The Seelow Heights A Wargamer's Guide: A Few Thoughts

The genesis of this book goes back to 2013, when I put on a multi-player demo game covering a section of the Seelow Heights at the Partizan II wargames show in Newark. The game itself was a great success, with the Soviets finally overpowering the German defenders late in the day. For some reason, interest in this operation stayed with me and finally resulted in the writing of this wargamer's guide. Now it is out there, I thought that a few notes on its design and the scenarios might be of interest to those of you that have been kind enough to purchase it and to those who may in the future.

Although Rapid Fire has been used by our group ever since they first came out, followers of this blog will know that I am developing a set of rules of my own: "Road to Berlin". These are card driven and very different to RF, but have played well in testing so far and everyone seems to enjoy them. However I decided to express the Orders of Battle in RF terms as these are our "go to" set and I couldn't see any reason not to. That said, the scenarios lend themselves very well to many other regimental level (and above) sets such as Blitzkrieg Commander, Korps Commander and Command Decision to name but three; all that is needed are a few tweaks to fit in with the specifics of your chosen rule set.

First of all, the Special Rules. To give any operation an appropriate "feel", you need special rules to reflect those little details that make an operation unique. I also wanted to amend/expand some of the existing rules to (in my view) better reflect the troops and weapons concerned. So I thought I would take each one in turn and briefly explain the thinking behind it.

German 88mm/L56. Upgraded to a Class 1 gun. The Tiger in RF seems little more than an up-armoured Panzer IV - same gun class and slower. Better armour true, but not the terror weapon many allied soldiers saw it as. For the flak gun it can be left as a Class 2 weapon in the hands of  Luftwaffe crews inexperienced in engaging ground targets, but Class 1 otherwise.

T34/85. Armour downgraded to C (I believe this has now been done by Colin and Richard in RFR) and enhanced range removed. Soviet optics were notably inferior to those used by the Germans and it seems unreasonable to allow it to outrange the Panzer IV and enjoy range parity with Tigers I and II or Panthers.

Soviet Heavies. These are powerful bits of kit but suffered from low ammo storage and slow rates of fire. Seemed reasonable to limit their ammo to 4 or 5 shots per game.

Panzerfausts. Of all the additional/special rules, this is the one that seems to have resonated with readers the most. By only allowing one Panzerfaust per company, even late war Germans get one shot and are then essentially defenceless against armour. My amendment is easy to use, requires no record keeping and makes German infantry a much more serious proposition where enemy armour is concerned.

Troop Quality. In Rapid Fire, this tends to be reflected simply in a modest uplift or downshift in firing and morale. Making militia units more vulnerable to fire by adding to the firer's effects dice seemed an appropriately simple way of addressing the issue. The main element however was how to represent the greater tactical finesse of German panzer units without affecting playability. The way I chose to do it is above all simple; every time a German vehicle is hit, roll a d6: on a 1-3, you apply the effects as normal, on a 4-5, reduce them by 1 level (eg: knocked out becomes heavy damage) and on a 6, ignore the effects altogether. Because RFR reloaded has changed  the way attacks on armoured vehicles are conducted, this is modified to a -1 on the effects dice at short and medium ranges only. 

So what is the thinking behind this? Well throughout my reading on this operation, one thing came up again and again: the ability of quite small numbers of German tanks and assault guns to inflict serious damage on much larger formations of Soviet armour. What I wanted to do was to give the Germans a built in "tactical advantage" that would allow them a kind of "get out of jail free" card in the form of reducing the effect of Soviet fire on them. It doesn't confer invulnerablity, just a kind of saving throw to reflect their greater tactical agility and awareness. 

Combined with the "hit and run" rule, which allows some German vehicles in certain circumstances to move and/or fire during the Soviet move in addition to their own, German panzer and panzerjager units have more hitting power and survivabilty.

