Warhammer ModernBy Guy BowersPlaytest Lite Version

Warhammer Modern - By Guy Bowers

The difference between the ancient warrior and his modern counter part is the mod-ern soldier learns to love hugging dirt!

This is an adaptation of the Warhammer Ancient Battles rules to cover 20th CenturyWarfare. The intention is to produce a set of skirmish rules which give a fun gamewhile reflecting some of the tactics used on the battlefield and applying these to thegame.

TerrainTerrain is like WAB with one notable addition, difficult terrain is divided into scatteredand dense.

Most of the board will be Open Terrain and offers no special rules for cover or move-ment. It includes any open area (be they plains, grassland, snow plain, desert,street).

Difficult terrain is divided to two sub types:

Scattered terrain offers soft cover if the infantry unit does not move that turn. Itincludes rubble areas, crop fields and scrubland.

Dense terrain offers soft cover as long as the infantry unit remains in it. It includeswoodland, jungle and swamp.

Very difficult terrain slows infantry and vehicles to half movement. It includesswamp,snow fields, fordable rivers etc.

Impassable terrain cannot be crossed by units unless they are specifically equippedto do so. Mountain troops and Commandos may be equipped with grapnels and linesfor crossing impassable terrain, for example.

MovementMovement uses the same conventions as WAB. Most troops have a movement valueof 4. We assume that most troops are carrying their weapons and full battledress(helmet, pack, bedroll, food, canteen etc).

Some irregulars or similar 'light troops' have a movement value of 5. These are car-rying very little apart from a weapon and some spare ammunition. This incudes earlyWaffen SS (when their doctrine was to travel light and fast), Commandos and mostRussians.

Infantry and vehicles may double move but then they cannot shoot.Troops may triple move if formed in column and in open terrain (with the disadvan-tages of being formed up!). Wheeled vehicles may triple move if on roads.

20th Century Warfare

With the advent of fasterloading rifles, more reliablesmokeless ammunition andthe first reliable machine-gun, the Maxim, the natureof warfare rapidly changed.

Units of infantry had to dis-perse for survival. The pre-vious tactics of blocks ofmarching infantry weresoon proven to be very out-dated, a bloody lessonlearnt in the boer wars ofthe turn of the 20th centuryby the British.

Prior to that war, the Britisharmy had fought moreprimitive armies with pre-dictable results.

The accuracy of the rifleand the rapid firepower ofthe machinegun woulddevastate formed units.Against the skimishingBoers with modernweapons, there was to beno decisive battle or easywon victory. When broughtto the fight, the Boer 'kom-mando' units would meltaway. It would take anotherinvention, the concentra-tion camp, to tame theBoers.

The Great War of 1914-18saw the stalemate of thetrenches caused greatly inpart by the technologies ofthe railroad (allowing quickreinforcements), the tele-phone (allowing the instantrelay of battle information)and preservation in food(which allowed troops toremain in situ for long peri-ods).At first, the rifle was seenas a long range weaponwith the overly optimisticranges of 1000 yards,designed to engage march-ing columns of enemyinfantry. After the debacleof WW1, it was realizedslowly in military circlesthat modern warfare wouldbe fought at much shorterranges. It was one thing to

Vehicles

Vehicles vary and are based on their cross country speeds and performance. Forexample, a Tiger tank has a Move of 6 while a Sherman has a Move 8 and the BT hasa Move 10.

Wheeled Vehicles may move over open terrain normally. They may not march movethrough scattered terrain and cannot enter dense terrain or very difficult terrain. Atypical truck is move 6. Commercial vehicles (2 wheel drive) are not designed for offroad and roll for immobilization off road.

1/2 Tracks move as wheeled vehicles but may attempt to enter very difficult terrainat the risk of being immobilized.

Tracked Vehicles move freely through open and scattered terrain. They may enterdense terrain and very difficult terrain but risk becoming immobilized.

Crew served weapons come in two types, those that can be man handled (on tripodsor light carriages) and those that can't (those on gun carriages).

Tripods can move through any terrain but cannot march move.

Gun carriages cannot be easily moved by the crew (the gun can only move acrossopen terrain and cannot double move). Light carriages (up to 47mm) can be movedthrough open terrain but cannot march move. Heavy carriages (76mm guns) can bemanhandeld at half speed. Very heavy carriages (88mms) can only be moved byvehicle, the crew can only move the gun to pivot in the other direction.

