Sunday, March 08, 2020

Bolt Action 15mm vs Chain of Command.

A few weeks at the club we had been chatting through the idea of using Bolt Action in 15mm, we were fortunate enough to have play tested the first edition years ago but found the ranges to be rather limiting and then along came Chain of Command and Bolt Action passed us by, however the recent games of Warlords of Erehwon and the dice mechanism gave us the nudge to try again.
Apologies if you already played these but I thought I would share a couple of observations.


My own collection of Late War Germans and Russians is a scratch force of heavy armour and regular infantry, perhaps slightly to much for Chain of Command game to put everything on the tablein an evening, which makes Bolt Action a better bet, although the force composition felt a little gamey, ok if you were in tournament play (although I am not a fan of blue on blue games). In club games I would want a little more armour so will probably scrape the force composition to give players a wider choice of units... That should be fine as most club members are definitely not fans of wall to wall Tigers.... or super units designed to sweep all before them.


I liked the fact that you can bring Artillery observers etc on to the table it gave the feeling of a bigger scale and the expanded rules for officers to activate more than one subordinate unit in a coordinated fashion was good although it makes them a target for snipers which felt pretty good as well.


My sniper received a lot of attention after pinning a rifle section, the ranging shot for the arty was enough for me to think about bugging out. The pin markers can be a real nusicence when you fail your command rules.




The mix of arms and armour worked well together, the JS2 should have performed better but got caught in the flank by a dug in AT gun. Not the beast I thought it was and proof that the curse of unpainted armour does not fade with time, I painted this 5 years ago and this was it's first outing.



I liked to the hand to hand combat and assault on buildings the defenders get to fire trying to stop the attack and the loser of the assault is simply taken off the table, it looked better in 15mm where we hand more bodies on the table, it would have felt a little cluttered in 28mm for me. Another plus for switching to 15mm.

I may well invest in a couple of the campaign booklets to give me some expanded late war options the Maus has still yet to get on the table. The scenario's in the book were quite generic, some of the CoC booklets would be an easy conversion.


In summery Bolt Action felt pretty good in 15mm with the ranges unaltered, MMG's kept the Russians at bay until their force of numbers finally overwhelmed the defneders.
A lighter experience than Chain of Command, which still gives a very good historical feel, but you can lose the game before you have started with the deployment phase and CoC dice. Whilst I am sure historically accurate it can make veteran players beat novices very easily due to a deeper understanding of the rules. 

For club nights I shall definitely be trying these again.

13 comments:

  1. I feel Bolt Action gives more of a fun game and as long as you don't go beardy, feels good. CoC I found too samey due to playing down the board rather than acroos it, thereby hindering flanking attacks and, as you say, you can lose the game in the deployment phase.

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    1. Very true Steve.
      Whilst closer to a battle experience it does give a restricted gaming experience, we have had some great moments, lead tank exploding killing the CO stood next to it and the game is over as your force morale crashes to zero. Felt good but in a relaxed club night perhaps something a little less brutal?
      Cheers
      Stu

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  2. Hmmm interesting report Stu. I have played a few games of CoC but never Bolt Action although I have seen it played. It's always seemed to me BA is a game..it seems intended for skirmish level yet you have guns like a 88 on the table firing twenty inches or something....the games I have seen didn't look very realistic . On the other hand, I really like the patrol phase in CoC...I think it's a really clever way to decide start points rather than just having an edge of the table to line up on...

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    1. The 88 thing and rifles only shooting the length of a small field put us off. 15mm does seem to solve that. definitely giving it a couple more outings.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  3. I like both systems. Both have pluses and minuses. You just need accept it. Great game Stu.

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    1. Very true Bart.
      Depends on the type of game and opponent.

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  5. Good looking game Stu!
    Having played both CoC and BA I'd go with CoC everytime.
    Not going into a long spiel (I've seen this debated online multiple times) but for me CoC plays smoothly, has a good feel for small unit tactics and the period...

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    1. Agreed CD, my concern it's perhaps difficult for new players to get an early good experience against a more experienced player who knows the rules, a little like Saga to be far, which perhaps is starting to see players play the rules rather than the scenario....
      Or perhaps I need to find alternative opponents :-)

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    2. Hey Stu,
      I know what you mean in our first play of CoC the advantage of the Patrol Phase won the game for one side.
      If I was introducing this to new players for the first game I'd drop the Patrol Phase and set up balanced jump off points so they can tackle game play then on a second game introduce the Patrol Phase...
      For me CoC is a satisfying (even when I get my arse kicked which is often) experience when I played BA it was a game...
      😀

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  6. Yes it was a fun game, especially as I’ve played games of CoC which were as much fun as having teeth pulled. I’ve bought the US book as it was a bargain £6.

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