Scenario 2 from One Hour Wargames with floating grid

 

The duration of this game, including set up, was 25 minutes.  This is a new game board set-up for me.  Hobby Lobby had a framed white MDF board on sale for $18.  Four-inch squares (tiles) from Amazon were about the same price.  I painted some squares green and others blue (for future use as lakes).  See the pictures below. The white road is a convenient use of empty space on the white board.  The tiles can be easily rearranged to set up a new scenario.  This new board is space-efficient and sturdy.  The inspiration comes from Bob Cordery, who uses hexes. 

The first step for this battle was to roll for forces.  The Prussians got four infantry and two APCs.  The Americans got five infantry and one Humvee.  The mission objective for both sides to control both the hill and the crossroads by the end of 15 rounds. The crossroads is closer to the south side of the board and the hill is closer to the north side.  The beginning moves, naturally, were for the Americans to take possession of the crossroads and the Prussians to occupy the hill.  See picture 1.

 The Prussian APC moved up to where it could pound the village from cover.  It was targeting the Humvee.  Some of the American infantry crossed over to some huts.  From there they could fire on the hill from cover.  The second Prussian APC swung around to west and fired on the huts from that location.  

Both sides were losing infantry units.  At this point I realized that the rules do not permit vehicles to end a turn in a village.  The Prussians began the battle with one more vehicle and one less infantry unit.  The odds were they might end up with no surviving infantry units.  In that case, they would not be able to occupy the village.

The American Humvee was taking too many hits, so it moved north where it was out of range of the Prussian APC yet could fire on the hill.  Next round, the infantry in the village abandoned it to reinforce the units in the huts.  

The battle was very close but at the end, all the Prussian forces were destroyed.  The one remaining American infantry unit proudly took possession of the hill (picture 2).   

Picture 1. Round 2.

Picture 2.  End of game.

Replay.

This time the Prussian begin by placing an APC unit on the hill in hull-down position, which reduces hits by two.  The American Humvee unit moved quickly to engage it as did two infantry units.  The Prussians charged the village with all of their infantry, taking hits as they approached while the other Prussian APC unit pounded the village from the tree line.  The defenders in the village were getting hammered.  However, the Prussian APC unit on the hill took so much damage that they withdraw off of the hill and behind it.  The Humvee pursued and finished it off, but the other Prussian APC unit had pulled back also and quickly destroyed the Humvee unit.  The infantry in the village slugged it out until it was obvious that the Americans needed to cross the road to the stand of trees.  They had a firefight that finished off the Prussian infantry but left only one American infantry unit.  The Prussian APC destroyed it.

Many More Replays

The OHW book contains a table that allows you to randomly configure the units for each side.  The number of possible unit types is four in each era.  Neither side should have exactly the same mix.  The number of possible combinations is....(drum roll)...a lot.  You do the math.

Also, using the event cards suggested by the author is a good idea.  They introduce an exciting random element into the battle.  Yes, it is fair; bad and good luck can hit both sides. 

Anyway, I will have to replay many times before i need to reshuffle the tiles to create the layout for the next scenario. 

***

OK, I have been playing this scenario for four days now, sometimes twice a day.  By rolling for configuration of forces, each game is different.

(TIP:  the army coming from the south should take possession of the village and try to hold it.  Both sides should ignore the hill.  The village has cover and the hill has none (except when  a tank is on the hill).   The battle will be won or lost at the village.)

Here is my insight for the day about OHWs: by rolling for the forces, I can play the same scenario for a week without getting bored.  AND if I change the era, I can repeat the process the next week and each game will be different.  OHW has nine eras, each with slightly different rules.  That works out roughly to 9 weeks of play on this scenario.  The book has 30 scenarios.  

My hat is off to Neil Thomas for developing a brilliant system.  Shear genius.

another great blog

 https://narrativesolowargames.blogspot.com/

I like the narrative style of game reporting, the use of One Hour Wargames scenarios, and the gridded battle field. 

Desert Shield and Storm

 In a letter to the American Legion Magazine, March 2021, John Walsh wrote that Shield and Storm did not show capabilities for future warfare.  Instead, they were, he opined, postscripts to conventional war.  Enemies are not likely to engage the USA force-on-force because we have too many big weapons. 

I suspect Mr. Walsh is correct.  Warfare has moved beyond the big-army phase.  Instead, insurgencies, irregular warfare, and hit-and-run operations are tactical problem. We could win a war by destroying a country from afar but that is not acceptable. Instead, combined arms operations using highly mobile forces are necessary.  

