Sbeitla 1943 - Testing Division Sized OHW

Steve over at Sound Officers' Call, recently tested Martin Rapier's One Hour Wargame variant for division(plus) sized battles (rules are in his downloads section on blog). Now, this, for me, was pushing many boundaries and offered a great Russian Front, or similar game - with large units, reflecting a grand tactical confrontation, with epic scope.

It sparked off things that I've always wanted to do, preferably with simple rules, ever since I originally saw Megablitz back in the day. i.e.:

• Market Garden - not just part of it, ...all of it.
• Peiper's drive to the Meuse during the Ardennes offensive 
• Possibly some larger desert battles

Now I have toyed with FoB WW2 and Rommel for these, but there, a unit is a company, so when you max up the level of OOB, you still have multiple tables and large units.

With this OHW variant,  you move battalions (just like Megablitz). Now granted, there will always be a level of abstraction - even more so when we consider that it's (1) turn based, (2) attack dice rolls against what are basically 'hit points', and (3) my 20mm forces probably look VERY out of place at this scale - but this really works for a rapid game, whilst bearing in mind grand tactical considerations

For something like Market Garden or (especially) Ardennes, we'd need to add a supply variant, but that's not hard.

The rules worked seamlessly, and after all, they're a simple, yet not simplistic, means of looking at a grand tactical WW2 battle. A few scenario specific additions (operational supply, weather, day turns etc.) would be seamless and still allow a fast moving mini campaign.

This game was based upon 21st Panzer's action against US 1st Armoured around Sbeitla in N.Africa, in Feb 1943. (Scenario taken from one of the old Clash of Armour scenario books).

Combat Command B to the west, though ready to react to German moves from East.

To the south, the main 21st Panzer attack toward the town goes in.

CCA is caught off guard, and needs to decide fast, where and when it will support against the German the drive on the town.

US Armour invests moves to support, north of the town - but they are green troops, compared to the Panzergrenadiers of 21st Pz (hit point differentials used to distinguish - so green/average troops will simply not last as long).

Panzer Grenadier assault, supported by armour, to the south.

...infantry actions, against Germans weakened by US artillery, to the north. Panzers have broken through, though substantially weakened by earlier armoured action. Additional US armour blocks the road to the town.

Sbeitla itself becomes the focus of repeated German assaults.

On the US southern flank, two battalions seek to envelop the town.

...though is heavily bombarded by US artillery...

German armour is unsuccessful during the thrust from the north.

...releasing reinforcements to head toward the town.

...it won't end well, but a very close run thing, with many battalions near breaking point.

A very nice set, and available on Martin's and Steve's blogs. A lot of great potential here.

Ardennes Classic (not the bike race)

And, we’re back…

Been busy of late with some work travel, though can't stand in the way of a game...

Steve’s mate Alex has sent me the excellent ‘Up the Blue’ WWII rules. Now these are based on the precepts set out in the ‘One Hour Wargames’ stable, but with so much more (and these guys know what they are talking about).

Highlights

• As with the OHW standard, a unit has a number of hits – though some are permanent and some can be rallied off in this case dependent on the severity of initial hits (this is very subtle in gameplay and can reduce attack dice). The gamble is trading permanent (which ‘stick’) against what you think you can rally, bringing out unique resource management nightmares. A slight tweak of a +1 rally makes elite units very good at hugging terrain – and we had a really good version of elite 101^st Airborne in the Ardennes, who simply would not give ground.
• It’s fast, and it’s d6. Now people argue (that’d be me) that you get more flexibility with multi-sided dice. In this instance Alex has got around it neatly by slimming the mechanism to a number of dice (2-4, but usually 3) with a few modifiers, while making the turn sequence do the work.
• Initiative…mortars…action phase 1…enemy interrupts (if ‘ready’)…action phase 2
• 
  
  Most play is based on what you see above and it’s relatively seamless, so the key is to worry about getting the drop on the enemy by keeping ‘ready’ units and not getting ‘panzer-bushed’, and where there are tactical issues (armour, superior gun, elite troops) you add a dice or a modifier. Unlike more GW-centric systems (‘Slack Chowder’ for instance) there isn’t the need for masses of unit characteristics.

• Initiative is also very subtle, If you had it, it's easier to keep - but unit losses put pressure on that, and an unlucky initiative roll can lose it and really give you a headache. I found this remarkably easy to judge during gameplay.

• Very neat  mechanics indeed. I thought that I might have to add something for Panthers, but it’s all there (e.g. heavy gun - +1d6, Heavy Armor -1d6 to the firer).
• Units are platoons made up from the individual elements – so three bases is a ‘unit’ with sensible spacing.
• ‘Dug in’ units always seem to make life complicated in other rules.  Not so here – it’s a simple modifier.
• KEY TAKE-AWAY…these rules appear to give me the same results that I see from more complicated sets. IN FACT…the gameplay is more exciting as the to and fro of initiative and managing the battle makes you focus on commanding troops as opposed to complex differences between a Panther and a Sherman. All I need to know is that the Sherman is going to lose in a straight up firefight, not the difference between a bunch of numbers.
• Combined arms work. We had a steep learning curve in the game, but mortars are very effective, armour needs supported, and can in turn support infantry assaults, and readily use the 'ready' (reserve fire) rule to stop counterattack in the enemy action phase.