Line Of SightTroops cannot shoot through friendly or other enemy troops unless firing from an ele-vated position. Field guns and tripod machineguns are move or fire, they have to bemanhandled round to face another direction if the target is out of the gun's 90º firearc.

The German '88, the 2pdr and Vickers MG are exceptions, as they may be freelymoved through 360º.

Radios and telephone lines allow instant communication to and from units. In effect,those with communication equipment may act as line of sight for other units (seeindirect fire). Very lights may be fired either as a signal to illuminate an area.Characters and specialists (leaders and RT operators) enjoy the 'Look Out Sir!' ruleto avoid unfair targeting. There are two exceptions. Artillery fire may by chance hita character or specialist. Snipers may pick out characters and specialists if they haveline of sight. If a specialist is killed, it is assumed his equipment is lost too. A radiois assumed to be Knocked out when operator is killed.

shoot volley fire at amarching column in theopen at 1000m, anotherentirely to get a shot off at afast moving skirmishing tar-get at 100m. This thinkingwould result in the reducingof size of the rifle cartridge,allowing more ammunitionto be carried and the intro-duction of more rapid firing,automatic weapons.

Rapid firing artillery alsochanged the face of thebattlefield. The introductionof 'fixed' ammunition (war-head and propellant in oneshell, like a bullet) andhydraulic recoil suppres-sors meant that light gunscould fire faster. Theheavier guns were fired nolonger directly, but at mapcoordinates. Indirect firewas born. Most casualtiesin the first world war werecaused by indirect shelling.

With the introduction of the'land cruiser tracked',dubbed 'water tanks forMesopotamia', warfarewould be revolutionizedagain. The armoured out-post, the tank, was able tomove over the impassableterrain of the war torn bat-tlefield and be immune tosmall arms fire. This inven-tion helped break the stale-mate of the trenches, but itwould take a genius on thelosing side, Model, to real-ize the tank's potential foranother form of warfare,the Blitzkrieg.

Line of SightIn a game dominated byshooting, line of sightbecomes a very importantaspect of the game.

ShootingShooting follows the same principles as WAB. Strict line of sight rules apply, modelsmay not shoot through other models, friend or foe.

MODIFIERS+1 Shooting at a Large Target or Formed unit+1 Second and subsequent shot at a large stationary target-1 Shooting while moving-1 Shooting at Long Range – Over half weapon’s range-2 Shooting at extreme range - Up to double the weapon’s range.-1 Target is in Cover (Wall, house, dug out, Tanks hull down)-2 Infantry target is in Hard Cover (Prepared position, sandbagged house, Bunkerslit).

COVER AND TANKS: Tanks can’t normally claim cover, they may being ‘dug in’ butonly in if defending in a ‘last stand’ type scenarios. Walls and fences do not count ascover - only ‘hull down’ positions behind a hill offer this protection.

ARTILLERY SHIELDS—Gun shields offer soft cover for those behind them and protec-tion from the effects of shell templates which fall in front of the shield. Dug in guns(only available usually to the defender in a Last Stand type scenario) count as hardcover from all directions. Crew served weapons with gun shields are considered incover to the front.

SMOKE: Any target who’s line of sight is traced through the smoke counts as beingin soft cover. Two groups of smoke block line of sight.

BUDDYING UP: Any shots against a formed unit (where the bases are touching) aretreated as shooting at a large target. This does not count crew served weapons incover, who are protected in part by the weapon or cover.

HIP FIRING - Moving and firing with a heavy automatic or semi automatic weapon isdone from the hip, not from the shoulder. This ‘off sights’ shooting is very inaccurateand thus halves the rate of fire.

7’s to hitAny modifier which reduces a chance ‘to hit’ above 6 is an automatic miss.

This is a very important rule with very important yet subtle consequences. The stan-dard rifle has a 24” range (extreme range of 48”). You might be able to snipe at aman in the open 48” away but you’ll only be able to shoot someone in cover at 24”.Troops in a bunker will only be accurately targeted at ranges of 12” or less.

Armour SaveVirtually no troops outside the modern era have armour. The standard helmet doesnot offer a save.

