WelcometoChainofCommand:AttheSharp From the very outset it was clear that

End, the campaign supplement which we
hope will allow you to have many enjoyable
hours of gaming fun following the careers of
yourminiaturesoldiersacrossthebattlefields
oftheSecondWorldWar.
Chain of Command is a game devoted to
exploring and enjoying small unit tactics on
the tabletop. Much of the emphasis within
the rules is on the way in which troops were
trained to fight, and to reflect that the main
rules focus on fullstrength units equipped in
atextbookmanner.
Of course, real war brings trials and
tribulationsandhowlonganyunitinthefront
lineremainedatfullstrengthwasamatterof
luckasmuchasanythingelse.Inthefaceof
theenemyplatoonshadtobereorganisedto
takelossesintoaccount,oftenonamissionby
missionbasis.AssoonaswepublishedChain
of Command we had wargamers asking us
how to field forces weakened by losses. We
felt that the very best way to represent the
effectofattritiononafightingforcewasina
campaignsetting,wheretheplayer,inhisrole
as force commander, is faced with the on
going challenge of how to keep his unit as
effectiveaspossible.
Whatwewantedtoachievewasthecreation
of a small, discrete game universe where a
couple of players could run an ongoing
campaign in a plausible setting or a larger
group could fight several linked campaigns.
We wanted an environment where the
playerswerepresentedwiththechallengesof
command on the tabletop; a setting where
they needed to overcome their enemy; but
also a world in which they were faced with
someofthemoresubtleissuesofcommand,
such as managing the expectations of their
superiorsandthemoraleoftheirmen,notto
mention the wellbeing of their own
character:theplatooncommander.
however we structured the campaign system
itwouldneedtoachieveseveralgoals.Firstly
it would have to be simple enough to set up
andmanagesothatitdidnotundulyimpede
on the gaming time available to the players.
So many campaigns have floundered on the
rocksofwellmeaningcomplexityintheform
of wonderful but impractical detail. To
achieve this we have focussed on what we
believe are the key factors which when
combined present the gamer with the most
interesting, challenging and representative
choices which best mirror those which a
platoon commander would be faced with in
reality.Ofcoursethismeansthatsomeofthe
minutiae of detail has to be allowed to fade
into the background in order to make the
systemmanageable.However,forthegamer
who prefers more detail, it is possible to use
the basic structure presented here and bolt
on additional factors to suit their own
interests.
Secondly,wedidnotwantthissupplementto
simply present one, or even a number of,
campaignstobeusedstraightoutofthebox.
Certainly, this supplement is designed to
provideafastandsimplegenericsettingfora
campaignwhichdoesnotevenrequireamap
to play. However, far more importantly, it
also serves as a key which may be used with
more specific historical campaigns, which we
will be presenting in future, and also as a
frameworkuponwhichthegamercandesign
his own campaigns of whatever size and
complexityhedesires.

Page
2 Introduction

4 SectionOneTheLadderCampaign
5 TheScenarios
6 TheNoMapCampaign
TheSimpleMapCampaign
7 TheFullMapCampaign
10 TheAbbreviatedCampaign
11 TheTaillevilleCampaign
13 Notesonsourcingperiodmaps

14 SectionTwoIntheField
15 TheCampaignTurn
FightingontheLadder
17 TheLocalisedCounterAttack
Consolidating&StrengtheningDefences
GivingGround
18 CampaignDuration
Casualties
19 Replacements&Reinforcements
20 WildCardReinforcements
22 SettinguptheTables
23 InGameEvents
WithdrawalfromtheTable
24 PostGameEvents
ReplacementLeaders
PrisonersofWar
AwardsforBravery
26 PostBattleReorganisation
27 CampaignPromptSheet

28 SectionThreeMenUnderFire
28 KeyCharacters
29 CharacterTables
33 Background
Location
Age
34 Names
Appearance&Physique
35 PostGameTracking
TheCOsOpinion
37 TheMensOpinion
38 ThePlatoonLeadersOutlook
39 TrackingOutlook
OtherEventsAffectingOutlook

40 SectionFourBuildingaCampaign
44 TheLocation
TheTerrain
TheMen
47 RunningtheCampaign

3

So what is a ladder campaign?
Basically it is a structure which
allows us to link together a
number of games in a manner
which provides a coherent
campaign narrative, whilst being
extremelysimple torun andwith
as much or as little detail as you
wouldlikeateachstage.Weuse
the phrase ladder campaign, as
a ladder best describes the linear
structure.
The objective of the ladder
campaign is to povide a fast and
easily manageable series of
games which involve the players
inconsideringanumberoffactors
and making decisions which they
wouldnotnormallybefacedwith
in a oneoff tabletop game. The
system does not, however, seek
to replicate the unlimited
intricacies of a map campaign
where the players have absolute
free rein over each and every
aspectofthegame.
Wemadethisdecisiontousethe
ladder format to keep things
easily manageable, but also
because in a platoon level game
the junior officer or NCO
commanding the force would not
be making grand strategic
decisions about avenues of
advance: he would be following
orders which would already have
determined which areas of the
battlefield his force was assigned
to. As such, the ladder structure
reflects well the constraints
within which our miniature
commanders reallife
counterpartswouldbeoperating.
Let us look at the basic ladder
which will form the basis of the
full campaign. As we progress,
the reader will see that a
number of abbreviated options
are available for short
campaigns with as few as three
games being possible, but well
begin looking at the complete
ladder as it shows all the main
options and the complete
structure.
Oppositeisthemastercampaign
ladder. Youll note that it has
eleven rungs in total, five
numbered in blue, five in red
andoneinneutralblack.
Thenumbersshowncorrespond
tothescenariosinthemainrule
book.
At the outset of the full
campaign the rungs marked in
blueareheldbyoneside,those
in red by the other side. The
central rung, marked in black,
represents NoMansLand
betweenthetwoforces.
Theobjectiveofeachforceisto
advanceup ordowntheladder,
into his opponents territory
with a view to seizing the
ultimate objective on the final
rung.
We have made certain
assumptions abouttheshapeof
thebattlefieldhere:
Betweenthetwoforceswehave
an area which, as yet, neither
sidecontrols,thatbeingrung1.
4
Rungs 2 represent the outposts of the two
opposing sides. These are their patrols,
listeningposts,weaklyheldforwardpositions
which are there to mask their main defences
andkeepenemypatrolsatbay.
Rungs 3 represent the main defensive
positions forboth sides, whilst rungs 4 and 5
are marked collectively as Pursuit and
Retreat. This is the more open ground
beyond the main defences where a
manoeuvre battle can take place as one side
retreatsandtheotherpursues.Thisareawill
see fighting withdrawals and potential
counterattacksaswellaspursuit.
Finally, rungs 6 represent the ultimate
objectiveforbothsides.Whatthatobjective
is will depend on the campaign setting. It
couldbetheGareMaritimeinCalais;thefinal
workshopintheDzerzhinskytractorfactor;an
oasis in the Libyan desert or an anonymous
crossroads south of St L. Whatever that
objective is, capturing it is the ultimate
objective, the securing of which ends the
campaign.
youaresuccessfulinthatencounterScenario
Fiveseesyourforcemanoeuvretoconducta
Flank Attack against an enemy makeshift
defensiveposition.
Finally Scenario Six will see your victorious
force attacking the ultimate objective against
astrongenemy.Winhereandyouhavewon
thecampaign.
THECAVEAT
All of which sounds like a clear process.
However, be warned that your opponent is
unlikely to allow you quite such a victorious
procession! The ladder format is there to
allow the forces to move up and down
depending on who controls the campaign
initiative.Welllookatallthisinmoredetail
inthefullcampaignrules.

THESCENARIOS
As we have mentioned, the scenarios which
youll use during this campaign are the ones
found in the main rule book. For the first
game in NoMansLand youll play Scenario
One;ThePatrol.Beforeyoucanlaunchyour
offensiveyoullneedtocontrolthisgroundin
ordertoadvanceyourforcestotheirstarting
point.

In the second game whoever had gained

controlofNoMansLandwillnowlooktoby
pass and drive in the enemy outposts. For
this game youll use Scenario Two; The
Probe.Ifyouresuccessfulhereyouwillnext
want to push on an attack the enemys main
defensive line. For this youll use Scenario
Three;Attack&Defend.


Breaking through the enemys main defences
opens up the opportunity for more open
warfareinthegroundbeyond.ScenarioFour,
A Delaying Action, sees the retreating force
attempttostemthetide ofyouradvance.If

5
SETTINGUPYOURCAMPAIGN
Beforewelookatdifferentsizeandstructural
options, let us consider the three basic sorts
of campaign options the players have to
choosefrom.Inkeepingwiththeprincipleof
simplicity, we call these the No Map, Simple
Map and Full Map campaigns. But what are
they?
THENOMAPCAMPAIGN
The No Map Campaign is without doubt the
simplest option of the three. It allows the
playerstogetstartedimmediatelywithpretty
much no preparation other than sorting out
details of your forces with Part Two of this
supplement,MenUnderFire.
ToplaytheNoMapcampaigntheonlymap
youllneedistheladderonthepreviouspage.
Asoutlinedabove,youbeginthecampaignon
rung1oftheladderandthenplayfromthere,
moving up or down the ladder according to
successesorfailuresonthetable.Winninga
gamewillseethevictoradvanceonerungon
theladderintoenemyheldterritory,andthe
next game then takes place. A reversal will
seetheinitiativeswingtoyouropponentwho
will then attempt to advance into your
territory. The campaign continues in that
manner until one
side secures their
ultimateobjective.
playing a No Map Campaign it is a good idea
toatleasthaveavagueideaaboutwhereand
why you are fighting as that does provide a
nice bit of background narrative and adds
much colour to proceedings, as we will see
withtheSimpleMapCampaign.
THESIMPLEMAPCAMPAIGN
In many respects the Simple Map Campaign
has the best of both worlds. You get a
background narrative and setting to guide
your choice of terrain, whilst avoiding too
much time spent on preparation. Below is
halfofaSimpleMapwhichtakesusfromNo
MansLand in the Libyan desert to the
ultimate British objective, the Oasis at
Khermal.
From this simple map, you can see that the
GermanoutpostsareamongsomeoldRoman
ruins whilst their main defences are around
the village of Sheik al Fak where, one
presumes,thereisawatersupply.
The pursuit phase of this campaign would be
throughtheAlamHayfarange,allowingfora

InsomewaystheNo
Mapcampaignisthe
perfectstartingpoint
asitrequiresagrand
total of zero
investment in time
spent planning.
However, in other
respects it is the
most difficult as
withoutsomekindof
guidelines setting up
terrain for each
game can be
somewhatrandom.

