Chain Of Command 2 - A Christmas British vs German bash at Mikes

Invited for a Big COC2 game at Mikes with Bryn and Simon using 28mm kit and a late war British attackers (Bryn and I) vs Germans in defence (Mike and Simon).  

I was facing Mike with a Platoon of Infantry and an extra Motor Rifle Section, with Bryn facing Simon with another Platoon and an Airborne section. 

We had support in form of 3 Shermans, a Staghound, an M5 Stuart and couple of 2" Mortar Teams and an HMG.

Germans had 2 Reduced Platoons of foot sloggers supported by a PzIVH, a Stug/105mm, an Sd222, an Sd250, a couple of PzShrecks teams and a Sniper.

Mike rolled low for his individual Force Morale starting with 8 and this was to be his undoing as a steady stream of 2 point losses occurred for each of his 'Bad Things Happen' incidents (his Leaders seemed to attract wounds like flies !).

His Stug had a firefight with a Sherman on my side with the M4 thankfully only suffering engine damage whilst the Stug took a couple of Shock points and after several exchanges of fire (both obscured) the Stug was brewed and exploded.

His Sd222 proved bothersome however with its 6 HE dice for its 20mm auto-cannon and a PzShreck team ambushed and destroyed my Staghound.

He was rather unlucky firing on an advancing British section and once revealed his sections took a deluge of fire losing several figures and leaders to break his morale.

Bryn on my left pushed against Simon (who was much more reticent to deploy his infantry) losing the M5 to the PzIV but keeping his infantry fairly intact.

When Mike lost his last Morale we called it a day as half the German force was routed.

Great game with plenty of action and I prefer COC2 to the original version.

Ulster Wargames Society - Big Chain of Command Normandy bash and other games

Club Saturday and I participated in a 28mm game of COC2 set up by Jeremy D and being a big battle type game (Jeremys house rules) set in Normandy with 5 British and 3 German players.

Really nice terrain from Jeremys collection immersed us in Normandy style surroundings.

British under Jeremys overall command (and some Bttn assets) with Andy controlling our armoured contingent (2 M4, a Firefly, a Humber AC, 2 Churchills and a Recce section in Bren Carriers) and with Bryn, Dave M and my own wee self commanding an Infantry Platoon each.

Germans under Simon with Mark and Stephen controlled 2 PzGr Platoons, several support units (MGs, Flamwerfer and 2 Stugs) with some barbed wire, minefields and booby trapped/mined road verges.

Both sides had Mortar support.

British had an initial phase line to capture which would release a fresh set of Infantry Platoons to replace the initial Company and its losses before pushing on to try to capture a couple of bridges and a farm complex.  

I controlled our right flank, Bryn our left with Dave and Andy in center.

After Patrol/Jump Off phase the British were slowed by an accurate Hun mortar barrage catching a section and supports in a wood in center. 

On my flank I managed to capture a phase line objective in church whilst thankfully being mostly unscathed from an ambushing MG42 team which was dispatched quickly by supporting Sherman fire.

Bryn captured an objective on his flank and then boldly charged onto the central objective again luckily surviving after running the gauntlet of an ambushing MG42.

This ended initial phase and set up another Patrol Phase which allowed me to place 2 Jump Off points well along the enemy flank.

Phase 1 and British advance covered by a Smoke Barrage

Initial phase line approximately along road (my initial objective in church tower)

Daves section in wood was soon Pinned by Hun mortars as Andy brings on Recce section in Bren Carriers, with Bryn moving through the walled orchard

My chaps about to occupy church

This second phase saw my Platoon advancing well forward on right (including moving a Jump Off point) but coming under a deluge of ambushes from MG42s, PzGrenadiers, a 75mm Infantry Gun and 2 Flamewerfer teams (their 12 dice very nasty as they cancel cover and deal double shock). 

Bryn was slowed by having to move around the minefields and wire with Dave M eventually being able to push through to support my dwindling numbers (my lot felt well out on a limb for a period).

Andys Shermans gave sterling support fire collapsing 2 buildings and routing a unit of PzGr.

