"Battlegroup: Where's the smoke?" Topic

I recently purchased the Battlegroup rules and overall I like them but I can't see any rules about smoke, either generated by smoke rounds or by fire. Are they there or were they included in a supplement?

They have a new forum so maybe a query there might produce an answer?

link

Regards

It's abstracted, factored into the spotting and saving throw rules. It speeds up the game and TBH I've never missed it.

dandiggler

Is that an official response or just your opinion? It does not explain how to lay down a smoke screen.

Regards

Tactical use of smoke is abstracted into the spotting/observation rules as Dan said. A whole page in the rulebook goes into the design philosophy of the 'to spot' mechanic.

The supplement Wacht am Rhein has scenario rules for large smokescreens.

I've just looked again at the section on observation and I can see how you could incorporate smoke into that. The roll is pretty easy to pass (3+) so would it be unreasonable to house rule that if, say, a 2" mortar laid a smoke screen in advance of a platoon assault then the observation roll would be more difficult to pass?

Up to you… your house rule. Don't forget dispersal… and of course how much smoke a single mortar can put out and it's density.

I've only played the rules as they are… ;)

I've done some work on a special smoke rule purely for British 2" Mortar teams to reflect their mythical prodigious use of smoke bombs. I tend to follow accounts where the 2" mortar team smoked targets rather than use it as a screen as a single tube can't really cover a platoons advance.

But the rules work as they are for me as I'm happy with the narrative that the abstraction creates after six odd years of playing. :)

The smoke rules are in the $50 USD Supplement #1.
:^)

Now who is smoking what?

I'm going to rule that a smokescreen will count the unit as being obscured.

Ubercommando---I like that solution. A bit more added but stays with the spirit of the rules. How would handle dispersion? Also, will need to determine how much smoke the various batteries can lay down, and how many smoke missions are available.

The main tactical application of smoke with anything from a Light Mortar to an Artillery Barrage of several Batteries was to blind the enemy. Dispersal depends on wind and how many shells you lob. It could be maintained by Mortar and Artillery for substantial periods. In the case of larger shoots dispersal was tested first if too fast, HE would be used instead.
Its quite effective, that's why it was a major part of tactics.
There were basically two kinds of smoke WP and chemical. WP also had a significant anti personnel role and was used for that reason, a point missed in just about every WW2 ruleset Ive seen.
If you've smoke laid on you or immediately in front of you your visibility is virtually nil through the smoke.
If its a brief stonk, it will disperse within minutes depending on the windspeed (if none it will linger), amount of shells etc, but if maintained, easily done if by a battery it could last as long as needed.
I get the in game abstract for spotting ie smoke is being used etc… But it denies its real tactical use.

Abstraction can lead to errors. You need to know in advance if you are simply going to fire smoke from one vehicle or on command fire all vehicles which was a US response in some cases to the spotting of enemy helicopters.