Chain of Command SCW

[H.M.Stanley]

I'm rejigging my SCW [and WW2] collection of figures for Chain of Command.

Ordered a pair of light mortars for La Legion plus some Observer/Scouts (and a pack of Civil Guard) from Empress

[H.M.Stanley]

Scrivs has agreed to show me the CoC ropes and our first game is planned for Thurs.

Ady Mac may be joining us.

I'm planning on using "Hardened" Peoples Militia against La Legion.

Looking forward to it ..

[Happy Wanderer]

Stanley,

We did just that days ago!...La Legion (defending) vs Hardened Militia (attacking). It was a scenario from the Iron Ivan campaign book.

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=838&sid=74490bce2d42147db4c7a31b5fd1593c

A word of caution. 

Do not expect to divide your militia force and 'dance'. You have 4 command dice....keep your force together and expect the Legion to get back to back phases...it's going to happen if he runs them as Regulars: 6CD...its part of HIS plan.

Do not expend Platoon Force Rating support list choice on lots of extra stuff. Make what you have, better, as you still only have 4CD..it's a limitation. Put another way, try and gain benefits from the list to maximise the use of these 4CD. La Legion is quality and will pick you off if you come up piece meal!!!!


...alternatively throw caution to the wind and have at it as you wish 

Good luck and tell us how it goes. 

Happy Wanderer

[H.M.Stanley]

Thanks fella.

This is very much a learning exercise for me, having only read through the rules but not played yet.

Don't the Militia get the option of defending in an appropriate scenario?

I'll run La Legion as Regulars rather than Elite to really show the difference between the two (I'll let Scrivs/Ady have choice of forces although i'm likely to play Militia)

What would you say a good scenario would be to start with?

I'll have to dig out my copy of the Iron Ivan SCW Campaign book 

Best,

James

[Happy Wanderer]

"Don't the Militia get the option of defending in an appropriate scenario?"

Yes. But if your thinking of attacking, well, I though I'd just mention it!...alot of points are valid though. Over sizing your force with the  4CD restriction means you will not be able to use them all each phase so the smart Legion player will hit you either with concentration or all along the line so you can't respond...watch out!  

"I'll run La Legion as Regulars rather than Elite to really show the difference between the two (I'll let Scrivs/Ady have choice of forces although i'm likely to play Militia)"

I think the Legion are best represented by Regular:CD6 myself.

"What would you say a good scenario would be to start with?"

Patrol, Attack/Defend, or Objective.....IMHO.

"I'll have to dig out my copy of the Iron Ivan SCW Campaign book"

Full of good stuff. Lots of useful ideas and there isn't any reason not to change the forces up a bit.

Let us know how you get on.

Happy Wanderer

[H.M.Stanley]

Brilliant! Muchos

I have also replied on TFL asking how you dealt with Supports (in fact i'll put it on here for ease)

J

[H.M.Stanley]

"So what Supports in full did you settle on for the Militia and La Legion? Sorry if that's a daft question; i see you mention the Armoured Truck and off table Artillery for the Militia but you also mention (additional?) Asaltos.

Did you use balanced lists or play the forces from the Campaign"

[Happy Wanderer]

..cross posted for TFL CoC




from memory...never a good idea....

The Legion got an off table 50mm mortar with spotter...treated just like any on-table mortar. We applied the CoC:Espana rules for direction of the mortar i.e. a spotter and leaders begin able to do this as per the SCW specific limitations...don't forget those!

The Militia got a Dynamic Leader which we called a Ranking Leader..no doubt the Big Hombre wanted to oversee the attack and get all the glory!!!...well almost!

R

[H.M.Stanley]

Thanks mate

[H.M.Stanley]

Ok, this is taking shape ...  

I'm going to use Scenario 6: Attack on an Objective with the People's Militia using No Pasaran! (and electing to defend a village). The Objective being the village Church which has deep meaning for the Legion's Teniente ... [sniff]

As i don't have the two 50mm Mortars for La Legion (and spare Legionarios/Observer-Scouts) i'll replace those with a Bilbao armoured car.

Rather than role 2D6 for the Legion's Support I'm just going to give them the 81mm Mortar Section with Observer [list 4].

Now, lets see if i've got this bit straight .... The People's Militia Platoon Force Rating is -8 (Green), La Legion's is +9 (Regulars).

