New CoC Campaign - Operation Martlet

Hi All,

Just a quick update this time. Rich has been madly researching away and has released the latest in his series of ridiculously low-priced 'Pint Sized' campaigns for Chain of Command. This one is based around the battles for Rauray in Normandy which saw the British 49th (West Riding) Division face off the fanatical remnants of the 12th SS Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend'. During these battles the 49th were given the nickname 'Polar Bear Butchers' by their SS enemy for the  ferocity of their attacks.

The battles for Rauray, along with the subsequent Operation Epsom and Hill 112 battles, hold a particular interest for me. When I first visited Normandy I spent some time walking these battlefields, staying at the nearby Chateau de Martragny. My British troops are painted up as the 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers, part of the 15th (Scottish) Division which was engaged in Epsom.

The pdf is GBP3.60, which works out at around 8 Australian pesos with the current abysmal exchange rate. As it's pretty easy to pay $13 for a schooner of beer in the Sydney CBD, this translates as a very good 'schooner sized' deal as well. :) The full colour PDF includes an historical background, force breakdowns and support lists for both sized, along with the six scenarios and campaign structure. This is an excellent product, and if you're so inclined the result which you get from playing this campaign can be used to influence the Operation Epsom campaign which is currently in development - just as in the real battle the British failure to take Rauray meant that the western flank of the Epsom assault was open to German counterattacks and fire from the Rauray spur.
So if you're at all interested in a fun, hassle free campaign based on meticulous research, head over to the Toofatlardies site and pick it up.

Operation Martlet - Chain of Command Pint Sized Campaign

 On another note, with my French Napoleonic product complete, i've been working furiously away painting up some 20mm Australian Defence Force diggers for Afghanistan, in preparation for the upcoming Fighting Season rules, which are a modern set for asymmetrical warfare based on Chain of Command. Here's a preview of what i've been working on, some of the fantastic Elhiem figures.
MUCH more to come!

L to R: SASR Operator, Radio Op, and ADF Platoon Commander

The Men of the North

Wow, it's been a REALLY long time since i've posted anything on the blog. A lot has happened since the last post back in October. Besides the usual festivities associated with Christmas and the silly season, I spent six weeks visiting Vienna, Prague, and travelling around Turkey.
Much more on that in future posts, suffice it to say that as someone with an interest in history, particularly Habsburg Austria and the Byzantine Empire, it was a pretty amazing experience. For now, i've included a picture of sunset over Istanbul and one of yours truly in front of the 14th century Byzantine fortress above the town of Andalou Kavagi. Armed with some excellent first hand research on Byzantine military costume and equipment from the cave churches of Cappadocia, I'm really keen to get my Byzantines finished. At the moment, i'v got a unit of six Gripping Beast and Crusader cavalry nearing completion. My Byzantines are going to be for Terror Mundi, the upcoming Dux Britanniarum supplement i've been working on set in 11th century Italy and Sicily. I'll keep everyone posted as this progresses, some AARs will be on the way soon.

Sunset across the Golden Horn to old Istanbul 

Me in front of Yoros Castle on the Bosphorus

I also *may* have rather impulsively invested in 15mm Austrian and French armies for the 1859 Second Italian War of Unification. Ahem... Well, they're currently first in line to be de-flashed and undercoated, so we'll see where that project goes. I've no idea what i'll do with them yet, but I've always found the war fascinating. Perhaps by the time i've completed both forces, the TooFatLardies Napoleonic rules will be out and ready for some tweaking.

Speaking of the Lardies, Rich has release the latest of his Pint Sized campaigns, Kampfgruppe von Luck. This is based around the defence of le bas de Ranville on D-Day +1. As the 6th Airborne Division and the 21st Panzer division are the forces which my Chain of Command forces are based upon, i'm very keen to have a crack at this campaign down at the club. As with the 29th Division pint sized campaign, this is useable with Battlegroup, Bolt Action or your WWII ruleset of choice, and as before the research and presentation is exceptional. At the price of a pint, (actually cheaper than a pint down under!), you simply cannot go wrong. Expect to see some AARs of the campaign coming up in the next few months.

