"First impressions of Battlegroup Kursk" Topic

Played Battlegroup Kursk last night for the first time.

Forces were:

Russian: 6 x T-34, infantry platoon with Maksim, 2 off board 82mm mortars, forward observer

German: 4 x Panzer IVG, Panzergrenaider platoon, 2 off board 81mm mortars, forward observer.

Russians got thumped because of a bonehead Stal! Stal! Stal! got most of their T-34s killed (realistic enough).

Anyway impressions of the game:

1. Rules are relatively easy to pick up.

2. Rules could be written a little tighter. E.g. I wasn't sure whether unit applied to squad or platoon. By extrapolating from Russia Ura rule, I worked out a basic infantry unit is the squad.

Definitely not a tournament system but I'm not a tournament player so who cares.

3. Game plays relatively smoothly. The order system is nice and easy. Though it sucks when you role a 1 for your orders and you have only 1 officer (total of 2 orders)! C'est la vie.

4. It really captures the Kursk vibe well. This is a very important factor in my book.

5. I like the Battle Rating system which works as follows:

a. Your force has a numerical Battle Rating.

b. Every time a certain event occurs, you take a Battle Rating Counter from a bag. Counter has 1-5 points or mine strike or air strike or other special events.

c. Once your counters equal to over your Battle Rating you lose (though you can lose by having all your force pinned/wiped out or the opponents captures all objectives).

6. The lists are fun and extremely flexible and once again capture the essence of Kursk. Options for both onboard and offboard artillery are welcome. You can even get Off Board ATG shots.

7. It's firepower/morale based without much emphasis on close quarters combat.

8. Scale and troop density worked well at 15mm.

9. Finally rule book is absolutely gorgeous. One of the most beautiful rulebooks I've come across.

Overall a great game and I look forward to playing it more often.

Yeah I agree, I picked up the rules a few weeks ago and my seriously impressed at how enjoyable the game itself is. Without a doubt the book itself is a thing of outstanding beauty… but i think the overall structure was not as well laid out as some other systems… and I also found the concept of what a "unit" exactly signified slightly confusing.

As said easy to pick up once the core rules are eventually understood and really really enjoyable.

Thanks for the review, I just finished reading my copy of the rules. Indeed, a gorgeous rulebook. I cannot wait to try the rules out meself!

Glad you like it Thomas!

Will you people stop it. I really don't need Battlegroup Kursk. I have absolutely zero miniatures suitable for Kursk. I'm steadfastly holding out for Battlegroup Overlord. But all these positive reviews and telling me how "gorgeuos" the BGK rulebook is are not helping me. I'll end up buying it and then I'll have to buy a Russian army as well. Grrr :)

Hybrid,

Russians are so easy to paint though… and how can you resist the sleek lines of a T-34?

Have played many fun games of BGK. Bring on the next book!

Forgot 10:

10. I love the fact that you get Area Fire (suppressing/pinning) and Aimed Fire (killing stuff dead).

Piers,

You're a bad man :)

In all seriousness, I doubt I can resist the sleek lines of a T-34 for very much longer. So I'll most likely get Battlegroup kursk towards the end of the year. Once our group has enough painted for Overlord.

Reviews such as this one have been really helpful in making my mind up to get Overlord. People seem to having a lot of fun playing BGK.

I can't wait to get my dirty paws on Overlord, I've pre-ordered but dreading the delivery time to Canada…can we please have it NOW!!!

Luckily for my wallet, I am an Early War guy myself! Otherwise, I don't know how I could resist the urge to buy the book!

We will get you 2014 with 'Blitzkreig'…

Well I certainly enjoy the game and can't wait for the Normandy book.

As I am an "old git" the games remind me of those enjoyable WW2 games we had in the 70s when you pitted Atlantic Russians against Airfix Germans .

Of course these rules are a lot more sophisticated but the end result it still the same and enjoyable game whether you win lose or draw .

Hybrid – go for it you won't be disappointed.

Mysteron,

Yup… Its that feel I like too.

The game lets ya get all ya toys on the table… Even the ambulances and radio trucks!

How easy for solo play do you think ?

How easy for solo play do you think ?

I think it would work well for solo play.

First, the Orders system means you don't have complete control over which of your units will act each turn. Sometimes you'll have to make hard choices.

Second, the Battle Rating system means you don't know exactly when either force will quit the field, ending the game. The Battle Rating system also adds random events to the game which are beyond the player's control.

The Battle rating system could be the small problem as you would need to keep tally of both sides .

I think a guy called Alan Charlsworth posted something on here IIRC about doing a mathematical alternative aimed at using the Battle front rules in solo wargaming . I can't this minute find it.

Thomashobbes

In your game (opening post), What size table was needed to play your scenario?

So far I have played four games of BFK but I am counting the one game I played of Kampfgruppe Normandy as that was the precursor, although there are some definitive changes in BFK. Personally I like the lines of the KV-1 over the T-34. Or perhaps it is the fact that many German guns just bounce off its armor. And it is the perfect tank to support those waves of Russian infantry.

Anyway, I LOVE this game! And that is saying a lot given how many excellent WW II rules are already out there. I personally look forward to the North Africa version of the rules.

<Q>The Battle rating system could be the small problem as you would need to keep tally of both sides . </Q>

Sure, you won't be as in the dark on the Battle Ratings as if you had two players, but even then you don't know whether that next Counter will be a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.

You'd be amazed at how long a force can hang on with only 7 BR left!

Have been enjoying my start with BGK, and certainly look forward to Overlord! It has made me a convert from that "Other" rather popular WW II rules set for reasons too numerous to list here!!

My hope/wish would be rather then, after Overlord, jump to Battle of Berlin they would move to Africa and Barbarosa. Particularly the later, as it would get the jump on that other company which keeps putting the early Russian Campaign on the back burner for a continuous array of side tracks like Vietnam, Mid War Monsters, and the soon to be Version 4!!!!

Hey, Piers, will the Blitzkrieg book include things like Eben Emael?

I would love to find a good scenario for that mission.

We are just polling players on The Guild to see what they fancy next.

We decided to cover late-war first, as thats where the popularity lies, and without that to build the system and the player base, we may not get the support to cover other things.

We also suffer from the entire thing being done by just two of us, and really most of it is done by just Warwick as I work full time. We both have young families too…

Blitzkreig and Barbarossa will be covered though… Mainly as I have armies for them and want to play with them!

Eben Emael… Hmmmm….

So many scenario's so little time………

played it once, and it is a nice game. While being no more realistic and just as gamey as any other game, it had some nice mechanics and was relatively easy to pick up.

Like all games that use the "roll for orders and give one to each unit to activate it" a few bad rolls can leave you standing around, but that's not hard to change if you must. The order sequencing makes for a very choppy game as you do all the actions with each unit before moving on to the next.

Anyway, there may be enough people around to play it in 15mm on occasion, but FoW is so dominant that it'll never replace it around here. Nice change of pace on occasion, however.