Combat Commander - three Stalingrad scenarios played

After last weeks disappointment with Old School Tactical Dad and I went back to our perennial favourite Combat Commander.
We played 3 scenarios from the Stalingrad battle pack and what a joy they were to play too !
No AFVs but you know what you actually do not really miss them in this excellent Infantry game.
We have played the Stalingrad pack before but these were still fresh and exciting scenarios to play.
First had Ivans defending 'Dom 31' a fortified house near the Barrikady.
Dom 31 partially set ablaze but thankfully I was able to hold on to it and other Objectives for a win.
Second game set in one of the gullies near the Volga and bit of a shooting fest as rather open terrain.
Ivan win again by forcing Huns to surrender through losses.
Third game was back in streets of the city and a ding dong game it was.
Germans won as Dad managed to take a couple of objectives whilst inflicting heavy points losses on Ivans.
He got 2 extra powerful Pioneer units with satchel charges via event and also got 2 used satchel charges back also via event (lucky auld goat !) and simply blasted Ivans were they stood.
A key melee went his way as he had base 8 and rolled a 10 whilst I had a base 14 but only rolled a 3 losing two units and a leader (see lucky auld goat !!)

Great stuff.

Combat Commander - Stalingrad two scenarios played

Back to the Ostfront with my Dad and Combat Commander as we played two scenarios from the excellent Stalingrad Action Pack.
First up was Soviet defence of approaches to Volga which was touch and go until German reserves (and an extra Pioneer unit) made their presence felt crushing Soviet resistance.
Then it was to the Grain Elevator and this time the Germans suffered (especially from a double whammy combo of booby trap (Mines) and Satchel Charge) failing to even get into the factory complex.
As ever two exciting games with this always entertaining game.
Combat Commander must now be my most played board Wargame ever surpassing even Squad Leader (which I played to death back in the day) ?

Combat Commander: Stalingrad 3 games played

Another session with my Dad of this most excellent game.

More mayhem in Stalingrad with Ivans being victorious in three encounters, one near the Barrickady factory, another against Romanians at an airfield near the Chir river and lastly a vicious struggle for the 'Commisar's House'.   

All were fairly close affairs with both sides capable of clutching victory.

We had just about everything in the system thrown at us, Mines, Ampulomets (mine blew up breaking its crew and setting fire to hex !), Wire, Snipers, Heroes, Wire Entaglements, Blazes in fact everything except Air Attacks.



Great fun with truly great game, not since the heady days of Squad Leader have I been so devoted or enamored with a game !

Combat Commander two more Stalingrad scenarios played

Managed to get in a couple of games with the always excellent Combat Commander.

Two scenarios from the Stalingrad Battle a Pack with Ivans winning the first and Nazis the second.

Combat Commander: Stalingrad scenario played

Played another scenario from the Combat Commander: Stalingrad Action Pack with my Dad.

Scenario set in area around Dzerzhinsky Tractor Works and a Russian strong point known as DOM 31.

A fun little scenario with couple of unique Russian units, Garrison and an SMG Garrison manning the strong point.

Sewers make an appearance (echoes of Squad Leader) although I only used them once.

It proved tough going for the Germans (Dad got bit fixated on the strong point) especially when Russian relief force appeared.

 

Combat Commander: Stalingrad two scenarios played

Back to Combat Commander this week against my Dad with first two scenarios from the Stalingrad Battlepack.
Germans overran Ivans in short order in initial scenario at the outskirts of the great city but revenge was exacted at the Grain Elevator in the second.
Highlight for me was timely gain of extra Soviet unit which with excellent 'roll' gained me an Assault Squad with a Flamethrower which proceeded to catch a collection of Fascists in some rubble.
After flaming them the squad then shot them to oblivion.

As ever very enjoyable gaming with this most excellent system.

Five (yes 5 !!) Combat Commander games (pictastic)

Couple of days off (ye hah) and got in some more games with my Dad. Of course this meant Combat Commander got yet more play (I do have a miniatures game of Franco-Prussian) war in the offing too :-)















First scenario was from the Normandy pack with an action set on Sword Beach with me as British invader against German beach defenders. AS can be seen from pics below I had a large strech of beach to traverse to get to cover of a line of Shingle with only few hedgehogs defences to assist. Moving in sand/beach hex costs extra half movement point. The Germans have a Gun in a bunker but with fixed firing line several wire entanglement and couple of other Bunkers all connected by communication trenches (give good cover of +4). British troops a mixed bunch but they do have scenario specific ability to always discard one card even if other orders/actions taken. But by far the biggest influence in our game was pre-game smoke bombardment which puts random smoke into 10 (I think) random hexes after set-up of both sides. Thankfully for me the smoke fell very kindly effectively masking of my approach of left hand side of beach. This let me move virtually unmolested up to the left most Bunker (and the one containg the fixed gun) which soon fell to a close assault. I was then able to mass against rest of Germans and mop them up for possibly easiest win yet. Of course could have been much different of smoke not so fortutitous in its placement or if a Breeze event had occurred. One up then to the offspring.