Wargamers will be modeling scenarios in which the objective is to engage the enemy directly in smaller operations where both sides are highly mobile and both sides may have man-carried missiles as well as other technological advances.  Scenarios might be borrowed from the American western expansion instead of the European colonial era.  The battle of Little Big Horn is not a good example but I am sure others can be found. 

Rebellion: 2021! A Steam Punk Campaign, Part 1.

 

Rebellion: 2021! A Steam Punk Campaign, Part 1

 

Context

In this Steampunk universe, motive power is based on steam, not the internal combustion engine.  Gas provides lighting.  Airships are used for military and passenger transport.  Trains haul heavy freight over land.  Steamships carry freight over the seas.

Weaponry mass produced after 1860 in our universe does not exist in this Steampunk universe.  This includes machine guns and accurate, large-bore artillery. Bullets can be mass-produced but production cost and logistics are prohibitive for armies with small budgets.  Soldiers are expected to aim their rifles instead of spraying bullets. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

 

 

Alternate History

After the American Civil War, the United States slowly tried to heal itself while also expanding to the west.  A bellicose attitude appealed to the national psyche, leading to a war with Spain and other conflicts. When a devastating and unnecessary war exploded in Europe, the USA joined in decisively.  This was a contributor to a world-wide flu epidemic that killed uncounted millions of people.  The Constitution was amended to ban alcoholic beverages.  This led to an enormous violent crime wave, political corruption, and wide-spread breakdown in respect for established institutions. Economic activity was feverishly intense in the 1920s but it led to a stock market crash and the Great Depression.  The American citizen was reeling from these blows and just starting to feel recovered when another war broke out in Europe. A generation of young people was sent over the Atlantic and fought its way across the continent.  The trench warfare of WWI had been replaced with a military dogma that called for constant frontal attack based on the theory, derived from analysis of the war between Russia and Japan, that aggressive offense would always overcome defensive positions.  Millions died in insane charges.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Assaut-Kin-Tch%C3%A9ou.jpg

 

By the end of the war, the American voter was finished with trusting their government.  Isolationism was the preferred policy stance for almost everyone.  The draft was remembered as gross overreach by an oppressive government.  A small standing army was retained but for the most part, the national defense would henceforth rely on voluntary support from local militias.

Europeans agreed that their governments had been devastatingly incompetent.  Revolutions across the globe destroyed nation-states and returned to smaller entities.  Citizens strongly believed in their right to bring down any oppressive government.  Most families had guns and were willing to use them.  Exceptions were empires in Britain, Japan and central Russia which emerged from WWII shaken and shrunken but still strong.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Revoluci%C3%B3n-marzo-rusia--russianbolshevik00rossuoft.png

 

The remnants of the old governments persisted in their warlike tendencies.  Simmering conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, South America, the Balkans, central Asia, north Africa, east Africa, southern Africa and other places exploded successively.  These conflicts did not become world wars because most countries lacked the national will for heavy commitment into foreign wars.  The USA sometimes sent expeditionary forces that were small and composed only of professional soldiers.  This allowed them to support allies and train their troops without losing a lot of resources or inciting a political backlash.

In the year 2021, the state of Wisconsin was a largely agricultural state populated by people who cherished their liberties and distrusted central governments. Many were combat veterans and still owned rifles, with which they practiced grimly in preparation for the time when resistance to the central government might be necessary.  They anticipated that day might come soon, because the state legislature had developed a taste for raising taxes on the smaller towns to support the large cities. In January, most people in the small city of Fort Atkinson ignored the presidential inauguration.  Instead, they turned their attention toward Madison.  A delegation was sent to the capitol formally informing the Governor and the legislature that recently enacted tax increases would not be paid. They declared themselves to be a Free City. The simmering pot had come to a boil.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/German_airship_bombing_Warsaw.JPG

 

 

The Battle

Three platoons of the mech infantry company sent by Madison to restore order came in armored personnel carriers. They were accompanied by a tank unit. All vehicles were steam powered. They drove east on Highway 12 then took Highway 18 to Jefferson.  A field artillery unit was loaded onto a barge on the Rock River.  They would move southwest toward Fort Atkinson. An elite platoon of airborne infantry was carried by airships.  When the units arrived by road and boat for the assault on the city, the airborne unit would drop through the clouds into Barrie Park by the pavilion for a surprise assault from the rear.  The field artillery piece would be fired from the boat. In sum, the State units had one artillery unit, two APCs, two regular infantry, one tank unit and one airborne ranger unit.  The battle plan for the State forces was to capture the fortified municipal building.  However, they were unaware of the ambush that has been set for them.

