country ... there, covering a bend in the road, is Casemate Saint Antoine - a fortification making up the relatively lightly-defended northern part of the Maginot Line. Could the fort and it's platoon-sized garrison from the 155th RIF (Fortified Infantry Regiment) hold off the Germans and allow the British 9 Platoon to reorganise sufficiently to cover the retreat of their battalion?

The Germans were advancing from the damaged Verneuil-Grand (top of the board), 9 Platoon's JOPs are behind hedges on the roads and of course the Maginot casemate overwatches from the hill.

The Germans led the way with a full platoon of four armoured cars along the main road, and brought up their 60mm mortar to block the lines of sight from the Maginot casemate, while their lead section, (Faulk Baptiste's men as usual!), deployed to take up position in the tree-filled garden near the estate house (the building near the stream).

The smoke from the mortar had varying success, missing many shots due to their not being able to observe their fall of shot. However, any smoke around the fort was useful in blocking LOS from the fort's upper cloches (turrets) and ground-level firing ports. As the fort defenders had not yet got organised, they had little response at this stage.

The fort looks a it rough in a close-up, but anyway...

Meanwhile, 9 Platoon's leader, the Australian Sergeant Major (WOIII) Aiden Bannister, his Boys AT Rifle team and 2 Section under Corporal Zane Roderick deployed to the hedge near the main road - it was too late to pull back, and the road to Montmedy had to be defended, if possible. SGT Bannister put the group onto overwatch, with gritted teeth.

2 Section and 9 Platoon HQ keep their heads behind the hedge. (Peter Pig miniatures).

The Germans quickly gain the upper hand

The German armoured cars traded shots with the Maginot casemate with little effect on both sides and a Panzer IV made its way over along the high ground to the north (the German right flank) to join in. The German overall commander also showed up in his staff car to better direct the 60mm mortar's smoke bombardment.

"Adjust your fire left!"

The Germans block the LOS from the casemate.

9 Platoon's other two sections appeared to guard the JOP on the road to Fresnois. 1 Section under the reckless Corporal Stuart Harland, deployed to the strongly-built estate house and immediately opened fire with their Lewis gun and a few rifles at Faulk Baptiste's right flank. However, they achieved little with their shots. After receiving a round from the Panzer IV and the massed close-range return fire from Faulk Baptiste's section, 1 Section was almost completely wiped out. CPL Harlan and another survivor broke and ran but were then cut down by further German fire.

Faulk Baptiste's section then occupied the estate house and, together with some of the armoured cars and Panzer IV, began giving hell to 3 Section, pinned down in the gutter of the Fresnois road.

Faulk Baptiste occupies the estate house, now riddled with bullets and tank shells.

The pain for 9 Platoon did not end there. The Boys AT rifle, seeing the column of armoured cars heading its way, took it's shot, which missed (why do I always miss? I need a kill with the AT rifle dammit!) Fire from several of the armoured cars started laying into 2 Section and SGT Bannister ordered them all down [going 'Tactical' in Chain of Command]. Despite these precautions, the heavy firepower of 20mm cannon took out about half the men, one of the Boys AT crew and wounded CPL Roderick.

2 Section and 9 Platoon HQ under heavy fire.

As soon as he saw a moment, SGT Bannister and the other guys got up and got out of there - running along the side of the road to hide behind the casemate - and disappearing into the smoke conveniently dropped by the German mortar.

SGT Bannister leading his survivors to safety (he and some of the men are still in their sports gear (I had to sub in some of my Blackshorts figures). Peter Pig miniatures, with headswaps.

(Peter Pig WW1 British miniature).

The Germans close in

3 Section on the Fresnois Road attempted to fight back, and managed to inflict a casualty or two on Faulk Baptiste's men. However, the German NCO and his section moved forward and, in combination with the armoured cars, 60mm mortar and an additional motorcycle infantry section, saw off 3 Section, with most men shot and the remaining men legging it before the approaching close assault.

3 Section is seen off (apologies the photo didn't come out but you get the idea).

With the British infantry almost all gone, the more German motorcycle riflemen deployed to the estate garden, and the whole platoon, with supporting armoured cars and tank began closing in on the French Maginot casemate.