Even if you are

6
fighting withdrawal through the passes,
before a battle of manoeuvre against
impromptu German defences at the small
oasis at Al Jazirya. Finally, the British
objectiveisthemainOasisatKhermal.
As we can see, just this simple sketch map
givesusprettymuchalloftheinformationwe
need for setting up our table for each
scenario.Yes,wedohavetheadvantageina
desert game that one feature is pretty much
all you need for a single game, but even in
northern Europe knowing what the main
terrain feature is on each table will give us a
goodstartingpoint.
Why is there only half of the ladder on this
map? Well, as we shall see, it could be that
we are playing an abbreviated campaign
where the Germans are firmly on the
defensive, possibly through shortage of
ammunition,transportorwater,inwhichcase
a half map may be appropriate, as we will
see. In fact the truth is somewhat simpler.
ThisisthemapwhichIusedformyownearly
1941 campaign in Libya. That began as a No
Map Campaign, just using the ladder as a
template. However, as the campaign
progressedandtheBritishadvanced,itmade
my life easier to sketch out such a map in
order to make the campaign more real. It
also helped me plan the campaign around
what terrain I already owned and what I
neededtopurchaseormakegoingforward.If
the Germans counterattack and are
successful in pushing the British back down
intotheirterritory,Ishallhavetoproducethe
secondhalfofthemap!
So,thisSimpleMapCampaignisinmanyways
an ideal starting point, or, possibly more
likely, something which a No Map Campaign
can quickly and easily develop into. What is
more, this is precisely the type of campaign
which can be developed from the type of
sketched out maps which one finds in
veteransaccountsoftheirexperiences.
THEFULLMAPCAMPAIGN
There are actually two types of Full Map
Campaigns, but both share the key attribute
that they use an actual map to provide the
areatobefoughtover.
The first type of Full Map Campaign simply
uses a map as a setting for a campaign. The
second uses a map of part of an historical
battlefieldinordertorefighttheeventswhich
happenedinthatlocation.
We can, of course, use modern maps in
association with Google Earth to provide us
withimagesoftheterrain.However,Iwould
suggestthatwithasmallamountofeffortitis
oftenpossibletogetaccesstohistoricalmaps
from the period of the Second World War.
Thiscouldbeonline,inbookssuchasthePen
&SwordBattlegroundEuropeseries,oreven
purchasing vintage maps on eBay if you feel
likereallygoingtotown!Welltakealookat
accesstotheselaterinthissection.Sufficeto
say, we use an actual map for this campaign
option.
Using a map for a nonhistorical campaign, is
funinitsownright.Militarytrainingmanuals
are full of real maps on which hypothetical
battles are fought out. The advantage of a
map is that it shows real terrain. A period
mapfromthe1930sand40sgoesfurtheras
it presents a more plausible model on which
to fight our campaign. There are no
motorways, no urban sprawl: we see the
terrainasitwasatpreciselytheperiodweare
lookingtogame.Allofwhichprovidesuswith
a very plausible and useable backdrop to the
campaign.
Wecanusethemaptobriefourparticipants,
and it provides us with the type of detail it
wouldbeimpossibletoprovidewithaSimple
Map Campaign when it comes to setting up
ourtablesforeachgame.
Of course, using an historical map of an area
actually fought over and reproducing aspects
of that battle has all of the advantages
outlined above but it also connects us to the
historyandthemenwhofought.Readingthe
7
accounts of actions and then taking that
through onto the tabletop must, surely, be
one of the most interesting aspects of
wargaming,andtodosousingthesamemaps
asthosemenwouldhaveusedcanonlyserve
to make that bridge to history even more
tangible.
However, having said all that, the Full Map
Campaignineitherformatdoesinvolvemore
preparation that the No Map or Simple Map
Campaigns. Lets look first at an example of
the simpler of the two: the FullMap with a
nonhistoricalcampaign
Onthenextpageisamapoftheareaaround
the town of Mouy in the Oise department of
Northern France. Its a 1943 version of an
originalpreparedin1938bytheGeographical
Service of the British General Staff (in other
wordsastandardGSGSmap)in1:50,000scale
(1 inch to 0.79 miles). As such this is an
original and very nice Second World War
vintagemap.Theonlyissuebeingthat,bythe
timeMouywasliberatedbytheUSXIXCorps
onthe31stofAugust,theGermanarmywasin
full retreat and no fighting occurred in this
area.Nevertheless,itisstillanicemapandin
our campaign world it can provide a nice
periodsetting.
As can be seen we have used the ladder
structuretotheleftofthepagetoshowhow
this artificial format fits in with the reality of
theterrain.
Probably the first thing to note is that whilst
the rungs on the ladder are set distances
apart, the ground as shown on the map
determineshowfarapartthevariousstepsin
thecampaignareonthemap.
Shown on the map in red and blue is the
outpostline,thenthemainlineofresistance,
shown here as platoon positions. To their
rear the ultimate objectives are shown for
the Americans it is outlined in red, being the
villageofHermeswheretheycancontrolthe
threewayroadjunctionandtherailwayline.
9
FortheGermansitisthevillageofCavillonto
thesouth.
Whatyoucanseehereisthatthemapobliges
us to do some planning, if only to decide on
the relative positions of the forces at the
outsetofthecampaignandwhattheultimate
objectivesare.Wehave lefttheRetreatand
Pursuitareasasunspecifiedatthispoint,but
clearlytheywillbesomewheretotherearof
the main positions and in front of the
objective. As already said, we can leave that
detail until later if we want to leave a bit of
wriggleroom to allow what happens in the
earlier games to influence this and, maybe,
evenallowtheplayerachoiceoflocation.
Another noteworthy factor is that how close
together the rungs on the ladder are; on the
map this is very much a moveable feast. On
themapbelowtheoutpostsandmainlineof
resistance are relatively close together and
the final objectives are a mere six and a half
miles apart as the crow flies. In other
campaignsandinotherpartsoftheworldthis
willvary,sometimesquitesignificantly,dueto
thenatureoftheterrain. Inthe SimpleMap
Campaign, above, in my minds eye I see the
campaign as covering around 100 miles of
desert.InRussiain1941itcouldbethatthe
Retreat and Pursuit phase of the campaign
could be seen to cover very large distances
with the ultimate objective far away across
the rolling steppe. Equally, in the closest
jungle terrain or densest bocage a campaign
couldbeplayedoutoverafewhundredyards.
Solongasthepersonorganisingthecampaign
can identify these parameters from the
outset, the basic structure of the campaign
canbemanipulatedtofitthesituationonthe
map.
What we also note is that I have effectively
put a Company of men on each side on the
map. It would be a very simple thing to run
three parallel campaigns using the setup
shown which, whilst on the same map and
occurring over a relatively small acreage,
would be totally different in content. To run
those three campaigns concurrently could
provide us with all sorts of additional factors
which could make the process even more
enjoyable and multidimensional whilst
adding very little in the way of necessary
effort.Butthatsanoptionforyoutoexplore.
THEHOLYGRAIL
WithaFullMapCampaign,whichisbasedon
anhistoricalactionandusingthecorrectmap,
the workload is potentially greater but, then
again, the return is vastly higher. Of course
how much research you do is up to you. A
single paragraph in a broad ranging history
can provide the locations you need and your
imaginationwillcomeupwiththerest.Buta
bit of research can reap benefits in terms of
information which can essentially write the
campaignforyou.
Regimental diaries, increasingly to be found
online,combinedwithunithistoriesandfirst
handaccounts will often provide you with a
wholeraftofdates,locations,objectives,axes
of advance and other detail which will allow
you to put together a campaign relatively
easilyoncetheresearchisdone.Infutureitis
our intention to produce a number of
supplements and articles which use precisely
thismethodtobeusedwiththissupplement.
Well take a look at one such campaign later
oninthissupplement.
VARIATIONSONATHEME
Ofcourse,theladdercampaign,aspresented
above,presumesthatthebattlefieldconforms
tothearrangementwehavechosenandthat
both sides are equally keen to take ground
from their opponents. There are often
situations in war where this is not the case,
but this is easily dealt with by adjusting the
ladder mechanism to suit that specific
situation.
THEABBREVIATEDCAMPAIGN
Clearlythemainladdercampaignwilllastfor
aminimumofsixgames,andonlytheninthe
unusual situation where one side wipes the
floor with their opponent, winning all six
gamesinarow.Itisfarmorelikelythatafull
campaignwilllasttentoadozengames,and
for some gamers that will be too long to
devotetooneproject.
Equally, there are some situations where
historical precedent means that a shortened
campaign ladder is needed. Amphibious
landings, for example, will only have blue
territory represented as the defeat of the
attacking side on the beach will end the
campaign rather than allow blue to push
down the ladder into reds territory. It may
be that the objective for the campaign is
simply to snatch a single objective in the
enemysfrontlines.Insuchsituations,wecan
simplyadjusttheladdertoreflectthespecific
situation. Lets look at a couple of examples
ofanabbreviatedcampaign.
AnExample
Readers of the 2013 Christmas Special will
recall the account of the Canadian forces on
JunoBeachandtheirsubsequentpushinland
toTaillleville.Iwasparticularlytakenwiththe
tale of Major Archie McNaughton
commandingACompanyoftheNorthShore
Regiment: there was something interesting
about this veteran of the Great War who,
despite his 47 years, returned to the colours
whenthemothercountrywasinneed.
McNaughtons final trip to French soil was to
lastbutafewhoursand afewmiles until he
was killed during the battle for Tailleville at
around1800onthe6thofJune.HisCompany
had landed to the west of WN27 where B
Companywerefightingtoovercomethemain
German position on the sea wall. They
10
advanced inland against lightly held German
positions among the holiday villas, before
skirtingtheedgeofStAubintoreachtheroad
heading for Tailleville. Here he ran into
uncoordinated German forces who
attempted,withoutluck,tohalthisadvance.
Acting under his own initiative McNaughton
pushed on inland, taking on a German
defensive position to the north of Tailleville
where two roads met. Dealing with this
McNaughton waited for reinforcements
before moving on as part of the attack on
Tailleville.
TheTaillevilleCampaign
Whilst the North Shore Regiments objective
for DDay were to take Taileville and pass on
to the radar station at Douvres, I am
particularly interested in the exploits of one
company.Inordertobestreflecttheadvance
of A Company with Chain of Command I am
goingtofocusoneplatoon,the1st,Lieutenant
Moars, platoon. You can see the map I
devisedforthisabbreviatedcampaignbelow.
Clearly on DDay there is no NoMansLand
so we abandon Scenario 1, The Patrol, and
jump straight in with Scenario 2, the Probe
against German outposts to the west of St
Aubin. Were we recreating the actions of B
Company,attackingWN27,weduseScenario
Three, Attack & Defend, as that would be
appropriate for an assault on a significant
German defensive position. Here, however,
we set our first game amid sand dunes and
scattered villas. The Canadian objective is
simply to find a way through this table and
pushoninland.
11
If Game One is completed successfully the
Canadians push on inland. If they fail to
achieve this I will allow a second attempt at
the same scenario using another of
McNaughtons platoons Lieutenant
Merseraus 2nd Platoon but if this also fails
thenMcNaughtonisdeemedtohavediedon
thebeachandthecampaignends.
Game Two sees McNaughtons men faced
with retreating German elements on the
southernedgeofStAubin.Tobestreflectthis
wegotoScenario4,ADelayingAction.Thisis
fought out on a table with a few cottages
along the Tailleville road and standing wheat
in the fields. Add the odd orchard near the
housesasthisisNormandy!IftheCanadians
canaffordit,theirfirstchoiceinsupportsfor
thisscenarioMUSTbeaShermantank.
A Canadian defeat here will push the
Canadians back and allow the Germans to
push back into St Aubin: in this case the
nature of the scenario would depend on the
choice of the German player, as we shall
subsequentlyseeinthecampaignrules.
A Canadian victory sees McNaughton and his
men push on to the third scenario, Scenario
Three,Attack&Defend.Thisisanattackona
German defensive position to their north of
Taillevillearoundtheroadjunctionandwater
tower. The terrain here is open wheat fields
withlittleelseotherthanawatertowerwhich
isattheYJunction.
InthisscenarioIamgoingtospecifythatthe
Germans must take all of their support as
entrenchments, wire or mines. This was a
platoon sized position which was well
entrenched and protected by obstacles, so
thisisagoodmatch.
Again, a Canadian defeat at this point could
bringonaGermancounterattack.ACanadian
victory will result in the final scenario,
Scenario Six, An Attack on an Objective. The
tablehereshouldbeasmallpartofTailleville.
TheentireBattalionwastiedupallafternoon
fightinginthisrelativelysmallvillage,sodont
overdo things and expect your platoon to
fightitswaythroughawholevillage!Iwould
have a row of houses along the road with
gardens to the rear and fields behind that
withstandingwheat.Victoryherewillseethe
Canadians win the campaign. Again, a
Germanvictorygivesthemtheopportunityto
counterattack.
As we can see we have a short, four rung,
ladder which presents a short and
manageable campaign to be played over half
adozenorsogames.Iwouldputatimelimit
on this campaign of seven turns. If the
CanadianshaventtakenTaillevillebythenthe
Germanswillwin.
What I would also add for this campaign is a
specific list of possible supports based on
historical sources. We know that the Fort
GaryHorseweresupportingtheNorthShores
with Shermans, we know that the North
Shoresantitankplatoonandmortarplatoon
wereinvolvedinthisbattleaswastheCarrier
platoon. Conversely there is no evidence for
the Canadians having Vickers machine guns
present,noranyarmouredcars,scoutcarsof
similar. On the German side there were no
armoured vehicles present. Our support lists
should be amended to reflect this when
puttingtogetherthisshortcampaign.
Aswehaveseenabove,amoderatedegreeof
research,combinedwithaperiodmap,tellus
all we need to know to put this campaign
together.Havingsomanyhistoricalreference
points on which to hang our campaign
removes all of the guesswork and pretty
much writes the small detail for us. It also
allowsustogetthatconnectionwiththemen
whofoughtanddied.
Havinglookedatseveralcampaignoptionswe
can leave this section behind and look at the
specific campaign rules which will make our
lives simple throughout the whole process,
allowing us to focus on having fun with our
games.
12
NOTESONSOURCINGPERIODMAPS
Vintagemilitarymapsareincreasinglyeasyto
get hold of, good ones, i.e. ones which are
usableforwargamers,arehardertofind,but
bynomeansimpossible.WhilsteBaycanbea
source for vintage maps, for wargaming
purposes it may be more costeffective and
morepracticaltosourcereproductioncopies,
especially as vintage maps of key battlefields
are,forobviousreasons,veryexpensive.
The practical scales for campaigns are
1:25,000 or 1:50,000. The former is ideal in
that all detail is clear, and the latter at their
bestarealmostasgood.Some1:50,000maps
used during the war are simply enlarged
1:80,000 French maps which are not perfect,
butdogivesufficientdetailtoformageneral
idea of the terrain at each location. Cross
referencingthesewithGoogleEarthwilloften
clarifywherethereareuncertainties.
Above. An original 1:50,000 map compared
toa1:80,000enlargedforGSGS1:50,000use
shownbelow.Thedifferenceisnotable.
The other advantage with 1:25,000 and
1:50,000isthattheyshowampledetailwhilst
being large enough for most campaign
settings, covering the action from start to
finishononesheet.
A1:25,000Map.Lesscolour,butmoredetail
Anythinglargerthan1:50,000isprobablynot
idealforthelevelofgameweareconsidering.
1:100,000 will give you a general feel for the
landscapebutthedetailwearelookingforis
missingandonewouldbeaswellconsidering
usingthelargerscalemapinordertocreatea
sketchforaSimpleMapcampaign.
More detailed maps, such as WWII vintage
1:10,000 are the Holy Grail of map collectors
and,assuch,areabsurdlypricedwhenyoudo
find them. But frankly they are often too
detailed for what we need and dont cover
sufficient ground for many campaigns. That
said, in Normandy, where progress is
measuredinyards,thesecanbearealjoyto
gameon.
Ihavefoundwww.battlefieldhistorian.comto
be extremely helpful in sourcing maps.
Downloadable in jpeg format, just one of
these can be used as a basis for numerous
campaigns.Theproprietorisexmilitaryanda
sometimewargamer.Whatsmore,hehasa
realinterestinmilitarymapsandhaslibraries
much more comprehensive than those listed
onhiswebsite.Hewillsearchthroughthose
forcustomerswithnopremiuminhisprices.
13