Second scenario played was an absolute belter around the Barrikady Factory in Stalingrad. Biggest game we have played in terms of units on board. Also a unique set up method with 24 random Rubble placements and our units divided up into numerous deployment groups which also alternate in random placement (draw two random hex cards per group and placed into/adjacent to hex nearest own base line. This resulted in units all over the place often intermixed . Fritzs get a really tough bunch of reserves on 4th 'turn' of 8 Sturm units. Fritzs can auto win by outnumbering Ivans in the main factory building at any point (firing is allowed within each factory at -3 hinderance). Fritzs usual 6 card attackers hand versus the Ivan 4 card defence but have ability to play all 6 if possible per turn. Ivans have a mix of units types but are mainly Rifle and Smg squads with several bunkers and MGs. Both sides have Satchel Charges, the Fritzs have Flamethrowers and the Ivans 2 Ampulolets (can be dangerous to users !) and Molotov Cocktails and a single Infantry gun. They also have access to Sewers. This game saw us both hurl units into melee early on firing within the factory pretty ineffective and the German have couple of Pioneers squads who are very potent at the old fisticuffs stuff. Biggest influence on game was a Blaze which started outside the factory just behind advancing Fritzs. A truly amazing run of Breeze card events (which dissapate smoke but spead Blazes) saw a massive 25 or so hexes eventually consumed. As it spread behind my Dads right wing forces he found himself caught with nowhere to go (units must exit Blaze hxes immediately) several times losing 4 Units to the flames !!!. This combined with other losses saw Fritzs forced to Surrender with Ivans not too far behind. This was a hugely entertaining game with loads of incidents and events and much wailing and gnashing of teeth or hooting and ahollering as fickle fate took part. The set up etc of this means it will seldom play same way twice (as we were to find out). Great stuff.

 

 Burn baby burn...........................

The carnage........................ 














Following day and another session saw us initially back to Stalingrad for an encounter around some fuel tanks near the Barrikady. Both sides a mix of troops and both having a small reserve that could come on on baseline or one flank edge of board. Ivans had two very tough Assault Squads (these have a low shooting range of 2 but these have really good firepower of 7 bossted to 8 in melee). The fuel tanks are only light cover. Both sides get points for exiting units with Ivans able to gain double if they can exit via three specifc hexes (either side of road exit at opposite base edge). With a good leader I was able to sweep right into Gully area and flank Fritzs who were stymied by a couple of rearguard squads and my reserves. Good meleecards and rolls saw Ivans take out key Fritz units and offered option to either go for the big exit points or to come in behind Fritzs. Guess which option I took !? Coming around behind I was able to kill enough to force another Surrender and so another win !

Next up was a scenario set in 1943 around Veilke Lukye and was a break-in/breakout setting with Ivans defending a Fritz relief force trying to break through to a town to allow its besieged garrison to escape. This was simulated by Germans getting an unbroken unit into the town (situated behind Ivans who were forbidden entry) to activate the garrison (a bunch of half squads) which reverses baselines to allow escape. Ivans gain victory points for each unit still in the town at game end. All hill hexes count as level one only. I decided to defend near the town rather than further forward as I was first tempted to do. Fritzs came on and reached tree lines. Here them came undone as they stumbled into a Minefield and my lowly Light Mortars got some great rolls and card combos to breal and kill severa units (we had found these light chaps rather impotent in past games). But this being Combat Commander two succesive events by yours truly saw two eliminated German units come back to the fray and into the damn town. Once Rallied from broken state and despite my trying to kill them, this brought the Garrison into play !! However I was able to bottle it up fairly well and at same time cause more losses to the relief force so again a Surrender by Fritzs was forced and another win !!!

We then mutually decided to finish of with a re-visit to the Barrikady scenario (Dad was determined to do better after spitting feathers about the 'bloody inferno' of previous attempt). So we duly set up scenario again and as expected the random deployments were quite different to first game . Ivans quite well established in the main Factory but had isolated units elewhere. On my left I did break a Pioneer squad (these are mean with firepower 7) but its colleague proceeded to single handidly take out three Ivan Bunkers and associated units. The arrival of the Sturm group en mass in the factory made it precarious for Ivans to take risks. A single turn massed assaults by Fritzs (4 in total) saw them lose 1 but win 3 and tip the balance of forces within the Barrikady in their favour thereby giving them the win. Not one single Blaze or Breeze event this time round. Again great fun and evidence (as if we needed it) of the variety inherent in this scenario set-up.

I really must try to get my Dad to play another game either that or buy the Resistance pack !!