Here we go again….again.

I finally managed to modify Neil Thomas’ One Hour Wargame rules down to a level that keeps with the vibe of the game.  The only departure to the rules is that I added a simple morale system.

I decided on each unit being eliminated upon taking its third hit.  It is easy enough to mark one or two hits with either a numeric marker or a two sided counter.  The third hit eliminates the unit so there is no need to mark that.

Determining the staying power of a unit on the average is also important.  I did what I usually do and assumed a chance to hit as partial damage.  So for instance, in normal conditions, a unit will be eliminated after the fifth turn of combat on the average.  I decided that if a unit took .67 hits per turn, it would acquire its third hit after 5 turns.  A simple table was developed so that a single die roll of 3+ would cause 1 hit.  A unit being attacked by a poor unit (D6-2) is eliminated after 9 turns.  So assuming .33 hits per turn would accomplish this.  So a roll of 5+ would cause a hit.  The final is a unit attacked by a superior unit (D6+2) would be eliminated after only 3 turns.  So this really is 1 hit per turn which would normally not require a die roll.  I decided to add some uncertainty.  So a 1 is a miss.  2 through 5 causes 1 hit.  A 6 causes 2 hits.  This fits neatly with the the rules since superior units can eliminate an adversary in 2 turns.  For half damage situations, 6 for poor, 5+ for average and 4+ for superior causes 1 hit.

Morale should not be overthought for this game.  When a unit takes a hit in melee, roll a die.  On a 5+ it must retreat 1 move.  This counts as that unit’s move for next turn.

This is the full play sheet.  Observe all of the rules and period specific rules from the book.  These modifications can be downloaded as a PDF here.

Turn Sequence

Move

Shoot if allowed

Melee if in contact

Morale for target if it took damage this turn

Move rates and Shooting Ranges

Infantry Move 6” Shoot 12”

Artillery Move 6” Shoot 36”

Cavalry Move 12” Shoot 6”

Combat

Die Roll	-2	0	+2
1	0/0	0/0	0/0
2	0/0	0/0	1/0
3	0/0	1/0	1/0
4	0/0	1/0	1/1
5	1/0	1/1	1/1
6	1/1	1/1	2/1

-2 column is for D6-2 combat. 0 column is for D6 combat. +2 column is for D6+2 combat.

The first number is damage for no cover/armor. The second number is damage for cover/armor/hill.

For double damage, simply roll twice and add the combat results together.

Units are eliminated after 3 hits.

Morale

Target unit retreats on a 5+ if it took damage in combat.

Cavalry will fall back if in contact with infantry at the end of combat.

A lighter shade of OTR

By request, here is a copy of On to Richmond D6.  It is not a faithful reproduction of the rules as the randomizer is a D6 instead of a D10.  The morale and melee system have both been reworked and streamlined.  Enjoy!

My Favorite Rules Pt3 – Combat

Combat, be it melee or shooting, can share most of the same mechanics. I went back and forth with whether or not their should be a saving throw. Given that most simple games do, I thought I’d be different and dispense with them.

Lets take shooting first. I read once in an old Strategy and Tactics magazine, the one with the game Ney vs Wellington, that a musket was about 95% accurate at about 40 yard, 45% accurate at 100 yards and 5% accurate out to 200 yards. These are probably generalizations. I do agree that accuracy falls off at about 50 yards. The musket is probably not the limiting factor. It is the MK-I eyeball, the optical range finder that has not changed since the dawn of humanity that limits accuracy. Even in todays modern military, a firefight rarely occurs outside of 300 yards, which is the same range that firefights developed during the American Civil War.

I digress. The accuracy numbers are almost certainly only valid for a man who has no pressure and plenty of time to aim. For our purposes, we can fudge these into probabilities on a six sided dice. At close range, even under duress, a man can remain pretty accurate. So at short range, a roll of 3+ is a successful hit on a target in the open. Since we have no saves, a hit is a “kill.” At medium range, a 5 or 6 on a six sided die is a hit. We could over think this and say that 2 hits are required for 1 kill at long range and only a 6 is a hit. We are playing a game here. A 6 is required to hit.