Anyway, enough blathering for now. One of my goals for this year is to increase the frequency of updates on the blog. I've completed loads of stuff over the last few months, it's just a matter of photographing it and posting it up.

For today, here are some additions for my Dux Britanniarum Romano-British. I had rebased some Late Roman figures to use as commanders, however they felt a little too Roman for a campaign set in the Kingdom of the North. Not that anyone really needs an excuse to paint up the gorgeously sculpted Musketeer Miniatures figures. Incidentally, these are now available from Footsore Miniatures, following Bill Thornhill's move the the states.

Defenders of the Old North

The Gwyr y Gogledd forces muster

I've used the Dux Brit rules to role up names and some background information for these guys. A campaign based around the Kingdom of the North (using the Gwyr y Gogledd adaptions from Dux Brit: The Raiders) is on the cards for later in the year.

First up is Gwerthefyr the Able, the commander of my Gwyr y Gogledd - that's Men of the North for those of you not fluent in old British. The 29 year old Gwerthefyr is a fine warrior, despite his diminutive size. The son of a Decurion who served on the wall before the eagles left britain, Gwerthefyr is an entirely honourable commander. In campaign terms, this means he can never commit regicide and seize the kingship.

Gwerthefyr the Able

Pedrog is the champion of the Romano-British force. 26 years old and of average build, Cerdic is a dutiful follower and a skilled warrior. The superbly grisly Pedrog and Gwerthefyr figures are some of my favourite sculpts.

Pedrog, the British champion

Next up is one of the nobles, Conan, tall and strong with the constitution of an ox. Son of a British warlord formerly allied with Rome, the 28 year old Conan is a formidable warrior.

Conan, son of a warlord. LMBS shield transfer

The 30 year old Vortiporius the Ambitious is an expert horseman. It is rumoured that royal blood flows in his veins, and that his birth was the result of a drunken encounter between King Iddon and the daughter of a stable hand. While there is an uncanny resemblance between Vortiporius and the old King has led to the sobriquet 'the Ambitious,' it would be a brave man who would question the honour of this fearsome warrior.

Vortiporius the Ambitious. LBMS shield transfer.

The Gwyr y Gogledd rules allow the Romano-Brits to field units of their warriors of hearth guard as mounted troops. I painted up some of these excellent Gripping Beast late Romans as mounted warriors along with a mounted version of Vortiporious. The figures came with the old style GB horses, so I remounted them onto some Aventine nags. The shield patterns are from Little Big Men Studios.

Vortiporius the Ambitious a cheval. 

Gwyr y Gogledd horsemen

I also finished a unit of Gwyr y Gogledd Comanipulares, heavily armed hearthguard. Again, these are the exceptional Musketeer/Footsore figures. Alongside the figures, i've finished off a couple of fenland / marsh terrain pieces. Here is one along with my Romano-British watchtower. This was scratch built along with some other dark ages buildings. The design was taken from Mitch's blog.
Thats it for now, i'll be back soon with more updates. Thanks for reading!

Guarding against the Saxon menace

Fen / Marsh terrain

Comanipulares and nobles

Go To It! - British Parachute Platoon for Chain of Command

Well, it's been a busy few months since the last update. Full time teaching is rather full on. Besides being exhausting, it's also rather enjoyable though, and at the moment I'm teaching Year 9 all about the First World War. They all seem rather engaged, and we've been having some rather stimulating discussions about the nature and experience of the war, and the way it is seen in popular culture. The introduction of the new national curriculum has allowed a much more global, less parochial view of the conflict. We celebrated 'harmony day' last week by examining the roles of a variety of cultures and nations in the war. The kids were very interested, and often surprised. Investigating the Indian commitment to the war, and the war in East Africa in particular provoked a lot of discussion.

I'm still aiming to introduce some kind of gaming group in the school, and there are a number of students who are rather keen. I think I'll wait till after report time though.

Anyway, i've been cracking on with the painting in the odd spare moments, and have managed to get some bits and pieces painted up. The new airbrush does tend to speed things up a bit, particularly with the intricate 1940 French and late war German vehicle camo patterns.

