Free WW2 Skirmish Rules

[colhodg]

We play a quite a bit of Blitzkreig Commander at our Local Games Club and like the command mechanic so a few of us have developed a fairly simple ww2 skirmish system for platoon level - attached here if any want to comment or constructively criticise / pull apart it's only 6 pages, no vehicle rules as yet but working on em...

Summary
Suited for platoon level infantry actions in 28mm, units/teams get a few actions per turn (usually 2-3 depending on the dice) of move / shoot / assault variety. You take all your actions with one team then move to the next, once all teams done it's opponents turn. Teams can react to fire or movement and range is generally unlimited with most weapons, though they are more effective close up.

Was intended as just a pet project for the odd game but had some good responses at club and it plays pretty well. Needs a little finishing off but about a dozen games done so far. You could prob use it for ww1 scw or rcw as well.

Updating this download as i go - post on here if you'd like to see anything further

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Just downloaded it, although I don't have time to read it at the moment - I'll let you know my thoughts when I do, though!

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Hey there, just gave the game a read (didn't get to vehicles, though) and it looks like a pretty nifty set of rules. It's nice and straightforward, so there shouldn't be balance issues and I expect it will play very smoothly.

Here are my commentary and criticism:

Firing: A team may fire their weapons once per action using the weapon's stats – choose the target team, Roll to hit for the whole team that fires, any hits are allocated to nearest models and all models hit are supressed. Make an effect roll for each model hit.

To Hit: 4+ Target in open / 5+ Target Concealed / 6+ Target in Building or Gone to Ground in Terrain.
Teams moving and firing in the same action are at -1 to hit unless using Automatic weapons.
Target teams are concealed if in area terrain or LOS is obscured by a linear obstacle. If some models are in the open use the majority to decide to hit roll.
Hits from a single shooting action are placed against the nearest models in the target team. If the target team has suppressed models you must allocate any hits to unsuppressed models first.
Teams firing at Short Range may allocate any hits as they wish when firing in their own turn.

Effect:
1 - Model is killed and removed immediately
2 - Model is wounded, Place face down and roll at start of each following turn (1-killed 6-Suppressed)
4+ Ignore suppression if in building or gone to ground in area terrain
5+ Ignore suppression if in area terrain or concealed and gone to ground (not if sprinting?)
6+ Ignore suppression if gone to ground in open or obscured.

First of all - what happens on a roll of 3?

Moving on, though, even though it seems pretty obvious how to resolve a firing action, I think when writing rules it's always a good idea to spell everything out very, very clearly, and this reads a tad vaguely. The impression I get is that when firing, I roll a die for each member of the squad that's shooting (rolling the appropriate die/dice based on the weapon carried), and for every score over the minimum "To Hit" roll I get to make a roll on the effects table against the target squad - is that right?

So for example, suppose I had 10 Brits with rifles firing on a squad of 10 Nazis in the open. I'd roll 10d6, and for every roll of 4+ I'd get to roll on the effects table. Then those rolls are applied to the nearest models in the Nazi team.

Weapon Stats
Rifle D6
Automatic Rifle D6 Automatic
SMG 2D6 Automatic, Short Range
Pistol D6 Short Range

LMG 2D6 (All MG's must be set up to fire unless they have a bipod or like the MG34
LMG (deployed) 3D6 and BAR are portable. MG's with an adjacent loader add +2 to their rate of
HMG (deployed) 3D6 fire when set up. Suppressed MG's may still fire at half rate, round up).

For weapons that get multiple dice, like the SMG/LMG/HMG, does each die represent a different shot (i.e. an SMG gets you two d6 rolls, needing 4+ to hit on each), or is it in effect one shot that is much more likely to hit (i.e. an SMG gets you one shot that needs a 4+ on 2d6).

I kind of assume it's the former, but wanted to double-check.

Those are the only things that I feel really needed clarification. My only other commentaries are that you could, theoretically, make certain weapon types better by changing up the types of dice they roll (maybe a pistol is only d6, but a rifle is d8, for example).

