Ruckzug campaign - An overview

The Ruckzug campaign for Chain of Command follows the desperate rearguard actions of a hastily organised German kampfgruppe as it attempts a fighting withdrawal across Northern France to find refuge in Holland and Germany. Somehow they must find a way to stall the British pursuit and allow as many German units as possible to escape. 

The campaign appears in the 2021 Lard Magazine and sets up a challenging situation for the Germans and their pursuers the British. The campaign length will vary somewhere between five and eight games which means the clock is ticking and each side must seek the maximum advantage from every game to ensure they achieve the best possible outcome.

The structure of the campaign is fairly straightforward as the Germans will continue falling back to a new map regardless of who wins each scenario. Their aim is simple - to buy enough time for the safe withdrawal of as much of their force as possible. However, withdrawing without first inflicting sufficient loss on the British to delay them runs the risk the retreat turns into a rout. If that happens things start to fall apart very quickly, with vehicles breaking down and unit cohesion collapsing.

I will play the Germans and look forward to the challenge. Dave, my regular opponent in our CoC campaigns, will play the British.

The core German infantry unit is a weakened platoon:

They receive no reinforcements and must rely on whatever ad hoc units might be at hand. These will be selected randomly as the campaign progresses but much will depend on how successfully they have kept the British at bay. Prior to the start of the campaign the Germans will roll a D20 three times, receiving the supports from the corresponding list below.

Any losses suffered by the supports as a result of combat or vehicle breakdowns are permanent, otherwise they will stay part of the kampfgruppe throughout the campaign. Additional units will become available but that will depend on the outcome of the previous scenario. The chaos following a German defeat will limit what reinforcements are available (rolling only one D6 and choosing from the list above). That eliminates the chances of any heavy weapons and armour. In contrast a more successful delaying action and orderly withdrawal increases the likelihood that these are available to join the kampfgruppe (a roll of one D10). The reward for a scenario victory means three rolls of a D20, quite the incentive to fight it out.

Transport is vital and the Germans start with two trucks and two cars. These will prove critical if they are to continue retreating with the greatest quantity of men and equipment. In the event of a hasty withdrawal the chances that vehicles will be lost to breakdown or fuel shortages increases. It's a good incentive for the Germans to conduct the best delaying action they can manage. While the transport is abstracted and represents vehicles off the table it will give me a chance to use some of my newly painted Opel trucks, even if they are only scatter terrain.

Each scenario has three possible outcomes:

A German scenario victory - this is their best possible result, earning the Germans victory points and ensuring the maximum number of troops and equipment can withdraw.

A German voluntary withdrawal - this is a particular type of withdrawal specific to this campaign and can only be made if the Germans meet the following conditions - all units are within 12" of a jump-off-point and they have brought British force morale down 50% from its starting total (fractions rounded up) OR inflicted 25% losses on the British core platoon. Breaking contact under these conditions will still be difficult and there is a greater risk of losing vehicles or men as a result.

A German involuntary withdrawal - the worst possible of outcomes and is brought about by any of the following: German force morale reaches zero, the British achieve their scenario victory conditions, or, the requirements for a voluntary withdrawal (as above) are not met before the Germans withdraw. Under these conditions there is a considerable risk that equipment is abandoned and men become lost from their units.

The worse the outcome the more detrimental the losses. Abandoned transport vehicles will have a knock on effect on how many men are left behind or surrender. Campaign victory points are awarded according to the outcome of each scenario and the victor will be determined by the side that has accumulated the most victory points by the end of the final game. 

The British are in much better shape. They have a full Motor Platoon and will be able to replace this with a fresh one twice during the campaign. However this does come at the cost of two victory points for the delay the changeover creates for the British pursuit. 

In addition they can select 6+2D6 support for each scenario, however if they lost the previous game they will have 6+3D6 support available. They can draw on the full list of British support in the main rule book with the exception of:

• Fixed defences
• Comet tank
• Forward observer with mortar battery

I expect to see a fair amount of British armour and as the German player I'm hoping I have the opportunity to see some use of my recently painted British tank crew figures that are bailing out!

There are no specific maps for this campaign. The type of terrain will be determined randomly from a list that includes farmland, woodland, a crossroads or significant building, a village or a river crossing. The campaign notes provide a rough outline of the key things we should try to achieve when creating the table and we have already determined the first six of these:

1. Village
2. Farmland
3. Woodland
4. Village
5. River Crossing
6. Farmland

When putting together the list for German support vehicles and for considering the terrain for our tables I've found this excellent book from After the Battle a fantastic resource packed full of ideas.

It's here that I learned that the British ran into the Tiger IIs of SS Panzer Abteilung 101 and Panzer Abteilung 503 and which is why they are included in the support list. This may be the first time I have the chance to use one of the two Tiger IIs from Pegasus Hobbies that I painted last year.

Ruckzug by Joachim Ludewig was an excellent read that helped me understand the formation of ad hoc kampfgruppes as they withdrew and the desperate nature of the German retreat.

All that now sets the scene for the first game of the campaign a German delaying action at a small village in Northern France.

The initial roll for German support is not as rewarding as I had hoped and the kampfgruppe is joined by a sniper team, a panzerschreck team and an elite infantry squad. At least the latter is a welcome boost to the weakened platoon. Let's see if that will be sufficient to hold off the advancing British, you can follow all the action in the first game here.

You can find links to all the games in this campaign and several others on the Chain of Command Campaign AAR Page (link from here or at the top of this page).