Combat Commander Plays

Assaulting from the beach.  The Americans have driven the Germans back from the left flank.

     Recently I have gotten in a couple games of Combat Commander (Normandy battlepack.)  After the assault on Pont Du Hoc gun emplacements we played a beach scenario with me playing the role of the United States.  The idea was to move inland from the beach and capture a series of communiction trenches studded with bunkers and foxholes.  The second scenario took place in the bocage country after the beach with victory coming from surrender of your opponent or exit points by moving off a designated map edge.  In both games the Americans were triumphant but only with a little bit of luck.  I can understand why some people complain that there is too much luck in the game.
     For example:  In the second match in the bocage, the Americans tried to move across a road, through bocage and into a field.  They were having no success and getting hosed down by the Germans and the casualties were mounting fast, approaching the surrender level.  During one of the defense rolls the Americans get the reinforcement event and pick the 155mm radio.  At this point the momentum radically changes and the Americans start calling fire down on the Germans with devastating effect.  Add the radio to the fact that the American's had a leader that could activate like a hero so he was calling multiple Artillery Request orders on the same turn.  The whole lynchpin of that episode was a random event card....
     Continued thoughts about Combat Commander:  1.) If you are attacking you must have a general plan.  This forces you to cycle through cards until you have what you need to put the plan into action.  For instance, if I want to move a mass of troops forward I like to have a Move order, a Recover order and maybe an Assault Fire action in my hand.  I don't like to move guys into or across enemy firelanes unless I have a Recover order in my hand because I always get gunned down.  2.) Tactical flexibility.  Like Kenny said, "You have to know when to hold 'em.."  Sometimes if you aren't getting the cards you want you must formulate a plan around what you have.  This can put your troops in a tight spot with fewer options but there are times when you just have to keep your troops moving rather than hunkering down under a withering barrage of bullets.  Hand management is huge in this game.
     I continue to find this game intriguing and coming back for more.  I think this game is getting close to surpassing WARMACHINE in plays.  I also like it because you can pull it off the shelf and get to playing and 15 minutes rather than the large setup of WARMACHINE and the transport of all the models.