German Kampfgruppen. This rule simply allows the German player to organise his infantry units in a more mission based way, rather than me laying down the internal organisation of each battalion. So, for example a battalion with 30 figures in it can be organised into company groups of varying sizes and composition according to what the player hopes to achieve, with support weapons attached (or not) as he sees fit. Again a simple enough idea that reflects German tactical flexibility without additional complexity.

Field Defences. Being in hard cover, whilst helpful, doesn't offer that much protection in Rapid Fire (although RFR does attempt to address the horrible vulnerability of infantry). This rule makes it harder to kill German infantry in prepared defensive positions (rather that just hard cover) and obliges attacking Soviets to get stuck in, rather than stand off and simply shoot them out.

Panzerjager Platoons. Although this variant only appears in the final scenario, it has wider applications in late war games. Essentially special platoons, heavily armed with A/T weapons are more willing to and effective at tackling enemy armour. It could be used for example with the A/T companies in many Volksgrenadier regiments, which are armed with Panzerschrecks or the Fallschirmjager platoons that shot up the leading elements of the Irish Guards during the breakout from Joe's Bridge at the start of Market Garden.

Forwards. This is probably the rule that would and should be used most in the Seelow Heights scenarios. Simply put, the attacking Soviet infantry can exchange speed for vulnerability by adding the score of 1 average die to their normal 6" movement but at the cost of  surrendering the ability to fire and the Germans getting firing bonuses against them. In the scenarios I have tried to apply time pressure to the Soviets in achieving their victory conditions. This reflects Zhukov's obsession with breaking through quickly and getting to Berlin first, regardless of casualties. This rule can increase the rate of advance of the Soviet infantry by some 50-60%, but if caught in heavy fire, it can prove expensive. It is a useful tactical option, but one to be used carefully.

Soviet Artillery. This was an attempt to reflect the advantages and shortcomings of the inflexible but massive bombardments that were a feature of the Eastern Front. In many of the scenarios, the Soviets cannot control their artillery through observers, rather they must pre-plan their fire before the game starts, sometimes with a secondary bombardment well into the game. This is obviously inflexible. To reflect the power of these bombardments, the Soviets can "double up" their firepower, whereby if 2 artillery units (typically battalions) target the same area, German units under the template can be suppressed, removing their ability to move and, more importantly, to fire. Properly planned this can suppress the German defenders at the critical point, but timing is everything.

The principle behind all of these amendments was first and foremost simplicity; it was also an attempt to reflect in a generalised and wargame-able way, some of the features of the Seelow Heights operation on the table.

One gentleman that bought the book (Hi Darren) played out one of the scenarios and it looked like a great game. One of his local rules seems to be to use bases representing entire companies with around 3 figures on them and tracking casualties using small dice in a hole on the base itself. This is an excellent idea. At a stroke you can double or treble the playing resources you have in terms of infantry figures. One of the main problems I wrestled with during the writing of the book was the sheer scale of the operation. Many of the games do feature a couple of Soviet infantry regiments (admittedly pared down), this would make it much easier to manage with a smaller collection, although I do offer some suggestions on "bathtubbing" or scaling down the games if you need to. Check out the game, it is an interesting read:

Warfare in the Age of Cynics and Amateurs: The Seelow Heights - More Rapid Fire Reloaded

Hopefully this brief overview has given an insight into some of the special rules and the thinking behind them. If you have any comments or questions, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Last Post of the Year

 

Well what a strange and difficult year this has been. Other than the lack of shows and wargaming opportunities, the hobby seems to have continued with some vigour. I suppose unlike many team sports, we can all bury ourselves away in various projects, waiting for the day we can get it all back on the table and enjoying it again. Obviously the Seelow Heights book has taken up a lot of my time, but I haven't been idle on other fronts, with more AWI and Napoleonic units added, which I will post on next year. I have also been busy with new terrain features, again more anon.

All Seelow Heights orders received to date have been posted, will get any others off after the holidays.  Once again, many thanks to everyone that has bought a copy. Simon's Soldiers in Australia will be carrying the book "Down Under"; the first consignment is on its way. Dave Ryan at Caliver Books will also be stocking it.