Skirmishing: There is nopenalty for shooting at askirmishing target – themodern rifled weapon ishighly accurate.

Formed Units:Traditionally, men weregrouped together for easeof control. In the 19thCentury troops were stilldrilled to march and shoottogether as a formedmass.

Troops in march column(two or three abreast)may triple move givingthemselves great maneu-verability, at a cost ofbeing easy targets to anenemy. Troops in marchcolumn count as a largetarget.

The ‘Buddying Up’ ruleaccurate and is to encour-age units to skirmish.Bunched up units willmake excellent targets!

The SMLE of WW1 hadsights graduated to over800 yards but was onlyeffective at skirmishingtroops in cover at rangesof 100 yards or less.

BS2 TroopsInfantry with BS2 are adisadvantage with the 7’sto hit system. To offsetthis they halve their shotsand require 6’s againstany target BS3 troopscould hit on 6’s.

Example: A squad of 10recruits firing at longrange at a target in cover(a total of -2 to hit) wouldtake 5 shots and require6’s to hit.

What about BS4 units?They are rare and verygood shots!

Armour:The consequencesof not having any armoursaves (or cover saves forthat matter, as cover isfactored into shooting) isthe game becomes muchquicker to play.

Helmets should affect theeffectiveness of artilleryfire. All troops without hel-mets shoud treat artillerywounds at +1 strength.

Ambuscade (optional rule)Antitank weapons may elect to fire in a mode called “ambuscade”. In their ownShooting phase, instead of shooting with the unit in question (HMG or AT gun), theowning player may place a marker, within range, line of sight, and arc of fire of theunit. The unit does not move nor may it fire that turn. In the opponent’s subse-quent Movement phase, the player may fire the unit at one target which moved with-in a 3” radius of the marker provided the target still fulfills range, line of sight, andarc of fire restrictions at that time. The results of this fire are applied immediately.

Machineguns do not need ambuscade, they have suppressing fire (which can beviewed as ‘potential shots’ rather than actual shots).

Initiative TestsSometimes squads and vehicle crews will be called upon to make initiative tests.‘Bogging down’ and testing for minefields (to name a few) maybe become a modi-fied INI test to avoid. So a skilled team will spot the mines or avoid getting stuckwhile less skilled won’t.

MoraleThe only significant change from WAB is the introduction of the concept of pinning.When a squad in cover takes a panic test from 25% shooting casualties, it does notflee on a failed test but become suppressed instead. Suppressed troops may notmove or shoot, until they rally (passing a Ld test at the start of their turn). They keeptheir heads down and tend to their wounded comrades. Should a suppressed squadbe subject to a second failed test, they flee as normal and abandon their position.

Suppressed squads do not affect nearby squads for panic tests (as fleeing troops nor-mally would). Suppressed troops are keeping their heads down and cannot be targeted byaimed shots. They may be targeted by suppressing fire.

Units in the open flee as normal (in military terminology they are 'falling back'!).

If fleeing troops pass into cover, they immediately may make a rally test as long asthere is no enemy within 8”. If they succeed, they become suppressed. If they fail,they continue their full flee move. This test only applies for the first time the unitenters cover. Fleeing units which rally in cover become suppressed.

Voluntary FailsA player may choose to fail a panic test (and suffer the negatice consequences) ofany unit without testing. This is a useful tactic if a unit is taking too much fire andwishes to keep their heads down or fall back.

Unit rally sizeAll Infantry units, support weapon and tank crews may rally as long as they are still1/2 strength or over. Under 1/2 and they cannot rally and are removed.

AssaultsClose combat - as WAB. Consists of melee and close shooting.

Charging opponents are obliged to maximise contact for both sides. There is no standand shoot or fire and flee reaction - units either stand or flee.

Grenades allow the side using them to strike first. If both sides have grenades, thennormal order is followed. In addition, grenades allow models not in contact to fight,any model within 2” can fight.

CoverAttacking defended obstacles. Targets behind cover or in an open top vehicle are at-1 'to hit'. Hard cover (such as a bunker or a tank) is at -2 'to hit'. Suppressed tar-gets do not benefit from cover from charges.

Combat ResolutionUsually no modifers are applied to the result (there being no ranks, flanks, standardsor musicians).Panic tests are taken as normal. Units in cover may flee or choose to become pinnedinstead. Sometimes it’s safer staying put.

