Force on Force WW2 tank stats

Here are the "final" vehicle and gun statistics for Force on Force Western Normandy WW2 vehicles. I have added some of the other tanks more likely to be seen on the eastern flank for comparison (white background).  I decided to not make the vehicle stats compatible with the modern tanks in the Force on Force rulebook so we have a wider range of vehicle armour and weapon penetration.

See other rule modifications here: https://bigfof.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/force-on-force-ww2-modifications.html

There do not seem to have been m/any German half-track Sd.Kfz 250/251 in the Cotentin, I left them in as we probably have the models, and the 17th SS had half-track mounted units.

Vehicle Notes
No Turret -2drm on Reaction Tests out of Front Arc
Slow Turret -1drm on Reaction Tests out of Turret Front Arc
1-Man Turret  -1drm on Reaction Tests and Spot TQ check
Slow Turret + Pivot Turn -1drm on Reaction Tests out of Turret Front Arc, unless tank hull turns as well.  Make a TQ on a 4+ apply no modifier, on a result of 1 the tank is immobilised.  For example the Panther had a slow turret, but it had the ability to Pivot turn.  So, the slow turret can be overcome by moving the hull.  Though, doing a stationary pivot held risk of losing a track or damaging the transmission. 
AP4/AT1L or AP3 or - roll a D6 on a 1-3 No MG, on a 4-5  AP3 on a 6 an AP4/AT1
Confidence Low Confidence and Confident crews must make a Bail Out Check on any anti-tank hit on the vehicle.  The check is made after any base effect.  If the base effect includes a Bail Out check then ignore the extra bail out check.  A crew may only remount its vehicle if the threat that caused the bail out is no longer in LOS of the crew AND the vehicle.
Assault, attacks DA on TQ Infantry armed with Gammon bomb may roll a TQ during an assault and attack the vehicles Deck Armour (or crew if open topped with an AP4) with an AT2L
Wet Stowage +1 die shift on crew survival rolls

Force on Force WW2 modifications

Further rules for the Force on Force WW2 campaign.  This is a work in progress with many points for discussion amongst the group.  Also includes stats for the units involved (all up for discussion).

DISCUSSION OUTCOMES IN RED

See the earlier post for details on the campaign: https://bigfof.blogspot.com.au/2016/11/the-company.html

All distances are doubled at 28mm, so 6” = 12”

Though vehicles will generally be rare in our games they will appear.  Specific rules for these vehicles adds interesting aspects to the game.

Vehicle Smoke Dischargers

A target vehicle equipped with Smoke dischargers may attempt to pop smoke.  Smoke is only effective for attacks originating in the front arc of the vehicles turret (exception: Panther VG, Tiger VIE and King Tiger, which have directional Smoke Mortars, so can drop smoke in any direction).  Before the Reaction Test is made the reacting player declares his vehicle will attempt to Pop Smoke.  Make a TQ, on a 4+ the vehicle has popped effective smoke.  If the reacting player wins the reaction test then the vehicle will benefit from the Smoke during Round of Fire.  If the player rolls a 1 on the TQ the tank has depleted its smoke.

A vehicle smoke screen blocks LOS until the end of the turn.  Place a 6” smoke screen 6” from the vehicle in its turrets front arc.

The following tanks have Smoke Dischargers

German: PzKpfw III, PzKpfw IV⁽¹⁾, PzKpfw V⁽¹⁾, PzKpfw VI⁽¹⁾, StuG IIIG⁽¹⁾, StuH42

British: Cromwell⁽²⁾, Churchill⁽²⁾, Tetrarch⁽³⁾

US: M4A1⁽⁴⁾, M4(105)⁽²⁾, M4A2(L)⁽⁵⁾, M4A1(76)⁽⁵⁾

1: From July 1944 the Pzkpfw IV, V, VI and the StuG IIIG have a +1drm on the Smoke Discharger TQ.  StuG stopped having Smoke Dischargers quite early, so these may have a very small chance of being present.

2: M4(105), Churchill and Cromwell have a +1drm on Smoke Discharger TQ

3: Tetrarch has a -1drm on Smoke Discharger TQ

4: M4A1 has a -2drm on Smoke Discharger TQ

5: From July 1944 the M4A2 and M4A1(76) has a +1 on Smoke Discharger TQ

Smoke Ammunition

A tank may fire a Smoke round on a TQ.  The following tanks carry Smoke rounds:

               German: PzKpfw IV, StuG IIIG, StuHIV, Marder I, Marder II

               US: All Sherman, M8 Scott HMC, M7 Priest HMC, M10 TD*

                              *M10 TD have a -1 on Smoke TQ.

               British: Cromwell IV, Churchill IV, Bishop

A smoke round creates a 4” smoke screen that blocks LOS.  It lasts until the beginning of the placing players next turn.

White Phosphorus Ordnance shells

The Cromwell IV, M8 HMC, M7 HMC and all Sherman’s may use WP on a TQ.

White Phosphorus ordnance shells create a 4” (6” for 105mm) wide LOS blocking smoke screen.  The smoke dissipates at the start of the placing players next turn. 

WP vs. vehicles are counted as WP1, the target only receives one armour dice in defense.  All other modifiers are as normal.  If a WP ordnance successfully hits the vehicle the Smoke screen will “stick” to the target on a D6 4+.  The target vehicle has a +2 Defense and a -2 Attack modifier.  The vehicle must also pass a Morale Check or bail out. 

If the WP round is fired into a building containing infantry the infantry must pass a Morale Check or immediately move out of the building.  If a WP round is fired at a structure containing flammable material or at crops, hedge or trees roll a D6, on a 4+ the area catches fire.  A burning building must be exited at the next opportunity.  When infantry within 3” of a WP hit are attacked with a 3D attack.

WW2 Bailing Out

Crews were more prone to bail out of their tanks in WW2. Therefore any damage result on a tank, other than “Suppressed”, the crew must roll a Bail Out TQ.  If the crew fails the test it bails out.  This makes vehicles less dominating in our games.

