Last Updated
April 12, 2007
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SPOTTING Infantry or Anti Tank guns can not be seen if they are under cover and not moving or firing unless the enemy has moved to within 6" (then automatically spotted). A Recce platoon can spot one single platoon per turn up to 12". Once uncovered they can then be shot at by anybody within maximum shooting range. All other circumstances are automatic spotting. |
NOTES
TURN SEQUENCE - Each platoon takes a morale check as soon as it is activated. A platoon only tests once even if has 2 activations in a turn. Then one of the remainder actions can be carried out. If Overwatch is selected this platoon may choose to FIRE at any point later in this turn, and may interrupt any enemy unit moving or firing. It may not move later in the turn. TIMED ASSAULT may do anything with platoon later in turn, but only AFTER someone you attempt to interrupt completely finishes that platoons movement / firing, which may put them out of sight. It is now permissable to fire overwatch sections at different points throughout the turn as targets appear.
UNIT SCALES - The unit scale for this has changed a lot and even now has two subtly different versions depending on how you have your figures based. Largely speaking 1 man or vehicle represents one item in real life. Of board artillery tends to represent more than a single gun, but as it is off board who cares.
NEW STANDARD (for 20mm figures)
4 figure bases 30mm X 50mm (FOW standard) for ordinary rifle men, HMG's, Mortars, SMG's etc (I use these bases for larger units such as Japanese and USMC)
3 figure bases 1.25" square for ordinary rifle men, HMG's, Mortars, SMG's etc (I am using these for Russian and German squads currently)
2 figure bases 25mm X 30mm (small FOW) for special 2 man teams - light mortar, Bazooka, Flamethrower, officer, Observer, Squad LMG team. (Use for everything)
1 figure bases basically these are redundant, they were used for 1 figure platoon commanders. These have not become 2 figure bases, but if you already have single based figures don't worry about it, purely an asthetic thing.
NB - For game purposes there is no difference between the larger base with 4 rifle men and the medium base with 3 rifle men, they are just rifle bases.
The rules are now revised to assume LMG's and ATR's are in their own dedicated 2 man teams and can only fire their special weapon, they are basically now a bonus to the original squad they were part of. Some old based figures will have 3 figure (or 4) LMG and ATR teams. These teams can fire either their special weapon or rodinary rifles in a turn but not both, they count as ordinary rifle teams for close combat, unlike the dedicated 2 man extra teams that have a big negative in hand to hand combat, and do not have a standard rifle capability.
Higher level commanders, company or Battalion can be on any large customised base, (use FOW large base) they are assumed to have enough orderlies that they can fight as an ordinary base if neccessary
Tanks, guns etc can be based as is fit for the figure, it makes little difference to the game.
Some rifle platoon examples :-
German Grenadiers 6 rifle squads (3 men base) + 3 LMG (2 men base) + 1 HMG (3 men base) + 1 Officer (2 men base) + optionally 1 80mm mortar (3 men base)
German Mechanised panzer Grenadiers 4 rifle squads (3 men base) + 6 LMG (2 men base) + 1 Officer (2 men base)
Russian Rifle platoon -
6 rifle squads (3 men base) + 3 LMG (2 men base) + 1 or 2 ATR (2 man bases) + 1 Officer (2 men base) + Optionally 1 HMG (3 men base)
Russian SMG platoon - 8 SMG squads (3 men base) + 1 Officer (2 men base)
Japanese Rifle Platoon 6 rifle squads (4 men base) + 3 LMG (2 men base) + 3 Knee Mortars (2 men base) + 1 HMG (3 men base) + 1 Officer (2 men base)
A/C, Tanks, ATG and on board artillery can be organized as independent
platoons or attached to an infantry platoon. Inf platoon may have up to 3 H/Track,
2 Trucks, 1 Mortar, 1 ATG, 1 AFV attached to it (can't have trucks and halftracks
in one platoon).
Half tracks and trucks MUST be attached to an infantry (or ATG) platoon.
1 inch on the board = 25 yards.