The armoured cars' 20mm cannon and the Panzer IV were able to destroy one of the armoured cloches mounting a Hotchkiss 25mm AT gun. Fire from the other 25mm AT gun hit one of the armoured cars but caused no serious harm. [The Germans, rolling so many Command Dice at this point, managed to retain several phases in a row and used this to great effect against the fort].

An Sdkfz 222 and Sdkfz 221 advance on the fort.

The fort's garrison, now fully prepared [and rolling all their Command Dice] got its machine guns and 37mm mle 1916 light guns into action against the German infantry closing in. By use of a Chain of Command die and a double-phase, they managed to inflict serious casualties on two of the three German infantry sections closing in on them. The remaining men of 9 Platoon (2 Section's Corporal and Lewis gunner and SGT Bannister) popped up and got some revenge on Faulk Baptiste's men also.

Fire from the fort pins down the German infantry while the 25mm AT gun cloche burns in the foreground.

Faulk Baptiste's section takes losses.

Another stroke of luck for the Allies was an amazing round of Overwatch shooting from one of the fort's Hotchkiss machine guns, which killed all but one of the crew of the German 7.5cm Infantry Gun at the moment they deployed, as you see below.

The 6s turn against the Germans: The Hit Effect roll on the 7.5cm Infantry Gun: 6s are bad in Hit Effect, very bad.

Crew pretty much wiped out while wheeling their gun up

However, at this point the Germans realised their objectives - the road exit points on the Allied table edge - were wide open, and with 9 Platoon gone and the fort unable to stop them, the Germans accepted victory.

The battlefield toward the end of the day.

Results

The Germans took substantial losses in advancing on the fort, but won the day and savaged the previously fresh 12th Derwents' 9 Platoon. The fort took some damage and lost about four men, but being outflanked, it is possible they will have to surrender soon.

9 Platoon lost 18 casualties including some taken PoW. Two were seriously wounded and were able to be evacuated to hospital (PTEs Hoekstra and Zeelen - they won't be back), two from 1 Section were seriously wounded and fell into German hands (PTEs Haines and Dykstra). Four men from the platoon were KIA (PTEs Horne, Batts, Douglas and Herman, all from 1 Section), and one from Company HQ attached to the platoon manning the AT Rifle (PTE Allison 'Monday' McIntyre). Almost everyone else in the platoon was wounded, including the section leaders.

A Company, 12th DLI still has two-thirds of it's strength left, but they are on the back foot. 8 Platoon is back to the strongest unit, with several men returning from the RAP and now reorganised.

The next battle will actually be fought not by A Company but by the battalion's engineers, and it won't involve a fort. Speaking of the fort, here are some work-in-progress pics. I carved it out of thick insulation styrofoam, glued it to a strong MDF base, added bisected polystyrene balls for the cloches and matchsticks for the grenade gullies, covered the cut edges and base with Selleys and painted it with house paint. It came out literally rough around the edges because I used a knife rather than a hot wire cutter.

Battle of Sangro River (Rommel in 3mm)

A long time ago I built a British mid- to late-war army in 3mm Pico Armour (from Odzial Osmy/Magister Militum), intended for Rommel (the Sam Mustafa/Honor game) but based to be used for Rommel or Spearhead (if I can ever find a copy of the rules). As this army has been sitting in a tray for several years, it was time they headed out for their first ever battle.

The 1st Caledonian Mechanised Division

The army depicts an 'Imagi-Nation' I came up with over a decade ago, before I even knew the term. I created the nation as the background for my first Flames of War 3rd Edition British army and represented them variously with lists from 1st Polish Armoured, British Guards, 15th Scottish and 51st Highland, and Canadian Divisions depending on campaign settings and to test different tactics.

Caledonia (I tried out a few different names, but Caledonia seemed the most realistic) is a relatively sparsely populated country in the southern part of South America. It was a secondary colony settled in the late 17th century by survivors from the failed Scottish Darien Gap enterprise looking for somewhere with a less deadly environment further from contemporary Spanish and English colonial interests. Centuries later, the country was able to raise a division-sized force to fight in Europe and North Africa in World War 2. This was the 1st Caledonian Mechanised Division (1CMD).

The Battle of Sangro River

We selected the Sangro River (Italy 1943) scenario from a large compendium of fan-made scenarios available on the internet, converted it to hexes and adapted the lists to our 3mm collections. According to the scenario, historically the battle was fought by British and Indian brigades.

The opening moves of the .
(We converted Rommel to use hexes rather than squares just because it feels like there are more manoeuvre options).