We could say that we roll 1 die per figure shooting. That would probably result in a rather quick game. I’ve seen 1 die per 2 figures in games that had saving throws. I think for our game 1 die per 3 figures is good enough. At close range casualties will mount quickly. At longer range casualties will almost certainly mount slowly resulting inn a prolonged firefight. Round up the number of dice because this is being designed for a collection based as 3 figures per stand. So really you are rolling 1 die per stand.

Ranges can be whatever you want but short range is out to 1 quarter maximum range. Medium range is out to half maximum range. Long range is out to maximum range. Generally there can be a cover penalty of -1 or -2. -1 is appropriate for most cover. The target could be woods or inside a wooden building. -2 should be reserved for the toughest of cover such as trenches or higher stone walls. If the modifier puts you at a 7 or more to hit, then your fire is ineffective. It may seem a little harsh but it keeps a player from fighting the action at Marye’s Heights from long range. The player will have to move in close just to hit the enemy at a disadvantage while the enemy will likely delivering casualties at twice the rate!

You are probably wondering, “What is with the to hit numbers anyway?” 3+ is twice as likely as 5+ while 5+ is twice as likely as 6+. With that, we can ow discuss the melee, which units will hit on a 4+ in an even fight.

With melee you can have a list of situations that may favor one side or the other. Sum up the totals that apply to each side. If the difference is 1, the disadvantaged side hits on a 5+ in melee while the advantaged side still hits on a 4+. If the difference is 2 or more, then the advantaged side hits on a 3+ while the disadvantaged side hits on a 5+. I don’t want to make this too granular. Melee is messy. Casualties are always going to be inflicted on both sides.

In a melee, one side or the other must win. There are no ties. If the casualty totals are even, the attacker is repulsed. Otherwise, the victor is the side that inflicted the most casualties. This total for victory purposes can be increased if a general or other supreme commander is in the fight. He will usually add 1 or 2 to the total for victory point total calculations.

Finally, you are probably thinking that melee should be more bloody. Well, it has been shown time and time again that hand to hand combat was rare and short. One side or the other usually broke before the enemy came to grips. When combat did occur, other engagement would be resolved quickly.

That is enough for tonight. I would like to thank Vincent Tzao for kicking me into gear. 😉

My Favorite Rules Pt2

In my last post about my favorite rules, I said that I would work on combat in the next post.  Well, I generally like to write rules in order of sequence of play.  Movement comes next, so today I shall talk about movement.

Like everything else, I like to keep my rules short and sweet.  Infantry can move 6″ and cavalry can move 12″.  Remember, this can be modified by morale results.  Sometimes, a morale result can allow only a half move or even no move at all.  Other times, the unit might fall back or route 1 or two moves, which counts as the unit’s move for that turn.

Formed units typically turn about the center  with a turn consuming half a move.  Skirmish/light units may turn about the center up to 45 degrees for free.  Optionally, a unit may wheel and spend movement for each inch moved measured from the outside corner.

A formation change costs a unit a half move.  Formations can be line and column.  Columns can be march column or field column.  March column is 3 figures wide with multiple ranks lined up behind.  Field column is 6 figures wide with multiple ranks lined up behind.

As mentioned, infantry moves 6″ and cavalry 12″.  A unit in column gets a bonus move of +3″.  A unit in march column may gain an additional bonus of +3″ if it moves entirely on a road or path.   Finally, skirmish/light units get +3″ for being in skirmish formation.

It should be noted that a unit that is afforded a half move because of a morale result would only be able to move, change formation or turn as it only has a half move available to do one of the three.

As a final note, morale plays heavily on a unit’s movement ability.  A player may typically move their units as they see fit, within the rules of course!  When a unit starts taking casualties, morale rolls are typically required and this can slow a unit or even force it back.

So there it is!  Short and sweet!  Next time, I shall provide rules for combat.  This time I mean it!

My Favorite Rules Pt1 – Initiative, Turn Sequence and Morale

It’s  been longer than I intended to get this thing rolling.  I pinch my sciatic nerve and I aggravated it  to the point where I had to head to the doctor for some medicinal help.  I am well on my way back to full strength now and am ready to get going.