2 Stugs appeared but were only able to engage our infantry (lots of 2" Mortar smoke).

Andy did bring his Firefly forward to engage but soon beat a hasty retreat after surviving being engaged by an ambushing PzFaust team !! 

Time ran out and a draw was declared as whilst German left had mostly collapsed us British were still well shy of the final objectives.

Great stuff with some lovely kit and a lot of work put in by Jeremy to set up and run the game and I seem to have failed to photograph a single British tank or Stug !!

Dave units move in center as Bryn circumvents mined areas

My blokes in house being given severe suntans by flamewerfers in opposite building (one flame team was dispatched and another immediately popped up !!)

Bryns men line hedges

Furthest advance by British on right, This section survived by remaining in Tactical Mode 

A pic of some of British armour (from Jeremy)

Also at club 

Game of Pikemans Lament in 28mm with Leslie, Chris, Ian and Billy   

Dave T and Dave B had couple of games of FOGR with Confederate Irish and an ECW English army.

Jeremy M, Charlie and others played a 6mm (not seen this scale for awhile) game using Eisenhower with an Eastern Front scenario (the buildings were 2/3mm) and I think 6" squares for grid.

Charlie struggling to see 6mm ?? 

Chris, Jeremy N, Dave S and Paddy played a Middle Earth Battle Game on a rather nice Osgiliath style board.

Chain Of Command 2 - Pushing On scenario played

Game today with Stephen and we decided to give COC2 an outing.

I selected the second scenario 'Pushing On' from the Op Martlet Campaign booklet with Stephen as attacking British and I as defending Huns.

This is an Attack vs Defence scenario but Brits managed to get to go first in Patrol Phase and this allowed them to get a Jump Off point within striking distance of central farm which was one of 2 Objectives (I placed it sort of centrally to test the new Objective/Final Countdown system.

And then with getting to activate first Stephen soon had a Section occupying the objective (bit unsure about how this worked in scenario context as wording seemed contradictory regarding when Final Countdown could occur and by whom) but we initiated the Final Countdown (10 Phases) and played out the action.

Having been a while since we played COC we had to relearn several basics re Shock and Commands but both thought the new generation and use of COC Points improved the game.

I had a PzIV (comes as part of core force) but it refused to appear due to ongoing Preliminary Bombardment despite Brits having 2 Shermans on table for it to potentially engage.

Game went to British after Sudden Death kicked in as double 6 rolled and they occupied Objective.

All in all a fun outing with new set and whilst I still prefer the scale/level of IABSM the COC Dice system is preferrable to cards in several ways.

Not a lot to see in pics as not much kit on display

Chain Of Command 2 - another solo test

Tried another quick game in solo mode with COC2 this being from the Op Marlet pint sized Campaign and the initial 'Approach To Fontenay' scenario.

Germans in this come with a PzIVH so I used 6 of the 15 British support points to bring along a Sherman to see how that match up worked.

I classed this as game 3 of campaign as otherwise the British can suffer confusion (ie having problems deploying) due to misty conditions.

British Jump Off points in this one not great positions as very open terrain but they did manage to get into a building early on drawing the attention of a MG42 (in MMG mode) but despite 2 killed they managed along with Sherman to dispatch this 5 man team very quickly (really good dice rolls).

This forced Germans to bring out a Section which kept the building under almost constant suppressive fire.

When the PzIVH appeared it was promptly hit by Sherman on Overwatch, took 1 shock and retired off table, but thankfully it was able to come back again despite being now classed as Hesitant.

It fired on Sherman but only managed to put 1 shock on and the Sherman then hit the Panzer again causing further shock and damaging the engine (not fast movement or fire and move allowed)  

Again this played pretty well (solo issues aside) and interesting to see tank on tank action.

My 15mm kit not being based singly is possible issue with some of new arc of fire rules but easy to fudge.