So, the Militia has 19 Support choices to choose from being the difference between the two plus half of the cost of the Legions support; [-8] + 9 + 2 = 19.

If so, the Militia will choose:

"El Hombre" [1]
Two Automatic Rifles [1]
An LMG [1]
Hand Grenades for a single team [1]
A 3-man Squad with Molotovs [1]
Add Tripod MMG to a Squad [2]*
Flag [2]
Delegado Politico [2]
Hardened Milicianos [4]
Asalto Section [4]

So far so good?

James

*rather than the Pre-Game Artillery Barrage[/list]

[Happy Wanderer]

...all looks good.

The Legion is going to have to use every one of those command dice to get the job done.....no cake walk for sure.

...so the Legion player's key points to note are that he has to move to engage his enemy largely without losses. His troops are Diehard so he ignores Shock (very important), he will likely get several back to back phase (might be the difference when crossing that deadly space).

In combat he is at an advantage and do not charge troops with MGs for defence. Crtically he has a mortar that  he needs to get into action ASAP so he can barrage an area, PIN his enemy and force his way into the church. They will be in hard cover anyway so pinning is important as this drives their firepower and combat power down by half....very important!

Lots to do, but levering off all these advantages, a cover Legion leader has a chance. he'll need to use all his advantages!!!

Looking forward to seeing how this spins out.  

Happy Wanderer

[H.M.Stanley]

...all looks good.

The Legion is going to have to use every one of those command dice to get the job done.....no cake walk for sure.

...so the Legion player's key points to note are that he has to move to engage his enemy largely without losses. His troops are Diehard so he ignores Shock (very important), he will likely get several back to back phase (might be the difference when crossing that deadly space).

In combat he is at an advantage and do not charge troops with MGs for defence. Crtically he has a mortar that  he needs to get into action ASAP so he can barrage an area, PIN his enemy and force his way into the church. They will be in hard cover anyway so pinning is important as this drives their firepower and combat power down by half....very important!

Lots to do, but levering off all these advantages, a cover Legion leader has a chance. he'll need to use all his advantages!!!

Looking forward to seeing how this spins out.  

Happy Wanderer

Thank you chap - all noted and understood.

I'll post photos and an AAR

PS. Rats! I was looking forward to Tear-Gasing the Legion with the Asaltos!!  

[H.M.Stanley]

Ok, a slight change of plan for the game on Thurs.

It has been suggested that we keep it simple, with similar forces, for the first game and then build it up.

So, Scenario 1 – Patrol, seeing the Internationals/British Brigade (Regular: +6 (1937) “+1 Force Morale, Aggressive & Die Hard” taking on La Legion (Regular: +9 “Die Hard”. Both have Command Dice: 6

Again, I’ll substitute the Legion’s Mortars for a Bilbao armoured car (a Support choice level 2 giving a net gain of +1 as they’re losing the mortars) and give the IB the following four levels of Support:

A. 50mm Mortar (compulsory) (2 x 1)
B. Molotov Cocktails (1)
C. LMG (1)

[H.M.Stanley]

An excellent first game.

Scrivs, resplendent in his British Battalion T-shirt, opted for the IB which left me with La Legion. I declined the invitation to give the correct (sic) salute on camera ...

Paul is putting together an AAR on his Blog so i'll do a link to that when it is up.

As it was a training game we also abandoned the use of Spotters/Mortars and concentrated on the infantry action.

My goodness the Legion are tough! They were so forgiving, especially when in cover, of my poor attempts at co-ordinating attacks.

With a Force Morale of 11 against the IB's 8, shooting eventually took its toll on the Republican troops particularly as their Junior Leaders were in the thick of it and were taking casualties (lucky shots).

We called it a day when the Brigaders' Force Morale dropped below 5 and as time was getting on.

[David]

Looks great.
Who made the building etc ?
Did the Italians use the CV33 in green or did they repaint them for the SCW ?
have one picture from Spanish book, but not sure if it is 100% correct

one looks Grey and the second looks Green with brown?
I am interested in this, since I pick the whole Force of Arms range plus a horde of his models cheep   , I have a few   Empress miniatures figures etc too.
Should pick up some figures of my caster next week.
Did you have to do much changes for Chain of Command ?
I was thinking of using Bolt action or Triumph & Tragedy for SCW.
Cheers
David