"Modern rules for 6mm?" Topic

I was wondering if anyone could recommend rules for 6mm moderns? I would like a set that allows for different quality levels and includes ratings for equipment. Bonus for organisation lists and scenario creations or campaigns etc.

Try Sabresquadron. Free sample of basic rules. With 2 supplements that give NATO and Warsaw pact forces

Fistful of tows

For higher level games, Modern Spearhead.

Fistful of TOWs. Great rules and loads of TO&Es to get you started. Worth every penny.

I Like FoTs also but be forewarned that these are not the easiest rules to learn. A bonus is that they also cover WW2.

Fistful of TOWs is a must. It does everything. It is designed for microarmor. The infantry mechanics is simplified so I don't use for my 15mm games where infantry is more central. I think there is a conversion of the scifi rules Dirtside to modern. They are excellent as scifi rules & have more complex infantry mechanics but would require more tinkering. Sometimes, however, that is the fun part.

JPK

I'd disagree that FFoT are hard to learn. With the exception of the Arty rules being a bit obtuse. The core rules are very easy. Don't take my word for it however, go to fft3.com and download the lite rules they have. Despite being "lite" rules almost all of the important systems in the game are covered.

I like Fields of Fire from Proving Ground Games. One to one for vehicles and fire teams for infantry.

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You have not said what scale of battle you want. Typicaly its attack defense in modern war, even the meeting engagements are really attack defense games but who attacks who depends on the force ratio. Our rules work for 6mm but for most folk a company battle group is about the limit for an evening game. Its scenario driven but we have lots of those for free. However because its scenario driven there is no points system. If you want bigger than a company battle group ours is not for you the games become more like board games above our level.

from GameCraft Miniatures

an update to GDW/GHQ's TacForce

Tac II
link

pdf is free

If you look at the TAC-2 rules be sure to check out the video on this page that discusses vehicle combat – it makes the cards on vehicles very easy to understand.

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Thanks everyone for your help. Plenty for me to read up on now. As for scale I'm a bit torn. So 1-1 for me is the obvious but being able to conduct campaigns appeals to me too. Therefore an element= a platoon is also attractive. So I thought if I can find rules that I like and then choose the scale. I really like to use infantry and their support weapons as much as the tanks.

Another vote for FFT3 if you want to use infantry and have different quality levels.

We are fortunate to have plenty of choice, and of course each rule system will have their supporters.

Over the years I've tried many sets of rules. Starting with very technically detailed rules, and individual vehicles I eventually realised I was after games focused at a higher level. After a false start I found Modern Spearhead worked well. This allowed games using several battalions or regiments with a focus on command rather than technical differences.

A few games are outlined on my blog should it be useful to you modernspearhead.wordpress.com

Good luck with your search.

I went the other way I want real command but at a level that is plausible without too much detail. What I did was set up a map 10 to 20 km long and probably only a couple of routes. Think a virtual table about a company wide. You then fight along it. You get to play at in effect battalion and above despite being only one or two companies in contact as you have to replace them as they weaken from combat loss/need to re fuel. Similarly you have to manage artillery so it's in range, and manage how much and when as it a a limited resource. Doing this at divisional level would be well beyond me.

Have fun in your quest for your ultimate game.

Interesting ideas UshCha. Thanks

Maxshadow,
This is one of our game maps. This is the level we started at. The ground scale is 1mm represents 1m, This is common for 6mm but we prefer to use 1/144 scale not 1/285 or 1/300 scale minis for various reasons).

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The board is 8 ft by 6 ft. The VERY thick black lines are effectively additional board edges. The hex's are because the terrain is HEXON II.

The RED continuous lines are first level contours of the hills the brown is the next level up.

The inverted "u" shaped road round from left to right via the top is rated at unlimited tonnage so traverseable by any vehicle weight. The alternative route running from left to right has two issues the bridges are rated at only 15 tons and running heavier tracked vehicles will destroy the surface, rendering it unusable at high speed by a basic truck (limits supply issues).

The Attackers brief was to finaly take the unlimited weight road from left to right. The defenders job was to delay/stop the attacker.

The defender had a company of infantry and supports including engineering assets available for 24 hrs before the attacker arrives on table, this included 1 blade team. In addition the defender was allowed the odd pill box whose position was already known to the attacker. To make life simple the attacker did know the tonnage rating of all the roads. It would perhaps be more realistic to miss some of the information off. However even at this level of command it becomes a complex and being swamped with issues is counter productive to the experience.

The Attacker in the end had close on two battalions with tanks and infantry and they need to specify before the start what they need. I took some light APC's so I could move vehicles down the 15 ton road.

Bear in mind that a well dug in platoon with supporting tanks and infantry may need nearly a battalion to dislodge it. Even then thay will be sufficiently exhausted that fresh troops will be required to advance further.

As an aside this game took us close on 150 bounds over a few months at the club. The gain, battles that, if you wrote as scenarios you would have said were daft, nobody would do that. However desperation is not something engendered in a one off game.

I can give you more but to some extent forces are determined by the capability of the rules and unless you use our rules it may not be that helpful. This is just to give you of the flavor of complexity you get from even low level games.

Just for reference get a map of an area you want to campaign and look in a 10km by 10km area how many road/track bridges there are. We did this in our chosen area and it came out at over 100. You would have to come up with a way of specifying every bridge credibly. It can't be random, you dont get 100 ton bridges on side roads so random die roles just be daft. This after many iterations is why we addopted the above.