Saturday 17 December 2022

Smolensk 1941 : Chain of Command

As most of you know I am a long term fan of Bolt Action but have often toyed with CoC. So when George   Offered to play through a WW2 campaign using the rules it was a great opportunity to try them out properly. George has collected all of the figures for a number of these smaller ‘mini’ campaigns so we plumbed for Smolensk 1941. You can find George’s post here http://musingswargameslife.blogspot.com/2022/12/careful-what-you-wish-for.html

Shout out to the guys that write these campaigns as the details and effort are fantastic. There is if you are interested a run through of the whole campaign on Utube.
I’m not going to run through the background which is covered in the Utube video, suffice to say the battle over three days focus around the town of Yartsevo, the winner is the side controlling the three central tables after 8, 10 turns (Battles) the Russians picked by me as I rarely get to play them, get to attack first turn and my force attacked table 3B from table 4 which I already control.
The Russians have either an Infantry Platoon or a small Armoured platoon, and as is the way with CoC you can add to this with extra support depending on a series of simple calculations and dice rolls. The Russians although obviously out gunned have a big advantage in that the infantry platoon is expendable and can be replaced each battle the Germans must be much more careful. Above my Russian starting force, with George’s lovely version of Table 3B
My support, an extra 50cm mortar, a Maxim MMG and a sniper [Annastasia] I also had a pre start barrage and an adjutant who apparently helps get troops onto the table. We didn’t I’m afraid take too many photos as we were too engrossed in the battle.
After the usual pregame scouting etc we ended up with jump off point running roughly along the length of the table, I didn’t manage this well but will have a better idea in the future, as this actually helped the Germans giving me more ground to cover. The after several issues with barrages and delayed entry etc the Germans set up a strong defensive line   With good cover.
It took ages for the Russians to actually get on the table with initially only exchange of machine gun and mortar fire to softened up the defenders, eventually though getting the hang of things the Russian senior commander started to get the three infantry sections forward, putting one into the train station but not opening fire until the rest of the force was ready to break for the attack. Anastasia managed to relocate into the railway station clock tower causing much distraction to the Germans and wounding  one of their leaders. Eventually though she was forced by heavy fire to retreat. Hopefully she will be back !
The Germans dug in by the stone bridge and behind the farm, they put down a tremendous level of fire !
A third section is brought on to the left as well
After several turns the Russians are forced to give the assault a go with both commanders really expecting this to be a massacre
Somehow the combination of the three units with the senior officer now brought forward start to lay down enough fire to shock and then pin the Germans at the bridge. They also manage to defeat and push back the German section behind the farm, each kill being critical with such small squads. With the majority of the Russians still on the table and two of the three German squads broken, the Germans withdrew rather than risk higher casualties.
The Russian senior officer celebrating his surprising success, the railway station in Yartsevo is taken.

Great game and thanks to George for the set up introduction to CoC. Fair to say neither of us expected that outcome as the Germans were putting down a wall of lead and the final assault was to some extent just to test how bad it really was attacking Germans across some open ground. A couple of good rolls, some ineffective German fire and careful use of COC dice to interrupt gave the Russians an unexpected victory. I’m sure the Germans won’t be that easy next time. I suspect both sides will be beefing up as the next battle may be more critical.

So my thoughts on CoC the basics are pretty easy to pick up. I had no idea what I was doing in the patrol phase and completely messed up. With the command roll you always have the possibility that you can’t do anything which I am sure can be frustrating, watching the Utube videos it was amazing that players were simply rolling their dice and then simply declaring they couldn’t do anything so moving on. Games where the dice might by pure luck prevent you carrying out your carefully developed strategy can be frustrating but it is no different for example in Lion Rampant. I do like the attention to detail, squads and team and weapons etc…which is different (although not necessary better than BA). What I do like ‘at the moment’ is the detail put into developing the forces which allows a more realistic feel to the attack vs defence scenario. I can see that the attack vs defence may become slightly predictable ? Obviously it wasn’t in this battle which kind of proves the rule, but for example there was no incentive or sense in the Germans moving all they could and should realistically do was dig in at the back and lay down as much fire as they could. Obviously as this was my first battle I have nothing to compare it with others will have more experience.