Another thing I am hoping to do early next year is to post a series of notes on the Seelow Heights book, outlining some of the thinking behind the various scenarios and special rules.

Well, that is it for 2020. Let's hope for better in the coming year. Take care and best wishes.

Steve 

Arrived at Last.

Well they did arrive more or less on time - 200 shiny new copies. Will get the pre-orders off in the next day or two. If anyone would like a copy, please let me know. See the previous post for details of how to order.

Nations In Arms: The Seelow Heights: Preview Copies. (steve-nationsinarms.blogspot.com)

For those readers Down Under, Simon (of Simon's Soldiers), will be stocking the book and able to send it to you far more cheaply and easily than I can. I will hopefully be getting them off to him shortly. Thanks to those who have supported this little venture by buying the book; I hope you enjoy it.

Well What A Surprise!!

 

The printer's assured me I would have the 200 copies on Thursday, which slipped to Friday (no problem). It now appears that due to Christmas or Covid or Brexit, or possibly a combination of all 3, they will now arrive on Tuesday afternoon. Sorry about that. For those of you who have pre-ordered it shouldn't matter as sending by 1st Class signed for seems to get them through to people (in the UK at least) in a couple of days, so you should have them well before Christmas - another hostage to fortune? Let's hope not. 

Should you wish to pre-order, I will get it in the post within 1 day of the books arriving.

Thank you to all those of you that have bought a copy - it is much appreciated. I will post again once the books have arrived.

Best wishes

Steve

The Seelow Heights: Preview Copies.

Well here it is (at last!) It has been a long haul, but worth it, now it is finally done. Never having used this particular printer before, I ordered 20 pre-production copies just in case. I needn't have worried, they have done a good job. I have now ordered another 200, which should be here by Friday 10 December. This means that I can get them out in time for Christmas (a few people have asked). If you would like a copy delivered by Santa, I can take advanced orders now; that way, I can write up the envelopes and, as soon as they arrive, pop them in the post. Otherwise, I will post again when the reinforcements arrive.

Cost is £18.50 + £4.00 1st Class (Signed For) Postage and Packing for inland customers. Payment can be made via PAYPAL to my email address:

                                      steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk

I am hopeful that I will soon have a distributor for customers "Down Under", which will save on the horrendous postage costs involved!!

To anyone who buys a copy, thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy it. 

The Seelow Heights: A Sample Page

Here is a sample page from the forthcoming book. Hopefully it gives a clearer idea of the format and general look of the thing. I must admit that the experts I got in to help with the technical stuff have really come up trumps and I am very pleased with the finished article. For the eagle-eyed among you, the captions are still the Latin "blanks" as this page was produced before the actual captions were inserted, although this has now (just) been done.

This is scenario number 10: "Breakthrough at Diedersdorf" and is my favourite. It is one of the two "large" games in the book and represents the fighting on the penultimate day as the Soviet 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies try and force the pace along Reichstrasse 1 - the most direct route to Berlin.

This last weekend has been taken up with proof reading; my wife, who is both meticulous with detail and an expert at pointing out my faults, has spotted a few little inconsistencies of style and one or two grammatical bloopers. I will give it one final read through and then I think I have done all I can. Hopefully we should be off to the printers in a couple of weeks. If all goes well, Santa should have time to deliver! It has been a long haul, but nearly there now and I must admit, it does look nice. Will post again when the book is available.

The Seelow Heights: A Taster.

Final photoshoot is done and managed to get some nice ones I think.

Just got this back from my sister-in-law who is doing the design work for me. It is definitely starting to come together.

She has unfortunately suffered from a terminally ill computer, which needs replacing. This might hold things up for a week or two. Other than that, things are progressing nicely. Just need to drop in the photos, design the inside  rear cover and insert the captions. After that, more proof reading!!

Here is another photo that didn't make the final cut.

The Seelow Heights: A Progress Report.

