Platoon Mega Playtest - Summary and Roundup

So that's the end of the Platoon MegaTest - 11 different rules played out against a set of 6 inter-linked scenarios. So what are my conclusions?

Op Martlet Campaign

The Op Martlet Campaign from Too Fat Lardies was great fun and gave a great structure. Playing it By the book it would have been a real challenge as the British platoon suffered badly pretty much every time, whether it won or lost, and would have found it hard to keep going until relieved. I've got 29 Let's Go but also tempted by the The Scottish Corridor. I'd also like to do one based on the Canadians on Op Totalize.

Reviews Summary

Chain of Command 7/10

• Pros: Good ranges and weapon balance. Shock. Covers most situations.
• Cons: Activation model doesn't seem "real". End up gaming the CoC dice.

Bolt Action  9/10

• Pros: Order dice and activation vs pins. Covers most situations. 
• Cons: Short ranges. Underpowered LMGs. Too many "special" rules. Melee combat. Odd indirect fire (opponent places misses!).

KR16  6/10

• Pros: Pretty simple. Nice activation model where hard tasks are harder to activate (eg assault)
• Cons: Even simple tasks too hard to activate though. Damage removes pins, so better getting 1 hit not two often.

Fireteam: Modern  8/10

• Pros: Pretty good. Nice random events on joker. Well laid out.
• Cons: One step too many some times. 5 dice just to activate each unit!

UltraCombat: Modern  6/10

• Pros: Very few I'm afraid.
• Cons: 3in1 concept makes very bulky. Doesnt cover all events (most HE, smoke, etc). Confusing layout. Hestitate/Pinned/Suppressed confusion. Zero friction, but units often hesitate from hits and get stuck. 

Force on Force  5/10

• Pros: Rules very complete, infinite fire exchanges but decreasing effect
• Cons: Don't like variable dice type mechanics. Masses of dice. No one every pinned.Little friction.

No End In Sight  8/10

• Pros: Best example of section leader commanding. Nice command exhaustion activation mechanic. Good under-fire morale test.
• Cons: Too easy to recover from pin? Dice heavy on combat.

Iron Cross  4/10

• Pros: Few
• Cons: No penalty for over-reaching activation. To easy to recover damage. Kill in one turn mentality. Fire-React too pervasive. No smoke. Start min/maxing combats to eliminate a unit in single go.

Monty Gunner Who 

• Pros: Nice and fast card mechanic, with gambling option! Good HE.
• Cons: Melee and anti-tank a bit card heavy.

Contact: Wait Out 6.5/10

• Pros: Scales to Bn/Bde at different resolutions. Covers all situations.
• Cons: Needs better HE rules. Firepower model didn't handle small units well.

Bolt Action Reality Check  9.5/10

• Pros: Played really well - as it should
• Cons: A few tweaks but otherwise fine

So Bolt Action with house rule changes a clear winner, and even struggling at this scale to see why I need to waste time improving CWO. May be a different story at Company upwards though.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 11 - Bolt Action:Reality Check

The "pillarbox Panzer" has its target partially masked by smoke

That's all the rule sets I want to test, so as a finale I played Bolt Action again but with various house rules to hopefully give more realistic ranges, better balance between rifles and MGs, and fixes to indirect fire and smoke amongst other things, I've christened as Bolt Action: Reality Check.

Presentation

3 sheets of A4 QRS covering pretty the whole of the BA rule book and incorporating my changes. Hardly needed to check the real rulebook at all.

British advancing in line from top to bottom

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 6: The Last Ditch at Ruaray, the final Op Martlet scenario, again with open ground to a mix of wood and buildings giving a good defensive position. The Germans lost their IG, and the Brits lot the 4th Section and UC but gained an MFC as the mortars were going to come in handy!

The Panzer IV lies in wait

How It Played

The Brits just went for it initially, No. 1, 2 and 3 sections in line abreast, moving rapidly across the open ground so they managed to get rounds on target in their first turn. It was then a slogging match, each Section paired against a German Gruppen.  The Cromwell came out to give support, and Panzer IV countered, and got its tracks blown off for the privilege - but became a very useful turreted strong point. Despite smoke coming down No.1 Section began to suffer the most and soon routed, followed by No. 3 Section. The Germans were taking some losses, but had the benefit of cover. With only No.2 Section left and that suffering the Platoon was pulled back. Round 1 to the Germans.

Smoke on the crossroads doesn't save the Brits

The Company commander still had to get his objective though, so the Mortars put down a round of fire on the German position, putting 2-3 pins on most units, and killing the sniper hiding in the farm attic. No. 2 Platoon was then sent forward, again rapidly moving across ground in line abreast and into rifle range. The weakened German Gruppen had to spend a turn recovering pins, and given the order of the dice this meant the Brits got 2 rounds of fire in before the Germans could respond. Again the weakness of the German Gruppen was telling as they couldn't inflict the same damage as the brits, despite taking No. 2 Section  Commander out. 3. Gruppen on the German L was first to go, then No. 2 Gruppen fled, and so finally the Zug pulled back, the Panzer IV firing HE at No. 1 Section which had gone to ground behind a hillock to cover the withdrawal. Game over, Campaign over, the Brits had got the the Ruaray cross-roads on the second try.