The Battle Plan

My basic operational plan, as drawn on a the scenario map (squares).

Italy, 1943. The 1st Caledonian Mechanised Division (1CMD) and the independent 6th Airborne Brigade was ordered to take a number of towns and key points on a range of hills overlooking the Sangro River. They had three basic infantry brigades and divisional assets comprising four companies of Shermans, two companies of mechanised infantry in armoured half-tracks and three battalions of 25 pounders, one attached to the Airborne Brigade.

The Airborne on the left with an idea to surround the nearest town to draw away enemy forces, while the 2nd Infantry Brigade, deployed across the river, together with the divisional armoured assets and accompanied by the 3rd Infantry Brigade, would take the central hills and objective, and move through the gap between the viticultural land (the yellowish areas with plants in rows) and woods to take the furthest town. Then whatever units were still strong enough would swing around and then take the left flank towns from both sides in concert with the Airborne Brigade. It was an ambitious plan, not very inspired, but it was the best I could come up with quickly and with shaky rules familiarity.

The Opening Moves

The opening moves went mostly according to plan, with 2nd Brigade able to surround and destroy an isolated German infantry unit with dug-in anti-tank guns and get up on the hills and the Airborne Brigade moving into position.

2nd Brigade, making good use of 37th Assault Pioneer Company, clear away enemy from entrenched positions.

However, a hasty attack by the 10th Marine Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade against the other dug in German infantry and AT guns was beaten back, and a German armoured counterattack on the right flank against 20th Infantry Battalion inflicted heavy casualties, causing me to have to spend quite a few OP dice to sort the situation out.

10th Marine makes a reckless attack with limited preparation and before the arrival of armoured support, and is beaten back, starting a chain of events that would hamper the plan.

A powerful Command Post Event available to the mid-war Allies is 'Jabos!' and I used it to cause hits on a column of German motorised infantry behind the lines. This air attack was just something nasty I for psychological effect and might come in handy later in my overall plan by reducing enemy forces behind the hills. Unfortunately (for me) it ultimately had no impact on the game other than inflicting casualties.

A Caledonian Air Force de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber attacks an enemy motorised column.

The Right Flank Attack Bogs Down

Attacks and counterattacks by 3rd Brigade on the right flank went in the Germans' favour and I was forced to pull back with the battered 20th Battalion, shuffle fresh units forward and eventually Dig In all along the line (Dig In is another Allied Command Post Event). At this point my opponent and onlookers remarked that I was "supposed to be on the attack." Yep 😒

The back-and-forth was hard on 3rd Brigade.
A forward platoon radio operator shouted to Bn HQ: "They're right on top of us!" (Literally, as you can see there at top left).

The divisional armoured units took the hill objective and began preparing to break through east of their objective town, while 3rd Brigade's 12th (Reserve) Infantry Battalion finally managed to destroy the German infantry and their AT guns and 6th Armoured Battalion managed to drive off (but not destroy) a Panzer II company (which can use 'Recon' ability to withdraw from combat, annoyingly).

12th (Reserve) Infantry Battalion finally destroys the isolated German infantry (the Panzer IIs survived but retreated from the 6th Armoured Battalion coming down from the hills.

A Really Reckless and Bad Idea Finally Ruins the Plan

At this point with my right mostly stabilised, I thought I saw an opportunity to finally destroy the Panzer II, take out a regiment of German 10.5cm artillery and outflank the objective town by racing 6th Armoured Battalion and a company from 1st Mechanised Infantry through the clear area east of the town. This proved a reckless folly, and I wasted about five OP dice chasing after the Panzer IIs (the 'Parthian IIs' as I called them, as they managed to 'Recon' their way out every time. I did at least destroy the 10.5cms.

However, two companies from the 2nd Infantry, 2nd Brigade that I'd moved up behind 6th Armoured to hold the spearhead open were completely destroyed in a pincer attack against which I had no answer (having wasted all my OPs dice in the pursuit). The 6th Armoured was now cut off and had to extract itself, the commander not looking forward to his inevitable reprimand (yes, I'm blaming him!)

With time running out and the plan in serious trouble and I had to move 2nd Brigade across the hills to assault the town. However there simply were not enough OPs Dice and not enough turns, and the well-timed arrival of a German 'Replacement Battalion' Event reinforced the depleted units in the town to the extent where it was impossible for me to destroy them and take the objective, regardless of how much support I poured in and how well I rolled.