Initiative, turn sequence and morale seem like quite a lot of ground to cover but frankly, it really isn’t.  For initiative, it should be a matter of a head to head roll.  If one side has a better commanding general, then they get to add 1 to the roll.  A tie goes to the side that one the initiative last turn.  If it is the first turn of the game, a tie goes to the attacker.  The winner chooses to move first or second during the turn.  If they choose to move second, then they are surrendering the initiative to the other side.  This means that the initiative winner becomes the other side for tie breaking purposes.

The turn sequence is as follows:

Side A moves all of its units

Side B moves all of its units.

Both sides shoot with the following priority.

• Units that did not move shoot first both sides simultaneous
• Units that moved shoot next both sides simultaneous

Close combats are performed.

Units that took casualties are marked with a marker indicating that they will take a morale check before they can move in the NEXT turn.

Morale checks are made immediately before a given unit moves.  Sometimes it will be better for a player to move units at risk of routing first while other times you can wait until later in the turn.  Morale checks can result in a unit retreating, routing or even skedaddling off the board.  They can potentially shrug off the effects and move normally that turn or even go out of control and advance aggressively toward the enemy as a result of a morale check.  Nearby commanders can influence the die roll up or down by 1 or even 2 for army commanders but they will risk being killed.

0-   Unit dissolves.  Remove from play.

1     Unit routes 2 moves.  D3 casualties.

2     Unit retreats 1 move.

3     Unit may not move and remains disordered.  Check again next turn.

4     Unit rallies with consuming all movement.

5     Unit rallies consuming half movement.

6     Unit rallies without loss of movement.

7+   Unit rallies.  Cavalry and impetuous units make an uncontrolled advance toward the enemy attempting to make contact.

-1 for 25% casualties, in contact with an enemy, charged in flank or rear

-2 for 50% casualties

+2/+1/0/-1/-2 Army Commander nearby or  -1/0/+1 other general nearby.

For standing against an enemy charge, a 6+ and the unit will fight first, 5 or 4 unit fights simultaneously with charging unit, 3 unit disorders (morale marker for next turn) and fights simultaneously but at half effect.  2 or 1 unit retreats 1 move and fights second if contacted anyway.  0 or less unit routes 2 moves taking D3 casualties.  Also does not fight back if contacted anyway.

When a commander is used, roll a die.  On a 6, the commander is hit and may not use his influence.  1-2 horse shot.  Commander is out for the next turn.  3-4 commander is wounded.  Out D6 turns.  5-6 commander is mortally wounded or killed.

Notes:

It seems to be a trend these days where designers go for simplicity in much of their design and then muddle up the rules in the name of command and control.  They constantly try to go for near simultaneous play.  To me, this is a huge mistake for a number of reasons.  1) it often very hard to explain these rules to new players and even players who are more used to IGO-UGO.  Having both sides moving within the same phase and then resolving combat with a few simple priorities works wonders for keeping the game flowing and it still allows both sides to get into the fight.  The morale checks right before the unit moves will ensure an amount of uncertainty and that commanders can influence the die roll allows for a simple command and control system.

Units should be allowed to move as the players wish (within the rules!) until they get stuck in.  It is a rare occurrence that a formation would sit idly by for no apparent reason at all.  They are not under attack and likely will move toward the front when ordered to go.  Once stuck in, it will become increasingly difficult for a commander to control the units until it becomes unengaged.  The morale rules do an excellent job of enforcing the latter.

There is nothing difficult to explain here.  It is fairly linear in concept.  Both players remain engaged in game play throughout the turn.  I’ve used this system many times and have blted it onto my Featherstone rewrite, which you can find on my “Old School” page at the top of this blog.

Next time, I will go through the combat rules.  I’ll be changing them up some, moving away from the Featherstone style combat mechanisms.  I’ll even give some options for those that like saving throws and for those that prefer to do without them.