No. 2 Platoon moves in to clear the now empty crossroads as the Germans exit stage right

Overall

This played really well. The openness of the terrain meant that it was lacking some of the manoeuvre of the first Bolt Action game, but all the results seemed realistic, and 2 Platoons to unseat 1 defensive Platoon seems reasonable. All my changes worked well too, and this has certainly ended up for me as my go-to Platoon set. Next to try it for SF and Modern, and then next year at Company level. I'd give it 9.5 I think.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 10 - Contact: Wait Out!

Having ripped everybody else's rules apart, time for my own!

Presentation

Although I have a 43 page A4 rulesbook (few photos) I played exclusive off the 2pp A4 QRS.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 5: Winning Your Spurs again with a mad advance across open ground.

How It Played

No. 1 Section on the left (fm British), No. 2 Section on the right. As No. 2 Section got to about 100 and crested the hummocks, failing to spot the 2. Gruppen in the hedgeline, 2. Gruppen opened fire and wiped out No. 2 Section (they got 3 activations - one for reserved overwatch, one for normal that turn, and one early next turn!). The Cromwell and No. 4 Section moved up to replace but the Panzer IV cam out and after Panzer and Cromwell bounced a few shells off each other it was the Cromwell that took a fatal hit.

On the N flank No.1 Section went to ground behind the hummocks as soon as it came under fire - suffering far less than No. 2 Section. Even with No. 3 Section and the UC coming up in  support the German defensive line was going to be a tough nut to crack and so the Pl Commander lost patience and called in an artillery barrage from the Battalions Direct Support battery. Couple of turn later it arrived and although slightly long, decimated (accurate in this case) the German position, 1. and 2. Gruppen gone, 3. Gruppen badly mauled and the Panzer button-down. The Brits could have walked onto the position but I called game over.

Where did all the Germans go?

Rules Impression

I certainly have more DMs than the other rules tested here - but not too many I think - and the niceties are there to cope with systems right up to 2020. I did realise I was missing rules for direct HE, but everything else was covered with random activation, randomised movement if running, and smoke.

But it didn't feel as good a game as my last 1985 outing of them. Partly the scenario is a real tough one, but also this was PL+ where as that was Bn+, and it was hard to cope with the fire factors at bolt-action rifle group scale, and the 30m grid seemed to make a huge difference when the HE came down.

In terms of that barrage though a Bolt Action one would have covered a similar area, and seeing as I rolled double + three times (so 1:9 chance three times) I'd have had 6s all the way through on BA - so probably a similar result (although may have been in pins and rout, not elimination). Also just thinking of the rec outside my old house which is a similar size (~ 200m x 150m), having a platoon lying there and a 25pdr battery shoot arriving in the field I can believe that not many would walk away - so maybe not as off as it seemed.

What I didn't try was shooting for suppression - doing a quick check on that No.1 Section could probably have readily got suppression and the odd damage, so No. 3 could have charged through, so it may have been possible.

At the end of the day though with a British Pl going 1:1 with a German Pl in defence and no cover the German's are pretty much bound to win without some deus ex machina!

Overall

Not as good a run out as usual for CWO, but they are really more intended for Company up (that's my excuse!). Looking like Bolt Action - Reality Checked might become my preferred Pl set, be interesting to see if I can stretch that up to Coy in the next round. Overall, a disappointing 6.5/10 I think.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 9 - Monty Gunner Who?

This was something of a late entry being a set of private rules developed by one of the guys in the ACP164 campaign which he has graciously let me playtest. I'll only post this if he's OK with it.

Presentation

29 page word document. Simple layout, no pics, but it is a private set so same state as most of mine. Sensible structure though.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 5: Winning Your Spurs. This is a delaying action with the Germans holding a shallow spur line and the British advancing across mostly open ground. I randomly added some of my felt "humps" which block line of sight for infantry but not for tanks. Both sides are reduced in force from the previous scenario, the Brits losing the 6pdr (no great loss) and the German's the Pak (but keeping the IG).

A pretty empty table - Germans at the bottom end

How It Played

The Brits went for a 4-square approach, 2 up, 2 back, either side of the road. The Germans waited til thee Brits were in close range and then 1. Gruppen in the hedgeline on the N side of the road opened up. No. 1 Section went to ground and the OC brought in smoke to cover them. Meanwhile No. 2 Section moved forward S of the road and came under similar fire from 2. Gruppen. The Cromwell moved up to support No. 2 Section but the Panzer darted out for cover, and tried to get a quick shot in before the Cromwell but failed. The Cromwell fired and hit the Panzer IV tracks, and a second shot took it out completely. Meanwhile No. 2 Section Gun Gp and the UC Bren team (now midway down the road) concentrated fire on 2. Gruppen MG team in the copse and eventually silenced it.

The Panzer IV moves up to engage the advancing Cromwell

With more progress being made on the S side No. 3 Section was switched S, and supported No. 4 Section who were passing through No. 2 Section to assault 2. Gruppen. This must have taken the Brit OC's eye off the ball as he forgot to stoke the smoke, and as it cleared the IG and 1. Gruppen hailed fire down upon No. 1 Section who were routed.

Fresh smoke to protect a shattered No. 4 Section as 2. Gruppen pull back

Back on the S No. 4 Section took a lot of damage on the way in on their assault, but just got the better of the melee (although on checking the rule both sides may have eliminated each other!), pushing 2. Gruppen back behind the spur. 3. Gruppen had swung round to the road to protect the German L flank, 1. Gruppen considered a similar swing to come down on the flank of 2 and 3 Sections, their own front now bring clear, but initially thought better of it.