Anyway, I'm thinking that the best way to get images of these up on the blog is in a series of posts, each 'parading' one of the force's i've been working on.

So, for this update the focus will be on my British Parachute platoon, and accompanying support units, all for Chain of Command. I've managed to get a few Chain of Command: At The Sharp End campaign games in with these guys (AARs to come, I promise!), and they are very interesting, flexible and potent force to play with. I've based my force around the 6th Airborne Division in Normandy, but they could easily be used for 1st Airborne at Arnhem or 6th bouncing the Rhine in 1945.

The figures are all '20mm', so somewhere around 1/72 scale. They are mostly the superbly sculpted and realistically animated Battlefield/Blitz figures, with a leavening of Britannia. I think that despite the differing sculpting styles they fit together rather well. I've included the background info generated using At The Sharp End for the command figures. The platoon is based on one from the 12th Parachute Battalion.

Platoon Command
This consists of the platoon commander, platoon sergeant, one two man PIAT team, a sniper, and one two man 2" mortar team.

Lt Rawlinson

Lt. Edward Rawlinson is the platoon commander. A former factory worker from Northampton in the Midlands, Rawlinson enlisted in 1940 as a private. He saw action in the Mediterranean and Sicily, where his practicality, capability and bravery saw him rise through the ranks. 27 years old, and of average stature, Rawlinson jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for the Airborne.

Sgt Threepwood

Sgt Reginald 'Lofty' Threepwood is the platoon sergeant. A bohemian from a wealthy family near Tonbridge, the intellectual looking 27 year old studied the classics at Trinity college, Oxford before moving to London and living the good life off family money. During the blitz, his favourite club was destroyed by bombs. Threepwood was injured badly, and his many of his friends and his fiancee were killed in the explosion. Since that night his joie de vivre has been replaced by a burning hatred of all things German. Following his recovery, he signed up for service. Posted to a training unit near Bristol due to his injuries, he was promoted quickly. He jumped at the chance to volunteer for the airborne and so finally take his revenge on the enemy. 

No.1 Section 

Sgt McReedie

Parachute sections follow the standard British infantry model of Section commander, three man Bren light machinegun team, and six man rifle team. The difference is that the Section commander is a Sergeant rather than a Corporal, and Sten (or even looted MP40) submachine guns are more prevalent. 

No.1 section is commanded by Sgt Douglas McReedie. 25 year old ‘Dougie’ McReedie was formerly apprenticed to the sole mechanic in the small North Ayrshire village of Glengarnock before jumping at the chance to enlist in the regulars in ’40. He fought with the 51st Division in North Africa, before transferring to the Airborne. McReedie is short in stature, a real bantam.



No.2 Section

Sgt Hitchens

No.2 section is commanded by Sgt. James Hitchens. An Irishman born in the outskirts of Ulster, Hitchens fudged his age to join up in 1933, since then the army has been his true home. He’s served in many campaigns, from the Northwestern Frontier and East Africa to Narvik, North Africa and Italy. He was one of the first to volunteer for the Airborne. 27 years of age, he is a strapping six-footer.




No.3 Section

Sgt Ballantyne

This section is 'beefed up' with an extra Bren gun, making it a potent force to provide a base of fire. This section comprises two fire teams, one of five and one of four men, each based around a Bren light machine gun.

No.3 section is commanded by Sgt. John Ballantyne, a farmer’s son from the North. He worked on the family farm near Ripon on the Yorkshire Dales before volunteering in ’39. He saw some action in North Africa before volunteering to the Airborne. He is 27 years of age, and physically an average sort.



Support Options:

Vickers heavy machine gun team. All Britannia

6 pounder anti-tank gun and crew. All Britannia, excepting one Battlefield crewman

FOO team. Britannia.


Medic. Britannia


Recce Jeep. Britannia

Recce Carrier. Britannia

Tetrarch light tank. Milicast.

Horsa Glider. Not really a support option, but thought I should include it. It is from Italeri.