A post Turkey-Day Post

Gaming is not something I do over the holidays except for the odd computer game or maybe a game of checkers.  Holidays do give me time to ponder what it is I want to do in gaming over the next year.  One of those things, of course, is to finish up my considerably large project for the American War of Independence.  I plan on using “A Gentleman’s War” for head to head smaller games.  It does provide a fun wargame for both players but does not really lend itself well to multiplayer games.

I’ve been gaming long enough to know exactly what game mechanics work for me and what don’t.  Often I write games as an experiment and use one game mechanic or another.  Sometimes it is just to provide a more codified game system.  But it occurs to me that I’ve used enough of these mechanics and definitely favor some over others.  So I’ve decided to write a rules set that, in theory, would be my perfect rules set.  So, much like I did with Charles Grant’s magazine game “Battle”, I plan on going through the various phases in a series of articles and coming up with something (not so) unique that appeals to my taste.  With some luck, I hope that you will find it appealing too.

Other than designing yet another wargame, I do plan on continuing with my AWI project.  I also have some 3D printed pre-dreadnought ships that deserve some attention.  I am planning on using White Bear, Red Sun (Manley) for the rules.  I have some 6mm ww2 figures already painted and based looking for a rules set to play.  Playing a double blind game of Crossfire (Conliffe)  is quite approachable and my son might even put down his Pokemon deck to play.

 

My Own Version of Battle Part 4

Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of my design notes.  In part 4 I’ll go through our design methodology for vehicles and answer a question.  were British vehicles in the desert really worse than the German counterparts?  lets not beat around the bush and jump right into the designs.

In the early years of the desert campaign, there were really 4 different tanks that were used as battle tanks.  Matilda II, Cruiser A13 MkII for Great Britain.  On the German side we have the Panzer IIIf/g and the Panzer IVd/e.

Matilda II had a maximum road speed of 16mph.  The main armament was the QF 2-pounder anti-tank gun.  It also had a BESA machine gun mounted coaxially with the gun.  It has effectively 8cm of armor in the front for both turret and hull and about 6cm on the average for the side and rear.  In short, it was a rolling brick.  For game purposes, it has an 8″ move cross country.  The frontal armor is 15 which the side armor is 13.   The 2-pounder has the following strike values.  7/7/6/5 for 100/500/1000/1500 yards respectively.

The Cruiser A13 MkII has a road speed of 35mph.  Yeah.  That’s right.  This thing can almost fly!  Frontal armor is about 3cm in most places while side/rear armor is only 2cm and yes.  I am being generous here.  So the frontal armor is only 10 and the side/rear armor is 9.  It also has a QF 2-pounder and a coaxially mounted MG, either a BESA or Vickers.  You can use the stats for the Matilda for firepower.  The speed of this tank off road is an impressive 17″.

And now for the German tanks.

The Panzer IIIf/g was the work horse of the desert campaign right up to the end.  The ‘f’ models were up-armored and up-gunned so they were essentially ‘g’ models.  They had 2 machine guns and a 5cm L/42 cannon for a main armament.  There was 6cm of armor on the front and about half that on the side and rear.  The turret had 3 to 3.7 mm of armor all around.  This brings the frontal defense values to 12 and the side defense to 10.  The tank had a road speed of 25mph.  That gives it roughly a 12″ move.  The 5cm gun has strike values of 6/5/4/3/2 at the various ranges.

The Panzer IVd/e had just 5 cm of armor on the front hull and 3cm on the turret.  There was 2cm of armor on the side and rear.  So the frontal defense will be a 11 while the side/rear defense will be a 9.  The short 75mm gun was not designed for anti-tank purposes.  These models were built when the concept of infantry tanks was still part of the German doctrine.  5/5/4/3 is the strike values.  The road speed is similar to that of the Panzer III.  So 12″ off road movement for this tank as well.

When engaging at normal range of 1000 yards, the 2-pounder can be effective against the frontal armor of the German tanks.  The 6 strike value  means that it can defeat a Panzer III with a roll of 7 and a Panzer IV with a roll of 6.  Conversely, the Matilda with its massive 15 defense would be tough to destroy with either German tank.  The A13, on the other hand with its paltry 10 defense would have to rely on its speed to not get hit.  Any direct hit would likely prove fatal.