Ambuscade: this is theBAR equivalent of over-watch.

It is only available todefenders in a 2 to 1attack scenario - using itall the time slows thegame down!

Initiative is also used withthe optional encirclementrules (see end).

UNIT SIZE: This is a changefrom WAB, due to the smallersizes of units.

CLOSE COMBAT:Possibly an additional attackfor SMGs and Pistols? Orreflected in officer’s stats?

Grenades might reduce thepenalty for fighting into cover?

Alternatively, troops may‘fix bayonets’. The use ofbayonets allow the re-rolling of misses in combatfor the basic attacks. Ittakes a turn for a unit to'fix bayonets' before itcharges and the playercan only reroll hand tohand hits, not grenadehits.

Some nations may have armystandards. These flags willgive +1 to combat resolutionas normal and allow the re-rollof break tests as normal.

COVER: This is similar tothe effect of shieldwall inWAB and is the system Iused in Siege andConquest. In fact, S&Cwas influenced by playingthese very rules!

It is common for troops to ‘goto ground’ rather than runwhen faced with an assault.Thus the choice is left to theplayer.

Armour

Most vehicles count as large targets. Each vehicle has an Armour Toughness ratingon each of it's facings Front, Flank (referred to as the side armour), Rear and Top.

The front, flank and rear zones are shown on page 13 of the main rulebook. Anenemy shooting from within this zone will hit the respective armour facing. Toparmour is used for infantry antitank grenades and aerial attack.

A typical tank will look like this:

M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top PtsM4 Sherman 8 3 2 6 5 4 4 3 115

Fire arcs (Open and Buttoning Up)Tank weaponry follow the same fire arc restrictions of other weapons, being 90degrees or 45 degrees either side of the direction of the gun barrel.

OpenAn open tank may turn it’s turret freely through 360 degrees. The tank commanderis looking out of his hatch and can spot targets. This gives the tank better spottingbut the tank commander becomes a hard cover target (-2 to hit). An open tank isalso more vulnerable to infantry assault (see below).

Buttoned upThe tank is limited to a 90 degrees fire arc (direction turret is facing). To change theturret’s facing requires an initiative test.

Some tanks, such as the Tiger have slow traverse, they may only change their tur-ret direction by 90º a turn.

Tank CrewTank crews ignore morale around them outside the tank. However, if the tank is dam-aged, they may have to pass a panic test to stay with the vehicle.

Optional Rule - Vehicle SquadronsMutiple vehicles are put in squadrons or sections. Vehicles in squadrons will have totake a morale test for the squadron if one of their vehicles are destroyed. If they fail,they will disengage (withdrawing at full speed backwards) until they pass a moraletest.

Some vehicles, such asthe KV2, have such a highprofile, they cannot countas being in cover.

A simple wooden fence orstone wall will not count ascover for a tank - thesewill not stop a tank shell!To be in cover, the tankwill have to be hull downbehind a substantial hill orsimilar obstacle. Tankscannot hide behind streetcorners shooting!

Tank crews typically havethe following typicalmorale:Raw Crews Ld 6 Regular Crews Ld 7Veteran Crews Ld 8

Italians were known fortheir dogged determina-tion despite overwhelmingodds and very poormachinery.

Russian crews were oftenraw but had the addedincentive that they werenot allowed to abandontheir tanks if they were atall in working order. To doso would mean a chat withthe Comissar.So they have a morale‘incentive’!

DamageIf the tank is hit by a shell, subtract the Strength of the shell from the armour on thefacing hit. A D6 is rolled by the defender. If the result is greater than the modifiedStrength, there is no effect, the tank has ‘saved’. If the roll is lower, the tank is dam-aged.

The following table is a useful guide to calculating saves:“-” = AUTOMATIC SAVE“*” = SAVE AUTOMATICALLY FAILS

A DIE IS STILL ROLLED TO DETERMINE DAMAGE.

The Simple Method (for large scale battles)The ‘saving roll’ made by the defender determines the damage done to the tank ifthe save is failed.

