3. Units Defined
Chain of Command is played with various unit types:
Infantry, Support Units and Vehicles.
3.1 Leaders
Leaders are ranked as either Junior or Senior. A Junior
Leader is normally a Section, Squad or Team leader,
typically a Corporal or Sergeant. Their influence is
restricted to the Unit they command. Junior Leaders
cannot influence or activate other Units.
Senior Leaders are the Platoon officers or senior Platoon
NCOs. Their rank allows them to issue orders to any
units in their platoon or support unit accompanying it.
However, Armoured Fighting Vehicles only ever take
orders from their own Leaders.
We recommend that Leaders are based differently to the
other figures so they are easily identifiable during play.
3.2 Infantry Units
The term Infantry Unit applies to units in the core
platoon and attached Teams and Sections that operate
on foot and are armed with man-portable small arms up
to medium machine guns. These could be Section AntiTank weapons, flamethrowers or light mortars. A Unit
can be a single Team or a Section comprising of multiple
Teams.
Typically, each Section or Squad will be commanded by
a junior NCO and made up of a light machine gun Team
and a rifle Team. However, this varies depending on how
Units are organised and equipped and on the structures
used historically.
Section, Squad, Gruppe; in WWII, various terms
were used to describe such a Unit depending on the
nationality. For the sake of consistency, we use the term
Section throughout the rules. Where a Section is not
broken down into two or more Teams, it always operates
as a Section; never a Team.
Infantry Sections
A platoon is normally made up of three Sections commanded by an officer who is supported by a senior NCO. It can
have some light support weapons attached, such as an Anti-Tank Team or a light mortar Team.
Infantry Teams
Teams are the smallest Unit represented in Chain of Command. These can be weapons Teams, such as those attached
to the platoon, Scout Teams temporarily detached from their Section, or vehicle crews created by the player.
A Scout Team is made up of two or three figures who are detached from a Section. They are armed with the Sections
main weapon type, typically rifle or SMG, and may never include an LMG. Scout Teams are detached temporarily and
automatically rejoin their parent Unit if they return to within 4” of it.
A Vehicle crew could be a single figure acting as driver, or an LMG Team left on board to man their weapon. See Section
7.6.3, Uncommanded Positions.
Unit Integrity
The physical positioning of our models in relation to both friends and enemies is important. For a model soldier to be
part of a Unit, be that a Section or Team, they must be within 4” of at least one other figure in that Unit.
A figure, or group of figures, that is more than 4” from the rest of their Unit becomes a separate Team. This can happen
when these soldiers move away from their Unit or if intervening soldiers become casualties. When these Teams move
back to within 4” of each other, they automatically become one Unit again.
Attaching Leaders
A Leader within 4” of a Section is attached to the Section as a whole, not to one particular Team. Junior Leaders are
permanently attached to the Unit they are part of and must remain with it at all times. If Teams detach from the Unit
to operate independently, the Leader must remain with one Team.
Senior Leaders begin the game independent of any Unit. Senior Leaders are automatically attached to any unbroken
Unit that is within 4” of them. If more than one Unit is within 4”, they are attached to all of those Units.
A Senior Leader can detach from a Unit simply by moving more than 4” away from it or remaining stationary when the
Unit moves.
If a Senior Leader is attached to a single Unit that breaks, they will retire with that Unit or leave the table with it when
the Turn ends. If they are with multiple Units and one breaks or leaves the table, they may choose to stay with the
other unbroken Units. A Senior Leader may detach from a broken Unit by moving more than 4” away from it.
3.3 Support Units
Support Units are all non-vehicle Units added to the force for the duration of the game. These Units are generally
equipped with heavier weapons, such as anti-tank guns or infantry guns.
Support Units are trained to operate the weapon they crew. Support Units cannot be reinforced by figures from
other Units. Likewise, figures from Support Units cannot be transferred to other Units, even if their weapon has been
destroyed.
Support Units will be removed from the table when every Team member is killed, when their weapon is destroyed,
when they leave the table due to Breaking or when retiring due to the result of Close Combat.
3.4 Vehicles
Vehicles range from the smallest car to the largest tank. They are divided into three categories: Transports, Armoured
Personnel Carriers and Armoured Fighting Vehicles.
3.4.1 Transports
Transports are used solely to move troops. They are not equipped with weapons,
but their passengers may mount a light machine gun if an LMG Team is on
board. These include motorcycles, cars, lorries and trucks.
Whilst impossible to list every Transport vehicle of WWII, a guide is that
a single car, Jeep or small truck, such as the Dodge ½ ton, can carry a
Team. Most lorries or trucks, such as the Dodge 1.5 ton, British 15cwt
lorry or Opel Blitz, can carry a full Section.
