Back in the saddle

Brief update. 

After a 4-month break due to health and work issues, I'm finally back in the saddle. The silver lining of such a lengthy pause is that there is plenty of new stuff to check. I'm particularly interested in eying What a Cowboy, the new Far West by TooFatLardies. Especially because my gaming partner is really interested in the cowboy era. 

As the days get longer and warmer I hope to be able to dedicate some extra time to continue my WW2 Chain of Command project and to improve my Sharp Practice 2 AWI forces. 

How to prepare a basic Chain of Command game

 As I explained in my previous post, it took me a long way to prepare what I'd call a "basic setting" for Chain of Command. Obviously one can start with a bare infantry platoon, but in my experience that does not provide a really enjoyable game. So today I'd like to share my personal view of what I discovered through trial and error.

I found official TooFatLardies Pint Sized Campaigns to be excellent starting points for any setting. They describe a more restrictive force and supports than the rule book, and they even depict different table settings so one can estimate what terrain would be required.

Game Aids

I personally hate book-keeping and note-taking. So I rather use markers on the table to 

Movement trays are quite common in other games, like Sharp Practice, but tend to be rare in WW2 settings. I believe they quicken troop movement and allow a faster identification of teams. 

I found Mortal Gods movement trays to be particularly useful for Chain of Command. I use the triangular 3-men hoplite ones for MG teams. And circular 3-men ones for support teams like mortars, engineers and such.

My partner rather use dice to count shock, so I've made some bases for them, so they are visually more integrated into the table and also to avoid rolling or picking them by accident. We use small black dice.

For counters I have similar solution, based white small dices that be attached to the movement trays. For example to count the 3 HE rounds in the British 2" mortar or the 3 fuel charges for flamethrowers.

Then I use "conventional" MDF or acrylic tokens for different status like: Tactical Stance, Overwatch, Broken, Pinned, -1 level for leaders.

For smoke grenades / shells I use 3" MDF bases. 

Terrain

Terrain is one of the elements that in my humble opinion can make or break a game. While it's true one can use anything available like books or cans, accurate high quality terrain can give an immersion that nothing else can.

The base for me it's a good mat. I personally use the mouse pads by Deep Cut as they are resistance and their weight allows me to keep a flat surface at all times.

Entrenchments, tank barriers and wire fences. At least a minefield is also required.

Trees and hedges are really useful in most settings. 

Unlike other historical settings, fencing and obstacles are vital for a modern war scenario as weapons have really long ranges and soldiers need some cover to survive.

Forces

Infantry. Infantry is the base of all force. Basically just follow whatever is explicitly stated in the Pint Sized campaign list. 

Infantry supports. I believe the basic infantry supports for all forces should be a RTO/Forward observer, medic, Sniper, a flamethrower team, an engineer team and a tripod MG.

Vehicles. A couple of the most common tanks a a staple for almost all forces (except maybe Japanese). Soft / Armored Transports are not really needed in most scenarios, so I don't think they should be prioritized. 

Artillery. I find that having at least an AT gun as a support is a must have for any force. Infantry guns can add some interesting options, but close fire support can also be simulated with an off-the-table medium mortar. 

Long journey to a “complete” game of CoC

It has taken me a while to get enough elements to prepare a “complete” Chain of Command game. Obviously the adjective “complete” may have different meanings to many people. In my case, I consider a “complete” game when I’m able to play a TooFatLardies Pint Sized Campaign. So, when I have enough stuff to deploy two base platoons plus diverse supports in addition to a properly made terrain and attractive game markers that cover most common situations.

Spring-Winter 2019

The tortuous path began three years ago, in spring 2019. At that time I decided to immerse myself in historical figure wargaming as an excuse to spent less time in front of screens. Back then, my knowledge of the hobby was extremely limited. I had only played some Fantasy Warhammer in late 1990s. Few years ago I had discovered Bolt Action WW2 models in a Stockholm store, Science Fiction Bokhandeln. My natural first step was to order their “Band of Brothers” starter set. 