So there you have it. The only items which I have to add to this unit are a flamethrower team and some engineers.

Next up, I'll be covering my 21st Panzer forces. I've just begun working on Dux Britanniarum forces, as I want to get the remainder of my Romano-British and Saxons finished off so I can get some games in.

Thanks for reading!

CoC - At The Sharp End Review

A bit of exciting news came through yesterday, with Rich et al at Toofatlardies releasing their Second World War campaign supplement, Chain of Command: At The Sharp End. I've had a read through and have to say it is superb. The supplement is available in pdf format for the princley sum of £6.00. The 48 page pdf is full colour, clearly laid out and has loads of helpful images and diagrams.

In a nutshell, the supplement enables you to create a platoon level campaign during the second world war, though it would be easily translatable to other conflicts like the Spanish Civil War or Korean War with little effort. As with the excellent campaign system in Dux Britanniarum, the focus is on playability and minimising paperwork and planning. Three 'levels' of campaign are included, the No Map Campaign is the least fuss, taking literally minutes to set up and play. The Simple Map Campaign involves a little more planning, but includes a background narrative which, if you're anything like myself, is really the reason why we play campaigns. The Full Map Campaign requires the most effort to set up, but is also the most rewarding in terms of narrative and historical engagement. To be honest, the level of preperation required even for the Full Map Campaign is pretty negligable, and if you're like me and enjoy digging out a GSGS map and a couple of Battlezone or Battleground books, then it can hardly be called strenuous.
I managed to get a Full Map Campaign based around the 21st Panzer Division's counterattack against the 12 Parachute Battalion in Ranville on D-Day. It took me just an hour or two yesterday afternoon to sort out, and I had figures on the table playing the first battle last night.
The book contains some example Full Map Campaigns based around the Canadians on Juno Beach and the 5th Wiltshire's attack on Hill 112.

The campaign system itself is elegant, immersive, and plays quickly with minimal book-keeping. Besides the ebb and flow of the campaign, the casualties, reinforcements and replacements, even bravery citations and awards are all simulated effectively, making for a very immersive experience. Playing the first game of my Ranville campaign, I was struck by how much more conservative I was with the forces, particularly the understrength paras. In the campaign system, the player must balance the benefits of victory in one battle with the impact of casualties on the overall campaign. Which adds another layer to the Chain of Command rules, and is fantastic and engaging stuff.

Also included in the supplement is a section where you can create your platoons key characters. This part will be familiar to those who've played Sharp Practice, Platoon Forward or Squadron Forward. I really love this kind of stuff, and it really helps the engagement level when your No.2 Section commander is no longer 'Para running, with Sten' from figure pack PAR12,  but 25 year old barrel-chested Sergeant Ernie Brown,  a former door to door salesman who sold brushes, mops and feather dusters to the housewives of Colchester before joining up. Detailed backgrounds, selected randomly using 2D6, are included for the British, USA, Germany and USSR. Sidney of the superb  Roundwood's World  blog has posted an excellent character generation sheet for French Big Men in WWI, which i'll be modifying for use with my 1940 French.

Throughout the campaign, your platoon leader will be affected by three opinions. Victories and defeats will impact on your standing with the CO, and so the likelihood of getting the pick of the support options. Too many setbacks will see you called into an uncomfortable interview with the CO. Besides the CO, being too reckless with your men's lives will earn you their enmity and you could face a mutiny or even become the victim of a mysterious accident.
Finally, the effects of battle can weigh on your platoon leaders own outlook. A raft of successes can lead him to heady optimism and exhilaration, while defeat can leave him insecure and uncertain. Battle fatigue may lead to mental exhaustion or a breakdown. It's all very engaging stuff, and again is easily tracked with minimal paperwork and adds another layer of narrative to the campaign.

So that's my take on At The Sharp End. I'd also add that while it's got Chain of Command on the title page and is obviously aimed at this ruleset, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from using it with Battlegroup Overlord, Bolt Action or any number of WWII rulesets. It's a fantastic resource, and gets a very big two thumbs up from me!