 

Map 1.

 

The Free City was defended by a citizen militia company composed of six mech infantry platoons.  All were combat veterans.  Sentries monitored the train station and roads while fortifications were constructed in strategic locations. Encircling the city with a wall was not possible.  Instead, defense relied on stopping the advance of the attacking force north of the city where Business 26 enters the town near the Rock River (see first map).  A wooded area at that location (Klement Park) offered cover and allowed ambushing either the road or the river, or both (see second map).  City leaders hoped to hold out until militia units from other towns could come to their aid, just as hundreds of patriots rushed to Lexington and Concord in 1775.  Four steam-powered Humvees were placed in the park.  Two others were behind the industrial center where they could reinforce at the opportune moment.  The Humvees carried anti-tank guns as well as machine guns.  They were lightly armored. The defenders were in an excellent position for an ambush but were unaware of the airborne rangers and did not know the barge with its artillery unit would be coming toward them.  The ambushers had cover and the advantage of surprise but they had placed themselves in a box.

All reinforcements arrived in Round 5.

 

 

 

Map 2.

 

In picture 1 below, you can see the attacking units advancing toward the positions where the ambushers could begin firing.  The APCs each carried one unit of infantry (3 figures) who offloaded as soon as the action began.  The ambushers were forced to fire both east and west.  This prevented them from being able to concentrate their fire.

 

Picture 1.  The attacking units are moving toward the ambush point. 

 

As the battle progressed, the infantry moved after leaving their APCs.  Damaging armored vehicles that were protected by cover was not possible for the infantry so they moved into the park where they had clear shots.  The reinforcing airborne rangers also moved toward the ambushers.  Two Humvees held in reserve by the defenders advanced on the column and began hitting the tank with antitank rounds.  However, their shooting was poor.  They destroyed the tank but were too damaged to resist fire from the nearest APC and were eventually destroyed.  The ambushers destroyed the artillery unit on the barge and some of the infantry but in the end only one Humvee remained and it had to flee (see picture 2).

 

Picture 2. The surviving defender retreats.

 

On the second run-through, the ambushers were more protected by their cover and the reinforcing Humvees had better aim.  The final result was a clear victory for the defenders. See Picture 3.  The APC was destroyed in the next round.

Picture 3. Alternate Ending: The ambushers were successful.

 

 

Conclusion

The airborne rangers were important to the attack.  The attackers also had a tank but that was not more effective than an APC because the Humvees had anti-tank weapons.  It seems they should have left their tank at home and brought another APC with infantry unit.

The ambushers had placed themselves in a box.  They could not concentrate their fire on the road. After the attacking infantry breached the tree-line, the four Humvees were in trouble.  And when the attacking APC was able to move to where it could get a clear shot, the advantages of the ambush position were nullified.

Seven units against six was a toss-up.  Either side could win in this scenario, depending on the luck of the die.  More battles will have to be fought before we know whether the Free City or the Government forces will prevail in this war.

 

A great blog

 http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2015/08/one-hour-wargame.html

Notice how attractive the abstract terrain looks without being cluttered.  He is not striving for realism.  Instead, he thinks of it as being more like a 3D board game.  Very cool.

Scenario 26/The Triple Line Scenario

 This is scenario 26 from One Hour Wargames.  The author borrowed it from Asquith who based it on a battle from the War of 1812.

The defenders (Gray army) are set up strangely at the beginning.  One scout unit is at the bridge.  Most of the infantry are in the center of the field.  One is on the hill.

The objective for Green army is to take the hill.  The army that possesses the hill at the end of battle is the winner. 

The defenders have one mortar unit, one half-track and 12 infantry soldiers.  The Green army is larger. It has one scout car, one mortar unit and 24 infantry soldiers.  Both vehicles are lightly armored.

One figure is one unit.  Hits are determined by a deck of cards that includes face cards and jokers.  A face card is a miss. A hit destroys the target.  A 5 or higher is a hit except when infantry shoots at an armored vehicle. The vehicles get two points protection because of its light armor.  A joker is a mine and when turned up it destroys the shooting unit. 

All cover is impenetrable to both vision and shooting.  

