@SherryHolmes Reading and writing blocks is possible for the 1200/1500 CPUs but it comes with some limitations. Just read the compatibility link here. For your problem these are the relevant information:
Only global DBs can be accessed.
The optimized block access must be turned off.
The access level must be “full” and the “connection mechanism” must allow GET/PUT.
Do you support reading and writing of DB blocks for s7-1200?Test finds read and write DB block failed
36700160 - CLI : function refused by CPU (Unknown error)