The Road to Bremen - Table 1, Game 2

The second action in our Chain of Command mini-campaign The Road to Bremen saw Jamie again defending a small hamlet with just two squads of Volkssturm.  

In the previous battle on this table, my first platoon got quite a beating. 

In my defence we’d declared the Volkssturm to be Average, rather than Green, troops so they could easily stand up against my British in a straight fire-fight.  This time I was determined to make sure they didn’t face a straight fire-fight.  I comforted myself that Jamie was unlikely to roll another six. I surely wouldn’t have to face them at Force Morale of 11 again. 

Hah!  A six it was.  Clearly these Volkssturm are utterly convinced by the Goebbels’ propaganda and determined to sell themselves dearly for the Fatherland.

My own force morale was slightly better this time (nine rather than eight) but I managed to roll only one bonus move at the start of the Patrol Phase.  It wasn’t looking good so far.

I wasn’t able, this time, to establish a Jump Off Point in the village.  By the end of the Patrol Phase I had one JOP about a third of the way along each table flank and one next to the road on my table edge.  Jamie had one either side of the road at the back of the village and one on the table edge alongside the actual “Road to Bremen”.

Jump Off Points - British yellow, German black

For this game I knew what I was up against and I decided to field my No.2 platoon, leaving  No.1 platoon to lick its wounds.  One of the advantages the British have in this mini-campaign is the ability to rotate platoons in and out of the lead position as the situation demands. 

I had 19 points of support and chose a Comet tank, a pre-game bombardment, a Carrier Section (I thought it best to have some extra bodies), and a mortar battery in support. We’ll come back to that pre-game bombardment later.

No.2 Platoon are led by Lt Robert Fox-Hill.  This young man (he’s only 20) is from Leeds and hasn’t so far managed to fit in with the other officers in the mess. The Colonel feels that he’s “Not quite the right sort of chap – after all he plays the wrong code of Rugby!”

The game began with Jamie building up Chain of Command points but deciding not to deploy any troops at first.

I started off with the Comet coming on at the road and immediately going on Overwatch.  I wasn’t going to get caught out again by Fritz’s Panzerfausts.  The 2” mortar team deployed next to the tank.

Jamie then deployed, as he had done previously, a section in the red-roofed cottage to the rear right (as I looked at it).  This, we knew, put the apothecary’s shop between him and the tank if the latter remained on the road (which it probably should, given the boggy ground on either side).

I then introduced Cpl Jones’s section on my left.  He was out sight of Jamie’s first squad and I hoped to draw him into deploying the second on his right flank such that I could defeat each in succession.  Sergeant Street (SL) went in with Jones’s lads to keep them motivated.

The danger now was that Jamie could use his central position to concentrate against my left flank attack.  I’d have to threaten on the other flank too.  Cpl Keeling’s section deployed from the right flank JOP.  They were a bit exposed but I planned to cover them with smoke from the 2” mortar and maybe from the off-table mortars.

Jamie put his second squad into the orchard behind the inn and opened fire on Cpl Jones’s section.  The British were on overwatch and returned fire. They just about got the better of the first exchange of fire. 

With only two squads, Jamie was limited in what he could do.  He brought on his Senior leader in the red-roofed cottage, and then used him to move the section forward to the apothecary’s shop, clearly intending that to be the keystone of his defence.  I’d already taken the chance of moving the Comet into the filed so it could target either building.

At about this point we realised that we’d both forgotten to take account of the British pregame bombardment when the Germans were deploying.  On the fly we decided to say the British had an Adjutant instead.

There now followed a brief period during which casualties were heavy and Force Morale plummeted on both sides. 

On my left, the accuracy of the Bren proved its worth.  A couple of lucky bursts of fire took out the MG42 team and killed the Volkssturm Junior Leader.  The remainder of the squad were soon in full retreat and Jones’s section were on their tails.  Jamie’s Force Morale was down to nine so at least we were now level!

Routing Volkssturm

However, on my right things weren’t looking good.  Jamie had played a Chain of Command die to end the turn and remove all of my carefully laid smoke screen. The Volkssturm Senior Leader’s presence meant that my exposed left flank section was taking heavy casualties.  I decided to send a second section in to reinforce them – at least the hits would be shared between more men!

Unfortunately, this just gave the Germans the opportunity to do more damage!  A single burst of fire from the MG42 and a handful of rifles wiped out Cpl Keeling’s Bren team and killed both Junior Leaders!  Suddenly my Force Morale dropped to four and I had the remnants of two sections in the open, under fire, and leaderless!

The aftermath of that MG42 burst

Showing considerable initiative, Lieutenant Fox-Hill leapt into a carrier on the road (the Carrier Section had arrived but done little so far for lack of appropriate Command Dice) and sped off across the boggy field towards the debacle.

Meanwhile, Cpl Jones’s section had advanced to the rear of the orchard and onto the German Jump off Point.  Not satisfied with this, Jones pushed his rifle team around to the rear of the village and onto another JOP!  I played a Chain of Command die, captured both JOPs, and reduced Jamie’s Force Morale to four.

Cpl Jones's men capture their first Jump Off Point

Sergeant Street, meanwhile, sprinted off up the Road to Bremen to capture the final JOP!

The battle then settled down into an extended firefight – Jamie’s guys firing from the rear windows of the apothecary’s shop at Lt Fox-Hill and his little cluster of pinned riflemen, now reorganised into a single team. The tank and Jones’s section fired at the Germans through opposite ends of the building! 

At some point in all this I managed to complete, and spend, a second CoC die, again to end the turn.  The loss of his last JoP (coinciding approximately with a wound to his remaining JL) reduced Jamie’s Force Morale to two.  By this stage the men in the apothecary’s shop were pinned and it was only a matter of time before accumulated shock broke them giving a narrow and bloody win to the British!

It was a quarter past midnight by the time we finished so we tidied up quickly and left post-game paperwork for the following evening.

What this game taught me was that it doesn't matter how much additional support you've got, if you haven't got the command dice they aren't going to be much use. With just two units, Jamie was almost guaranteed to be able to act at full effect in each phase.  I, on the other hand, made almost no use of the carrier section and never got to deploy my off-table mortars at all.  Any 1s that came up on the command dice were too desperately needed elsewhere!