Infantry move 3 inches.  Vehicles move 6 inches.  Both can shoot 12 inches.  Shooting is line of sight except for mortars.  Mortars can shoot anywhere on the board but only if a forward observer has line of sight on the target.  They can only see 12 inches. 

Units on top of the hill are not visible to the attackers.  However, they can see down the hill and also shoot up to 12 inches.  They can direct the mortar toward any target they can see. 

When the Green army appears on the border, the Gray half-track realizes it is time to retreat, very quickly.  Informing the second line, the Gray army all heads toward cover. 

Notice that the Gray mortar is on the hill behind the buildings.

This a close-up shot from the Green side at the beginning of the battle.

Green army advances toward the hill, eventually forming a half-circle just out of range.  Neither side can shoot or fire mortars because the distance is more than 12 inches.  They cannot see each other yet.  The Gray army positioned most of its units behind the trees but move a few onto the hill to protect the mortar.

Finally, Green army rushed the hill.  Green units called in mortar strikes. The scout car held back in reserve then moved in on the right when it was clear that was where it was most needed.  At the end of the battle, four Green infantry soldiers were left but they had the hill. 

This was an exciting battle.  It only lasted 20 minutes. I believe the tactics chosen for both sides were reasonable. However, I wondered if the outcome would have been different had the balance of forces was changed a little, so I took three infantry soldiers from the Green army and added three to the Gray army.  This time, the remnants of the Green army were wiped out at the top of the hill.  Part of the problem was the scout car was blown up by a mine. This allowed the half-track to shoot down attackers as they climbed the hill. 

Finding and Selecting Scenarios

Scenario books can be very pricey.  Some are so pricey that only a rich collector will buy them.  Many of the classics are not available as E-books.  Fortunately, most rule books have at least a few scenarios in them. For example, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878 by Thomas has five scenarios.  Also by Thomas is One-Hour Wargames which includes 30 scenarios.  When I bought the E-book it was only ten bucks but the price seems to be going up.

Clearly, lots of scenarios are available but when browsing you might say "water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink" because they don't look interesting to you.  Let me suggest another perspective.  

Tip #1.  Do not just look at diagrams.  Lay the terrain out on your table and see how that looks.  Think about the tactical challenges facing both sides. How would you dispose your forces?

Tip #2.  Read the history about the battle but then ignore it.  History is interesting and learning more about is part of being a wargamer.  However,  you can always change the time period to suit your interests and your collection of miniatures.

Tip #3.  When considering a scenario ignore the weaponry and rules as well as the era.  You can change all that.

Tip #4.  Focus on terrain, balance of forces, objectives, victory conditions and and the timing of reinforcements.  By balance of forces I mean numbers and strength, since the two sides probably will not be equal.  Think in terms of ratios, such as 6-4 favoring the attacker.

Tip #5.  Remember that the scenario you are considering is a source of inspiration, not a straight-jacket. Authors sometimes develop their own scenarios based on the essential features of an historical battle, but often they cite another source from which they have borrowed and modified the scenario.  You are free to do the same.    

There you go.  Scenarios are easily found.  You have plenty to choose from.  So many, that now you have a different problem: which one should you try first?  

Have fun!

Sequential Eclecticism

 One of the reasons we like wargaming is the scope for endless variety.  We can dabble in different eras, different scales, different rulesets, different board sizes, different sizes for our battles.  We can deviate from miniature wargaming and try board games.  The sky is the limit.

The danger we face is we might wake up one day and realize we are surrounded by piles of junk.  We have not touched some of it for a year.  The clutter is depressing and the lack of focus makes us feel like we have lost our way.  Does this sound familiar?

My suggestion is sequential eclecticism.   Focus on one or two eras that interest you.  Settle on a style of play that you enjoy and stick with it for awhile. 

Decide which of your old stuff comprises a collection that you enjoy owning and looking at even if you do not use it.  Get rid of the rest of it.  Sell it online, give it to a thrift store, or toss it in the bin. It will lighten your heart to declutter.

Next year, when you think maybe you want to get back into whatever you ditched this year, remind yourself of why you got rid of it.  Then, if you still want to return to it, go right ahead.  Buying and selling and buying again can be an enjoyable aspect of the hobby.

At any given time, you will have a focus or perhaps two of them.  Experience will deepen your understanding of how to game in that focus and the greater depth is satisfying in itself.  "Know thyself" is what Hamlet said, if I remember correctly.  I know I am not skilled in craftwork such as painting so I am not going to bother with it.  I know I cannot remember complex rules so I do not play that way.  I know I can have fun on a card table so I do not try to set up on an enormous table. 

