Gaming the Great War with Chain of Command

I’ve been meaning to get back to some WW1 gaming and a couple of chance incidents in December gave me the gentle nudge I needed. First, David H very kindly sold me his 28mm British and German platoons to add to my collection; then, the Too Fat Lardies 2023 Lard Magazine was released with an excellent article about using fire and manoeuvre tactics in Chain of Command. These two things conspired to get me a game sorted for the first week back at the club.

Two Fat Lardies have a long history with WW1, having released If The Lord Spares Us (a large scale set of rules for WW1 in the Middle East) and then Through The Mud And Blood (rules for 28mm large skirmishes that provided the stepping stone for WW2 Chain of Command). However, having played a fair bit of Chain of Command in the past, I decided to go for the hybrid known as ‘CoC-ing up Through The Mud and Blood’ that appeared in the 2014 Lard Christmas Special.

This article by Rich Clarke provides some rules to convert CoC to work with Great War games from 1917-18, platoon lists and scenario ideas. While I know that there are further developments afoot (WW1 afficionado Alex from Storm of Steel is working away on his own ideas and was kind enough to send me a copy, although I wasn’t able to include them in our first game. Cheers Alex!)

With four of us playing (mostly for the first time in several years), I decided to dispense with the patrol phase and provide a scenario with pre-set jump-off points. A British platoon was sent out to capture and bring back a German prisoner from their positions in four dug-outs on the edge of a shattered wood. 

We used the standard 1917 platoons, with the British having six points of support to help them achieve their goal (a Vickers HMG, 4 trench brooms and a pre-game bombardment to keep the Germans’ heads down). The British had three jump-off points spread around the edges of the wood, whereas the Germans had one just behind each dug-out position. Both sides rolled an 8 for Force Morale and we were off, with the Brits taking the first phase.

Andy (playing the Brits) decided to go aggressive and quickly deployed his bombers and a rifle section right on the edge of the woods. Unfortunately for them, the pre-game barrage did little to keep the Huns’ heads down and a couple of MG-08 sections appeared right in the dug-outs.

The Brits crept within grenade range but found their first bombs falling short, while all the time they were being whittled by German fire. A bomb did eventually make it into the trench (I managed to roll a double 6 at exactly the wrong time, inflicting two kills on my Germans) but the Brits weren’t going to be getting much further.

At this point, Andy and Nick sensibly deployed their rifle bombers back in the treeline. These chaps quickly made their presence felt and poured fire onto the Germans in the dug out. 

The fated bomber section was now broken, leading to a drop in British Force Morale, and it looked like there was nothing the Brits could do. However, it was all yet to happen. On came two British sections led by the platoon sergeant and lieutenant.

With the Vickers and the Lewis gun focused on suppressing the Germans in the dug out (remembering to use the excellent ‘covering fire’ rule in CoC for once), the fresh British rifle section stormed forwards and broke into the improvised fortification. Only two Germans were left – the private was swiftly despatched in the melee, while the NCO was bundled off for interrogation.

This was not the end of the tale, however, as the final German section leapt out from a nearby sandbagged position. Seeing their man being carried off, they launched themselves at the Brits with a hail of stick grenades using the ‘Handgranaten’ special rule. 

With fresher troops, the Germans came out triumphant, rescuing their lightly-wounded comrade and heading back to their lines with the British lieutenant as their honoured guest. 

At this point, British Force Morale also dropped to zero and the rest of the platoon pulled back to submit their report: ‘Lt Jolly boldly led a charge into the German trench, single-handedly captured a prisoner and was last seen fighting off a dozen ferocious-looking Germans with his walking cane and revolver. Reported missing. Please send replacement.’

It was great to see that none of us had forgotten how to play – even if we were all a bit rash with the tactics! In terms of my scenario design, the British needed some jump-off points a little closer to the German lines, and possibly some more support. Alternatively, it would probably be a really interesting game with two British platoons against a German one, and probably more realistic in terms of odds. 

Once we’re back into it, I’ll introduce more of the rules from CoCking up the Mud and Blood and probably try out Alex’s ideas as well. There is definitely some more WW1 gaming due in 2024.