The crew on its next activation may roll a Morale Check to remount vehicle.

An alternative rule which includes the option to pull back:

Vehicle suffers a hit and any result other than “Suppressed”, apply normal result and then roll a TQ

 PASS: No further effect

 FAIL: If the vehicle is mobile perform Pullback, if unable or would rather not, roll a second TQ: 

  PASS: No further effect

  FAIL: Bail Out

Which do you prefer?  And should we make vehicles also check for bail out on any damage result, including Suppressed?

EDIT 6/12/16: We discussed and decided we would use the "Pullback OR Bail Out" option.  Need to decide now if this happens on any successful hit or just on non-Suppression results?
EDIT 10/12/16: Any vehicle with Low Confidence or Confident will Pull back OR Bail Out on any hit.

Offboard Support Units

Due to the very small size of the battle area in 28mm (or 15mm depending on the mission) games a player may choose for snipers, Forward Observers, Vehicles, Guns, Medium Support and Heavy Support to be setup offboard.  Offboard units cannot be targeted while moving.  Offboard units may not enter the playing area but may move along the edge.  Offboard units need LOS and need to successfully pass a Spotting TQ each time they attempt to target onboard units (and vice versa for onboard units vs. offboard units).  Offboard units can be setup in Overwatch.

Each time an offboard unit moves it may roll a D6 to find out how high many inches high the units location is relative to the board edge, leave the D6 in place as a reminder, when checking LOS measure from a location above the edge equivalent to the height.

A mission may modify the maximum height of an offboard unit.  The map location in the campaign also modifies offboard units.  Dense Bocage and major towns have a -1drm on Spotting TQ.

Preparatory Bombardment

Due to the close in nature of Force on Force artillery is of minimal use.  Single artillery pieces may support an attack from offboard (like a single offboard tank, AT gun, howitzer).  Due to the small area and short time there is no realistic way to call in artillery.  But, the Preparatory Bombardment is still a good option.  If the attacker has artillery available (from the campaign map) they can pepper the area before entering.  Rules to come.

Interdiction Artillery

The defender may call on artillery to interdict and incoming attack.  If the mission includes artillery support the defender may interdict a number of units as they are about to enter the playing area.  Rules to come.

Preparatory Smoke Screen

In the area where the campaign was fought smoke screens were used, but generally seem to be late or poorly implemented.  We can add this as an attackers option, with only a small chance of success.  Rules to come.

Flanking

The attack may attempt to flank the enemy position and attack from one of the flanks.  We had rules for this in the Malikastan campaign, so may reinvigorate those.

German Counter-attack

One aspect of German forces in WW2 was its near clockwork reaction to enemy gains, the immediate counter-attack.  How do we play this?  Keep it to the campaign map, or give the German player a counter-attack reserve.  I think this will add to the game.  So, maybe a quick barrage followed by a last minute counter-attack adding two turns to the game (if time permits?)?

EDIT 6/12/16: We discussed and decided we would use a card system.  So say the German player is losing on the second to last turn, he can pull two cards from the Counter-Attack deck.  These will have some unit or support, for example, a squad, a vehicle or offboard support.  The player has two turns to benefit from the reinforcement.

The rule may be, on the 3rd to last turn the German player can randomly select one reinforcement card OR on the 2nd to last turn draw 2 cards OR on the last turn draw 3 cards.

WW2 Small Arms

An important rule to remember in WW2 games is the OUTGUNNED rule on page 43 of the FOF rulebook.  This rule covers self-loading rifles, auto-rifles and bolt-action rifles.  Though, I think the British SMLE probably outguns the KAR 98K, what do you think?  Check the many Youtube videos on the SMLE Mad Minute …

Alternatively, studies showed that only 15-20% fired at the enemy in WW2.  Maybe 1 dice per THREE? 

The definitions on Force on Force page 37 and 38 imply:

Light Support: M1918BAR, BREN, Rifle Grenades, MG38 magazine

Medium Support: MG42, M1919A4, MG38 belt, British 51mm Mortar*

Heavy Support: MG42 tripod, M2 HMG, German and US/German light mortars

The British 51mm Mortar can use direct fire.

The British PIAT can fire from within buildings.

Hollow-charge weapons may be used against targets in buildings and vehicles:

Light Support: Anti-tank Rifle Grenade

Medium Support: Panzerfaust

Heavy Support: PIAT, Bazooka and Panzerschreck

General squads

The following is the general division of squads.  An interesting difference between the Allieds and the Germans is the positioning of the squad leader.  In the British Sections and US Squads the squad leader is in the maneuver or assault team.  The German’s have the squad leader in the Fire base team.  I wonder if we should try simulate this effect?  Maybe giving a +1 on the Reaction Checks for Squad Leaders?

The US Paratroopers squad is divided into two teams:

[Squad Leader + 6 Rifleman + 1 RifleGrenadier]

[Assistant Squad Leader + M1918BAR/M1919A4+ + 2 Assistants/Rifleman]

The Germans generally:

[Squad Leader + 1 MG42/MG38 + 2 Assistants/Rifleman]

[Assistant Squad Leader + 2-3 Rifleman + 1 Rifle Grenadier +1 Rifle/PanzerFaust]

British:

[Squad Leader + 5 Rifleman]

[Assistant Squad Leader + 1 BREN + 2 Assistants/Rifleman]

EDIT 6/12/16: We decided to go with the new rule that all Squad Leaders impart a +1 Reaction DRM to any reaction.  This will allow us to simulate that the Allied squad leader was in the maneuver or assault team compared to the German gruppe leader who is in the fire support team.

Campaign Progression – Squad Improvement

After each battle select one squad and roll an improvement 2D6:

2: Squad Morale permanently shifted up one

3: Troop Quality permanently shifted up one

4: Initiative permanently shifted up one

5: Unit gains bonus, D6

               1: +1D on all attacks vs. vehicles

               2: +1 on all Spotting Tests

               3: +1D on all Defense Rolls

               4: +1D on Close Combat Attack Rolls

               5: +1 on all Reaction rolls

               6: Designate one soldier as a marksman.