I'll be posting more about the campaign i've set up, including AARs and the maps i've generated. For my next update, I'll introduce the British Airborne platoon which I painted up late last year, including the personalities i've generated for the command characters using At The Sharp End.

Stay tuned!

Chain of Command AAR: Battle of Route Nationale 66

British troops charge along RN66

Two posts in as many days. This must be some kind of record for me. Tomorrow I have to get stuck into the last round of assessments for my degree, so thought I should get another after action report posted before I descend back into the abyss. Over the weekend I had the chance to again get stuck into some play testing of the up and coming Toofatlardies skirmish level Second World War ruleset, Chain of Command. For those of you who may have missed it, my first AAR may be read here. After a couple of play throughs, the basic game mechanics are now all but second nature, and the game flows quickly and smoothly. If I had not kept stopping to snap photographs, this game would have taken less than an hour.

On a related note, the latest Summer Special from the Lardies has just been released. For those not familiar with the biannual specials, I'd highly recommend you to check it out. The pdf files offer a plethora of articles and scenarios on topics ranging from close air support in the Vietnam war to an excellent Sharp Practice amendment for the War of the Roses, courtesy of Pat of Wargaming with Silver Whistle fame. This latest special also includes a superb looking campaign for I Ain't Been Shot Mum by Lard-in-Cheif, Rich Clarke. The campaign is based around the Irish Guards battlegroup's attacks towards Valkenswaard during the initial stages of Operation Market Garden in
1944. The campaign breaks the action down into ten game able actions, with the british player racing against the clock and the overstretched German team struggling to stem the onslaught with their overstretched forces. I'm already planning to expand my forces to allow the local club to get stuck into this campaign. While designed with IABSM3 in mind, it seems that this would port easily to Battlegroup Overlord or Flames of War. Anyway, I'd highly recommend you check it out. 

Now, I was going to post an AAR, wasn't I? Without further ado, the battle of Route Nationale 66. I thought I might use a bit of a creative narrative this time.

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The Battle of Route Nationale 66, between Caen and Villers-Bocage, mid-June 1944. 

The battleground. Brits entered from the left

The 15th Scottish Division had only landed at Gold Beach four days earlier and already they were being ordered into action again. This time their objective is to sever  Route Nationale 66, a tarmac road which German forces have been using to link forces around Caen with troops facing the Americans north of Vire. At the afternoon's O group, Lieutenant Harry MacLeod of the 6th King's Own Scots Borderers had learned that his No.10 Platoon was once again to lead the company's advance. H-Hour was set for 0530 the following morning. A half troop from the divisional recce regiment was to support MacLeod's advance. Sgt Arthur 'Neddie' Seagoon's half troop comprised two Humber armoured cars, one a mark IV armed with a 37mm gun, the other a bren gun armed LRC. Both cars were fast, but would be up against it if Jerry had any armour or '88s in the area. 

Sgt 'Neddie' Seagoon atop his mighty steed

MacLeod ordered Sgt. Arthur Campbell, his veteran platoon sergeant, to take a small group and patrol the enemy position. Shortly after nightfall, Campbell led his men towards the main road, eyes peeled for the inevitable enemy patrols. The clanking of metal and hushed conversation in German announced that enemy were located in a ruined farmhouse across the road. Campbell was experienced enough to realise that Jerry had spotted his patrols as surely as he had theirs. Returning to the friendly lines, the sergeant informed MacLeod of the enemy locations, and with this information in hand the lieutenant decided on jump-off points for tomorrows action, locations where he knew he could safely feed his sections into the coming fight. Having done all he could, MacLeod joined his men in a night of fitful and restless sleep.

