29, Let's Go! - Chain of Command AAR

Now that we're through the convention games, let's head back to familiar grounds; Ted's game room!

It seems like 2023 is going to be the Year of Chain of Command for me, as Ted offered up playing through the 29, Let's Go! "Pint-Sized" campaign from TooFatLardies with his 20mm collection. 

The campaign covers the American 175th Infantry Regiment's attempts to link their landing zone of Omaha to Utah by capturing the bridge at Isigny.

Steve and I took command of the Americans, while Chip and Ted led the German defenders. 

For the first scenario, "Probe at La Combe", the Americans needed to get a unit off the opposite end of the table, or force the German morale to break. 

The Americans started with an infantry squad deployed along a wooded road, and another cover the far field in front of the farmhouse. 

With no Germans in sight, I sent out a scout team for some reconnaissance. 

Another infantry squad was deployed with no Germans in sight. Behind the building is a light mortar team ready to provide support. 

You can also see one of the two Shermans that the platoon had also deployed along the road. 

And then, Germans!

The scout team was sent fleeing when a squad of entrenched Germans opened fire.

Unfortunately, the first American squad caught a lot of fire from the deployed Germans (who added a machine gun to their defensive line). With plenty of shock and an injured sergeant, I pulled the team back behind the second line of trees to give them some reprieve in heavy cover. 

With some targets finally revealed, Steve deployed and opened fire with the platoon's attached .30 cal machine gun. 

The already rocked squad ends up pinned and broken, forcing them back further. I had the platoon's lieutenant join them to start pulling off shock to keep them from routing if we had a turn end.

Meanwhile, we had a mini-drama play out with the Sherman and the off-table 88 that the Germans could call upon with a full Chain of Command die. The first time the Sherman was fired on, it got extremely lucky and was only forced to retreat backwards with a couple points of shock. 

I then tried to get the Sherman to move flat out to avoid being shot at again. Ted deployed an infantry squad to try and hit the Sherman with panzerfaust, but missed. 

The 88, however, managed to find its range and blew the Sherman up with its second shot.

One of the Germans infantry squads had taken enough fire to break and rout from the table. 

Hoping to redeploy from the village, Chip and Ted pulled their infantry from the hedgerow. This had a downside, though; suddenly the Germans found themselves targetable in light cover from multiple American units, along with a second Sherman. 

Instead of allowing their infantry to keep getting hammered, the Germans elected to instead retreat from the table.

This was a decent first game for the campaign. The Germans took a lot of casualties, but that was largely because the Americans had so much firepower deployed before the first Germans showed up. 

We'll follow this up with the second scenario next week.