Abbeville: The Somme 1940 - Blitzkrieg at Zoteux

I ran a small scenario for Chain of Command from the Abbeville: The Somme 1940 Pint Sized Campaign book using 28mm figures.

The scenario was set on 5th June 1940 and saw a platoon from the 51st Highland Division defending against a platoon from the 5th Motorised Infantry Regiment of the 2nd German Infantry Division attacking.  The British took a roadblock and a 2 pounder anti-tank gun as their support whilst the Germans chose two additional squads (one of Pioneers and one regular infantry) and a Panzer IV.

This particular scenario was based on the Blitzkrieg scenario from the Blitzkrieg 1940 Handbook for Chain of Command with some adjustments.

Here are some photos from the game:

The game ended with the Germans victorious and the blitzkrieg continuing!

I was going to provide some links to the Lardies' website but it is being reconstructed at the moment as a result of a catastrophic server outage.

Normandy 1944 - Big Chain of Command

At our last club meeting I played in a 28mm game of Chain of Command (using the Big Chain of Command supplement) which saw elements of the 1st Polish Armoured Division engaging elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.

I provided one of the Polish infantry platoons and some of the game accessories; and it was nice to be just playing in a game rather than having to organise it.

We fought hard but struggled to dislodge the SS forces and the game ended ina draw.  We could have done with some artillery support but the forces were set by the organiser (but then a bad workman always blames their tools don't they!).

Here are some photos from the game:

Operation Martlet - Pushing On

Back in August I ran a scenario from the Operation Martlet "Pint Sized" campaign book for Chain of Command.  Operation Martlet saw the 49th Infantry Division facing the 12th SS Hitlerjugend around Caen after D-Day.

Our scenario saw the British attempting to push on through the sprawling village of Fontenay towards the German main line of defence. Their objective was to clear this position before the advance can progress further.

If you have the campaign booklet you may notice some minor changes in relation to support evident as I had to adjust them for the kit I had available.

Here are some photos from the game:

In the end the British failed to concentrate or use their support effectively and were repulsed by the Germans.

The Outskirts of Carentan, D Day + 6

On Saturday I managed to get up to the Maidstone club and put on a couple of games of Chain of Command.  Given one of these games was a learning game for a new member I kept it simple and went for a scenario with limited support options.

The scenario was adapted from one in one of the Lardies' pint sized Campaigns with a platoon of US Airborne approaching the outskirts of Carentan and encountering a platoon of Fallschirmjäger.

During the first game the US player got the most amazing number of rolls of 6 and consequently not only triggered a random event (heavy rain - limiting the visibility) but, in one case, four phases in a row!

The second game was a little less extreme!  Here are a couple of photos:

Gudbrands Valley, Norway - 23rd April 1940

Here are a few photos from our Big Chain of Command game yesterday.  It saw two German infantry platoons (one of Gebirgsjaeger) with armoured support (including a Neubaufahrzeug prototype tank) advancing against a platoon each of Norwegian and British troops.

With two of the German players not having played the system before but supported by one veteran player and the Allies having had some experience of the system it promised to be an interesting game, and so it was.

The game ended in a German victory with the British morale cracking first followed quickly by the Norwegians.

The figures were a mix of Gorgon Studios, Crusader and Brigade Games.

Skirmish 2020 - France 1940

With Covid-19 making itself felt in the UK and just before we went into full lockdown we put on our last game of the year at Skirmish in Sidcup.  The theme was France in 1940 so we chose to put on a Chain of Command game using the Blitzkrieg 1940 supplement.  Here are a few photos:

A Panzer II doesn't fare well against a Char B1!