"Rule options for reinforced platoon level play?" Topic

What rules options are there for playing at the reinforced platoon level, say a platoon of infantry with support vs a couple of squads and a couple of heavy weapons? Don't mind if weapon teams are treated as a single playing piece, but not looking for fire team or squad basing. The ones I can think of so far:-
Bolt Action
CoC
Disposable Heroes
TWaT
Have also heard that Battlegroup xxxx from PSC can also be played at this level, anyone got any experience of that?
Also other suggestions welcome.

Battlegroup does play at that level.. gives a quick game.

While my gaming knowledge is limited to currently playing Chain of Command and now reading the rules for Battlegroup (more for solo play) Chain of Command is specifically designed for a platoon and some support options.

The game is amazing. While Battlegroup can be played at a platoon level it does offer the ability to play up to Battalion level (someone more wise than I please correct me)

Off the top of my head:-

Arc of Fire
Baptism of Fire
One of the "Hail of Fire"s
Men Under Fire

Bit of a theme developing here.

In theory NUTS! can do it but our group found it was beginning to creak with a full platoon on table.

For something retro, the WRG Infantry Action 1925 to 1975

Cheers
David

Battlegroup will give a good game at the Platoon level and I have played good games at the Battlegroup level,

Tally Ho!

Does Battlegroup work well for tank-vs-tank games using only platoons or companies of tanks with very few or no infantry at all?

Shameless plug for my Skirmish Action rules. Work well for 28mm platoon level with several AFVs or … a platoon of AFVs and few or no infantry. I frequently demo them playing the final battle from Saving Private Ryan. That type of battle is their sweet spot. Cheers!

PS. They also work well for Pegasus Bridge which I've run numerous times at Cold Wars, Fall In and Historicon.

Website has more info: actionsrules.com

And don't forget Combat Patrol. There are some nice videos and free stuff on the rules' Web site: link

Buck Surdu

Here's a run down and play through of Disposable Heroes II to give you an idea of how it plays. It is based exactly on the level you're asking about.

link

Thanks Lee. I'll give SA a look.

Nuts from Two Hour Wargames will do this very nicely.

28mm Fan, yes it works well for Armour heavy fights, Panzermarsch does the same, but with more detail,

Tally Ho!

Here's a run down and play through of Disposable Heroes II to give you an idea of how it plays. It is based exactly on the level you're asking about.

So how would DH2 handle a bigger game? Say maybe a full platoon plus attached engineer squad and a tank or Stug is support vs say 2 squads with attached MMG and an AT gun.
Some games must be very short if you can lose in the first turn.

Bit of a theme developing here.

So any set of rules with "Fire" in the title should be fine! :-)

Buck that link is not working for me.

So any set of rules with "Fire" in the title should be fine! :-)

There are also the "Rate of Fire" rules from Crusader Publications to go with the theme, though they may have been out of print for a couple of years.

Rate of Fire is an interesting game and is still available through Wargames Vault:

link

The Combat Patrol link: link

In the previous post, the period at the end of the sentence was smooshed into the URL. You can use this one or click the old link and then go into your URL window and backspace over the period at the end of the link.

Buck

@Fred: it can handle that size game and on up to company level easily. You can give each player a platoon plus support and give one player a company command element that handles supporting fire and other assets. Vehicles too. That especially works well in 15mm.

The rules for how a game ends is based on the scenarios in the book. They're designed to force the attacker to move with purpose. And a lot happens in a single turn. Plus, if a game outcome is in question at the end of the first turn, you can drop the scenario limitation and play on. DH II works with any kind of scenario you could use for any other system. The fact that in this scenario the Germans lost on the first turn is not a hard limitation of the rules. In this case it was used to demonstrate the mechanics and show what can happen in a single turn.

I like "Rules of Engagement".
It has good historical flavor at a platoon level but still lets you add in some higher level support weapons.
Published by Great Escape games greatescapegames.co.uk

men under fire by Chadwick

@Pizza Thanks for the info. I am mainly interested in early/mid war are there vehicle stats for the earlier tanks? I find a lot of rules only cover the later war.

@Fred The main book covers late war, as most do (seems to be the industry standard unfortunately). But Brigade Games sells the early war book for the previous edition of Disposable Heroes called Futile Gallantry that contains vehicles and troop lists for Poles, French, Belgians, and Norwegians. All of the info in that book, especially vehicles are all 100% compatible with the new edition of DH II.

@Pizza my LGS has a copy so will give them a go. I have a couple of supplements for the original game as played it a bit, but found it quite bloody. Looks like the new edition is much less so, which is good.

I adapted stargrunt 2 for this sized game. Biggest changes are to make it more practical to use tanks. It's not exactly commercial ready though. You decide on tank armour and anti tank stats when designing a scenario.

Just ordered the BG main rulebook and Fall of the Reich army supplement.

One last question. Which supplement should I get for German and Soviet army lists during the summer/fall of 1943 now that Battlegroup Kursk is out of print?

I wasn't kidding when I asked about tank-heavy battles.

Get the BG Kursk PDF…?