Chain of Command: Many Rivers to Cross: Scenario 2

 We decided to play Scenario 2, from the “Many Rivers to Cross”, Pint Sized campaign, out of the 2018 Too Fat Lardies Special. Rob & Steve took the Germans and Dave & Mal took the Brits.

The Germans achieved the upper hand in the Patrol Phase. They managed to push a Patrol marker right down onto the centre of the village, into the shop at the centre of the high street. The Brits, starting with 2 Patrol Markers to left of the village and 2 to the right of the village, initially thought themselves in a good position, but things did not work out that way. Although the Brits did manage to contain the German Patrol Markers to the centre of the village, their flanking positions allowed the Germans to establish a Jump Off Point right down behind the farm building, near the T junction. Disaster for the Brits! The Brits only managed to sneak a JoP in the house on the left flank (1), at the back of the wood, centre village (2) and overlooking the village from the right flank (3).

The Germans opened with a big deployment, placing green section in the farm building, blue section in the damaged shop and yellow section behind the hedge line, over-looking the East of the village & the British right flank JoP! The Brits responded by deploying their yellow section into the back of the wood, to contest the village itself. Then blue section behind the wood, before jogging these to the back of the church, ready to climb into the church. However, in amongst all of this, the German pre-game barrage was really earning it’s 2 points, frustrating many of the British deployment attempts!

Things then settled into a bit of a stalemate, with neither side willing to force any big offensive moves, but then the Brits did manage to deploy the rifle team from Red section, into the house to the West of the village. However, the Germans then realised that the Brits would have no reserves left to deploy to the East side of the village and pushed yellow section rapidly down into the East of the village, quickly overrunning the British JoP there.

This forced the Brits to dash blue section from behind the Church, into the graveyard, in order to contest the right side of the table (& thus prevent a German win). But the British blue section soon began to suffer casualties & take Shock, from the long range fire of two German sections, forcing them to go tactical, crouching down behind the gravestones, as well as deploying smoke to their front.

The Germans then revealed their ‘secret weapon’! A Panzer III appeared to the East of the road, on the North table edge. This crashed through the hedge line, across the cornfield, slewing across behind yellow section, into a firing position over-looking the graveyard. The British attempted to deploy their 2 pounder, as a counter to the Panzer III,  but again were frustrated by the German pre-game barrage!

The British blue section, cowering in the graveyard, was now really beginning to suffer, both from the twin co-ax MGs on the Panzer III, as well as from the German yellow section, who had now crept forward into the smoke,to lay down closer range fire.

The British platoon sergeant made a heroic 17” dash from the wood, behind the church and into the graveyard, to try to steady blue section, but this only held for a short while. The emboldened German Blue section, dashed out of the shop, across the street and into the graveyard, to engage the pinned British blue section sheltering there in hand-to-hand. The melee was short & sharp, with the Germans actually losing by 1, but the British had lost 3 men and taken enough shock to break them, leaving the Germans in control of the East flank of the table and thereby winning the game.