Chain of Command: The Probe at Quelquepart...

Earlier this month Andy, Phil and myself played the Probe scenario from Chain of Command 2 with Jack umpiring to get some practice in doing that before Winter Wonder Lard VI...

The Probe is quite a tough scenario for the attacker having to get a section off the board and defeat the enemy with a countdown kicking in after two (mandatory for the German when they got six Chain of Command points) turn ends.

The British (Phil and I) deployed two sections on the right, with a third on the left. With no sign of the Hun, the troops moved cautiously forward...

The 2" mortar laying down a blanket of smoke in front of the farmhouse to the British front.

Armoured support coming in the form of a Universal Carrier!

The Germans, commanded by Andy, deployed...

Though their visibility was hampered by the smoke laid down by the British mortar.

As the third British section began to move up on the left, Andy rolled a sixth Chain of Command point signalling a Turn End. 

Amongst the effects of that one is that all smoke dissipates and the lovely British smoke screen immediately disappeared leaving the advancing troops suddenly very visible to two German sections (each with an MG42) and an MG42 MMG in the farmhouse!

The British fired one of its remaining smoke rounds to try and recreate the cover but the German Machinegewher characteristic, combined with the Storm of Steel attribute allowing them to re-roll sixes was devastating.

The impact of the Turn End and the removal of the smoke screen effectively killed the game - and to be honest I'm unsure of the logic around this happening. Chain of Command is lauded about "playing the period not the rules" but this is a very gamey mechanic and I am not sure what it is trying to recreate. I get smoke screens might gradually thin and dissipate but why should they suddenly disappear leaving advancing troops exposed as happened?

The other issue is the amount of firepower the defenders bring to the table. In this game the Germans had three MG42 lmg's (though only deployed two) plus a tripod mounted MMG one - covering an area of 160 metres, which by historical standards seems generous(?). Once the smoke disappeared with the British now exposed it was impossible to move forward as it was a killing ground.

The way the game ended was extremely disappointing as until the Turn End it had been quite enjoyable with the British beginning to move forward under the cover of their smokescreen and the Germans trying to create lines of fire to target the advancing enemy.

Finally Chain of Command fans often trot out that it is better when games are played as part of a campaign not just one off games as players need to minimise casualties as troops will be needed subsequently. This may well be the case but not everyone has time (or inclination) to play campaigns. Maybe there should be some penalty on the defender (in this case) forcing them to take this into account, such as casualties potentially impacting their Force Morale?

Chain of Command: Verteidigung des Obstgartens

Having a look through the hundreds of photos of games played in 2025 I came across this 15mm Chain of Command Normandy '44 game played last February...

With Phil and Jenny providing th figures and terrain it looked as wonderful as usual.

The British were tasked with evicting the Germans from the Norman farmhouse, basing one section in the farmhouse, one in the neighbouring building and the third in the orchard to prevent any outflanking.

The problem that now created from a game point of view was that the British player was aware that there were Germans in position to prevent a flank attack, despite the fact the battlefield was covered in hedges and trees (I appreciate I could have held off deploying them, but the game mechanisms may well have resulted in my not being able to subsequently activate and deploy them leaving the flank undefended). I find the inability to deploy hidden units, as you can in I Ain't Been Shot Mum with blinds, is frustrating.

This was evidenced by the British player advancing a section up to but just outside visibility range of the supposed hidden Germans that in real life he would not have know were there (or not) without scouting.

To reinforce the ludicrousness the British deployed their mortars...

...and dropped smoke in front of the Germans they didn't know were there!

The British then brought up a Sherman, which they kept well back from any potential panzerfaust ambush points...

Having a big bag of cotton wool, they then dropped even more smoke on the battlefield! :-)

The British then pushed a section up on the German left...

Suppressing the defenders in the house...

But coming a cropper against a dynamic German counter-attack by the section who had been twiddling their thumbs on the right (again not sure whether real troops would leave an occupied position to run blindly down a road towards the sound of gunfire but...)

Meanwhile in the centre the second German section opened up on the British creeping through the orchard...

A brief firefight occurring with minimal casualties on both sides.

At this point we called it a day, the British were unlikely to be able to dislodge the Germans and no one fancied not moving and just rolling dice for the next hour when the pub beckoned...

As you might have gathered as lovely as the game looked, it wasn't a particularly inspiring game in itself and somewhat reflected my experience with Chain of Command in 2025. Everyone tells me it is a great set of rules but most of the games were not a lot of fun to play.

Chain of Command: They Don't Like It Up 'Em, Me Babber!

Last month Phil organised a Chain of Command Operation Seelöwe game for Jen, Jim, Andy and myself, with the Fallschirmjäger (commanded by Andy and Jim), having seized Bristol (Whitchurch) airport in a lightning attack, the German paras are now advancing down the Wells Road towards the city. All that stands in their way was Jenny and I commanding the brave (old) men and boys of the Local Defence Volunteers - the Home Guard!

Let's be 'aving yer! A section of the Whitchurch LDV advance towards the German lines - before deciding Nazi para sections sporting two spandaus are not the best thing to attack over open fields - so they retire into a nearby house.

Acthung! The spandau totting Boche hide behind a hedge as the LDV occupy the building.

C'mon lads! Let's sort those Nazi bounders out Bristol fashion!

