Another epic Chain of Command gaming afternoon done, with two games played, finishing off our ‘Bloody Bucket’ PSC. The final scenario was Battlefield Six – ‘The Last Ditch’, which placed the US Infantry on the defence and the Germans on the offensive.
In support of the US Infantry, the commander called on an M4 Sherman, an M57 AT gun and crew, a .50cal HMG and an additional bazooka team. For the German commander, he called up a Panzer MkIV, an additional LMG Squad, a Panzerschreck team and another Senior Leader for the first battle.
With the patrol phase completed, the Germans went on the attack, deploying many of their sections behind several hedges and tree lines. Though this was good defensive terrain, offering some great cover, the US Infantry platoon, deployed in several of the buildings lying along the road to Bastone, was able to find the Germans’ range easily and soon brought down some devastating small arms and HMG fire.
The German commander soon lost a section, and another was pinned down to % 50% strength. It was not looking good, so the German commander deployed his only trump card, the MkIV, in the hope of winning back some ground. The Germans also had a chance to destroy the US Army Sherman, with their Panzerschreck team…. they failed to hit and were soon KIA. But there was still hope, and Sherman was finally destroyed by a lucky hit from a Panzerfaust (give that man an Iron Cross).
So, it was looking good for the Germans…. until the MkIV was hit and destroyed by the M57 AT gun…. game over for the first attack, and the German commander called it a morning and withdrew his remaining infantry. The first victory went to Tim and Terry (US Army commanders).
However, the German commander knew that they had to break through as soon as possible and called up a fresh Platoon of Infantry and support – Panther Tank, an Ie IG.18 and crew, a new Senior Leader and a pre-game barrage (we forgot this one). The 2nd battle started with a new patrol phase, and this time the Germans tried a different approach, deploying to JOPs into the row of buildings lying the road to Bastone. The US Infantry commander tried to do much the same but also pushed a JOP to the far right of his position, in the hope of conducting a flank attack on the Germans.
The battle started with the German commander deploying first, and pushing hard on his right flank, using the cover of the buildings to get a quick strike on a US JOP. The US commander also deployed infantry to the far right of his position, pushing fast and hard onto the German left flank. The US Infantry, however, ran straight into the German LMG Squad and, after a short but bloody hand-to-hand battle, their section commander was killed along with four other men, and the remainder were taken prisoner. Not a good start for the US commander….it was not going to get any better.
The next move saw a German squad capture a US JOP, but they were soon under heavy fire from both the .50cal and then the M57 AT gun….it was getting hot and three men from the squad were soon hit and out of the action….next they were hit again, but this time a squad of US Infantry, who had been hiding in the building close to them, stormed out and in to close combat. With only five men remaining against 12 fresh US Infantry it was not looking good…..however, the unbelievable happened…the US infantry, though strong in numbers, had not listened to the drill Sergeant at bootcamp bayonet training and were defeated and pushed back nine inches…..though this was not bad and they were still facing the same direction, they had did not realise that just behind the wall a German infantry team was lying in wait…..the remaining eight US Infantry realising that they were in a hopeless position soon surrendered.
With two squads killed, wounded and missing, the US Commander realised that their position was now undefendable, especially when the German commander deployed the Panther and the Infantry gun. White flags were soon seen from the windows of the remaining building in US hands. Victory to the German forces, and now the road was open for the main German forces to push through to Bastone……
Well done, Tim and Terry in the first game and Brian in the second game. It was a great afternoon of Chain of Command and a fantastic campaign to play. We are certainly going to play it again. All the figures and terrain are from my collection, and the figures are all Empress Miniatures, Late War US Army and German Army. The Buildings are again all from Battlefield Accessories Accessories except the barn.
