This web page exists to answer rules questions for players of Grey Storm, Red Steel. Answers which are official (that is, direct from the designer)
are marked like this; other answers are the best guesses of staffers here at
.
If you have rules questions, please email them to us and we'll try to get an official answer for you.
Grey Storm, Red Steel took almost a year to write and runs to about 80,000 words of text. Some of the mechanisms are quite complex to explain in clear precise English, and in most cases are easier to play than to describe! However, it may be that certain points do need clarifying. Please feel free to write to me with any queries or comments, I promise we will answer them. Incidentally I have recently come across two excellent sources of reference material for the WW2 Soviet armies. The first is a book entitled Handbook on USSR Military Forces published by the U.S. War Department in 1945, and reprinted in 1978 by the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization. This is several hundred pages thick and is an absolute gold-mine of information about Soviet organisations, tactics, engineering, training, logistics and equipment and should be considered essential reading for any player like myself who has a soft spot for his Soviet wargames army (if you want to justify having 76mm guns allocated down to infantry platoon level, or wish to organise your troops into assault battalions, it's all in here!). The second source can be found in the home page for the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers. They have a number of organisation charts for various 20th Century armies including several highly detailed organisations for WW2 Soviet infantry units (regiment down to company) apparently compiled in Finland from information taken off a dead Soviet officer in 1944. Best wishes and happy gaming, |
A: A "unit" is a recognised military organisation such as an infantry squad or section, a platoon or a heavy weapon section of two or more weapons.
A: Hold orders can be given to any unit or an individual group (stand). I have seen lone survivors of a 4 or 5 figure group still grimly hanging on under Hold orders. Incidentally, Soviet units who have lost all their leaders may try and react to changing circumstances by attempting to change to Hold orders. This reduces Soviet flexibility still further but does make them extremely difficult to defeat!
A: This seems to be a poor explanation in the original text and may be partly due to the fact that the different command and control systems was the most difficult aspect of the period to recreate. A Soviet unit may not be given orders without the presence of a leader figure. German units do not require the presence of a leader figure to be given orders. This reflects the differences in the rigid Soviet command and control style compared to the tactically advanced German system. During this period the Germans frequently fought well under their nco's (who are not represented as individual leaders but are integrated into the bases holding the models).
The Soviets will usually be able to issue their orders but will find it extremely difficult to change them to react to changing circumstances (see section on Soviets testing to change their activity during a turn, on page 43) thus Soviet units are generally committed to carrying out the activity nominated during the Soviet orders. In many cases however a unit may well continue with the same order for a number of turns. I have found that in many games a Soviet platoon issued with an Advance order at the start of the game retains the same order throughout the game. This is sometimes forced on the Soviet player when the loss of leaders means he is unable to change his orders but may simply continue with the existing order. The main functions of leaders is to apply and reorganise troops on the battlefield and, in the case of the Soviets, to increase the chances of a unit successfully reacting to changing circumstances. The main difference in the system is that the German player need not allocate orders at the start of the turn but may issue them on a unit by unit basis as required, whereas the Soviet player must commit himself by issuing orders/activities at the start of the turn. This is designed to represent German flexibility against Soviet inflexibility.
A: Yes.
A: A terrain feature is precisely that, a feature of the terrain which can be identified or located. For example, a building, a wood or clump of trees, a hill or ridge, a hollow, a stream, etc. It may be easier to direct fire at a nominated terrain feature, hoping to hit something covered by the template, rather than trying to locate enemy troops who are well hidden in the feature. This is often the only way to engage snipers.
A: Troops may fire at any enemy troops within range and within their arcs of fire. The fire effect template is placed over the target, the point of aim being defined by the firing player. He may place the template over an individual group, or may place it so that as many enemy groups as possible are covered by the template.
A: Tank crews are only of interest if they abandon their vehicles and may subsequently reoccupy them (see Immobilised Vehicles, pg. 76). Crews of destroyed vehicles are considered to be rendered hors de combat, either from death, wounds or leaving the battlefield.
A: Only infantry armed with anti-tank weapons (anti-tank groups armed with panzerfausts, RPGs, anti-tank rifles, mines or improvised anti-tank weapons) may damage or destroy AFVs. See also pg. 78 - Destruction of AFVs with Non-Anti-Tank Heavy Weapons - this covers other heavy weaponry which may damage an AFV. If in any doubt use common sense and ask yourself, "Would the weapon concerned really damage an armoured vehicle?"
| Last Updates | |
|---|---|
| 23 April 1998 | page first published |
| Comments or corrections? | |