I also know my interests will change in the future, as they  have in the past.  So what: this hobby has no destination.  It is all about enjoying the journey.   

The Double Passthrough Scenario

 Variations on this scenario have appeared in several scenario books.  The concept is simple: each side seeks to cross the board and exit off the other side.  The winner has the most units exiting the board.   Destroying some enemy units along the way will be necessary to ensure a win. 

Moving the terrain around changes the tactical challenge.  

As you can see, I set the battle up on a card table.  The first picture shows the view from the perspective of the Green army.  The second picture is a close up shot of the scout car. The third picture is an aerial view from the Black army perspective.  The figures are 1/72.

This was played solo. Instead of automating the decisions of the enemy, I played both sides to the best of my ability.  The rules were simple.  Cards were used instead of dice.  The jokers were left in.  Turning up a joker when firing blows up the shooter. 

Infantry can move three inches and shoot six inches.  Vehicles can move six inches and shoot 12 inches.  Mortars can hit anywhere on the board if a spotter has the target in sight. 

A 5 or higher is a hit against infantry or mortars; the target is destroyed.  A 5 or higher is a hit from a vehicle to a vehicle.  Infantry can hit a tank with a 9 or a 10.  

All cover is impenetrable.  No units can see through or shoot through cover. 

Playing this through takes about 20 minutes. I played it twice.  Both times Green army moved first.  Both times, Black army was able to pass through a few more units. 

Rules for Near-Future Mobile Infantry Tactical Units

 

General Approach and Innovative Concepts

Rules are needed for near-future mobile infantry units. The rules offered here are modeled after those written by Neil Thomas of One Hour Wargames. Inspiration also came from Charles Grant’s Battle!  Most of what I learned about near-future warfare was written by Kidd (2005) but other useful information came from articles in the Military section of National Interest magazine. As always, I relied heavily on Wikipedia for definitions and specifications.  

One difference between these rules and conventional game mechanics as described by Thomas and Grant is that cards are used instead of dice with face cards left in the deck. Any number 5 or above is one hit.  A face card is a miss. Turn a joker and your unit is blown up by a mine.

The first innovation built into these rules is that infantry teams are assumed to ride with light vehicles until offloaded. Grant used this procedure in the first battle reported in his book. Different vehicles can transport different numbers of soldiers. For example, the Humvee and Jeep each carries one team (three soldiers). Each half-track carries four three-man teams. Tanks and M8 armored cars normally carry no passengers. However, since WWII obsolete and captured tanks have been converted into personnel carriers, so players are permitted to do the same. Scout cars could, like jeeps, offload crew during combat; we can call the crew an infantry team. We make up our own rules in this hobby. In any case, players should look up the personnel carrying capacity of each vehicle they field.  The total number of units is the number of vehicles plus the number of infantry teams. I suggest you field forces of at least three vehicles on each side, avoid shooting, and maneuver cautiously until you can bring at least two vehicles against one.  A large APC is desirable since it brings more soldiers to the battlefield.

A second innovation is the overall breakpoint concept.  An infantry unit is assumed to have reached its breakpoint when the commander decides to not use it as an attack force or to pull it back for reorganization.  Breakpoints are influenced by several variables, including cumulative number of casualties, duration of the battle, replacements, resupply, and leadership.  No exact predictor of the breakpoint is possible, but officers generally assume that a 25-30 percent cumulative casualty rate is a threshold that should not be exceeded.  To allow for longer game play, in these rules the game should be over when one side loses 50 percent of its units.  Rushing headlong into battle without regard to casualties is the behavior of a bad commander. A good commander takes the objective with as few casualties as possible.

A third innovation is the offensive and defensive equality of the units.  The infantry team is assumed to be equipped with antitank weapons, thus reducing the advantage of armor on the vehicles.  Individual infantry soldiers are assumed to be partially armored with Kevlar vests. The main difference between vehicles is in the number of infantry soldiers they can transport.

Finally, these rules are different because the emphasis on dispersion and maneuver and effective infantry weapons reduces the relevance of artillery, air strikes and armor. The latter can still be used but with limited effectiveness. The combat force should be balanced and that requires recognizing the importance of the mobile and mechanized infantry. This is explained in the section on Other Combat Resources.