So with the tanks so close in value head to head, how did the German army dominate?  The answer is the tactics they employed.  German did not view its armor as an anti-tank weapon only.  Often they would engage at long range, bait the enemy into a charge and then fall back behind a line of anti-tank line.  The line would have a variety of weapons including 5cm Pak 38s and the mighty Flak 36 88mm gun.  Once the enemy was fully engaged, the German armor would make a wide flanking maneuver and attack the helpless British armor from the flank and rear.

I do believe that the armor matchup was relatively even and I’d even give a slight edge to the British at this point in the war but the superior German tactics coupled with the the mechanical difficulties of some of the British tanks, gave the edge on the battlefield to the Germans.

 

 

 

My Own Version of Battle Part 3

I’ve started with tanks and have gone through the infantry basics as well.  Now it is time to worry about artillery and the communications involved in directing fire.

Mr. Grants game is based on a 1 minute game turn and assumes that the units in question will be able to move about with perfect efficiency should the player choose.  I’ve chosen a 5 minute turn, not that it really matters, and assume there will be plenty of “hurry up and wait” involved with moving units.  With that in mind, a forward observer (F/O) will need to raise the gun battery on the radio.  Grant assumed a throw of a 5 or 6 was necessary on a single dice throw.  Given that we would have 5 chances to get this number, I’ve distilled this down to a single dice throw as well.  The chances work out to being roughly 86% which means you would need something like a 2 or better on a single dice throw.  Now that may seem excessive but when you consider how artillery works in some of the other games out there, you would be left wondering how in the world guys got support in on target in a timely fashion!  A friend of mine, who served many years in the army, would agree that games routinely get it wrong.  You can usually get contact in a minute or two, a spotting round down range within the minute and if all goes well you will probably be able to fire for effect a couple of minutes after that.  So, it should follow that you can have artillery raining down on the enemy within a turn or at most two.

So here is how it should work.  The F/O makes contact (2+ on a D6).  Now, he would place a marker and roll to range in.  A 5 or 6 is required.  A failure results in the target being ranged in on the NEXT turn at the point the player selected.  Now, place a 1.5″ X 3″ rectangle down centered on the point of impact.  Each corner will be numbered 1 through 4.  A die roll of 5 or 6 will result in the rounds coming in on target.  On a 1 through 4, the area is shifted to the numbered corner that resulted.  Thus if the upper left corner was labeled 1 and a 1 was rolled, shift the point of impact to the upper left corner.  Any vehicle or figure caught under the blast is subject to being destroyed.  Infantry and gun crew need a 5 or 6 to survive in the open, a 4+ in cover except woods where splintered wood would effectively make the area as dangerous as in the open.   infantry sheltered in slit trenches, fox holes or bunkers are saved on a 3+.  Tanks are immobilized on a 4 or 5 and rendered inoperative on a 6.  Soft skinned vehicles are destroyed on a 3+.  Any passengers make saves as if in the open.

My Own Version of Battle Part 2

In part 1, I laid out the basics of tank combat.  Part 2 will deal with infantry combat.

Infantry should be a bit easier to define.  There is no armor to worry about.  There is, however, terrain, and machine guns, and bazookas, and flame throwers and….well it may be more difficult than what meets the eye.

Before we start, we should probably define what ranges are.  Like Mr. Grant, I think a 10″ scale works well.  unlike him, I want to define 1″ as about 50 yards as he had 3″ as 100 yards or 33 yards per inch.  With respect to tank combat, 2″ is point blank.  10″ is short range. 20″ is medium range.  30″ is long range.  Finally, 40″ is extreme range.  For infantry combat, you can safely say that 10″ is long  range.  Perhaps 5″ short range and 2″ is close assault range.

The original Battle had hit numbers defined by range and cover type.  It works fine but I prefer the hit and save method of Don Featherstone and Tony Bath.  Close assault hits on a 4+.  Short range hits on a 5+.  Long range hits on a 6.  Normally, there will be a save for each hit.  A normal save is a 5+ in the open.  A figure is assumed to be taking advantage cover in the open if it moves a normal move or less, say 3″.  The figure will gain +1 on the save.  Figures that “double time” (6″ move) in the open only save on a 5+.  A figure in light cover (woods, wooden buildings etc) save on a 4+.  3+ if the figure is in heavy cover (entrenched, stone building, bunker etc).   The slow move bonus does not apply here.

