Chain of Command Eastern Front - final battle

As this is our last game before Christmas we decide this was a good point to complete the campaign by moving into the urban assault phase. So this week would see the Axis forces attacking into the ruins of the town held by the Russians. The terrain was a devastated town with a large factory at one end. So very close terrain indeed.

View from the eastern end, with the factory in the far distance

Another view from the same end

The front of the factory

Given the closeness of the terrain both sides loaded-up on infantry units and flamethrowers. For the first time in the campaign the Russians fielded an SMG platoon. Both sides focused on the eastern-end of the table and so the factory was largely ignored during the patrol phase. This ended with the Russians concentrated in the eastern end with the Axis in a shallow arc around them, controlling most of the table.

The action was concentrated around two parts of the table. The first was the western-most of the Russian jump-off points which was vulnerable to the Axis units deploying first and the second was an oil storage facility which the Russians chose as a strong point. Both sides deployed in reasonable force and began to fire away. 

Finns deploy to threaten the oil storge

The Russian defenders of the oil store

Russians occupy the roofs

Germans threatening the Russian jump-off point

At the oil storage depot the Russians fielded an SMG section supported by a flamethrower and senior leader. The Finns established base-of-fire and advanced with a second section supported by their own flamethrower. With the Russians out numbered 2-1, and under sniper fire, they eventually succumbed to the superior Finns and so lost control of the oil store. 

Finnish flamethrower torches the Russians 

 

Finns outflank the Russians

The Russian flamethrower opens-up

Finns capture the oil depot

At the western-most Russian jump-off point both sides built-up their forces seeing the tactical importance of the position. Initially the Russians again suffered from being out numbered and outshot, so they deployed a rifle squad to launch an assault.  Following some debate though this squad did not attack the well-emplaced Germans and instead took shelter in an near-by building. This left the Russians near the jump-off point exposed and so with grim inevitability they eventually routed away from the building. 



Russians on the defensive

Germans advancing

 

There then followed something of a cascade failure for the Russians - over the series of a couple of phases they lost a couple of squads, two jump-off points, and a senior leader. This was enough to cause them to rout, thus leaving the Axis forces in firm control of the factory area.

Finnish commanders moving forward 



Panzerscrekt covers the road

Russians lurking in the rubble

Reflections on the Campaign

This has been one of the longer campaigns we've fought recently, having played over about 4 months and 11 games.

I think we certainly took the hard road with the CoC game by pitting Russians against Elite Germans and Finns. The Germans especially are a tough-nut for the Russians having about twice the fire-power and half the chance of being hit. The reinforcements compensate to some extent but the simple measure of increasing the size of the Russian forces would have limited effect as they would be hard to motivate.

Lessons learnt:
1. Make the terrain much denser than you think it should be.
2. Make the Germans Regular to make them a bit less awesome.
3. Add an additional senior officer for the Russians so they can use their large force.
4. Go for lots of infantry if you are Russian - they have the same firepower as most support options (e.g. maxims) but are a lot tougher to kill.
5.  Remove the Finns "I win button" patrol-phase special rule.
6. Learn the patrol-phase tactics - its the killer bit
7. Do nt deploy too early - troops off table are safe and can threaten several areas at once.
8. Do ambush, especially with flamethrowers!         


The final count was I think 8-3 to the Axis, with the Russians doing best when the Germans had limited time to capture an objective.

Our next campaign is Dacian Wars but we will return to 28mm WWII next year, possibly with different rules. It does look really nice after all!

Chain of Command Eastern Front Camapign - week 10

Having successfully blunted the Soviet advance in the last battle the Axis forces once again resumed their advance towards the town that is the objective of the whole campaign. A victory in this game would place them on the outskirts of the town ready to launch a decisive thrust.

For this battle Hauptmann Grau had summoned up a Tiger I which absorbed most of the reinforcement points available to him. The Finns fielded a Pak38 and a maxim. The Russians went with a KV-1 and a couple of flame throwers.

Battle field from the Russian side

Battlefield from the planned Finnish deployment 

Once again the Patrol Phase favoured the Axis forces with the Russians largely pinned around the church and the surrounding fields. So the Axis deployed in force with the Finns occupying the woods and fields on the flank of the church and the Germans in the centre. The Russians responded by lining the hedges around the church and deploying much of the infantry into the corn fields in front of the church.

Finns deploy into the fields

A view from the Russian defenders

Russians deploy in strength

The Axis troops were able to take a heavy tool of the church's defenders as they caught them in a crossfire from both the Finnish and German positions. The Finns increased the pressure by deploying their whole platoon against flank of the church and the Tiger finally made its appearance  

Hauptmann Grau's Tiger deploys  

 

The Finnish platoon applies pressure

Russians shelter from the lead storm in the church 

At this point the Axis units seemed to have the advantage with their infantry bringing lots of fire into the Russian infantry and the Tiger slowly rumbling forward.