6-12 Nothing

Each squad may have only one improved skill, if a new one is rolled replace the last one.

THE UNITS IN PLAY

US Parachute Infantry Regiment & other parachute units of the 82^nd Airborne

INITIATIVE D10

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D10

US Glider Infantry Regiment (325^th GIR)

INITIATIVE D8

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D10

The glider troops are regular infantry.  Regular infantry have a initiative of 8.

746^th Tank Battalion

Equipped with M4A1 Sherman’s (and M5A1? And M8 Greyhound?)

INITIATIVE D8

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D8

889^th Tank Destroyer Battalion

Equipped with M10s, experienced (Tunisia and Italy).  Landed on D-Day, by D+1 some of the tank destroyers reached Chef-du-Pont passing through Forges.  They had liaison personnel in arrive on D-Day with the 82^nd glider landing.  Any M10’s in the mission will originate from this unit.

INITIATIVE D10?

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D10

The 91. Luftlande-Infanterie-Division

INITIATIVE D8

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D8 or D10

The German 91^st Airlanding Infantry Division was stationed in the centre of the Cotentin Peninsula.  The division was formed as an air transportable infantry division in January 1944.  The division had no combat experience but was fairly well trained.  The commander of the division was killed a few hours after the 82^nd Airborne landed.  The decapitation of the division resulted in a few hours of indecision that greatly benefited the US Airborne in obtaining their objectives.  In the campaign we will keep the commander alive, giving the division a quicker reaction time, therefore you will likely see the counter-attack occurring a few hours earlier than it did occur. The D8 morale?  I am in two minds about this, they died in their droves attacking, maybe D10.

241 and 709 Infanterie Division

These to “stationary” divisions added armour to the 91 Luftlande Division attack on St Mere Eglise on June 7^th.  These two divisions are second rate, too old, too young, the lame and POW convinced to fight for the Nazi (instead of dying of starvation).

INITIATIVE D6

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D8

The armour seconded to the 91^st Luftlande were vehicles from the 241ID which had StuG IIIG (Panzerjaeger Abteilung 243) and the 709 ID which had Marder I and Marder IIIM (Panzerjaeger Abteilung 709)

INITIATIVE D8

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D8

OST TRUPPEN in Georgians (Ost Battalion 975 and 797) and Russians (Ost Battalion 653)

INITIATIVE D6

TROOP QUALITY D8 (drops to D6 at 50% strength remaining OR Platoon Leader SW/KIA)

MORALE D8 (drops to D6 at 50% strength remaining OR Platoon Leader SW/KIA)

Rule for consideration: Maximum of one activation per turn.

These Russian and Georgian ex-POW troops appear to have initially put up a fair fight and then suddenly capitulated.  The units had German leaders, but due to communication and the will of units the initiative is dropped to D6.

Therefore, I have given them TQ8 and MOR8, though this permanently suffers a die-shift when they get to half-strength or their platoon leader is seriously wounded or dies.  The Ost Truppen are holding ground around St Mere-Eglise and south and east of St Mere-Eglise.

Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6 (6th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment)

INITIATIVE D10

TROOP QUALITY D8

MORALE D10

A well trained parachute regiment with a core cadre of combat experienced NCOs.  The 6^th FJ was attached to the 91^st Luftlande Division.  We could drop the Initiative to D8.  Why?  Partly due to circumstance, the regiment performed poorly on the attack, though that seems to mainly be to the regimental commander himself, poor communications, lack of ammunition and poor reaction due to the disruption by the scattered US paratroops. Once linked to the 17^th SS Division they did put up a hard fight. But, maybe this was due to the SS arresting and threatening to shoot the FJ commander.  One battalion was lost early, it is difficult to figure out why this battalion “vanished”.  Maybe they were in range of the ships.  We may change reality a bit with more of the FJ meeting up with the 82^nd Airborne. So, instead of holding the Carentan Front with all three battalions one may move around to the N and W and attack across the Merderet River (why? Well, I have the minis J ).

Panzer-Ersatz-und-Ausbildungs-Abteilung 100 (and possibly 206)

INITIATIVE D8

TROOP QUALITY D6 (D8)

MORALE D8

The 100^th Tank Replacement and Training Battalion consisted of an HQ and three companies.  The battalion was equipped with French Hotchkiss 38 (8), French Somua S35, x1 French B1-bis (flame), French Renault R35, French Renault FT17s (!) and Panzer Mk III.  On D-Day only 50% of the units tanks were “runners”.  I presume many of these were made to run as many were destroyed by the advancing US forces to the south.  A mission may add a special rule on reliability, like, roll a D12 each turn on a 4+ activate the vehicle suffers engine failure or something like that.

The unit was under command of the 91^st Luftlande Infanterie Division.  As a training unit I have given then a TQ of D6 and any leader vehicle (PzkW III) is D8.  The Battalion included four infantry platoons with one light machine gun per squad.  The 206 seem to mainly have been used to make “tank” noises to cause uncertainty amongst the US.  The German commander thought this worked as it caused a pause in the US attack on Montebourg.

Maquis (French Resistance)

IRREGULAR

INITIATIVE D6

TROOP QUALITY D6 to D8

MORALE D8

Though the French Resistance played little part in the Cotentin campaign (as far as I am aware). We may play some behind the lines interdiction missions.

NEW CAMPAIGN: The Company - A WW2 Force on Force campaign

With the present rise of nationalism, isolationism and appeasement it is looking like we should return to the halcyon days of the last time these policies ruled the roost: June 1944.  So we are leaving the dust of Malikastan and the streets of Grand Brexitia and heading to the fields of Normandy.

"The Company" campaign will follow K Company of the 508 Parachute Infantry Battalion 82nd Airborne Division through the Normandy Campaign.  Kilo Company is led by Captain McNair, born in Minnesota.