The final positions on the Allied right flank. One objective taken, but our forces were too weak to finally take the town. (The 'f/s' markers I was using to indicate units with a 'tipped' (disordered) status, but on the river they indicate bridges, which we forgot to bring).

On the left I had mostly been neglecting the Airborne Brigade. I was supposed to switch the focus of my OPs to this formation upon taking the town on the right, but the general failure of that axis and need to spend OPs to prevent disaster meant I was not ready to attack on the left. With just a few turns to go, I realised I had to get the Airborne moving, and so they commenced their assault. It was also too late, though, to drive the Germans out of this town. The disappointing performance of the Airborne in the attack, despite full support and having the Germans surrounded, combined with the late start doomed my efforts on this axis as well.

6th Airborne Brigade took moderate losses but performed below expected standard in attacking the left-hand town. With superior German forces appearing, they would have to hold fast and abandon offensive operations.

Results

1CMD suffered a 1-3 defeat against the German defenders, having only taken the hill objective and ending their last turn with no hope of capturing any of the towns. Casualties had been heavy, especially in 3rd Brigade. The Germans had taken probably 1,000 to 1,250 casualties, including a couple of companies and an artillery battery destroyed. I estimate 1CMD lost just over 2,000 men:

2nd Brigade

• 2nd Infantry Bn - A and B Coys shattered
• 9th Infantry Bn - losses in A Coy
• 3th (Reserve) Infantry Bn - losses in B Coy.

3rd Brigade (around 60% casualties)

• 12th Infantry Bn - A Coy shattered. Heavy losses in B and C Coys
• 10th Marine Bn - heavy losses in A Coy. Losses in B Coy
• 20th (Reserve) Inf Bn - heavy losses in all three Coys.

6th Airborne Brigade

• 18th Mountain Bn - heavy losses in C Coy
• 17th Rifle Bn - losses in A and B Coys and their 83rd Airborne Assault Pioneer Coy (formerly C Coy).

Divisional assets

• 6th Armoured Bn - losses in A Coy
• 1st Mechanised Infantry Bn - losses in A Coy.

Thoughts on the Rommel Rules

After waiting years to play the game properly (not solo), I can say Rommel did not disappoint and I look forward to my next game (hopefully be soon). The game was very engaging and interesting, despite my unforced errors and consequent defeat. My opponent enjoyed the game also, despite having fewer decisions to make and units to move as a defender.

The Command Post and OPs dice provide an interesting resource-management and planning challenge actually similar to SAGA and rewards smart decisions and attention to detail. The combat system (usually attritional, occasionally brutal) and operational/grand tactical scope are unsurprisingly similar to Blucher by the same author. The scale also means battles feel decisive and consequential so that, just like for Blucher, you could fight all the decisive battles of an entire war (maybe a small one) in one manageable campaign.

Again in the style of Blucher, units usually stick around a while and have enough 'identity' so you want to preserve and not waste them. However, the high-level of command and management of competing priorities against the clock compel you to make tough decisions.

Lessons Learned

A single battle might be too little on which to base 'lessons.' Nevertheless, this is what I think I might have learned:

1. To win, you must focus at the outset on achieving your objectives. Talk about 'against the clock'! Turns in Rommel go by fast. While this was an 18 turn battle, turn numbers alternate, meaning I actually had only nine turns to take at least three strongly-defended objectives.

1. You will almost never have enough OPs dice to do everything you want and Events and Tactics are 'rare-ish,' so be efficient with OPs, Events and Tactics. Do not waste them inflicting some random damage to the enemy that might help at some stage and it goes without saying definitely don't get into obsessive sunk-cost pursuit like 'Captain Ahab' of the 6th Armoured.

1. Your forces will take losses unfortunately. You'll have to accept that some of your units will probably be shattered whether or not you take your objectives. This might not matter to most gamers, but I tend to fight most battles these days as though I'm running a force in a campaign: I name my units and don't want to lose them. But these are 'war-games', or just 'war-games' if you know what I mean, so, y'know...