We made a few mistakes with the rules but those we made probably evened out, Annastasia was actually better than we thought, both sides may have lost NCO’s quicker but this will come with a few more games. Defenders don’t get barrages which slowed down the Russian deployment but as the Germans couldn’t shoot them at that point it didn’t matter. All in all really enjoyed the Game, looking forward to the next instalment. It has of course got me thinking about a CoC force, Germans and British I can do with my current forces but it has given me some ideas…after all I always need another project.

Games are coming thick and fast as we approach a Christmas lull and we just finished another back of beyond battle which I’ll post in a couple of days.

Matt 😀


26 comments:

  1. George put on a fine spread indeed, interesting to read your impressions of CoC usually being a Bolt Actioneer yourself.

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    1. Thanks Phil, my inherent laziness had prevented me from trying yet another ruleset, but like all popular rules if that many people like them they can’t be all bad ?

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  2. That is a fine AAR of a super game, despite the rules which I loathe!

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    1. Thanks David obviously George takes the credit for the setup as for the rules …..I enjoyed my first taste

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  3. Very nice, this retirement must exhausting with the number of games you are getting in

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    1. Cheers …..retirement highly recommended 👍

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  4. A terrific read and a good a take on the rules. I am looking forward to the next tussle.

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    1. Thanks for the setup and introduction …….beginners luck, I fear the Russian infantry will be cut down next battle 🤔

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  5. I too was very interested to read your thoughts on CoC. I have read many good reports and it too is sitting on my bookshelf. The patrol phase is the mechanic that really got me interested in the rules.

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    1. Each definitely have their benefits, I am yet to be completely convinced about the patrol phase but time will tell, it does add a little fun at the start. One benefit is it does mean you can potentially get into the action quite quickly which could be a big advantage if you are attacking catching the defender off guard.

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  6. Super looking game that George laid out for you guys. Victory in your first outing? Great job!

    Like others, I will be interested in seeing the evolution of your assessment of CoC as a game and WWII combat model as you fight your way through the campaign at Smolensk.

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    1. The win was just luck really, although the Railway station gave my forces a very solid position to get closer to the enemy before launching the final assault. So far I can see both rules having their merits. Of course I’m not sure my brain will be able to hold both systems at once ?

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  7. You can rely on George to put on a fine game of toy soldiers!
    Glad you guys had a CoC bash. I like both BA and CoC. Each rule set has plus and minus points tho.
    Looking forward to the next instalment.
    Cheers
    Matt

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    1. Thanks Matt, a good introduction…..George was excited to receive a parcel during the game which he said was from you 👍

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  8. Great to see this Matt as just the inspiration I need to finish off my Soviet force. The game looks great too.

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    1. Thanks Michael go for it, personally I can comfortably separate the historical from the current international position so have no problems with Russians or playing them. What is nice in fact is in this campaign I can play Russians as back in the dungeon I normally pay the Germans !

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  9. Looks like a great game and reminds me I need to get my Russians on the table soon

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    1. Thanks Neil obviously the figures and setup are all George’s effort. I can only claim credit for the lucky dice rolls 👍

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  10. A fine game there Matt, but after some initial enthusiasm for CoC, I found that they didn't tick the box for me. One scenario (I forget which), the Attacker can automatically win due to the deployment rules for the Defender when playing across the table. Hence why I think I see so many games played down the table. Still other players love them so maybe it's just me. Personally I like the simplicity of BA in comparison.

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    1. Thanks Steve we’ll see how the campaign develops, I guess the same comparison can be made between lion Rampant and saga when playing dark age skirmishes, they can both be fun but are quite different. I think I might try the patrol phase in some other games for fun 👍

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  11. Bloody hell, this is the second blog that I have visited today where a comment I made earlier has not appeared, and I hadn't even been drinking when I did them! I have played a few games of CoC and always enjoyed them...in contrast, I haven't played BA but have seen it in action and it didn't look that great to me...but probably unfair to judge it without giving it a go! Anyway, it was good to see the right side winning...I can easily separate the Red Army of WWII from the Russian Army of today....if we could not do that, why would anyone ever want to play the Germans in WWII??

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    1. Don’t worry Keith, if you’d asked me I would have said I had seen a comment already ? But you can’t trust my memory. Anyway we’ll see how the comparison of those rules goes, quite different and both have many followers 👍

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  12. A cracking looking game and a will for you… what’s not to like😁
    I look forward to seeing how the campaign plays out.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly…..the win was all luck I think 👍

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