For example, a Tiger I is hit on it’s front facing (Armour 6) by an 85mm gun(Strength 9), giving a 3. So a 1-3 will damage the tank while a 4+ will save. A 1 isrolled. Looking on the table below, the crew make a panic test. Rolling a 6 on twodice, they pass. If the Tiger was hit by a strength 7 gun, it would save on a 2+ andthe worst result would be a ‘1’ a panic test.

The table isn’t really nec-essary but it helps playersfamiliarise themselveswith the system.

The simple method isdesigned for very largegames or games played ata smaller scale (15mm).The ‘saving roll’ determin-ing damage is a difficultconcept to get some play-ers heads around but itreally does work! Try it outa few times.

Armour of facing

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 121 - - - - - - - - - - - -2 2+ - - - - - - - - - - -3 3+ 2+ - - - - - - - - - -4 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - - - - - - -5 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - - - - - -6 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - - - - -7 * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - - - -8 * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - - -9 * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - - -10 * * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - - -11 * * * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ - -12 * * * * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ -13 * * * * * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+14 * * * * * * * * 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+

If the roll is not saved, look on the table below:

Defender rolls a 1 Surface Hit Crew make a panic test. Failure means tank abandoned

Defender rolls a 2 Minor Penetration Panic test plus the tank cannot move or shoot for a turn

Defender rolls a 3or more

Major Penetration Tank is destroyed.

The Detailed Method (For standard sized battles)

In the detailed method, an additional die is rolled by the attacker to determine theextent of the damage caused by the hit. This second die is modified depending onwhether it is a side hit (greater chance of an immobilization) or a rear hit (greaterchance of engine fire).

'Glancing' cause no damage but the crew must pass a panic test or exit the vehicle.

'Crew' causes crew casualties, the number indicated by the table. Crew test formorale when 25% of the crew is lost. If half the crew is lost but still with the vehi-cle, the tank may move or shoot but not both.

'Gun' hits cause a main weapon (or random turret with multi turret weapons) to bedamaged. The BS of the tank is reduced by the indicated amount. A gun reduced toBS0 is inoperable. If the gun becomes inoperable and it is the crew's only mainweapon, they have to pass a panic test or abandon the tank.

'Immob' (Immobilized) vehicles cannot move. The crew must pass a panic test toremain with the vehicle (Not a good idea to stay with an immobilised vehicle). Thedamage cannot be repaired by the crew.

‘Fire'. A minor fire has started which can be put out by the crew by making a Ld test.The crew can do nothing for a turn while they fight the fire. Failure of the test meansit develops into a heavy fire next turn on a 4+. A ‘1’ results in the fire miraculouslygoing out.

'Heavy Fire'. A serious fire has broken out and the tank must be abandoned. Roll 4+for each crew member to escape without injury. Roll 4+ in the subsequent turn forthe tank to cook off. A ‘1’ results in the fire miraculously going out.

'Cook Off'. The tank explodes as the ammunition explodes. All Infantry within a D6"are wounded on a 4+. With small tanks or vehicles (with little or no HE) the radiusis a D3”.

Panicking crew flee the tank. If the player has the models, they may be rallied in sub-sequent turns.

Assaulting a tank.

As outlined above, tanks are counted as hard cover unless open topped or open(which count as cover). Tank crews fight back but treat their attackers as being incover (it is hard to fight back in a tank!).

Models with antitank grenades are treated separately. Roll to hit with BS as normal-ly, treating the tank as a large target. On a 1, the grenade goes off in the thrower’shand, 2 is a miss while a 3+ is a hit. Roll for damage on top armour. Remove theAntitank grenade model and repllace it with a model without one after the attack.

Tank DesaintTroops carried on the back of a tank (in soviet desaint fashion, but I've seen picturesof US and German troops using a similar tactic). Troops on the top of a Tank aretreated as being in cover to the front and do not count as ‘Buddying Up’.

Germans gain 1/2 victorypoints for crews recovered.Russians gain nothing - theywere expected to stay with thetank if it was still operational.

Some AT grenades (likemoltov cocktails and ‘sticky’bombs can injure the user.Others will be simply be‘duds’.

