Hi,

I dont know how many of you have seen the info on the forthcomming Too Fat Lardies WW2 Skirmish rules "Chain of Command" but I think they look a bit good 

I ve done a quick overview with a few links to overview videos and podcasts on my blog:

http://wargames.blog.co.uk/2013/05/08/incomming-chain-of-command-too-fat-lardies-15898476/

Definately thinking of trying this is 10mm.......get ready for another order Leon!

Cheers,

Craig
Tiny Terrain Models

Quote from: TinyTerrain on 08 May 2013, 09:42:23 PM
Definately thinking of trying this is 10mm.......get ready for another order Leon!

Sounds interesting Craig so will have plenty of time to chat about this on Sunday.

Very impressed with what I've seen so I've put a report on my Blog:

http://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/chain-of-command.html

I've been watching this one with interest as have club mates as the next set of WW2 Skirmish worth having.

Very impressed with what we have seen so far and personally I'll be looking to use these for 'proper' WW2 skirmish and still using Bolt Action for hollywood-esque type WW2 games.

I'm one of the play-testing group and I can say it's absolutely first class.

Will be running a demonstration of the game at Wappinshaw in Glasgow on June 1st. 

I'm envious Derek!

Hello
May be it's because english is not my native language, but I really don't like videos for new products. ( in our hobby, or even worse for professionals products I have to learn.)
I prefer to read, while drinking coffee/beer, listening to my jazz radio.

Is it just me ? 

Quote from: ronan on 09 May 2013, 09:55:48 PM
Is it just me ? 

Probably.  Most people talking about the videos seem to have liked them and found them useful.

I found the videos really, really useful. I can see how the game plays and whether it is the sort of game I would enjoy playing, which in this case it is. Too often I have bought rulesets that people have raved about, only to be disappointed in them (Force-on-Force a prime example). This way I'm unlikely to shell out my hard earned cash only to regret it later.

I was lucky enough to spend an hour with the Lardies at Salute watching this being and it was brilliant. Ive been looking for a skrimish game for WW2 (I have some nice Artizan US Airborne all painted up) as nothing has really done it for me to date- we bought Rules of Engagement when it first came out, and while its OK its never really grabbed me.

RoE was good, bit after a while a bit too predicatable. I like the friction that their command system generates with this rule set.

A new game played by the Lardie boys today can be found on their Blog:

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=1671&cpage=1#comment-2080

To me this confirms that the rules are really good and can't wait to get my grubby mits on them .

I'm happy this is a written AAR ! 
and a good one.

Quote from: ronan on 09 May 2013, 09:55:48 PM
May be it's because english is not my native language, but I really don't like videos for new products. ( in our hobby, or even worse for professionals products I have to learn.)
I prefer to read, while drinking coffee/beer, listening to my jazz radio.
Is it just me ? 

I got to play at the Lardie Day in Scotland and loved it, another Club member was also wowed and we have both pre-ordered. I have been reading about Normandy recently and was stuck by how few casualties seem to have been incurred prior to a unit halting/retiring compared to games I have played. Even the HJ was, it seems, at about 60% and LAH at 77% in manpower terms after Falaise. Clearly vehicle losses were almost total and replacements had been received, but it set me wondering. And then I read the game report for yesterday with the Germans pulling back defeated but without being devastated and I thought - Eureka, that's it!

I am now eagerly awaiting my copy and dusting off figures for it.

Richard

Looking at the battle reports I think this may be what I was hoping "Crossfire" would be all those years ago.

I love the concept of the pre-game recon.

Ordered the basic, rules only, bundle. Now torn between digging out my 20mm Soviets from whatever cupboard they are lurking in; doing the whole thing in 10mm or using it as an excuse to get a box of 28mm plastics. Decisions, decisions!

Greetings

Quote from: rim66 on 02 August 2013, 10:04:58 AM
I got to play at the Lardie Day in Scotland and loved it, another Club member was also wowed and we have both pre-ordered. I have been reading about Normandy recently and was stuck by how few casualties seem to have been incurred prior to a unit halting/retiring compared to games I have played. Even the HJ was, it seems, at about 60% and LAH at 77% in manpower terms after Falaise. Clearly vehicle losses were almost total and replacements had been received, but it set me wondering. And then I read the game report for yesterday with the Germans pulling back defeated but without being devastated and I thought - Eureka, that's it!

I am now eagerly awaiting my copy and dusting off figures for it.

Richard

While I'm also looking forward to Chain of Command I would caution focussing on divisional losses from Normandy vs losses in the rifle/grenadier companies which were often very high.  Often the grenadier regiments started at 70-80% TO&E (e.g. 9 SS Pz Div).  British rifle platoons habitually operated at low strengths (see 18 Platoon by Jary) and British rifle companies could be reduced to 65 men before an action (e.g. 1 Worcesters at the Seine crossing had all their rifle companies at about this strength.

Regards

Edward

Quote from: kustenjaeger on 02 August 2013, 10:33:07 AM
Greetings

While I'm also looking forward to Chain of Command I would caution focussing on divisional losses from Normandy vs losses in the rifle/grenadier companies which were often very high.  Often the grenadier regiments started at 70-80% TO&E (e.g. 9 SS Pz Div).  British rifle platoons habitually operated at low strengths (see 18 Platoon by Jary) and British rifle companies could be reduced to 65 men before an action (e.g. 1 Worcesters at the Seine crossing had all their rifle companies at about this strength.

Regards

Edward

Indeed, well said Edward.

Richard,
LAH and HJ divisions came out of Normandy as rumps. That is to say they were not totally destroyed as formations, but their combat power was destroyed. The remaining 60-70% in these divisions consisted largely of redundent crew who's weapons or vehicles were lost, admin, supply, communications, mechanical, medical, and command personnel. It was normal for this type of elite division when relieved to have very few infantry remaining.

These formations would be refreshed within a couple of months by allocating fresh men to the teeth arms and training them. This worked well for the Germans within their elite formations as you retain a profesional and veteran cadre but continually supply it with eager and enthusiastic new infantry to use up in the next battle. 1st airborne dropped into the middle of just such a process when they landed on the rumps of 9th and 10th SS and the SS training school at Arnhem. I think Normandy was the 4th "version" of the LAH division and the Ardennes the 5th.

Cheers, Rob 

Absolutely agreed on the combat power - vehicle holdings were virtually nil. Throughout the book, however, it details the losses for the various battles where known and also clears up some of the 'misreporting' by some German formations, where the commander was saying they were down to a weak battalion but the Chief of Staff's figures show much more combat power - this was presumed to be an attempt to get priority for reinforcements or to get the Panzer divisions relieved. But the comparison was against games I have played where forces have to be destroyed, which just doesn't seem to have been the case in many individual engagements - the same units just keep reappearing and so they can't have been THAT devastated or they would have had to be withdrawn for refitting. I didn't explain myself well, but the point was more that being chucked out of a position as the Germans were in the demo but still remaining a coherent force with a resupply and a new NCO seems more realistic.

Richard

I always assume it as not destroying, but making combat inneffective.  A kill isn't necessarily a kill, its a man running away, or a non working main gun.