A Transport vehicle normally has one crew position, the
driver, who is one figure from the passenger Unit. Where
an LMG is mounted, this can be activated as a second crew
position. Other than a mounted LMG, infantry Units cannot
fire from Transport vehicles.
3.4.2 . Armoured Personnel Carriers
Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) are allocated to a Team or Section, depending on their capacity. One Senior Leader
can additionally be on board. They are armoured and can have some kind of armament; usually machine guns. They
include the M3 and M5 halftracks, RAM Kangaroo and SdKfz 251 Schützenpanzerwagen. They are selected as Support
options rather than being part of the core platoon.
An Armoured Personnel Carrier has the following Crew Positions which are normally manned by figures from the
passenger Unit.
The Driver: When activated, the driver moves the APC.
The Primary Machine Gun: The forward firing machine gun permanently mounted on the carrier is crewed by the LMG
Team from the passenger Unit. In some vehicles, it can be in a turret or armoured firing position. Where a Unit has a
second LMG Team, they may crew a second machine gun position where one is present.
3.4.3 Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) can be wheeled, tracked or half-tracked. AFVs always have one or more weapons.
They include tanks, self-propelled guns and armoured cars.
AFVs are commanded by a Junior Leader. Where more than one AFV of the same type is present and both have radios,
a Senior Leader can be selected as a Support choice to command one of them.
Crew Positions in an Armoured Fighting Vehicle will depend on the specific vehicle, but will have some, or all, of the
following.
The Driver: When activated, the driver moves the AFV.
The Main Gunner: The Main Gunner controls the vehicle’s main gun and any co-axial machine gun. When activated,
they can fire one of those weapons. Both weapons can never be fired in the same Phase
The Hull Machine Gunner: When activated, the Hull Machine gunner can fire their weapon.
3.4.3.1 Flat-Bed Platform
Some Transports have support weapons mounted on flat beds,
usually to their rear. These are noted with the term "Flat-bed” in
the National Arsenals. A Flat-bed vehicle has two Crew Positions:
the driver, and the mounted weapon. Any attached Junior
Leader is with the weapon Team. Flat-bed vehicles with
mounted weapons are a hybrid in that they are activated as
AFVs, but take damage as soft-skin Transports. The weapon can
continue to function even when the vehicle is knocked out.
3.5 Vehicle Traits
The following vehicle traits cover AFVs throughout the
war.
Heavy Armour
An AFV has good all‐round protection. When rolling to
penetrate its armour in Step Three of Section 16.1, Firing
Procedure, it treats hits on the side armour as though on
its frontal armour, needing 5 or 6 to penetrate. Against
its rear armour they will require 4 to 6 to penetrate.
Frontal Armour
Whilst the AFV’s front armour is strong, its side armour
has been kept weaker to reduce weight. AFVs with
Frontal Amour treat any hits on their side armour as rear
armour.
Heavy Gun
An AFV with a Heavy Gun requires the gunner to be
activated for one full Phase to reload between each
round fired.
No Radio
AFVs without radios can never issue or receive commands
by radio as outlined in Section 7.6.4, Command by Radio.
All such vehicles activate individually and can never have
a Senior Leader commanding them.
One-Man Turrets
Vehicles with turrets that house only one crew relied on
the tank commander to not only direct the actions of the
vehicle but also to serve as gunner and loader. For some
light vehicles, such as those armed with a single machine
gun or self-loading cannon, this was not a problem.
However, for vehicles with a gun capable of firing H.E.
and A.P. shells the commander was severely over-"
and this affected the performance of the entire crew.
When firing the main gun, the Leader is unable to issue
any other Orders, nor are they able to rally Shock from
the crew. However, while the Leader is serving the main
gun in such a manner, the driver and any secondary crew
position can still be activated as a Crew Position.
Open Body
A vehicle with an open body is more at risk from grenades
and mortars.
Flat-Bed
A vehicle with a Flat-bed has an open weapons platform,
usually to the rear.
Unreliable Vehicles
Unreliable vehicles are either those with particular
design faults or those which are simply old or in poor
running order. Unreliable Vehicles will break down
if they roll two or more 1’s when moving. The vehicle
cannot move for the rest of the game, but the crew can
still rotate the turret, if present, and use any weapons.
Any Shock subsequently suffered is doubled.
Smoke
Once during the game, Leaders commanding vehicles
with smoke projectors can use one Order to deploy
smoke. See Section 15.3, Vehicles Deploying Smoke.
Low Profile
Low Profile AFVs are harder to hit due to their low
silhouette. They always measure Line of Sight from
ground level.
Small
Small vehicles are harder to hit due to their diminutive
size