Fallschirmjäger advance on the enemy 

The Finns look well set

Grau's Tiger looking for a target

With the Axis units largely committed the Russians decided the launch a counter-attack in an attempt to secure their lines and beat back the enemy from the church. The Soviet infantry focused on the leading Fallschirmjäger section in a combined infantry and flamethrower attack that blunted their advance, also causing the Tiger to lurk at its entry point.

On the Russian left the KV-1 lumbered onto the table and decided on the unusual coarse of launching an unsupported armoured assault into the heart of the Finnish position. Despite being subject to a fusillade of AT and Panzerscrekt fire the Russian monster threw back a Finnish squad and threatened the flank of their position.    

Burn them - burm them all!

Rumble runble....

KV-1 begins its advance

KV-1 assaults accompanied by a Wargames point from comrade Bosski

With darkness drawing close both sides seem to have stabilised their positions. In the centre little side was able to make progress and on the flank although the KV-1 had made a dent it was an unsupported one. So a draw was declared.

Russian centre

Finnish Pak-38 lines up a target

   

Chain of Command Eastern Front Campaign - week 9

The last battle saw the Russians victorious and so they continued their counter-attack with another Attack vs Defence scenario. The battle took place through fairly heavily wooded countryside, with a narrow stream bisecting the table and a farm in a  central position.

It was slightly split strategies this week with the Russians reverting to a more traditional formation and using the KV-1, but retaining the scouts. The Axis forces opted for an entirely infantry force adding additional Fallschirmjäger squad and a Finnish Panzerscrekt as their reinforcements.



View from the Axis side

And from the Russian side

The Russians found themselves fairly comprehensively out-patrolled and so were largely pinned against their own baseline except for one Jump-off Point in a wood on the Axis' right flank.

The battle opened with the Russians fielding a senior commander and the KV-1. Neither move worked especially well though for the Russians. Realising he has entered the field at the wrong point the Russian officer tried to manoeuvre to a better position but was mowed-down by German MG fire. The KV-1 is dispatched by a Panzerscrekt team lurking in the farm. All-in-all not the start the Russians wanted. 

Ouch - man down

KV-1 brews-up and the wargames point makes a welcome return

After an early reverse the Russians gamely continued the attack though, pouring large numbers of infantry into their centre and against the Finns on the Axis right flank. In the centre the attack was slow-going as the Germans had adopted good blocking positions and the Russians were reluctant to attack. On the Axis right the Russian infantry tried to flank the Finnish position but were badly mauled by well emplaced Finnish infantry.  

The woods are heaving with Sovs - shame there was no artillery

Germans deploy to counter the threat

More Germans take to the field

Flanking Russians come under Finnish fire

In the end the Axis position was simply too strong and the Russians were forced to fall-back on the starting lines with the assault abandoned. So next week the Axis forces will resume their attack with rumours there might be a Tiger in the area.

Germans dig-in near the bridge

Soviets preparing to withdraw in the distance !



  

Chain of Command Eastern Front Campaign - Week 8

Following last week's successful defence the Russians had the opportunity to launch a counter-attack in an attempt to drive-back the Axis forces and restore their front-lines. We played this battle as the Attack vs Defence scenario in fairly dense farm-land. We also made a tweak to the lists and rated the Germans as Regular vs Veteran. The Finns remained as Veterans.  

The battlefield from the Russian right flank

And from the Russian left

Both sides selected infantry-heavy forces with the Russians also deploying a Scout Squad for the first time - there are Veteran troops who can move rapidly but still remain in cover due to their national characteristics bonus. They soon made their presence felt by capturing a German jump-off point in the very first turn that had been deployed too close to a Russian one. Ouch!

The Russians plan was a simple one - deploy a small holding force opposite the well defended church and load their right flank where they would make a typically Russian massed infantry attack. This began well as they badly mauled a German infantry section advancing through a wood and also a second section deployed to protect the churches flank.

Russians deploy in force on their right flank

In the centre the Russian scouts advanced cautiously against the Finns who were well dig-in around the church. This was a strong defensive position and the Russians made very little impression on the Finns.   

Russian scouts move through the corn

The confident Finns are well set 

On the Russian right the Germans were suffering badly, having lost 2 infantry sections routed and a third pinned-down by heavy fire. Under cover of  a maxim MMG and 2 infantry sections, the Russians were able to advance through the woods and threaten the left flank of the church. 

 

Russians sir, thousands of um



Feeling pretty secure in their trenches the Finns tried to launch a limited counter-attack by advancing against the Russian left flank through the corn-fields. The advance was cautious though and did not have the hoped-for effect of drawing-off some of the Russian reserves.  

Finns move to the flank 

Russian scouts keeping an eye on things

With the Germans close to routing their last section was deployed into the church with the Finns moving to cover the flank in their place. However this was not enough to prevent the Russians from capturing a second Jump-off Point, which was enough to end the game. 

Finns lining the trenches

Russians overrun a second Jump-off Point

So a rare win for the Russians and their first on the offensive. Rating the Germans as regular certainly made it a closer game even though this meant the Russians got less support options.  In this game the Patrol Phase was certainly key with the Axis loss of a Jump-off Point in the first turn really putting them on the back foot.