Sunday, January 5, 2020

Chain of Command - 1939 Russia vs Japan

On Saturday, Stephan hosted several of us at his house to play a game of Chain of Command.

This was to be a border conflict somewhere in Mongolia, with Russian forces engaging Japanese troops.


At this stage, the squads were quite large & did not operate in teams, thus they would either all shoot, or move. The Russians deploy first, a couple of their BT-7 tanks also arrive. (Chris & Chen played the Russians)


As word spreads, the Japanese deploy to intercept the interlopers. (Andrew & I played the Japanese)


I played the armoured elements, with my first 2 tanks arriving. (As they enter from the road, it often leads to this situation, where tanks pile up side by side, not the most historical tactics).


 A Japanese squad rushes to the Kraal wall to catch the Russians in the open.


At the urging of a Senior leader, a loud URAAGHHH! is heard & the 2 Russian squads rush the Japanese troops.


As the slaughter was bloody, I chose not to show that footage. Both squads at the wall were decimated.

The tanks at the other end of the battle were slugging it out. Round after round was deflected from Sgt Ping's tanks. A shot managed to destroy the main gun of one of the BT-7's. It then surged ahead into the grain. As well a T28 trundled onto the field. 


Then with the arrival of a Russian Field Gun, the shock on the defending Japanese squad began to quickly mount. The Russian Infantry squad moves into the grain preparing for another assault.


The BT-7 Command Tank is knocked out. The driver of the 2nd BT-7 is killed.


The Russians pummel the Japanese squad causing it to break. They then managed to end the turn, causing the squad to rout.


The remainder of the Japanese tanks advance slowly (doesn't help when you continue rolling 1's for movement. The Japanese commander's tank (Top in photo) had been immobilized.


There was 1 further charge by the Russians & again the melee was bloody & deadly. Although the Russians won the fight, they lost both their Junior & Senior leaders. When the command hits were rolled, the battle ended in a draw with both forces dropping to 0.

Of course there was much after battle kibitzing about whom should have done what. But all in all it was a fun game & lots of death to both sides. Thanks to Stephen for putting on such a great table & game!
 

4 comments:

  1. Lovely looking game Terry, an impressive start to the year.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Stephen does make nice tables to battle on!

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  2. Great looking terrain and a bloody -looking fight (or two!)
    As CoC is aimd at a two player game, how much did having multiple players effect the logistics of the game - extra time, end of turn dice etc ?

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    1. The forces were split between the main player per side (Infantry) & secondary force (Armour), Each had their own command track. Losses to one force could impose Command rolls on the secondary, etc. All 5's rolled by either would be tallied together on the main player command track. The secondary player could get multiple activations, but not end the turn. As a social gathering, we were not playing to a specific time. Being such a bloody melee brawl, the Command loss was quick!

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