No. 4 Section just didn't have the oomph to push on to the road, and fire from 2. and 3. Gruppen was enough to force them back to the shelter of a hummock. 3. Gruppen pushed their LMG team into the copse, but the Cromwell and No. 2 Section soon took them out. But 2. Gruppen then snuck a Panzerfaust man into the copse who, despite taking hits, managed to put his round through the hull of the Cromwell, effectively putting it out for the rest of the game.

With 1. Gruppen finally swing round and bringing enfilade fire down on the UC and No. 3 Section, and the IG also putting HE into No. 3 Section the British situation was looking dicey and although neither side had reached breakpoint the Brits decided to call it a day.

Rules Impression

The main rules mechanic is a deck of playing cards, with red=good, black = bad. For shooting its typically 4 cards, +/- extra cards as "DMs", and a hit for each red, with saves likewise dependent on drawing reds from 1 or 2 cards.  A really nice and fast mechanism. Activation is by a unit deck - IABSM style, and there's also a hand of 3 "special action" cards for commanders to use and refill. On activation a unit can either take 1 activation, or gamble and draw 2 cards and get an activation for each red - there's even an option for 3! Damage is in two stages, hits that reduce capability, but once they are "full" you start taking morale hits - which might cause a fallback or worse, and once a threshold is reached (typically 4 hits and 4 morale for a rifle group) then the unit is destroyed.

Where the rules fell down a bit was in tank/anti-tank fire. It roughly 5 cards to hit, then 5 cards to penetrate, 4 cards to counter penetrate, 5 cards to locate the hit, and 5 cards to assess damage - 24 cards to end up with just a bent sprocket wheel! Melee is similarly card heavy. In contrast HE is spot on, with cards giving accuracy and distance.

Overall

The core mechanic is really good, and very tempted to use it for some of my own rules. With some mods to the anti-tank and melee it would make a superb set for newcomers, or oldsters fancying a different sort of game. Seems inappropriate to give it a score since it's someone's own set, but with a few tweaks I think I'd rate it as at least as good as Chain of Command.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 8 - Iron Cross

Presentation

32 page glossy softback, of which the core rules are only 13 pages. Decent pics, diagrams and layout. 1 page QRS on back cover and as download PDF.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 4 - Striking at St Nicholas. Germans with IG37 infantry support gun as before. The rules have no explicit scale, all long-arm weapons have unlimited range. IAWs have a range of 8"/20cm - so assuming ~100m gives 10cm = 50m, but that then seems too long for the rest of the long-arms. Close (or is that effective) range is 12"/30cm, which if assumed as 300m, gives 10cm = 30m.

How it Played

View from German lines

Same British game plan as before. No.1 and No.2 Section headed off through the wood on the L flank, while No. 3 Section took the open ground on the R flank, with No. 4 Section in reserve. No. 3 Section soon came under concentrated fire from 2. Gruppen (centre) and 3. Gruppen (British R) which wiped it out. No. 1 Section made it to the edge of the wood and was immediately engaged by the IG which wiped out their LMG team. The Cromwell came forward to try and suppress 2. Gruppen to clear the way for No. 4 Section. It was out of Panzerfaust range but the Panzer IV came forward, and it got hit by both the Cromwell and the 6pdr, the 6pdr delivering the final blow which knocked it out. The Cromwell cleared the hedgeline of 2. Gruppen MG34, and 1.Gruppen MG34 in the farm roof, clearing the way for No. 4 Section.

No. 4 Section moving forwards. Note new dead 10mm models!

Unfortunately No. 4 Section still caught fire from the rest of 2. Gruppen and lost their rifle team. The LMG team made it to the hedgeline though.

At the farm No. 2 Section finally made it through the wood unmolested and assaulted 1. Gruppen in the farm. After several rounds of melee 1. Gruppen won and No.2 Section lost is rifle group.

1. Gruppen redeployed to the N of the farm. No. 1 Section in distance.

The Brits were now perilously close to their breakpoint. 3. Gruppen and the IG turned S to engage the UC and Bren team which had snuck up on the far side of the hedge S of the road, and in a brief exchange of fire the Bren team was gone, British breakpoint reached and it was game over - a German victory!

Rules Impression

I'd heard good things about Iron Cross, particularly the activation system. I'm afraid to say it didn't work for me at all, and even seems the most broken of all the ones I've tried so far - mainly because you start min/maxing the game mechanic rather than "playing the period".

Each side gets a bunch of activation tokens, effectively 1 per unit plus 2 for HQ. But those tokens can be allocated to any unit. After allocating the unit actually activates on a 1+/2+/3+ incrementing D6 roll, based on both previous activations and morale/damage hits. So far fine. But 3 things to me then wreck it:

• There is no penalty for failing the activation (other than loss of token) so you can keep going it if important. Other rules with this system tend to have you lose initiative.
• Units need 3 (small) or 5 (standard) morale/damage hits to be eliminated. Recovering hits is relatively easy (and not subject the same incremental challenge). So in reality you aim to get all 3/5 IN A SINGLE ACTIVATION.
• So once you start a unit firing and inflicting damage you keep going. Any infantry unit probably averages 1-2 hits an activation, so in 3 you're probably done. 

