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We had a chance to meet during the Holiday season and finally playtest Blitzkrieg Commander. This is a Warmaster based version of WW2 combat that can be played at either the 1:1 or 1:5 scale. The rule book is professionally done and is very inspiring. We use the 1:5 scale as we like the tempo of WW2 operational armored combat and using brigades in battle. The scenario was a straight forward race for the town in the center of the board and it was kept simple so we could try out the game's combat, command, and movement systems.
We had a battalion of British Shermans and Fireflys, a battalion of mech infantry, and a recon company backed up by three batteries of Sextons for the British. The Germans had a kampfgruppe consisting of two mech infantry companies, recon assets, anti-tank units, PZ IVs, and some heavy armor with artillery in support.
The Germans ran into command problems right away and it would plague them throughout the game. Only about half of their force was able to advance, but they did get infantry up to the outskirts of the town. The British responded by moving their armor out on tot he flank and preparing for a showdown with the German armor. The British mech infantry moved up tot he town while a second group made for a farm.
The action started when a German observer called in some artillery support and destroyed a British mech infantry company(artillery is deadly in this game-as it should be!). The German infantry came under fire in the village while the Shermans and PZ IVs swapped anti-armor fire. The Germans still only had a little over half of their forces in action.
Dave created a firm base of fire support with a group of Shermans while the second group engaged the PZ IVs. Soon, the weight of fire began to tell. The German command ssytem kept failing, leaving various units scattered and without support, which also meant that they were met by a wave of fire from the Shermans. The panzergrenadiers launched a fulll scale assault in the village, taking the church courtyard in hand to hand combat.
However, the British counterattacked with artillery and more infantry on the flank and German resistance began to crumble. The Shermans had knocked out a good section of the German armor forces and the Germans were at the point where their scattered commands could not punch through and seize the town, so the game was called.
Overall, we had a great time and like this system. It plays fast, is a lot of fun, and best of all, there is command and control with no added complexity. We will definitely be playing this again in the future.
Download the full report (150Kb, PDF format).
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