Cold War Commander v2 - First game and thoughts

Many moons ago (2016), we TWATS, we happy TWATS, we band of sarcastic wargamers, tried to play three modern games in one afternoon, each using a different rule sets. The aim was to compare Team Yankee, Command Decision and Cold War Commander using an identical scenario. Due to time constraints, we only managed Team Yankee and Cold War Commander (and CD was already our go to ruleset for moderns anyway), but Mr Loaf's numerative statement proved accurate, and the group opinion of Cold War Commander was that it was too dice heavy and too gamey. Last year, I picked up a copy of the second edition from the Pendraken stand at the local Border River show, yet it was only last Saturday that we finally got round to giving them a try.

So it was that five of us (almost a full twattery) arrived at our now usual venue with the idea of trying a simple scenario to see how the basics worked. Being in a bar, there was the odd pint of Moretti consumed, as well as the usual excellent beef butties and chips from Ros in the kitchen. Andy and Paul played as the British, whose sole aim was to get to the far end of the table. Steve and Shaun were the opposition, located behind some hills and a small village, and tasked with kicking seven shades out of the British. Note that there was no overall Commanding Officer present on either side (deliberately so), so there was no Hail Mary roll (with attached penalty) for any of the players, although they didn't know this as I forgot to tell them. Oops!

The scenario dictated that the British should go first, so Andy got things started by bringing his Scimitars forward for a recce. Shaun, sensibly thinking that flank shots against the Challenger 1's he knew were coming were the only real option he had, rolled to get this T72's onto the hill. Seven or less, he rolled an 8. The tanks stayed put. The BMP's he controlled were more successful and promptly took to the top of the hill. Steve wanted to get his BMP's closer to the action, and also rolled an 8 when 7 or less was the goal. He did, however, get his infantry sorted with a handy double 1 and moved them into the village. Caution saw him keep his T-72's in reserve. 

The next British phase saw the rest of their forces come on to the table, Paul commanding the Warriors and heavy support platoon. Between the two of them, there wasn't a duff dice roll to be had by Andy or Paul and they swiftly got themselves sorted out. Shaun, on the other hand... His BMP's thought action was needed and took shots at one of the Scimitars (a miss) and an ATGW shot at one of the Charlies. Two hits, two saves. Compounding this lack of effect, the T72's failed their command roll again. Steve switched his problems around this turn, the infantry failing their roll but the BMP's finally entering the town. 

After victualling (thanks again, Ros!), the next British phase saw the Scimitars have at the BMP's on the hill, suppressing them but failing to kill either despite a number of hits. Andy managed to get two of his Challenger's on to said terrain feature and engage a couple of Shaun's T72's, neatly suppressing them but killing nothing. The supporting infantry in their Warriors moved up, whilst the support platoon de-bussed to set up their mortars. Steve, being the sneaky type, decided to bring his BMP's into a nearby "wood". Shaun attempted to respond to the British attacks and spectacularly failed the command rolls again! It really wasn't a great day for these guys, but at least they lost their suppression markers at the end of their active phase.

What ended up being the final phases of the game saw Andy fail to command the Challengers, although he did get his Scimitars out of the way to let the Warriors advance onto the hill. Paul rolled a double six, the resulting blunder seeing the support platoon make a half move towards the enemy. Oh dear. 

In what was a perfect example of how horrid a day Shaun was having, both the T72's and BMP's failed the command rolls (10 and 11 respectively). The final ignominy of the game came from Steve. His BMP's failed their roll, and it was only with the intervention of the umpire (moi) to say that if he moved his tanks forward a bit, he could have a couple of shots at the approaching pair of Challengers. Scoring three and five hits respectively, maybe this reserve tank force could do something worthwhile. As it turned out, Andy's dice rolling saved each and every one of those hits. Other than some scratched paint, no evidence remained of this final attack.

As a test run of this new version of Cold War Commander, the game was considered to be decent enough. Things flowed quite smoothly, and the general consensus was that they are definitely worth another bash. I haven't compared the two editions yet, and time may preclude me from doing so for a while, but our main take from this game was that we now have another moderns ruleset that can come out to play in the future. I'm still not sure on the hits basis for attacks, as actually knocking out the enemy seems rather difficult. It's the opposite issue of Team Yankee (BANG! You're dead!). Another couple of playthroughs are needed and then we may give consideration of tinkering with the processes. As for the ruleset itself, it's a good quality book with plenty of pictures for those who like such things and a handy range of worked examples of the main mechanics. Army lists for the British, Soviets and Americans are included, with others available via the Pendraken Forum. You'll also find a Quick Reference Sheet and optional rules here as well. 

If Cold War Commander interests you, check out the Pendraken website here where you can pick up a copy as well as view their range of 10mm moderns. We used Andy's 15mm collection for this game and the rules do adapt to scales rather well. Check out the Old Glory website here for their 15mm Command Decision range.