Vorwärts! Another section of heavily armed Fallschirmjäger advance towards the British lines...

And a third! Blimey, this could be tough on the old boys of the Home Guard!

Boom! The LDV fire a Victorian era museum piece they acquired at the advancing squareheads!

It only had one shot, but it managed to inflict some Shock on the advancing paras. Take that Fritz!

Rat-a-tat-a-tat! The LDV open fire on the Nazis with a Vickers machine-gun hidden in a house...

Fallschirmjäger fall dead and their comrades take Shock, as they pay the penalty for advancing across open ground! Gert lush!

Five runs rapid fire chaps! The LDV open fire on the Nazis who have occupied their local!

Unfortunately the Germans return fire...

Their two spandaus inflicting Shockand a couple of casualties on the brave Local Defence Volunteers!

Their weapons might be as old as their enemy's parents, but the brave boys of the LDV put them to good use, especially this Great War era Lewis Gun which took up where it left off in 1918!

Boche fall to the floor, the Nazi paratroop leader shot stone dead!

Join in chaps! Another section of the Home Guard arrives and they join in firing at the nefarious Nazis!

Who under fire from three sections of the LDV, a Lewis gun and the Vickers start to amass casualties and Shock!

Gott im Himmel! This is too much! One section of the Nazi super-men run away. "Deutschland Uber Alles my arse!" cry the LDV!

The Vickers continues to pour hot lead into the Fallschirmjäger ranks...

Shock and casualties mounting up on the remaining Squareheads. But the two spandaus keep the LDV honest and the British Force Morale is beginning to drop to a worry level.

A burst of fire from the Lewis polishes off two of the retreating Fallschirmjäger - the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi are all, and the German Force Morale plummets to zero!

A resounding victory for the brave old souls and boys of the Whitchurch Local Defence Volunteers, with the Nazi plans to storm Bristol port thwarted before they got anywhere near the city. Thanks to Phil for putting such a great game on and letting Jenny, Jim, Andy and myself play with his toy soldiers (and Jen for us to play with her lovely houses).

Blitzkrieg: Dutch Infantry Platoon

As you will have seen from earlier posts this month, I have recently painted up a Dutch Infantry Platoon for Chain of Command. This is not my first stab at the Koninklijke Nederlandse Landmacht (Royal Netherlands Army) of 1940, but this time, with the CoC weekend event to get ready for, I managed to paint up a usable force!

The majority of models are from May '40 Miniatures which I picked from Great Escape Games. I used May '40's painting guide for the infantry uniforms and AFV's.

Dutch Infantry Platoon for Chain of Command with supports

Dutch Mitrailleurgroepen (infantry section)

Dutch Schwarzlose M.08 MMG and crew

Chain of Command requires five crew for the MMG so I enlisted a couple of Great Escape Romanians, which are, with some minimal conversion to their kit, are pretty much identical to the Dutch, to make up the numbers.

Dutch 47mm Bohler PAG AT gun with crew and Junior Leader

I needed to do the same with the AT gun. Fortunately Great Escape sell Romanian gun crew in separate packs.

Dutch Forward Observer with 80mm mortar

Although medium mortars are off table in Chain of Command and I only needed the FO, May '40 sell them as one set. It is a nice model to paint and I'll probably put it on the rear table edge when employed in games.

Dutch "sniper"

I'm sure I read that a sniper was a support option in one of the Dutch Chain of Command lists - it wasn't! :-)

Dutch Engineer Team

Engineer Teams are a useful List One support in CoC if you have a support point over. Given some of the Blitzkrieg handbook scenarios utilise them I thought it would be a good idea to paint up three figures to represent engineers. Unfortunately I had run out of May '40 Miniatures (and Romanians!) but I did have some old Gothic Line Dutch I had bought a decade earlier, so three got repainted. They are not as nice as the May '40 models but they were what I had to hand.

Dutch S Type Kazemat

It seems the Dutch like their bunkers so I had to have at least one. My attempt to make an S Type Kazemat out of foam was a messy disaster so I converted an MDF Sarissa Precision British Pill Box which provided a reasonable facsimile if not 100% perfect one.

Dutch Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette

The Dutch had five Carden-Loyd carriers, Mk VI versions with closed roof, which made it a bit harder to source but I found a 3D printed one on Etsy from MiniGeneral. It should have a shield on the MG but I haven't got around to making one for it yet.

Dutch M.36 Pantserwagen (Landsverk L-181)

The M.36 Pantserwagen was used by the Dutch cavalry so my infantry platoon had to pay an extra point to have one as a support option, but I really, really wanted one! The May '40 resin model is lovely but the decals that came with it fell to pieces in the water. Fortunately I had some I-94 Enterprises 1/144th aircraft ones which I was able to use on both AFV's.

This turned up to be quite a useful force at the event, even with restrictions such as the Mitrailleurgroepen Lewis gun not being able to move and fire, or the section itself operate as teams like other armies. There are a few things I'd like to do to expand it, some entrenched troops for one - and May '40 have just released a Ford DAF 01Y PAG-trekker artillery tractor which would be really useful for the Bohler AT gun but I'm going to have to hope Great Escape Games get a stock in as I can't justify the shipping and potential Brexit fees sting just for one truck...