6mm Skirmish wargaming (wait, what?!): Force on Force, Cold War

This is a blog about miniatures, and I almost always want my wargames to be as miniature as possible, (but there is a limit to how miniature you should make it). Today we played Force on Force by Ambush Alley Games. We learned that, yes, we can play platoon-level 'skirmish' wargames with 6mm miniatures, although it comes with some challenges and may not, in fact, be as good as in larger scales. Although some lessons were learned, I am not yet entirely convinced this is total folly.

Motorschutzen platoon with armoured support and AGS-17s (GHQ Miniatures infantry and T-72s, and CinC Miniatures BMP-1s).

Preparing 6mm miniatures for platoon-level skirmish wargames

The thing about platoon-level games is that they usually focus on an infantry platoon with individual men doing things, like gettin' removed as casualties.

An' the thing about 6mm individuals, see, is that they're tiny. So how're you s'posed to base 'em?

To handle this problem, and of course to use my 6mm modern figures already based for Team Yankee, I made and printed simple paper labels covered with sticky tape, with unit numbers and checkboxes for marking casualties in whiteboard marker. I stuck the labels under each infantry base, again with the tape.

Examples of labels for a 6mm Force on Force BMP Motorschutzen Squad, with Rifle and AT grenade team. The two elements operate together, but are separate per Team Yankee standards.

Since Force on Force tracks the health of its participants individually, the idea with the labels is to mark casualties on the checkboxes: lightly wounded with green marker, severely wounded with red, and dead (or otherwise just gone) with black.

Any other things to track such as Pinned, Rapid Movement, Overwatch, damage to vehicles or number of times a unit has reacted was handled with small dice and heaps of relevant markers for other games.

The Game

I commanded the East German Motorschutzen platoon, with two T-72Ms and a pair of AGS-17s in a fourth BMP-1 [TQ: D8, Morale: D8] while my opponent and fellow play-tester of 6mm skirmishes took his gung-ho but lightly-supported US Marines [TQ variable between D8s and D10s, Morale: D10s to D12s].

We laid out terrain on a 6'x4' (actually 2m x 4') table, decided on keeping weapons ranges and related measurements as inches and changing movement to centimetres (for added realism), determined the game objectives (occupy the village and secure a highway crossroads and two bridges), picked our forces and entry points and got straight into it.

Scene 1 - Sudden Encounter

The Marine platoon I was up against patrolled onto the battlefield along a river line while My Motorschutzen, led by a pair of T-72Ms, drove up the highway toward the village.

As the lead tank approached the bridge the Marines spotted it and opened fire with their small arms at the tank commander, who had his head out the hatch. A bullet caught him and he fell back inside, dead. The tank stopped and reversed back down the highway to take cover behind some bushes on the curb. The rest of the Motorschutzen platoon raced to spread out, 1 Section in their BMP-1 and second T-72M taking positions to cover the cleft, 3 Section's BMP pulling up behind the lead tank, and 2 Section and the AGS-17 support team going through the village to look for an overwatch position on a nearby hill.

The lead T-72M commander is killed by small arms fire.

(Paper roads by Wargame Print via Wargames Vault.)

Scene 2 - Pot Shots

As the Marines continued their advance, the second T-72M spotted a MUTT jeep with a TOW missile launcher leading the Marines and hosed it with the co-ax, completely destroying the vehicle (the crew were all left severely wounded). A failed reaction test on a natural '1' led to a roll on a Fog of War table and led to a pot-shot from an East German mortar landing among a Marine fireteam, inflicting casualties. The East German BMPs with 2 Section and their supports continued toward their hill, a shot from a Marine LAW hit the second T-72M and caused the crew to duck (a 'Suppressed' result). A further failed reaction test and Fog of War roll led to Motorschutzen's 1 Section discovering that they had a handle on this situation and got a quality upgrade [from D8 to D10: extreme bonus.]

1 Section had by this time dismounted next to their BMP-1 and began firing at the Marine's second jeep (with an M2 .50 cal). They showered the vehicle with fire, riddling the panels, shredding the tires and destroying the venerable M2 Browning while also killing or seriously wounding it's operator.

The Marines advance and their TOW-MUTT is destroyed by the second, faster-reacting East German tank.

Scene 3 - Flanking Attempt

Section 3 proceeded on foot, led by their BMP, in attempting a flanking manoeuvre off the highway and up onto the nearby ridge. However, upon meeting the Marines they were beaten to the punch and the BMP was knocked out with a SMAW. The crew got out without a scratch though, and return fire from 3 Section took down a few Marines.