Each man in the company will have a name and will be on a roster.  The campaign will start with the miss-drop of the 82nd Airborne into Normandy, and will then follow the men as they group up and eventually fight as a unit.  The campaign will probably stop when we get bored or the 17th SS Division is pushed back.

The campaign will be both played in 15mm (Brisbane) and 28mm (Bunbury) using the Force on Force rules.  We are also thinking of using the Pulp Alley rules for some of the initial games where paratroopers are trying to group up and find weapons, and stay alive.

The Roster

The roster is an Excel worksheet that contains each man's name, if he is a sharpshooter or not, is he KIA, WIA, MIA, Under Commander (UC) or Not Under Commander (N/UC).  The players will not know the condition of men who go MIA/KIA/WIA away from the unit, they will merely remain N/UC.  N/UC men who are alive and hale will have a hidden dice which marks the probability they will join up with one of the companies cores.

A portion of the company roster (Excel worksheet)

The 1944 Normandy US Airborne Platoon OOB that will be used for Force on Force.

As Force on Force has not yet produced a WW2 supplement we have designed the vehicles using AP penetration at 100m and the armor of the various vehicles.  Here is a sub-list containing the vehicles that will be used in the campaign (no King Tigers or Tigers :( ).

The vehicles and guns for the campaign.  No special ammo given.  We may add other rules in time.

[WARNING: The boring rules commences here!  This is a Work in Progress and will be edited over time until we begin play]

The Drop

These are the rules to simulate a disrupted drop that portions of the 82nd Airborne experienced on D-Day.  Only the game master need know these rules, but they are presented here in case you are interested.  The Company is divided between eight C-47 Skytrain's.  The planes begin in groups of three.  A disruption dice is then rolled for each group of planes, the three groups are: [123] [456] [789*]

* Plane 9 contains a platoon from the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion.  These men may land in similar areas to Kilo Company and join up.

Disruption D12:
1-2 [123]
3-4 [1][23]
5-6 [12][3]
7-8 [13][2]
9-12 [1][2][3]
The proposed campaign we are playing is for a bad drop, but we can decide to make it a better drop, by modifying the above dice type used to either a D8 or D10 instead of a D12.

Each group of planes is then given a drop accuracy probability, this denotes how close to the planes designated dropzone the plane starts to drop it's men.  The dropzone is a 2-digit number using a D6-D6, so 1-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-6 etc.  The drop locations are indicated on the map.  The 1-1 is the actual dropzone of this particular company, west of Gueutteville and NE of Château de Bernaville (the HQ of the German 91st Luftlande Division).

The dropzone of the regiment - Not many of the regiment landed on or even close to this dropzone.

FLAK 2D6
There is a small chance each plane will be hit by FLAK.  Roll a 2D6 for each plane, on a result of 1 or 2 the plane is hit.  Planes with a dropzone starting with a 6-X (i.e. within one space of St. Mere Eglise) have a -1DRM. The plane may still drop paratroopers, roll a 3D6 to see how many men survive and exit the plane before it crashes.

Drop Accuracy D6.   The drop accuracy is how far from the designated dropzone the plane drops its men.  This is the first digit in the two digit location.   The die is modified as follows: a group of 2 planes gets -1drm and a group of 3 planes gets -2drm, +2drm if hit by FLAK.  The logic behind this is that if the planes remain in their V formation they have more eyes to find the correct DZ.

A modified result of below 1 is counted as a 1.

Drop Precision D6.  This is the second digit of the drop location, for example the Drop Accuracy rolled for a plane is 5, now roll the Drop Precision, say a 3 is rolled, this plane therefore drops its men in location 5-3.

A small area of the map.  The map is an area movement style map overlaid on the May 1944 BIGOT map of the area.  The map includes all the German positions that air reconnaissance identified.  I may make a VASSAL module for the campaign, will make it easier in the beginning, but once the company has formed up it will be less needed.  Though...if we played more than one company...

Smooth Exit D10
Each plane gets a Smooth Exit D10 (this is automatically rolled in Excel).  This represents how scattered the plane drops its men in the drop location.  A low number means the man has a low probability of finding his company.  This number denotes the Grouping Up dice for each man.

Roll D10:
1 Very Slow Exit - drop is spread out each man gets a Grouping Up dice of D6
2-3 Slow Exit - drop is somewhat spread out, roll a D6 for each man: 4+ the men get a Grouping Up D8, otherwise they are assigned a Grouping Up D6
4-6 Below Average Exit - roll a D6, on a 1-2 D6, 3-4 D8, 5-6 D10
7-9 Average Exit - roll a D6, on a 1 D6, 2-3 D8, 4-5 D10, 6 D12
10 Perfect Exit - roll a D6 for each man: 1 D8, 2-3 D10, 4-6 D12

The Excel worksheet does all this and is hidden from the players.

Grouping Up D6/D8/D10/D12
After all the planes have dropped their men then each man is assigned a dice, a Grouping Up D6, D8, D10 or D12 (see above(.  The players will not know which dice is assigned to each man.  This dice roll is automatically assigned in the Excel worksheet and is hidden from the players.  Each turn the dice is rolled for each man until he joins a CORE unit of the company, if successful the man finds one of his companies core (becomes Under Command), if not he is considered Not Under Command until the next turn.   If he rolls a 1 he has either been killed, captured or seriously wounded.  Again, players will not know this.  If the roll is successful then he finds the nearest group from his company.  He will automatically move to his own platoon when he is in the area of the platoon or is equally close to it.  The target for grouping up changes per turn.  For example, on turn 1 the target to group up is 7+, on turn 2 it is 6+ until it reaches 4+.

Finding his way Dice results, a 1 he is killed/captured/wounded, on a 2 his assigned dice drops one level (example D10 to D8), if he drops below D6 he is lost.  On a result of 3 his assigned Group Up dice shifts up one level to a maximum of D12 for the next turn.