The Campaign rules for Chain of Command:
At the Sharp End cover two main areas: the
rules for conducting the campaign itself, and
therulesdealingwiththecharactersinvolved.
Thissectiondealswiththeformer.
GROUND&TIMESCALE
When writing a set of wargames rules or
playingatraditionalmapcampaign,theissues
of ground and time scale are of primary
concern. When playing a ladder campaign,
thesearelargelyabstractedinordertoretain
thesimplicitywearelookingtoachieve.
There is much enjoyment to be had pouring
for hours over a map, a set of compasses in
hand, considering the next move with which
your armies will outmanoeuvre your
opponenttodeliverastrategicmasterstroke.
Fine when you are Napoleon (or even just
dressed as him), but not particularly relevant
when you are a Subaltern commanding a
platoonofmen.
Theladdersystemusesaflexibleapproachto
time and ground scale, so that each game
focuses on the next point of action in the
campaign,whether thatisonehour,oneday
or one week after the previous game.
Distancebetweeneachactionis,forthemost
part,ignored,aswehavealreadyoutlined.A
campaigncould,asaconsequence,runovera
leisurely period of weeks or represent a
frantic burst of activity covering a matter of
hours.
As a result of this approach, some aspects of
the campaign management rules must be
regarded as abstract rather than precise
modelsofpossibleoutcomes.Casualtiesand
recovery time for the wounded, for example,
aretreatedinthesamemannerregardlessof
thedurationofthecampaign.Lightly
wounded men return immediately, those
worseaffectedafteronegame,whereasvery
badly wounded men are removed from the
campaignaltogether.However,wewillmake
certainsuggestionsformoredetailedsystems
inordertoprovideforthegamerwhoseeksa
moregranularapproach.
CAMPAIGNMOVEMENT&COMBAT
Allmovementandcombatinthecampaignis
conducted using the campaign ladder or on
the tabletop. There is no separate map
movementorcombatoffthetabletop.Forces
willfightbattlesandthenmoveontothenext
battleasindicatedbytheladder.
SUPPLY
Therearenorulesforsupplyinthecampaign.
It is presumed that all forces are adequately
supplied with what they need to survive and
fight.Itisperfectlypossibletoconstructrules
for supply shortages for specific campaigns,
butnonearepresentedhere.
THECAMPAIGNTURN
The campaign turn in Chain of Command: At
the Sharp End is quite simply one games
worthoftime.
Whatactionoccursinaturnisdependenton
whichplayerhastheinitiative.Atthestartof
the campaign one side will be determined to
have the initiative and be designated as the
attacker for the first turn. Subsequently, the
winnerofthelastturnsgameisconsideredto
be the attacker and has the initiative at the
start of the next turn. For that turn his
opponentisconsideredtobethedefender.
14
Onceaturnbegins,theattackerhasalimited
number of choices available to him. He may
dooneofthefollowing:
Immediatelyfightthenextscenario
Consolidate on captured enemy main
defensive position. This hands the
initiativetohisopponent.
Notadvance.Thishandstheinitiative
to his opponent but does allow the
attacker to strengthen his defences
whereheis.
If counterattacked, he may fight or
avoid battle by giving ground to the
enemy.
Inmostsituations,theywillchoosetoattack.
However, in some situations, such as
strengthening or consolidating on a position
secured or waiting for wounded men to
return to make up their numbers, they may
electtonotattackinthecurrentturn.Ifthey
do not attack, the initiative for the current
turnswitchestothedefender
For example: A US player advancing near
Avranchesfightsgamethreeofthecampaign
and secures the German main front line
defences.Inhisnextturnhehastheinitiative
somaypushonandattack,therebyinitiating
thenextgame,orhemayelecttoconsolidate
onhiscurrentpositioninordertostrengthen
the position he has taken in case of a
subsequentcounterattack.
Thedefenderwillnotusuallygetanychoicein
what happens in a turn as his opponent will
beholdingtheinitiativeandpushingforward.
Inthatsituationthedefendermayelecttodo
oneofthefollowing:
Fightthenextscenario,attemptingto
stoptheattacker.
Avoid battle by giving ground to the
enemy.
However, if his opponent elects to do
something which hands him the initiative his
choicesaresomewhatwider,asfollows:
Immediatelycounterattack.
Remain static and strengthen his
defences.Thiswillendtheturn.
Inaturnwherenobattleisfoughtandwhere
neithersideadvancesorattacks,theinitiative
islost.Inthenextturn,whohastheinitiative
is decided by rolling a D6 each until one side
rolls higher than their opponent. The higher
rolling side will then have the initiative for
thatturn.
FIGHTINGONTHELADDER
The ladder campaign is very straightforward
while one side is achieving a string of
victories. They simply keep moving up or

down the ladder to the next game and

The US Player decides to not attack, but
fighting that. But what happens when the
consolidateonthegroundalreadywon.This
sidewiththeinitiativeloses?
switches the initiative for this turn to the

German player who may now decide how he
Lets walk through the first few turns of one
wishestorespond,eithercounterattackingor
campaigntoseewhatoccurs.
strengtheninghisdefencesforthenextgame.

It should be noted that possession of the

initiative is an important factor in the

campaign.Theplayerwhowinsandkeepson

winning will potentially retain the initiative

throughout the entire campaign, it is only

when they stop advancing and attacking that

theymaylosetheinitiative.

15
 TURNONE
Redistheattackerandadvancesintoactionin
the Patrol scenario. Red successfully wins
controlofNoMansLand.Ontheladderthe
red arrow shows the advance at the end of
thegametothenextrung,indicatingthatthe
nextgamewillbeaProbeagainsttheenemys
outpostline.
TURNTWO
HavingwonthefirstgameRedistheattacker
for the next game and decides to keep the
initiative by pushing on. Attacking Blues
outpost line he successfully drives them in
and the arrow on the ladder advances
towards rung three. Red now able to attack
theenemysmaindefences.
TURNTHREE
Red attacks Blues main line of defences, but
luckisnotonhisside,andheisdefeated.On
theladderweseethatRedisstuckatrung2
andunabletoadvance.
TURNFOUR
Having won the last game, Blue is now the
attacker with the initiative in this turn. He
may elect to do nothing and strengthen his
defences where he stands or he may launch
an attack. He elects to attack. The action
foughtis Scenario2,aProbe,asindicatedby
therungontheladder.
16
In the above example, we can see that the
ladder determines the type of action fought.
Clearly in Turn Four the ground Blue is
attacking is not Reds original outpost line.
However, it is the open ground in front of
Blues main defences where Reds advance
hasfaltered.Assuch,wearetreatingthisas
Reds new outpost line with Blue attempting
toattackthroughit.
LOCALISEDCOUNTERATTACK
In addition to the options outlined above,
there is one additional choice which the
defendermayuseduringthecampaign,thisis
thelocalisedcounterattack.
Counterattacks will normally occur when a
defender is handed the initiative by an
opponent who decides not to advance into
the next scenario. In that situation the
defendermaydeclareanimmediatecounter
attack. In that case a game is fought
immediatelywiththecounterattackingplayer
having the choice of whether the scenario
foughtistheoneasindicatedontheladderor
whetheritisanAttack&Defendscenario.
So,intheexamplewehavejustlookedat,had
blue been counterattacking in Turn Four he
couldhavedeclaredthescenariotobeAttack
&DefendratherthanaProbe.
CONSOLIDATING&STRENGTHENING
DEFENCES
Wehavementionedtheoptiontoconsolidate
on a captured enemy position several times
now,butwhatdoesitmean?
OnlyScenarioThree,MainDefences,locations
maybeconsolidated.Consolidationisonlyan
option when a player has captured a main
enemy defensive position in an Attack &
Defend scenario. This is a significant enemy
position and one which is readily put into a
stateofdefenceifaforcespendsacampaign
turnnotadvancing.Onceapositionhasbeen
consolidatedanyattackonitwillbefoughtas
Scenario Six, Attack on an Objective, rather
than Scenario Three. This will provide the
defenderwithagreaterlevelofsupportwhen
holdingthatstrengthenedpositioninfuture.
Main Defensive positions being consolidated
which are counterattacked will immediately
count as having been consolidated and the
actionfoughtasScenarioSix.
StrengtheningDefencesoccurswhenaplayer
haltsinordertodothat.Foreachturnhalted
he may add one minefield, entrenchment or
barbed wire from List One to his defences.
Theseremaininplaceonlywhilethegroundis
occupied. Once vacated the defences are
abandoned, removed or fall into a state of
disrepair,renderingthemuseless.
GIVINGGROUND
Giving ground is the surrendering of terrain
and abandons a rung on the ladder to your
opponentwithoutafight.Thisalwayscounts
as an automatic victory to the side following
up.Therearetwowaystogiveground.
Attheendofaturneitherplayermaydeclare
thattheyaregivinggroundtotheiropponent
in the next campaign turn. Once this is
declared,thesidegivinggroundwillretireone
rung on the ladder. This represents a well
planned and executed withdrawal conducted
with the approval and assistance of the
battalionsstaff.Itallowstheretiringsideto
use the time gained to strengthen the
defences in their new location (one rung
further away from the enemy) by selecting
one minefield, entrenchment or barbed wire
from List One. The ground they surrender is
automatically occupied by the enemy in the
next turn and counts as an automatic victory
for the advancing force. No battle will take
placeinthisturn.
17
Thealternativewayofgivinggroundisforthe
playertowaituntiltheiropponentdeclaresan
advance at the start of a turn before then
declaring that they are giving ground. This
represents a hasty withdrawal in the face of
anenemyadvanceandisundertakenwithout
fullapprovalfromsuperiorauthority.Itgains
the retiring force no time to improve their
defences and counts as an automatic victory
for the advancing force. No battle will take
placeinthatturn.
CAMPAIGNDURATION
Forsomecampaignsitisappropriatetoseta
durationlimit,intermsofnumberofturnsto
beplayed,inordertorepresentthepressure
onaforcetogetthejobdone.Astheplayer
gets more experienced with the campaign
system,thiscanbeusedtosetahandicap
a stronger force being given less time, a
weakeronemore.
The maximum duration of a campaign
depends on the number of rungs on the
ladder. A minimum of three additional turns
should be allowed, whatever the ladder
length, but with an addition of 50% being
normalwithanyfractionsroundedup.
For example, a four run campaign would
normally be rounded up to six turns, but the
minimum of three will apply, making seven
turns.Anelevenrungladdercampaignwillbe
setat17turns,being11plus50%roundedup.
CASUALTIES
Once a campaign begins, we will quickly find
that losses occur. The main Chain of
Command rules use the term Kill to
represent men who are out of action for the
rest of that game. In reality this could be
anything from a man knocked out and
concussed to a man who has left the field of
battletoassistabadlywoundedcomrade.At
the end of an action some of these men will
be able to return to their unit almost
immediately, some will return later whilst
some will, sadly, not return at all. As the
campaign progresses it will be important to
consider how these losses affect the platoon
going forward. To do this we use the
followingbasicformulawhichisalsoshownin
diagrammaticformbelow.
Attheendofeachbattle,bothsideswillneed
to declare how many men they have lost
killed.Inordertotrackthiseffectively,itis
a good idea to keep any men removed from
thetableasdeadinaseparateplacesuchasa
smallbox.Remember,thisdoesNOTinclude
menwhohaveroutedfromthetable,itsjust
thosekilled.
The winner and loser now compare their
Force Morale ratings. If the winner has a
higherforcemoraleratingthantheloserthen
thedifferenceinratingsrepresentshowmany
men killed the winner may immediately
return to duty. This reflects his owning the
battlefield and being better able to retrieve
his wounded whereas those of his defeated
enemyarelost.Ifthewinnersforcemoraleis
equal to or less than the losers enemy then
thisstepisignored.
Now divide the remaining men killed into
three groups. Fifty percent are either dead,
missing in action or so badly wounded that
theywontreturnforthiscampaign.Twenty
five percent are sufficiently badly wounded
that they need treatment which will mean
theymissthenextbattle.Thefinal25%may
returntodutyimmediately.
Of course, numbers of dead are not always
easily divisible by these percentages. We
alwaysrounddownthenumberofmennever
returning but with those missing the next
gametakinganyfractionsasopposedtothose
returningtodutyimmediately.
18
Allofthiscanmakeforsomepainfulmathsat REPLACEMENTS&REINFORCEMENTS
the end of an evenings gaming, so the
followingtableshowhowtoapportionlosses. The need for replacements and
reinforcements during a campaign will
Figures Never Missnext Returnto dependverymuchonthewayitissetup.We
Lost Return game duty use the term replacements to refer to men
senttojoinunitsinthefieldinordertomake
1 1
up for losses suffered. Reinforcements tend
2 1 1
to be different units which may, during the
3 1 2
courseofacampaign,takeupthebatonfora
4 2 1 1 second operational phase, building on what
5 2 2 1 wasachievedbythefirstplatoon.
6 3 2 1
7 3 2 2 Replacements
8 4 2 2 Most short campaigns with ladders of four
9 4 3 2 rungsorfewerwillnotinvolvereplacements.
10 5 3 2 For larger campaigns the availability of
11 5 3 3 replacements will depend on whether we
12 6 3 3 haveafullladdergongintwodirections,such
13 6 4 3 astheladdershownintheMouycampaign,or
14 7 4 3 an abbreviated ladder such as the one used
15 7 4 4 for the McNaughton campaign, where we
16 8 4 4 have only the German half of the ladder
present.
How units operate with reduced manpower
will be covered in the next section, Men Foranabbreviatedladdercampaignwithfive
UnderFire. to eight rungs we would recommend one lot
of replacements be available for each side.
Forafullcampaignofmorethaneightrungsa

