The Second World War, Chain of Command, 28mm

We suddenly realised that Chris had never played a Chain of Command game. this was strange, as he’d talked about raising a French platoon c.1940, but hadn’t even tried out the rules. So, we decided to remedy that. In this game, Chris played the British, Nick ran the Germans, and I sort of tried to make the game run smoothly, even though I hadn’t played a CoC game in ages. As none of us had got to grips with CoC 2, we stuck to the old rules. That way Chris will know roughly what he’s reading when he picks up his copy. This was a simple ‘Probe’ scenario (Scenario 2 in the old rules), with the Germans defending, while the British try to probe for a weak spot in the line – possibly a route back to their own lines. We set it east of Arras in late May 1940, with Chris benefiting from a few extra points than Nick’s defenders. The ‘Patrol Phase’ saw the British ensconced in a farmhouse on the right side of the 6×4 foot table, and in the fields to the east – in the centre of the table). The Germans deployed on small hills on the left and right sides of the table, and  in the fields in between. the British aim was to get a ‘team’ off the German base line – the southern long table edge.  In fact, the game chugged along quite well, and Chris picked up the basics of CoC very quickly. I can see him getting pretty good at it. Anyway, he split his force in two, with two of his three sections heading into the woods on the western table edge, and the rest holding the centre, supported by his main asset – a Vickers Mark VIb light tank, which appeared on the eastern of the two roads leading down from the northern table edge.  For his part, Nick had predicted the tank, and spent his points on a 37mm anti-tank gun, which he kept in reserve, waiting to see which road Chris’ tank would appear on. Over near the western short table edge, a firefight soon erupted as as the British advanced through the wood, and came across the German squad on the wooded rise to the south. Chris, though, had deployed two sections there, so he had the edge in numbers. He also sent in his other ‘asset’ – a Bren carrier, which moved up the western road from the farmhouse, to add its weight of fire in support. So too did Chris’ 2″ mortar team, which lobbed the odd round onto the German held rise. Soon both sides were fully engaged over there, with bullets flying everywhere.Meanwhile, as the British tank squeaked down the eastern road, Nick deployed his anti-tank gun, and cracked off a round. It hit the little tank squarely, and Nick then out-rolled Chris in the attack and defence dice, to ensure the tank was brewed up. Chris then, had no handy-dandy support for his British section in the centre of the table, so Nick set about whittling them down with his two German squads, to the south and the east. While all that was going on the firefight in the woods continued, with both sides playing it fairly cautiously. If Chris wanted to gain his objective – getting a team off the southern table edge – he needed to crack on. This though, was his first game of CoC, and he was still finding his legs. Eventually, though, he managed to work his second section around the western side of the German-held rise, and so the pressure on the defenders mounted. Still, if Nick remembered what the British objective was he didn’t show it. After all, he was too busy whittling down that isolated British section in the centre of the table, led by the platoon sergeant. He also had the problem of his German squad on his right – the eastern table edge, where they were pretty much stuck on another small knoll, a long way from the action. Fortunately for him, the enemy came to him.As his section took more and more casualties, Chris moved it eastwards, into another field, out of close-range of the German squad in the centre of the German line He stopped losing so many men, but he was also moving closer to the Germans to the east, who overlooked the miiddle of the table from their high ground. Another factor was that we were now running out of time, so if Chris wanted to win, he had to act fast. In fact he almost did it. The German section on the western rise were starting to take casualties, and garner ‘hit points’. A few more casualties and the British would have a clear run through the woods to the southern table edge. Alas they never made it, as we finally ran out the clock. Next game we’ll all be better at remembering the rules, and making the most of the terrain. Next time too, by way of a leveler, we’ll all trying out CoC 2 for the first time! 

Tags: Chain of Command