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I’ve been wanting to give this intriguing campaign a try for some time, so I’m pleased to make it our first CoC campaign of the year. This is set in the Ardennes in the winter of 1944 with elements of the US 28th Division trying to hold an outpost line along Skyline Drive in the face of the German winter offensive.
While the average CoC campaign follows a campaign ladder in a reasonably logical order this campaign allows for the Germans to infiltrate around the campaign ladder with the potential to strike at any of the maps and in any order they might choose. Excellent for fog of war and something that keeps the American player trying to second guess where trouble may be coming from next.
To help readers that are not familiar with the campaign I’ve put together a post that helps explain how the campaign works and what the options are for both players. You can find that here https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/02/a-guide-to-following-bloody-bucket.html
I’ve also produced a post about pulling together the various elements of terrain and the miniatures needed to run the campaign and you can find that here http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/02/getting-ready-for-bloody-bucket-campaign.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/After a couple of turns with the Germans infiltrating around the American positions we hit turn 3 of the campaign with two assaults launched. The first is on Map 1 Skyline Drive and so we begin the fighting that will determine the outcome of the campaign. The full AAR is here: http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/02/bloody-bucket-turn-3-scenario-1-skyline.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/The Germans make their second attack of campaign turn 3. This time they fall on Holzthum Village at Map 3. Can this platoon of Volksgrenadiers have more success than the platoon that attacked Skyline Drive? Full AAR is here: https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/02/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-3-scenario.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/The campaign rolls on and the German pioneers struggle to bridge the River Our so that heavier support can assist the Volksgrenadiers dislodge the Americans. After two bloody repulses in the previous games, can the Germans start to drive the Americans from Skyline Drive? Full AAR of the next game here: https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/03/bloody-bucket-campaign-turns-4-5.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/The Americans have put up a determined resistance so far and the Germans are still looking for their first victory of the campaign. The clock is ticking against them but now that they have armour available that might just give them the edge they need to dislodge the Americans. We get to Campaign Turn 6 and the Germans continue to ramp up the pressure. You can find out what happens next in this AAR: http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/03/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-6-scenario.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/This is the second German attack of Turn 6 on the Outskirts of Consthum. The Germans were successful in their first attack of the turn, but could they repeat their success here? This one packed quite a surprise and more than a few cinematic moments. The full AAR is here: https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/03/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-6-scenario_26.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/Deja vu for the Volksgrenadiers as they make their third attempt to dislodge the Americans from the crossroads on Skyline Drive. It’s a tough table to attack with much open ground but we now enter the second day of the campaign and the German support levels increase even further. Can this heroic American platoon hold out once more? The full AAR is here: https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/04/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-7-scenario.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/Once again the Germans return to Holzthum Village to see if they can evict the Americans. So far the Germans are finding dislodging the Americans from any of the maps a very difficult proposition, but their recent successes clearing Maps 1 and 2 has buoyed their spirits. Are they about to unpick the American defence of skyline drive? The full AAR is here: https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/04/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-7-scenario_18.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/The Germans are behind schedule and the pressure is on to capture the remaining four battlefields before time runs out. We are now at Turn 8 and the Germans make a second attempt to clear the Americans from Map 4 The Outskirts of Consthum, will they be more successful this time? The full AAR is here: http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/04/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-8-scenario.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/Having successfully cleared the outskirts of Consthum the same Volksgrenadier platoon takes advantage of the blitzkrieg campaign rule to mount an attack on the next table immediately. And why not, it’s a free game that might help get the German attack back on schedule? It also sees the return of that pesky Panther from the previous game, the one that led a charmed life in the face of numerous bazooka rounds. Will it be so lucky this time? Full AAR is here https://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/05/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-8-scenario.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/The Germans return to Holzthum Village for the second attack of campaign turn 8. This will be their third attempt to drive the Americans from the village. The question is, will they be any more successful this time? Full AAR is here: http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2021/05/bloody-bucket-campaign-turn-8-scenario_30.html
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/After a bit of deliberation we’ve decided to call an American victory on the campaign and call it a day. We’ve played ten games across eight campaign turns, making this the longest campaign we have played to date, so I think we’ve given it a fair shot. Having won the previous scenario the Americans are in good enough shape to mount a counterattack against the rather meagre German force that has fallen back to Map 2. There’s a decent chance they could recapture it which would make any hope of a German campaign victory (or even a draw) very unlikely. As Dave said, our gaming time is precious and perhaps it’s time to move on given the writing is on the wall.
It’s an intriguing campaign with much that we liked and would like to see in future campaigns, like the off map movement. The appeal of a campaign is in the broader story that is told and about the decisions you make for the future that impact the game currently in play. The extra layer in this PSC added to that experience. After all the discussion I would really like to have a crack at fighting this as the Germans at some time in the future, but with so many other campaigns to choose I’m not certain that’s something that will happen any time soon.
So, what’s next? We’ll take a break and play a few other things. I want to try O Group and a bit more of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum. We have some Sharp Practice we want to play and we will do a bit of a compare/contrast by playing the same period with Muskets & Tomahawks. We will return to CoC with the Many Rivers to Cross PSC from the 2018 Lard Magazine. Dave has painted up a Dutch platoon to complement his early war German platoon, so we will look to run this in Holland 1940. With that in mind, I have just bought this which I need to build:
The Tactical Painter - painting miniature armies for battles on the table top.
http://www.thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/
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