Obligatory question: How does BKC play?

[Leon026]

This is something that's very curious to me; and I did purchase a BKC PDF from their website a long while ago... but sadly, I didn't have DropBox back then, and have since lost it. I never really got to play the game, as I was instead drawn into the 15mm world of Flames of War.

I think over time though, I lost some interest in FoW. Sure the models are great, but the gameplay felt a little.... "WH40K WWII". It also seemed strange (much with 10mm+ scale) to play a game where a tank can only fire 60cm, when in reality it could fire at several kilometers... but how to produce that effect on a standard table? Most of the games I've played, I've always had that nagging feeling that there is little to no maneuver. I don't mean "flank left and by pass the woods" kind of maneuver, I meant grand scale maneuver of attack a town from the east to draw the western elements away from another force, or perhaps pinning a force and forcing the enemy to commit reserves... and not just committing a single platoon of tanks like in my FoW games.

I was thinking of eventually switching over to 6mm or 10mm, but the Napoleonics bug bit me hard when I realized that Napoleonics at the 10mm scale could play the division scale game quite well, and have ample maneuver that FoW lacked. That and I never like the WH40k style of massed tanks side by side abreast.

Even if for the foreseeable future I'll be sticking to Napoleonics, and I can't say I'm going to switch over to 10mm WWII (though if Pendraken's Nap sculpts are of any reference, its awfully tempting to get some Pendraken 10mm WWII) as I already have an overstrength German battalion for FoW (more like 5-6k points worth....), I'm interested in understanding how it plays.

I hear its more about command and control, rather than lining up tanks and firing? Having a game done and over "within 6 turns" also makes me rather meh about the idea. Would the game work at 15mm scale, or is it more suited for 10mm, or even 6mm?

[Ithoriel]

The basic mechanics of BKC were ported from GW's Warmaster.

There are unit stands - infantry, tanks, guns, transport, etc - and command stands.

Units normally only get to do things if a command stand can roll it's modified command value or less. The exception being that stands can make a limited response to enemy stands in certain circumstances - opportunity fire and initiative moves.

You nominate a command and the units it will issue orders to and roll the dice. If you fail, neither the command nor unit stands may do anything further that turn - which is either a wonderful representation of the friction of command or a bloomin' annoyance depending on your point of view. Failure by your C-in-C ends your turn.

A successful command allows that Command to issue another order to the same or another group. If it chooses another group the first group may do nothing further that turn. Each order after the first to a group reduces the command value by one.

There is no restriction on which units a command can order but distance between them is a modifier to the command value.

Combat is basically rolling D6s depending on stat line and target needing 4+ for a hit. Some units, mainly armour, get a saving throw. Pretty standard stuff.

Because it is never certain if you will succeed with an order you need to think very carefully about what commands give what orders and to whom. It is the need to weigh the odds and the constant uncertainty that makes the game for me. For some, the fact that it is possible for a force to do nothing at all in a turn is too frustrating for words though you need to be extremely unlucky or chancing your arm for that to happen.

We've always played to a time, not a number of turns.

I like the fact that you need to plan for stalled attacks, unexpectedly successful defence, reinforcements who seem to have stopped for coffee and doughnuts in the middle of a battle and that these things can happen to both sides.

[Aksu]

One additional point: The rules can model doctrinal and skill differences between nations. Some nations allow the commander to choose which units to command from turn to turn, others (e.g. red army) are limited to fixed command structures and have poor commanders who are less likely to succeed in getting orders through. Then again, these nations get bonuses if they order all the troops to advance or fire at the same time. The flexible nations allow the commander to use fire and move more effectively.

In general I'd say "BKC plays very well".

Cheers,
Aksu

[Shedman]

I've played BKC with 6mm,10mm and 20mm so 15mm shouldn't be a problem

[Nick B]

Played loads with 15mm on FOW basing - works perfectly. 

[Leon026]

Interesting. I've played loads of Warmaster so I'm quite familiar with that mechanic. I take it its IGOUGO rather than the Epic:Armageddon style of alternate activations?  Would you still recommend 6mm / 10mm over 15mm when playing BKC, due to the size? It could be just me, but I'm personally having some trouble realistically imagining a reinforced company with a tank platoon moving around in such a small area. Or maybe I'm just used to the concept of modern warfare with units spread out all over the place.

[Steve J]

I find BKCII gives a very good game. In the 10 odd years I've been playing I've never had a bad game, which is saying something. I wish I could say the same for other rulesets...

These days I mainly play on a 4'x4' table with 10mm figures, often with a Batallion facing 1 1/2 to 2 Battalions. For me I have plenty of room to manouevre and can finish a game in 2-3 hours, even playing solo. An example of a typical game for me can be found on my Blog:

http://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/dash-for-dunkirk-1938.html

[Ithoriel]

The little groups I've been involved with have used 10mm (mainly Pendraken but with one or two heretics   ) on 40x20mm bases where the item will fit but larger where needed, especially for command stands.

We've tended to base games around an infantry battalion with support on a 6'x4' table used landscape or portrait, as required. A big game might be an armoured battalion and an infantry battalion or two to three infantry formations per side, usually on an 8' x 4' table.

Worked for us.

[Genom]

We play with 10mm Pendraken, with 1 platoon = 1 stand, so our command stands are usually at the Battalion level. 3000pts a side on a 6x4 table and we can usually get our game done in an evening at the club.

Whether you like it or not will entirely depend I feel on if you get on with the vagaries of the Warmaster style command system. We play a lot of that style and it's easy to pick up on a night and just get going without much referencing of the rules. Our feeling is that at times one side will storm on, but a turn or so later they are likely to be stalled with poor rolls. It tends to average itself out and we accept that as part of the game. Others hate it.