19
wellsupported force, with adequate trained
men available, may have up to two lots of
replacements. The Allies in Northern Europe
wouldbeagoodexamplehere.Aforcewith
lessresourcesavailable,suchastheGermans
in the same theatre or all troops in
inhospitable climes, would only have one lot
ofreplacements.
A player should be aware at the start of a
campaign how many times he may request
replacements.Hemaycallforreinforcements
attheendofanycampaignturn.Whenthisis
done he uses the following formula to see
whatisavailable.
Add the number of men thus far removed
fromaforcenevertoreturninthiscampaign
(lets call them dead) to the COs current
rating(seepagexxxx).Nowdividethatfigure
by two, rounding down for any fractions.
That gives you the number of replacements
you are sure youll get if you ask. Then roll
for luck to see how many more men you do
actually get. Roll 1D6 and add that figure to
get the number actually available. This can
moresimplybeshownlikethis:
The only stipulation here is that the number
of replacements can never bring the platoon
strength to a figure greater than its original
strength.
VariationsonaTheme
All of this is somewhat generalised, as rules
are inclined to be. It is very simple to adjust
that equation to reflect an environment or
situation where replacements are less
generous. In a war being fought a long way
from home it would be a simple matter to
dividetheinitialsumby3,4oreven5,rather
than2usedabove,inordertoproducemore
sparsereplacementfigures.
Reinforcements
Reinforcements are a very different kettle of
fishandshouldbetreatedinoneoftwoways.
The first sort are restricted to a very specific
type of campaign where one platoon leads
thewayandfightsasfarasitcantowardsan
objective before the next platoon takes over
to continue. These campaigns are normally
abbreviated,havingjustonehalfoftheladder
as this is a hard and aggressive push into an
opponentsterritory.
Such a situation is representative of some of
theharshestfightingandusuallybestreflects
a short but particularly violent period of
activity.Ratherthanprovidereplacementsin
an ongoing action, the second platoon will
arrivefresh,readytopickupthemetaphorical
ball and, with renewed momentum, carry it
acrosstheline.
Such campaigns can be created using full
strengthunitsor,ifhistoricaldataisavailable,
withdepletedplatoons.Oftentheiropponent
will not gain from the advantage of having a
secondforceandwillhavetobattleonasthe
oddsagainsthimlengthen.Welllookatone
suchcampaignattheendofthissupplement.
Where such reinforcements are available the
controllingplayershouldbeallowedtodecide
at what point in the campaign he will
introduce the fresh platoon to the campaign.
This may never happen during a game, but
will happen at the start of a campaign turn
with the original platoon and its survivors
removed from the campaign, playing no
furtherpart.
The second type of reinforcements are what
we call Wild Card reinforcements. These
are effectively a oneshot weapon which a
player may use at some point in the
campaign. This allows the player to declare
that,ascertaincriteriahavebeenfulfilled,he
is playing his Wild Card and adding the
relevantreinforcementstohisforces.
Typically, the Wild Card will allow the player
to select a specified amount of supports
which may be used at that point. For
example, a German player on the Eastern
front may only be allowed to play his Wild
20
Card counterattack once the Soviets have
overrunhismainfrontlinedefensiveposition,
and that card may provide a specific amount
of support which must be spent on armour.
Additionally the card will allow the German
player to seize the initiative for that next
gameeventhoughtheymayhavelostthelast
battle.

Alternatively a different Wild Card could be

more defensive, allowing the Germans to
selectanumberofspecificantitankweapons
which could be then used to form part of a
Pakfrontintheirnextgame.

Such Wild Card are great tools for adding

historical events which fall outside of the
main remit of the campaign rules and, as
such,aresomewhatdifficulttolegislateforas
theyarealmostunlimitedintheirsubjectand
application. However, here are a few Wild
Cardswesuggestasastartingpoint.

21
SETTINGUPTHETABLES
It should be entirely selfevident that when
setting up tabletop terrain for each game,
thatthisshouldbedesignedtobeinkeeping
with the scenario and the campaign in
general.WithanFullMapCampaignthisisan
issue which, largely, looks after itself, as the
mapwillsetthesceneforthemostprominent
aspects of terrain. With a Simple Map
Campaignweshouldatleasthaveconsidered
whatthemainfeatureisavillage,anOasis,a
bridgesowehavesomeguidance.Withthe
NoMapCampaignwedoneedtoapplylogic
inordertokeeptheactionplausible.
To a degree, the ability of the defender to
select his table edge in the majority of the
scenariosshouldkeepyouhonestinsetting
up terrain where you are doing so with no
map to guide you, but below we have added
someguidelinesinadditiontosomecampaign
specific scenario amendments which help in
reflecting the tactical situation in a campaign
setting. These should only be used for a No
Map game. Where a map is being used to
determine the terrain, simply apply the
Scenarioamendmentsaslistedandignorethe
terrainnotes.
SCENARIOONE
The terrain for should be relatively evenly
spread and in most situations quite sparse.
Neithersideshouldhaveaclearadvantagein
termsofcoveravailable.
Amendments:None
SCENARIOTWO
Theterrainshouldbesetupevenlyacrossthe
table,butwiththedefenderbeingallowedto
move two terrain pieces of up to 9 square
intohisdeploymentzone,asshadedwhiteon
the map, to represent the features around
whichhisoutpostdefencesareconstructed.
Amendments: The defender should be
allowed two team sized entrenchments for
this scenario to represent his outpost
defences.
SCENARIOTHREE
Theterrainshouldbeplacedevenlyacrossthe
tablebutwiththedefenderabletomoveone
terrain piece larger than 9 square and two
pieces under 9 square in order to represent
thepositiontheyaredefending.
Amendments: The defender should be
allowed three team sized entrenchments for
this scenario OR one entrenchment and one
fullChainofCommandDiceatthestartofthe
game.
SCENARIOFOUR
Theterrainshouldbeplacedevenlyacrossthe
tablebutwiththedefenderabletomoveone
terrain piece of up to 9 square into his
deployment area, as shown on the table by
the shaded area, and remove two other
piecesofterrainupto9squareentirelyfrom
thegame.
Amendments:Thedefendershouldbeginthe
game with three points on his Chain of
Commanddice.
SCENARIOFIVE
Theterrainshouldbeplacedevenlyacrossthe
table but with the defender able to remove
twoitemsofterrain9squarefromthetable,
and the attacker either remove one piece of
similarly sized terrain, or replace one piece
whichthedefenderremoved.
Amendments:None.
SCENARIOSIX
In view of the nature of this scenario, the
chief piece of terrain should be the main
objective,bethatabridge,keybuilding,hillor
whateverisrelevantforyourcampaign.Asa
resultnorealchangesshouldbemadetothe
tabletop, but the majority of the terrain
should be towards the defenders end of the
table.
Amendments:None.
22
INGAMEEVENTS
Mosteventsinatabletopgamearecoveredin
the main Chain of command rules; however,
some specific rules are required for ending a
scenarioinacampaignsetting.
WITHDRAWALFROMTHETABLE
Inallofthecampaigngamesonesideislikely
toquitthetablevoluntarilyorasaresultofa
Force Morale collapse. How this occurs is
importantinacampaignsetting.
AVoluntaryWithdrawal
Aplayermaydeclarethathewishestoretire
fromthetableatanypointinthegamewhen
it is his Phase and before he rolls his
CommandDice.IfhehasrolledhisCommand
Dice he MUST play out that Phase as normal
andmaynotdeclareawithdrawal.
Whenavoluntarywithdrawalisdeclared,any
oftheplayersfigureswithin12ofafriendly
JumpOff Point who can trace an unbroken
linetothatpointwhichdoesnotcomewithin
6 of any unpinned or broken enemy troops
mayimmediatelyretirefromthetable.
Any unpinned figures more than 12 but less
than 24 from a JumpOff Point, who can
trace an unbroken line to that point which
does not come within 6 of any unpinned or
brokenenemytroops,mayrolltoretirefrom
the table. A roll of 1 on a D6, the figure is
dispersed and will be absent for the next
campaign turn. A roll of 2 to 6 on a D6
indicates that the figure has withdrawn
successfully.
Anyunpinnedfiguresfurtherthan24froma
JumpOff Point, or those which cannot trace
anunbrokenlinetothatpointwhichdoesnot
come within 6 of any unpinned or broken
enemy troops, may roll to retire from the
table. On a roll of 1 on a D6, the figure is
capturedandisremovedfromthecampaign.
Onarollof2,heisdispersedandisabsentfor
the next campaign turn. A roll of 3 to 6
indicates that the figure has withdrawn
successfully.
AnyPinnedfigureswillrollaD6.Onarollof1
or2,theywillbecapturedandremovedfrom
the campaign. On a roll of 3 or 4, they are
dispersed and will be absent for the next
campaign turn. On a roll of 5 or 6 they
withdrawsuccessfully.
Rout
A force whose Force Morale falls to zero will
routfromthetable.
When a rout occurs, any of the players
figureswithin12ofafriendlyJumpOffPoint
whocantraceanunbrokenlinetothatpoint
which does not come within 6 of any
unpinned or broken enemy troops, may
immediatelyretirefromthetable.
Any unpinned figures more than 12 but less
than 24 from a JumpOff Point, who can
trace an unbroken line to that point which
does not come within 6 of any unpinned or
brokenenemytroops,mayrolltoretirefrom
thetable.Onarollof1onaD6,thefigureis
capturedandisremovedfromthecampaign.
On a roll of 2, he is dispersed and will be
absentforthenextcampaignturn.Arollof3
to 6 on a D6 indicates that the figure has
withdrawnsuccessfully.
Anyunpinnedfiguresfurtherthan24froma
JumpOff Point, or those which cannot trace
anunbrokenlinetothatpointwhichdoesnot
come within 6 of any unpinned or broken
enemy troops, may roll to retire from the
table. On a roll of 1 on a D6, the figure is
capturedandisremovedfromthecampaign.
On a roll of 2 or 3, he is dispersed and is
absentforthenextcampaignturn.Arollof4
to 6 indicates that the figure has withdrawn
successfully.
AnyPinnedfigureswillrollaD6.Onarollof1
to3,theywillbecapturedandremovedfrom
the campaign. On a roll of 4 or 5, they are
dispersed and will be absent for the next
campaign turn. On a roll of 6 they withdraw
successfully.
Any Leaders captured or dispersed will count
as being lost for the purpose of the mens
opinioninthepostgameroll,seePostGame
Events
23
POSTGAMEEVENTS
Certain ingame events will need to be
considered after any game in which they
occur. These include losses of key Leaders,
Prisoners of War and any awards which the
menarerecommendedfor.
REPLACEMENTLEADERS
Leaders who are wounded twice in any one
gamewillberemovedfromplayfor thenext
campaign turn, returning on the following
turn. Dead Leaders will, fairly obviously, be
removedfromplayentirely.
Junior Leaders will always be replaced,
permanently if they are killed, or temporarily
if they are absent. A new character will be
promotedfromtheranksandshouldbediced
for using the Key Characters section of this
supplement.AreplacementJuniorLeaderwill
operatewithacommandradiusofjust3and
with one Command Initiative until he is
accepted by his men as their new leader.
AftereachgamerollaD6:onarollof1or2
theleaderisnotyetacceptedbyhismen.
SeniorLeaderswillalwaysbereplacedifthey
are the only one, or last one, with the
Platoon. Where an officer is killed roll a D6.
On a 1 to 2 a new replacement officer joins
the platoon. On a 3 to 5 a Senior NCO is
transferredtotheplatoontoleadit.Ona6a
Junior Leader who is leading one of the
existing sections or squads is promoted to
Senior NCO role and will lead the platoon.
Add+1totherollifanexistingJuniorLeader
hasanawardforbravery.
Where a Senior Leader is killed but a second
Senior Leader, such as a Senior NCO is
present, roll a D6. On a 1 a replacement
officer will join the platoon. On a 2 to 6 the
SeniorNCOleadstheplatoon.
Where an NCO Senior Leader is killed but an
officerispresent,rollaD6.Ona1aSergeant
istransferredintotheplatoonfromelsewhere
inthebattalion.Ona2to4theplatoonwill
continue with no replacement senior NCO.
On a 5 or 6 an existing Junior Leader will be
promoted to Sergeant. Add +1 to the roll of
an existing Junior Leader has an award for
bravery.
Where a promotion from Junior to Senior
Leader occurs, an NCO with a bravery award
will always take precedence, or with the
highest award where multiple awards are
present.Wheretherearenobraveryawards
the oldest Junior Leader present will take
precedence.
AnyreplacementSeniorLeader,whetherfrom
outsidetheplatoon,orpromotedfromJunior
Leader, will operate with a command radius
of just 6 and with two Command Initiatives
until he is accepted by his men as their new
SeniorLeader.AftereachgamerollaD6:ona
rollof1or2theleaderisnotyetacceptedby
hismen.
PRISONERSOFWAR
Other ranks captured and made Prisoners of
Wargointothebag,accepting thatforthem
thewarisover.OfficersandNCOsaremade
ofsternerstuffandwillattempttoescapeat
everyopportunity.
ForanyLeadertakenPrisoner,rollaD6atthe
endofeachsubsequentcampaignturn.Ona
1 to 4 the CO hears via the Red Cross that
theyareinacampinSilesia.Donotrollagain
for this Leader. On a 5 hope springs eternal,
roll again next turn. On a 6 the Leader has
escaped and returns to his unit. Any man
promotedtofillhisroleisnowdemoted.
AWARDSFORBRAVERY
AllnationsofWWIImadeawardsforgallantry
asameansofrewardingbraveryinthefaceof
theenemy.Knowingwhatawardsweremade
isonething,determiningthecriteriabywhich
such awards were made is quite another.
Men undertaking selfless and heroic actions
24
were often overlooked, whereas others were
richlyrewardedforthesame,orsimilar,acts.
Itisalsoimpossibletobeentirelyprescriptive
about which actions should result in a medal
recommendation. In Chain of Command: At
the Sharp End, we suggest that only Leaders
arerecommendedformedals.
As a starting point we suggest that the
following acts will always result in a Leader
beingrecommendedforamedal:
Leadingatattackonatripodmounted
machinegunposition(4)
Destroying an armoured vehicle with
ahandheldchargeorgrenade(3)
Singlehandedly manning a support
weapon and destroying a vehicle or
defeatinganinfantryattack(2)
Leading an attack in close combat
which defeats a numerically stronger
enemyinadefensiveposition(2)
A Prisoner of War escaping and
returningtohisunit(1)
RescuingawoundedJuniorLeader(1)
RescuingawoundedSeniorLeader(2)
Any action which your opponent
agreesismedalworthy(?)
For all of these acts, the players should roll
1D6ontheawardtablefortheLeadersrank
andnationality.
Whenanawardisrecommended,consultthe
followingtableattheendofthegame.Rolla
D6andrefertotherelevantlinetoseewhich
award the Leader is being recommended for.
Ifa6isrolledthentheplayermayrollagain,
with a 6 on the next roll increasing the
recommendation by one level on the table.
The number in brackets above show the
number of rerolls which may be made for
that act of bravery. Keep rolling, increasing
the level of award recommended, for each 6
rolleduntilalloftheadditionalrollsareused.
Igor Klinsekov storms the fascist MG nest at
theheadofhissquad,sowillautomaticallybe
recommended for a gallantry award at the
endofthegame.Onceplayends,theplayer
rolls a D6. Igor is a Junior Leader so any roll
will see him recommended for the Order of
the Red Star. However, attacking a MG
positioncanresultinfouradditionalrolls.
The player rolls the first additional D6 and
rollsa6,sotherecommendationincreasesto
onefortheOrderoftheGreatPatrioticWar.
He rolls again and, remarkably, another 6 is
rolled.Thisincreasestherecommendationto
one for the Order of Glory. With his third
additional roll he rolls a 4, so there is no
increase. Finally his fourth roll is another 6,
that is a lucky three increases out of four
attempts,soIgorhasbeenrecommendedfor
theOrderoftheRedBannerforhisbravery.
IftheLeaderconcernedalreadyhastheaward
indicatedthenincreasethenumberorrerolls
tobemadebyone.

