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Author Topic: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm  (Read 2235 times)

Offline vodkafan

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3510
Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2020, 09:04:40 PM »
Loving those Panzer IIs..... ;) lol
I am going to build a wargames army, a big beautiful wargames army, and Mexico is going to pay for it.

2019 Painting Challenge :
figures bought: 500+
figures painted: 57
9 vehicles painted
4 terrain pieces scratchbuilt

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #16 on: October 17, 2020, 10:35:50 PM »
Yup...Jamie is disappointed......he thought he was painting II’s I think!  lol lol lol lol

I need him to think my Panthers are Renaults for Normandy!  ;)

Right, on with it.  Not so much a blow by blow....I can’t remember every shot but I will concentrate on things that were either good learning experiences (or bad depending on which side you were on), moments of interest, and the general flow.

Once again, it is impossible to get across the importance of the Patrol Phase.

As you look at the table from my side, I had a lot of open ground to get across.  As the attacker, I was entitled to throw a d6 to gain an initial set of markers.....lucky for me, I rolled a six!   Boy, that took a lot of heat off me and as it suits my style of play (playing to the fluff anyway) I pushed hard on my left flank to get my markers forward, catching one of the Yanks markers sitting at the edge of the table, just beyond the wide track and freezing it.  Long and short looking up table, by being aggressive, I had two markers on or at the road along the left hand side as I looked, and, because you have to deploy into cover, my other two Jump off markers ended up back behind the hedge near the back right of my table edge.

That meant the main thrust of my attack would be concentrated to my left.

Two of the Americans three usable markers were placed, centred in and just behind the farm courtyard and the third on my far right on his side of the main track.

The Americans won the Force morale roll so started with the initiative and a few points more morale.


Offline vodkafan

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2020, 11:18:14 PM »
Any more tonight you tease ?  ;D

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2020, 08:24:29 AM »
Sorry James.....we were putting house back in order as decorator finished yesterday.....going to sit and type it right now!

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #19 on: October 18, 2020, 08:53:17 AM »
So, in the early phases, the Americans chose wisely not to show their hand and remained hidden.  For me, that meant I was to expect the odd surprise but my mission was clear, take the farm and as I had two jump offs on or at the road on my left, I elected to bring two squads on.






This left me open to an ambush as it happens, with the first of the American support points revealing itself to me a .30 cal operating out of dug in defences  at the far end of the track.



My losses were not that great but clearly this needed shifting before I could safely bring everything else across the road.

In my next phase, I decided that I would bring on the first of my support choices.  With Jamie having earlier presented me with my beautifully painted Mk IV’s...it would have been rude not to use one given the chance! (Btw....we had earlier decided to let the dice decide support but with a plus 5 modifier).




Over the next few phases, he would concentrate on moving steadily toward the .30 cal, trying to dislodge it with a little HE.


Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #20 on: October 18, 2020, 09:19:42 AM »
Meanwhile, I brought my leader and a panzershreck onto the table, to support the two squads in play.  As it happened, they were to pretty much hold that position, directing fire for the rest of the engagement as well as rallying the tremendous amount of shock my squads were starting to receive.



With no enemy yet evident in the farm...he placed my right hand squad into overwatch.  The left hand squad was taking fire from the .30cal, itself in overwatch.



The right squad soon found themselves engaged to their fore as the first of the American squads opened up from the barn to their front.




Things were getting serious for the left hand squad, with three of their men down.....something needed to be done about the machine gun and quickly.  The advancing Mk IV had scored a few hits on the entrenchment already, and whittled the team down and with one final aimed shot, put it out of action...barely missing the American officer who had been supporting the team.



I had also started to receive incoming shots fired by a sneaky American sniper, firing from the little window above the lean to.

I needed to give my guys a breather to recover in time for the final assault, so decided now was the best time to reveal the last of my support choices.   My forward observer tucked himself into the hedgerow to my right near the back and immediately brought in a mortar barrage to the farm without first calling for a ranging shot.  It deviated slightly and came down in front and slightly to the left of the farm, pinning the sniper and one of the teams in the barn.



The barrage was keep coming for a while, completely obliterating any lines of sight and holding the effected Yanks in place.

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #21 on: October 18, 2020, 09:36:34 AM »
Eventually, Jamie played a CoC dice, ending the turn and my barrage, but not before bringing on more assets.  A squad of twelve men with their BAR taking up positions behind the hedgerow and a bazooka team that immediately occupied the entrenchment vacated by the mg team.





 ( I forgot to mention, the .30 cal broke and ran, calling into question the sanity of placing jump offs so close to table edges!)

The bazooka would score two hits on the tank as it SLOWLY (kept rolling ones and twos mor his movement!) came on.  Neither shot caused the paintwork Jamie had lovingly applied to scratch!

The bazooka itself was wiped out by small arms from the german squad in the road before it scaled the fence and started toward the left flank of the farm, approaching from the out lying stable block.

I tried to call in mortar fire once more but it was delayed.....

When I finally got it on station, my frustration got the better of me and once again, I called the barrage straight in, forgoing the ranging shot, but this time, the deviation was BAD!

