CoC Bloody Bucket campaign (completed)

[TacticalPainter]

Having successfully cleared the outskirts of Consthum the same Volksgrenadier platoon takes advantage of the blitzkrieg campaign rule to mount an attack on the next table immediately. And why not, it's a free game that might help get the German attack back on schedule? It also sees the return of that pesky Panther from the previous game, the one that led a charmed life in the face of numerous bazooka rounds. Will it be so lucky this time? Full AAR is here https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/05/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-8-scenario.html

[Ragnar]

Excellent stuff.  We just started on the campaign today so looking forward to seeing more of your AARs.

[TacticalPainter]

Excellent stuff.  We just started on the campaign today so looking forward to seeing more of your AARs.

Look forward to hearing how you go, which side are you playing?

[Ragnar]

I am playing the Yanks.  We were both too engrossed (or slack) to take many photos or to do a proper AAR. 

I don't want to pollute your thread with my waffling so suffice it to say our first battle was The Road to Holzthum.  The Germans moving from Assembly point B, lined the edge of the forest, were punished early on for attempting to cross the open ground.  A punishing shootout from the US in the buildings against the Germans in the forest eventually led to an American victory.  The Bloody Bucket has already earned it's name.  We were both a bit rusty with CoC but I believe we learned a lot from this battle.

If you don't mind, I may be asking some questions along the way.

[Marine0846]

Great AAR.
Seems like someone got what was coming to them.
(At least from one point of view.)

[vodkafan]

Seemed like everything was in the attacker's favour in the first couple of turns, and then....pow!

[Shahbahraz]

Every so often the dice just decide that they hate you... 

I wondered about pushing the Panther that far forward, but hey, 20/20 hindsight. And Green troops caught in the open, Ouch!

Loving it - just like all your campaign reports. About to try and inveigle a CoC virgin into playing a game or two, with a view to getting him into playing a campaign.

One thing I struggle with is a lack of well-matched opponents. You know how it is, if you're rubbish, and they're not, it's no fun losing every game, and vice versa.

[jon_1066]

Great report again.  Really loving the Yanks giving those Krauts a bloody nose.

Re different skill levels.  CoC has lots of ways to provide a handicap, eg:

Weaken the core platoon of the stronger player (eg give them some casualties going in)
Give more support points to the weaker player
Give the weaker player an extra command dice
Give the weaker player some CoC dice to start with
Lower the morale level of the stronger player
Boost the morale level of the weaker player
Give the stronger player a Green platoon but at the rating of a normal platoon
Give the weaker player an elite platoon but at the rating of a normal platoon

[Shahbahraz]

Great report again.  Really loving the Yanks giving those Krauts a bloody nose.

Re different skill levels.  CoC has lots of ways to provide a handicap, eg:

Weaken the core platoon of the stronger player (eg give them some casualties going in)
Give more support points to the weaker player
Give the weaker player an extra command dice
Give the weaker player some CoC dice to start with
Lower the morale level of the stronger player
Boost the morale level of the weaker player
Give the stronger player a Green platoon but at the rating of a normal platoon
Give the weaker player an elite platoon but at the rating of a normal platoon

All good stratagems. The tricky bit is making a handicap work with the published PSC campaigns.   Hopefully I will get better at it. 

[TacticalPainter]

One thing I struggle with is a lack of well-matched opponents. You know how it is, if you're rubbish, and they're not, it's no fun losing every game, and vice versa.

Yep, you cannot underestimate what an impact this makes. As much as some people enjoy gaming I know several who are just poor tacticians - doesn’t matter what game they play. The end result tends to be very unsatisfactory because games become too one sided. No fun for you if it’s too easy, no fun for them because they’ve been crushed. The wiser ones can see they’ve been outplayed, others put the defeat down to a broken set of rules. As much as I like to win, there’s no pleasure in a walkover because I also want the challenge of taking on a good opponent. Dave and I are fairly evenly matched so I’m lucky in this respect.

[TacticalPainter]

The Germans return to Holzthum Village for the second attack of campaign turn 8. This will be their third attempt to drive the Americans from the village. The question is, will they be any more successful this time? Full AAR is here: http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/05/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-8-scenario_30.html

[Hu Rhu]

Excellent AAR with a plethoraof wonderful photos.   

Having read all your posts, I do somewhat agree with you the the games have turned out very samey, with a careful probe by the Germans (with the exception of the Jeep escapade) and the Americans staying quiet until they unleash concentrated firepower on a few squads.  The outcomes have been by and large predicatable.

That said, I would be keen to read some more if you decide to carry on with this particular campaign.  You have certainly convinced me to re-examine CoC as a ruleset.

[TacticalPainter]

Excellent AAR with a plethoraof wonderful photos.   

Having read all your posts, I do somewhat agree with you the the games have turned out very samey, with a careful probe by the Germans (with the exception of the Jeep escapade) and the Americans staying quiet until they unleash concentrated firepower on a few squads.  The outcomes have been by and large predicatable.

That said, I would be keen to read some more if you decide to carry on with this particular campaign.  You have certainly convinced me to re-examine CoC as a ruleset.

Thanks. After ten games we’re not sure there’s much more to get out of it given we’re heading to a somewhat predictable outcome. Dave is no quitter but as he said after this one, do we want to use up valuable gaming time or move on to something new and fresh?

[Shahbahraz]

As I said on the blog, if playing the Germans, the squads of only 8 men and Green are horribly vulnerable. I would be tempted to stand off with supports like the infantry gun and Panther, and either 'reconnoitre by fire' or send scout teams towards his jump off points to force him to deploy. If you can't get close - then firefights with those big US squads supported by .30 and .50 calibre machine guns is only going to end one way.

Though I will say that the run of double phases from the US player did not help the German attackers. It seemed very lop-sided.

If you do decide to run the 'Many Rivers to Cross' campaign, I will follow that with interest, as I have been very tempted to build a Dutch platoon as well. Though I am also hearing the siren song of the Norwegian campaign. 

[TWD]

I've really enjoyed reading these reports, thank you for posting.
It does feel a bit like you've "got his number" in the campaign now and future battles are likely to follow the same pattern. Probably pretty historically accurate, but maybe not all that much fun to play.