Bloody Bucket - Turn 7 - Outskirts of Consthum

[Digits]

So, PrivateBuzz ( Jamie) and myself will be playing out the CoC Bloody Bucket Campaign.  Bear with us....not done one of these before!

I will post up in here each action with an AAR....I hope it will be of interest.

I’m not looking forward to the first battlefield.   As you can see, an awful lot of space to cover.   Now considering I’ve spent the past few months accumulating a mass of fencing / hedge row etc......it’s bloody typical that there won’t be much, if any of it around this campaign!

I will be attacking from this end up toward the road junction.  What I would give for a little smoke!




The view from the American position.




Now....off to try and knock some semblance of professionalism into my largely untested Volksgrenadiers!

[Elbows]

I tried clicking on the pics, but they're stuck being tiny on my screen (perhaps 150 pixels each).

[has.been]

I hope you & Jamie have fun.
I hear your chosen Umpire is a real B*****D !
He believes in being, 'Hostile to both sides'

[Digits]

Elbows - thanks, sorted.

HasBeen.....I heard that too! Lol

[TacticalPainter]

You should keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be the first battlefield. You can use the first few turns to infiltrate to the other assembly points (from where you can also try and interdict any American reinforcements). Given all the open ground there’s a good case to hold off attacking map 1 until German armour is available. The nice thing about this campaign is that you can attack any map you want in any turn (assuming you have troops in assembly points).

[Digits]

Aye, I know....don’t worry....it would only take a few minutes to change the map but I was inclined to set it up now so I could carve out the “hill” plates such as they are.

But you do remind me, I’d best ask Jamie to bring a few more houses with him just in case....cheers!

[TacticalPainter]

Interesting to note the different sense of space depending on scale. Here’s our table, but in 20mm.

[Digits]

Indeed...but camera perspective may be a little deceptive!  I expect you did the same as me as measured off the map.  Either way....it’s a damn long way to cross!

[Digits]

Got a question for you however.  You placed a few hay stacks to break up the open expanse?  So how did you treat them?  Presumably, you could not place jump off points behind them?  But they offered what kind of cover or did they just block line of site etc

Cheers

[TacticalPainter]

Got a question for you however.  You placed a few hay stacks to break up the open expanse?  So how did you treat them?  Presumably, you could not place jump off points behind them?  But they offered what kind of cover or did they just block line of site etc

Cheers

Purely decorative, the space just needed something in it!

[Digits]

I thought that may be the case....cheers!

[vodkafan]

Good luck! I look forward to reading the AAR.

[Digits]

The night before it all kicked off......Monsieur Wooters and his wife enjoy a glass of wine, listening to the radio thinking the war must be over....



Dawn arrives and things were about to hot up....well that was the idea!



Ok, so we had started the campaign.  I spent the first couple of turns pushing Sturm Platoons down the track though the woods bypassing this first battlefield, but in turn three, it was time to launch attacks, opting to attack both this field (Skyline Drive) with a newly arrived  Rifle platoon and attacking the second target (The Road to Holzthum) with the first of the Sturm platoons.

Having read a few AAR’s I had already determined that I’d need a miracle to try and take this first field.  My head said I needed to wait until the bridge was crossed and I could rely on armour to help take it.....however, let’s have a go!

I knew the Yanks would not declare their positions too early, and I was able to deploy everything I had, building a solid fire base in the woods.  My senior leaders ( I had opted for a second as a part of my support) placing everything I had on overwatch.  Wishful thinking I suppose, but I was hoping SOMETHING would show itself....

I had taken two tripod mounted MGs and a “sacrificial” lmg squad that had started to move forward from its deployment point along the base line into the open expanse.  I was trying to draw fire in the hope I could return it in kind.



Jamie had rolled a lot of fives and in phase 7 then decided to deploy a senior leader into the house, then used his CoC dice to end the first turn, removing all my lovely covering fire markers!


In my first phase of turn 2, I immediately put six teams back into overwatch with my two leaders in the trees. Ha!  That will show him!

My support section continued to move toward the house....and now I was within grenade distance....and a .30 cal machine gun opened up from a prepared position to the right of the house....hosing the section, killing three and lightly wounding the junior leader.

Damn it!  By being so close to house, the MG had deployed so my overwatch could NOT react! 



I then had to move the squad to my right in order to open a lane of fire.  That immediately halved the amount of fire they could throw out and they achieved nothing!




Jamie in his very next phase rolled three sixes and this ended turn two!