Proof reading is continuing. This is perhaps the hardest bit as after a while you start to see what you expect to see, rather than what is there. Hopefully nothing of importance will slip through. About two-thirds of the photos are done and I must admit, I am pretty pleased with them. Old wargaming friend John Smith, of Leeds Wargames Club (of FIASCO fame) has done a lovely job and his professional advice has been invaluable. Here is another of his efforts which will probably not make the final book, at least not in this form.

I am pretty pleased with the scenarios too. I think they should provide interesting and playable games, giving the Germans a realistic chance. One of the main premises is that whilst the Germans are clearly going to lose the war, the urgency for the Soviets comes not from the final result, but whether they can win quickly; Marshal Zhukov was terrified that his old rival, Marshal Koniev, would beat him to Berlin. As a result he imposed a punishing and highly optimistic timetable on his troops and subordinate commanders, leading to some serious reverses and horrific casualties. This, as much as the German opposition and awkward terrain give the Soviet players plenty to think about.

Still looking good for a November release so fingers crossed!

The Seelow Heights 16-19 April 1945. A Wargamer's Guide

This is the first post for an exciting project that I have been working at on and off for the last 3 years or so. As readers of this blog may remember, I did a demo game on this subject at Partizan some while back (see under labels) and have retained a real interest in this final Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front. As I read more about it, I started to think that it would make a really interesting wargaming guide, in the style of the popular and lovely campaign books produced by Colin and Richard of Rapid Fire fame. Over the last few months I have started to push the project along and it is now within sight of the finishing post.

So what will it be like. Well I have enlisted the help of technical people who know what they are doing to help with the layout and photography - from the early drafts that I have, it should look lovely. It will be a glossy A4 production with fully illustrated front and rear covers (inside and out) and 56 internal pages. There are 12 scenarios, between 3 and 6 pages each, plus plenty of hopefully interesting background information. Each scenario will be supported by specially commissioned maps and full colour photos. There are also lots of additional rules and amendments to the basic Rapid Fire set, which hopefully capture some of the characteristics of the operation.

Although the orders of battle are expressed in Rapid Fire terms (we have used these rules ever since they first came out), they can easily be amended for other rule sets. A couple of the games are quite large and would suit a day long club game, the majority though are suitable for a typical 3-4 hour evening bash.

Here are three of the photos that didn't make the team (at least in this form).

Well I think that is about it for now. As the project nears completion (I am hoping to publish in November), I will put more information on the blog. Keep popping back to check or "Follow" the blog if you aren't doing so already. Hopefully you will find it of interest. If you have any questions, you can contact me at steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk

The Road to Berlin: Command and Control and Troop Quality

These two factors more than any others, led me to write these rules. Much as I enjoyed Rapid Fire - and I did, neither of these considerations bear heavily on them. Basically I wanted a card-driven set of rules that would allow me to reflect and vary the levels of command and control ability of the two forces and where troop quality would not just be a question of +1 for elite and -1 for militia. They also had to be both playable and fun.

Firstly, command and control. This is reflected at several different levels. At the top of the list is the card deck itself. Its composition is right at the heart of the game. Better armies, that is to say armies that are better led, not necessarily composed of better troops, will have a better deck. This comes out in such things as more command and control cards, fewer lull cards and so on. Secondly is the overall army rating; this reflects the quality of the staff work as well as the experience of the higher commanders. At the start of each phase, both sides throw a d6 to see who gains the initiative - this can be very important at certain stages of the battle. To this roll is added a modifier - anything from 0 to +5. So for example on the Eastern Front in 1941, the German force might have a modified rating of anything from +3 to +5, whereas the Soviet rating is likely to be at best +1. This ensures that the Germans will win the initiative on the majority of occasions. The initiative can be used or given/forced on the enemy should you choose to do so. When a Lull card is drawn,  this command initiative test is repeated: if the phasing side wins, then the only damage is a wasted card. If it loses, then the other side immediately draws an additional card from its own deck and acts on it. Again, if one side has a higher command rating than the enemy, then this will increase its chances of winning on its own Lull card and avoiding further problems, or winning on an enemy Lull card and drawing an additional, free card of its own. See the Lull card definition in my earlier post.