 

Game Play

This is a turn-based system.  The first player moves all units he or she wants to move.  Then he selects a shooting unit and identifies a target.  Turning a card determines if it is a hit.  Hit units are removed from the board.  The player shoots with each unit in turn until finished.  Units are not required to move or shoot in any given turn.  

Do not get into a rush; enjoy the game.  Do not cheat; if your favorite unit was blown up by a mine, then swallow hard and take it off the board.  Proceeding in this fashion will result in a game of about 30 minutes in duration if you are fighting a small battle. If you have a large table and a lot of units, then the game naturally will last longer.

Details are given in the Rules section.

 

Order of Battle

In a solo game where the enemy is defending from cover, set up the armies so the player (the attacker) has a slight numerical advantage.  A 1.5:1 ratio of attackers to defenders might be reasonable.

The purpose of the order of battle is to loosely reflect a modern combined arms tactical mobile infantry unit.  Each model vehicle represents one vehicle.  Each vehicle transports at least one infantry team of three soldiers.  The team leaves the vehicle when it stops to scout or engage the enemy.  If the vehicle is destroyed before the team is offloaded, the infantry team also is destroyed. The commander should offload the infantry before incurring fire, if possible. When in doubt, offload immediately.  Offloading counts as movement and uses one turn.

The infantry team can be equipped with a variety of hand-held weapons, possibly including the Javelin missile, mortars, mines and small drones that can take out a vehicle.  My figures are 1/72 scale and my vehicles are about 1/60.

Wargamers make use of the models available to them along with a healthy dose of imagination.  Near-future vehicles are not likely to be on the shelf, so we assume older models can be used.

1.     Jeep/ATV. No armor, one heavy machine gun.  Could be modeled by an all-terrain vehicle or a jeep or something similar. Carries one team.

2.     Light-armored vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns and Javelins.  Could be represented by M113 armored personnel carrier, HUMVEE, M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M8 armored truck, JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), M3 half-track or similar.

3.     Tanks are included as an option for those who feel a nostalgic affection for them despite their limitations. However, all tanks have been converted to carry one infantry team.  The main advantage of a tank is that it is not knocked out by a mine.

Insurgents may use cars as jeep-equivalents and light trucks as Humvee-equivalents.  Assume both are equipped with Javelins and heavy machine guns.  The cars and trucks lack armor.

Note: Mines and Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) can be triggered by turning a joker. The side that turns the card takes the hit. Mines will knock out any unit except a tank.  Over 60% of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan were caused by IEDs.

 

Accuracy of Shooting

The potential accuracy of the Javelin missile against vehicles is 92 percent. Contrast this with the accuracy of rifle shooting by infantry men in the latter half of the twentieth century; accurate firing is defined as hitting the target 50 percent of the time but that is only if the weapon is aimed and the shooter is well-trained.  Average accuracy today is no better with an automatic rifle than it was four hundred years ago with a musket.  If the target is behind cover, the chances of a hit are very slim. The effectiveness of infantry is reduced and the logistical problem of supplying rounds is magnified geometrically when they do not shoot accurately. The Marines and Army have recognized and responded to this problem by making marksmanship and aimed shooting a training priority.  The percentage of infantry soldiers who will take the time to place their sights on a target before pulling the trigger is increasing.  We can expect that precision will rise and requirements for ammunition will decline. Eventually, infantry may be supplied with smart rifles that will adjust aiming automatically.  When this happens, most shots will be hits and fewer rounds will be needed.  

 

Other Combat Resources

No signals unit. All units are in constant communication with each other under a 4G umbrella. No separate comms unit is included in the rules.

Limited artillery and bombing support. This is tactical game in which combatants are close to each other and vehicles are moving quickly.  Calling in artillery strikes normally would be practical only when the target is stationary and more than 12 inches from friendly forces. The enemy knows an air strike is likely if they remain in position so they will quickly quickly. Fixed wing craft must stay at high altitudes to avoid Stinger missiles. Jets and artillery units can be located off the board where they are not visible.  Players can call in an artillery or air strike if the enemy seems to be pinned.  Modern air strikes are precise so the strike is assumed to hit the target.  The hit will be on an area three inches in diameter.  Any unit in or touching the three inches is destroyed.  

Note: Combat units are increasingly dispersed in modern in warfare so as to reduce the damage from precision artillery strikes.  The military learned from trench warfare in WWI that bunching soldiers in fortified positions is not effective doctrine.  Battle space has been expanded and this trend is likely to continue.  As battle space expands, maneuvering becomes more important.  Effectiveness in infantry combat requires a balance between firepower and maneuvering, meaning less emphasis on artillery and greater emphasis on maneuver.  Missiles and bombs launched from air, land and sea-based platforms offer powerful weapons against large targets.  Sooner or later, however, the fighting will involve infantry units.