If the roll is not saved, look on the table below:

‘Save’ Roll of a 1

Surface Hit

‘Save’ Roll of a 2

Minor Peneteration

‘Save’ Roll of a 3

Major Peneteration

‘Save’ Roll of a 4+

Catastrophic

1 Immob Immob, 1 Crew Immob, D3 Crew Immob, D3 Crew2 Glancing D3 Crew Fire, D6 Crew Fire, D6 Crew

3 Gun D3 Gun D6, 1 Crew Gun D6, D3 Crew Gun D6, D6 Crew4 1 Crew Fire Fire, D3 Crew Hv Fire

5 Glancing D3 Crew D6 Crew 2D6 Crew6 Fire Hv Fire Hv Fire Cook Off

+1 to the dice roll on the damage table for Rear hits

-1 to the dice roll on the damage table for Side Hits

Field GunsField Guns typically have a Toughness value of 6 if they are hit. They are effectivelyimmune to the effects of AP shells and can only be harmed by HE or HEAT ammo. A‘HIT’ on the deviation dice is used to see if the gun is hit with the full strength of theweapon, otherwise the crew and gun are hit by the shrapnel of the weapon (half theweapon’s strength with HE or 1/4 with HEAP).

Indirect Fire (Currently being rewitten)

Indirect fire is considered to be fire at extreme range (at -2). At this range, most hitswill be supression hits.

Zeroing inOn the second and subsequent turns of firing, a forward artillery observer may cor-rect the fall of fire. The observer makes an initiative roll. If passed, all subsequentshots against that target are at +1. (Additional plusses?)

MortarsMortars did have very high rates of fire but were limited by correcting fire betweenshots and ammunition stocks.Light and medium mortars are quick firing weapons and may fire twice a round.Heavy mortars fire once per round. Mortars may only fire indirectly and are limitedto four rounds of shooting per battle (unless army list allows extra ammo).

Quick Firing GunsMost lighter guns are what the British call 'quick firing' or QF. They fire once a round.The powder charge and warhead are 'fixed', are together in the same shell. Earlierguns loaded shell and powder charge separately and were much slower firing.

Heavy guns have a shell and a separate powder charge (known as bag loaded).Loading is a great deal slower as each must be loaded separately into the gun. Theseweapons fire once every other turn, but as compensation they are much more lethal.

Lighter 'bag loaded' guns (such as the Japanese 70mm) may make an Initiative testto fire on each even turn.

Indirect FireTo fire indirectly requires either line of sight (directly or through radio/telephone) oris PREDICTED fire.

LINE OF SIGHT can be traced from any radio or telephone equipped unit. This nor-mally means the radio equipped unit or model doing nothing that turn (not movingnor firing radioing in the coordinates). Tanks & other vehicles with a dedicated radiooperator may ignore this penalty. Dedicated artillery observer units make misses lesslikely. Once an observer unit gets a 'hit' they may inform the artillery battery andincrease the accuracy of the indirect fire.

PREDICTED fire is scenario dependant and was based on local landmarks. After theterrain has been placed down but before any forces are put down, the player maywrite down up to three locations where the predicted fire will be aimed. The note canthem be slipped under a convenient terrain feature for safe keeping and the battleforces placed on the table.

Transport Vehicles and PorteesWhen firing against transport vehicles, a dice is rolled for each hit to see if it hits thetransporter or the cargo. On a 4+ the cargo area is hit instead of the transport (butmay be in the blast radius for HE!). The cargo gets the protection of the vehicle’sarmour unless it is on a flatbed.Infantry units in the back of the vehicle are hit as normal (despite being bunchedtogether).HE and HEAT hits all with shrapnel.Portees (that is guns carried on the backs of lorries) are treated as cargo. If the gunis hit, it is treated like a field gun, ignoring AP hits. The Portee and truck test moraleas one, if the truck driver runs because it’s on fire, I can’t see the gun crew stayingaround to get roasted!

Most guns fire once per turn.

Light ‘semiautomatic’ guns likethe German 37mm may firetwice if the crew passes anintitiative test.

Heavy guns (122mm and larg-er) fire every other turn. Reallybig guns (203mm) fire everythird turn (twice in a battle!).

Guns will be costed based ontheir rate of fire for the stan-dard game (6 turns).

Mortars: They did havevery high rates of fire butwere limited by correctingfire between shots andammunition stocks.Light and medium mortarsare quick firing weaponsand may fire twice around. Heavy mortars fireonce per round. Mortarsmay only fire indirectlyand are limited to fourrounds of shooting perbattle (unless army listallows extra ammo).

