Rückzug Battle 5: Delaying Action at the Farm

We’ve reached the fifth battle of the campaign. So far the Germans have managed to conduct a somewhat organized withdrawal, but their units are gradually falling apart from casualties and the general disorder of the retreat. The Brits on the other hand are chasing a decisive win to rout the elusive Germans, but at the same time have to be cautious not to take casualties that allows the enemy to withdraw and fight again at a new location.

This mission is another Delaying Action, this time fought over a mostly open farmland with fields and tall hedges. Dominating terrain features are a large orchard north of the road, and a manor house and a barn surrounded by a low brick wall.

The Germans start the game with a FM of 8. British spirits are higher with a FM of 10 and 2 CoC-pips.

Patrol Phase

After a short patrol phase the Brits have focused their JOPs around the road with one in the orchard, one in the field south of the road and another further back by the road. The Germans have one JOP behind the wall in the south-west corner of the farm and one JOP behind a hedge just north of the road. The last German JOP, that is also the mission objective, is placed in the manor house.

The Brits have chosen a Red Dice and start the game with a Command Dice roll of 643221. The trusty Cromwell CS has soldiered on through the campaign, and despite several close calls over three previous battles never actually been knocked out. This time it gets the honour of being the first British unit to deploy. It is placed on overwatch on the road. Next the Brits deploy two sections in the orchard, one at full strength and one reduced. The full strength section is placed on Overwatch and the reduced section lay down Suppressing Fire against the hedge at the end of the orchard.

The Germans roll 64443 and discover that this time there is no Pre-Game Bombardment in place. To no one’s surprise the Germans chose to wait and do nothing this phase.

As has become tradition in this campaign, we get an early triple 6 when the Brits roll 666321. This time there is no Pre-Game Barrage lost, but it means that the Germans will be just one instead of two turns away from being able to start a Ticking Clock to end the game… But before this first turn ends, a Senior Leader is deployed with the sections in the Orchard and leads them forward running towards the hedge. The Brits are obviously eager to use this double phase to quickly gain some ground, because the Cromwell CS also speeds forward 19” along the road.

Next British roll is 643221. The Brits now find themselves in a somewhat tricky situation. The German JOP in the field on the other side of the hedge in front of them is close, but to get close enough to close it down they will have to cross the hedge and then advance a few inches. With the closest section not quite having reached the hedge last phase, this is probably a tall order to complete in one phase, risking to leave the section dangerously exposed on the other side of the hedge in front of the German JOP. A Reposition, or at least the ability to Hit the Dirt would be very useful, but with only 2 CoC-pips so far that is not an option. It would be tempting to continue racing the Cromwell forward since it would have fairly good chance of reaching the JOP, but this would leave its side armour dangerously exposed to the manor house on it´s right flank.

Realizing that he is about to over extend his troops, the British commander choses a more cautious approach. The Cromwell CS backs up 6”. The reduced section moves Tactical along the hedge to not be a bunched target with the full section closest to the German JOP, who also moves Tactical together with the SL, ending up about half an inch from the hedge.

The Germans roll 54432. With one of their JOPs about to be closed down, no British sections on Overwatch and the menacing Cromwell somewhat at a safer distance, the Germans see their chance to spring an ambush. They deploy a reduced Elite squad with two 2-man LMG teams and a JL against the hedge, and slightly behind and to the right of them a Regular 8-man squad with a JL and a SL. The combined firepower of these units, with two of their three LMGs firing with Maschinengewehr, scores 20 hits on the British section and SL. The Brits take a hefty 7 kills (but not a single point of shock!), wounding the SL and wiping out the Bren team together with 3/4 of the rifle team. British FM backs from 10 to 7. 

Next British roll is 433311. The JL and the lone member of the rifle team who have just survived a literal storm of steel run 3D6 towards their own JOP, taking them 10” into the orchard and out of sight from the Germans. Meanwhile, the SL takes off in a different direction and joins the reduced section further along the hedge. Gasping for breath he points towards the Germans and orders a hand grenade to be thrown. The reduced section’s JL follows his initiative and orders another two grenades to be thrown. The distance and the hedge unfortunately proves too much of a challenge and all grenades miss. The section then retreats 4” Tactical away from the hedge.

The Cromwell advances into the orchard and towards the kraut-infested hedge, ending its movement within 6” of the hedge. Lastly, the Brits deploy a third section on overwatch in the orchard.

The Germans roll 65331. In accordance with the campaign rules, they have to inflict one more casualty on the Brits in order to reduce their strength by 25% and be able to make an orderly withdrawal. They spend their 3 CoC-pips to Reposition the Regular squad forward and to their right, in order to close distance with the British reduced section and SL in the orchard. The German SL then orders them to throw three hand grenades into the orchard. One grenade hits the reduced section, but causes no harm. 

The small Elite squad now squaring up against the Cromwell CS fires their two Panzerfausts. Both fausts hit. One causes no damage, the other one scores two nets hits. The Cromwell is immobilized and suffers 2 points of shock.

