"WW2 Rules for 1:1 skirmish squad level" Topic

What are some rules recommendations for 1:1 squad level skirmish? I am not interested in platoon/company level skirmish, where the operational unit is the section/team/etc., but a RPG-lite ruleset for a squad or two versus a squad or two, with individual-figure movement and fire.

If various Pulp rules would serve better, I am all ears, for my collection spans both pulp interwar and WW2. I generally use SoBH or LOTR for fantasy and medieval individual skirmish, but did not know what might be best for the firearms period.

For straight up skirmish: Bolt Action.

For more RPGness and overall pulpy goodness: 7TV.

I am currently working on a pair of Rat Patrol jeeps for Bolt Action, which will push me closer to breaking down and modelling the ersatz German vehicles from the TV show for 7TV action drama games!

If you are familiar with SoBH, why not try out Flying Lead? It's Ganesha's rules for the period you're looking for….

I have these rules but haven't played them. But they look interesting and fit the bill.

Five Men in Normandy (or at Kursk)
by Nordic Weasel Games

Hi,
My preferred WW2 skirmish system is NUTS! from Two Hour Wargames, where I've become an author of several NUTS books. The system work great from a handful of figures on up to a platoon per side on the table and is designed for head to head, co-op and solo gaming.

NUTS! is a squad-level WW2 skirmish game based on THW's "Chain Reaction" rule system, which eliminates many of the disadvantages of standard IGOUGO systems. In the game each player basically plays a squad leader, and starts the game with a core squad or vehicle that is "his" for the game or the campaign.

Moral/training is represented by "Reputation" levels for each figure or unit, running from 1-6, which are the target numbers for dice rolls in the game. Each figure is an individual in the game, each vehicle is crewed by individual figures (TC, Driver, Gunner, etc.)that have a role in the operation of the vehicle and make relevant dice rolls for morale, shooting, crossing obstacles, and so on.

The leader figure has some special advantages, and each figure in the core squad has a special attribute like "Crack Shot" or "Poser" which helps or hurts in certain situations, so there's a light roleplaying element in the combat game.

The Chain Reaction system uses leadership rolls to determine who goes first (and certain dice combinations result in reinforcement rolls during the game), but during any given action phase figures will react to developments on the table based on the "Reaction" table system.

For example, figures that see an enemy move into line of sight will take a "In Sight" test to see what their reaction is – do they shoot, do they fail to react, etc? Figures that come under fire also may have to check to see if they shoot back, duck for cover, panic and run, etc.

This means that figures engaged in combat *always* take some kind of action, there's never a time in the game where you're lined up to nail your opponent…but your card didn't come up in time and you stood there and got shot, or the guy playing the "leader" didn't have enough action points to let your unit move.

So there's always a good flow to the game, and you don't have total control over your figures. I recall one game, from the "Kampfgruppe Peiper" Battle of the Bulge campaign book in which I had a concealed US 57mm ATG, and a Panther tank was approaching down a road. As a player I planned to take the shot after the Panther turned to follow a bend in the road and take a rear shot…but the "In Sight" test for the unit meant they blew the ambush by firing on it frontally. Doh! They must have panicked and shot as soon as the scary tank approached.

Don't get me wrong, tanks *are* scary and get a good treatment in the rules as well. Believe me, you don't want to be on the receiving end of a tank assault!

Also, the first (only time!) I ever used proper infantry tactics against a tank in urban combat, and it worked, was using NUTS. In a Bastogne scenario a Panther pushed into a US-held town, where it finished movement near a squad of mine. Part of the squad were in an upper story and fired from the flank of the Panther, suppressing the TC and forcing the tank to button up while another element charged the rear of the tank, chucked a demo pack underneath and BOOM! Dead Panther! After that all players saw the value of combined arms.

The system also incorporates a campaign and mission builder system, so you can see your troops gain experience and raise their Reputation level up in the game (or they may lower their Rep if they run away!), replacements for lost figures, battle and mission builders to create a spontaneous game, etc.

The campaign system and mission generator also feeds into a simple optional liteRPG in the rules called "Chocolate and Cigarettes" which lets you game out what happens between missions…take your guys out on the town, do some sneak & peek missions, etc.

Overall, NUTS! is a great skirmish rule system that lets you play fairly accurate WW2 skirmish battles, have a lot of fun and play your game to conclusion in a couple of hours.

It's well supported and there's also a large number of supplement and campaign books for the system as well.

twohourwargames.com/ww2.html

Questions are quickly answered at the THW forum: link

Is this the latest version of NUTS!:
link

Nuts
DH point blank
Battleground WW2

Here this might be what you are looking for Operation Whitebox. Basically D & D squad level

link combat.
My group had a great time playing the rule set

You Tube review.

