Command Groups were originally led by officer figures but these simply got in the way of a quick game. With a ground scale of 1” equalling 50 yards and one unit being a platoon, officers wouldn’t even be noticeable. Now, getting disordered disrupts your command structure without a need to track officer casualties; you now nominate one unit as your commander and measure the command radius from that unit to the other units you want to include. Rallying is the same. Just think of the officers being present with the platoons.
Similarly, Forward Observers were removed. As army commander I expect my troops to be constantly requesting artillery strikes once the fighting starts. It’s my job to decide which requests I respond to. As long as a unit can see a target, it may be used as a Forward Observer for a mortar or off-table artillery battery. It also makes reconnaissance units more useful as they can call artillery onto enemy positions.
As my starting point, I took an Italian Wars game I was working on. It used Command Dice to issue orders to Condottieri captains who led Command Groups of 3–6 units. Each Command Group was activated using a Command Dice. Once activated, units could move, fire and melee or they could be rallied.
Morale checks were built into the combat mechanics. If your opponent hit you for six (rolled 6s) and you didn’t roll an equal or greater number of 6s with your Reaction Dice, your unit was disordered and pushed back. Disordered units suffered combat modifiers, and couldn’t be ordered as part of a Command Group. For World War Two, I added Staff Orders; staff officers are responsible for calling artillery and smoke missions, and issuing orders. Staff Orders could be restocked at the cost of two Command Dice per Staff Order.
