Chain of Command, in the desert

Club day today, so Graham volunteered to bring his WWII Desert War forces & terrain along.

Here he is setting up the game - the focus very much the Arab dwelling near the centre.

I drew the Germans and our force morale was the highest, so we went first (after the patrol phase which determined where our deployment points were).

However, as Graham had better luck establishing his deployment points, he got men into the building early on and a bren gun team set up on the roof 

I decided to bring on an armoured car down the left to try and threaten his flank

Nasty surprise !  He has an armoured car ahead with an anti-tank gun which hits our main gun with its first shot . First blood to the Brits. 

Next I brought on a half track with MG34 fitted to the front

This proceeded to "brass up" the house

and the British started to take casualties

German infantry then arrived on the right behind some rocky cover to add the weight of their fire

An MG34 team that had set up behind a stone wall in the centre got picked off by the bren team on the house roof. Another blow to morale.

The British senior leader has now arrived and orders a section forward, right of the house

Another section has deployed near to the armoured car out on the right and they are joined by a universal carrier

The British are looking securely placed

German fire continues to be aimed at the men on the roof of the house

British troops rush to take advanced positions behind sand bags and scrapes in front of the house 

The German CO announces his arrival by leading a charge against them

A bloody affair which leaves four Germans dead and three British

so the Germans are forced back to their deployment point - in full view of several enemy guns !

The Germans get blown away - except for a very lucky CO. Down goes the morale again, so having started with 10 to the British 8, we are now no better off.

but the British unit is depleted and now coming under fire from the half track and infantrymen beside it, so will have to retreat 

The constant fire against the house has resulted in a British junior leader getting killed as well as the bren gunners. The MG team's loss did not seem to matter to the British but the death of the leader did 

The Germans have pulled back their armoured car to avoid further damage

This chap can feel pleased with his day's work !

The British having pulled back from their advanced position, the German half track advances threateningly to the sand bag wall

but the German infantry are reluctant to cross the open ground to support it

A British section has been ordered to replace the men killed at the house but their headlong dash has cost them quite some shock and they are not keen to enter the "house of death" !

We ended up with a stalemate, neither side wanting to risk the wall of lead coming their way should they venture too far forward.

That being the case and with both sides still sitting on reasonable force morale (6) it was thought that they would pull back from this bloody encounter, lick their wounds and try again another day.

It was a joy to play with these wonderful figures and terrain and Chain of Command rules always give us a game where you have to balance what you can really achieve against the cost of doing so.

Full marks !!!

Thanks Graham.