With Chain of Command 2 in full swing around here Ben and I have embarked on our 2026 Adepticon project, the Battle of Hannut which occurred in May 1940. To properly play scenarios for Hannut I’ve found myself needing to expand my French Force to be appropriate for the 3e Division Légère Mécanique (DLM) or Light Mechanized Division. The Chain of Command Blitzkrieg 1940 has a platoon and support list for the Dragon Portés (motorized infantry) of the DLMs but it is an all purpose list meant to represent any of the three active DLMs during the campaign. However, I found in my reading that the 3e DLM actually had some organizational differences to its senior counterparts and I feel compelled to tweak the list and make it more specific for the Battle of Hannut.

In the following articles we’re going to take a look at the 3e DLM at the level we need to for Chain of Command, and talk through adding and removing support list items as needed to achieve what I believe is a more specifically tailored platoon listing. So without further ado… allons-y!

Historical Background

Now perhaps you’re reading and you’re not even really sure what a French Division Légère Mécanique (DLM) is/was. In the mid 1930s, as nations rushed to add armored components to their armies the French had a curious two-prong development for armor. Tanks (Chars) were under the direct purview of the army in the French military organization. Most of the French armor was dedicated to being deployed alongside infantry armies as a support item rather than in a large concentration like the German Panzer Divisions (for example). Interestingly to me, this combined arms idea was somewhat closer to how most major nations deployed armor later in the war. Regardless with the infantry controlling tanks, the cavalry was left in the cold, their horse mounts being all but obsolete by now. Thus was born the idea of the Light Mechanized Division or Division Légère Mécanique (DLM). Importantly the term “light” here is not used in the sense of being lightly armed, in fact these would end up being some of France’s most powerful units in 1940. The concept of a Light Division is that of one from a previous century which is a unit that can move at speed and engage the enemy with skirmishing ahead of the main force. With this the French Cavalry could maintain their traditional cavalry role while modernizing the equipment.

Disallowed “tanks” the Cavalry simply labeled all their equipment in a confusing mix of acronyms to obfuscate that they were uh… tanks. The early half tracks and then tanks were labeled “Automitrailleuse de combat” (AMC) or roughly Armored Fighting Vehicles. The tankettes and armored cars labeled “Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance” (AMR) or Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD). The exception to this workaround was the Hotchkiss H35 (later also H39) “cavalry” tank. It was rejected by the infantry and ended up with the cavalry instead. So in the end the cavalry got their tanks, even if they weren’t strictly called tanks…except when they were.

The First (1er) DLM was organized in 1935, with the second (2e) following in 1937. However due to delays in equipment delivery the 3rd (3e) DLM wasn’t organized (and hastily it was at that) until February of 1940. While the 1st and 2nd DLMs had years of training to rely on the 3rd was a rather green unit still, though a good number of the cavalrymen themselves were not necessarily green. Like much of the French military the unit was filled out with reservists.

Dragon Portés in Chain of Command

So let’s start by looking at the published entry for the Dragon Portés in Chain of Command. This force is rated at Regular. I think this is fair for the 3e DLM still, despite being a newer unit they still made a solid showing at Hannut and nothing in my reading seems to infer they were plagued by your common issues for truly green troops. The Force Rating is +3 and they have 5 Command Dice.

Platoon Headquarters

The HQ for the Dragon Portés consists of two Senior Leaders, one with a pistol and one with a SMG. Unlike make French units in the book this unit is not hindered with an Inferior Senior Leader.

V-B Team

Next is the V-B Team with a Junior Leader and three rifle grenadiers, all with rifles with V-B launchers. What’s a V-B launcher you ask? The Viven-Bessières rifle grenade was a First World War era 50mm rifle grenade which was still in widespread use. It consisted of a discharger cup which was attached to the end of a rifle allowing it to fire a small grenade. As a fun fact the USA also adopted it in the First World War and it was still in limited use by 1942, seeing use by the USMC on Guadalcanal. 

Technically the launchers were assigned to each Groupe de Combat (squad) but usually they were grouped and operated as their own small unit. To reflect this in Chain of Command the launchers start as a unit but the player is allowed to return the launcher men to their groups either before the game for free or during the game for one Command Initiative, though this does allow them return instantly. The Corporal Junior Leader leading the V-B team is then removed from play.

The launchers come with limited ammo of four shots per man, though you can take more (upgrade to unlimited) ammo as a support choice for one Support Point per man (arming the whole team would cost you four support points) In Chain of Command they are Firepower 2 with a range of 18-60”. Line of Sight counts as effective range and the launchers have half firepower dice the first fire. The launchers also reduce cover by one level. 

Chain of Command 2 sees the addition of the Storm of Steel (exploding 6s) bonus for many HE weapons including 50mm mortars and Rifle Grenades. With this in mind we’re opting to grant the V-B launcher Storm of Steel in our games!

Groupe De Combat 1-3

The standard infantry squad of the Dragon Portés (DP) is somewhat different from the normal French infantry squads. First and foremost each one boasts an extra FM24/29 LMG, as the DP regiments had not only more of these, but also more Hotchkiss MMGs than normal units as well! Yet perhaps the more impactful difference for Chain of Command is that the Group acts as a single section, not a pair of constituent teams. (If you’re a Soviet player you may find this sounding familiar) The Group De Combat consists of a Junior Leader with a rifle, two 24/29 LMG with two crew, and four riflemen. Despite the lack of organizational flexibility the unit packs a punch as it puts out a whopping 10 Firepower dice. As long as the unit can put out at least 6 Firepower dice they will also be laying down a nice wide 9″ frontage for Suppressing Fire as well.

Support List Options

The Dragon Portés can draw support from either the DLM list or the Division Légère de Cavalerie list in the Blitzkrieg 1940 handbook. Here is where we will diverge from the lists in the book and begin crafting a list specifically for the 3rd DLM at Hannut. This article is already running longer than I planned though, so we’ll stop here for today and I’ll be back with Part 2 where we walk through what makes sense for that list. Until then, au revoir mes amis!