M/cycle, A/C, Jeeps, Bren Carrier etc can carry 1 infantry squad (max 4 figures) per model
vehicle
AFV, Sdkfz 250 etc can carry 2 infantry squad per model vehicle
Large half tracks (Hanomag 251) and small lorries can carry 3 infantry squads
per model vehicle
Large trucks can carry 4 infantry squads per model vehicle
In the above cases 2 man bases count as half a squad, everyone else
counts as a squad
MOVEMENT - Elements can move the distances in the chart.
Terrain effects on movement are indicated in the terrain chart. Generally wheeled
vehicles go best across roads. tracked vehicles go well across open ground and
infantry go well across difficult terrain. Slow tanks would be like the British
Matilda II. Normal tanks would be most German tanks, Soviet T26, T-70, Allied Shermans and churchills. Fast
tanks would be T34 and BT-7, British Cruisers, Cromwell etc. Infantry and cavalry can
move a little faster than normal in a turn that they end in hand to hand combat,
simulating the "Charge" into combat.
I have added a new one "Run flat out" this is intended for troops catching up when the battle has left them behind. You get to move infantry 12" but if anyone shoots them between now and THEIR NEXT ACTIVATION then all attackers get an additional 1D6 against them and of course they count as in the open, even as veterans. This means they could get shot early in the next turn. It also means that if they have 2 activations in one turn they can avoid the penalty after the 2nd activation. Infantry can not run flat out in 2 activations in the same turn. They could on 2 activations on consecutive turns though. Cavalry could theoretically run flat out twice in one turn. Giving them a movement of 4 feet!!
NOTE - HMG's Mortars and towed/pushed ATG's can't move and fire. (ATG's can move up to 1" and fire) Tanks, A/C's and even SPG's can though turretless SPG's like the Stug's and SU76 have an enormous -3 penalty for moving and firing, Hand held anti tank weapons (Bazooka) inc ATR can only move 2" and still fire.
MORALE - Changed the rules. Morale roll can not make morale worse, either stay as is or get better. All inf/cav platoons that get down to just one squad left alive must rout permanently off board. All platoons (inc vehicles) that have no undisrupted squads must rout until either leave the board or manage to lower morale (all immobilised vehicles are abandoned). The instant a platoon hits either of these break points it routs one full charge move backwards regardless of what it has done this turn. If it has not yet had an activation then it misses it's activation. i.e. it may not roll for morale improvement until the following turn.
SUPPRESSED troops fire is heavily degraded, only 6's count as hits not 5,6's. Also can't move, except to retreat voluntarily from all enemy troops.
DISRUPTED troops can't advance or fire. If they aren't in cover they must retreat
to find cover.
If suppression levels are reduced by 1, Disrupted become Suppressed, and Suppressed
become normal
FIRE PRIORITY - Each firing unit can largely fire at whatever it wants, though it should fire at a unit that poses an obvious and clearly superior threat to itself than a "Tactical" target, use common sense to allow this.
SMOKE - Is fired by artillery. For mortars and guns upto 105mm each gun will lay a smoke screen 4" wide by 1 1/2" deep. Greater than 105mm will be 6" wide and 2 " deep. It will remain on board for the remainder of the turn and then dissipate. Smoke deployed at the "End" of the turn as per divisional artillery rules stays in place the entire of the following turn. Positioning is as per ordinary artillery. So position your smoke early in the turn, and then maneuver under it's cover. If it is needed for the following turn, get a new barrage down very early or risk your troops being out in the open. Smoke seriously reduces spotting and shooting effectiveness but does not affect close combat, so use it to mask an assault.SPOTTING - Infantry or std Anti tank gun can not be seen if they are under cover and not moving or firing unless the enemy has moved to within 6inches (make this 4" in the jungle or smoke) then they are automatically spotted.A Recce platoon can spot one single enemy platoon per turn up to a range of 12" (8" in smoke or jungle) . Once such uncovered they can be fired on by anyone at any range, but still count as under cover. All vehicles, all troops firing or moving and all troops in the open are spotted automatically at any range.
Proximity fire has been done away with. Once a target is spotted, it is spotted for everyone. Until then it is spotted by no one and you may not fire direct or indirect fire at a place you do not know is occupied. The only exception to this is scenarios where pre plotted artillery is laid at the beginning of the game, and then it would have to be before the defender put any of his troops on the board.
