Stalingrad Campaign - Day 2, into the Kill House and thoughts on Chain of Command

It was my turn this week to try to push the Russian patrols out of Fallen Heroes Square using Chain of Command (CoC).

I won't go into a blow by blow after action report for a couple of reasons. The main one is that we at the Old Codgers Gaming Club (OCGC) have four members and three of us have Blogs, so it seems a good idea to take it in turns to run the battle reports when the others are playing. This division of labour should mean we are free to play and enjoy the game without the constant urge to take photos and make notes. In theory at least. Day 2 s patrol action is covered on Andy's Blog which can be found here

https://rangoruk.blogspot.com/

Mark will also be covering this too - but he is a bit partisan so take what he says with a pinch of salt!

http://exiledfog.blogspot.com/

I can give a quick run down on "the cunning plan" which was to push forward with only 3 patrol markers right up the centre of the table to try and gain some advanced Jump Off Points (JOPS) then just kick the Soviets out by brute force in close assaults with our "HandGranaten!" tactics before their numerical advantage kicked in. It sort of worked. My Pioneers are rated Elite so they can deploy further forward than Regulars, and they're better in close assaults and slightly less likely to be hit by small arms fire. We managed to grab one building but the fighting in and around it was fierce and casualties were very heavy on both sides. The Soviets withdrew, handing a somewhat Pyrrhic victory to the Germans. It was an interesting game but it showed up our "ring rustiness" with the CoC rules - we made several slips, but they probably evened out so no real damage done.

What it also did was make me think of why I like Chain so much (see - I nearly typed something else there). I think it comes down to something I had not really thought about before - pressure to be competent. Unlike any other set of WW2 rules I have played CoC rewards competence and punishes incompetence with usually equal measure. Because the games are brutal and unforgiving if you screw up you only have yourself to blame. In a campaign setting that is even more apparent. I'm really enjoying our campaign, but the pressure really is on.

Obergefreiter Michael Baumbach will not be returning to Ausburg

Day 3 will be a German attempt to probe the Soviet lines in preparation for the main assault.