Coffee or Calvados, a Chain of Command AAR

Hugh and I played our first game of Chain of Command.  There's been a very positive buzz about these WW II skirmish rules and I was anxious to see what makes them shine.  Hugh provided everything from figures to terrain. The buildings are by Crescent Root Studio.  Comparable to 4Ground buildings, some come with 4 pins inside, allowing a quick breakdown and assembly for when space is an issue.  

Hugh sketched out the back sotry for our patrol scenario to recon a Calvados brandy factory in Normandy. It was a wonderful bit of color as I got to learn about Chain of Command AND a famous French apple brandy. I must remember to take the time to frame up a game with a story as it makes for a deeper gaming experience, win or lose!  For our next match, perhaps the first player to occupy the factory rolls see if his men imbibe and rolls for results, something like Dux Britanniarum's Bibamus table.  

This scenario saw a German infantry platoon going up against a British Airborne platoon. CoC has national characteristics for each force, grounded in their military doctrine. For example, "Maschinengewehr" rewards the German players with more D6 when attaching a squad leader to LMGs.

British Airborne are tough, with 6 command dice versus 5 for the Germans.  They're also rated as elite and aggressive.  Being new, we bungled the German support list and poor Hugh got only a medic and panzerchek team to even out the disparity between our forces.  On the other hand, it was realistic that the Germans found themselves over-matched at the start of the Normandy campaign.

These pictures are not the best but I want to show what the figure requirements are and how the squads are composed.  Hugh put leaders in larger bases to make them distinguishable on the tabletop.  Basically, you're looking at 3 squads per side with some support.  

The first bit of genius in Chain of Command is the Patrol Phase, which is a wonderful game within the game. Each side has 3-4 Patrol Markers which are moved one by one, 12" onto the table. Each marker must remain within 12" of a friendly marker. Once your marker comes within 12" of an enemy marker, both are locked. Players continue moving their markers until all are locked.  Behind the locked Patrol Markers, players place their Jump Off Points, which are where troops deploy to the battlefield. Going first, I was able to lock up Jump Off Points behind the Calvados factory.  This was a huge as it left the Germans on their back foot with Jump Off Points in a farm field, a road and an orchard.  Not ideal.  

With no troops on the table to start, I threw 6 command dice.  Command dice are used to bring forces onto the table and then later, active them for movement.  How and when you commit your forces onto the table is critical. My rolling was crazy good and I rolled up back to back phases repeatedly. I put one squad on my left flank in the orchard with a Bren covering a German Jump Off Point.  I got my 2nd squad into the main building and my 3rd squad went out on the right flank in a warehouse.  

Above, I split a section off from one squad to flank and fire on the Germans taking cover against a wall. Concentrating fire from two squads on one German squad I was able to pin them. I send in an assault that took them right off the table.  

Hugh brought his last squad to where his other squad had just perished. I was eager to occupy one of his Jump Off Points in order to degrade the German force morale.  Here, I miscalculated badly in deciding to assault the fresh Germans. Their MG 42 ripped me up and I lost my entire squad in the debacle. Lesson learned, you can't charge in like a maniac even if you're elite.  You must first knock the enemy down with fire, pin them if you can and then go in for the kill.  

My failed assault did weaken the German squad and they eventually broke from our steady fire. Hugh sent his last squad against my squad in the orchard.  Assaulting fresh troops backed by 2 Brens and some stens, the results were catastrophic for the Germans.  Their force morale dropped to zero and the game went to the British.

Two very big thumbs for Chain of Command.  It's a great set of rules, one of the best skirmish rules I've ever played.  CoC is going to get heavy rotation this year and I can't wait to run the Calvados scenario again. One game and we're both mulling over other armies and theaters of war.  That means we're hooked, I think!

Spartan finish, now with 100% more camp

I love the many choices we have in our fine hobby.  Baueda helped me across the finish line with my least favorite part of painting a new army; the camp.  Once I saw the Spartan Sacred Enclosure, I put in an order right away.

The kit is based on a dokana, preserved on a Spartan tombstone. I'm looking at my Osprey "The Spartan Army,"  page 55 and its spot on.  What the spider and two snakes mean is beyond me.  They do look bad ass, which matches the Spartans well.  Painted in red, the enclosure matches the theme color for the Spartan army as well.