The CORES
Each Captain, Lieutenant and Company/Platoon Sergeant is a CORE, on landing they will be marked on the map.  They will slowly grow with men as the men successfully roll to become Under Command.  The players can move their Cores towards their mission objectives by any route.  If a Lieutenant is killed is subordinate becomes the new CORE.

Turns
The length of a turn changes through the campaign.  The dice roll score required to group up also becomes easier over time, starting at 7+ and reducing to 4+.
June 6 0200-0300 Grouping Up 7+
June 6 0300-0500 Grouping Up 7+
June 6 0500-0700 Grouping Up 7+
June 6 0700-0900 Grouping Up 6+
June 6 0900-1200 Grouping Up 6+
June 6 1200-1600 Grouping Up 6+
June 6 1600-2400 Grouping Up 5+
June 7 AM Grouping Up 5+
June 7 PM Grouping Up 4+
June 8 AM Grouping Up 4+
June 8 PM Grouping Up 4+
June 9 AM Grouping Up 4+
June 9 PM Grouping Up 4+
June 10 AM Grouping Up 4+
June 10 PM Grouping Up 4+
June 11 Grouping Up 4+
June 12 Grouping Up 4+
etc..

At interesting points we will stop and play missions.  There may be more than one mission per turn, depending on our dispersed the Company is at that time.

Other units.
The Company is not alone in D-Day, so other units will appear on the map, other than protecting flanks or giving support or allowing supplies to arrive they have no influence on the company.  Though other units may fight and soften up enemy before an attack for example.

Some units will join the company, like AT Guns (Glider) or tanks and armored cars.  This will occur as these units make contact.

The Enemy
The enemy will move as well.  We may get a player to move them (maybe the game master), and therefore they will not necessarily appear where they did historically.  The enemy must make approach marches, which can be interdicted etc.

Ammunition
A critical factor on both sides, at least for the Americans in the early part of the invasion, is ammunition.  Often attacks halted on lack of ammunition, and often ground had to be given up due to the lack of ammunition.  The enemy ammunition condition will be hidden from the players.

A units available ammunition is scaled from 2  to 12, the level of ammunition corresponds to the Force on Force ammunition supply as follows:
2-3 Untenable Ammunition - Cannot fight due to low ammunition, unit will retreat to adjacent area if clear of enemy or surrender if not.  If the area contains a supplied unit it may remain in the area.
4-5 Low Ammunition, -1D
6-8 Normal Ammunition, -
9-12 High Ammunition, +1D
At the end of each turn in which a unit shared a location with an enemy, or artillery adjacent to an area containing friends and foe the unit loses D3-1 ammunition.

All German Units start the campaign at Level 7.  US Paratroopers start with 1D6+2 (3 to 8)

Resupply Routes

• US Paratrooper Units can scrounge for ammunition, during the Campaign Maintenance Phase roll the troop quality D8, on a 4+ the unit finds 1 Ammunition.  During the Combat phase a unit not involved in combat can Scrounge a second time.
• US Units with a Line of Communication to the Utah Beach Exit locations may roll a D3.  Paratroopers with LOC to a Glider Landing Zone (Les Forges) from 0700 on D-Day may use this Supply route instead of Utah Beach Exits.
• German Units with a Line of Communication to the Grey Exit Locations may roll a D2.
• A Line of Communication is defined as a contiguous set of location not crossing a red-dashed boundary that is clear of enemy units.

German Units


Well, enough for now...time for Battlefield 1 :)

I will update this post as the rules are written.

2017 - The Age of the Robot begins

Following the incident at the Malika City airport, where the NSA experiment with rabid dogs went awry (read about the sordid affair here: REDACTED), the UN has sought alternative means to add to the security of their forces (other than equipping their forces with fire extinguishers).

Wikidrips grainy image of the NSA Rabid Dogs attacking Russian Paratroopers.

Though the first 'bots were used during the eradication of the Bu'hu Nah'harem terror-slavers in west Africa in 2016 the first effective use of bots occurred in the Western Malikastan Pacification during the United Nations and International Intervention force actions following the Hotakistan-Riali war.

Should the UGV be Soft or Light, or indeed a vehicle or Gun?

The first unit was landed at the main airbase in eastern Western Malikastan, the base soon to be renamed after the fallen UN hero Heidi Clare.

Semi-Autonomous UGV Rules to consider
The rules governing robots follow the Tomorrow's War rules with the following amendments:
1) The drones can be used as as single unit or divided up between teams in another platoon.  In the campaign UGV platoons can be dismantled and divided between units.
2) Drones can be controlled by a team it is attached to and thereby uses that teams TQ, and it can be set to be interdependently on overwatch (as per the TW rule on page 146).
3) Drones can be remotely controlled, but at the beginning of each turn roll a D8 TQ, if the roll fails the drone goes into semi-autonomous mode, TQ6 and does not move, but will still engage hostile forces.  If the force includes a UAV then the failed TQ can be rerolled.
4) Drones receive a -1 to Reaction tests as per the TW rules, but also receive a further -1 Reaction when engaging any target within 8" of the drone.  Drones receive a +1drm on spotting checks beyond 8".
5) Drones have an infinite optimum range as per TW rules.
6) UGV drones may not climb stairs or pass over walls.  When a UGV drone crosses a ditch or water feature it my pass two TQ to enter and exit.  A UGV can be man-handled over walls and upstairs, but cause the unit to be considered rapid moving even though it is limited to tactical move distance.
7) UGV are generally armed with double HMG and count as a superior HMG, AP4/AT1(L) and do not suffer from Rapid Move modifiers, nor do they ever fall off overwatch.
8) Whenever a UGV rolls a 1 on a reaction test or bog test it is removed from play.
9) Drones may not fire at a target if the LOF passes within 2" of a friendly unit (not including the team it is attached to).

Ground Zero Games has a nice selection of UGV:
GZG Drones and especially this little one which I think I will be getting.

