Let Me Be Flank - Chain of Command AAR

After a slight break, the group met at Ted's to continue the "29, Let's Go" campaign for Chain of Command. 

This was the third scenario of the campaign, "Flanking St Germain‐du‐Pert", which takes place on the flank of the prior scenarios. 

After losing a Sherman in the prior scenario, the Americans have realized that advancing any further with mobile anti-tank guns on their flank would be a disaster, so a platoon has been dispatched to capture the town of St Germain‐du‐Pert and drive off the German defenders. 

The Americans had 19 support points for the game, but 12 of them had to be spent on a pair of Sherman tanks. We opted to bring a medium machine gun and a light mortar. 

The Germans had a fresh platoon, but no support options outside of the pair of Marders that had fired on the American platoon in the previous scenario. 

With little terrain on the approach to the town, I had Steve push one JOP way up the table edge, which allowed him to deploy an infantry squad close to the church's stone walls. 

I deployed a second squad to cover the town in case any Germans showed up. 

Ted deployed an infantry squad in the Church and managed to score a few hits against the Americans. 

Despite the German fire, the Americans pushed towards the cover of the stone wall.  

With the support of a Sherman, the Germans were eventually forced to retreat from the church. 

The appearance of American armor warranted an escalation from the Germans, who brought on one of their two Marders to counter. 

The two vehicles were stuck in what any American trooper would recognize as a high-noon duel down the dusty road of a mining town. I wonder if there's a German equivalent? Two knights preparing to charge at one another? 

To secure the Church, Steve brought on a second infantry squad. 

Chip and Ted did try to ambush the Sherman with the German platoon's Panzerschreck, but the anti-tank weapon missed and the team was killed by American overwatch fire. 

Thanks to a double-phase, the Americans rolled up and knock out the first Marder. A second German vehicle (a StuG standing in for a Marder) appeared and tagged the Sherman with a hit, driving it back.  

Taking offense at the attempt to drive them off, the Americans pulled their Sherman back up and promptly knocked out the second Marder. 

By this point the Germans were reeling, but they did score a hit against the Americans by deploying a squad, firing the squad's panzerfaust, and destroying the Sherman that had carried most of the American attack. 

Unfortunately, that German squad was then targeted by the other half of the American platoon that had been waiting for a target. The resulting casualties were enough to force the Germans to retreat, landing a solid victory for the Americans who took limited losses. 

This was a tough scenario for the Germans. Losing the church early took away a good defensive spot, and losing both Marders to a single Sherman also hurt.  

We're going to take a quick break from the campaign and try out a game of Big Chain of Command, since Ted has enough in his collection to run two platoons each of Germans and Americans. That should be interesting!