Quick Firing Guns: Mostlighter guns are what theBritish call 'quick firing' orQF. They fire once around. The powder chargeand warhead are 'fixed',are together in the sameshell. Earlier guns loadedshell and powder chargeseparately and were muchslower firing.

Heavy guns have a shelland a separate powdercharge (known as bagloaded). Loading is a greatdeal slower as each mustbe loaded separately intothe gun. These weaponsfire once every other turn,but as compensation theyare much more lethal.

Lighter 'bag loaded' guns(such as the Japanese70mm) may make aInitiative test to fire eachturn.

Encirclement (Optional Rule)

As wargamers we naturally move our models around the table with no restrictions, looking down from a god likeperspective on the battlefield. In battle accounts, it was often noted that less skilled troops were often outflankedor encircled by better troops. But how to reflect this on the battlefield is the challenge.

The following rules are to encourage more realistic movement on the battlefield and are entirely optional. Theyare designed for serious simulation wargamers and not competitive play.

The player can move freely any unit

• Towards the enemy board edge (or scenario objective).• Towards a visible enemy in fire arc.• Towards an enemy which fired in the last turn.*• Towards an enemy moving large target.*

Any other move requires the unit to make ain initiative test.

* Armoured units which are ‘buttoned up’ ignore the last two. They cannot automatically react to shots outsidetheir firing arc or moving vehicles.

A unit may always fire at a target in the open and in fire arc.

A unit can fire at an enemy unit in cover if:

• It did fire (revealing it’s position).• It did not fire but did move and is inside 18".• It did not fire, did not move but is inside 12".• It is a large target which did not fire nor move but is inside 24".

Units leaving coverA unit leaving cover is free to do so as long as it was not shot at last turn. If it was, an initiative test is required(effectively the unit may be pinned). Units in the open will press on regardless until casualties push them back.

Notes:

Better troops may react on their own initiative to move. Poor troops rely on officer motivation or march on for-ward heedless to their flanks.

So if you are moving towards enemy territory or revealed enemy, you are allowed a 90 degree cone of advancefor your troops. Any other move other than a retreat would require an intitiative test.

A failed test simply means your troops haven’t had your thought and foresight and cannot perform that move thisgo (they may move normally within the restrictions).Naturally you may only test once per go and may use one squad leader/officer’s initiative test once in your go torecheck this roll.

Troops may retreat freely, using the same 90 degree arc as advancing but applying it to your nearest board edge(friendly territory).

Encirclement – The principle

When you are wargaming you get a birds eye view of the entire battle field. You can see the enemy machine gunnest hidden behind the corner of a building on the crossroads. You can see where troops are spread thin and wherethe concentrations are, and you can then modify your plans accordingly. In reality your troops would be complete-ly unaware of the enemy. It is very difficult to take away this effect, we can only make it more difficult to takeadvantage of.

Flanking is a common tactic in games. You see an enemy force sneaking up behind the tree-line, so you send anintercept squad, even though your troops don’t know they are there. So why would they go gallivanting off intothe woods? The player may see the enemy flanking, but do your forces? It may be an obvious tactic, but do theythink of it?

Nazi Germany

The German army was by far the most efficient and professional army at the start of the war, even though it lackedsufficient transport and relied on a largely horse drawn artillery. As the war progressed, the losses it sustained couldnot be made up and the squad size and quality were greatly reduced.

German BS Ini Ld Move

Schütze 3 3 7 4Veteran 4 4 7 4

Typical 1941 Squad is NCO with MP 40, 6 Rifles, MG 34 Gunner, MG34 loader, MG 34 Ammo Carrier with Rifle

BS Ini Ld MoveFeldwebel 3 4 8 4Leutnant 3 4 8 4Hauptmann 4 4 9 4

German are +1 when Determining Attacker (Blitzkreig rule).

Rng Str ROF NotesKAR 98 24 3 1MP 40 12 3 3 Light Weapon - No move and fire penaltyWalther P38 12 3 2 Light Weapon - No move and fire penaltyMG 34 24 3 4 (dedicated loader gives +2 ROF)MG 34 Tripod 36 4 4 (dedicated loader gives +2 ROF)Panzerfaust 12 9 1 1 Shot, backblast (Here for reference!)

