WWII PLATOON LEVEL RULES:
TAC: WWII

I have recently acquired these new rules by Chris Pringle and Nick Mitchell, they are designed for 1/300th (6mm) or 2mm actions. The rules come in an A4 booklet of 44 pages and with two laminated reference cards and a set of counters to cut out. I found I had to read them 2 or 3 times through to grasp what the writers were saying but this is only because the rules are not as logically set out as I would have liked. Once you do work out what the writers mean it is worth it.

One model figure represents a platoon of infantry or a troop of vehicles with 1 move being approximately 15 to 20 minutes, here we are looking at battles up to Brigade size.

We all know that rules for this period are common so what different approach do Chris and Nick make. Well, each unit has its own Tactical rating depending on their effectiveness this ranges from 4 - 8, in certain situations (e.g. to change orders) you must roll higher than your rating to succeed in the task.

Units have several modes of action to use from a straight March Move, Bold Attack, Deliberate Attack, Defence Mode, Prepared Defence mode and Default mode. Depending on what mode your troops are in also determines how fast you move, if at all, and when you may fire. In the firing phase there is an order of firing so a unit in prepared defence mode can fire three times (phase 1,3,5) and if you are in Bold Attack mode you fire once (phase 2).

A part of this game, that is so usually forgotten on the table, is what the weather is like . To help a weather chart for North West Europe is included (other campaigns will follow in further supplements). The combat rules seem simple but for people like me still take account of armour factor and individual weapon effectiveness.

As you would hope, the rules cover artillery fire, aircraft and engineers, to me they look like a promising set of rules. You don't need to get the supplements though, as these are only going to cover certain campaigns in more detail and everything to get you going is here. The only gripes I have is that the rules could be set out more logically, and the other is that a few more rules could have been included on the laminated cards as there is plenty of room (it will stop you referring back to the rules!).

Otherwise, I can say these are the first set of 1/300th WWII Rules I have ever really enjoyed. Well Done.

The rules are priced at six pounds available in the UK from Irregular Miniatures. Sorry, I don't know if they are available in the US yet!