The Easter game at the bunker became a Western Front ww2 action with Test of Battle (the artist formerly known as 'Command Decision').
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| The town at table centre - which probably should have seen the main attack vector centred upon it, buuut we're far too smart for that right? We probe the flanks instead...hmmm |
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| The US drive on their right flank |
These rules are very well known, and very well respected, and some of the guys are very familiar with them. There are complexities and as Steve says : 'lots of moving parts'. All good, and probably quite representative of ww2 (albeit for tank MGs :O ), but we did find a few things a little clunky.
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| 'Not' an inflatable Sherman |
Having said that, a great game, and one which would benefit from us repeating with different battles via multiple games. The scenario was fairly generic, with multiple US Armor / Armored Inf battalions assaulting German held positions on the 'Westwall'; anti-tank ditches, the odd spot of German armour, and attempted US flanking moves would be the order of the day.
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| The US right, where an attack would build, despite many of the German positions actually being held by 'Phantom' units |
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| The centre - axis of potential advance would be along the road spine...although the US opted not to use this axis |
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| German defenders in the town |
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| German defenders at the rail-head |
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| American advances in the centre with attached armour elements |
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| ...aaand on the right flank, where the bulk of the armour would congregate...since German ATGs were in the centre...right? wrong. |
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| The supposed German PAK front was actually held by 'phantom' units |
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| Major drive on the US right was halted |
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| On the left, and infantry assault on the hill is tymied, in the centre - the US are held off by fear of what are essentially 'phantom' units - later recognised by Recon jeeps, and on the right - the advance is slowed then halted by German fire |
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| A few wee markers |
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| Some IVs made an appearance and did some damage |
All in all, a great game, though with lots of 'moving parts'. There is also talk of
Modern Spearhead making a re-appearance soon...
I used to enjoy the pure cerebral experience of CD, but was always frustrated at all the different assets available to a battalion in bigger games. Despite best efforts, play was always s-l-o-o-w. I often wondered if it was possible to cut it down to the essential good bits, something that others also toyed with, which became the quest for CD-Lite as it became known on the CDMailer list......
ReplyDeleteTime moved on. I now look on it with something akin to nostalgia. Not sure if it is the sort of game I want to play? Still toy with using it for 15mm desert.....maybe one day?
In the meantime, my horizons are more operational in scale...
Neil
Thanks Neil. Yep, that pretty much sums up our conclusions. The guys alluded to the following: every system 'works' - from the stats to the combat, from the orders to the artillery; from the movement systems to the organisations and cross attachment. However, put it all together and there are many, MANY moving parts. As one player outlined; that's not a bad thing, though you need to be playing it once a month at least, to ultimately appreciate its nuances.
DeleteTable looks great with lots of room to maneuver. Is Test of Battle a remake of Command Decision?
ReplyDeleteJonathan, yes, or if you will, the last in the evolving rules. Very good set.
DeleteYep. I'm no CD expert, but folklore tells of terrible CD 3 etc. I still have the CD2 box. There is a lot of beautiful GDW goodness across the sets, and granted, our game was fiddly; but there is still a lot to love.
DeleteI still have a soft spot for CD in its various iterations, although as you say, there is a lot going on and the rules continue to be arranged in an almost deliberately obtuse manner. I found re writing them as QRS helped. I actually converted that Westwall scenario I to our usual brigade level set, and in the course of research discovered that in the real battle, the SS were supported not by a company of Pz IV but a platoon of Tiger IIs from the 506th. I guess the designer changed it to avoid the distraction.
ReplyDeleteAye - well spotted Martin, and good point. Your brigade level set still is in my head re. A Market Garden game - I just need to get the others on board ;)
Deletestill a good set of rules, have played it forever in 20mm
ReplyDelete20mm is actually my go-to, and has been with Rapid Fire and FoB ww2. Now we used superb 10mm here, but ToB definitely works across multiple scales too. I guess 20mm was always the 'true' CD scale back in the the day - it's certainly my favourite scale.
DeleteJust last week found the second half of the rulebook in my storage. This summer, I will be using it a lot, in 20mm and 15mm.
ReplyDeleteAye, there is a nice set of rules in there that covers everything. I've tried CD and ToB before, but it's a set that needs continual practice I think; otherwise, you are re-learning a set of rules every time. Aside from that, ALL the data is there.
DeleteExcellent pics. I do like CD (hard to believe I first started with the system back in 1986 !!) especially this more streamlined TOB version but it does get bit bogged down at times due to sheer amount of options/choices (maybe it just an old age issue ?). The Tank HE/MGs seemed a bit powerful and just glad your Sherman fleet never had visible targets to unleash upon ! Was not a fan in concept of the Phantom Stands but they certainly worked on this occasion.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks. It's a set we need to play once a month I would say, to get full enjoyment from it. Definitely worth considering again.
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