GallantryAwardsTable
British M.I.D. MM MM MC MC DCM VC
Officer 15 6 6+ 6+ 6+
NCO 15 6 6+ 6+ 6+
Iron Iron Iron German German Knights
German CrossII CrossI CrossI Cross Cross Cross
Officer 15 6 6+ 6+ 6+
NCO 16 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+
Soldiers Bronze
USA Medal Star SilverStar D.S.M. D.S.C. D.S.C. M.O.H.
Officer 14 5 6 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+
NCO 14 5,6 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+
SovietUnion Red Patriotic Alexander Orderof Red Orderof Heroofthe
Star War Nevsky Glory Banner Lenin SovietUnion
Officer 15 6 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+
NCO 16 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+ 6+
25
Once a medal recommendation has been
made, the player should roll immediately to
see if the award is made and then on
subsequent campaign turns, as indicated
below.
MakingAwards
The recommendations for awards do not
always result in that particular award being
made. At the end of each campaign turn,
including the turn in which the
recommendation is made, the player should
rolltoseeiftheawardismade.
On a 1 to 5 no decision has been made and
theplayershouldrollagainattheendofthe
next campaign turn. On a 6 the award is
madewithimmediateeffect.
Onsubsequentcampaignturnsrollattheend
oftheturn.Ona1or2nodecisionhasbeen
made,rollagainonthenextturn.Ona3or4
an award is made, but one level lower than
the recommended award. If the award
recommendedhasnoloweraward,suchasa
British Leader who was recommended to be
Mentioned In Despatches, then no award is
made. If the award has not been made in
three campaign turns it has been turned
down.
On a 5 the award is made at the level
recommended.Ona6theawardmadeisone
levelhigherthanrecommended.
POSTBATTLEREORGANISATION
We have already looked at how casualties
affectaforceintermsofmenlost.Whatthe
above does not tell you is what happens to
theplatoonwhenlossesaresuffered.
Clearlyaforcewhichstartsthecampaignwith
a full complement of men will normally be
organisedaccordingtoofficialtables.Thatis
thewaymenaretrainedtooperateandthey
will attempt to fight in that manner whilst
manpower levels allow. At first, simply
weakeningthesectionsorsquadsbytheodd
man will probably suffice. However, as
casualties mount, there will come a time
when some consideration of restructuring
mustbemadeinordertokeeptheplatoonin
action.
InChainofCommand:AttheSharpEnd,itis
entirely up to the player what organisational
structureheuses.Allthatisimportantisthat,
in preparation for the next game, he
determines how that platoon will operate in
termsofTeamsandSectionsorSquads.
Beforeeachgameisplayedtheplayersshould
be able to make a note of how their force is
structured for that game. This may differ
from game to game, allowing for the specific
missiontobefought.Inadefensivescenario
a weakened platoon may decide to field
strong LMG teams rather than twoteam
squads, whereas in an attack scenario they
may use weakened fire elements in order to
strengthen the manoeuvre teams. All that
mattersisthattheycanallocatetheirLeaders
tospecificunitssothattheycankeepatrack
oftheirforceoncethegamebegins.
Withjusteighteenotherranksmenleftinhis
platoon,LieutenantJonesdecidestofieldtwo
fourmanBrenteams,eachcommandedbya
Corporal,andonefulltenmansectionunder
another Corporal. Making the best of what
resourceshehas,theLieutenanthaskeptone
strongsectiontoassaulttheobjective,whilst
strippingbacktheothertwosectionstolarge
Brenteamsinordertomaximisefiresupport.
Were this a defensive mission Jones might
well decide on two weakened sections of
eightmeneach,withtheremainingtwomen
manning the PIAT because he suspects the
enemy will be fielding armour. If no armour
turns up, he can always shift the men to the
riflesections.
26


BEFORETHEGAME Didyoulosecasualties?
The winner reduces casualties if he has a
TheAttackermay: superiorForceMorale.Thenapplytheresults
Immediatelyfightthenextscenario. belowtobothsides:
Consolidate, handing initiative to
opponent. Figures Never Missnext Returnto
No advance, strengthen defences, hand Lost Return game duty
initiativetoopponent. 1 1
Fightifcounterattackedorgiveground. 2 1 1
3 1 2
TheDefendermay:
4 2 1 1
Fightthenextscenario.
5 2 2 1
Avoidbattlebygivingground.
6 3 2 1

Ifgiventheinitiative,theDefendermay: 7 3 2 2
Immediatelycounterattack. 8 4 2 2
Strengthendefences. 9 4 3 2
10 5 3 2
11 5 3 3
AFTERTHEGAME 12 6 3 3
13 6 4 3
Didyourforcewithdrawvoluntarily? 14 7 4 3
DistancetoJumpOff Result 15 7 4 4
Marker 16 8 4 4
Upto12 Retiresafely
12to24 1:Dispersed
26:Retiresafely
Doyouwishtocallforreplacements?
Morethan24 1:Captured Calculateusingthefollowingformula:
2:Dispersed
36:Retiresafely
Pinned 12:Captured
34:Dispersed
56:Retiresafely

Didyourforcerout?
DistancetoJumpOff Result
Marker DoYouNeedtoReplaceanyLeaders?
Upto12 Retiresafely OnlySeniorLeader
12to24 1:Captured 12 Newofficerjoinstheplatoon
2:Dispersed 35 SeniorNCOjoinstheplatoon
36:retiresafely
6 JuniorLeaderpromoted
Morethan24 1:Captured
OfficerKilled
23:Dispersed
1 Newofficerjoinstheplatoon
46:retiresafely
26 No replacement. Senior NCO
Pinned 13:Captured
leadstheplatoon
45:Dispersed
SeniorNCOKilled
6:Retiresafely
1 SeniorNCOjoinstheplatoon

34 Noreplacement

56 JuniorLeaderpromoted
Add+1foranygallantryawards

27

As we have seen, wargame campaigns will
always focus on military objectives. The
reality of achieving certain goals within
specified timescales is a common feature of
warfarethroughtheages.However,Chainof
Command:AttheSharpEndalsofocuseson
the men who fought and the impact which
warhasonthem.
We have elected to use this format for a
number of reasons. Firstly, following the
careerofindividualcharactersmakesforafun
gaming experience. Whilst I may not care
about that toy soldier with the Sten gun, I
do care about Sergeant Harris who took out
that MG nest near Sword beach and led his
men to victory storming that farm on the
outskirtsofCaen.Byimbuingourtinysoldiers
with their own personalities, we add an
additional dimension to the campaign and
give ourselves pause to consider the bravery
andselflessnessofthosewhoreallydidfight.
It also does more: it presents us with an
additionaltierofgamingchallengeswhichthe
playershavetoconsider.
In addition to naming and creating
backgrounds for our main characters, we
want to consider those whose lives they
influence, namely the men in their platoon,
andwhocaninfluencethem:specificallytheir
battalion commander and his staff. As the
campaign progresses, it will become
increasingly apparent that the player, in the
roleofplatooncommander,needstokeephis
mens morale up throughout the campaign,
whilst also keeping his commanding officer
happy with his results. The two are not
mutually exclusive, neither are they mutually
complementary.Itwillbeagoodofficerwho
can keep both happy, and retain his own
sense of perspective and good humour
through the trials and tribulations of a
campaign.
BEFORETHECAMPAIGN
Beforethecampaignbegins,youwillneedto
find out a bit about your force: in particular,
whoisleadingyourmenintobattle.
KEYCHARACTERS
TherearetwosortsofcharactersintheAtthe
Sharp End Campaign: firstly, we have your
platoonleaderandthenhissupportingNCOs.
Ourprimaryfocuswillbeonthecharacterof
the platoon commander who, as the central
figureinourforce,willdeterminehowhisunit
isseen,bothbyitselfandothers.
The NCOs are the supporting cast, the men
theretoprovidethedisciplineandleadership
to achieve their platoon leaders plan. They
too have backgrounds and characters, but
thesearesomewhatabbreviated,asthetone
issetbytheplatooncommander.
Thenwehavethemenoftheplatoon.These
are generally anonymous, although some
gamers may wish to use the character
creation system to name every man in the
platoon. Finally there is the battalion as a
whole, embodied in the person of the
battalion commander. His opinion will
influence the platoon as they fight their way
through the campaign, and keeping him
happy will be an important objective
throughout.
InitialCharacterCreation
Before the campaign begins we will need to
create out characters, all of whom will have
their various attributes determined by using
the following tables. Some of these are
nationspecific,somearegeneric.Eitherway,
the players should feel free to see these as
guidelinesandtamperwiththemastheysee
fit to increase their enjoyment of the game.
Nothingiscarvedinstone!
28


BritishOfficers
2 Minor nobility. Major public school. Oxbridge. Something in the city and an interest in
or politicsbeforewarsawyousignup.TheCOisverypleasedtohaveyouintheMess.Add+4
3 toyourrollforage.Add+1totheC.Osopinion
4 Wild Colonial boy. Possibly a CANLOAN chap or possibly from another part of the Empire.
YoucertainlyaddcolourtotheMess!
5 Agoodschool,University,thenapromisingCivilServicecareer.Itwasareservedoccupation
butyoumanagedtogetintouniform.Add+2toyourrollforage
6 Minorpublicschool.Thankstothewaryouwentstraightintokhaki.Rollonly1D6foryour
rollforage
7 Majorpublicschool.Longstanding militaryfamily. Joinedthefamilyregiment.TheCOis
verypleasedtohaveyouintheMess.Add+1tothisCOsopinion
8 Grammarschoolboy.Intradebeforeyouwerecalledup.Identifiedasaleaderinyourbasic
training,youwereofferedacommission.
9 Elevated from the ranks. An enlisted man who made his mark as a Sergeant and was
or commissionedasaresult.Youmaynothavebeenborntotherole,butyoureasgoodas
10 anyothermaninthemess.RollagainontheNCObackgroundtable.Add+4toyourrollfor
age.Add+1tothemensopinion
11 Grammarschoolboy,bothasastudentandthenamasterafterOxbridge.Add+4toyour
rollforage
12 Youreallyarealovelyfellow.Everyonelikesyou,butsadlyyouarejustnottherightsortof
chap.Itssuchashamethatyoureducationandmannerscannotovercomethefactthatyou
dont really fit in with the other officers in the mess. How very sad. Reduce the COs
opinionby1

BritishN.COs
2 A circus entertainer. Strong man, juggler, clown; youve done it all. You can jump and
tumblewiththebestofthem,whichcanbeusefulinatightspot!
3 Acolonial.Atoughmanfromatoughworldwhereamanlearnstolookafterhimself
4 Awaiterinarestaurant.Discrete,deferential;theofficersappreciateyourqualities
5 Agreasemonkeyincivvystreet,youcanstripanengineinnotimeatall
6 APreWarRegularSoldierwithlongservicestripestoproveit.Yousawtheworld,oratleast
thebitsthatwerepaintedpink.Add+2toyourrollforage
7 Afarmboywiththemudstillonhisboots
8 Afactoryworker
9 AnOfficeClerkwithaheadforfiguresandanaptitudeforpaperwork.
10 Adoortodoorsalesman.Brushes,mops,dusters,yourethehousewifesbestfriend
11 A bohemian, you have been an artist and a writer, but sadly your talents have been
unappreciatedbytheundeservingpublic.
12 A cardcarrying Communist. You learnt your beliefs on the pit face and fought fascism in
Spain.Thistimetheyshallnotpass!Add+4toyourrollforage

29



GermanOfficers
ATeacherinthelocalGymnasiumsinceyouleftHeidelbergUniversity.Youespeciallyenjoy
2 the works of Neitzsche, but such views are unpopular now, as indeed are many of your
views.Youtrytokeepquietanddoyourdutyasyourfatherdidin1914.Add+6todice
rollforage
3 Awelltodo farmersson,onedayyouwillreturntoyourestatesandenjoythefruitsof
yourlabour
4 Promoted up from the ranks. You showed your worth on the battlefield and were
or rewardedwithacommission.RollagainontheNCObackgroundtable.Add+3toyourroll
5 forage.Add+1tothemensopinion
6 School.HitlerJugend.Reichsarbeitsdienst.Heer.Suchisthecareerofayoungmaninthe
or ThirdReich.YouareamodelcitizenofthenewGermanyandyouwithfighthardtoensure
7 that1918isnotrepeated.Roll1D6onlyforage
Fromamiddleclasshome,yourfatherfoughtwithdistinctioninthe19141918war.His
8 record earned you your opportunity for a commission after a promising career at
Realschule
ADoktorofEngineering,yourbackgroundinindustrywasnopreparationforwar.Youare
9 not a natural soldier, you have little interest in politics, but you do your best for the
Fatherland.Add+4toyourrollforage
A Civil Servant in the local municipal level, you have swopped the brown uniform of the
10 Partyforfieldgrey.YouareamodelcitizenofthenewGermanyandbelievethatonlythe
Fhrercanbringvictory.Reducethemensopinionby1
11 AtrueGermanaristocrat.YourfamilywereennobledbackbeforetheOldFritzcamealong.
or After the humiliation of Weimar you have returned to the colours to continue the family
12 tradition of service to the Fatherland. Overpromoted Austrian Corporals do not impress
youwhenyournameisprecededbytheknightlyvon.Add+1totheCOsopinion