In a "Built Up Area" all units can spot and fire on another unit if it is either in an attached "section of building" or within 5". Roads within a BUA all count as cover as well, only exception is anyone (except veterans) charging from building to building or across roads count as in the open when defenders fire at them on the way into close combat, at all other times they count as cover. My assumption here is that the defender would usually get one clear shot at the attacker as he sprinted in the last bit of the assault. Of course you are hoping the defenders are suppressed in which case their fire effectiveness is limited or even better disrupted in which case they can't fire at all!. Some terrain items allow natural cover for infantry, some are a result of digging in, and some would provide hull down positions for vehicles. All this has been abstracted in these rules and are covered by "Cover"
TANKS V INFANTRY - Most AFV's that can fire HE rounds and have one or more machine guns now just get the one attack against infantry. Use the number of D6 for the caliber of gun and add 1D6 if the vehicle has any mg's. Note that because of the power of the shell no target (inc veterans) counts as under cover from a direct HE round from a tank or other AFV, (Unless it is in a purpose built reinforced concrete pillbox). If a vehicle has a 2pdr gun which only fires solid shot then you can only fire a std mg on it's own which will only be 3D6. Certain special vehicles like a Panzer 1 or Vickers Mk VI only have machine guns, these get 4D6
NB I have added a rule whereby even if an anti tank gun is "Spotted" tanks may only fire at it on a roll of 5+ on 1D6 if they fail this roll they may fire at something else instead. This is a fudge rule to basically make tanks fear anti tank guns. Infantry should assault anti tank guns NOT tanks
TO HIT -
Non turreted vehicles like Stug's normally have a firing arc 45 degrees to either
side. If they have to swivel outside of this then count the -3 move penalty.
Turreted vehicles do not count as moving unless have to move > 2 inches.
NB A Hull down vehicle or other target "Dug
In" counts as under cover as per spotting note.
Multi barrel weapons (Quad AA) get a +1 bonus per extra barrel. e.g. on a Quad
20mm weapon there is a +3 to hit bonus
NEW - Dedicated anti tank guns, (not tanks or tank hunters or Bazooka type weapons) may fire TWICE per turn at the same target. This is to simulate the ease of firing a fixed anti tank gun with a large crew, plenty of space and excellent sights, as against a small cramped tank turret with limited visibility
GUN PENETRATION - Examples of heavy tanks would be Tiger, Panther, KV1, JSII, Churchill most tanks with frontal armour in excess of 80mm. Examples of medium tanks would be T34, Late Pz III & IV, Stug's, Sherman, Cromwell most tanks with frontal armour of 40mm or greater. Examples of lighter tanks would be Early Pz II, III, IV, H/tracks, A/c's, BT7, T26, T70, & softskin vehicles most tanks with frontal armour less than 40mm and virtually all armoured cars and half tracks. Softskin lorries count as light tanks but with a hefty positive modifier. Some tanks are exceptions, e.g. T34 counts as a medium tank +1 armour to front and medium armour to side. Tigers and churchills count as heavy to front and side
Disruption & Vehicles - A Disrupted vehicle can have it's hit lowered via morale passes, the same as infantry, BUT there are two permanent effects of such a devastating hit on the vehicle. 1st it is immobilised for the duration of the game and 2nd if it is disrupted a 2nd time it is destroyed, even if it has had morale passes in between.
Multi barrel weapons (Quad AA) get a +1 bonus per extra barrel. e.g. on a Quad 20mm weapon there is a +3 to penetrate bonus, this is largely because of the barrage of shells hitting the target. If the weapon has no chance of penetrating the target armour it remains no chance.
If a passenger carrying vehicle is hit, remember to roll for damage to the passengers, whether internally within a half track or externally on a tank. The difference is that passengers carried internally within a halftrack count as under cover if shot at by small arms, whereas passengers carried on the outisde of an AFV do not count as being under cover.
SMALL ARMS SHOOTING - Note that each squad is allocated a number of dice to represent it's firepower. If the target is under cover the firer has one less physical dice to roll.
NEW RULES - Targets who are poor troops find it difficult to fully utilise cover, as such they never count as under cover, so keep them moving. Veterans on the other hand have much greater experience and always count as under cover, even when charging in to assault. The only exception is they never count as under cover against a tank HE round, and only count as under cover from indirect artillery fire when other troops would do so. Attackers decide which target squad is hit after the dice are rolled. i.e. they can add disrupted's together to kill a squad or disrupt multiple seperate squads
Small arms aganist softskin lorries is the same as against infantry squads but the lorry is destroyed if it is Disrupted or worse.
