WWII INFANTRY SKIRMISH VOTING RESULTS:
Voters, By Period - 1942 Russia

We play Battleground WW2 at least three times a month. A great game, which is easy and quick to play while at the same time detailed. Has my vote as the best wargame, period! [15 Nov 1999]

Tarawa Atoll, morning of 20 November 1943. Lt. Col. H. Ameys 2nd Bn. 2nd Marines storm Red 2 on the northern coast of Betio Island. Very tough going for the leathernecks. [13 Apr 99]

Ran a rather good game of the Dutch in '40,using BG:WWII, homebrewed stats for the Dutch Small Arms. Was a close, fun game with lots happening, and fun was had by all. Only a few questions? 1. How does BG handle Large Caliber ATRs as opposed to Small Caliber? By large caliber, I mean 20mm. 2. Does anybody use the card system of inititative?

Great New site for BG WWII: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Cauldron/2636/index.html It's specifically set up to handle the Blitzkrieg era for BG and there's other goodies there too. [31 Mar 99]

The last game we played was from Battleground's Panther's East packet. It involved many russian armor units (t-34 41's, su-76's and t-70's) breaking through a german force of pz4's, tigers, and panthers. The game played very well!!!! We were able to play all very detailed 10 turns in under 3 hours. Highlights include the t-70's knocking out one tiger at point-blank range, the su-76's firing their little hearts out, and the panthers melting everything in their way! Every game we have played from the various scenerio packs has been very successful and fun. Next, we are off to the Bloody Bocage! [30 Mar 99]

Streets of Stalingrad urban infantry fight. [28 Mar 99]

Our most recent game involved a Soviet counterattack against a German-held village on the approaches to Moscow during Operation Typhoon, October 1941. Despite an enormous numerical advantage (2+ companies vs. a reinforced platoon), the Soviet attack was stopped by German artillery, 88's and mud. We used Grey Storm/Red Steel (after BAPS, my personal favorite) with 15mm figures by Old Glory & vehicles/ordnance by Quality Castings and Military Miniatures. [26 Mar 99]

Tried doing the large scenario in Easy Eight's Tanker's Challenge supplement for Battleground.

Thirty some t-34's versus half a dozen PzIV's and panthers (we modified to fit available models). The scenrio really goes overboard for a 1-1 scale. Even in 15mm there was too much stuff- the game took over six hours. [8 Feb 99]

Last game had early T-34s against a German Recon platoon with some armored cars and Pz IIs. Very great game, quick to play and great realism. I think Battleground WWII is the best skirmish in the market. Usually this game is billed as pure "infantry" but we have found that it is a great game for armored actions too. [8 Feb 99]

Last game I played in, which used Battleground, was a west-front scenario written by me, run by our local club. The scenario involved a German mech-inf force (2 halftracks and 4 trucks, a squad of inf each, a single panther, and a couple of towed light guns) hastily taking up a defensive position along a lightly wooded ridgeline, with some minor earth works already in place (from a previous encounter). The German goal was to stop an American mixed column (several M4's, an M10, trucks full of infantry) from passing through the area. Unknown to the German player, however, was that the American column arrived just as the Germans were starting to take up position. It turned out to be in an interesting skirmish, but next time we refight it we are planning on giving the Germans some mortars to break up the American column a little bit.

The BattleGround rules, while really aimed at mixed, or infantry actions, work really well. In the past, the ruleset I liked the most was Overwatch, but that is almost a purely armour game. It is very well suited, however, for 1:285 microarmor matches. [8 Feb 99]

I played an early war game of Brits vs. Germans in 1940. I had just a few weak tanks on the British side with German sidecar-mounted MMG plus a platoon of infantry on each side. It was my own design so a little unbalanced, but as usual our group had fun with the quick BAPS rules. [10 Feb 99]