I managed to call it down into the field to my right instead of the gap between the farm and the right hand squad where I had been aiming, and immediately pinned my own tank!

I also JUST missed by a whisker taking out way right hand squad which itself was taking a lot of covering fire from the barn whilst taking the jump off point that had initially been set close to the table edge.





“Dummkopf !” 

Over the next couple of turns, I would slowly start chasing the barrage forward trying to catch the right hand squad, but their officer directed them back towards to farm.


« Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 09:55:38 AM by Digits »

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #22 on: October 18, 2020, 09:54:10 AM »
By now, I had wasted a great amount of fire power trying to remove the squad in the barn and the now unpinned tank could help in trying to dislodge them




A third American squad appeared to the left of the farm and dashed forward taking up cover behind the outlying stable.



This seemed like an ideal opportunity to try out a little aggression and even though I had a reduced squad size of seven against their fresh twelve, I knew I could use my German trait of hitting them hard with loads of grenades before the assault which of course would even the odds......I threw the dice, conjuring  up just the one grenade which I think was a dud!

Oh well...committed now, having a couple of LMG’s in the squad helped balance the odds, with me killing six of them to losing four of mine....brutal......and the remaining yanks high tailed it back toward the farm where they were gunned down by my newly arrived last squad that had also now taken up positions near my leader.

« Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 09:57:05 AM by Digits »

Offline gamer Mac

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 8207
Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #23 on: October 18, 2020, 10:05:39 AM »
Really liking the report so far guys
the table and the models on it look great :-* :-* :-*

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2020, 10:09:24 AM »
Cheers Mac....nearly there!

The Sniper had begun firing again and had pinned the right hand squad.



But the writing was firmly on the wall for the Americans as their morale started to fail them.



And the squad occupying the barn were finally silenced....the newly arrived second officer, very quickly departing again effectively bringing the game to a close!




Phew! Great game...for me at least!  ;)

Unlike the ebb and flow of the last game, this one seemed almost one sided, as the aggressive stance the Germans adopted seemed to give the Americans pause for thought.

In reality, the American jump off points were a deciding factor.  One was no use to start with, and the remaining choice was either hole up in the farm and await the onslaught, or use the right hand marker and risk losing teams every time they broke.

Mortars are double edged.  Used effectively, they provide the ideal opportunity to pin half the opposition in place whilst you close, used badly, they can nerf your own side! Lol

We learned a lot from this game and feel we can now have a go at “Bloody Bucket”.

It’s a pleasure as usual to game with Jamie.  Thoroughly enjoyable day.

Jamie, if you have any pics to back this up, please pop a few up.

Offline vodkafan

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2020, 10:32:27 AM »
I wouldn't like to be the Mortar crew when the Oberleutnant gets back  lol
Blimey the firefights were quick and nasty weren't they?

Offline Digits

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Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #26 on: October 18, 2020, 10:44:22 AM »
Certainly nasty.  I may have over simplified a few engaments tbh James, it took us a little longer than it should to play as we are still getting the rules down.  We had a fair number of phases, many of which wouldn’t always end with casualties and I have just concentrated on the key parts.

However, I am fast becoming a a huge fan of this rule set...everything seems to make sense (I think we have one query over effective distances for  anti tank weapons against infantry to resolve) and it plays far more “realistically” than other games I’ve played. 

Combinations of covering fire, overwatch and mutual fire support are vital, as is the placement of your commanders.  It would not suit power gamers as you have to be clever (and lucky) with your limited choice of support.

We are looking forward to playing out “Bucket” where support choice and choosing where to play them will be vital.

Offline has.been

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 8236
Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #27 on: October 18, 2020, 10:50:02 AM »
Lovely report & great eye candy throughout.

Offline PrivateBuzz

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 36
  • Too Fat Lardies fan.
Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #28 on: October 18, 2020, 06:52:12 PM »
To be honest I can't add very much more to that report! Excellent stuff Digits.

Well, ok, maybe I can.

First off, looking at the pictures, I am honoured to be able to take part in a game that looks that good. It really does help.
Secondly, I kept forgetting the tank as it was camo'd so well against the ground.

Learning points:
 Do not deploy a small team next to a table edge firing across. If you get to a stage where you are broken, then leaving the table is a very real danger.
 Letting Dave roll a 6 at the start to decide how may free moves he gets in the patrol phase is always going to end badly.
 Sitting back is ok to watch and see where the attack develops, but when playing a very aggressive opponent you have to respond quite quickly or be overwhelmed. Particularly with Pzgrenadiers against you. I misread the danger from his patrol phase and the speed of his deployment.
 I am going to have a hard time of Bloody Bucket, but I am now very much looking forward to it.

How do you resolve fire of AT weapons (Schreckls, bazookas etc) vs infantry. What is the range that should be used for the to hit roll?
All the best!

Jamie.

Offline Westbury

  • Mad Scientist
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  • Gaming from Gondolin
    • Westbury Wargamers
Re: CoC - Batrep - Take the Farm
« Reply #29 on: October 18, 2020, 07:09:39 PM »
Looks like you had that best mix in a wargame, reasonably historically accurate and fun, good for you  :)

 

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