Each unit (usually battalion sized) also has a command rating: good, average or poor. When a unit wishes to move, the better the rating, the more "actions" they are likely to get. It varies between 0 and 3, with 2 being fairly average. An action allows the unit to move the "base move" of its particular type, for example infantry move 4" per action, whilst most tracked vehicles move 8". The better led a unit, the more movement it usually gets. There are a few modifiers, but leadership quality is the main driver here.

Armies are also allotted command groups as part of their unit structures. All will have brigade/ regimental and battalion HQ groups. Armies that are more de-centralised, such as the Germans, British and Americans will also have 2 figure company command groups. These are very useful as they can spot for integral artillery and mortars, making these assets much more flexible. The Soviets only get command groups at battalion level and above, so their options for directing supporting fire are much more limited, neatly reflecting their more centralised and generally less flexible approach. It also makes it more likely that Soviet guns and mortars will need to use direct (line of sight) fire.

Secondly, troop quality. I wanted to have a system that was fairly flexible. Rather than troops just being good, bad or indifferent, I wanted to be able to represent troops with varying characteristics, such as reluctant veterans or enthusiastic new boys. I therefore decided to give each troop type three different factors. These are:

Training: Troops are either green, trained, experienced or veteran. This is normally used when they are being fired at - green troops being easier to hit than troops that are better trained and more experienced in battle.

Motivation. Troops are rated as being either reluctant, confident or determined. This manifests itself when asking units to recover from suppression or to do something above and beyond the call of duty. Reluctant troops for example are less effective in close assault.

Morale. All troop types have a morale rating, usually between 6 (appalling) and 10 (excellent). Very rarely a rating of 11 can be given to reflect fanaticism.

This allows a wide range of options. For example, the Hitler Jugend in Normandy would be Experienced/Determined/11 - although most of the soldiers had not previously seen action, they had a leadership cadre of veterans and were well and thoroughly trained, hence the experienced, rather than trained rating. The same unit in the Ardennes six months later would be rated as Experienced/ Confident/9. A late war British infantry unit might be rated as Experienced or even Veteran, but with a reluctant motivation rating, making them a little "sticky" in combat. The permutations are, if not endless, then at least quite wide. In action you might find that many of the cobbled together late war German units will do a job for you if you put them in a good defensive position, but will struggle to deliver a strong, co-ordinated attack across open ground.

All in all this has worked well. We have found that superior troops can and do defeat equal numbers of poorer types, even when they are in good defensive positions. Troops with a "reluctant" motivation level really struggle to remove suppression, resulting in slow and uncoordinated attacks.

Anyway, there we have it. Hopefully this brief overview has explained one or two things about how the rules work and the thinking behind them. Next up will be movement.

The Road to Berlin

In November 2017, I posted an after action report on a set of WWII rules that I was working on. After a bit of play testing, I am confident enough that they will work to post again with a little more information on both the rules and what lay behind them. Tentatively (and a little unimaginatively), I have given them the working title of "The Road to Berlin".

For over 20 years, ever since they came out in fact, the group that I game with have used Rapid Fire and on the whole, really enjoyed them. As with anything else that has become a little too familiar, one or two of us started to wonder if there was another way of doing WWII. For all sorts of reasons, Rapid Fire weren't really doing it for me any more. I think the main things were the lack of any real command and control element and the minimal impact that troop quality had in the games we were playing. A 1941 Soviet army with KVs and T34s would find life fairly easy against a German force equipped with PzIIIs; in other words it was all about kit, rather than quality. I had also become quite interested in card-driven games such as Piquet. I therefore decided to see if I could come up with anything that would work on the table.

