In Which Suzanne is Over-Agressive

I absolutely promise that this battle report will not contain any crowing about my tactical genius, charismatic leadership, coolness under fire etc. Nor will it include any cheap shots at Suzanne's gaming skills.

Well, maybe just a few....

For the game I decided to stay on Crete, but to move from Heraklion on the 21st of May to the counter-attack by troops of the 2nd New Zealand division to re-take Maleme airfield in the early hours of the 22nd, played in microcosm as an attack-defence scenario. Not having time to print out New Zealand flag jump-off points, I had to make do with the allied star (not in use at this stage of the war). As always, the terrain is  a little sparse and will only thicken up when MONEY allows. MONEY is currently being spent on useless frivolities like rent and food so don't hold your breath.

The scene of the action, with the Kiwis having the left board edge and the Fallschirmjaeger on the right. Dinner plates under the cloth have been used to make the very circular hills.

Having already come a cropper the last time I attempted to attack entrenched elite troops, I decided leave the armour at home and go for the maximum firepower: mortar barrages, machine guns, snipers, all those things are good for hitting things at a safe distance or shutting them down so I can kill their mates first. The first rule of how to win at war, in my opinion, is to never fight fair. As I may have mentioned, the best way to hit elite troops is to use HE from tanks and field artillery, something the Commonwealth don't get until the arrival of the Stuart tank in late '41 and therefore something I would have to work around. This is the fun of the early war period, you have think outside the box about how to solve problems without limitless Sherman tanks like in 1944.

End of the patrol phase, both sides are using small circles for jump-off points. Mine are beside the road, in the woods to the top left, and out of shot to the left of the hill in the foreground, While Suzanne has gone for behind the stone walled area and two on opposite sides of the road at the right-hand table edge.

To my surprise, despite being on the defensive Suzanne put her troops (including sniper support option) on the table at the first opportunity. In a previous game this had worked out very well as her entrenched elite troops could use their superior firepower to keep me at arm's length across open stretches of table, but would it work again? Normally the conventional wisdom in Chain of Command seems to be that the defender should hold off deploying as long as possible but this is a general rule and should be ignored if the situation demands it.

The Fallschirmjaeger decide attack is the best form of defence and sweep forward to take positions overlooking my jump-off points.

In response to this forward defence, I deployed cautiously behind hedgerows and walls, covering one of the houses with two sections. Despite being excellent strongpoints, troops in buildings in Chain of Command can end up being isolated (which happened to my machine gun in the last game). I tried to use my 2" mortar to screen off the other Germans with smoke, but missed, so I had to make do with hand-held smoke grenades instead which isn't quite the same. While I did successfully put down the machine-gun team, my 1st section had spent several phases on the enemy-facing  side of a wall and were getting a little upset.

Smoking is good for your health: the New Zealand 1st section covers its exposed rear (ooh matron) with the white stuff.

At this point I was getting a little worried as the Gerries were only one team down and moving to catch me in a pincer movement while even being able to hop over the wall wasn't really enough to keep 1st section safe from close-range submachine guns. It was time to shut down the right flank: cue forward observer! The resulting 3" mortar barrage was exactly as accurate and effective as it has been in other people's battle reports and the second house was neatly bracketed by explosions.This didn't cause any casualties but it didn't need to: if they can't shoot me they may as well not be there.

The Kiwis advance along the hedgelines at the top of the picture while in the centre the low-budget mortar barrage keeps the other two Fallschirmjaeger Gruppen (squads) from interfering.

Sensing victory, I brought in the vickers gun and the final section with the aim of slipping round the hedges to outflank the third German Gruppe. With the aid of some excellent movement rolls, the were soon in position, covered by the machine-gun on overwatch. Aware of the late hour on a work night, Suzanne made a final grasp for the initiative by charging at my jump-off point on my  right and the section behind the hedge. Fortunately for me, I had enough covering fire available to fend of both of these attacks and secure victory.

Close of play: Despite having shut-down the right-hand New Zealand jump-off point, the Germans are taking fire they can't respond and are forced to retreat.

So what have we learned from this exercise? Well, apart from the obvious "divide and conquer" stuff, I think what stood out most about this game was highlighting the biggest problem with Chain of Command as a game. In encouraging a cautious and methodical style of play by severely punishing any rash actions, the game isn't that much fun when you're against the clock because of real-life commitments and so on and have to rush things. Of course, the encouragement of cautious play is a fundamental part of the rules so really the only solution to the problem is making sure you have time free for a 'proper' game. It might be worth looking for some less in-depth rules for quick games perhaps...

As a historical note, the historical counterattack this scenario emulated was broken up by the Luftwaffe when the sun rose so the close encounter is perhaps  a little speculative. Still, it was fun. It's taken me months to write this so I've got a huge backlog of painting progress to bore you with over the next few weeks. Have fun!