Unfortunately due to courier issues it took a while to arrive. Enough for me to take advantage of Warlord Games sprue sale and purchase way too many sprues for almost all possible WW2 theaters. Big mistake. I first built a US Paratrooper and a German Grenadier forces.

My base German Grenadier platoon (WIP).

To get to know the rules, I watched multiple videos of gameplays in YouTube. One channel stood out over the rest, Tactical CP. There I discovered Chain of Command. After watching a couple videos I was amazed of how much more accurate it was in depicting modern warfare. While Bolt Action felt like a competition oriented arcade game with a WW2 “skin”, CoC felt like a proper simulation of WW2.

Making the rule-set switch was not easy. It took me some time to convince my main gaming partner. Finally they conceded, so I started slowly adapting my Bolt Action forces to depict the realistic platoon order of battle of Chain of Command. In addition I rebased them from Warlord Games plastic 25mm bases to 24mm metal washers -to give them more heft and be able to have a magnetized storage-. 

After a couple of games Grenadiers vs US Paratroopers, I realized that the disparity of forces made it hard for my partner to learn the rules. That’s why I created a British force, as it’s structurally closer to the German Grenadier platoon. At that time I played in a 4x4 feet table as I lacked anything better, so the fights felt quite close quarters.

Spring ‘21

At the beginning of 2020 with the Covid-19 craze I was forced to take a break from wargaming. Fast forward to the first months of 2021 I managed to go back on the wargaming saddle. At that time I bought a couple of magnificent gaming mats from Deep Cut Studios and a 6x4 feet table. That way I would be able to play the games with enough space. 

The bigger table felt quite empty so I expanded my collection of scarce terrain acquiring new trees, also buildings from Sarissa and Charlie Foxtrot, and even some small stuff from Warbases. Warbases has excellent “1-man movement trays” that are perfect to highlight the junior and senior leaders. Leaders are the base of the Chain of Command -and most TFL- rules, so I found it imperative to have a way to make them stand out on the field. 

At that time I found out that setting small teams and MG teams in a moving tray eases the game and allows us to identify and move them quickly on the table. Triangular 3-men bases for MGs and circular 3-men trays for bulkier supports like light mortars, finally a 2-men base for small teams. They are small enough to fit in most terrain, not affecting much the game. Rifle teams I deploy them individually as being the maneuver element they usually need to fit in tighter spaces.

Unfortunately in Summer 2021 I had to take another break from wargaming because of the birth of my first child. Parenting and work took all my time for many months. Finally in September 2022 I was able to stabilize my agenda and have some free time. 

My British late war platoon (WIP).

Fall ‘22

This fall I tried to make out for the lost time by purchasing a series of 3D printed buildings by Patrick Miniatures and few more trees. I also crafted multiple supports I had on storage (engineer 3-men teams, AT guns, etc.).

Hopefully soon I’ll be finally able to complete my project to be able to play the TooFatLardies Operation Martlet Pint Sized Campaign. I’m now waiting for the arrival of few more tanks and support teams from Warlord Games as well as some extra hedges and fields I ordered from Etsy.

Future plans

While I consider my base forces soon to be finished, there are plenty of updates that I have planned for them. The addition of new support vehicles like the Stuart light tank and additional artillery guns. Add extras to my German platoon to be able to field Volksgrenadier squads. 

Another addition that would be much needed is an AA vehicle or gun for the Germans to play the last scenario of 02 Hundred Hours. 

SITREP: Sunday update #2

Last week I worked on some of my Northern French buildings and a new group of AWI Continental skirmishers for Sharp Practice 2.

On Friday I received a package from Fantasy Welt that I had just ordered last Saturday. Kudos for their celerity. It included Perry's amazing American Farm House and Rubicon's Utility & Light pole set. I also ordered a batch of 6 extra 8cm tall trees. 

The two Northern France buildings I worked on where from Patrick Miniatures. I painted them in a way they can also be used for my Llardona 1808 long time Peninsular War SP2 project.