Drones can be attached as "wingmen" to vehicles and can move with the vehicle adding to the vehicles security.

Worth the rules?  Or simplify.  I like the TW Overwatch rule, adds nicely to tactical options.

Lesson 4 - Casualties, Support Elements and Activity

Well on to Lesson 4, not sure where this fits in Know Yours, I suppose it is still a Know Yourself.  How to deal with casualties, how to modify your forces through the addition of Support Elements, and what orders to give your units other than Move Here.  Also, includes a bit on how you can create a combat group like a QRF.  At the end is a introduction to one of the enemies, The Kalb, mountain tribesmen.  A tribe with the inclination to Shoot First and then Shoot Later.

So, first.  In each game the number of KIA and SW are removed from a units roster.  In a later lesson we will see how KIA and SW effect unit confidence and morale.  For now we will concentrate on how it is represented on the campaign counters.  Light Wounds?  Not sure if we just ignore light wounds.  I think so, or later in the campaign we can apply light wounds as temporarily lost to a reinforcement pool?  Your thoughts please.

Okay, onto the slides:

Kabir Campaign Lesson 3 - Know yourself

On to lesson 3 (these "Know yours" will be the rules for the campaign, making it simpler to read, so the introduction is also the rules).

This "Know Yours" is about your units in the campaign.  When a player's unit successfully engages an enemy unit the sections available on the platoon counter(s) are used in the mission.  Here is an introduction on how you read the campaign unit counters.

Two of the players advised me to Keep It Simple Stupid.  I failed!  But now an image of the battle from the  campaign map tells you which units are involved, how many sections and vehicles, the units Initiative, its Task Quality, its Morale, its fatigue level, it supply level and what integrated AA it may have.  So, failed KISS, but my life is easier, though it makes the counters look a tad complex.

A note on Fatigue.  In the last campaign the fatigue covered a combination of casualties and real fatigue.  So during missions it a TQ vs. Fatigue for a single section decided if it would be present in the game, and a second TQ vs. Fatigue decided if one or more units were suffered delayed entry.  In the new campaign it merely represents fatigue, so how units are delayed in a mission or how well prepared they are if defending.

The number of casualties are also recorded until the unit loses 8 men and then a whole section is removed.  The casualties are reviewed by pressing L and it will replace the fatigue number.

Lesson 2 - Know your own terrain (and how you can build your own "cave")

That took longer than expected!  Fighting VASSAL from my own ignorance!  Solved, and all the base types have now been added.  So, onto Lesson 2, Know your terrain.  The Kabir Massif (the center of the map) is the proverbial Valley of Death Where Fools Stay Well Away.  Lucky for you your commander has asked you to turn the Valley of Death into the epitome of Democracy.

Note, that the GM will control most of this, you merely say what you want.  So no need to read or remember all of this.  Though it may be useful to read once you wonder why your powerful force is unable to project all that nice 21st Century power.  Maybe some of those coins Alexander bribed his soldiers with to take out these tribesmen are still available.

So, onto the bases?

So, that is for the terrain, next to your men.

Kabir Campaign Lesson 1: Know your frenemies and enemies

Sun Tzu said you should know your enemies (and frenemies) to have a chance at victory.  So, here is how the influence peddlers in the campaign influence the actions of the UN/Russia/Rial.

In this campaign insurgents are rarely represented by actual units, instead they are akin to a background effect.  They may sometimes "sprout" into units, but under most conditions they are integral to the districts rather than a separate entity.  See the graphics below how the influence peddlers are represented in the VASSAL module.

An injection of fun

I have decided to spice up the campaign by adding in the Russians, and to also add a new command structure for the UN.  Our Hotakistani commander plays the campaign but not the battles so he is neutral.  Our UN commanders have found it hard to play the non-UN forces against their own forces and therefore I have decided to divide the UN command so both UN commanders can play against and for the UN without concern of being biased (and I, the GM, can play UN forces too). Hence the creation of the Australian & US Security Assistance Force: AUSAF.  This will allow to portray some of the confusion in a multinational command under stress.  As time passes the forces will start to improve communication.

The Russians.  Well, they had to come, and they have come as a "third" force.  I, the GM, will command them for now, but if a commander steps forward from the club or anywhere in the world I will happily to give them command.  The Russians are free to start WW3 if need be.  The Malikastani Crisis is a backwater and therefore in the confusion anything can happen, easier to shoot now and then apologize later (unless WW3 kicks off!).

I think these changes, should be fun.

The Russians

While the UN Security Council endlessly debated the Malikastani Crisis the UN reinforcements linger on the airstrip in Uzbekistan.  During this time the first UN forces landed on the south Indian Ocean coast and were met with overwhelming force.  The western neighbour to Malikastan and Hotakistan has declared neutrality but moved forces to block the UN.  Russia has declared that the UN forces in Malikastan have failed in their duty to protect the Russian civilian UN contractors.  The US has requested that the Russians stay out of the volatile situation, but the Russians have landed a paratrooper brigade at the same airfield in Uzbekistan as the UN forces.  Hotakistan has also announced that any force landing in Malikastan will be considered “enemies of the Hotaki”, but added that if the Russians “landed and retrieved the Russian civilians, which are under no threat, and did not interfere with the Hotaki” they would be allowed to leave in peace.  The Russians have declared that they would, “show the UN how to do it”, what exactly that means remains to be seen.

CAMPAIGN ADDITION - RUSSIA: A Russian paratrooper force will land and secure their civilians.  The Russians will land at their civilian locations (which will randomly move in the next turn).  Any fighting within one zone of the Russians and any air attacks within two zones will on a failed TQ (use lowest TQ) by the attacking force result in an escalation of tension.  Any Hotaki or UN air unit moving through or activating at a location containing Russian forces will suffer a TQ8 AA attack.  The Russian forces roll a TQ for each “tension” increasing event, if it fails it will “teach the enemy a lesson”.  When each Russian company lands (each has 2-3 platoons) it must roll a TQ for each non-Russian combat unit in the area, on a failed TQ it will land within a specified distance of the target area.  The Russian unit will then move towards their civilians.  If the Russians land under a Hotaki or UN AA umbrella roll a TQ, if failed roll an attack against each landing platoon.  The AUSAF/UNSAF and Hotakistani commanders can choose to “switch off” their AA assets prior to the turn.  Each attack acts as a tension and each lost units acts as two tensions.  This will escalate the war, and the Russians will enter the war to “cleanse” Malikastan of “drugs, renegade UN and misguided Hotakistanis”.  Russians units will always attack druglords.