Must give new mortar rules an outing to see if these weapons are less dominant than in COC1 (reading rules they seem less so with combo of ammo and increased COC dice)

   

Village outskirts occupied by the Hun

PzIV has suffered engine damage

PzGr deployed to counter Brits on left flank

Brits ensconced in house (my buildings do not have removable roofs so just line the chaps up on relevant aspect of house) under suppressive fire

Sherman advances up road trying secure a Jump Off point (which had moved there with a COC dice)

All so open on British side of table (not sure if such dispersed lines of trees count as obscuring cover)

Chain Of Command 2 - an initial solo try

 

Gave COC2 a quick solo outing to see if I could pick up on changes.

Must confess I was not a great fan of first edition as any game I was involved in always seemed to end up as 'I am in my bit of cover you are in yours and we just have a dice fest until somebody breaks', very little movement of units once deployed from Jump Off Points and Mortar Barrages just seemed to kill a game.

Rules always read well but game seemed lacking (we much preferred IABSM) although doubtless we were not using to full potential and my grasp them is therefore limited.

Having followed the TFL blurb re new edition it did seem to be addressing these very issues (obviously not just us) with numerous other add-ons that sounded fine.

So having bought new edition (as if it was ever in doubt) I set up a scenario from one of the excellent Normandy Pint-Sized Campaigns, 'Attack On Mouen' with British defending (with 6 support points) an SS attack (with 15 support points). 

There a several differences in the OOBs and Support options between PSC and old/new Rules  with LMGs now mainly having their accompanying soldiers as 'pure' crew rather than additional riflemen and costs/types of some support options differ, but I just fudged things and avoided taking mortars to keep things simpler (there are several changes to how mortars work and their duration on table).

Of course WWII not very solo friendly generally and COC is especially awkward with the Patrol Phase and Jump Off Point systems but again fudged through to generate the situation (this is one of COCs strengths giving a plausible set up).

Have so far played through several phases and indeed game does seem improved especially with the new uses of COC Dice Pips, several times I used the 'Hit The Dirt' option (3 pips) to reduce hits on advancing Germans.

Germans have a PzIVG (6 pts in rules but 7 in PSC list) and these now can use rolls of 1 to activate a crew position (ie driver or gunner) in addition to usual roll of 3 to activate Tank Commander and whole crew, there also seems to be new (?) rules regarding speed of turret traverse giving Shermans a possible advantage over say a Tiger.

Issuing of orders via Command Dice, Movement and Shooting all mostly same (a few changes to use of Command Dice and how COC Pips are accumulated) and indeed when it comes to Shooting it is same dice heavy system so for example a PzGr section comprises 2 MG42 teams with 3-4 crew and fire 16 dice as a section but with no 'spare' riflemen so bit reduced from previously (think it was +3 rifles so 19 dice ?) generating hits that can cause Shock (this TFL system appears unchanged) or Kills.

MMGs such as Vickers or MG42 on tripod (10 dice and 5 crew) are deployed in Entrenchments which I think is a change ?

Suppressing Fire (previously Covering Fire ?) was bit awkward as it only last 2 phases so I kept forgetting if/when to remove it but is good for hampering deployments from Jump Off points (it covers a zone 4.5"-9" wide by 4.5" deep) or reducing enemy firing.

One interesting new addition is the new 'Time Clock' system wherein if attacker (in the Attack/ Defend scn) captures an objective either side can initiate a 'Count Down' to game end (number of remaining phases equalling enemy Force Morale), this should force enemy to attack to recapture objective rather than relying purely on shooting to break the enemy.     

Alongside playing solo the biggest 'issue' by far is distinct lack of a QRS (in pipeline I believe ?) as this means lots of flicking through book to check or re-check just about everything.

Of course only dipped toe into rules and doubtless several other changes I have not used/encountered (including National 'Traits') as yet but so far so good.

PzIV moves up to support PzGr sections 

Another PzGr section has advanced and been engaged by Brits in house and along hedgeline. 

Tree areas are orchards in scenario but not sure from map if 'clumps' of 2-3 trees are orchards or just trees ?

British Jump Off points clustered around village

 

Hedges here aid manoeuvre as whilst not Bocage they do block LOS unless unit within 2" (not sure if that applies if unit is in upper storey of building)

As is often/usually the case with attackers the German Jump-Off points close to their base line

Those Objective buildings look to be a long way away (more pronounced using 15mm kit)