As a result I found each turn tended to resolve around the destruction of one particular unit. The defender does get the chance for reactive fire each time - but they are on a 3+/4+ model, and with each hit that becomes harder. Also with almost every firefight becoming two way it seems to break the activating players flow (deliberately?).

Smoke rules are very simple (the 2" landed smoke just right turn after turn, blinding the IG), and there are no indirect fire or spotting rules. No building rules (just cover) and melee is just another firefight - hence it dragging on.

Overall

Not for me, although other people say they've got good games out of it. I've got Seven Days to the Rhine to play later, so I might watch a few video playthroughs before that to see if I get anything seriously wrong. But on this experience overall 4/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 7 - No End In Sight

Presentation

92 page PDF by Nordic Weasel - available on Wargames Vault for $12.99, minimal images but fairly sensible layout. About 1/3rd is campaign rules. No QRS.

Set-Up

Operation Martlet Scenario 4 - Striking at St Nicholas. The Germans have now added an IG37 infantry support gun. The rules have no explicit scale, but all long-arm weapons have unlimited range, so probably more like 10/20m per square than 30m. No close/effective range either. Although designed for the Modern period the rules include bolt-action rifles and Brens, so no conversion needed.

How It Played

No. 3 Section started off, patrolling along the S flank til they got hit by 3. Gruppen on the hedge line. One man down, adverse morale test and scurried back to where they came. Cromwell came forward to support, put some MG and 76mm HE into the hedge-lines, but really only suppressed. The Panzer IV seized its chance, did a quick and long drive into a shooting position and disabled the Cromwell tracks. The 6pdr returned fire and took the Panzer out. A Panzerfaust team in the hedges tried to take the Cromwell but it was front on and the round bounced off.

Meanwhile No. 1 Section was heading across the N flank through the wood, but as they approached the farm came under sustained fire from the MG42 in the attic rooms. Before long the whole Section was suppressed - with the IG pouring fire in from the flank not helping.

The Pl Comd finally called down smoke in the S and No. 4 Section went to help No 3 Section which had still been pinned. No. 4 was slow off the mark though and No. 3 was still not at the enemy by the time the smoke cleared. The static Cromwell hoped shoot them in though and a handful of No. 3 Section finally made contact with a handful of defenders. The Brits won and the Germans pulled back.

Meanwhile No.2 Section had also been advancing through the woods, and with all the fire being directed at No. 1 Section was able to get up to the farm walls without casualty (a short range German shoot missed totally). Grenades were lobbed in, Germans stunned, and No. 2 Section stormed through the openings. The melee wasn't as quick as planned but finally the Germans gave way, and the MG42 team and Zug OK fled the farm.

End game time, No. 2 Section turned its fire S on 2. Gruppen in the central field, with No.4 and No.3 Section also putting in fire from the flank. 2. Gruppen struggled to get people out of pinned, especially those caught in the open, and finally No. 4 Section stormed into melee with them and it was game over.

Rules Impression

No End In Sight has a really cracking command and control system - probably the best yet for giving you a section commander's feel for a Platoon battle. Sides alternate activations, and can activate one commander, who gets D6-Stress action points, each of which can activate upto 3 men (if close) or remove 1 pinned, and a few other things. But each activation gives the NCO one more Stress, and if they role modified 0 or less they are "exhausted" and have to wait the next turn. The next turn only happens when everyone (voluntarily or mandated) is exhausted, and 3 Stress are instantly recovered by NCO.

The next effect is that you tend to focus the battle on one bit of the field at a time, with opposing NCOs fighting it out, and spending an increasingly meagre AP as best they can, removing a pin here, pushing a couple of guys forward there - all within the context of the larger game. Excellent.

The under-fire Morale test was nice - forcing No. 3 Section back with the first shots, and as the rules warn whilst units are often pin soldiers are more rarely killed than in other rules. I did find pinning easy to recover from though - although I suppose since the NCO is using activations up to do that they still can't then do much (can't recover pin and fight in same activation).

There were rules for most situations in there, including lots of building and vehicle ones. However some had less depth so you might be forced to improvise. Nice grenade rules (luckily none of No.3  Section's bounced off the door frame?). The tank combat rules have an annoying "silent" result on a roll of 4 which is meant to keep people guessing and require a reroll next turn, and I just kept rolling 4s!

The core combat system is dice heavy, shock dice per man, +2 for LMG, then half that many dice for Kill (a Nordic Weasel trope), so that's 15 dice for an 8/9 man section, then need to reroll Kills if in cover. Not my ideal, esp with 2 different types.

Overall

Whilst the combat mechanic isn't my favourite the activation model made this a really nice game. Very keen to try it as an option for my Bolt Action Reality Check. Overall 8/10, edging a 9.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 6 - Force on Force

Presentation

224pp glossy hardback from Osprey. pretty well laid out, lots of Osprey and other pics, and QRS sheets at the end.

Set-Up

Scenario 3, Attack on the Hauptkampflinie again, British with the extra section. Force on Force is of course a modern set, but most stats are abstract and very general. However I decided to count Firepower as only 1/2pt per figure rather than 1 as the baseline weapon is a higher ROF than the SLR. Troops initially counted as regular, but shifted to Veteran after Turn 2 (see below).