Limited helicopter support.  These rules are intended for small-group actions in hot zones. Helicopter support is not an essential factor.  Helicopters avoid landing in hot zones for the same reason. Attack helicopters must stay under cover until they can pop up, fire on the enemy, then drop under cover again.  While in the air, they are vulnerable to stinger missiles. Include choppers if you like, but ground transport is the basis of this game.  Wounded are assumed to be evacuated by ground transport and logistical support is not needed in a short encounter.

No standard role for tanks at the tactical infantry level. Military experts might take me to task for failing to grasp the value of tanks in combined arms units down to the lowest level.  However, consider their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Tanks are heavily armored but can be knocked out by antitank weapons carried by all other unit types. The firepower of the tank against other vehicles does not give it great effectiveness against infantry soldiers, who are more agile.  Tanks cannot traverse steep hills, thick forest, or narrow streets. Tanks require a long logistical tail, both in terms of fuel and also mechanics to repair them when they break down.  The mechanical problem applies to all the heavier vehicles, which is why some might prefer light trucks.  This, in essence, is the difference between mobile infantry and mechanized infantry: mech infantry has more armor and bigger guns but it requires more mechanics.

Tanks will be useful at the close of a battle when the enemy is driven to a dug-in position. At that stage, why not call in an air strike? In small group actions, tanks are vulnerable to precision fire from man-carried antitank missiles.  That is the reason tanks are only used in these rules if they have been converted to carry infantry teams.

No headquarters unit.  Combat teams are led by sergeants who carry weapons and direct their teams via close communications.

Drones.  Standard equipment for an infantry team in the near future will include more than one type of drone. Human-size attack drones can cross open space without loss of life. However, they may not be standard equipment for another twenty years.  Small copter drones already can replace the forward observer (FO).  They may also drop warheads and IEDs. In these rules, I am assuming that the drone is only used as an FO. Eventually robotic minitanks and airplanes will fight each other.  However, before the reader gets in a panic about Artificial Intelligence turning our own weapons against us, please remember that all equipment breaks down eventually. If robots starting shooting at friendly units, we can hope they will eventually short-out. The combat infantry team needs and will rely most on technology that is reliable, expendable, and lightweight.

Limited use of lasers.  Lasers will be effective in shooting down drones.  However, they cannot replace rifles and missiles for two reasons.  First, they require a lot of energy.  Second, weather conditions can reduce their effectiveness (e.g., fog, rain, dust). Players can assume some minor laser capability in a combat infantry unit but the rifle remains the main weapon against other infantry soldiers and the missile against vehicles.

 

Rules

Field of fire is 360 degrees.

Shooting is line of sight.

Each unit is destroyed by one hit. Remove destroyed figures from the board. Turn destroyed vehicles on their sides.

No unit may move and shoot in the same turn.

A hit is turning a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

Cover divides hits by 2.  Note: Cover is decisive.  Shooting at a unit that is under cover is pointless because only a 10 will hit them.  When both sides are under cover, the battle will stall completely.  If the target is under cover, move your units until you can get a clear shot. 

Turning the mine card (a joker) destroys the unit.  If the unit is a vehicle, all units onboard are destroyed. Other random events, such as running out of ammunition or panic, are not included because the mines cause enough chaos. 

Units may not move and shoot during the same turn.

Movement is about 6” for infantry unless onboard a vehicle.  Vehicles move 12”.  Shooting is 12”.

The battle does not end after 15 rounds.  The rules require a lot of cautious movement and each move consumes a turn.  I suggest letting the battle continue until one side has lost 50 percent of its force.

All combat is by shooting.  There is no hand-to-hand combat.

 

Field Test of the Rules (Solo Play)

Scenario:  Search and Destroy.

Enemy forces (the Brown army) are hidden under cover in several locations. Green force (the player) tries to locate and destroy while fending off reinforcing enemy units.

Objective: take territory by locating and destroying enemy units. 

Tactics: The Green commander sends a group of vehicles to a suspected enemy location.  The vehicles stop out of range and offload their infantry teams.  The infantry cautiously approaches the location from the flanks. The vehicles drive into range of the suspected target.  If an enemy unit begins firing, all of the Green units can return fire.  This cautious approach allows all Green forces to shoot at the same time.  When shooting begins, the enemy reinforces or withdraws.  Green forces will withdraw and take cover unless they have numerical superiority.  Green units will seek to advance from the flanks and rear.  Deciding when to withdraw and when to advance is a judgment call that makes the difference between winning and losing.