While under fire, one Marine reassured his comrades: "don't worry if you get hit guys, I'm basically a Corpsman!" (He wasn't a Corpsman, but he had been training for it before he was booted from the medic school for some reason). Unfortunately while he was yelling he was not firing his weapon at the enemy, and neither were the other Marines he was distracting! [the fireteam rolled a '1' again for their reaction test and Fog of War indicated one of their member was a 'skilled medic.']

Another Marine fireteam moved along the ridgeline and shot at the BMP crew, wounding one, before they were stopped by covering fire from 3 Section.

The 3 Section BMP is destroyed and the crew attacked, while the section return fire to hold the Marines at bay. Here you can see the 3 Section RPG team's unit label with one severely wounded loader marked.

Scene 4 - Various Exchanges of Fire

By now, the AGS-17 team had taken up an overwatch position with its BMP-1 on the chosen hill and rained down grenade fire at Marine infantry that showed themselves from the treeline on the opposite ridge. 2 Section's BMP-1 was on it's way around to take the narrow road bridge objective. Effective fire from both 1 Section and the second T-72M was continuing to take a toll on any Marines in sight. Additional random mortarings of Marine fireteams had little effect but kept their heads down.

1 Section took several casualties (two dead and one lightly wounded) but kept it's head and pulled back into the village. Two AGS-17 loaders were also lightly wounded.

AGS-17s in overwatch prepare to crump the Marines.

Conclusion

The Marines had taken a real battering. One of their fireteams had been wiped out and several others were down to a few walking wounded. They'd lost one jeep and had another made basically combat-ineffective, a tripod M60 team was down to a single man and many of the killed and seriously wounded had been Squad or Team Leaders. Overall they'd probably lost about 15 men.

The Motorschutzen were in a pretty solid position with comparatively few casualties (three dead, one severely wounded, four lightly wounded and one BMP-1 destroyed), and were poised to take most of the objectives.

With a 40K tournament brewing, and friendly people starting to look at all the weird tiny miniatures no larger than a Space Marine's toe, we called it a victory for the National Volksarmee.

The battlefield at conclusion, with the tools of the trade visible top right.

Lessons about platoon skirmishes at this scale

As mentioned, we had a bit of fun and there were plenty of memorable moments. However, at the end both myself and my opponent agreed that we wouldn't play Force on Force in 6mm again.* Force on Force and games of a similar format would definitely(?) be better played in larger scales where the individual figures can be moved (including into and around buildings), where different weapon systems and equipment are more easily distinguished, and casualties more easily marked and removed.

*I have just now reconsidered my decision. There are other ideas for basing and casualty management and other platoon-level skirmishes I haven't tried in 6mm yet (like Chain of Command). Probably nobody else will want to share in this folly, so I might have to just experiment on myself.

The label system worked, but was probably too small to get at with whiteboard markers and may interfere with the table aesthetic if it were any broader. My opponent also prefers games where the individual can readily be distinguished as an individual, mainly for narrative purposes. Certainly removing a figure from a squad is more meaningful than putting a dot in a checkbox.

The choice of sticking with longer ranges for weapons (kept in inches) and shortening movement distances (changed to centimetres) - this we did not regret. It gave a realistic feel to the game, taking this ruleset designed for house-to-house urban combat and translating it to large, more open space where the table was about the maximum effective range of an AK wide and that of a SAW across.

And about the scenario

While it is fun to win, I think the scenario we cobbled together was overbalanced in my favour. Remembering games I'd played long ago (where I played as the ISIS fighters) Troop Quality, Morale and sheer numbers seemed paramount, so I underestimated my Motorschutzen and gave them too many vehicles in support. 

And about Force on Force, the ruleset

Force on Force what do I think? To quote my opponent on this day: "There's a really great game in here somewhere."

I played Force on Force years ago and found it too confusing to get into. The rulebook is hard to read because key mechanics and rules seem to be scattered or buried in long paragraphs of context and explanation and are often not arranged in an order that makes sense (to me).It also seems easy to get wrapped around axles on actions-and-reactions, although that should resolve with practice.

This time round, although I re-read the rules in a cramming/speed-reading session, I think I understood the game much better and could appreciate it's qualities. Force on Force rewards fairly realistic (AFAIK) tactics, has elegant and engaging skill-based reaction and combat mechanics, opportunities for developing a theme (e.g. Fog of War cards/tables**), and potential for interesting scenario creation and immersive campaigns.