GermanN.COs
2 Acabaretmusician,youplayedwithallthebigstarsbeforebeingcalledup.Youstillhanker
forsomedegenerateartandlistenonforeignradiobroadcastswhenyoucan
3 AformerCommunistdockworker,youkeepquietaboutyourbackgroundnowbutleopards
dontchangetheirspots.Youhopeforbetterdaysinthefuture.Add+3toageroll
4 Agamekeeperonalargecountryestate,youhavehuntedboarwithReichsmarschallGring.
5or AninnercitySchoolwithafatherinanarmamentsfactory.YoulefttheHitlerJugendand
6 joinedtheArmy.YouareamodelcitizenofthenewGermany.Roll1D6onlyforage.
7or Aruralfarmboy.YoulefttheHitlerJugendandjoinedtheArmy.Youareamodelcitizenof
8 thenewGermany.Roll1D6onlyforage.
9 AnOfficeClerksinceschool,andthenthearmywhenyouwerecalledup
10 Awaiterinahighqualityestablishment
11 A Sturmabteilungsmann. Your father was a Communist, but where did that get him? You
saw from an early age that only the Fhrer could save Germany. This is a war against
international communism and capitalism; once it is won a new society can be built on
socialistprinciplesoffreedomforallGermans.YouareamodelcitizenofthenewGermany
12 Anoldsoldieryoujoinedupwhentherewaslittleotherworktobehad.AveteranofSpain.
Add+4toyourrollforage

30


UnitedStatesOfficers
FromaprepschoolandanIvyLeagueUniversityyoubecameaprofessor.Theytriedtogive
2 youastaffposition,butyouwantedtofighttheenemiesofdemocracy.Add+4toyourroll
forage.Add+1totheCOsopinion
Detective. You left High School and joined the police. Now youre keen to take on the
3 worldsbiggestcriminal:HerrA.HitlerofBerlin,Germany.JustthefactsAdolf!Add+4to
yourrollforage
4 Acityboywithanoseforadeal.YoucutyourteethonWallStreetwithstocksandshares
or butwhenyourcountryscallcame,youdidnthedgeyourbets.Add+2toyourrollforyour
5 age
6 Amidwestfarmersson,youcomefromwherethecornisashighasanelephantseye.You
to volunteered to see even wider horizons than the ones in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota.
7 Hopefullywherethereisnodamncorn!
8 AHighSchoolgraduate,youshowedaptitudeintrainingandwereselectedforOCS.
RollagainontheNCOtableforyourbackground.
9 Promoted from the ranks. You came up the hard way, winning your stripes through good
or soldiering and your commission by killing Krauts. Plenty of them! Roll again on the NCO
10 table.Add+3toyourrollforyourage.Add+1tothemensopinion
11 Thesonofapreacherman,yourupbringingtoldyouwhatwasrightandwhatwaswrong.
NowyourefightingfortheAngelsagainsttheforcesofevil.IfonlyPacouldseeyounow!
12 Hollywoodgaveyouatasteforactionbeforeyouswoppedthesilverscreenforaroleinthe
biggest war story ever know: WWII. In some circles people still talk about your Second
PeoninTheMarkofZorro(1940).Althoughincreasinglyfew,sadly.

UnitesStatesNCOs
2 AstockcardriverwholearnthistradeatDaytonaBeachwiththeoldbootlegdrivers
3 Youwerealinemanforthecountyandyoudrovethemainroad
Ateamster.Youdrovethetrucksandjoinedtheunion.Whentheyneededmuscleyouwere
4 the man. Nobody messed with you then, nobody messes with you now. No messing,
thatsyourmotto
5 Bornonafarmwaybackupinthewoods,joiningtheArmywasyourwaytoescapeandfind
or thebigwideworld.Youranthehiredhandswhenthingsgotbusy,andyourexperiencesaw
6 yougoodatrunningmeninyoursquad
7 Anofficedeskinthecity,keepingnotesinledgers,wasnotthelifeyouyearnedforatHigh
or Schoolandthewarwasachancetoseeanotherworld.One,youdiscovered,wherenobody
8 cancookadecenthamburger!
9 You sold your wares where you could. Encyclopaedias, pots, pans, insurance. Some you
won,someyoulost
10 YoubuiltskyscrapersacrossAmerica.YournativeAmericanancestorsgaveyoutheirbravery
11 Aprewarregularsoldier,youareararebreedthesedays.Ahardnosedprofessionalyou
expectthebestfromyourmen,andyouleadbyexample.Add+4toyourrollforage
12 BornonamountaintopinTennessee,youmadeyourlivingfromthemountaindewyou
producedinyourstill.Youcanshoottheeyeoutofaracoonat400yardsandspitbaccy
juicefurtherandanymanliving

31




SovietOfficers
2 Youworkedinthelibrary,whereyourloveofbookswasappreciated.Solongasthebookin
questionwasapprovedofbytheState.Thiswasnotalwaysthecase,asyourrecordsshow.
Yoususpectthatthewarsavedyoufromthegulag
3 Yousupervisedtheworkersinthefactory,makingpackagingforthebumperturnipharvest.
YouarealoyalPartymemberandfineSovietcitizen.Add+1totheCOsopinion
4 Yousupervisedtheworkersonthecollectivefarmwherebumperturnipcropsweregrown.
to YouarealoyalPartymemberandfineSovietcitizenbutyourpeasantbackgroundmeansyou
6 takecaretolookafteryourmen.Add+1tothemensopinion
7 YoustudiedhardintheTekhnikumtolearntheskillswhichyouwoulduseupongraduation
to todistributebumperturnipcropstothepeoplesofalltheSovietUnion.YouarealoyalParty
9 memberandfineSovietcitizen
10 AsaCivilServantintheMinistryforTurnipProduction,youfailedtoadequatelyexplainwhy
or thebumperturnipcropneverarrived.Henceyouarenowatthefrontline.Yourleadership
11 skillshave,however,assistedyouinbecomingagoodsoldier.ReducetheCOsopinionby1
You were a Professor at a Tekhnikum academy accused of corrupting your students with
12 backsliding revisionist propaganda relating to a socalled bumper turnip crop. For such
crimesyouhavebeenstrippedofallacademicdutiesandsenttothefront.Add+6toyour
rollforage


SovietNCOs
2 AbookbinderinthePartyPressOfficesyouvolunteeredfortheGreatPatrioticWarassoon
asthefascistbeastsinvadedthemothercountry.YouareanupstandingSovietcitizen
3 Aclerkinanoffice,involvedwiththeimplementationoftheFiveYearPlan
4 AworkeronacollectivefarmproducingfoodfortheSovietpeopleandtheirfraternalallies.
to TheArmyhasbeenaharshschool,butyouhavesurvivedandkilledmanyfascists.Yourmen
6 looktoyouforleadershipastheyknowyouareoneofthem.
7 A worker in a factory producing much needed armaments. You volunteered for the Army
or when your factory was moved to the Urals to save it from the rapacious invader of Soviet
8 soil.Onedayyouwillreturn,aherooftheSovietUnion!
9 A mechanic. You trained on engines and there is nothing about the internal combustion
enginethatyoucannotfix
10 Thesonofasmallshopkeeper,youfightforHolyMotherRussiainherhourofneed
AmusicianintheStateOrchestra.Yourfingersarenowscarredanddirty,buttheworkyou
11 do now is of greater importance than music. You fight for the rights of the workers and
peasantsoftheworld!
A former seminary student, you escaped from the Solovki Special Purpose Camp, thereby
12 avoidingdeath.YounowserveintheArmyunderanassumedidentity.Youfearexposure
eachday.Add+3toyourrollforage

32
Background
Thefirstthingweneedtodoisfindoutabit
aboutourcharactersbackgrounds,asthiswill
serve as a guide when filling in more of their
personal details. Backgrounds will vary,
depending on whether they are officers or
NCOsandtheirnationality.

For each leader in your force roll 2D6 on the

relevanttable.


Location Itisperfectlypossibletoaddmoredetailhere
To add a bit more background you may wish
ifyouwish,evendicingforspecificcountiesor
to find out where your leaders are from
states, but we find that a broadbrush
geographically. To do this youll need to
approach suffices with the players then
divide the relevant county into six areas and
adding the small detail as they deem
roll a D6. For the UK I divide into six
appropriate.
convenient areas: the South East, the

Midlands, Wales and the South West, the
Age
North Scotland and finally Ireland, as shown
Nextwerolltoseehowoldourleaderis.Roll
below.
2D6andconsultthetablebelow,usingeither
theofficerorNCOcolumn.Ifyourofficerhas
come up through the ranks, use the NCO
column.

Roll Officer NCO
2 19 21
3 20 22
4 21 23
5 22 24
6 23 25
7 24 26
8 25 27
9 26 2833,1D6,
1being28,6being33
10 27 3439,1D6,
asabove
11 28 4045,1D6,
asabove
12 29 4651,1D6,

asabove

Based on their background, select a suitable

location in that general area depending on
theirbackground.So,forexample,afarmers
son from the North could come from the
Yorkshire Dales, whereas a factory worker I

would allocate to industrial centres such as
Sheffield or Manchester. You can follow the

same system for any country, as we see on
thefollowingmapoftheUnitedStates.

33
Names charactersthemoreinterestingthecampaign
You can name your leaders yourself if you willbe.Onceyouarefinishedyoullbeready
wish, possibly taking names from historical tostartthecampaign.
accountsorjustbeselectingoneswhichtake
your fancy. As an alternative, you can roll a
D6fortheirfirstnameandsurname,andthen Our US platoon is commanded by a
consult the following table as a prompt to Lieutenant.Asanofficerwerollonthattable
determineinitials. todeterminehisbackground.Using2D6Iroll
a total of 9, so the Lieutenant started his
Dice Initial careerintheranksandhasworkedhiswayup
1 A,B,C,D the hard way. This also tells us to roll again
2 E,F,G,H on the NCO table to find out more about his
history.Iroll2D6again.An8tellsmethathe
3 I,J,K,L
went to High School and worked in an office
4 M,N,O,P
before leaving his job to see the world with
5 Q,R,S,T,
theArmy.
6 U,V,W,X,Y,Z
NowIrollaD6toseewhereheisfrom.Iroll
This system is by no means foolproof, it a 5, so hes from somewhere out West. I
doesntallowfornationalvariationsonletter choose Oregon and as we know he works in
usage, but will hopefully give you a guide if anoffice,IchoosethecityofPortlandforhis
stuck for inspiration. What is important is home town. I have no idea what they
that all of our leaders have names! produceinPortland,soIamgoingtohavehis
work background as being in a bank.
Everyonehasbanks!


Next we check his age. We use the NCO
AppearanceandPhysique column here as that was his background
Finally, we check to see what out character before being commissioned. I roll 9. That
lookslike.Roll2D6onthetablebelow: meansheisagedsomewherebetween28and
33.Arollof6settlesthat;hes33.

Dice Result
The next thing I do is think about a name. I
2 Undernourished,thinandpale couldmakeoneup,butletsusethetable.I
3 Atruebantam,shortbutfulloffight roll 2D6, a 4 and a 4 which inspires me to
4 An intellectual looking man of come up with Norman Peterson. As hes
averagetoshortheight American Ill give him a middle initial which I
5 As broad as he is tall. A barrel of a dicefor.NormanW.Peterson.
man
6,7,8 Anaveragesort.Unremarkable Finally we dice for appearance. An 11. I
9 Tallandthin didnt expect that! So Big Norm is a
10 Astrappingsixfooter lumbering giant. He left his bank job in
11 Alumberinggiant Portlandashekeptknockingovertheinkand
12 Remarkably overweight considering wasfedupwithhisbossMrKolowskibeingon
hisrelianceonArmyrations his back for ten long years. He signed up,
foughtwellandfoundhistruevocationinlife.
Now you have your characters, feel free to He likes seeing the world, but still hankers
add any other details you wish, and some of afteragoodoldAmericanhamburger.
the detail above can be elaborated on. Feel
free to add as much or as little as you wish;
the better the picture you have of your

34
POSTGAMETRACKING
Oncethecampaignbeginswewillkeeptrack
ofthreekeyindicatorsofsuccess.Specifically
these are the Commanding Officers opinion,
themoraleofthemenintheplatoonandthe
PlatoonLeadersownmoraleandselfesteem.
Thesethreearelinkedtogethertoprovideus
withanoverallsnapshotoftheplatoonatany
time.
Keepingthebattalioncommanderhappyisall
about achieving your objectives. Hes not
interestedinreasonsorexcuses:resultsspeak
volumestohim.Iftheplatoondoeswell,this
willinfluencehowmuchsupporttheunitcan
draw upon the CO likes to back winners
and how well rewarded the platoon is when
anymedalsareintheoffing.
However,theCOisalsokeentorunwhatisat
least superficially a happy ship. If he hears
rumours of the men being unhappy, he will
take a dim view of any platoon commander
who is implicated, and this, as well asresults
inbattle,caninfluencehisopinion.
Secondly there are the men. Yes, they want
togetthejobdone,butultimatelytheywant
to get home at the end of the war. If a
platoon commander starts losing too many
menthenmoraleislikelytodropandthatcan
havedisastrousconsequences.
we go any further, we need to consider the
four possible outcomes from each game. At
the end of each game both players will use
the following victory conditions to see how
thethreekeyindicatorsareinfluencedand,if
necessary, adjusted to reflect the current
mood.
A Victory: To claim a victory you must win
the game, achieving the scenario objectives
listed for the scenario being played. If you
achieve this, regardless of casualties or any
otherfactors,youcanclaimavictory.
ADraw:Somescenariosallowforadraw.If
this happens then both sides may claim a
draw, regardless of casualties or any other
factors.
ALoss:Ifyoudontwinordrawyouwilllose.
However,therearecircumstanceswhereyou
mayclaimaLosingDraw.Seebelow.
A Losing Draw: If you lose a game you may
still be able to claim some degree of success
by inflicting disproportionate casualties on
your opponent. If you lose the scenario but
inflict50%morecasualtiesonyouropponent
than you suffer (the number of men lost
killedattheendofeachscenario),thenyou
mayclaimaLosingDraw.

