What makes Chain of Command so special - Part One

 This blog is all about Chain of Command being played with 15mm figures and vehicles, but so far I've concentrated more on the 15mm aspect than the Chain of Command rules themselves. Time to change that.

Chain of Command_v2 (CoC) is, in my opinion, an amazing set of rules. The rules tick all the boxes on my list of what rules should be and added some boxes I hadn't thought of.

• 1:1 scale and matching ground scale.                                                            ✅
• Infantry based - skirmish/platoon level game.                                                ✅
• The empty battlefield, fog of war and Jumping Off Points.                             ✅
• Friction, chaos, Command dice and Chain of Command points.                   ✅
• Historically based - platoons, national characteristics, tactics.                      ✅
• Thematic rather than competitive.                                                                 ✅
• Lends itself to a high aesthetic.                                                                     ✅

All in all the rules are comprehensive without being confusing or overly complex and greatly benefit from the history of v1 and the amendments/additions made for v2. 

Scale 

The rules provide an infantry skirmish level game, where one figure equals one man, one vehicle equals one vehicle and with regard to terrain and buildings what you see is what you get. This 1:1 scale means that visually there is very little abstraction.

The rules advise that 12" on the table represents 40 yards in the real world. (1 inch equals 10 feet) This is 1:120 scale which is very close to the 1:100 that 15mm is often also classified as, so when playing at 15mm the figures, vehicles, buildings and terrain pretty much match the ground scale of the rules. 

When using a 6' x 4' table this translates into a battlefield that is 240 yards (220m) by 160 yards (145m) - not a large area by combat standards, but very much the pointy bit of the spear. 

The main fighting force for the game is the infantry platoon, with these closely following their historical counterparts. A British Infantry platoon consists of 37 men, the Soviet Motor Rifle platoon 25 with the remaining platoon types ranging between these two numbers. Allowing for some support unit purchases a force in region of 35-50 figures per side is all that is required to start playing the game. 

As somebody who loves painting figures this low figure count means I can spend time on painting to a higher quality rather than having to worry about painting a multitude of figures.

The Empty Battlefield and Fog of War

There are two clever game mechanics that make for a very foggy battlefield.

• Patrol Markers and The Patrol Phase
• Jumping Off Points (JOP) 

The patrol phase is almost a separate mini game in its own right that determines where each players JOP are placed at game start. (I need to get better at this phase, as currently I feel I have very little strategy behind how I play this - Something for a future post).  

Patrol Markers in simple terms are moved in turn up to 12" across the table (they must remain within 12" of at least one other friendly marker throughout this process). These markers are then locked down once they are within 12" of an enemy patrol marker. When all markers are locked down the JOP are placed using a nifty process for determining the zone into which each individual JOP is placed based on the location of the friendly marker and the two closest enemy patrol markers. There is the additional requirement that this must be at least 6" from the closest two enemy patrol markers, and behind cover. This all means that JOP start positions are unique to each game and table layout and that neither player has total control over where his JOP are placed.

Jumping Off Points, are a very clever device that mean that at game start no troops or vehicles are present on the table. The battlefield is empty - the ultimate Fog of War. While dependent on Command Die rolls the player controls when units enter the table, if at all and for infantry units they are free to deploy within 6" of any unblocked, friendly JOP. In consequence the opponent cannot predict when unit(s) will deploy onto the table nor at which JOP. Vehicles deploy onto the table via their friendly table edge and on a road if one is present. However there is one very cool exception for German low profile self propelled anti tank guns via the Pakfront! National Characteristic which may deploy from a JOP as if an infantry unit. 

A further element of FOW is introduced  by the use of Support Points, and their purchasing power. A player may have Support Points to spend on additional units or equipment and in most games these purchases will be unknown to the opposing player until deployed. This uncertainty reinforces the need to build a balanced force based on the core platoon that is able to cope with potentially facing a combined all arms force. No Min-Maxing here 

In Part Two I'll cover how friction and chaos is introduced into the game.