I should mention that I used Army Painter brown primer for the whole Spartan army, including the camp.  Brown is a great base for all the bronze armor and with a good wash, its a great base for flesh as well.  

The cavalry for the Spartan army is not impressive at all.  They're average, undrilled and armed only with light spears. These fellows will be of limited use:

1) Put them in a single rank and delay on a wing, or 

2) Provide rear support to my hoplites, giving supported units a +1 on morale checks.  

Over the weekend, my friend Brandt met me at Fantasy Flight for beers and a game.  He ran Late Republican Romans, which are one of the toughest armies in period. The key for the Spartans is to survive the Roman impact phase without dropping morale. Brandt won up and down the line when his legions went in but I diced out of 3 of my 4 morale tests.  From there, the game swung my way.  I killed 2 of his 3 generals, including Caesar.  Brandt claimed it was merely a flesh wound but whatever the truth, his Inspired Commander could inspire no more.  

The Spartans were falling all over themselves in their eagerness to get stuck in.  

On the last turn, the Spartan citizens anchoring my right flank got charged in the rear.  They dropped a morale level from the charge but won the impact phase against very long odds. My blazing dice had our FoG group shaking their heads.  I shook my head too when I busted another legion and broke the Roman army. I can't remember the last time I beat the Romans. King Leonidas would be pleased, I think.  I know I am!

Spartan army continues

Painting an army for Field of Glory can be a bit of a slog as the figure requirement are fairly substantial in 15mm. Also, you want some options to keep the army interesting to run. With the Spartan hoplites painted, it was time for the whistles and bells.

Cretan Archers: In Field of Glory, these sharp eyed mercenaries are rated as Superior and reroll 1s.  If you're going to be the best mercenary bowmen on the field, you should try to look the part.

Javelinmen/Peltasts: These skirmishers are useful as filler or to challenge for terrain that I can't send my Spartan hoplites into.  Yes, they can shoot but it's generally not that effective.  

Thracian Medium Foot:  The Thracians give me one nonskirmish foot unit that can operate in bad terrain. That's a lot of responsibility!  I painted them in a Thureophoroi style so they can pull double duty and serve on my other ancients lists.  I really should have used a fleshwash over the white on these fellows instead of an earthwash.  Ah well...

Commanders:  In Field of Glory, a Spartan army can only field 3 commanders.  If I run a Spartans with allies list, I can field a 4th General for the allied troops.  I did sneak in a single Xyston figure to this Old Glory lineup.  He's the fellow with a helmet under his arm, reminding me of how nice Xyston figs are.  

For the Spartan project, I've been painting to the superb Great Courses "Pelopponesian War."  It's 36 half hour lectures led by the distinguished Professor Kenneth Harl at Tulane.  One of the great things about my audible membership is that an 18 hour Course counts as 1 book.  I just realized they also have Donald Kagan's superb "The Peloponnesian War" so that's in my cart and ready to go.  If there is a quiz show centered on the Pelopponesian War, I'll soon be ready for it!  

Published!

The current issue of Dadi & Piombo wargaming magazine features an article I wrote about SAGA, accompanied by photos of the Irish warband I painted.  I've let this go to my head, telling people I'm now big in Italy. This is my first time published and it feels really good.  Here's hoping it's not the last time!

As I wrap up the Spartans, I've got my next 15mm ancients army primed up and ready to go.  Featured prominently on Trajan's Column, I'm hoping they'll be an interesting army to paint and play in our Field of Glory campaign.  

With lambdas gleaming

"All the Greeks know what is right to do, but only the Spartans do it."  Plutarch

When painting a Spartan army, the thorniest question you'll face is whether to paint them with lambda shields or without.  There was a time when every Spartan chose his shield design. This was superseded by a policy where all Spartan shields bore the Greek letter L (lambda) for Lacedaemon.  The Lexicon of Photius said Cleon was not the only Athenian terror struck when he saw the lambdas gleaming. From this, we conclude the Spartans were using lambda shields at the battle of Amphipolis in 422 BC.  It's possible the lambda came into earlier use as other Greek city-states were using common shield designs well before that date. Mantineians bore the trident of Poseidon by the mid 5th century.  Messenians bore the letter M, Thebans the club and so on.