I will certainly play Force on Force again (in slightly larger scales) to find that great game that is in there.

**Having mentioned Fog of War, you'll be surprised how many '1's you can roll to fail reaction tests, so they should not be too powerful an influence and should not be one-sided (I got almost all the benefits from Fog of War in this game, and getting a TQ upgrade to D10 meant my 1 Section was OP (OverPowered).

Defence of Verneuil-Grand, France 1940 (Chain of Command)

Battle 3 of our Chain of Command France 1940 campaign happened the other day. Here is a report of the action. An attack on a town with two plus German platoons against two determined platoons of the Derwents was always going to be a bloodbath...

Unfortunately I didn't get anywhere near enough (barely presentable) pictures of the action, as I was too busy rolling dice.

The campaign map: progress so far.

The battle area according to Google Maps.

Deployment

Ze Germans

With almost no pause after overrunning 7 Platoon, the German Auflkarungs units assault the main British positions on the edge of the town of Verneuil-Grand. The Germans were able to call on up to two motorcycle reconnaissance platoons, a half-platoon of MG34 machine guns on tripods, and a single Sdkfz 222 armoured car. The German assault was also overseen directly by their company commander and his radiomen. (Note: We have house rules that the presence of a company commander or equivalent adds a Red Die to the Command dice and a radio allows a single Command Dice roll of '6' to be turned into a '5' and therefore converted to Chain of Command points).

Ze Tommys

9 Platoon of had been tasked with holding the eastern part of Verneuil-Grand and had been busy digging trenches, filling sandbags and fortifying a prominent building at the edge of the village as a strongpoint, or 'keep' which was to serve as the A Company HQ and a blockhouse against the German advance. Captain Remington was at this moment inspecting the work on the A Company keep and sharing his morning bottle of wine with the 2 Section lads working on the fortifications. Conversation immediately stopped as the lookout announced that 7 Platoon fellows were running into the position, pursued by a Jerry armoured car, with motorcycle troops following right behind!

Overall German scheme of manoeuvre and British defensive deployments.

A Company picked the three-story corner building to fortify as their HQ/keep as it offered good views of the village approaches. (Paper terrain buildings from Dave Graffam Models, Microtactix Battlelands Normandy and Wargame Paper Scenery).

The attack goes in

The German company commander observed his objective through binoculars from a nearby barn roof. Seeing the risk of moving directly down the main street of the town, he deployed his lead platoon to advance up the left of the main road toward the lightly wooded area near the ponds to flank the village, while the heavy machine gun platoon set up amongst some rocks and small trees on overwatch to cover the advance. The Sdkfz 222 proceeded cautiously down the road in support.

Captain Remington immediately had the 7 Platoon men organised into two sections, issued ammo top-ups and sent out to occupy first the right then the left flanks of the Company position while 9 Platoon got ready in the keep and the strongest of the nearby buildings.

The German lead section advances cautiously left of the road while 2 Section, 9 Platoon prepares to fire from the windows of their HQ keep.

Within seconds of the Germans coming into sight, 9 Platoon's men in the keep opened up a fusillade from their rifle and Lewis LMG. German return fire was accurate however, and young Private Oswald Mathers, who had been carelessly peering out the window, was hit in the hand and wounded.

The German machine gun platoon heard the shots and attempted to spot the origin of the fire as they set up their tripod, but just as they did so, several plumes of smoke began pouring from the field in front of them and obscuring the action: 9 Platoon's 2" mortar had spotted the danger and dropped some very precise smoke rounds. Well done Privates Mitchell and Tasker!

7 Platoon survivors defend the pond woods

Combined surviving effectives of 2 and 3 Sections, 7 Platoon (under CPL John Howse. CPL Warrick of 2 Section having gone to the rear for treatment for his wounds), appeared in the woods and gave the Germans a volley. Several Germans were seen to fall, but an additional motorcycle section came up in support and began laying down withering fire on the British, hitting several and inflicting a lot of shock. Additionally, the Vickers MMG on the top floor of the keep started up and attempted to cut down as many Germans in the open as possible. (Their aim was mostly poor, although they did manage to kill a German leader outright).

A Boys AT rifle suddenly appeared in one of the houses and managed to hit the Sdkfz 222 and force it to reverse. However, the armoured car's crew quickly recovered and it returned fire, taking out one of the AT rifle crew.