Finally, the platoon leaders own mood will

influencethemenaroundhimandaffectthe
way they see themselves and their morale.
The platoon leaders own outlook will
influence the way that the platoon feels as a
whole, and also influence the units force
morale.Toomuchsuccesscangotoamans
head,toomanyfailurescandrivehimintothe
pitsofdespair.

To do well in the campaign the player will

needtobalanceallthreefactors,keepingthe
CO happy, the men happy and trying to not
allow the pressures of command get to his
platoonleader.

To a large degree, all three indicators will be

influencedbytheresultsinbattle.So,before

35
TRACKINGOPINION
Keeping track of the three key indicators is a
simple process. The COs and the mens
opinion are both tracked numerically on a
scale ranging from 12 down to 12 with the
effects being cumulative through the
campaign. The Platoon Leaders outlook is
slightlymoreinvolvedinthatitusesatabular
matrix with the possibility of the rating
moving horizontally as well as vertically on
thattable.
THECOMMANDINGOFFICERSOPINION
At the start of a campaign, we will normally
beginafreshwiththeCOsopinionsettozero.
This may be adjusted slightly if the platoon
leaders background, if that indicates that he
will be particularly well or badly or looked
uponbytheofficerconcerned.
Tracking the COs opinion of your platoon is
very simple. To a degree what he thinks is
basedonluck,youmaydoagoodjobbutnot
be noticed, you may gain laurels which, in
truth, you do not deserve. During the
campaignthisratingwillincreaseordecrease
accordingtosuccessorfailureinbattle.This
happensasfollows:
AftereachVictoryrollaD6.Onaroll
of1to4theCOsopinionincreasesby
1.Onarollof5or6itincreasesby2.
AftereachDrawrollaD6.Onarollof
1theCOsopiniondecreasesby1.On
arollof2to5itremainsthesame.
Onarollof6itincreasesby1.
AftereachLossrollaD6.Onarollof
1 to 5 the COs opinion decreases by
1.Onarollof6itdecreasesby2.
AftereachLosingDrawrollaD6.Ona
rollof1theCOsopiniondecreasesby
1.Onarollof2to4itremainsthe
same.Onarollof5or6itincreases
by1.
Theunitgivesgroundwithapproval.
Onarollof1to5theCOsopinionis
unchanged.Onarollof6itincreases
by1.
Aunitgivesgroundwithahasty
withdrawal.Onarollof1to3the
COsopinionreducesby1.Onaroll
of4to6itremainsunchanged.
What does this mean? Keep a tally of your
COsopinionrating.Thiswillaffectyourforce
when selecting support for each mission,
when rolling for any medal awards or when
rollingforsupport.
Opinion Effect
12 Promoted to a Staff position.
Flyingadeskandsortingoutcrap
9to11 +3 levels of support for each
mission
+3 for any medal roll for the
Platoon
+2foranyreinforcementroll
6to8 +2 levels of support for each
mission
+1 for any medal roll for the
Platoon
+1foranyreinforcementroll
3to5 +1 level of support for each
mission
2to2 Noeffect
3to5 1 level of support for each
mission
6to8 1 level of support for each
mission
2 for any medal roll for the
Platoon
1foranyreinforcementroll
9to11 2 levels of support for each
mission
ForceMoralerollswitha1
Nomedalrolls
1foranyreinforcementroll
12 Relieved of command. This man
willspendthewarincommandof
a latrine cleaning detachment.
Flyingadeskandsortingoutcrap
36
 THEMENSOPINION
Measuring the opinion of the men in the
platoonisdoneinasimilarwaytotheCObut
the men are affected by the number of
casualtiessufferedbytheplatoon,ratherthan
victoryconditions.
Themenunderstandandacceptthatdeathis
an inevitable part of war. However, they
appreciateaplatoonleaderwhotriestokeep
casualtiestoaminimum.
Aftereachgame,youwillneedtokeepatrack
of losses. Using that information you will
need to test for each of the following
situations that apply. Multiple tests may be
requiredifmorethanonecriterionapplies.If
sotheresultsarecumulative.
If you lost more men dead than the
enemy,rollaD6.On1to5themens
opinion decreases by 1. On a 6 it
decreasesby2.
If you lost fewer men dead than the
enemy, roll a D6. On a 1 to 2 the
mens opinion remains unchanged.
On3to6themensopinionincreases
by1.
IfyoulostanNCOkilledrollaD6.On
a 1 to 2 the Mens opinion remains
thesame.On3to5itdecreasesby1.
Ona6itdecreasesby2.
If you lost very heavy casualties, that
is5ormoremendead,rollaD6.Ona
1 to 3, the mens opinion decreases
by 1. On 4 to 6, the mens opinion
decreasesby2.
Ifyoulostverylightcasualties,thatis
2menorfewerdead,rollaD6.Ona
1, the mens opinion remains
unchanged.On2to5,itincreasesby
1.Onarollof6itincreasesby2.
What does this mean? Keep a tally of your
mens opinion rating. This will affect your
force morale and how your platoon leader
influencesmeninbattle.
Opinion Effect
9to12 ForceMoralerollswitha+3
Platoon leaders Command
Initiative increased to 4 with a
rangeof12
6to8 ForceMoralerollswitha+2
Any negative soubriquet gained
previouslyislost
Platoon leaders command range
extendsto12
3to5 ForceMoralerollswitha+1
2to2 Noeffect
3to5 ForceMoralerollswitha1
6to8 Platoon leader earns the
soubriquet Dangerous. Force
Moralerollswitha2
Platoon leaders command range
reducedto6
The first time that the mens
opinion falls to 6 or less, the
battalion commander will be
spoken to by a senior NCO,
reporting the concerns. The
platoon commander will be
ordered to an interview without
coffee. See Platoon Leaders
Outlookbelow
9to11 Platoon leader earns the
soubriquet Butcher. Force
Moralerollswitha3
Platoon leaders Command
Initiative reduced to 4 with a
rangeof6
The first time that the mens
opinion falls to 9 or less, the
battalion commander will be
spoken to by a senior NCO,
reporting the concerns. The
platoon commander will be
orderedtoaCarpetParade.See
PlatoonLeadersOutlookbelow
12 Platoonleaderdiesinmysterious
circumstances.Nobodyweeps
37
THEPLATOONLEADERSOUTLOOK
HowwetrackaPlatoonLeadersoutlookwill
depend on the type of campaign we are
fightingandthatLeaderscircumstances.Ina
full campaign, where a new leader has just
joined his unit or been promoted to lead it,
we use a slightly different initial setup to a
more established leader who has been with
hisforceforaperiodoftime.
TheFreshLeader
Allnewlyappointedplatoonleadersbeginthe
campaign with a mix of enthusiasm,
trepidation and uncertainty. We do not
attempttodiscoverwhattheiroutlookisuntil
they have completed three games. By that
point they have had an opportunity to test
themselves in the maelstrom of battle. This
willdeterminetheiroutlookatthatpoint.
Aftereachofthefirstthreegamestheplayers
will claim their result, be that Victory, Draw,
LossorLosingDraw.Theywillconvertthatto
points on the following basis. For a Victory
theplayerclaimsthreepoints.ForaDrawor
LosingDraw the player claimsonepoint,and
foraLosstheplayergainsnopoints.
Points Adjustment
0 2
1or2 1
3or4 0
5to8 +1
9 +2
Theadjustedtotalindicateswhichoneofthe
tenstartingpointsindicatedintheredboxon
the Outlook Table applies to the platoon
leader.
TheVeteranLeader
Thesituationisslightlydifferentforthemore
experienced commander, in that they will
beginthecampaignwiththeiroutlookalready
established. To generate this roll 1D6, with
the result indicating the starting point in the
redboxonthetablebelow.Ifacharacterhas
been used in a previous campaign the player
may continue with the characters outlook
from that, adjusting it up or down by one or
twospacesiftheleaderhasenjoyedaperiod
of leave or in a quiet sector of the line
betweenthecampaigns.

After the three games, the player rolls 1D6

makingthefollowingadjustments:

OutlookTable
Merciless Ruthless Impatient Arrogant Uncontrollable
Contempt Arrogant Power Heroic Violent
Selfrighteous Pride Pride Superior Brutish
Spiteful Reckless Exhilarated Brave Wild
Bitter Aggressive Confident Popular Loud
Anger Energetic 7 Affable 8 Sociable Gregarious
Annoyed Shorttempered 5 Happy 6 Secure Assured
SelfPity Sad 3 Content 4 Cheerful Merry
Uncertain Concerned 1 Thoughtful 2 Relaxed Droll
Insecure Confusion 1 Retiring 0 Worried Guarded
Shame Shock Introverted Irritable Prickly
Afraid Bitter Weak Cautious Remorseful
Dread Jealous Disgust Regretful Malevolent
Exhaustion Tired Rage Vindictive Misery
Exhaustion Exhaustion Exhaustion Grief Stupour

38
TRACKINGOUTLOOK
Once a platoon leaders outlook has been
established it will be affected by results of
eachgame.Thisoccursasfollows:
AftereachVictory,rollaD6.Onarollof1or
2hisoutlookremainsunchanged.Onarollof
3to5itmovesupverticallyonespaceonthe
table. On a roll of 6 it moves one space
horizontallytotherightonthetable.
AftereachDraw,rollaD6.Onarollof1to4
his outlook remains unchanged. On a 5 his
outlook moves one space horizontally to the
left,ona6onespaceverticallydown.
AftereachLosingDraw,rollaD6.Onarollof
1 to 5 his outlook remains unchanged. On a
roll of 6 move one space horizontally or
vertically in any direction of the players
choice.
AftereachLoss,rollaD6.Onarollof1or2
hisoutlookremainsunchanged.Onarollof3
to5itmovesdownverticallyonespaceonthe
table. On a roll of 6 it moves one space
horizontallytotheleftonthetable.
All moves are horizontal or vertical, never
diagonal. A result indicating a move off the
gridwillremainwherehewaspreviously.
Results
What does this mean? A platoon leaders
outlook will influence all of his men and set
the tone within the platoon. Keep a tally of
yourplatoonleadersoutlookusingthecolour
codebelow:
Outlook Effect
Plain Noeffect
Light +1onForceMoraleroll
Orange
Dark +2onForceMoraleroll
Orange
Light 1onForceMoraleroll
Blue
Dark 2onForceMoraleroll
Blue
Relievedofcommand.Youspend
Red the rest of your war weaving
baskets
GoingGreen
A character whose outlook turns green,
with an outlook in the right hand column, is
clearly drinking more than is normal. While
celebratingsuccessthisisnobadthing.When
drinking to forget this may cause problems.
His behaviour and temperament are likely to
be more erratic if this continues for an
extendedperiod.
OTHEREVENTSAFFECTINGOUTLOOK
Inadditiontotheresultsofcampaigngames,
the platoon leaders outlook can be
influenced by his interaction with his
commanding officer. This occurs when there
areseriousissueswiththemensopinions,to
the extent that reports of their concerns
reachtheCOsears.
An Interview without coffee: During this
meeting the commanding officer will make
perfectlyclearthattheplatooncommanderis
responsible for the morale within his
commandand,atthismoment,heisfailingin
this regard. Roll a D6. On a 1 to 3 the
platoonleadersoutlookwillmovedownone
space.Onarollof4to6itwillmoveleftone
space.
A Carpet Parade: During this meeting the
commanding officer will make it absolutely
clearthattheplatooncommanderisfailingin
his obligations to his men. This is a final
warning and if matters worsen he will be
removed from his command. Roll two D6.
For each roll of 1 to 3 the platoon leaders
outlookwillmovedownonespace.Foreach
rollof4to6itwillmoveleftonespace.
39