Also, shooting doesn't seem all that effective, whereas close-combat fighting seems to be very effective. I feel like this is a failing of 40K, as well, and it's something that drives a "modern age" warfare game towards melee combat even when the predominant weapons are guns. Personally, I would give the effects table under firing actions a complete re-write to make shooting deadlier. As it is, under the most ideal circumstances (standing still, shooting a target in the open) only 1 in 12 shots will be fatal, and only 1 in 6 will even cause an injury. Conversely, in melee (depending on the fighters' experience) 2 in 3, 1 in 2, or 1 in 3 attacks are going to kill their opponent, and chasing a fleeing squad down whipes them out. I think I'd shift melee effectiveness up by 1 for everyone (4+ for veterans, 5+ for regulars, 6 for conscripts) and have an effect table something like this:

1-2: Dead
3-4: Wounded
5: Ignore suppression if Gone to Ground in terrain or in a building.
6: Ignore suppression if Gone to Ground or in a building or terrain.

Just my 0.02, hope it's helpful! I recently ordered some of Warlord's plastic Germans, and want some British infantry to go up against 'em - this seems like a fun set of rules!

[colhodg]

cheers for the reply Whitwort, any feedback is useful

Roll of a 3 has no additional affect, as every hit causes suppression the model is suppressed.
Your right about allocating the effects dice, if it's simpler once number of hits established allocate an effects dice to each model, starting with nearest and roll em. If there are supressed models in the target team we've found it makes sense to allocate hits (effects dice) to unsupressed ones first, even if not nearest.
Smg's etc that roll multiple dice get more hits (as opposed to better chance of hitting if you follow me) so HMG's for example can hit numerous models

Agree about spelling things out clearly, your right of course but was trying to keep this to just a few pages so ppl can get the general gist and try it out without wading thru 10+ pages of rules. Main aim was to keep it simple so you can tinker as you wish.

Overall the majority of hits will cause suppression rather than kills/wounds, the idea being to reduce the actions available to enemy team (assuming it doesn't react and suppress you in return, move out of sight etc) but as you can have multiple actions with each team, you can lay down quite a bit of fire if you don't move too much. Assault is pretty good but getting there is much harder than 40k as units can react...

Obviously you can up the effectiveness of shooting if it suits in a table like the one you suggested, we thought it appropriate for HMG's and some other weapons to do just that.

If you do give it a try let me know how it goes, the CMD rating bit is key, will post an update soonish with some game pics when have some.

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Interesting, I hadn't factored in that a unit could, in theory, take several shots during the same activation, which makes me think I wouldn't want a single round of shooting to be too effective.

[colhodg]

Updated version in the original post, you'll have to work out your own TOE's for the moment tho i can provide some if desired, the core mechanic is fairly solid tho with about 20 games played with minimal "discussion"

Updates:
-Moving and shooting in same action restricts you to shooting at nearest target
-Short Range now dependent on weapon type but generally 18" Rifle 24" HMG. Overall range is generally unlimited but its easier to react to and wound models in effective range
-Mortars / HMG's have better chance of wounding than small arms

Again these are a general outline for anyone to use/develop as they wish. As a broad Guide, veteran or well trained and motivated troops shold be CMD 9, poorly trained or motivated should be CMD 7

I'm not 100% on whether saving throws should be as above, ie: part of the effects dice (nice and easy, one single roll) or a seperate roll after the effects dice. The reason being the existing mechanic means troops in buildings are quite difficult to suppress but no more difficult to wound, should you actually hit em and therefor kind of the opposite of how it should be.

Still to do:
Vehicle rules
TOE's / possibly points system
clarify use of grenades in firefights.

[Aergren]

I really like the rule set but am wondering how the weapon selection for each squad should work and if that would cost anything more? Also about what scale are you thinking for the model?

[colhodg]

Updated:
Basic TOE added
Changed saving throw to seperate roll if in cover, after effect dice rolled
Command Teams can spot for mortars

Aergren, glad you like - the TOE's are the basic squad selection but replacing the odd rifle with a carbine or SMG won't make a huge difference. Late war Germans might add a second MG42 into the rifle team tho - probably worth an extra point if they are vets as they are pretty effective.

Not used pz fausts, bazookas or gammon bombs etc in game yet so unsure how effective they would/should be against infantry. Suggestions welcome if you give it a try. I'm using these for 28mm figures but i think they would be okay for 20mm

Some of my airborne figs on this thread:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...=217036&page=2

[nightingael]

Hey there, just gave the game a read (didn't get to vehicles, though) and it looks like a pretty nifty set of rules. It's nice and straightforward, so there shouldn't be balance issues and I expect it will play very smoothly.

Here are my commentary and criticism:


First of all - what happens on a roll of 3?

