"20mm skirmish rules" Topic

Anyone care to throw in their 2c as to what ww2 skirmish rules they like?

I'm looking for attention to armor AND infantry and some decent accuracy.

I have not gotten to play them yet, but it seems as though Chain of Command is pretty popular.

Seem to keep going back to Arc of Fire

What scale skirmish?

I use Battlegroup for all WW2 games, but I do write it, and though, I see it as a big skirmish it may be a level above what you want. A platoon aside with some support is about the small end of a game.

Plenty of others, Chain of Command as mentioned, Bolt Action, Normandy Firefight, Disposable Heroes… so many to choose from! Though I aint played any of them! Always Crossfire, always felt skirmish in a way to me.

Piers….20mm

Well all our books feature 20mm… here is an AAR for the latest book, loads more on that forum…

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If ye want anymore info our website has an intro guide for players.

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Direct link;

PDF link

Over squad and below platoon, I use Nuts.
Platoon+ we've been doing Chain of COmmand but I am thinking of going back to TW&T.
For squad level, I use my own FiveCore rules.

I like having choices :-)

First, what scale figures is not important to rule sets – at least not any I've read at this level. That said, I have played all of the following:

• Nuts!:A great skirmish game for infantry but armor is more abstracted. Great of you run one platoon plus a vehicle or two. Any more and it can easily bog down (you track each vehicle crew member, for example).
  
• Bolt Action: A fun game but completely fails your "accuracy" requirement. Lumps all light tanks together, all medium, all heavy. Uses a TSATF type activation which works fine for 2 players but multi player it means you spend most of your time standing around waiting to do something. I found it bland and tedious.
  
• Disposable Heroes: Another good infantry game but armor is a tad abstract.
  
• BattleGroup:I think this might be a good option but it is very expensive. Th main book is around $50 USD and covers Kursk, additional theater books sold separately. So if you're after Normandy, you're up over $100 USD right out of the gate. A fair amount of "crunchy" detail with regard to armor and support. I think it could easily be used for platoon actions, maybe with a house rule or two.

My $0.03 USD and worth exactly what you paid for it.

If you're not afraid of clunk, Face of Battle is mighty fun, but I shudder to think of playing it with more than a squad each.

If you play solo skirmish than you'll want to check out Nuts! since it's designed to also play solo against an enemy AI.

The option to track each crewman for armor in Nuts! is there but it's not essential to play it that way. I treat each vehicle like another man in my squad.

Yup, sorry I forgot to mention….this will be solo play only

Just to note the rulebook for Battlegroup is £10.00 GBP, and the supplements are £25.00 GBP each I think… if bought together from PSC I think they do the two for £30.00 GBP, so not quite $100 USD for Normandy unless the exchange rate has plunged…

I wouldnt recommend it for solo play as the battle rating system for army morale works best when kept secret from your opponent.

We've been successfully using Force on Force for WWII too.

I suggest you take a look at Chain of Command from TooFatLardies, it is my favourite system and it works well played solo.

The option to track each crewman for armor in Nuts! is there but it's not essential to play it that way. I treat each vehicle like another man in my squad.

Tracking crew members isn't hard at all and requires little extra dice rolling – maybe even less. We played two games with 40 tanks on the table at Enfilade last weekend and it took 2 hours.

The die rolls are the same as for most other rules – the difference is the number you need to roll.

In Sight – Who fires 1st. 1 die roll. (Same as infantry.)

Shoot – 1 die roll. (Usually less dice rolled than when infantry fire.)

Hit – 1 die roll. (Usually less dice rolled than when infantry fire.)

Reload – 1 die roll. This may be different but it gives you a chance to fire again in the same turn.

That's it. Damage is 1 die roll and the tank is either dead, disabled or takes a Morale test.

If Solo is a requirement, then Nuts! is the clear way to go.

I've been having a blast running a Platoon Forward campaign, using Bolt Action to execute the battles, solo and in 20mm.

I use 20mm for my skirmish games (Face of Battle). But as others have pointed out, figure scale is usually not a factor when choosing a skirmish rule set.

I play a lot of Disposable Heroes and NUTS! in 20mm skirmish games. I suggest trying out both of those game systems, and see what you like.

Battleground WWII, a Classic game I still play as often as I can.

Oh yes, as BattleCaptain said, if you are going solo, look at Platoon Forward.
It is published by TooFatLardies but is not tied to their rules, instead it is a campaign generator that can be used with your rules of choice.
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