Common shield designs may have started when states began providing the hoplite kit. If so, the lambda may have been first used by helots outfitted by the Spartans. From there, usage may have spread to the rest of the army. Common shield designs fit neatly into a narrative that shield bearers are not individual citizen but servants of the state.  And as Photius records, such was the Spartan reputation that enemies fled at the mere sight of their lambdas.  I greatly enjoy the freedom to paint in the broad space between what we know and our best guess. For my Classical Spartans, everyone gets the lambda.   

I got these in a blind trade and out of the box, I wasn't thrilled with the Old Glory poses.  Once I ranked them up, I saw they were sculpted to fit 4 figures per 15mm deep base.  I painted 32 bases with bronze shields, 8 in black shields and 8 in red. Once I saw how good black shields looked, I wished I'd painted more!

The mix of brass, black and red shields will help identify in game which units are Spartan citizens and which are the not quite as good perioikoi, free non-citizens who lived and served in the Spartan army.

I can't wait to finish and field the Spartans in our next Field of Glory campaign. My Galatian and Gallic armies are 0 wins and 2 losses in the current campaign.  A good craftsman doesn't blame his tools but I clearly need a bigger hammer.  Here's hoping the Spartans are it.   

British Airborne finished!

The 2nd run of British Airborne figures went down much smoother than the first.  The Artizan figures were a treat to paint, with much detail and character.

Piat Team: Great set, with 2 shooters and 2 loaders.

Specialists:  Sniper, flamethrower, mortar and a sten gunner with binoculars. Which specialist would you rather face?

British Airborne Section II:  You gotta love the Bren gunner.

British Airborne 6 pdr antitank gun by Warlord Games.  It was a bit of a bear to glue up but looks nice at the finish line.  I did mud and splatter it up, in addition to washes.  The base that comes with the kit is  too small so I used a piece of basswood.

Closing out the British Airborne project, I'd like to share a couple of resources on the subject:

1.   "It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market-Garden…"  This superb book is a great companion to Cornelius Ryan's "A Bridge Too Far."  The Germans had nothing but praise and respect for the superbly led and motivated 1st British Airborne at Arnhem.  The Germans suffered from shortages of everyone. Their tanks went in without radios and it cost them dearly.  They had no tracked transports so their 75mm antitank guns were deployed on the shoulder of Hell's Highway.  Every gun was knocked by the Allies rolling barrage during the opening of the campaign.  It goes without saying that the Germans were also suffering from a shortage of men.  One account has an officer leading WW I vets.  Before going in, the vets complained they'd not seen action since 1915.  Highly recommended!

2. Here's a link to a great British Airborne painting guide in PDF with photos of the uniform and kit.

Chain of Command - in with both feet

My friend Hugh and I are going to try Chain of Command just as soon as I finish painting up British Airborne.  I've had these fellows on the table since November but the thought of painting Denison smock put me off.  The camo on the smock was randomly applied, and as a result, every tutorial and painter has a different take on how to paint Denison in 28mm.

My conversation with myself while painting Denison went something like this:

Self:  "Don't hold back.  Just slop it on.  Randomly."
self:  "Randomly...how?"
Self:  Checks a picture on the web,  "Triangular blobs and sharp edges.  Some overlap, but not too much. Don't put too much down and cover up the base color. And space it out a bit. And keep it random looking."
self:  "Like this?"
Self:  "No, you're doing it all wrong! Let me see that."  Stares at picture on the web.  "Hmmm."
self:  "Told you it was hard!"

This is my first crack at painting WW II.  It'll get easier  and faster as I get more reps under my belt. Denison version 1 was applied to a Foundry test figure.  I used a banding technique but it didn't look quite right so I quickly changed to v2.  v2 went on the Warlords Games British Airborne HQ set below.  I tried multidirectional angled bits that slopped over each other.  These looked better but the Army Painter soft tone wash obscured the camo.  Lets hope the 3rd time is a charm!

v3 went on a set of Crusader figs with a diluted AP wash.  Success!  They took paint very well and the camo looks decent.  With a painting scheme under my belt, it's onto some lovely Artizan figs.

For me, it's important to find a partner before starting new painting and gaming projects.  With one in hand, I'm into Chain of Command with both feet! We have yet to get our first game in and already, we're plotting out other armies and fronts.

The painting scheme is tucked under the fold.