1 Section, 7 Platoon emerges from the treeline near the ponds and exchanges fire with the advancing Germans, but is soon outnumbered and out-shot.

[Helped by rolling plenty of '6's' on the Command Dice = retained phases] the Germans were able to get a third section into action to flank the keep and overwhelm CPL Howse and the boys with MG and rifle fire which they were simply unable to match. They were soon pinned. Seeing the German axis of attack and hoping to bolster the right flank, Captain Remington ran from the keep and over to help 2 Section, rallying shock. [However, a turn-end that unpinned the section was a double-edged sword. Being unpinned allowed them to get back up and lowered their level of cover just in time to be further machine-gunned by two or three enemy sections].

The Germans outflank the town to the south (the pond woods)

2/3 Section, now down to four effectives, promptly fled, leaving CAPT Remington sitting in some ruins, paralyzed with indecision [I forgot about him for a phase or two].

2/3 Section, outnumbered 3:1, is overwhelmed by enemy fire.

Seizing the opportunity, the German platoon advanced into the pond woods to take control of the British Jump-Off Point there. They also found CAPT Remington in the ruined building and killed him in close combat, though he was able to shoot one or two Germans with his Webley on the way down.

CAPT Remington's defiant last stand. (British WW1 LW Officer from Peter Pig, Germans from Battlefront (I think)).

By this stage, all three sections of 9 Platoon had appeared and all joined the Vickers MMG in the keep in firing at the worst-hit of the German motorcycle recon platoons to try and eliminate them. They did so, but this took longer than it should have due to poor marksmanship and the prudence and steadiness of the German platoon and section commanders [bad firepower dice rolls and successful German activations to remove shock meant it took almost my entire focus for several phases to wipe them out, and after all it only cost the Germans 1 Force Morale].

The north flank

Meanwhile, the second German platoon began charging across the open field to the north of town, where they spotted 1 Section of 7 Platoon in a trench. The German MG34s unfortunately managed to eliminate the 2" mortar team, killing PTE Mitchell and wounding PTE Tasker. Combined fire from the machine guns and the German's lead section on this flank also rapidly began whittling down 1 Section despite the protection of the trench.

1 Section, 7 Platoon, after running to occupy the left flank trench.

(Peter Pig miniatures).

The German's lead section, led by the remarkable Bavarian Faulk Baptiste (who has already come to the attention of his commanders), rapidly advanced into the assault, and in a round of short-range firing and close combat, wiped out the remaining members of 1 Section, wounding then killing CPL Archibald Scully and taking the severely wounded PTE MacDermod POW. The German section took a few casualties but came off lightly. In just one activation and turn-end, Faulk Baptiste managed to destroy a section and Junior Leader, capture a JOP, turn the British left flank, bring their Force Morale to 0 and win the game.

The Germans assault 1 Section's trench.

The Outcome

The Germans managed to achieve a double envelopment south then north of Verneuil-Grand. The relatively unscathed 9 Platoon managed to withdraw through the village and escape, but 7 Platoon, already hard-hit in the last battle, was devastated and is now down to a single section. The platoon lost three killed (including the two Archies: CPL Archibald Scully and PTE Archie MacGregor) and three severely wounded, including one captured. Several others were slightly wounded and sent to the rear.

As expected, the fight was a bloodbath, with the British losing 17 men and even the Germans losing 21.

A Company, 12th Derwents is now down to 2/3rds strength, has lost it's HQ keep and it's Company 2IC and is in full retreat - we are really in trouble here lads. The next battle will feature the German pursuit, and they may run into a surprise (there is a Maginot Line blockhouse overlooking the road behind Verneuil-Grand: hopefully the French are manning it...)

Tactically, this game demonstrated that British sections in the 1939 Regulation platoon are lacking in both numbers and firepower (we are using old Lewis guns instead of Brens too). I may look at upgrading to the 1940 Regulation platoon organisation and getting some proper Bren guns in the next campaign. The 23rd Division, a newly-raised formation, is also of course lacking in support and the Boys AT rifle was underwhelming (although fun to use). So with more German armoured platoons approaching, the CO is going to have to send up a request for proper anti-tank weapons, maybe some artillery or mortars.

And the request will be sent in writing. ... 

Because we still don't have radios or even a telephone!