For this game we decided to test out a modified version of Chain of Command to see if we could cut down the volume of dice rolling and the counting of pin markers which was becoming a little over the top. We set up a simple scenario from the one hour games scenario book and two basic forces (one standard German platoon with a Stug in support against a Russian Naval platoon with a 57mm A/T gun in support). The main objectives were the road junction and buildings on the Russian side of the table and the hill on the German side of the table.

For the set up we used the scenario deployment allowing the players to set up four jump-off points each within 12” of their table edge and allocate which units were deployed at each JoP (using then as blinds to hide deployment rather than the normal CoC method of starting with all units in reserve). We added a rule that players could attempt to spot opponent's positions by spotting the JoP if they could get a direct line of sight to it.

When the German armour arrived on table the Russian A/T gun opened fire, hitting several times but not managing to cause any damage. However,the crew then got cut down by the supporting German infantry until only the junior leader remained. The Stug deployed behind a rise in the ground and brought one Russian platoon under heavy fire, causing casualties but not managing to force them back.

The German second squad got caught in a crossfire and after losing their junior leader were trapped and cut to pieces with only the machine gunner managing to get away. The German third squad had moved round the Russian flank and engaged in a fire fight with a Russian section in the the field to the right of the buildings but did not arrive in time to save their compatriots. The first German squad, after cutting the Russian A/T gunners down, advanced to take the road junction but heavy fire cut down the senior leader and the German commander called an end to the game.

The new firing rules worked well using the weight of fire generated by a unit to roll on a table to see how much shock they generated. The target unit would then test to see how they reacted to the shock and then to see if the weight of fire had caused casualties. That way we did not have to carry forward and keep track of shock counters and work out how these were allocated amongst teams, etc.