Being as technically challenged as it is possible to be, I was fortunate to stumble across a website that provides ready made templates. Seemingly based on a Wild West theme, it was surprisingly easy, even by my standards, to adapt it to my needs (I used one of the cards that allow the importation of a photo). http://cardfactory.kbelisle.ca/

For those of you not familiar with this type of card driven game, I will try to give a brief overview of how it works. Rather than the more traditional IGO/UGO game, where each turn has the same sequence of events, which are played out, in order, until a decision is reached, card driven games unfold differently. Typically each side will dice to see who wins the initiative, which can, if you choose, be passed to your opponent. This die roll is modified by the "army" command rating, anything from +1 to +5.  Let us say that side A wins by a modified score of three and decides to take the initiative. It then draws three cards, one after another and acts on them according to what the cards permit: movement, "re-loading", command and control etc. That done, the other side may then do the same, act on the next three cards in its own deck, which are, of course, likely to be different. This introduces a whole new level of command uncertainty into the game as you can never be sure which cards will be drawn next. At first glance this may seem a little random and for players new to such a game, the temptation to act on every card, just because you can, is strong. The important point is that you need to decide what your priorities are and then use the cards when they appear to achieve your objectives. Co-ordination is of course a little more difficult as you cannot guarantee that the cards will turn up as and when you need them. Firing is open to all units at any time, even when your opponent has the initiative, but having fired, units are marked as "unloaded" and are not able to fire again until the appropriate firepower card is drawn. As being able to fire is usually a good idea, players do not tend to blast away at every target that presents itself, but must learn to manage their fire wisely, usually in conjunction with the drawing of a new firepower card. It should be noted that it is possible to have short periods of sustained fire when an already loaded unit draws the appropriate firepower card, as it can fire, re-load, and if it wishes, fire again. Under the right circumstances, this can be devastating, but does carry the risk of leaving the unit unable to fire again, until another card comes along. Decisions, decisions!!

One of the main changes that I have made during play testing is to introduce a little interactivity to the game. After the first playtest with our club "rules cruncher" Andy Lawson, he suggested that it might be good to be able to act, to a limited degree, outside the strict sequence of the drawing of the cards. Three cards: Command and Control, Tactical Advantage and Superior Firepower have been modified to allow this. It is still early days and it will need to be tested in a few games to see how it goes, but in principle I think that it could add to the interest and enjoyment.

Anyway, that is the basic idea. Below are the various cards that appear in the game and a short explanation of  what they are used for. The number in brackets refers to the number of that particular card  usually to be found in an army deck.

AIR POWER. (0-3) Any air assets that the umpire has allotted for the game may appear when this card is drawn. Their affects are determined immediately following any defensive anti-aircraft fire.

BARRAGE. (0-3) This card tends to be used for any "special" situations relating to supporting off-table artillery, such as harassing fire, pre-planned stonks, naval artillery and so on.  
  

CLOSE ASSAULT. (3)  Troops within a defined distance may close assault. This is a decisive, but potentially risky and expensive manoeuvre and is fought to a conclusion. It can involve infantry, armour or both.

COMBINED MOVEMENT. (0-3)  This card allows armies with highly integrated armour/infantry to move both troop types simultaneously. This is clearly a considerable advantage when trying to co-ordinate your actions. Applies mainly to German armoured formations, but later war Allied units can also use this card. It can also be used in conjunction with the infantry and vehicle movement cards where the level of cooperation was less marked. For example an early British Normandy force, where infantry/tank co-operation was quite poor, would use 3 infantry and 3 vehicle move cards in its deck. As the level of co-operation improved, this might change to 1 combined card and 2 each of the infantry and vehicle cards. If it improved further still, then the mix could be 2 combined cards and 1 each of the infantry and vehicle cards.

COMMAND AND CONTROL. (1-4) The higher the level of command and control ability, the more of these cards an army will have. When drawn, a d6 is thrown, providing that number of command chits. These allow a range of additional actions to be performed from removing unit suppressions, replacing lost command groups to modifying/overriding other negative factors. These are subject to chance, based on unit quality. A useful card.