Moving on, though, even though it seems pretty obvious how to resolve a firing action, I think when writing rules it's always a good idea to spell everything out very, very clearly, and this reads a tad vaguely. The impression I get is that when firing, I roll a die for each member of the squad that's shooting (rolling the appropriate die/dice based on the weapon carried), and for every score over the minimum "To Hit" roll I get to make a roll on the effects table against the target squad - is that right?

So for example, suppose I had 10 Brits with rifles firing on a squad of 10 Nazis in the open. I'd roll 10d6, and for every roll of 4+ I'd get to roll on the effects table. Then those rolls are applied to the nearest models in the Nazi team.

For weapons that get multiple dice, like the SMG/LMG/HMG, does each die represent a different shot (i.e. an SMG gets you two d6 rolls, needing 4+ to hit on each), or is it in effect one shot that is much more likely to hit (i.e. an SMG gets you one shot that needs a 4+ on 2d6).

I kind of assume it's the former, but wanted to double-check.

Those are the only things that I feel really needed clarification. My only other commentaries are that you could, theoretically, make certain weapon types better by changing up the types of dice they roll (maybe a pistol is only d6, but a rifle is d8, for example).

Also, shooting doesn't seem all that effective, whereas close-combat fighting seems to be very effective. I feel like this is a failing of 40K, as well, and it's something that drives a "modern age" warfare game towards melee combat even when the predominant weapons are guns. Personally, I would give the effects table under firing actions a complete re-write to make shooting deadlier. As it is, under the most ideal circumstances (standing still, shooting a target in the open) only 1 in 12 shots will be fatal, and only 1 in 6 will even cause an injury. Conversely, in melee (depending on the fighters' experience) 2 in 3, 1 in 2, or 1 in 3 attacks are going to kill their opponent, and chasing a fleeing squad down whipes them out. I think I'd shift melee effectiveness up by 1 for everyone (4+ for veterans, 5+ for regulars, 6 for conscripts) and have an effect table something like this:

1-2: Dead
3-4: Wounded
5: Ignore suppression if Gone to Ground in terrain or in a building.
6: Ignore suppression if Gone to Ground or in a building or terrain.

Just my 0.02, hope it's helpful! I recently ordered some of Warlord's plastic Germans, and want some British infantry to go up against 'em - this seems like a fun set of rules!

I thought the rules were cool..i think they read 3-6 on effect roll was suppressed..mine read like that..all in all I like the rules. The CMD activation roll i think is representative of actual combat..for instance..you can make a dash to cover but if you fail the net CMD roll you are caught in the open.I can't wait to play them..but i live in Virginia and i cannot find a US distributor of Bolt-action figures that shelves the figures advertised by Warlord Games..I don't live in Britain..
were you able to get your plastic Germans and have you heard when the plastic Americans will hit the American market?

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

were you able to get your plastic Germans and have you heard when the plastic Americans will hit the American market?

I did get those plastic Germans, they're pretty nice models! Not quite as detailed as the British (which I also have), but definitely good value.

Does The War Store not carry Bolt Action minis? They carry a fair amount of the Warlord range so I would have thought they'd carry those too. I'm pretty sure I ordered mine directly from Warlord, which I've done a few times. They often run some sort of special on shipping (they had free shipping worldwide going for almost a year if I remember correctly), and the couple of times I have ordered from them my figures have arrived in a pretty timely manner (I live in California).

[HavoK]

I just quickly read through the first pages (will check out it more carefully) but i reacted on the fact that moving and firing at (at -1 to hit) on a enemy inside a building (6 to hit) makes it impossible to do any harm to that enemy. I mean, although it is very hard and probably not a great chance to hit a well concealed enemy while on the move there is always that odd bullet that can go through. It is really nice to know that even if the odds are terribly staked against you, there is still a micro chance that you might just make it, which, if i understood it correctly, these rules lack

[colhodg]

It's been some time since looked at this and i'll admit my gaming group has decided to give Operation Squad a go, partly cos the model count is lower, also nice to play with a finished set of rules although that hasn't stopped us from adding more... regardless i'd recommend them for squad level games.

In the rules i've posted, whilst you can move and fire in the same action, don't forget you should have more than one action per turn - so your unit/section could move up, take a shot at the window (6 to hit) and potentially move on if they manage to suppress. Or you could just have it that a roll of a 6 is always a hit regardless