Hey all---I have just released a WWII rules set called "A Sergeant's War", available online at the Wargame Vault, here
http://www.wargamevault.com/product/143584/A-Sergeants-War-Rules-for-Wargaming-Small-Unit-Combat-in-WWIIHere is an after action report of one of the scenarios that comes in the book, a short-ranged bocage battle between a heavily reinforced platoon of American infantry (backed up by Shermans) against a very short German platoon. The game was one heck of a fight, with heavy casualties in infantry and armor. I have included here a description of how the mechanics of the game work, so that you can get a good idea of how the game plays and see if it might pique your interest.
The table: The scenario calls for a 36" by 36" table for 15mm/20mm troops, but I played in 6mm, so scaled it down by half. The table is crowded with rows of bocage and an orchard. The American objective is to clear the road at the top of the board.
The German deployment: The Germans have 3 MG-42 teams, two sections of riflemen, a command element, and a Pak 40 ATG. They are average Quality and Morale troops.
The American deployment: The Americans have 4 infantry squads (each in two elements: one with the BAR, the other with just riflemen), an air-cooled .30 cal LMG team, a platoon command element, and three Sherman tanks.
Some of their troops start on board; the rest arrive on Turn 1.
The Americans move forward on the first turn, moving up to the line of bocage opposite the German positions. The Germans wait, holding their fire for better targets.
The Americans, unable to spot the Germans until they fire, make their move, sending parties of infantry across the bocage and into the open. The battle commences. An element of American infantry move forward and trigger German defensive fire.
Here we can walk through how infantry fire works:
The German LMG team has Firepower 3, meaning they can roll 3 dice against a single target. The Germans and the Americans are equal quality (both Quality 4), so their base "to hit" is a 3+. There are no modifiers in this situation.
The German player rolls 3D6 (for his 3 Firepower).
That roll (1, 3, 5) scores 2 hits.
The American player now takes a Casualty Test. He rolls each of the D6s that hit; any that come up as a 1-2 results in a casualty.
In this case, 5 and 5, no casualties! But now comes the morale check. The American player rolls 1D6 per hit (and 1 per casualty, had they taken casualties); he also rolls an extra D6 for being in the open. For each die roll that is less than his morale, he fails one morale test; failing 1 or 2 means he's pinned down. Failing 3+ means they're broken.
The American rolls 3D6 and gets this:
That's a 1, 3, and 6. His Morale is 4, so he has failed 2 tests. This infantry section receives 2 pinned markers. The fire inflicted no casualties, but they're pinned down in the open.
The Americans send another section of infantry forward, with the intent of starting a short-ranged Fire Fight with the German LMG team. Fire Fights represent short-ranged fire, grenades, and maybe even hand-to-hand combat. This American element, with 6 men, also has a squad leader.
The LMG team has used up all its firepower shooting up the other American squad, so they can't fire at the attacking Americans...but other Germans in LOS, can. Two infantry sections and another LMG team open up. Because they are further away, they are limited in how much of their firepower they can throw, but they still get 4 shots. Again, they need 3+ to hit.
2 more hits. The Americans take 2 casualty tests--a 1 or 2 means a casualty.
Ouch! Two men fall. Now for the morale test: they took 2 hits, and 2 casualties, AND they are in the open--all told, 5 morale tests.
(Ignore those 2 5's at the bottom; they weren't part of the roll.)
That's a total of 3 failures; the unit will break. However...this unit has a leader nearby, who decides to Lead from the Front. This is a core element of A Sergeant's War. Your leaders can help you "cheat" the rules of morale in the game and ignore failed morale tests.
To do this, the squad leader rerolls the failed morale tests (in this case, 3). Each roll of a 3+ now counts as a success and is discarded. Any roll of a 2 remains a failure. Any roll of a 1 is a failure AND the leader in question is hit by enemy fire while he tries to lead his troops and is removed as a casualty. The American player rolls...
The 3 means that one roll is passed, but the 1 and 2 are failures. The unit is pinned. The 1 also means the leader is killed---ouch!
The supporting American troops now attempt to spot the Germans who have opened fire--they'll need to pass a Quality check to do so (4+). Most fail; what supporting fire results is mostly desultory.
In the coming German turn, the Germans open up. The ATG misses its target, but small-arms fire pushes back some American troops.
In the American turn, it is assumed that all the firing Germans are now spotted, and the Americans let loose with heavy fire power. The result: all of these D6s represent hits on the German troops, which must be tested for casualties and then tested for morale. Fortunately for the Germans, who are in foxholes, their casualty tests only result in casualties on the roll of a 1, not a 1-2. All that fire produces a couple German casualties and some pinned troops.
The Americans attempt another assault on the German positions. An infantry section advances on an LMG, survives the German defensive fire, and starts a Fire Fight.
In a firefight, you roll 1D6 per model in your unit, plus 1D6 for a support weapon. The LMG team rolls a flat 4D6. You again compare unit qualities; the Germans are in foxholes, so the Americans need 4+ to hit, whereas the Germans need 3+. Hits are tested against for casualties. In this fight, the Germans are wiped out, so no morale is needed; the Americans take the position. (We imagine that the Americans charge forward and hurl grenades into the German foxholes; any dazed survivors are then either shot, bayonetted, or taken prisoner.)
The Americans surge forward in the next turn, launching a general attack across the front.
However, heavy German fire drives them back.
The PaK 40 finally scores a hit! The ATG and the Sherman are equal quality, so a base 3+ is needed to hit, with a -1 penalty for the Sherman being behind cover. Once hit, the Sherman takes a damage test, with a -1 penalty for the PaK 40's superior AT ability. The modified roll results in damage to the Sherman (the tank doesn't recover from this and is abandoned a turn later)
Another Sherman crosses the bocage to offer more support, but a volley of panzerfausts destroys it.
American infantry finally work their way forward against the German flank, overrun the ATG, and destroy the German command element. The Germans give way and retreat. A narrow American victory.
The game took me under an hour to play (about 15 minutes to set up) and resulted in 18 German casualties vs 21 US casualties, 1 destroyed tank, and 1 abandoned tank. The Germans suffered high casualties, but were up against ferocious US firepower. Two American assaults were defeated before the Americans finally broke through. At one point in the game, the Americans came very close to their "breaking point," a game mechanic which adds morale penalties if a force has suffered too much damage.
Thanks for looking!
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April 19, 2024, 10:59:44 AM
October 08, 2010, 01:54:54 AM