Platoon Commanders & Forward Observers - You can not target a PC or FO if other troops are within 2", (unless you are a sniper). If no other troops then fire as normal but 2 or 3 hits will kill them, supression has no effect. Similar in close combat - they can not be targeted if other troops are within 2". If unit PC is with is killed then he is lost as well. If all units within 2" are lost then FO and unattached PC's are lost. PC's and FO's under an artillery barrage are rolled for, they are killed if Disrupted or worse.
LINE OF SIGHT - I allow one layer of shooting through your own troops. The real men and vehicles occupy a smaller amount of space than they appear in the game, and real men and tanks would arrange themselves in a way to provide reasonable covering fire in an advance.
As to shooting from a hill over intervening woods or buildings at a target hiding on the other side of the woods or buildings, I have introduced very simplified dead zone rules. This should be enough it's only a game not an exercise in trigonometry!
INDIRECT FIRING - Pick a target squad or vehicle, and then roll a Games Workshop scatter dice and 1D6. The scatter dice has a number of "Hit" markers (2) and a number of arrows pointing the direction of deviation (4). If a hit is rolled center the 5" diameter area effect template (available from games workshop) over the centre of the selected target. All other squads 100% or vehicles at least 50% under the template are hit, roll seperately for each of them. If an Arrow is rolled then move the centre of the area effect template in the direction the arrow is pointing the number of inches indicated by 1D6, even if this means you are now covering your own troops. Roll the correct number of D6 dependant upon weapon calibre, and apply any modifiers to determine how badly each of the targetted vehicles and squads are effected. FOO's may plot artillery fire and MOVE in the same activation. All artillery now has it's own template deviation of which is rolled for separately. E.g. FOO brings in 2 81mm mortar barages on a target and both hit the targets under the blast radius roll 3D6 for each attack, results are not combined.
NB Artillery must have a line of sight to a target to bring down artillery. You may like to count recce armoured cars as local forward observers if you wish them to be able to bring down mortar fire on targets they identify. (I changed this rule)
DIVISIONAL ARTILLERY
Some artillery support may be provided from a higher echelon that is slow to
respond. This applies to almost all Soviet artillery above 80mm mortar size,
and German artillery of 105mm or greater calibre. USA have better artillery
control so would only count this rule for their 155mm guns (optionally 105's).
Only difference to ordinary artillery is that it's target is plotted at the
beginning of the turn and it falls at the beginning of the next turn. I plot
by putting 12 numbered counters over likely target areas and then write down
which numbers I have actually targetted. Although theoretically the victim has
some indication where the artillery is coming in actually it is more alarming
to them seing all these potential spotting points being placed. Lots of fun!
All nationalities, but particularly the Russians, have higher echelon artillery assets that can be allocated to a pre game bombardment in a set piece attack game. This is simulated by allowing a single turns pre planned fire on turn 0. The artillery is always "Divisional" and will be either 5D6 calibre. The attacker plots location of pre game bombardment after hidden counters and minefields are deployed.
Russians should be given 4-8 templates worth of artillery,
British & US 3-6 templates.
Germans 2-4 templates.
NB Only the attacker can have a pre game bombardment. As morale is checked and hopefully recovered as each platoon is activated, the defender may still have troops suppressed and disrupted by artillery when the attacking platoons come into range. NB - FOO's controlling divisional artillery may not be activated
more than once per turn, they basically operate outisde of the normal activation
sequence.
TERRAIN CHART - The terrain chart indicates for each
type of terrain that a squad or vehicle may be crossing or hiding in, what effect
on movement moving across it has. Plus whether the terrain feature gives cover
to spotting, cover to direct fire, or cover to indirect fire, these are quite
different things.
Spotting cover does not normally block line of sight, only buildings woods and
rough terrain do this, although these block LOS through them, you can still
see into this terrain about 3 inches, you can see out the same distance. This
is to simulate minor undulations in the terrain, otherwise one 3 foot wall could
block all visability to everything beyond