The Brits roll 443111. The Cromwell commander removes the 2 points of shock and the cannon is activated. The Germans are very lucky and only suffers 2 points of shock. The Brits have bought a Replen Point that is placed with the reduced section and the wounded SL, who orders two new hand grenades to be thrown. One hits, but again only causes one point of shock. Frustrated by this lack of results the British platoon commander deploys within command range of the reduced section. He orders them to throw two more hand grenades. This time two Germans are killed. With his third command initiative he orders the lone rifleman and his JL to retreat further back in case the Germans come storming into the orchard. The reduced section fires at half effect and moves 1D6 away from the hedge. It’s unfortunately not enough to neither cause any harm to the enemy, nor taking the section far enough into the orchard to be out of sight from the hedge.

The Germans roll 65443. The Elite squad runs 3D6 along the hedge, ending up in front of the reduced British section who they throw a hand grenade at. It hits, but only causes 1 point of shock. The SL orders them to throw their last two hand grenades, causing 2 more points of shock but not the much wanted casualty to reduce the Brits by 25%… 

The regular German squad have no British infantry in line of sight, and it’s only team with a line of sight to the Cromwell have 2 points of shock. The SL could either have them fire the squads only Panzerfaust with a -2 to hit, needing a 9+ to hit but hoping to benefit from the fact that any shock inflicted is now doubled on the immobilized tank, or have the whole squad go Tactical and hold their position while bracing for the next shot from the Cromwell, or retreat away from the hedge. He chooses the latter. 

The Brits roll 665551. The reduced section tries to move Tactical further away from the hedge, but their shock cancels out their movement and they remain in place. 

Next roll is a slightly more useful 555322. This takes the Brits to a full CoC-dice plus 1 CoC-pip. The fresh third section and the platoon commander rushes forward and takes up positions along the reduced section. The platoon commander orders them to throw three hand grenades at the German Elite squad. This wipes out both of the small LMG teams and their JL is knocked unconscious. German FM drops from 8 to 5.

The Germans roll 64332. The JL removes 2 points of shock from the Regular squad. They then move 1D6 taking them within 2” of the hedge. The fresh British section on the other side of the hedge React Fire, but only causes 1 point of shock. The Germans then fire at half effect, scoring 7 hits and killing 5 Brits!! (but again, no shock).

Lastly, an LMG team with a JL deploys in the Elite squads original positions against the hedge. They fire a Panzerfaust that misses the Cromwell, and then throws a smoke grenade in front of the tank.

The Brits roll a timely 665133. With the Germans now being able to withdraw at the beginning of their next phase, the British aim is to cause them as many casualties as possible before the elusive Germans slip away. The Cromwell fires through the smoke at the LMG team in front of it, causing 2 points of shock. The reduced section Redeploys 2” towards the hedge. Together with the now not so fresh section they fire at the Germans who Hit the Dirt and only suffers 1 point of shock. 

The Britts roll again, this time 655221. The Cromwell fires at the LMG team again, this time scoring 7 hits despite the smoke. Two men are killed and the team is Pinned. In a last HUZZAH!!the two small British sections and the two SL charge the Germans. Its a close fought affair, ending 7-6 in favour of the Germans. The Germans suffer 6 dead with their LMG team wiped out and the JL knocked down. The Brits suffer 5 dead with a Bren team wiped out and take 2 points of shock before they fall back 6” into the orchard. German FM drops from 5 to 3, and British FM falls from 7 to 6.

At the beginning of the next German phase they predictably proclaim an orderly withdrawal. Before calculating casualties and opinions we roll to see if the campaign continues. It’s a 6, meaning that the campaign has come to an end with a 4-1 victory for the Germans.

After the Battle

This has been a somewhat different campaign, creating two very different and distinct experiences for the German and British player. As the German player, the desperation and pressure of having to defend with diminishing numbers and a lack of anti-tank weapons have been palpable. That said, I’m in no way jealous of the British player, having to attack an unknown force using anaemic sections and knowing that you can only take so many casualties before the enemy slips away…

This is the second campaign we’ve played with Chain of Command 2 and we’re slowly starting to get a hang of the new rules. The Rückzug campaign was written for version 1 of the rules but seems to work quite well with the new rules. Some of the new missions and the use of mission objectives requires a little thought when constructing maps for the campaign, but the creation of maps has also proven to be a new and amusing aspect of the game. This campaign could easily be converted to other fronts and time periods of the war (Soviet Motor Rifles pursuing Germans in the aftermath of Bagration, German troops chasing French and BEF forces towards Dunkirk, or even US Marines pressing back Japanese defenders towards the end of the island…). If we were to play it again we might look at some way to let the defenders take advantage of some of the new generic support options like Replen Points and SOS barrages, either by including them in the list of random support units or by giving the defender a few points to spend on items from Support Points list 1 and 2.