Need and excuse to do 10mm WW2

[Gunfreak]

Now I've tried to do 28 and 20mm WW2 before, concentrating on skirmish games, as I'm not a fan of tanks, so I wanted infantry stuff, but I find I don't like skirmish games.

So I need another type of rules, I really don't know were to start, how to base, or anything, should I base pr. section, pr. platoon?

I don't want to do flames of war, I don't like the type of game and it's to much like Warhammer WW2

[OldenBUA]

BKC (Blitzkrieg Commander) is popular, if you want smaller actions, a unit can represent a section of infantry, or a single vehicle. Or a unit can represent a platoon of infantry or vehicles. Both work well.

[Steve J]

I recommend you have a look at BKC as well.

[slinky]

NUTS! is great for skirmish games   

[Gunfreak]

I tried NUTS and many other skirmish rules, and I just don't like skirmish games, don't like Napoleoinc skirmish games either.

So this is my plan for for the project, a beach map, with a 4 feet wde beach and 6 feet worth of inland.

The senario will be Airborne drop at night with mission to destroy guns, then the landings happen and the fight to get up the beach, and finnaly linkup between the airborne and leg infantry.

The table will have forests, a town, ect.

[Last Hussar]

IABSM.

[kustenjaeger]

Greetings

When you say a map do you mean that actions on the map will be translated onto a table e.g. if you have a 6' long table the beach assault game might be 6' frontage by 4' of beach?  Some platoon level games (eg BKC, CD) use 1cm = 20 metres or so - so 10' would be about 6km from water's edge to the furthest point inland.  Other rules, such as Spearhead, use 1" = 100 yds.

IABSM (mentioned above) is a 1:1 company level game.  There's no specific basing requirement, the play is card driven and command control focused.

Note that a 'typical' UK battalion assault frontage was about 1000m (varying by circumstances).  

I really like using 10mm for combined arms as I can see the infantry clearly and the AFV, transport and artillery don't cost the earth.  

Regards

Edward

[Gunfreak]

There will be about 12" worth of oeacen and beach, the beach will be 4 feet wide, then you got 6 feet of inland.

[snafu]

Hi

My personal favourite is Battlegroup Panzergrenadier 2nd ed. 1 base = a squad ( 3 figs on a 25mmx25mm base) with platoon leaders and ind AT teams, mgs etc. the game can be played with as small as a company game , 9 bases + command and support.
Weve had some cracking games finishing in two to three hours. ideal for a club night.

The command system is excellent and i recommend if you can pick a set you do and give it a try.
where are you at by the way?

richard.

[Last Hussar]

Not BKC, unless you want to play Ancients with panzers.  Sections act differently to platoons, so if the rules are the same for both there is a problem.  A bigger problem is the way it deals with vehicles. At section level 1 model = 1 vehicle, at platoon 1 model = 3-5.  The 1:1 rules for shooting at vehicles make no sense- it takes multiple accumulating hits to kill a tank (and you will want some vehicles at levels above skirmish). 

My favourites are I ain’t been shot mum (IABSM) and Troops, weapons and Tactics (TW&T)
http://lasthussar.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/troops-weapons-tactics-review/
TW&T is aimed at a platoon(ish) sized force, at 1 to 1 scale, but is not a skirmish game - fire teams are taken as a whole, not fired man by man.

IABSM is a Company level game - each group of men is a section.

Now here's the great thing for your question - you could use the same basing for each game.  I do TW&T in 20mm, individually based (I was given a load, the only real reason), but my 10mm WW2 is based 2-3 to a base, and could be used just as easily (with Kill markers on the bases), because I based to 'official orbat' - 7 rifles between 2 bases, 1 base with LMG for Brits) for PBI (though actual figures per base not important for PBI).

If you do 10mm for both you could keep men individually based (e.g. on pennies), and organise as you need.  You will need senior NCO’s and the officers individually based anyway.

One of the nice things about TW&T it is designed so vertical and horizontal scales are the same â€" so in 10mm, a meter on the table represents approx 180m real life

I can use the same bases for IABSM â€" one base =4 men (5 for Japanese), 2 bases = 1 section.

Word of warning â€" IABSM has a few holes â€" we tend to go to TW&T if we are not sure, to see likely intention. Charlie Don’t Surf is the Vietnam version, and is complete, so if you want to do Nam as well it makes sense to buy both.

The biggest thing with IABSM and TW&T that put people off is that you have to define spotting and shot values ‘in game’ â€" they recommend playing with an umpire who rules each shot/spot attempt. Don’t worry- it’s not as daunting as it sounds.  They are not games for rule lawyers or conventions though!

If you could also look at PBI by Peter Pig.  This is a Company level game, where each base = a fire team, so a typical platoon would be 6 Rifle, 4 LMG, A/T, Mortar.  This is unusual in that it is played on a 8 x 8 grid of squares.  The command and fire mechanisms are similar to other Peter Pig games.

The other one is ‘Cross fire’, which is again unusual for a wargame in that units may move as far as they like in a straight line, only compulsorily stopping when they enter terrain feature. Also unusual is the fact you keep moving or firing until you fail, even moving the same unit as many times as you like (a failure is not getting a pin, or having a move successfully interrupted by reactive fire). It relies on a lot of terrain on table.

BKC  is a traditional wargame â€" the 4 I mention above all model the short bursts of irregular activity at company or platoon command much better.