Machine guns come in two varieties, light and heavy.  Light machine guns  are those heavy automatic weapons typically mounted on bi-pods.  Instead of throwing 1 die, the light machine gun gets 3 dice.  Heavy machine guns get 5 dice and can hit out to 20″ but any attack over 10″ is only with 2 dice.  Flame throwers shoot out to 3″ and hit anything within a cone that terminates 1″ wide.  Saving throws do apply.  Targets in cover against flame attacks only get a save of 5+, and targets in the open do not get a cover bonus for moving slowly.   Personal AT weapons have a relatively short range.  PIATs and Panzerfausts have a range of just 3″ and hit on a 4+.  Bazookas and Anti-tank Rifles have a 5″ range and also hit on a 4+.  Strike values will vary of course.  Anti-tank rifles stike values will be relatively low, perhaps 2 or 3 while the shape charge weapons strike value will be 7 or more depending on the weapon.  I’ll have to do research on that.

 

My Own Version of Battle Part 1

I’ve been reading through “Battle” by Charles Grant.  It is his version of a simple WW2 wargame.  Lets face it.  All of Mr Grant’s wargame rules were simple.  That is not a bad thing.  His methodology is sound.  Each vehicle has a defense value.  You roll 2 dice to hit, with each target number being progressively higher the farther the target is away from the shooter.  If a hit is scored, you roll 2 dice again and add the guns strike value.  If the total is greater than the target’s defense value, the target is destroyed.  Simple.  Now, part of the issue I take with this method is that side armor of many vehicles are significantly less than the frontal armor.  Some of the defense values are suspect as well.

Here is a great example.  A Panther tank has significant frontal armor and weak side armor.  The frontal armor is sloped as well.  Most games today do not adequately take into account the effect of sloped armor.  The front hull armor is just 80mm but is sloped at 55 degrees.  There is a formula to figure out the effective armor across the slope.

Tn is the normal thickness.

S is the armor slope in degrees.

Te=Tn/cos(radians(S))

Where Te is the effective armor.  When worked out, the Panther’s effective armor is 140mm on the hull.  The turret has a flat 100mm of armor with 80mm on the sides.  The hull sides are only 50mm.  So what do we do with all of this?  Well, to start, we have a base number of 7 as or target number.  The reason for 7?  It is the average dice roll of 2 dice.  To that we add the effective armor in centimeters.  Now, we have to consider that the turret has a different armor value than the hull.  We can accept this and use a hit location die roll.  1-2 the turret is hit.  3-6 the hull is hit.  Or we can average the two numbers.  1/3 of the value is based on the turret and the other 2/3 is based on the hull.   So a frontal attack on a Panther would have to defeat ((14X2)+10)/3+7=20 defense.  The side armor is ((5X2)+8)/3+7=13.  The strike value of a Panther is the gun penetration in cm.  At 100 yards it is roughly 14.  At 500 yards it is 12.  At 1000 yards it is 11.  At 1500 yards it is 10 and at 2000 yards it is 9.

Other quick comparisons.  The Tiger 1 has a front defense of 18 and a side defense of 15.  Sherman has a front defense of 16 and a side defense of 12.  The strike value of the Sherman’s 75mm gun would be 8/7/6/5/4.  At 1000 yards, it could destroy a Panther side on but from the front, there would be no chance to destroy the tank at any range.   The later guns including the American 76.2mm and the British 17 pounder were more than adequate, at least at close range and even farther away in the case of the latter.

Chances to hit can be graded at 5 or better at 100 yards, 6 or better at 500 yards, 7 or better at 1000 yards, 8 or better at 1500 yards and 9 or better at 2000 yards.   If the tank moves at up to half speed there should be a dice penalty of -2.  If it moves full the penalty should be doubled as it is very difficult to fire on the move like that.