Chaos reigns in UN ranks

The Russian veto of the Security Council proposals has caused the Security Council to become dysfunctional.  The stalled proposals have resulted in delayed reinforcements and supplies, but worse a division in UN command.  Furthermore, it has delayed the breakout of the bridgehead to the south of Malikastan.  The US-Australian forces have declared a unilateral division in command and have formed the AUSAF Command.  The US declared this unprecedented move as essential to protect the civilians in and around Malika City.  The British, French, South Africans and other forces have declared the Security Council is the only solution and will now be under command of the UNSAF Western Command.  To reduce risk on the ground General Phil Graves has declared a boundary of command until the UN forces can be safely untangled.  The command of the UNSAF Western Command has been given to Major D. Zaster, and the command of AUSAF Command falls under General Phil Graves.

CAMPAIGN ADDITION - HOUSE DIVIDED:  All Units west of Area 41 fall under the command of the venerable British Army Major D. Zaster.  All forces east of Area 41 fall under the command of US Army General Phil Graves.  All UN reinforcements will be divided between the two forces (randomly).  Due to the confusion in reinforcements caused by the Security Council the UN reinforcement nationality will be random.  All Australian and US forces will go automatically to AUSAF and all British, French and South African reinforcements will go to UNSAF Western Command.  All other nationalities will be randomly placed.  Forces on the wrong side of the boundary will move to the other side as soon as they are released by the local commander.  AUSAF has taken command of the Malika Airport, but UNSAF forces can still use the airport facilities.

The UN command with the most victories each round receives a bonus (rerolling the nationality and placement rolls one the first failed roll) when the reinforcement nationality is selected.

Nationality D8 (if force with most victories “loses” the roll is rerolled, second must be taken):

1 US

2 Australian

3 US or Australian

4 British

5 French/Other European (substitute Heavy Armour: Challenger)

6 South African/Other African (substitute Heavy Armour: Challenger)

7 South American (Heavy Armour: Abrams)

8 Middle Eastern (Heavy Armour: D6 1-2: T-72, 3-4: T-80, 5+ Abrams)

South American and Middle Eastern forces are randomly placed between UNSAF and AUSAF.  If the UN/AUSAF do not possess and airfield to bring in a particular unit type they can exchange the unit for an engineering unit.

Type of Unit (roll D6, may reroll once, but must take second in that case)

1 Infantry

2 Mechanised Infantry

3 Armour (roll D6 on 4+ Heavy, else recon or medium armour if nationality has such unit)

4 Air Transport, Transport, Air Attack, SAM, Engineer, Special

5 Artillery or Special Forces

6 Choose

The Hotakistani Forces also roll on this chart for one of their reinforcements.  They may reroll one of their reinforcements dice.

For the foreseeable future both forces can call on the other UN forces support (AA, artillery and air assets) but the initial access TQ suffers a -1DShift, if it fails the support will not be available.

UNSAF/AUSAF Communication
At the beginning of each turn a TQ6 is rolled for each side, for each success above 3 (so TQ score - 3) the UNSAF/AUSAF may send one communique to the fellow player (email).  This is the only strategic communication allowed between the two allies.  Each time a player rolls a maximum score their communication TQ increases by one DShift.

“A gate divides a wall, a bridge does not divide a river.”  Hotakistani proverb.

Force on Force house rules

Here are some of the house rules we have used.  As usual they are still up to change, deletion or ignorance as they have always been!

Failed Bail Out Check (Smoke and Retreat rule) – If a mobile vehicle with smoke grenade launchers suffers a bail out failure the crew does not bail, instead the vehicle throws out a 6” wide smoke screen which is placed 6” to front of the vehicle (or in the turret direction) and the vehicle immediately reverses 5” in a straight line.  On the following turn the vehicle attempts to stabilize, if it fails it makes a further 5” move, and continues to do so until it recovers.  If the vehicle reverses into an obstacle that it cannot or fails to surmount then the crew bails.  A “smoke and retreat” crew still suffers the bailed out penalty.  The smoke from a vehicle smoke screen stops all LOS.

Failed Bail Out Check – All vehicle crews who bail or “Smoke and Retreat” suffer a -1DShift to morale per failure and lose a level in confidence.  A vehicle crew who drops below MOR6 is removed from play and the VP is awarded to the opposition.

Thermal IR Night Vision Device: +1DShift to spotting at night.  In the campaign all heavy tanks, UN IFV, vehicles with RWS, gunship helicopters, Specter/Spooky and UAV are equipped with thermal IR night vision devices.

IR Search Light: All medium tanks and Hotakistani IFV have IR Search lights.  NVG but with a -1DShift for spotting targets.

BAR Armour: All UN vehicles capable of having BAR armour have effective BAR armour on a TQ 4+.  Roll once for a platoon or unit of vehicles.

ERA: All Hotakistani vehicles capable of having ERA have ERA on a TQ 4+.  Roll once for a platoon or unit of vehicles.

Uparmoured: All conventional force vehicles capable of being uparmoured are uparmoured.

Remote Weapon Station (RWS): All UN vehicles capable of mounting a RWS station have an operating RWS station on a TQ 4+.  Roll once for a platoon or unit of vehicles.

Combat Assault Dog: A combat assault dog has all the benefits of a normal military dog and in addition will automatically take the first hit when assaulting and does not count as a casualty for morale purposes.

