Outskirts of Sainte Marie - A Chain of Command AAR

We played a small action scenario with Chain of Command this morning. Located in Normandy 6th June in the morning, two US paratrooper and one Infantry sections supported by a couple of Shermans are tasked with taking control of the main road crossing Saint Marie.

The German command had reinforced the village early in the morning with a couple of ad-hoc gruppes of Fallschirmjaeger,  heavily armed with LMGs and panzerfausts, while reinforced with a tank hunter (Panzerschreck) team to deal with any enemy armour threats. However, no mortar support was available due to a most disconcerted and broken German chain of command in the early hours of D-Day.

Both sides wer rated as elite (6 command dice) and the moral level (determined by a dice throw) was 9 for the Germans and 8 for the US forces.

Chain of Command: A Diary # 3

This is the thrid entry of my Chain of Command Diary, a series of posts commenting my impressions while testing the incoming II WW skirmish rules to be published by TooFatLardies in the summer of 2013. 

Topic of today: Command & Control...or how the TFL boss caused panic among the Lard retinue

Those familiar with TFL games know that one of the most distinctive features of their systems is the use of card-driven activation to govern the games, replacing the more traditional turn-based and IGYG systems. 

Cards activate commanders and units, and the card deck composition is key to simulate different national characteristics or specific scenario situations of the forces involved: for example, a "MG bonus card" allows a high quality support weapon crew to fire twice or a "Blitzkrieg" card enables a German panzer commander to exploit a gap in the enemy line  by moving twice in the same phase.  

Not suitable to all wargamers tastes, underpinning this system is the idea of recreating battle friction and fog of war: while not making the whole game unpredictible or denying the control of the forces or the implementation of the battle plan, card decks introduce an element of uncertainty and forces the player to chose between different tactical options at each time.

Panzer Tactics... for free

****OFFER EXPIRED****

Another very kind free giveaway ebook  by Amazon and Stackpole: this time Panzer Tactics, a real jewel of a book for anyone interested in small engagements in the II WW.  A comprehesive comment from a reader at Amazon's website with whom I 100% agree:

Extremely valuable - material found nowhere else...at least in my own ever-growing collection. We have the experiences of a Guderian, von Mellenthin, or Manstein, self serving as they sometimes may be, but at all these decades remove the view of the actual panzer crewman starts to get a little hazy. This book remedies this by way of hundreds of photographs that I don't believe are published in any other popularly available work. The CAPTIONS to these are of value! (For example: "Proper spacing is 100 meters - these Pz IIIs are too close!).

Each chapter begins with a concise exposition of the topic (Offensive operations, Defensive operations, Unit Movements, Command and Control, Logistics and Maintenance, etc.) from the point of view of the experienced veteran. A number of reproductions of the actual training materials for panzer crew from the period are included. The author takes pains to show how, during actual operations over the course of the war, panzer crew were repeatedly forced to improvise, departing from rigid adherance to the doctrine in these materials. Also included are a number of sketch maps of various operations at the smaller unit level, to further illustrate the principles. I believe a number of these are from actual after-action reports, hand drawn by the officers involved.

Chain of Command: Countdown to Release Starts

Richard Clarke just announced that CoC's playtesting phase is over and the final editing of the rules is now at full throttle. I expect the publised version out in the second half of July, as initially marked by Lard Island. Personally, this was my first game-testing experience and I have enjoyed it all-over these months, even if during this last lap I reduced my activity substantially due to conflicting personal/profesional and gaming schedules. I'll now concentrate in reading version 6 of the playtest pdf to try spotting any typos, contradictions, etc, as a way of helping the TFL team. I'd also like to thank Richard for the opportunity to work in this exciting project.    

Playing Chain of Command in an open terrain

I'm a true believer now!...if I ever had some doubts (which wasn't my case anyway).
This morning, Richard Clarke and Nick Skinner had undertaken the supreme test to the Chain of Command rules system, by playing a game in a basically open flat terrain (think Holland for example...) to show (1) that an attacking force (British) doesn't need a table full of LOS-breaking obstacles to win; and (2) that using historical tactics renders good results (you know, playing the period and not the rules).

I strongly recommend reading the detailed post at the Lard Island blog today describing phae by phase the debvelopment of this very intresting game. Not only illustrative of the rules mechanics but also a lesson in good tactical handling a force (.... I bow to your tactical genius, señor Clarke)    

More Chain of Command Fun

I'd like to call your attention to this entry in the TooFatLardies official blog, detailing step by step a game with Chain of Command, the incoming skirmish IIWW rules by Richard Clarke and Nick Skinner. It provides new insights about the game mechanisms (the armour section has suffered dramatic changes and been significantly improved in the latest draft version of the rules) and a better understanding of the historical background supporting the game design.

An excellent battle report (including an interesting debriefing), outstanding photos and wonderfully painted 28mm models. Hope you enjoy the show

Wargamer Taxonomy - How would you rate yourself?

A very interesting discussion topic brought by Itinerant Hobbyist in a recent post... and I bet it will go viral sonner than later. Why do you play wargames? What drives you in this hobby?.  Ans use the following classifcation categories to put yourself in teh picture. Directly taken from Itinerant, as the explanation is crystal clear... and his English is of course much better than mine :-)

Immersion - You really get into the fluff/universe/world/history of the game  you play.  It's the reason you got into gaming.  If I never play another game I will continue reading your favorite period books.  Similarly, a Warhammer/Battletech/whatever player can immerse themselves into the history of their chosen game with books, fan fiction, painting certain factions, etc.

Social - relationships are what's important.  You look forward as much to the dinner/drink afterwards as you do to the gaming itself.

Showcasing/Modelling - You really like to show your work and see the work of others. Modelling and painting are what give you the most energy.

Strategy - You like to read forums, listen to podcasts, work on lists, etc to improve your game.  You like the mechanics of how a game works.

Competition - you like testing your play style and abilities against others to come out on top.  Or, to test your strategies against the best.