How It Played

Slightly broader attack this time with No. 1 Section supported by the Cromwell crossing the open ground of the N flank, No. 2 Section through the garden in the centre and No. 3 Section through the woods. In the N the Panzer IV took one shot at the Cromwell and brewed it up.  German fire from the farm against No.1 Section was suprisingly ineffective. No. 3 section walked into the MG42 ambush again - but lost no-one (~60m range!). They charged and the MG42 wisely fled back to its main body. A firefight then ensued between No.3 Section and 3. Gruppen, with both sides steadily losing men, but consistently passing morale tests. No.2 Section meanwhile pushed through the garden, got the better of the firefight with 2. Gruppen, its last man fleeing. No. 2 Section then charged the flank of 3. Gruppen and in a bitter melee which went on for several rounds eventually got the upper hand and eliminated the Gruppen - with only 4 of its own men remaining. With two Gruppen gone ENDEX was called.

The Cromwell brews for a change!

Rules Impression

It's probably 5 or 6 years since I played Force On Force (actually may be 2011/2012 if I played them when they came out!), and I must admit they were worse than I remember.

Good points:

• Unlimited range, but bonus for <~100m
• Rules for pretty much everything, inc on-table 2" smoke
• Good ideas for asymmetric and casualty stuff for modern play (but not used here)
• Every fire becomes an exchange of fire between both sides (well sort of good, see below)
• No limit on firing per turn, but each at reduced effect - so given above far more interaction between units than usual

Bad Points:

• Masses of Dice! For a firefight one side is rolling typically 5-10 dice to hit, opponent is ALSO rolling 5-10 dice, and then Risk style you have match numbers (any 4+) off to see who wins. Then if there's a kill the defender has to roll another 5-10 dice for a morale check - so possibly 15-30 dice for 1 dead figure! I started on D8 (as regular), but having only 2 of them switched to D10 (of which I have about 10) to make things easier. This may queer some of the results below.
• Little friction, its alternate unit activation, with a reaction test if you want to fire or melee, but no-one every failed it.
• No one ever failed a morale test, so units never got pinned, let alone fell back from fire or fled a melee!
• Not a great fan of multiple dice types, could just about stick them if I side stuck to one type, but these rules also have dice  type shifts.

Overall

Just not for me. A few nice ideas on the ultramodern front which could be imported to other games, but wouldn't use as a core set. Lowest score so far, 5/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 5 - UltraCombat

Presentation

UltraCombat was a Kickstarter last year and backers have had several releases of the PDF versions of the rules. Latest copy is full-colour facsimile of the hard copy version which is due imminently. Nice looking, lots of good DoD and wargame photos. One potential issue is that rules cover 3 "scales" - platoon, section and fireteam, so the rule book has 3, almost identical, sets of rules in it! It is of course related to UltraCombat:Normandy (which may have made more sense for this test but I don't own a copy), and by DishDash Games who did Skirmish Sangin.

Set-Up

Onto Scenario 3 of TFL's Op Martlet, entitled Attack on the Hauptkampflinie. The British now benefit from an extra section. UltraCombat is of course a modern set, but most stats are abstract so I could make a reasonable stab at WW2 versions.

The British Advance under way

Given how open the Left Flank is, the Brits decided to put all 4 sections R of the road, 2 up, 2 back, wit Cromwell to support as required, and the 6pdr covering the road and open ground. The Germans put one Gruppen in the farm, and the other two opposite the British R flank.

How It Played

The British 2 Section (extreme R) tried to push forward but got pinned by the forward German MG42 and more or less failed to move for the rest of the game, bottle gone. The Cromwell tried to lend a hand but didn't achieve much, so No. 4 Section had to push through and took out the MG42, but then got pinned by the interlocked fire from the rest of the German 3. Gruppen.

Face off between No. 43 Section and 3. Gruppen. 2. Gruppen taking casualties.

The Pz Kfz IV was lured out by the Cromwell threatening the MG42, but it had hardly broken cover to advance across the open ground on the L flank when a first shot from the 6pdr took it out! The Cromwell was now free to cross over to the L flank and bring down fire on the MG42 sqaud in the farmhouse who were harrassing Nos. 1 and 3 sections who were trying to press forward in the centre.

The Cromwell supports No. 3 Section as they advance into the gloom!

No.1 Section made if through the gardens and had a firefight with the German 2. Gruppen which they won admirably and then charged into melee, taking fire from the Gruppen and the MG42 but they got into contact and eliminated the Gruppen. With the Cromwell neutralising the MG42 No. 1 Section (undamaged) was free to turn S and assault into the flank of 3. Gruppen, who they destroyed for minimal loss.

The farmyard, and Panzer IV just before the 6pdr struck!

With 2 Gruppen dead, the third MG42 gone, and the Panzer it was game over. A decisive British victory.