YouTube link

NUTS! sounds like exactly what your are looking for.

Unlike Chain of Command (which I love) and Bolt Action (very popular) there is a high emphasis on the individual soldier with a little PRG lite thrown in.

Yes, 4th edition is the latest version.

My only complaint about it would be that some of the explanations aren't that clear, but the forums on the designers website are great fro getting answers (normally in about 24h).

Any idea where there might be a comprehensive review of 5 men in Normandy?

I have heard of NUTS but never had seen that sort of in-depth explanation. Very useful, I will definitely check that one out.

White Box is intriguing, as is possibly Flying Lead.

Yes, 4th edition is the latest version.

Yep, that's it. And it's supported by the NUTS Compendium, an optional rules toolbox that lets you game pretty much any theatre or troop type of the war:

The Compendium contains a series of rules that can enhance and customize your NUTS games and campaigns, allowing you to run scenarios from the blazing hot deserts of North Africa to the frozen steppes of Russia.

*Updated Character and figure rules, including new NUTS Attributes and morale levels like Plucky and Fanatic.

*Privation, fatigue and Out of Supply rules for when your games get tough.

*Cavalry combat.

*Small Boat combat and amphibious landings.

*Night fighting.

*Rules for Airborne assaults, Ski troops, K-9 teams and Engineers.

*Enhanced demolition, artillery and air strike rules.

*Additional Chocolate & Cigarette lite RPG rules and attributes such as Wheeling & Dealing and Shell Shock.

*Optional vehicle rules, including multi-turreted tanks, top armor attacks, bogging and getting tracked.

*New terrain, weather and environment rules including Desert, Jungle, Alpine and Urban (rubble/ruins,sewer fights, etc.)

*Additional mission and campaign rules.

link

IMO, Nuts! 4th Edition are the best opotion. The rules can be tweaked a bit at your convenience, have a lot of game.

5 Men in Normandy

I use my own. A moveable feast- depending on the scenario.

Mine are free to download from this link

I find the trouble with a lot of one figure=one man rules with individual customisation is keeping track of who's who. With WW2 games, where everyone is dressed the same this is even more the case. One ruleset which avoids this by keeping troops similar while working well in a skirmish environment is Victory Decision: Raid.

link

You might like to try my rules. Skirmish Action. You outfit each soldier with weapons which have unique stats ie a Thompson SMG has different stats than an MP40 which differs from a STEN. And troop quality is a key factor. Play is simple but not simplistic, for example chess has simple moves but is not simplistic. Combat res is d6 system. Cheers! Lee

Nuts!, which has been described so well above, works really well and is what I use for "serious" WW2 gaming. I am actually looking at starting the Italy After Normandy campaign.

For less serious games I use Pulp Alley. A great set of skirmish rules that play well and offer a lot of excitement. They even have a solo option.

I tend to think of my games in terms of movies. If I want something serious and realistic like Saving Private Ryan, I use Nuts! but if I want a crazy game with commandos jumping from cable car to cable car when coming down from a German controlled castle, like Where Eagles Dare, I go with Pulp Alley.

Don't get me wrong, both are great systems and offer a lot of great games and excitement. Just I use one for games focusing on realistic action and one focusing on the possibility of all kinds of crazy things happening.

I second Ganesha's Flying Lead as fun and fast play possibility.

The ones I have played the most are NUTS! And 5Core Skirmish / 5 men in Normandy /Kursk.

Both give a good game at this level and have good reaction Fire and suppression mechanics.

My suggestion? Buy them both as PDFs and see which works best for you.

Nuts! without any doubt.

Tom

Final Combat is very detailed and aimed at 1:1:

brittonpublishers.com

I am intrigued to see so much endorsement of NUTS!, and so little promotion of CoC.

I don't play either, so have not got a horse in this race. But I've been an avid reader of the AARs and the Bolt Action v. CoC threads. At some point I too might get into this skirmish level stuff (What? Take less than a company of tanks onto a table? Oh heresy be thy name!) After all the threads, the AARs, the very useful discussions and debates, I have started settling in on CoC as my likely choice. I fully expected after the OP to see a flood of posts espousing the virtues of CoC. And yet, the consensus in this thread, to this point, is most certainly NUTS!.

Hmmm.

What am I missing? Why would CoC be sub-optimal, and NUTS! be better, for a squad of men, or so, per player?

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Probably because CoC, and BA for that matter, are precisely the type of rules the OP says he doesn't want.
The fire and movement, and morale is team based, not individual.
Not what the man has asked for.