Battle Report - 30 Mar 2019 - Big Chain of Command "Garavan"

Catching up now I actually have any internet connection worthy of the name :D

Day 1 at Crisis Point (in Dungworth Green Village Hall near Sheffield), saw me roped in (well, eagerly volunteering) to play a Big CoC scenario set during Mussolini's brief invasion of France in 1940, specifically the town of Garavan. The scenario rejoices in the glorious title "You'd Have To Be A Lunatic". Why?

In a recent interview on the Beasts of War Youtube channel, Richard (Too Fat Lardies) Clark said, “You would probably have to be a lunatic to want to refight that particular part of the war”. 

I'm quite surprised how much watching the various Beasts of War CoC videos has improved my understanding of the game. I didn't disgrace myself, certainly. The left flank was a solid win for my French, as the troops they were facing were predominantly Green, and Arthur did attempt to close-assault my defensive position (despite being advised not to after I'd done the rough dice maths)... 36 dice for me (which I suspect was actually under, and should have been 45! need to check with the FAQ how extra dice for how far the attacker moved and troop quality difference work with multiple units) vs 15 for them lead to a pretty inevitable result.

The right flank was markedly more painful, as Leo's forces were one of those blasted Blackshirt platoons, with four blooming machine gun teams! Despite being in hard cover, it's pretty hard to survive someone throwing 24 dice at you every time he activates. Actually, 18 dice plus covering fire is actually worse as it hampered my ability to wear him down. With hindsight, I shouldn't have thrown another good section into that building as that too got clobbered. Even with help from Jim's tanks, we lost that flank, so an honourable draw.

Good fun anyway, and thanks to Richard for running it! More details and photos of the scenario prep are available on his excellent blog.

Picture album below - check out the gorgeous buildings!

From the French left rear

The Grand Hotel. Prime site for a Hotchkiss HMG.

Defence on the French right. (Well, de wall, actually)