Ulster Wargames Society: Chain of Command 2 , first fire.

A Chain Of Command 2 learning session in 28mm by Jeremy D and Dave S, with Jeremy N and Chris involved.

Players
British : Jeremy Nixon, Chris Caves.
German : David Smylie.
Umpire : Jeremy Dowds.

Multiple AARs by Jeremy Dowd, David Smylie, Chris Caves. To get some different views on the new version of the rules.

First AAR by Jeremy Dowd who umpired the game.

Version 2 of Chain of Command, originally published by Too Fat Lardies in 2013, was released in May this year, about ten days before our club meeting. Our game was therefore a very early look at the new edition.

Chain of Command puts the player in the shoes of an infantry platoon commander, managing resources of manpower and weapons to achieve victory on a small patch of the overall battlefield. The rules encourage playing to the particular strengths of each type of platoon, with national characteristics that reflect the tactical doctrine of each army.

Our game was set in Normandy 1944, and featured a British infantry platoon, with supports including a Sherman Firefly, attacking a German infantry platoon supported by an MG42 on tripod mount and a PAK 40 anti-tank gun. The mission was a Delaying Action, with the Germans seeking to hold an objective point in the farm complex.

The new version encourages players to fight for the control of objectives, rather than simply trying to wear down the opponent’s morale by shooting. Part of that is a new mechanism called the Final Countdown, whereby the player currently holding the objective can try to end the game (and win it) before his opponent takes or re-takes it. Our game saw the Final Countdown invoked by the Germans, though it didn’t work out for them as aggressive British troops threw them out of the farmyard before the game ended.

Overall, version 2 seems to be more dynamic. For example, it’s still possible for one side to have a run of several consecutive phases (by rolling multiple sixes on the command dice) and so prevent the other side from regaining the initiative. However, the non-phasing player now has more options to react to their opponent’s actions, rather than having to passively wait for their own next phase.

The rules are also more clearly laid out and explained than version 1, reflecting twelve years of experience with the former set and several years of playtesting the new version. While the original basics of the game are clearly recognisable, a lot of thought and attention to detail has gone into making version 2 better. I for one see it as a major improvement to an already excellent game.

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AAR From David Smylie

The new version of CoC v 2 certainly adds greater realism to the game

Game play improved particularly with the Chain of command dice no longer restricted to accumulating 6 before use

As for the game the Germans brilliantly defended their position causing the Brits to win a very narrow victory.

Editors aside

During one of my random photo rounds I was present to witness an event which goes against the natural order of things. David Smylie rolled 6, 6, 5 with 3 dice , a most unnatural occurrence. I think if it had been 3 6's the universe may have turned on its axis and come up with an even stranger reality than that which we currently have

The circumstances. David needed to roll well and I succumbed to the simple position of mockery, saying it was time for 3 1s, but just to spite me he'll get 3 6s ( or something to that extent ). That caused the spirts of the dice to be affronted and give a good result. I don't believe I've never seem Mr Smylie so happy. He wanted a record of this momentous occurrence.

For those not in the know Davids dice rolling is legendary in the Society. On my first day in the society I was in a CoC game and David was on the other side but lived up to his unfortunate dice rolling abilities. Also I was partnering him in a game of Dux Britanium. We were playing the Saxons, The Jeremys were playing Romano British with 2 units of levy shieldwall, whom David was rather disparaging about ( as 'I recall he said "I ain't afraid of no stinking levy" ). After several moves we were doing ok. With the British levy bearing down on the Saxons I had to answer a call of nature, leaving our army in Davids hands. When I returned most of David units had fled of the table, routed by the stinking levy. I believe the dice rolls were down to his usual standard.

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AAR from Chris Caves, very much the voice of dissention in the wilderness.

My thoughts on Chain of command 2.

The "small" number of changes are welcome and help the game.

But still basically the same game / same core rules.

Do they warrant £50 new set of rules ? NO in my opinion --- ( a small errata would suffice ).

Is the ruleset any better than others out there ? NO.
Although this really depends on what you want in a skirmish WW2 ruleset.

In my opinion Chain of command is over complicated for the overall result ( the CoC supporters like to call it granular ).

Bolt action is a great "pick up" game that gives a fun game and can be historically themed like Chain of command.

The fact that bolt action is also played competitively and by "younger" age groups means you also see nonhistorical matchups on the table which lead to start of rivalry between player groups.

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Some photos of the game.

The unsuspecting village before the battle, seen from the German end.