Rules Impression

It may have been working from a PDF, and not helped by the 3-in-1 concept, but I really struggled with these rules. Of course this may be due to not reading things right, and another playthrough with hard copy and watching/reading some more about them may help clarify things, but issues I encountered were:

• There is zero friction, you just choose who you want next, have a dice-off with the opponent, and then as long as there is no morale off they go
• There appears to be an infinite opportunity to interrupt. Some words elsewhere suggest that when a unit interrupts its card is counted as "played" but that is not clearly stated in the interrupt rules
• Spot and Fire methods were fine, as were DMs, but almost any hit stops a unit as they get a minimum of Hesitate. Hence units sticking still for so long in the game.
• Defender fire against assaulting unit not clear - inherent or counted as interrupt or none?
• Couldn't actually find a rule for moving vehicles! The Armour rules are a separate section after the 3 rule sets, so spent whole time going form front to back of book.
• Couldn't find direct fire HE rules, e.g. against buildings
• Only smoke seems to be some grenades
• Layout of rules often confusing, e.g. initiative and turn sequence under combat, 2-3 pages after Action Points
• Not clear how many die tank guns roll for AT (esp when a LAW rolls 8!)
• The Hestitate/Pinned/Suppressed markers/states just seemed confusing, remembering what did what and finding that Suppressed units get no -DM in combat!

I'm sure I'd find answers to some of these if I hunted on the forums, but I shouldn't need to, clear enough in other rules. The unit cards are a nice idea, but as I keep finding a summary sheet of A4 with all the details is often easier - still good for activation though.

Whole game was only 3 turns too!

No.1 Section secure their 2nd objective

Overall

I want to like these, I liked some of the ideas of Skirmish Sangin, and wanted a "simpler" version, but whilst the guts of a simpler game are here I think there are a fair few things that just seem to needlessly complicate it - both in layout and methods. I did have the chance to playtest but frustratingly I didn't have time to contribute at the time, although I did do some proof-reading, a missed opportunity? Will give another go and with a modern setting once the hardcopy figure rules and figures come through. A disappointing 6/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 4 - Fireteam:Modern

An unlucky PzKfW MkIV hits a stray landmine!

Presentation

Fireteam:Modern by Rory Crabb is a PDF purchasable from Wargames Vault for $12.99. It 101 pages of which the first half are rules, and the second scenarios and army lists. It's probably the best looking and best laid out set of rules so far, with some great DoD pictures, clear section/chapter dividers, although wargames pics seem limited to figure/vehicle examples and rules explanations. In use there was a bit of jumping around to find things (like all the weapon stats being buried mid-book), but not too bad, and the 2 page QRS had pretty much everything anyway.

Set-Up

A second run of Op Martlett Scenario Two - Pushing On. There is no explicit ground scale, but effective range for a rifle (~300m) is 24" (60cm), so call 4"(10cm) = 50m, so a tad smaller than BA.

Forces were as for Part 3, but this time the British decided to put more effort on the south/their right flank, beyond the road.

Fireteam:Modern is a modern set of rules, but includes stats for bolt action rifles and even Shermans, so adapted to WW2 fairly easily.

ENDEX Situation

How It Played

The Germans started in the same places as last time - the plan worked so why change it! No 3 Section and the Cromwell pushed forward S of the road and cam under fire from the house. The Section took some casualties but the Sherman put HE into the building, putting then Under Fire in one go, and Suppressed by the next. No 3 Platoon meanwhile swung N to hide behind the hedge along the road. No 1 section again came under fire from the Germans in the copse, and smoke called in came a little bit S. With No 3 Section providing the fire base No. 2 Section assaulted across the N-S track and into the Germans and won the melee. About this time the PzKfw Mk 4 swings S and into view of the Cromwell. The Panzer is going to get the first shot off but the Brits play an interrupt card, shoot first and miss. The Panzer then misses in its turn, but in manoeuvring to get the next shot hits a stray anti-tank mine and brews up! This leaves the Cromwell free to focus on fire support. No 3 Section now passes through No 2 Section and assaults the Germans in the copse, with No 1 section on fire support. Again the melee goes the British way. The U/C has also moved up to the track, and deploys its Bren to rake down the lane into the German reserve platoon, but it's effectively all over. Victory to the Brits, and Scenario 2 is one all!

No. 2 Section reorganising after their melee

Rules Impression

A pretty good set of rules I think. There were a few things where it struck me that there was one step to many, but otherwise rolls and DMs seemed fine, and all the results believable. I loved the random even (Joker) that ended up with the Panzer hitting the mine - just the sort of thing you can see happening! Activation was one of the cumbersome bits - you draw a card (red=Brits,black=Germans), choose a unit, then roll 5D6 to see how many activations (4+) you get. So you've drawn and card and rolled 5 dice before you do anything - for every unit! I found that by the end of the 1st utnr I'd just forgotten about dice rolling and was giving everyone 3 activations. For subsequent terms I thought of a better idea and did a simple table to map card value to activtaions, from 0 to 5, roughly matched in probability. That worked really well, the only thing you lost (gained) was that you knew when you had a duff activation so could assign it to a reserve unit, rather than choosing to activate the Cromwell and then rolling zero!

Overall

Good set. Didn't edge it over Bolt Action for me, but preferable for me to Chain of Command. A few ideas I may steal for my house rules for BA. 8/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 3 - KR16

Presentation

KR16 is a set of free PDF rules from Angel Barracks and available for download at https://cpmodels.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/KR-16-2nd.pdf. They run to 25 pages. The layout is reasonable, but whilst the loads of examples help they break the main rules a bit too much. All the rules and stats tables would probably fit on a single side of A4.

Set-Up

Time to move on to Scenario 2 in Operation Martlet - Pushing On. 7DWR (at least I think it's them) "attempt to push on through the sprawling village of Fontenay towards the German main line of defence. They must clear this position before they can progress further".

