{"id":4806,"date":"2016-02-28T18:48:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T18:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=4806"},"modified":"2016-02-29T11:02:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T11:02:12","slug":"big-combat-patrol-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=4806","title":{"rendered":"Big Combat Patrol Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend I had a chance to run, watch, or participate in three very different games using Combat Patrol(TM): World War II. \u00a0The first was Friday night at our normal club gaming night. \u00a0Zeb Cooke ran a Winter War 1939 game using the rules as well as optional rules from the recently released Winter War supplement (see\u00a0http:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/Buck_Surdu\/Combat_Patrol.html). \u00a0I was actually playing a Regimental Fire and Fury Napoleonic game, on the other table, but I popped over several times and also had to answer the occasional rules question.<\/p>\n

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By all accounts this was a terrific game. \u00a0The attacking Fins didn’t fare well, however, in the face of a determined Russian defense of the cabins on the table.<\/p>\n

The second game was set in France in 1940. \u00a0I ran this game as a play test for a scenario I will be running at Cold Wars next march. \u00a0Based on a scenario from one of the Skirmish Campaigns books, this scenario involved a French counter attack against the French. \u00a0Both sides had a few tanks as well as infantry. \u00a0The French objective was to advance across the table and try to get at least two vehicles off the German table edge.<\/p>\n

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A German anti-tank gun takes out a Somua.<\/p>\n

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Every French tank was destroyed. \u00a0The German made good use of the terrain. \u00a0The French got off several shots, but failed to penetrate, while the Germans seemed to be able to penetrate with every shot they took. \u00a0In the end, all five French tanks had been destroyed by the end of the game, and the Germans had lost three of five. \u00a0All three French trucks were blown up, but the infantry had dismounted beforehand and were working their way through the woods. \u00a0In the end, it was determined that the French couldn’t achieve their objectives, so the game was a German victory.<\/p>\n

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The third game was Duncan’s Napoleonic game using Combat Patrol. \u00a0In this scenario, The Battle Before the Battle, the game involves French and British skirmishers fighting as a French column advances toward a British line. \u00a0You can see the formed troops represented by images glued to blocks. \u00a0Each turn, the French column advanced six inches. \u00a0At first the skirmishers engaged each other, but when the formed units got close enough together, they focused their attention on picking off officers and soldiers. \u00a0The game turned out to be a very close run affair, with the French speaking out a narrow victory in points.<\/p>\n

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To simulate the skirmishers taking advantage of available terrain, Duncan fills the middle ground with bits of lichen and rocks. \u00a0Skirmishers touching them are protected by the low cover and stone wall cover icons, respectively.<\/p>\n

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The British skirmish line in front of the formed line at the start of the battle. \u00a0You didn’t get any points for killing enemy skirmishers. \u00a0All points were awarded based on hits on the formed unit beyond. \u00a0As the two formed units got closer, players had to decide whether to suppress enemy skirmishers (to top them from firing on their formed unit) or fire on the enemy’s formed unit to get points.<\/p>\n

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French skirmishers moving advancing toward the British line. \u00a0The tactic of the period was to be deployed in pairs in which one may was reloading while the other fired. \u00a0In most cases the players used this tactic. \u00a0You can see white pipe cleaners used to mark figures who had fired. \u00a0Sometimes players got excited and fired with more than half their figures, which could leave them vulnerable to an enemy advance.<\/p>\n

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British skirmishers taking cover in the “middle ground” between the two formed units. \u00a0A fun moment came when one of Chris’ units failed morale. \u00a0In Combat Patrol, morale failure is a lack of cohesion, not just figures running away. \u00a0In many cases, morale results have figures becoming stunned or pinned, running away, or seeking cover. \u00a0In this case, Chris’ unit got tired of taking fire and charged toward the enemy. \u00a0His bayonet charge pushed back the British skirmishers, killed and wounded a couple, and put him in a position to fire on the British line.<\/p>\n

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In this picture you can see the French column after five turns of play.<\/p>\n

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And now the French column has shaken out into line.<\/p>\n

It was a good gaming weekend. \u00a0We did uncover one or two small areas of the rules that could be more clear. \u00a0For those who have downloaded the full rules from the DriveThru Cards Web site, I uploaded the updated version. \u00a0You should have gotten an Email from DriveThru telling you there is an updated you can download for free if you already purchased the full rules.<\/p>\n

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