Work in progress

My AWI Continental Skirmishers were a pack of North Star figures for Muskets & Tomahawks II. To be precise the French & Indian War French Canadian Militia 1 6 figure set. They look amazing. Really rugged woodsman style. My only criticism would be that I had to work hard to remove the cast marks from the lower legs. It took longer than cleaning most plastic figures.

I've also started researching a bit the possibilities for next year's big Winter War / Eastern Front project for Chain of Command. I found it's better for me to use a Pint Sized Campaign to guide me. That way I can figure out what miniatures and terrain to buy / make. As there was no official campaign for the war in Finland, I found Winter of No Surrender which at first sight seems quite well documented and useful. To complement it I also purchased Storming the Citadel an official PSC from the TooFatLardies. That allowed me to realize that I will need plenty of Russians and Finns as both use four squad platoons. In my shame pile of lead I have plenty of Soviet Russians from Warlord Games, so should be quite enough, but only a limited amount of Finns (by the same maker). In addition, seems that Warlord Games Finn squads lack a LMG, so I'll have to figure out another source or a conversion to get some. 

SITREP: Sunday update #1

Last week I worked on magnetizing part of my miniatures and terrain. 

As most of my stuff is set on metallic fender washers, and I'm not to keen on buying tons of small magnets and attach them to each and every base, I've decided to buy magnetic sheets from Supermagnete and attached them at the bottom of my plastic storage boxes. 

Some of my bigger miniatures were set on 40 or 60mm plastic bases, those have been rebased into wider metallic fender washers.

I also have created a couple of artillery markers for Sharp Practice 2 inspired by John Emmett's ones. They are used to mark the remaining canister shoots. 3 by default. 

In addition I created a barricade for the same rules. 

Artillery counters.

On Tuesday I received a package from Stronghold Terrain that includes all I need to finally finish my Sharp Practice 2 American War of Independence forces. For one side I'll use a Perry Miniatures' British AWI box to create the remaining groups of both sides. I like the idea of mixing some Continental soldiers with dyed British uniforms for my state troops and militias. To add a bit more variety to my Continental skirmishers I've purchased a Canadian Militia pack made by Northstar for Muskets & Tomahawk.

In the future I'm planning to purchase new commanders for both sides, as I'm using 28mm oversized Warlord Games one that break the nice proportions of my mostly Perry's force. 

On the terrain front I've been working on a couple of buildings for my Northern France WW2 village. I prepared them in the same way as my Catalan Napoleonic Peninsular War buildings -with a layer of wood filler and patches of sand- and painted them in faded yellows. The idea is to be able to use them both for WW2 Northern France and Italy as well as Napoleonic Mediterranean settings. 

Baptism by fire - 02 Hundred Hours

Last evening we took 02 Hundred Hours for a first test run. Created by Graham Davey of Grey for Now, it's a fast paced small skirmish miniature wargame based on WW2 night raids. 

Our first game was quite an experience. I must confess that it felt quite different than what I had expected. I thought it would be a close sibling of Test of Honour, but to my surprise it's more like a distant cousin and hence it feels quite different. The new dice mechanics combined with the inclusion of two well differentiated sides (attackers vs defenders-guards), gives it quite a unique taste. 

While it’s a small-scale skirmish that does not require an excessive investment to bring to the table, it’s not the easiest game to pick up. I would not recommend for beginners as the stealth / detection mechanics add up to the usual move / fight mechanics. Said that, those who like me, already played Test of Honour will have an easier acclimation to the system.

It features a token (or pebbles like in our case) activation system. They are randomly picked from a bag and distributed amount both forces, this adds a certain level of uncertainty.  In addition, this was a great excuse to recover a German dice bag from Warlord Games Bolt Action that had fallen into oblivion.

The starter set includes a good amount of beautifully sculpted miniatures of German guards and SAS operatives by Wargames Atlantic. If someone already owns a good bunch of WW2 figures it's possible to purchase the rules, tokens, cards and dice on their own. I personally believe that at £49.60 the starter set is really worth it.

All in all, it's an inexpensive fun quick game with a nice WW2 flavor. I believe the rules can be used pretty much untouched in other modern conflicts that involve special operations stealth raids.