COMMAND FAILURE.  (0-2) This card is usually found in decks belonging to armies lacking in command experience. When drawn it immediately ends the initiative phase and any remaining cards are returned to the deck unused. This is a real stinker as it can seriously impede your ability to act, depending on when it is drawn: if you are lucky it the last card to be played that initiative round and is therefore no more than a wasted card.

ENGINEER TASKS.  (0-3)   As the name suggests, this card is used when there is a significant engineering presence in the game, rather than just the odd platoon of assault engineers. Engineering units move and act on this card, rather than the normal movement cards.

INDIRECT FIREPOWER. (0-3) All indirect fire weapons, whether on table or in more general support off table are affected by this card. On table elements treat this as a "re-load" card and may use it to fire as and when they choose, as per the rules concerning all other on table units. Off table artillery/mortars are assumed to be in general support and must use this card immediately, or lose it.

INFANTRY FIREPOWER. (3-4) All infantry units are considered "re-loaded" when this card is drawn. Most armies get three of these; reasonably well equipped Germans (the vast majority) get four, to take into account the high rate of fire of the MG34/42. The quality of the fire is determined by a unit's more general armament - number of mgs/rifles etc and levels of training (Volksturm do not fire as well as Panzer Grenadiers for example).

INFANTRY MOVEMENT. (3)  All infantry units may, if they wish, attempt to move on this card.

LULL.  (0-6)  This is one of the key cards in the game and represents, in effect the standing around, doing nothing that is such a feature of combat. It is in effect, a wasted card. The less experienced and able the command and control elements of the army are, the more of these cards they will have. For example a 1941 German force may only have one, or perhaps even none at all; its Soviet opponent may have half a dozen. As a result, fewer of the German cards will be wasted, allowing them to do more things in the same amount of time. Not only that, but every time a Lull card is drawn, both sides roll their respective command dice. If the player with the initiative loses, the non phasing player may step in and pinch the initiative, turning and playing an additional, free card of his own. This can result in the better led army winning a number of additional cards, thereby cycling through his own deck more quickly and bringing a game turn to an end before the other player has managed to use up all of his own cards. This can be very important as the weaker command deck is rarely completed, resulting in the loss of potentially important opportunities to act.

MOVE ONE COMMAND. (0-2)  A "command" in this game is a company sized group: roughly 12-15 infantry or 2-4 vehicles. One such group may be activated on this card.

SPECIAL EVENT. (0-2)  As the name suggests, any special factors such as weather or any particular feature that is peculiar to any individual scenario is triggered on this card. Only used occasionally.

SUPERIOR FIREPOWER. (0-2) When this card appears, the player concerned rolls a d6 and receives a number of "superior firepower" chits equal to the score achieved. These are then used at the player's discretion to enhance the firepower on a single firing element - adding +1 to their chance of hitting. A useful but not decisive bonus.

TACTICAL ADVANTAGE. (0-2)  As with the Command and Control and Superior Firepower cards, a d6 is thrown, awarding that number of Tactical Advantage chits. These allow the user to attempt additional actions such as close assault, taking cover from incoming fire and bonus (out of sequence) movement.

VEHICLE FIREPOWER. (3)  All vehicles are considered "re-loaded" when this card appears.

VEHICLE MOVEMENT. (3)  All vehicles may, if they wish, attempt to move on this card.

WILD CARD.  (0-2)  This is a very useful card, usually only available to the best-led armies. When drawn, a player can re-name it as ANY card that he may feel he needs and apply it to any ONE company sized Command Group.

So, there we are. This is probably the longest post I have ever attempted!! Hopefully it gives a reasonable idea of how the rules work and some of the thinking behind them. Over the next few weeks or so, I will do a number of posts on the nuts and bolts of the rules to explain things in a bit more detail. At the end of the day, it is just an attempt to deliver what most of us want: an engaging and hopefully enjoyable game. I look forward to your comments.