What makes Chain of Command so special - Part Three

 

Historically based - Platoons & Doctrine

Infantry platoons are the core fighting force in game, which each side fielding one platoon. (The exception being Big CoC which I'll look at  another time as I don't yet have those rules, but my understanding is they allow for the fielding of more platoons per side). In all cases expect the US Paratrooper platoon at Normandy which only has two these platoons all have three sections, although in some cases the third section is a "heavy" or machine gun"  section and differs in structure from the other two. Regardless -  the platoon structures in game reflect very closely their historical counterparts. 

The official British infantry platoon for the period comprised of one officer and 36 other ranks.  The game platoon matches this, although the Batman and ordely are dropped from the official platoon HQ and are replaced with a two man PIAT team. The PIAT was officially held at company level to be issued to the rifle platoons at CO's discretion. We therefore end up with the following in game.

British Infantry Platoon

Plt HQ - 2x Senior Leaders

1x 2" Mtr Team (3 men)

1x PIAT team (2 men)

3x Infantry Section - comprising 1x Junior Leader, 1x Bren team (3 men) and 6x riflemen.

37 men in total with a Force Rating in game of zero. 

The German equivalent was one officer and three sections each of nine other ranks. In addition there was a Platoon Troop, consisting of two messengers, a stretcher bearer, and a horse driver and horse leader. This troop has been dropped from the game in the same way that the Batman and orderly have been dropped from the British platoon as non combatants, and so we get the following.

German Infantry Platoon

Plt HQ - 1x SL 

3x Infantry Section - comprising 1x Junior Leader, 1x MG42 team (4 men) and 5x riflemen plus a Panzerfaust that can be allocated to any man in the section.

30 men in total and so substantially fewer men than the British platoon and with no integral light mortar. Anti-tank capability is much the same with three rounds of HEAT ammunition, but these are tied one PF to each squad while the British team is independent of the sections and so can manoeuvre separately either under its own Command DR or that of a SL.

The -1 force rating for this platoon reflects that it operates at a slight disadvantage when compared to the British platoon. (The gap widens when fighting against the likes of the US Armored Rifle Platoon or late war Parachute Infantry Platoon, both of which have force ratings of +6.)

The disadvantages for the German Infantry platoon can be summed up as 

• Only one senior leader 
• No light mortar 
• Less manpower

These differences reflect the reality on the ground, the German platoon did have seven men less than its British counterpart and so would feel the impact of casualties sooner. They only had one Senior Leader who could either administer the deploying forces into combat, or lead and issue orders from the front, but could not do both in the way the British can with their two senior leaders. There was no integral light mortar and so no platoon level indirect fire (either smoke or HE)  These differences had real impact and were a result of how each nation chose to fight.

There are 15 different platoons structures in the v2 rules  (including the two US Parachute Platoon options) Each has it own nuance, and these need to be understood in order to be played well. For each force it is worth understanding their respective real world doctrine and  also what within the rules help them achieve this in game.

Doctrine  

Military Doctrine as – “a formal document that outlines how military forces should operate in a given situation"

This page  provides  a comparison between the British and German WW2 doctrines at platoon level as best this can be ascribed.  
 

In game terms this translates into a player having a thorough understanding of the rules and their impact on each nation and platoon type.

For the Germans the one support point, as a minimum, usually gained through the difference in force rating allows for the purchase of an Adjutant to offset the lack of a second Senior Leader. The National Characteristics of "Machinengewehr" and "Handgranaten!" are powerful and designed to reflect the German doctrine, and so need to be fully understood so as to be used effectively and appropriately.

For the British the realisation that using the 2" mortar to lay smoke (using the Smoke Screen national characteristic) is generally more beneficial than using HE and ties in with their doctrine of fire and manoeuvre. 

All of this results in a game which feels, at least to me, historically authentic, and reflects the strengths and weaknesses of each force and encourages and rewards use of the historical doctrine and tactics of each. I'll have a look at the American and Soviet doctrine in a future post. I am no where near an expert in any of this so let me know if you agree or I'm getting stuff wrong.

 

Part One

Part Two