British and German Platoons for Chain of Command

[xccam]

Hi all,
Recently finished painting the cores to 2 Chain of Command forces, using Pendraken models so a battle needn't take up much space at all.

British Platoon

Platoon HQ
Lieutenant
Platoon Sergeant
Piat Team
2" mortar Team

Sections A - C
Corporal
six riflemen
Bren Gun with 3 crew

Platoon Support
2" Mortar
Universal carrier (4 crew, bren gun)

German Platoon

Platoon HQ
Unterfeldwebel
Panzerschreck Team

Squads 1-3
Obergefreiter
MG42 with 2 crew
7 riflemen

Platoon Support
Panzerschreck Team
Pak 36 with Stielgranate ammunition

I have a few supports to paint up for each platoon such as additional squads, armoured support and weapons teams - but I am happy with them for a week's worth of work.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Oh my (insert deity/deities of choice), those are incredible. Absolutely amazing.

[paulr]

 

[Steve J]

Just wonderful! Love what you've done .

[lowlylowlycook]

Wow!

[fred.]

Those are a bit good!! Great work.

We played quite a lot of CoC with 10mm figures, some multi-based some in pairs. I'm pretty sure we used the distances in the rules - which are pretty close to 10mm scale IIRC. It gave a really good look to the table - with the feel of distance. But if you want / need to play in a small area then dropping the distances to cm from inches would work well to compress the game.

[xccam]

Thanks for the kind words.

@Fred at the moment the plan is to drop to cm, but if/when I build up enough ww2 terrain for a full 6'4' would definitely look good to scale the game back up all the way!

[Sunray]

This is 5 star eye candy !

Proves the point that Pendraken 10mm have enough personality and detail to be individually based.  Cof C works on what ? 12" = 40 yards .  Shows 10mm with detail and good paint work can replace 15mm.

Thank you very much for sharing, and look forward to battle reports! 

[Steeleye]

Very nice...but that's not a two inch mortar and where's the PIAT? If the Germans have that Panzer-thingy-bazooka-knock-off the Brits should have a PIAT. Also why the Carrier? That should be over in the carrier platoon doing recon, not 'supporting' rifle platoons.

[sunjester]

Jolly good chaps!

I put together several platoons for CoC in 10mm when the rules first came out. It didn't mean playing in a smaller area but the ground scale looked more realistic (Rich did tell me once that the ground scale for CoC was somewhere between 15mm and 10mm).

Unfortunately everyone else insisted on playing with "giants", 20mm and even 28mm, which I think really crowds a 6x4 table.

[toxicpixie]

They look ace, and I bet they look much better and in scale on the table than the 28's too!

[Matt J]

excellent job on those! 

[xccam]

Very nice...but that's not a two inch mortar and where's the PIAT? If the Germans have that Panzer-thingy-bazooka-knock-off the Brits should have a PIAT. Also why the Carrier? That should be over in the carrier platoon doing recon, not 'supporting' rifle platoons.

You are quite right, I chose 3" mortars for ease of "scanning" the battlefield and identifying the mortar single based at a distance.
The PIAT actually to the right of the 2 mortars, hidden mostly behind a man firing his rifle.
As for the carrier - Chain of Command gives many options for "support" and I wanted one of the most iconic AFVs the Brits can take.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Very good stuff. Corse they are numbered, not lettered sections, and the PIAT was a compamy level weapon, which might be issued to a platoon.... 

[toxicpixie]

Given that despite their ubiquity no one could quite decide what to do or how to use their Carriers, it's no way unfeasible to have one stooging around "supporting" the infantry. Probably having just brought up a vital under armour (ho-ho) delivery of cigarettes, tea and bully beef sandwiches

Come for the sarnies & cuppa, stay for the gun fire!

[Dr Dave]

Given that despite their ubiquity no one could quite decide what to do or how to use their Carriers, it's no way unfeasible to have one stooging around "supporting" the infantry. Probably having just brought up a vital under armour (ho-ho) delivery of cigarettes, tea and bully beef sandwiches

Come for the sarnies & cuppa, stay for the gun fire!

Spot on - a veteran I knew (D coy, 1st Worcesters, 43rd Div) had to ask ME what the carriers were for. He never understood them. Bringing up stores and carrying out wounded seems to have been their main role. BUT they are the most manufactured AFV of WW2!

[Terry37]

Very nicely done!!!

Terry

[Sunray]

Spot on - a veteran I knew (D coy, 1st Worcesters, 43rd Div) had to ask ME what the carriers were for. He never understood them. Bringing up stores and carrying out wounded seems to have been their main role. BUT they are the most manufactured AFV of WW2!

Correct.  Memories of the carrier had faded before my time, but as you noted with the images that Nobby pulled up about Korea, it was ubiquitous - it a bit (12mm max ) of armour, it was tracked, and it could to 30mph on a good day/surface.

That little bit of armour and superb traction gave the ability to cross a killing ground rendered impassable by small arms fire.  The most common threat to battle field mobility.  Its not HE or AP, but the humble round of ball ammo will - with minimum orders of fire control - kill you.  

Getting ammo, men, and scrans up the line, and wounded back down.  That must be worth a +1 in any rules.  The British army 'marched' on the humble carrier.

Without it, we are back to the leather personnel carrier.  

Ian makes two historically correct points: First about how sections/platoons and companies are described.  He is also spot on about the PIAT.   A fact not always appreciated by rule writers.  

[xccam]

Whilst Sections may have been numbered I am happier with them lettered to make them more distinct from the German squads in any as yet hypothetical campaign. At the risk of upsetting purists, it works for me.

As for the PIAT, from what I've seen it was up to the company CO to distribute the PIATs an Platoons were as likely as not to have one with them, but I could be wrong. Either way the TooFatLardies have one in every platoon HQ (although this could be to prevent new players instantly losing if an enemy turns up with a single armour asset).

[steve_holmes_11]

Excellent look: do you have a bit of the 1-2-3 basing going on there too?