Recruit Brigade

Modern and WWII

Reviewed by Bill Rutherford

RECRUIT BRIGADE (MODERN) AND RECRUIT II BRIGADE (WW II) Published By Warzone GTS, are two versions of the same rule set, with equipment and detail changes appropriate to their eras. They're unusual in that they're published as a deck of 3" by 4" cards in very small type, with heavily abbreviated text throughout. Each has 8 cards (16 pages) of rules and about 100+- vehicle and aircraft data cards. The idea is to have a complete set of rules that'll fit in your shirt pocket.

Scales are: 1 turn = 1 or 2 minutes; 1 inch on the table = 100 meters (modern) or 25 - 50 meters (WW II - depending on your miniatures' scale); and 1 model/stand = 1 vehicle/squad. The play sequence is interactive-sequential. Movement (spending VAPs - see below) is sequential, by platoon or element, i.e., I move a platoon, then you do, then I do… An initiative die roll determines who goes first. This causes me some concern - the side with the most troops will always have a reserve - regardless who gets the initiative - to commit after the opposition is done moving. Spotting (target acquisition) is ranged and probabilistic. Key to RECRUIT is the use of Vehicle Ability Points (VAPs). Each vehicle or troop type has a certain number of VAPs it can spend per turn. Moving (per unit of distance), coming to a halt, acquiring a new target, firing at same, turning - these all cost VAPs.

Units are limited by how much they can do in a turn, not by an artificial "You move, then you shoot" structure. Fire combat is based on rolling a hit percentage for a given weapon at a given range, subject to various modifiers, including the target's armor factor and the firer's armor penetration. This has the virtue of reducing the number of required die rolls - especially in larger games - but I'm not sure (and haven't yet checked) what it does to penetration likelihoods against AFVs. Hits may permanently decrease a unit's VAPs or may destroy it. Indirect and infantry fire are treated similarly.

RECRUIT WW II addresses air-ground and counter-air combat, as well as airborne rules; RECRUIT addresses helicopter combat, simplifies air-ground combat, and neatly deals with ATGWs and when they hit their targets. Morale is simple - based on casualties, units may suffer results ranging from VAP penalties up to unit rout. There were no command control rules. RECRUIT is written as a series of card-sized modules. The rules are all there to do most things, but, due to the print size, the multitude of abbreviations (the author invites buyers to contact him for a full-text version), and the logical disconnection of the various cards, they're a challenge to read. I missed the morale rules the first two times I read RECRUIT simply because they were buried between two paragraphs dealing with other things.

RECRUIT has potential - I especially like the use of VAPs and the quick combat system – but would benefit by making the over-the-counter version the full-text version and, perhaps, the abbreviated version the on-request version. RECRUIT - MODERN is available for $12.50 and RECRUIT - WW II is available for $15.00 from your FLGS, or if you live far away, directly from the publisher at 1400 Kra-Nur Drive, Burton, MI 48509.

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