Inspirationforacampaigncancomefromthe
smallest of sources: a single paragraph in a
book, a scene in a film. Often a passing
reference can trigger a desire to find out
more, and this can lead to an intriguing
research project which provides us with the
desire to get our miniature troops on the
tabletopandrefighttheaction.
Inthissectionwewilllookattwocampaigns,
oneaSimpleMapCampaign,theotheraFull
MapCampaign.Thefirst,thesimplemap,we
have designed to be as generic as and is
shownatthefootofthispage.NoMansLand
is a bridged river whilst the outposts are in
small farms set amid cultivated land. Both
sides have their main defences in a war
damaged village, whilst to the rear of that is
rolling relatively open countryside where the
pursuit and retreat actions can be fought.
Finallytheendobjectiveforbothsidesisahill
withanobservationpost.
The simple sketch map we have used is
European in its style, but it can be used as a
template for anywhere in the world. In the
junglesoftheFarEastwearelikelytogetfar
more in the way of vegetation, but the river,
the small farms, the village and the hilltop
observationpostsareallstillappropriate.The
pursuit and retreat phase will likely be
through lightly populated jungle rather than
rollinghills.
As a full ladder campaign with eleven rungs,
this should be played with a maximum of
seventeen games. As there is no historical
background to influence us, we can just use
thestandardarmylistsforwhateverperiodof
thewarwewanttofight.
A campaign of this length will probably see
both sides with two opportunities to get
replacementstofillthegapsintheirranks.
Whenstartingthecampaigntossacoinorroll
a D6 to see which player has the initiative in
Turn One. The campaign will run until one
sideachievestheirfinalobjective.
As can be seen, this is a very simple, very
genericcampaign.Withalittleeffortitcould
be fleshed out further or converted to suit a
differentsetting.
Next we will look at the Full Map Campaign.
This will involved more frontend effort, but
possibly less than would be expected. In
order to show how simple this can be, this
sectionlooksatonesuchresearchprojectand
how we got this from concept onto the
tabletopinveryshortorder.
40
INSPIRATION,NOTPERSPIRATION
Oneofthesimplestsourcesofinspirationand
detail for campaigns is a wellwritten and
wellillustrated book. There are plenty of
series of excellent battlefield walking tour
books which are littered with historical
accounts, illustrations and maps. The
BattlegroundEuropeseriesfromPen&Sword
and Battlezone Normandy series from Sutton
Publishing are both superb examples and,
with their emphasis on walking the ground
fought over, they focus sufficiently on detail
to be ideal for our purposes. These may be
had from any decent book seller, either in
bricksandmortaroronline.
Battalion and Regimental histories are also
very useful, as are personal memoirs written
by those present. These will, by their very
nature, focus on the units and the men who
fought; they also often contain maps,
sometimessketches,sometimesinfulldetail,
ofthelocationsofthemainactionscoveredin
thetext.IntheUK,Regimentalmuseumsare
often a great source of these books, with
many selfpublishing some very good, but
almostunknown,memoirswhicharejustnot
availableanywhereelse.
Obviously a whole raft of books covering the
SecondWorldWarareavailable;somegood,
some not so useful. Try to find books which
focus on individual actions rather than broad
brush approaches to whole theatres. The
latter may well have cameo appearances
which give the appearance of being detailed,
but ultimately the breadth of the subject
beingcoveredwillmeanmuchiscoveredonly
superficially.
Finally, dont forget the internet. There are
plenty of books already online with projects
such as Google Books and the Project
Gutenburg, and those numbers will only
increase. Some of the most interesting
documents online are declassified military
reports and texts which seek to analyse
military operations. Many of these are
available in downloadable PDF format from
organisationssuchasFortLeavenworthinthe
United States, and can be read easily on a
handheldtablet.
The key is that researching your campaign is
aseasyorashardasyoudlikeittobe.There
is a tradeoff here, between time taken
reading books and the speed with which you
cangetyourgameontothetabletop.Equally,
the more research you do the easier
developing the campaign becomes as the
more hard data you have. You set the line
betweenspeedandresearchwhereyouwant
ittobe.
DESIGNINGACAMPAIGN
When designing a campaign you are looking
for certain key information, namely the
location where the action took place, what
the terrain was like, what troops were
involvedandwhatsupportwasavailable.This
will allow you to build your map and
accompanying ladder and provide action
specificsupportlistoptionsforyourforces.
For the campaign presented here I took the
simplest route of consulting one of the
Battleground Europe books, specifically Hill
112whichlooksattheactionsonoraround
the Odon River from late June to the
beginningofAugust1944.
Whenputtingtogetheracampaignitisworth
rememberingthatnotallactionsareidealfor
a platoon sized rule set. Some actions are
better fought with a larger scale set of rules
such as I Aint Been Shot Mum, so it is
important to find an action which is self
contained and discrete enough to be
appropriate. For example, the main attacks
which were launched at Hill 112 in early to
lateJulywerelargeactionsfoughtoverlargely
open terrain. However, even larger attacks
can contain some gems. For example, the
mainattackonHill112by129Brigadeonthe
10th of July 1944 would be largely
inappropriate, but the 5th Wiltshires were
taskedwithtakingaflankingGermanposition
around the hamlet of le Bon Repos to the
41
north of Esquay. Such a separate,
subordinate, action would be suitable for a
shortcampaign.

I selected a later action fought by the 5th

Wiltshires on the 22nd of July, just over two
kilometres east of Hill 112 in the village of
Maltot. The Battleground Europe book also
covered this action in some detail, and I
sourcedabattalionhistoryviatheRegimental
museums web store which was a gold mine
of information. I found a further description
of the action in Fighting Wessex Wyverns by
Patrick Delaforce, and the internet provided
mewithplentyofinformationontheGerman
units in this area, and their strength at that
time.Allofthesehelpedbuildupapictureof
thefightinginMaltot.

Finally,Ipurchasedadownloadableversionof
the British Army 1944 GSGS map in 1:25.000
scalefromthisrange:
http://www.battlefieldhistorian.com/gsgs_43
47_1_25000_normandy.asp
Now I was ready to start designing my
campaign. Before I do, however, lets recap
onmypurchases.
The Map and the book on the 5th Wiltshires
had both cost me 12 each. The Wessex
WyvernsbookIhadalready,butIcouldhave
picked that up for 7 on Amazon, whilst Hill
112 was 10 in hard copy or 99p on Kindle.
So, were I to be starting from scratch, the
total outlay would have been between 30
and40forwhatweseebelow.
Having said that, were I to simply follow the
actions of this one battalion on this single
map sheet, I could get several campaigns for
Chain of Command. Being Normandy, the
map presents lots of other opportunities,
covering such locations as Carpiquet airport
and Hill 112, along with a whole range of
othervillages,suchasleMesnilPatryandles
Haut Vents which are names writ large in
Britishmilitaryhistory.AssuchIconsiderita
reasonable investment in a lot of future
gamingenjoyment.
Onthenextpageisthemapoftheareawith
the site of five potential actions for the
campaign marked by red boxes. These are
scaled for a 6 by 4 table at 12 being 40
yards,asperthemainrules.

42


43
TheLOCATION
Ascanbeseenfromthemapabove,theinitial
concentrationareaandthenthestartlinefor
the attack were drawn from the battalion
history, and easily identifiable with the map.
Maltot sat in a shallow valley, and the plan
was to use the spur above it as a start
position, as it allowed good visibility for the
attachedspottersandarmouredsupport.The
attack would then wheel round, cross the
standing wheat in the fields and attack along
theaxisoftheroadfromtheNorthEast.
The operation was ideal as a campaign as,
whilsttheattackwasmadeonatwocompany
frontage, accounts make it very clear that
amid the houses and orchards the attack
brokedownintomuchsmalleractions,andit
is that which makes it ideal for a short
campaign.
THETERRAIN
Onthenextpageisasecondmapofthesame
area, but with the terrain in the playing area
illustratedincolour.Thiswillserveasaguide
toterrainforthescenarios.Indesigningthis
wehave,clearly,usedthe1944mapandthis
provides both a backdrop to the whole
campaignanddetailforsettingoutterrainfor
ourscenarios.
Additionally, we have used Google Earth to
clarifywherethemapisambiguous.Thisisan
excellent resource as whilst France is
beginningtoexperiencesomeurbansprawl
theterrainisstillentirelyrecognisableinrural
areas. Maltot itself has been largely rebuilt,
but the surrounding countryside is largely
intact, albeit with larger fields thanks to the
mechanisation of farming. This is a good
resource and well worth using when
constructing a campaign. Remember that all
sorts of additional information comes from
walkingbattlefieldswhichwecantgetfroma
map.GoogleEarthallowsustogetascloseto
walkingtheterrainaswecanwithoutactually
goingthere.
THEMEN
On the British side, the 5th Wiltshires had
landedinFranceinlateJuneand,bythetime
of their action at Maltot, had fought one
major action on the slopes of Hill 112on the
29thofJune.ForthiscampaignIamgoingto
start the British with a complete and intact
platoon. This may not be absolutely correct,
as most platoons had suffered some
casualties:however,thecampaignisgoingto
be tough enough for the British as it is and
from a game perspective this keeps things
simple.
The action will initially focus on 12 Platoon
from B Company which formed part of the
vanguard of the attack. This campaign is
beingfoughtoveraveryshortperiodoftime.
To reflect this, we will include a campaign
specific rule that men who require medical
assistance will not return to the campaign.
So,attheendofeachgame,onlythe25%of
men who are lightly wounded will return to
theranks.
What we will add is a second platoon which
can be introduced as reinforcements. In the
actualattackAandBCompanyadvancedfirst,
withDCompanyfollowingupandtaskedwith
clearing the village itself once the vanguard
had broken in. To reflect this, the British
player may withdraw 12 Platoon from action
attheendofanygameandreplacethemwith
a fullstrength 16 Platoon. Once withdrawn
12 Platoon will play no further part in the
campaign.
On the German side, the men of 980
Grenadier Regiment were defending Maltot,
having only recently taken over the defences
from 9 SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. By
thisstageinthebattleforNormandy,lossesin
the 272nd Grenadier Division were around
50%.However,werepresentthemherewith
a fullstrength platoon for the sake of
simplicity. It would be equally possible to
view this as the reorganised remnants of a
Company.
44


45
Unlike the British, the Germans do get their BRITISHSUPPORTLIST
men requiring medical attention back as
covered by the normal campaign rules. LISTONE
However,thisonlyoccurswhiletheystillhold EngineerMineClearanceTeam,3men
the table at rung five on the ladder, as their EngineerWireCuttingTeam,3men
Regimental Aid Post is located there. Once EngineerDemolitionTeam,3men
that falls to the British, only the 25% of men Adjutant
who are lightly wounded will return to the LISTTWO
ranksinsubsequentgames. PIATTeam,2men

TankKillerTeam
During the actual battle SS Hohenstaufen
2mortarTeam,2men
intervened by shoring up the defences with
PreGameBarrage(Games1to3only)
some of their Panzer Grenadiers. To reflect
this, the Germans may call for replacements LISTTHREE
once during the campaign using the normal SniperTeam
means outlined in the campaign rules. LISTFOUR
However, these will be elite Panzer EngineerSectionwithJuniorLeader
Grenadiers rather than infantry. For every RegularInfantrySquadwithJuniorLeader
fourreplacementstheymaybeequippedwith
VickersMMGwithfivecrew
one MG42 and one Panzerfaust 30. Any
ForwardObserverwith3mortarbattery
group of less than four men will be armed
with a rifle and one Panzerfaust 30 OR be LISTFIVE
equippedasatankkillerteamwithhandheld 6pounderantitankgun,5crewandJunior
magneticmines. Leader
ChurchillMkIVwithJuniorLeader
Additional support was lent to the troops in
Maltot by Tiger tanks firing from the reverse GERMANSUPPORTLIST
slopeofHill112.Itwasthiswhichconcerned
the crews of 7RTR and hampered good LISTONE
infantryandarmourcoordination.Thearcof SingleCompoundCharge
fireisindicatedonthemapaboveasashaded Minefield
coneoutlinedinred,coveringthefieldsnorth BarbedWire
ofMaltotandsouthofEtervile,andcanaffect Adjutant
any tanks operating on game tables 1 and 2. TigerSupport(offtablefire)
To reflect this, the German player selecting EntrenchmentsforoneTeam
Tiger Support may fire onto any British LISTTWO
armouredvehiclesonTable1ornorthofthe
Roadblock
road on Table 2. The Tiger Support is
PanzerschreckTeam,2men
activated on a roll of 5 and fires with a 2 to
hit.OncetheBritishhaveadvancedtotable3 PanzerknackerTeam,4men
andbeyondtheTigerSupportwillbeuseless. LISTTHREE
SniperTeam
TheSupportListsbelowhavebeenspecifically LISTFOUR
constructedforthiscampaign,basedonwhat EngineerSectionwithJuniorLeader
support was historically present for this
Pak 36 antitank gun with stielgrenate. Five
action. Some readers will note that certain
crewandaJuniorLeader
support options have different values here
SdKfz250withElitefourmanLMGTeam
thanthesameoptioninthemainrules.That
is intentional in order to provide the right
balanceforthisparticularaction.

46
RUNNINGTHECAMPAIGN
Theladderselectedisdesignedspecificallyfor
this action. The first Patrol action amid the
wheatfields was undertaken in the days
precedingtheattack.TheattackonaGerman
outpost at Lieu de la France was where the
advance first encountered an enemy
disorientated by a sharp but short initial
bombardment. The main defensive position
was first met on the edge of the village of
Maltot, and then, having broken into the
village, the British fought a running battle
withtheGermandefenderswhowereseeking
toevacuatetheirRegimentalAidPost.Finally,
the capture of the village church at the road
junction marked the successful clearance of
Maltot.
The other aspect of this fight which is
interesting is the fact that, whilst the British
attackedwithsupportfromChurchilltanksof
B Squadron 7 RTR, the coordination was not
greatduetotheinterventionofGermanTiger
tanks firing across from the rear slope of Hill
112.Theconfusedactioniswellrepresented
bythesupportoptions,wheretankstendonly
to be available for the toughest scenarios,
whicharemoregenerousinthatrespect.The
other actions are going to be largely infantry
fights.
Conclusion
We hope that this final section has shown
how simple it is to construct an historical
campaign using the rules outlined in this
supplement.CertainlytheNoMapcampaign
is ready to go without any effort, and the
Simple Map Campaign is almost as simple to
get started with. If the Full Map Campaign
seems a little daunting, then you can still
enjoycampaignswiththeseoptions.
Constructing your own campaign using the
guidelines presented here will allow you to
refight some of the actions of the war which
mostinterestyou.
Dont forget that well be producing ready to
playcampaignsusingtheserulesinthefuture,
both as standalone supplements and in the
SummerandChristmasSpecialsaswellasthe
hobbypress.

The British have the initiative at the start of

Turn One. They get no opportunities to
consolidate in this campaign, as there is
simply not enough time. Both the German
and British Platoon commanders should
immediately roll 1D6 to see what their
outlook is. The COs and their men start the
campaignwiththeiropinionsatzero.

Duration
This is a fiverung ladder campaign with the
minimum eight game duration. If the British
fail to capture the church by then they have
lostthecampaign.

47