With face to face gaming in vogue once more, I had a chance to be taught 'O-Group' by Dice Demon Steve.
With time in short supply, I hadn't even had a chance to read these rules, then quickly discovered, that in order to get the most from the game, you really need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of your force/nationality. This is probably the biggest plus-point and/or innovation in the game. These aren't simply 'traits by nationality', each force has a distinct national flavor based upon historical methodologies re. fighting battalion level battles.
So for instance, British pop smoke, US use marching fire, Germans are great equalisers and Soviets have numbers but are relatively inflexible; yes, these are simplifications of what is a very comprehensive and demanding system, but certainly it's worth some attention in terms of further gameplay. The fact that it is historically accurate, or Dave Brown has at least striven to make it so, should be reason enough to pursue this one further.
The system is orders driven, and I found my British being bogged down in the centre, whilst the artillery chewed my infantry, while my armour was exposed to long range fire - it's a different way of thinking for this one... though it's certainly an operational way of thinking, and to echo Stephen - 'you need a plan'. If you don;t have one, you lose focus on the battlefield, and are sure to find yourself without enough orders to rectify the situation.
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Early deployment.
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'pop smoke!!!'
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| Measuring range for the PAK40 on the hill. British artillery swamped it, but not before it had done some damage. |
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Bloody German ATGs - even a 50mm - ruin the allied day...
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On the British right, despite early hopes, MG42s mow down repeated infantry assaults.
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British armour on the left suffers horribly, for even suggesting that a flanking action might be in order...
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British infantry bogged down and munched by artillery in the centre.
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British armour on its last legs...
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A really well honed system - which needs more attention.
Enjoyed your table, as you know, i have these rules out at the moment, reading up. I noted your infantry sections are 2 figures (RF compatible) and i had thought of doing the same, on 50mm pill bases. Good to see that your group are happy to explore the rules further.
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm. To be honest, these rules totally threw me. I've waxed lyrical about resource management in the past - but these are a new level in terms of knowing when to hold/fold etc. The immediate icing on the cake is related to having to play each army in a different/historical way - which smacks of great design dynamics.
DeleteVery interesting Darren! I hope to see more of O Group from you, I'm really not sure what to think of them. And still reading over Field of Battle WWII ;)
ReplyDeleteV/R,
Jack
Thanks Jack.
DeleteI think there's a distinct reduction in 'game' and an increase in simulation 'design'. No bad thing, but you have to think like a battalion commander - it's down to the amount of 'fun' that includes.
Now FoB WW2 - I think allows massive spectacles in terms of battles - with a system which is unpredictable and straightforward, whilst allowing elite/steady forces to gain the upper hand vs less effective ones. Hope to see some battles from you soon with it :)
Darren,
DeleteGotcha. I definitely lean towards the 'gamey' end of the gamey vs simulation spectrum. If I understand correctly, this is essentially Chain of Command moved up to Battalion level; I think the activation dice is very clever, but it doesn't strike me as particularly more realistic than any other activation system, and it's given me fits trying to fight (realistic) asymmetrical fights, where fewer dice seem to increase the odds of bad rolls, severely limiting a smaller force's command options.
I'm looking forward to getting FOB WW2 on the table, just not sure when it will happen. You'll definitely see some battles soon, but I think I'm going to run out a modified version of Fistful of Lead first.
Thanks for posting, and please keep them coming; I hope I didn't come off as negative towards these rules, I'd love to see more batreps so that I can get a better idea of the flavor.
V/R,
Jack
Hey Jack,
DeleteYou are right - I haven't played CoC - but enough of my understanding agrees with what you're saying re. an 'upscaled' version.
Now, if you have do try and like FoB WW2 - shoor me an email - as I have a FoB WW3 version in my head.
That means that bases are companies, and large Fulda Gap attacks are easily managed, with recognisable chunks of real estate as objectives.
Not at all my era, but I enjoyed the write up and discussion, Darren!
ReplyDeleteThank you sir. An interesting set.
DeleteNow, my real favourite for the era is of course Field of Battle - ww2.
More to follow on that set too.