DOUBLE DAMN IT!  I lost all my overwatch AGAIN!  And this time, with him holding the next phase, he deployed a section (with extra BAR) into the house and a .50 cal in another position to the left of the house.   With fire from the house and the .30 cal, I lost firstly one  lmg team, then another injury on the junior leader and finally the last team!  Now, I know I cocked up here and should have rolled for losing both teams as a section at the end of the phase but I rolled on the morale effect chart at each, rolling high every time.....and dropped to 3 dice!   

The .50 cal nibbled at my gun line in the woods with hits being spread about, th3 net effect  being the loss of 3 figures.

What a disaster!    The impact of having the sacrificial section was a total demoralisation and at this point, I decided this was going nowhere fast and decided it was time to get out of dodge......withdrawing the force.


An astounding and very quick loss!

In the wrapping up, ignoring the kills from my support section, decimated that they were,
The longer term impact on my platoon, was one guy never to return, and two missing the next game.

“Once ve get the bridge crossing open, ve vill be back Yankee!”


Stop for bacon butties.....a quick play with the dog......and a change of battlefield.....

[Digits]

The second battlefield.



Had I launched an attack from the first battlefield, I would have entered from the far end as you see it, but having snuck in from the track, I was attacking from the edge of the woods.

I had a choice of two engagement types, and opted for a probe, meaning I had to vacate a team from the opposite side of the table!

The Yanks manage a couple of additional moves in the Patrol phase and this needed  some careful thinking out.   You can see I managed to get a jump off behind the hedge, the remains two being in the tree line, opposite the far right house.

Jamie ended up with a jump off point in the orchard to the left, one behind the grey barn and one behind the lone house on my right.



Like the last battle, Jamie allowed me to deploy most of my chaps onto the table whilst toting up his fives....

I placed a solid firing block opposite the lone house with two MMGs and a senior leader, along with the lmg section from the Sturm platoon.



With no response from the quietly waiting Americans,  I deployed my two Sturm sections with their Stg44s along with a senior leader behind the hedge.


in the next phase, leaving the left hand section in place and overwatch, I moved the right hand section toward the end of the hedge.  Next phase they crossed it.   I was expecting to get hosed....but it didn’t come yet!



So I decided to push the left hand section over too.  I hoped that having two sections in the open would entice him to declare his hand and at least give me something to work with.....but the only thing that opened up was a .30cal in the orchard......it accounted for half my left hand section!  Nuts!   But only having one firing unit allowed me to get the right hand team over the next hedge at least!



I tried to fire on the mmg but a Jamie used his CoC dice to interrupt me to fire once again on my exposed left hand section!  This time not so much damage.   I was surprised he’d not used it to break all the overwatch...but I think he was confident the section behind the barn had the moving section covered....besides, he’d be able to deploy another, behind th3 right hand building to catch me in a cross fire!



At this point, I expected him to pop a unit in the right hand house, but he was still wary of that overwatch.  Besides, he then deployed a section behind the barn, placed into overwatch to catch me as I came out from behind the hedge.....

I had deployed my first smoke grenade to try and afford a little protection from the direction of the right house.  I decided to try and give myself a fighting chance of getting near the table edge, I needed to try and disrupt the overwatching Yankee section so threw my final smoke grenade in their direction.



The dilemma came....do I play my now gathered CoC dice to take off overwatch?

But then the answer had come from Jamie’s use of interrupt.    (We were both still learning here!)

I rushed the section forward to be hosed....they lost three guys and picked up another shock point with the ensuing US overwatch.



Phase end......Jamie prepares to fire at them...and I use the dice, interrupt and rush for freedom!    Lucky dice then....I only JUST made it off!

Victory!  Lost one, won one!  Yanks get initiative in turn four, but hopefully I start trying to push open over the bridge.

I lost a few guys, the butchers bill ensuring I start with twenty chaps from this platoon next time, with a further 3 to return.

A very different kind of game.....and the fact the Sturm sections were one team, this gave them a little more longer term adhesion, not being as phased so quickly by shock than the rifle platoons sections.

Learning to use this CoC dice at the right moment of the game is critical!

My thanks to Jamie, good day, two battles played, spoils shared.  Another game planned for next week.

Now, our umpire ( HasBeen) will be rolling to see if the bridge opens, and quietly letting me know the outcome.....

[vodkafan]

A great read! I don't quite understand the ending on the second map though- was that all you had to do to win a German victory is cross the road? I thought you would at least need to take possession of the lone house to be able to cut the link between the two maps....how did you know the Americans didn't have a section in or near that house?