The men rose in the darkness and as the sun began to broach the eastern sky, the men formed up into sections and moved off towards their forming up area. MacLeod ordered Sgt. Campbell to take Cpl. James Robson's section up the dirt track and to seize the ruined house. As Campbell and Robson;s section advanced cautiously towards the house, Seagoon's Humber IV whirred down the road past them before halting in the middle of the tarmac road. Seagoon saw the German machine-gun team covering the dirt track down which Campbell and Robson were advancing. He traversed the turret traversed towards the building and opened up on the Germans with the 37mm and coaxial BESA. He saw 2 Germans go down hit by tracer, and then Campbell and Robson's section were around him. The rhythmic chatter of the Bren gun joined the staccato crack of his BESA coax as the section's bren team, directed by Campbell, laid down covering fire. Campbell led his rifle team in a charge across the road, but just then the sound of tearing canvas erupted from the church yard down the road. A tripod mounted MG42 ripped into the rear of Campbell's men, sending the survivors running for the cover of a nearby bomb crater.

Campbell orders Robson's section forward

The textbook British advance reaches the crossroads

MG42 team fires into the British flank

Seagoon edged his car closer, cutting down the German survivors. He could swear he saw the German gefreiter fall when from nowhere a panzerfaust round slammed into the hull. His ears ringing and coughing from the smoke, he soon discovered that Hitchens, his driver, was badly wounded. Exposed and under enemy fire from a newly appeared section, Seagoon chose to rotate the turret and keep firing.

The Humber LRC joins the fray

Harry MacLeod had heard the dull metallic crash as something had slammed into the armoured car, but after only a brief pause the rhythmic chatter of the BESA had started up again. The horrifying sound of a spandau came  from down the road to his left. It was wiping out Campbell's force by degrees, so he  ordered Corporal Bill MacLaggan to take his section, cut across the road into the churchyard, and to outflank the machine-gun position. MacLaggan, still recovering from his recent wound, led his section off through the fields to the left. 

Another German section is fed into the fight.

Seagoon was giving Jerry hell. A second panzerfaust had slammed the ground only feet from his car, and still the BESA chattered its death song at the German section. He glanced behind him to see that Cpl. Bluebottle had reached the crossroads with his LRC. Good, he thought, soon we'll have these Jerry blighters on the run. So elated was Seagoon at the prospect that he never even saw the panzerschreck team which, having crept around the flank of his car, fired the round that turned the Humber IV into flaming ruin.

The panzerschreck makes short work of Seagoon's Humber

MacLeod glanced down the dusty track towards the house. He had heard the explosion and say the oily black smoke trail which was the funeral pyre for Seagoon and his crew. Christ almighty he thought, why had that bloody armoured car gotten so close to the German positions. The battle was swinging against him. He could see Sgt Campbell trying desperately to rally down the tattered remnants of Robson's section, but they all remained hunkered down in bomb crater. Worse, the bloody spandau was still firing from somewhere down the road. Suddenly, Private MacIntyre, Robson's Bren gunner came staggering down the track, blood streaming from his forehead.
"Its bloody murder sir, they're gone, they're just all bloody gone."

Lt MacLeod grasps the nettle

 MacLeod tried to get more sense out of the man but he was too badly dazed, so the Lieutenant sent him back to the RAP to have the headwound seen to.

So Robson's bren team was gone now as well. The Humber LRC sat immobile on the crossroads. He had to take the initiative or his platoon was lost. He drew his pathetically underpowered Webley revolver as he rushed towards Corporal Angus Duncan.

"Duncan, get your section and follow me. You too Peters." Duncan and his section set off at the run, with Private Peters grabbing the 2" mortar and following.

Chaos reigns at the crossroads

Sgt Arthur Campbell was not having a pleasant morning. He'd seen the armoured car go up, and the air was thick with thick acrid smoke as the car burnt itself out. Jerry had taken up position in the walled yard of the ruined house and were laying down a relentless fire on his position. He glanced around the crater at the shaken remnants of Robson's section as bullets spattered against the earth bulwark. What good could three men do anyway, he thought as he peered carefully over the rim of the crater. The other armoured car was still sitting there, engine idling and now he could see more movement beyond the ruined house. If someone didn't plug that gap, he thought, Jerry was going to outflank their entire position. He could see a German section racing across the road, throwing a hail of grenades at the small barn, their dull crump carrying above the noise of the battle. Then from barn erupted with a hail of fire.

