"Help Wanted - Modern Rules" Topic

Hello,

I am an old hex & counter wargamer making my first jump into 1/285th scale miniatures tabletop gaming. I was hoping to tap the expertise of this group to determine what type of rules that I could use based on these criteria:

1- Will be playing Cold War/Modern era using 1/285th GHQ scale minis.

2- Prefer less complicated rules for ease of learning and play over a detailed simulation.

3- Prefer rules to include scenarios or campaigns or a scenario generation system.

4- Prefer units to be scaled to individual vehicles, infantry squads, etc. – mainly platoon level warfare and "tank centric" like Team Yankee.

I have seen mention of many rule systems on the web but many of the product descriptions don't provide enough details for me to determine if they fit my needs so I am hoping that experienced players can help me out.

Thank you in advance for any help!

I enjoy 5core company command, it also has scenario generators. It is availible on wargames vault.

Not everyones cup of tea, you can see my experience here:
link

Lots of good options out there, good luck!

Try 5Core. Fairly simply (on ultra detailed) but granular enough for some feel.

I like a Fistful of tows. There is a free download of the base rules available for it as well.
fft3.com

I think 5Core would be a good starting point too.

You will have to do a little work with 5Core to determine for Anti-Tank fire what weapon systems are threatening, kill, or over-kill. If prefer not to do that work yourself, I think there are several of us floating around that can give you what we use.

The huge advantage of 5Core rules is that the kinetic effect and morale effect of fire are all included in the shooting roll. It helps to have about 3 dice each of 2 different colors, but judging fire results is a snap, you just look for 1's or 6's.

Let me know if you'd like an example and I'll post one, or one of the other 5 Core junkies may have already done this.

Going to do 1980's era cold war?

To Joazis Tin Man … yes to 1980's era Cold War, thanks.

@tommyatkins

Here are some samples I just threw together. They should give you a start. The rules have some suggested ratings and how to assign numerical values to weapons and armor if you want to.

I hope this helps!

link

Would 5Core work for Yom Kippur?

Absolutely! You just need to determine the relative strengths of the different weapons versus their targets.
Small arms are pretty much the same.

Here are some great battle reports by Just Jack:
link

He plays all kinds of periods. I personally use a single base for my squads, Jack uses individually based figure.

Here is is Sword of Gideon blog, still in the 1948 war, but some more great battle reports.
link

FFT use a very simple and familiar mechanic, roll to hit, roll to save, cross index penetration with armour to work out how many dice to use to resolve the effect of the hit.
The heft of the set of the rules is in the need to cover artillery, scenarios, data, scenarios etc. Available as a PDF I can recommend them.
Personally, I don't like how it models artillery, combat in built up areas and air cover. Reading the army lists, while very detailed, requires some work.
You do need to be careful with the tabletop layout- more terrain may be needed at times imo.
However, with a busy wargame schedule, it is our go to set of rules.

I have heard players speak about a Fist Full Of TOWs many times so I did some research. It is a massive rule book! Does it really play as simple as some people have claimed? On a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is the most difficult) where would FFT land please?

Just tank vs. tank, very low complexity, maybe a 3.
Add fights in built up areas, artillery, air cover – well when I host a game, I keep that stuff to a minimum 😎.
Format/layout of the rules makes it seem bigger.
Using army organisations, then referring to specific vehicle stats is a bit cumbersome, but it's in those details that you appreciate the research that has been made.
It is a set of rules for big games- mines, tactical nukes are there. 1 vehicle = 5, although rescaling the rules, using the same stats is not a problem.
There are scenarios, but I think it would be easy to make up linked scenarios/campaigns.
As easy as the rules are, I always feel we could play a month of games to really fineness the game- to find the nuisances and master the tactics.

You folks are a great bunch, thank you for sharing your information with me.

The only requirement, whichever rules you pick, is to post pictures and share your project with us!

To Jozis Tin Man

Will do but this will take some time. At the moment I just received my GHQ Micro Armor order last week and I have a long journey ahead of me.

:)

I am like you. You have to try Fistful of TOWS. You will not regret it.

JPK

5core, fist full of tows, Cold War Commander. All fairly uncomplicated, but Cold War commander is probably the least complex of the three and includes scenario system

When you folks mention 5core do you mean "FiveCore Brigade Commander" or "FiveCore Company Command" from Nordic Weasel Games? Thanks.

Cold War? Check!
Suitable for 1/285? Check!
Not complicated? Check!
Individual tanks? Check
Company level? Check

Even got a free trial version:

sabresquadron.com/index.html

@Sabresquadron

I see on your page that you have three modules: Sabresquadron, 7 Days To The Rhine, and Article 5. What are the differences for each?

Thanks.