KR16 are SF rules, but have normal rifle and MG type stats. The ranges seemed a bit short, e.g. 24cm for a rifle, so I scaled it all up so that 4cm in the rules equalled one 10cm square on my board, giving a rifle an 80cm range - about the same as Bolt Action.

Forces were reinforced platoons as per Scenario 1, but the Brits picked up a sniper team as well.

ENDEX view, British were attaching bottom to top

How It Played

The Germans started sitting tight in the village, with rifle groups deployed well forward and ready to pull back as the British came on. The British (unwisely?) had all the Sections deployed N of the main road, and the Cromwell and 6pdr on it.

The Germans in the wood in front of the main house opened up on No. 3 Section cowering in the chicken shed and caused some damage. The Cromwell took a glancing blow from the Pak and decided to move off the road to help No. 3 Section out. MG fire and the Section's fire soon caused enough damage for the German Section to pull back. In the N the plan was to use No. 1 Section on the far flank as the fire base, deploy smoke, and No. 2 Section to rush through to get the German section in the N copse. The fire took a couple of goes to get in, and then No. 2 Section just refused to move. And refused, and refused. In fact they only got going in the last couple of turns (and then wished they hadn't). So No. 3 Section was swung N instead. Though the smoke, hesitated, and got caught in the open as the smoke cleared. Deciding that the Germans on their flank were a more serious threat they swung S, over the hedge and into melee with the Germans by the main farmhouse. Multiple rounds of melee saw No. 3 Section wiped out. No. 1 Section had no option but to charge on on their own. Rifle fire had whittled away the German defenders, but they'd been reinforced by the reserve section, and so the Brits ran into a hail of fire and an outnumbered melee, and again after multiple rounds were toast (no morale in these rules!). No. 2 Section finally got moving, and supported by the Cromwell tried to take the German's on but the Pak engaged the Cromwell again, missed, then glanced, and finally the PzKfz IV got the bead and took the Cromwell's turret out. No.2 Section were taking damage from both flanks, so realistically after about 12 turns it was all over. German victory.

Rules Impression

These rules are "not meant to be super detailed, nor do they make any claim to be accurate, if that is even possible with fictional things? They are simply a set of rules I wrote for my own games with my own figures and I thought I would share them for free.". And kudos for putting them out there. I think they meet their objective, they give a fast game (c. 90 mins) and things flow pretty smoothly. Ranges out the book were I think a bit short, and there's a lot not covered - but I was expecting that.

The real reason to try the rules was the activation system. Each command needs an appropriate die roll, so easy orders, like withdraw, just need 3+ (on D6) whereas assaulting needs 5+, most need 4+. If you've got a pinned marker then its DM-1, and troop quality (and commander) also gives +/-1. In practice I think though the results were just too random, eg:

• No.2 Section staying stuck so long (should have sent Pl Comd over?)
• Lots of "easy" shots being missed as units refused to activate even when in cover (more use of the overwatch order?)

The worst thing was that whilst a first hit causes a Pin a second hits causes a casualty and removes the Pin. So in some ways you were best off getting 1 hit not 2. That then happens for every other pair of hits, so your unit goes in and out of a -1DM on activation.

Interestingly Bolt Action has a standard 9- activation, with DM+1 for each pin and that change of probability (83% cf 50%) was enough to make it far smoother. However I still LIKE the idea of some orders being harder than others so I'm tempted to introduce an orders DM into my rules/my version of Bolt Action.

Cromwell supporting No.3 Section

Overall

It does what it says on the tin and gives a reasonable and quick game so you can't say fairer than that. But it is limited and does have a few issues, so I think in terms of what I'm evaluating and am after it's only a 6/10.

No. 3 Section advancing through the smoke

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 2 - Bolt Action

Presentation

Glossy hard-back ~128pp book with QRS pages at the back. Somewhat annoyingly the first ~20 pages of the book are a history of WW2 so the rules don't start til well into the book which makes it harder to find the rules. Vehicles and Buildings (and Artillery) get their own chapters, which actually makes it harder sometimes to find what you want.

Set-Up

As for COC - the "Probe into Fontenay" scenario from the TFL Operation Martlet pint-sized campaign. Same forces. Used the equivalent generic BA scenario to decide things like preparatory bombardment.

How It Played

Having learnt the lesson from the first attempt the Cromwell was deployed well forward with the advancing troops, so when the Germans opened fire from the industrial units the Cromwell just poured HE into them, and HE into buildings in BA is VERY effective. This allowed No.2 Section to leg it down the hedge and assault the buildings and remaining troops for minimal loss. They too some damage from the German reserve section.

Assaulting the buildings

On the other flank it wasn't so good. Brens and the 6pdr made little impact on the Chateau. When No 1 Section tried to advance down the lane they got blown to pieces, just one man escaped back.

The Germans dispatched the PzKfw MkIV to take out the Cromwell. As it pulled off the road and fired its first round too the Cromwell out, but a PIAT lying in ambush fired back and took the Panzer out.

Dead Cromwell

Dead Panzer

Back on the right flank No 3 Section, the Pl Comd and the 2" mortar legged it down the hedge-line behind No.1  Section. When they got to the road the Pl Comd saw the Germans busy with No 1 Section so sent No 3 Section racing down passed the orchard and got the 2" to lay in smoke to cover them - off target but still good. No 1 section failed to do any damage on the Germans but the Germans than had a FUBAR fail on the order roll, and having seen their comrades obliterated and a British section flank them they decided to leg it home. No. 3 Section made it off the board and the scenario was over, start of Turn 6.