German attack moves in on the barn

Duncan and MacLeod lead the defense

Bloody hell, thought MacLeod as he reloaded his Webley, that had been close. He peered out the door of the barn to see five Germans. A grizzled looking veteran was moaning softly and holding his stomach, but otherwise the bodies were still. He spotted movement across the road. He saw the Jerry section split into fire teams and ducked back inside as the MG42 opened up on the barn. He could hear the crump of the 2" mortar shells as Peters tried to stem this assault, but the firing did not let up.
He looked around at Duncan's section. The first assault had taken it's toll on the men, Carlyle and Rogers were dead, and the rest were badly shaken.They couldn't hold much longer, his hands were shaking and he couldn't get the bloody rounds in the revolver. Just then Duncan's voice came reassuringly steady and strong.

The German Feldwebel lies severely wounded

"Right lads, lets get ready, they're coming again. I want rapid fire, we'll hold these Jerry bastards. Let's give it to them."
The enfields cracked a rapid staccato and the Bren took up it's rythmic chatter again. MacLeod glanced out the window and fired off his six rounds in the general direction of the movement.
To his left, the second armoured car had finally gotten moving again. He could see the commander, blood streaming down his face as he calmly fired into the German position, pausing only to reload the Bren with parade ground precision.

The LRC lays down a withering fire

"Sir" It was Duncan. "Sir, I think we've got them on the run. Might be time to have a crack at the ruined house don't you think?"
Gazing in disbelief, MacLeod saw the second armoured car race across the road and towards the enemy hedge line, Bren chattering all the while. These bloody recce blokes liked to live life on the edge. He turned quickly back to Duncan.
"Right you are Gus," he turned to the men. "Right lads, bayonets and grenades. Lets send the rest of these bastards scurrying back to Berlin. Collins, you see to that wounded German, take him back to company."

The Brits take the offensive

The attack moves in as the LRC siezes a jump-off point

He led the men across the road and towards the ruined house at the run. It all seemed to be in slow motion, he saw the grenades explode in the yard like dirty brown smudges, then they were hand to hand with the Germans, he could see men down on both sides, then he saw Duncan take a bayonet in the arm.

Hand to hand in the rubble

The positions at game end, MacLeod and Duncan rally their men in the bomb crater as German morale crumbles

 "Fall back lads, find some cover." The survivors ran back across the road, but they were not pursued by fire. He saw Duncan, the last out of the yard. He trotted over, his sleeve bloody but with a broad grin on his face. He held a Schmeisser out for MacLeod to take.
"There y'are sir. It's not exactly regulation I know, but better than that bloody pea shooter I suspect." The corporal looked across the road and smiled.
"Sir, have a look at that would you."
MacLeod followed the corporal's gaze, and through the smoke and haze he could see the last remnants of the German troops fleeing for their life.

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Well, that was the action. The German's eventually broke when the LRC captured a jump off point and they lost their gefreiter in the melee. The action in the other flank, where MacLaggan's section had been sent, comprised mostly of desultory exchange of fire between the Bren team and the MG42, while the rifle section took cover in the churchyard.

MacLaggan's assault moves (slowly) in

The patrol phase is a great game within a game, and played completely differently with this scenario, which was a probing attack. I also got a chance to use some of the nation specific rules, and these do add to the flavour of the game without being overwhelming. The German assaults on the barn were preceded by a hail of Grenades, causing a few casualties and some serious shock which very nearly offset their not quite getting to grips with the enemy. The British rapid fire rule gave that extra edge to the firing, enabling them to decimate the second German attack. The armoured cars were fun, in fact they seemed more useful than the lumbering Churchill in the first game. The diminutive LRC performed admirably, despite the commander being wounded by a panzerschreck round. Again, the Chain of Command dice proved very useful, allowing both the Brits and the Germans to interrupt their opponent's plans.

I've just finished my first section of British Airborne, and hope to have the rest of the platoon finished soon after i've completed this round of assessments. I've also got the blokes from the local club coming round to have a multiplayer Sharp Practice evening, so in between umpiring the game, i'll be endeavoring to snap some photos and get an AAR of this up.

For now, stay tuned for more AARs and updates in the near future.