The automatic decision rules for the enemy are as follows: fire from cover; reinforce if possible; pull back if outnumbered; pursue when you have the advantage.  The Green army does the same.

Victory conditions: take territory without losing more than 50 percent of the force.

The Green army had three vehicles with 18 infantry soldiers (21 units).  The enemy had four vehicles and 12 infantry soldiers (16 units).  The Green units advanced until they sighted a stand of trees, then offloaded the infantry for reconnoitering.  When the infantry advanced, the vehicles moved forward. Fire erupted from the trees, destroying the half-track.  The infantry fell back to cover.  Seeing several Green vehicles, the Brown vehicle retreated to another stand of trees, leaving its infantry team behind to cause trouble for the Green army.

 

Picture: A Brown army vehicle has offloaded its infantry team into a stand of trees.

 

As the battle unfolded, the vehicles would move when outnumbered or when they did not have line of sight.  The Brown infantry stayed under cover.  The Green infantry would have had to move into open territory to approach the Brown flanks so they called in an air strike.  The Brown vehicle had departed and its infantry team had fallen back also.  The air strike hit the target but there were no enemy casualties. 

Picture: Waiting for the air strike

 

The Green army vehicles struggled to flank the enemy while avoiding contact unless they had numerical superiority.  When a Brown vehicle was flushed out, it retreated to cover and the process had to be repeated. However, the Green army typically incurred some casualties before the Brown units retreated. Fortunately for the Green army, two Brown vehicles were destroyed by mines.

Joker cards (mines) proved to be an important factor in the battle.  The odds suddenly changed each time a mine took out a unit.  If the deck must be shuffled repeatedly during the battle, the jokers will turn up several times.

Green army was able to flank a Brown army Humvee so it raced toward its last refuge along with its infantry units.  Some of the Brown infantry were picked off as they ran.  Before the retreating Humvee could reach cover, that stand of trees was hit by a second airstrike, destroying the vehicle hidden there and three soldiers.  Air support proved to be important in the end, but only after the mobile infantry had herded the enemy into a poor position. The Brown force in that location could have attempted an escape but would have taken casualties from a well-placed Green infantry team.  They chose to shoot instead of run, knocking out two Green infantry soldiers, and that was their undoing.

 

Picture: The last position of the Brown army.

 

Two vehicles and five infantry soldiers were left to the Green army (seven out of 21 units).  The enemy had one vehicle and five soldiers remaining (six out of 16).  Overall, the casualty rate for the Green army was too high even though it started the battle with a much larger force.  The Brown army, though smaller, would have won easily if the Green army had not approached with caution.  

 

Assessment

Overall, I found the rules to be workable.  The terrain set up should provide plenty of cover while also giving vehicles room to maneuver.  I played on a surface that had about 30’x30” usable space.  The area could be expanded so as to allow a wider range of movement for the vehicles. However, this would cause delays as the infantry moved from one position to another.

The jokers introduced a random element that can be annoying but mines are an important factor so I will continue to use them. 

The Brown army suffered a 62.5 percent cumulative casualty rate so they broke and ran.  However, I did not realize until the end that in the excitement of the game I overrode the breakpoint rule.  Green army casualties were 67 percent. If the Green army had withdrawn prior to the last airstrike, the outcome would have been a clear win for the Brown army. Now wearing my referee hat, I am declaring this a victory for Brown and sending Green out to dig latrines.

The hit scoring system prevents the battle from devolving into a shoot-out from cover.  Instead, it forces both sides to maneuver. The offensive and defensive equality of the units greatly simplified game play.  Looking up hits on a table was not necessary because all units hit with a number higher than four.  Shooting at a unit under cover was a waste of bullets.

An agile defender under cover with good infantry weapons has an advantage with these rules in this kind of scenario. However, this advantage can be countered if the attacker masses his forces and maneuvers to the flanks.

 

References

Kidd, Christopher J. ARMY DIRECT FIRE ACCURACY: PRECISION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD.  A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE General Studies (2005) Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Grant, Charles.  Battle! Mecanno Magazine (May 1968-December 1970).

Thomas, Neil.  One-Hour Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space, Kindle Edition. Pen & Sword Military (September 3, 2014).