The Soviet Union

The Soviets lacked an effective officer corps after the Stalin purges. What the Red army lacked in training, it made upin numbers. Conscripts soon learnt the hard way to fight. As the Soviets rarely re-equipped units (it was easier tobuild new ones), you’d often find veterans units of greatly reduced strength, a company with barely enough men tomake up a platoon.

Patriotic War Russians

BS Ini Ld MovConscript 2 2 6 5Soldier 3 2 7 5Veteran 4 3 6 5

Typical 1941-42 Squad is NCO with Ppsh, 7 Rifles, DT Gunner, DT loader with Rifle. Later squads would be onessection Ppsh, two sections rifles. Russians are usually lightly equipped.

Acc Ini Ld MovSerzhánt 3 4 7 5Leytenánt 3 4 8 5Kapitán 4 4 8 5

Soviets are +1 INI for Advancing.

Rng Str ROF NotesMosin Nagant 24 3 1Shpagin (PPSH) 12 3 4Tolkarev Pistol 12 3 2 Light Weapon - No move and fire penaltyDegalitrev LMG 24 3 3 (dedicated loader gives +1 ROF)Maxim HMG 36 4 6 (dedicated loader gives +2 ROF), Heavy WeaponPTRD Anti tank 30 6 1 Heavy Weapon (PTRS is ROF 2)

German Tanks

M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top PtsPanzer IVH 8 3 2 7 5 4 4 3 140

German 75mmL48 gun firing AP, HE and Smoke. Two MG34 machineguns (hull and coaxial). 5 Crew (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/hull gunner). Radio.

Rng Str ROF Notes75mm AP Rng 48 8 175mm HE Rng 30 7 1 Str 3 shrapnel, Small TemplateMG34 Rng 24 3 4

Schurtzen on Pz IV adds +1 Armour to side/rear vs HE/HEAT and PTRS AT Rifle (+10 points)

M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top PtsTiger 1 6 3 2 8 6 5 5 3 300

German 88mmL56 gun firing AP, HE and Smoke. Two MG34 machineguns (hull and coaxial). 5 Crew (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/hull gunner). Radio.

Rng Str ROF Notes88mm APCBC Rng 48 8 188mm APCR Rng 48 9 188mm HE Rng 30 7 1 Str 3 shrapnel, Small TemplateMG34 Rng 24 3 4

M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top PtsSdkfz251/1 8 3 2 7 3 3 3 0 50

One MG34 machinegun (hull) fired by squad on vehicle or co driver. 2 Crew (driver, co-driver) and 10 passengers.

German tank tactics were generally very cautious, advancing slowly. In defence they often used ambush tactics or the superiorrange of their guns to neutralise the enemy.

Russian M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top Pts

T34/76 9 2 2 6 5 4 4 3 100

Soviet 76mmL41 gun firing AP, HE and Smoke. Two DT machineguns (hull and coaxial). 5 Crew (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/hull gunner).

Rng Str ROF Notes76mm AP Rng 30 7 176mm HE Rng 30 7 1 Str 3 shrapnel, Small TemplateDT Rng 24 3 3T

May take veteran crew (+20 pts, BS3, I 3, Ld7). May take Radio (+10 pts). May take ‘Sub Caliber’ rounds (+10points, +1 Strength to AP). Soviet tanks were given special ‘sub-caliber’ ammo. These were tungsten shells and in highdemand. Each tank would only have two shells for use on big cats. In game terms it’s very limited ammo – 2 shots!

M BS Ini Ld Front Side Rear Top PtsKV1 6 2 2 7 6 5 5 3 200

Soviet 76mmL41 gun firing AP, HE and Smoke. Two DT machineguns (hull and coaxial). 5 Crew (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/hull gunner).

Rng Str ROF Notes76mm AP Rng 30 7 176mm HE Rng 30 7 1 Str 3 shrapnel, Small TemplateDT Rng 24 3 3T

May take veteran crew (+20 pts, BS3, I 3, Ld7). May take Radio (+10 pts). May take ‘Sub Caliber’ rounds (+10points, +1 Strength to AP).

Soviet tank tactics were generally attack ‘en masse’ and move to take a shot at the enemy’s side armour. In defence, they wouldlure the enemy in so again they could take side shots at the armour.