No. 3 Sections dashes for glory, smoke covering their rear

Rules Impression

I'd heard so-so things about Bolt Action, and it was a very late addition to the test - I managed to pick up the rules cheap on eBay. But I have to say it gave a REALLY good game. The dice bag activation and activation rolls worked well. Firing was OK, just enough DMs. The Pl Comds extra activations seemed quite natural. Some of the building rules seemed a bit odd, as did the smoke (enemy places it if off target!). I'd be tempted to do a few house rules, for instance increasing the number of pins, differentiate Bren and MG42, randomise movement, handle split Gun Gp/Rifle Gp sections, spotting and suppression, but with those it would be a cracking set.

ENDEX - No 3 Section left, fleeing Germans right!

Overall

For a set I nearly didn't include I think that Bolt Action is now my go-to set for this sort of game. Unlike CoC I really looked forward to the sessions with it, and would be keen to get it out again. Will be interesting to see if any other of the rules can match it. Overall 9/10.

Platoon Mega Playtest: Part 1 - Chain of Command

And so the Platoon Rules mega-playtest gets underway - see the previous post for details. I'll keep to the same headings as I used for the Skirmish tests.

Presentation

Good quality ~64pp softback, full colour book. Can be a bit hard to find what you want. I also used Mike Whittaker's downloadable QRS - although at 6 pages it's bigger than some of the rules I test!

Set-Up

The first "Probe into Fontenay" scenario from the Operation Martlet pint-sized campaign. Normal patrol phase after that (although couldn't work out why as defenders the Germans had to start behind their defensive line and move into it - perhaps I missed something). Platoon-plus each, drawn from normal support lists (so extra a/t gun and tank on each side roughly). I made the Germans ordinary Wehrmacht with inf+mg group sections rather than Panzer Grenadier with 2xMG42!

Interestingly as I was playing in 10mm but on a full size table (and on ~3" square grid) my figure scale was actually SMALLER than my ground scale given CoC's "suggested" mapping. I assumed 60yds to the inch not 40yds to get to about 1:1 without too much impact on ranges as all so close in. Could have done with more cover though. May play later scenarios on a smaller table!

How It Played

Brits made slow progress of getting onto the board. No. 2 section went right flanking down the tree line, passed the farmhouse but then caught MG42 and rifle fire from the industrial buildings, and then as they got close to the road from the German reserve section which moved to also cover the space to the side of the buildings. The 2" brought down smoke, but this drifted out behind the Germans, and the Brits lost the Bren team. On the other flank No 1 Section moved to the hedge line but then a single MG42 burst from the farmhouse devastated the section and they lost their Bren team and had to withdraw from Shock. With 2 sections effectively out it was time to call it a day, the rest of the Platoon was massed by the central wood, but the armour was still only coming up. I played an extra few phases to try the armour and a/t guns out and was surprised at how ineffective the anti-tank was.

No.2 Section legging it down the hedge line.

Rules Impression

I can't say I've got on with Chain of Command before, and this was no exception. Maybe I'm playing it wrong, but I have played with others so it's not me massively misreading it. I like the patrol phase, and Shock, but I find the activation model too artificial, and likewise the Chain of Command dice bit. There are probably too few DMs for me too. When I was learning platoon attacks you did your O Group and then everyone headed off to do their bit, no waiting for an activation mix in order to get one section firing, 2 more running and then assaulting and the 51mm also firing - it was all simultaneous. With CoC I find things are just too disjointed, particular since 1/5/6 on the dice are pretty useless, so only 50% are useful activations.

ENDEX

Overall

Obviously suits loads of people but just not my thing - in trying to get a focus on the command and control I think they've just made it too artificial. Overall (for me) 7/10.

Platoon Rules MegaPlaytest - The Plan

Following on from 2018's Skirmish Rules MegaPlaytest I'm finally making a start on a Platoon level mega play test (at this rate expect Company-level in 2022 and Bn in 2024!). I realise there is some overlap from both Skirmish to Platoon, and Platoon to Company, and so some rules may be tested more than once in different contexts.

I've decided to base the test on a WW2 engagement, but I'm not limiting myself to WW2 rules as to me the principle is about Mechanised Warfare, and so I'd expect similar results from playing WW2/Cold War/Modern/"rational" SF rules. The rules I plan to play are:

• Chain of Command
• Bolt Action
• KR16 (SF)
• Fireteam: Modern
• UltraCombat: Modern
• Iron Cross/7Days to the Rhine
• Force on Force (modern)
• No End In Sight (modern)
• Contact Wait Out (my own)

If I'm making good progress I may add in:

• I Ain't Been Shot Mum (really Coy/Bn)
• Blitzkrieg Command (really Coy/Bn)
• Victory Decision: Future Combat
• Stargrunt2

Sets that will definitely have to wait for the Coy playtest include:

• Panzer Grenadier Deluxe
• Crossfire
• Poor Bloody Infantry 
• TeamYankee

For the scenario rather than play the same one for all rules (as I did with the Skirmish playtest) I'm going to use TooFatLardies Op Martlet pint-sized campaign as a basis, and with 6 scenarios play each one about twice. Figures will be 10mm Magister Militum.

Let battle(s) commence....