As you maintain momentum and gain the initiative bonus, while destroying enemy units, you can keep control of the game, but it only takes the attacker to seize that a few times and really mess things up.

A great game – so we have a company of the 101^st with some deadly (if fragile) anti tank hardware, vs a deliberate German attack with a couple of supported companies.  Watch out for those Panthers!

Germans advancing against prepared US positions.

 Using 'march' advances up the road, though the infantry will be short of cover, bar a few rises in the ground.

US armour moves up.

A natural fold/gully in the approach, while the Panthers try to flank.

A horrible run in for the attackers.

Early tank duels.

The M36 takes out a Panther over two actions - good shooting.

But with 'soft' armour, it doesn't take long to get shot up itself.

German platoons reach the outer buildings, but at great cost.

Panzer IV takes out the second M36, leaving troops exposed, though they are well ensconced.

 ...and have their own offensive capability.

The Germans leave themselves dangerously open during the final assault.

...and end up getting caught in crossfires, which dents their hopes of taking the town.

A very nice set of rules, and we could see how minimal tweaking would make them work for modern and Vietnam. 

Game 40 - One Hour Wargames - AWI Clash - 'Late Arrivals' Scenario

So finally, we've tried The 'One Hour Wargames' rules/scenarios by Neil Thomas. A lot of attention and discussion with Steve over at Sound Officers' Call on this one.

So the main thrust of the rules is small playing space, six or so units, and minimal rules are the order of the day - and you are dicing for damage when in range, each unit has 15 'hit points' etc.

That said, there are some real subtleties and of course the nature of the rules lend themselves to being hacked:

• With the C18th version, only cavalry can charge. We amended that to state that British infantry could charge, and that militia would flee, but continentals would not etc. The tendency then is to wear down those 15 HPs with musketry and go in with the bayonet. That said, go too early, you bounce off and face a hail of musketballs. There's a delicate balance between knowing when to charge, and gambling what you will get with d6+2 damage. (We changed the rules a bit for AWI cavalry - and will probably change more).

• There were elements where we found ourselves saying - 'this is really simple', though then discussing whether that meant a lesser game. The answer is a definite 'no' here.We agreed on various questions and moved on. It was like 1974 or something!! Would we have obtained a more enjoyable result with Black Powder or similar, and a better narrative? I don't think so.

• A key feature is that moving units don't fire in the turn. This developed into a realistic alternate 'grind and exploit' game as units traded volleys while other units moved up. I haven't seen this 'period' flavour in many other rules 'designed in' so succinctly. There are some subtleties here.

• We allowed some cover bonuses for fences etc. stating that militia would only endure more than one round if 'parked' behind a fence.

• The benefit here is speed. Battles take an hour or so (duhh!) but the benefit of that is campaign play. If you had a campaign on hexes with multiple units, the battles could be fought out as units/task forces engage, then onto the next encounter and mop up the mess  - with the strategic situation developing very quickly.

• The d6 damage mechanic gives a lot of variability (we killed a guards unit with musket and cannon), though whether accidentally or not, that adds a little chaos to the battlefield. Still thinking about this one, but the d6 has never been so powerful! 

•  Just by chance, we used a yellow / red / black dice combo to outline the hits taken by unit (red at 7 points +, black at 13 points+ etc.) - which gave us the idea of generating certain issues for units when they hit the black dice (after 12 points of damage) - perhaps preventing further charges, or stopping units moving forward etc.

The other BIG benefit I could see was the hit point system:
(1) They aren't just hits. In a campaign or operational game, they could represent supply and logistics.
(2) As Steve does on Sound Officers' Call, there is probably a need for officers/leaders being able to rally once per game to restore hit points. We also allowed the guards unit to self rally once per game - denoting it from the regulars in this manner.

Actually - perhaps leaders can move units in their radius - but if attached to a particular unit, then the others in their 'brigade' can't move unless elite...

Other changes could be +/-1 for really poor or elite units, but these are minor amendments.

We didn't exactly use the 3'x3' suggested either, though did allow American reinforcements to enter on turns 5 and 10 as per scenario, which actually helped their victory considerably...oops

'Hold the line boys!" Militia in their most useful position; placing muskets on the fence line.

British light infantry moves through the woods. The only units that can here.

As British infantry moves to secure the right flank.

 'Wait 'til you see the whites of their eyes boys!' (oops, wrong battle)

 First American reinforcements. Get that damned cannon in position quickly!

 Pressure mounts on the militia...

 ...as British cavalry threatens the flank. There just aren't enough American units to hold...yet.

 Finally...

 A fresh British unit positions itself to charge the fence line.

The centre sees British pressure too, but this unit takes very heavy damage from the artillery and musketry (lost count of how many sixes were rolled here :)) )

 Bye guys...time to go.

About time. American reinforcements enter at the road...

 ...with a second unit appearing on the flank, just in time.

Withering fire from American muskets and cannon on the guards.

By game end, units were hitting their hit point totals and disappearing rapidly.

A great game in about 60 minutes. Really good stuff, and lots to think about here.