The big day is here. In the red corner is Big Rich, tall debonair, ruggedly handsome. In the blue corner is Fat Nick, a grotesque approximation of humanity, with a face like a squished tomato. Today Richard will be commanding the German forces, Nicholas the British. The general background is that the British seized a small French village on the northern outskirts of Caen yesterday and this morning they are due to press on southwards. However, the Germans, desperate to restore their defensive ring of fortified villages around the city, are launching a localised counter attack.
Let’s take a look at the battlefield.
This is an overview of the table from the British base edge. Here’s a shot of the German end of the table.
The German entry point for their Patrol Markers is the road to the left which comes out at the T-junction by the church.
No here is the British half of the table. Their Patrol Markers enter on the road in the village.
But what of forces? Well, Rich has a full platoon of German infantry, so that’s three squads of ten men which include one MG42. They also have a Panzerschreck team of two men and are led by a Feldwebel. To support these the Germans have one StuG IIIG and one SdKfz 234 “Puma” armoured car.
Nick’s British have one complete platoon of infantry, three ten man rifle sections, each including one Bren, one PIAT team and one 2″ mortar team. To command this force he has one Platoon Sergeant and one Lieutenant. In support is a full Troop of Shermans, three with the 75mm low velocity gun, one being the Sherman Firefly.
Recognising that today is going to be somewhat frantic we played through the Patrol Phase of the game yesterday while setting up. You can see the results below.
Here you can see that the British have two of their jump off points near the T-Junction in the centre of the table, whilst the third is just out of shot in the outskirts of the village. A bit of a photographic error there, and I am sure there will be more today.
The Germans are more concentrated, with the Church forming the centre of their positions, with a second jump off point on the graveyard and the third on the road just the other side of the road junction. So, with that phase complete we’re all ready to get cracking.
So, what’s the plan today? Well, Nick and I are going to be “Hot bedding” on the computer here, putting in our thoughts and photos as the game progresses. We won’t have time to pose all the pictures beautifully, but hopefully what we can do is give you a taste for the way the game plays out. What we can also do is answer any of your questions as we play through the game. So feel free to shout if you want to ask anything.
Right. Time for a fry up before the carnage commences!
Chain of Command Goes to Nottingham
This year has been a busy year on Lard Island, not least because of the mileage we did taking Chain of Command on its tour of the UK. The four capitals tour took us to London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff and then we hit all points of the compass with club visits and wargames shows
27 thoughts on “Limbering up for a Day of Chain of Command”
Stunning terrain !
I will try to follow your progress in the game, will be very interesting !
Please tell me the manufacturer of your telphone poles, I´m in the need of some for our “A Very Moderate Swedish Conflict” project.
Best regards Michael
I scratch built the telegraph poles from balsa wood using the inside of a biro for the white porcelain conductor thingy bits. I think ten cost me about a pound (if one discounts the cost of the used biro).
I’ll keep track of this at work today. Should be good. Let’s hope the Brits fight off the damned Boche!
Looks very splendid indeed – good luck Gentlemen. Will you also be keeping us informed of what Nick eats during the day? – it’s almost as remarkable as the games themselves.
I have a large selection of Fido dog biscuits for him to gnaw on.
So, given those jump off points, what are your plans?
To win sir, to win! I doubt Nick has plans, but my thoughts are to get my armour on the table ASAP into some kind of ambush positions. I see my role as defending and then counter attacking once I have given the Tommies a couple of black eyes and a bloody nose.
Looking forward to this. Live reports are a cool idea anyway!
Cheers, SG
I can see the MG42 begging to cover that big expanse of open ground beyond the graveyard, although its likely Nick will roll some Shermans through that.
Having a Stug on the road, with its flank protected by the church could be good, with the panzerschreck team and possibly the Puma covering the open ground on the left of the German positions (looking from the German side toward the British).
British have more tanks, so being aggressive with them in a concentrated force (rather than spreading them around) could be decisive as it will be hard for a Stug to handle them all. And with open ground on the flanks, they could provide rolling cover for an infantry casualty on the graveyard.
Just thinking aloud…
That should be “infantry assault” not “casualty” – too early for auto-correct…
Sidney, as always Mrs C has left the larder looking well stocked and things are already sizzling. Will surely be a piece of pork pie up for grabs later if you can join us. As to plans, well, I’m not paid to think…
Looks great! Looking forward to the battle report. I’m really excited about Chain of Command.
Please stop! I already have a pile of 15mm WW2 and 28mm Napoleonics to get assembled and painted – if you get me buying anything else the missus will disown me!
PS that is a beautiful table. Looking forward to seeing how the game plays
I bought Platoon Forward, IABSM and Sharp Practice recently.
Reckon this is gonna be an immediate buy.
I gotta find time to play…
Do you reckon COC can play solo?
Justin. We had two chaps who came to Evesham the other week for “The Lardest Day” event specifically to see of CoC could be played solo. They resoundingly voted YES.
I’m off sick today, so this is VERY well timed, great stuff, very excited! Michael (Dallauprror) although I would advocate making the telegraph poles as Rich has explained, I have some from Westwind Productions I got a while back, might be worth getting on the blower and asking how much (I think it was £8.50 for 10 or there abouts in White metal) they are a good height and designed for 28mm.
Great stuff lardies, looking forward to this, even if poor old Nick is only an approximation of humanity…
I was one of those chaps and definitely very suitable for solo games.
Looks like a good start. Beautiful table – what size is it?
The table is actually 8′ by 6′ but we are playing on 6′ by 4′. We try to test everything on a “normal” table size. No point in writing rules for tables so vast only a tiny handful of gamers can enjoy them.
Thanks Big Rich, I´ll build my own:)
@Ark3n: Thnaks for the tip of the west wind ones, they will be the rescue if my own constructions dosen´t work;)
Best regards Michael
Terrific terrain! Simon
Looks great chaps-i’m thinking a well played panzerfaust team could prove decisive here. do the kraut sections have any schrecks?
Yup, one of them.
And the ‘schreck team seems to have justified its existence …
my mistake – do they have any FAUSTS in the sections?
One per squad is standard at this period. It’s an upgrade to increase that when selecting your force.