DARPA Dog (Ammo): A DARPA Ammo dog carries ammunition, a unit may use the dog (and remove the dog) in any activation to add a +2FP.

DARPA Dog (Gun): The unmanned ground vehicle is armed with a AP3/AT0 RWS and counts as an uparmoured vehicle (2D6 armour).

Obstacles (tall wall): Breaking through a wall without a dozer blade requires a TQ 4+ to succeed, costs 2” of movement, cannot be performed at Rapid movement, and requires a bog check.  Compound walls and building walls are broken on a TQ -1DShift.  All low walls are broken through on a TQ +1DShift.

Obstacle (mound): Mounds are successfully navigated on a TQ 4+, costs 2” and cannot be performed a Rapid movement speed.

Obstacle (stream): Crossing ditches or streams cost 2” per 1” moved, and requires a bog check on entering and on exiting.

Progress: When I unit attempts to breach or break through a wall or attempt to pass over an obstacle that requires a TQ and fails, place a marker, in the next turn the team receives a +1DShift to repeat the action.

POW from overrun downed units: When a unit overruns a downed enemy unit roll D6 for each casualty, a score of 1 the casualty becomes a dependent POW, otherwise the casualty is dead.

Medium Range Weapons: All RPG-like, LAW, AT-4 etc. weapons are considered medium for movement

Arming Distance:  AT-4 has an arming distance of 4˝.  Other systems (other than the LAW/RPG series) have an arming distance of 8˝.  ATGMs receive a -1DShift against targets less than 24˝.  A rocket weapon fired at a target within the arming distance still adds +1FP vs. infantry or soft targets.

ATGM Reloads:  Each time a Javelin or other ground mounted ATGM is fired roll a TQ with a -1DShift, if the test is passed the Javelin anti-tank specialist may continue to fire the Javelin, otherwise the soldier is out of reloads.  If a team that no longer has a Javelin is adjacent to its own armoured or uparmoured vehicle for a whole turn it may replenish its Javelin on a successful TQ.

Multi-wheeled vehicles:  When a 6-wheeled or 8-wheeled vehicle suffers an immobilization for the first time roll a D8, on a 4+ its suffers limited mobility instead of immobilization and can still move up to 3” per turn.

Ploughed fields:  Any team wearing battle armour which uses rapid movement to cross a field must roll a TQ, if the TQ is failed one of their number receives a light wound (sprained ankle, stunned etc.).

Narrow streets and UN force:  When faced with an insurgent opposition UN forces in narrow urban streets (<2˝ wide), bridges and alleyways UNSAF will only move at Rapid pace if they pass a TQ, this is due to UNSAF being wary of IEDs in choke points.

Entering compound buildings: Windows in Malikastan are generally narrow or barred, therefore windows may not be used to enter or exit a building except with a successful breaching attempt.

Offboard Setup:  Forward Observer’s (FO), Forward Air Controllers (JTAC or FAC, and therefore any air assets as well), artillery vehicles, HMG/AGL, Guns, Multi-barreled Rocket Launchers,  Mortars, ATGMs, Sniper teams and Anti-aircraft teams may setup offboard.

The offboard location is represented by a vertical rod of 2˝, 4˝ or 6˝ height at the edge of the board.  To find the height roll a D3, on a 1 it is 2˝, on a 2 it is 4˝ and on 3 it is 6˝.  The owning player positions the rod on the friendly edge or on an enfilading edge (if a TQ is passed, the player may select an enfilading edge which is adjacent to the friendly edge).  The offboard support teams are placed in an offboard area and are activated as normal, and may fire at any target that can be observed from the top of the rod.  They must also pass a spotting TQ to fire.

All fire between onboard and offboard teams (and between offboard teams) are considered to be beyond optimum range, with the exception of ATGMs and vehicle main guns of 20mm+ calibre.

Certain onboard teams may fire on the offboard fire support: Forward Observer’s (FO), Forward Air Controllers (FAC, and therefore any air assets as well), vehicles, GPMG, HMG, Light guns, Light Mortars, ATGMs, SAM and Sniper teams.  All combat between onboard and offboard (or offboard vs. offboard) teams are resolved only after the target is first spotted by rolling a successful TQ.

All offboard teams are considered to be in +2 defensive terrain and are considered to be “in cover” from the turn following the turn in which they enter the offboard fire support location.  The regular player may “move” teams that have not yet entered the board to the Offboard Fire Support location through a normal activation.  The insurgent player may place a team offboard when a 6 is rolled on the Hotspot dice roll.  The first time the insurgent player decides to create a Fire Support location the player may place an offboard rod on the edge opposite to the UNSAF player’s friendly edge.

Night with a New Moon
Non-NVG units:

No optimum range bonus
Must spot to fire at any target, unless the target is moving and within double optimum.

Must first pass a spot check to attempt to interrupt an enemy.

NVG Units:

Do not have to spot target unless attempting to engage a non-moving unit in cover beyond double optimum.
Vehicles with NVG are assumed to have infinite optimum range.  All non-technical vehicles are considered to possess NVG

All units: Once any unit is engaged successfully in a turn all other units may fire upon the firing unit or the target without a spotting attempt for that turn.  In following turns the unit returns to “hidden” status.

Fields and treelines

SCRUB, +1 Cover to all units, no LOS through more than 6” of scrub, moving units do not count as exposed.

PLOUGHED, +1 cover to non-moving infantry unit, no LOS effect, infantry who rapid move through a ploughed field suffer a light wound on a failed TQ.  Moving infantry count as exposed.

FALLOW: +1 cover to non-moving infantry unit.  Moving infantry do not count as exposed.

OPEN GROUND: No cover (but can still "be in cover").  Moving infantry count as exposed.

MATURE CROPS, +1 cover to all units, no LOS through more than 2”. Vehicle to vehicle LOS unaffected, but +1 cover

TREELINES block LOS, +1 cover for unit in treeline.  Unit must be declared to be against the treeline to be seen or to see through the treeline.