Battleground: World War II

One beef I have with the rules is the range of the tank guns and the chances for hitting a target- Panthers and Tigers are not nearly as accurate in hitting Russian T-34's as they should be, even with superb tank commanders influencing the "To Hit" rules.

One point needing to be addressed is the number of squads in a game - I have found that when both sides have more than three squads and four tanks on each side, then play bogs down. It is far more exciting with each side having one squad (and maybe a tank), so the players may use the more detailed and personal rules - such as the "I'm Hit" and the "Medic" rules. When it gets down and dirty and on a man-to-man level, that is when the game becomes a real hair-raiser.

Get this game, and have fun!

One Sunday they brought Battleground and enough minis for a game over to our regular Sunday gaming session. They taught two more of us how to play in about 15 minutes, and we had a nice little German vs. American game of two squads and two tanks per side in the bocage country. The game was played to conclusion in about three hours, and I was totally hooked. I've started picking up 20mm Brit Paras to add to our troops.

It is definitely a game I'll be playing again...

If there is a weak spot in the rules, I think that it seems dependent on a referee. Some groups (like ours) have trouble finding someone who is willing to referee all the time.

They have been playing some really neat scenarios at the local shows.

I finally had a chance to play these rules at WinterCon in January. Touch of the nostalgic for me. Felt a lot like Tractics in many ways, with additions. Fairly complex with some paper keeping, but it did have a good feel for the period, and played well.

Judge ran about 40 US infantry with three tanks against 30 Germans with one tank in his game. We didn't finish the game in the four-hour time limit he had, but it had progressed to what I would have considered over half the game. We needed closer to six hours, I think. Then again, it went very well considering only two of the six players (both Germans) had any experience playing the game.

Fairly easy to "play." You need at least one judge and/or player very familiar with the rules, but that is true for almost any game. I think my best comment is that I would happily play another game.

I have played many WWII games over the years, but this one is the most fun. I started out playing platoon level stuff, mostly Command Decision, but ended up buying tons of 15mm to play Battleground. Now, most of my friends are buying 15mm in order to play. The system is easy to use, quick and intuitive - though the main ruleset could use a serious edit. Time is not wasted calculating too many modifiers, but the results always seem realistic. I am hooked on the system.

Battleground WWII is probably one of the best set of skirmish rules I have seen to date.  I had gotten out of WWII gaming for a number of years because I had not found a ruleset I liked.  With Battleground WWII I have started gaming again (and bought a wack 'o' miniatures) and am having a great time with it. I highly reccomend this ruleset!

The system is easy enough to be attractive to most, but has enough room for complexity to be more than a "beer and pretzels" game if one wishes.

The only drawback we have found so far is the number of dice that can be necessary in a game with multiple infantry squads - not a real problem, but a few people in our game circle have complained. Make sure you have a half dozen d20's available!

Our only criticism was microscopic printing on some of the tables. The authors admitted the error when contacted, and sent more legible versions - much to our amazement!

A more nitpicky complaint concerns the play sheet: it's just not as useful as it might be, inasmuch as important tables are omitted - this is especially strange, given the amount of wasted space on the sheet (i.e. graphics, blank space, nonessential tables, etc.) Those caveats aside, a worthwhile effort.