The Second World War, Chain of Command, 28mm

This was my second Chain of Command game this month, fought in “the one true scale”. Having struggled to find a set of Second World War skirmish rules that hit the mark, I’ve  been giving Chain of Command a good try out. The more I play it the more impressed I become. This little game was fought out on a 7×5 foot table, and quite frankly I threw too much scenery at the problem.I know much of the Normandy countryside was divided up into little fields, but with a ground scale of 3″ = 10 yards this was somewhat ridiculous! The temptation is to throw scenery at the problem, and I was guilty of doing just that. Still, it looked nice, even though the terrain skewed the game a bit. Alan Bruce played the Germans (fielding his shiny new Stug III), while I took charge of the British. We had a platoon a side, with the Germans classed as panzer grenadiers, which gave them an extra light machine gun per squad. That extra firepower would make all the difference…We came on from different corners of the table – the British from the road next to the church, the Germans from the opposite diagonal corner, where a road wound its way around a small hill. thanks to the “Patrol Phase” we quickly established our front lines with the British anchored on the farm and the bridge, and the Germans in the copse in front of the farm, and the orchard beside the bridge, on the far side of the stream. We both brought our armoured support on – my Sherman covering the corn field in the centre of the table, and the Stug approaching it across the stream. German progress was hindered slightly by smoke fired from my 2-inch mortar. That proved a slight irritant to the Germans, but it also helped them bring forward their reserve squad, hidden from prying British eyes.The first clash took place around the bridge. I inflicted a few casualties on the Germans as they deployed in the small cornfield overlooking the stream, but thanks to the able direction of their Lieutenant the panzer grenadiers spread out along the wall facing the stream, and returned fire. My British were only covered by a low hedge, and had no answer to the weight of German fire. In effect, a British platoon with its Bren gun and riflemen rolls 13 dice – 6 for the LMG, and 7 for the riflemen. The corporal’s sten gun didn’t have the range to join in. By contrast the Germans get to open up with 21 dice, excluding their corporal’s Schmeisser. That’s 8 for each MG34, backed up by five rifles. the result is a mounting pile of British casualties and “shock markers” (we use little pebbles), and so I had to pull back into the orchard, out of sight. First round to the Hun.By this time the Germans had worked their way around the side of the farmhouse, whose defenders were hindered by a lack of doors and windows covering that side of the main house. Support from the Stug helped a bit, but the British defenders stood their ground, and thwarted German attempt to work their way around the back of the British strongpoint. That’s when Alan played his trump card. Using two “Chain of Command dice” he moved his “jump off point” 18 inches forward, to the side of the farmhouse, and then deployed his panzerschrek team 12 inches forward of that – within range of my Sherman. Kaboom! this was exactly the same trick I tried two weeks earlier – only a more subtle version of it, thanks to Alan moving the “jump off point”. You had to admire the sheer chutzpah of it! Without tank support my defences began to crumble – helped by the dispatch of my PIAT team – my last like of defence against the Stug. The Germans stormed the farmhouse, throwing grenades through the doors and windows, and killing or capturing the defenders. That left the mopping up – chasing what remained of my British infantry off the table, pursued by the panzer grenadiers and their ruddy Stug. Despite losing handsomely I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and now I’m more convinced that ever that CoC represents the future of WW2 skirmish gaming.

Tags: Chain of Command