Dirtside-II written by John Tuffley and Mike Ellitt, and published by Ground Zero Games (imported in the US by Geo-Hex) is a popular set of rules for Science Fiction micro armor, tactical ground combat. The scale is one miniature is one vehicle or one infantry fire team or specialist squad. The following article/rules are designed to expand the popular Dirtside-II © rule system to allow for WW II and other low tech wargaming. The variant in this article is not a complete rule system, but an expansion of the Dirtside system. A copy of Dirtside is necessary for play. To start let me say that I enjoy John Tuffley and Mike Ellitt’s Science Fiction rule systems. Epecially I have found that Dirtside-II ©, published by Ground Zero Gamesฎ is a highly playable set of science fiction rules for ground combat. Dirtside is like any rule set in that there is a trade off between playability and realism. As has been stated many times before, in this and other gaming magazines, the faster and easier the game is to play there is always a corresponding trend to lose accuracy and detail. I feel that Dirtside walks this line very well. The playability factor is high in that almost all information for any given vehicle is on the vehicle card; everything you ever needed to know right there in front of you. Virtually every situation has been covered fairly well. Turns move right along and generally by the 2nd or 3rd turn, at least for vehicle units everybody is an expert (the infantry take a little longer, but not much). Having said the above, when I was asked to run an introductory Dirtside game at my local gaming shop, Iron Crown, Buffalo, NY, I agreed. Being your typical arch type engineer I just could not leave well enough alone and had to so some work on the rules (scientific research has conclusively proved that this is a genetic fault in engineers). I had been reading the World in the Balance series by Harry Turtledove, published by Del Rey Booksฎ. The series is based upon the premise that an advanced alien civilization invades Earth during WW-II. The Alien’s technology is set at about a 2010 level, advanced but not unrecognizably so. Their technology changes VERY slowly. What humanity does in tens of years takes them hundreds or thousands of years. Thus when they arrived they expected to meet horse riding, spear carrying warriors, not armored vehicles. They had the superior equipment, but believing that they would only meet primitives they had transported only limited quantities of weapons and AFVs. Additionally they had never fought any really worthy foes so their tactics were very poor. I decided that this would make for an interesting scenario. After all I had plenty of historic micro armor and having been in the hobby for more years then many of the readers of this article have been on Earth a pleura of Sci-Fi miniatures. The only problem was that the rules could only be back dated to roughly our current level of technology. Therefore if I wanted to use this idea and Dirtside, I would have to make a few modifications to allow the rules to be used. Thus the variant presented here is my adaptation of Dirtside for earlier periods. I have run it for both the Sci-Fi idea discussed above and for several pure WW-II scenarios. While the variant, like Dirtside itself, lumps some vehicles and equipment into broad categories it is still very playable and easy to use. There are enough combinations, even in the broad-brush categories, of movement, weapons, vehicle size and sights to provide a definite feel for the various vehicles and infantry permutations. I have included a small sample at the end of the article to give you a feel. For the purists among the readership it probably will not be to your cup of tea, but for those who want a set of quick play WW-II/Korean War rules or just want to expand their Dirtside universe I think it will fill the bill. As a note I ran a game at Cangames 99 in Ottawa with 4 players, none of whom had ever played Dirtside before. They all enjoyed it and they were able to finish a battalion size battle in 3 hours, try that with any other set of rules. Enjoy. Dirt Side II - Rules for WW II / Korea Design Cost LVC 3 x Weapon Size MVC 5 x Weapon Size UR 6 x Weapon Size {Sizes 1 -3} UR 8 x Weapon Size {Sizes 4 - 5}; May not be mounted on Aircraft Fire Control System Poor 1 x Largest Weapon Size Very Basic 2 x Largest Weapon Size Vehicles are limited as follows Sights Limited to: Poor: Basic Sights - May not move and shoot; turret rotation is allowed; Casemate gun mounts limited to 30 degrees to either side (except US M-3 30 0 L/600 R) Very Basic: per standard rules, may move up to 1/4 move with no penalty, from 1/4 to 1/2 is one range band higher, may not fire if more then 1/2 movement; Casemate gun mounts cannot move and shoot, limited to 30 degrees to either side, except US M-3 Grant 300 L & 600 R; German 45 degrees L and R Basic: US stabilized tanks, M-3 Grant and on, Lend Lease to British & French Armor: Max Armor is limited to same Level as Vehicle Size; No Ablative or Reactive, unless spaced armor (PzKw IV, treat as reactive, does not increase in side value, decreases movement to the next lowest movement rate) Speed: Wheeled Fast or Slow, per standard Dirtside Wheeled Very Slow BMF: 8, or Wheeled Very Slow X-Country BMF: 8; Tracked Slow, per standard Dirtside; Tracked Very Slow, BMF: 6; Tracked Improved, BMF: 10 Weapon: If in turret, can exceed vehicle size by no more than 1. If in casemate weapon size can be 2 larger then vehicle size. Amphibious: Limited to Size 1 & 2 only Radio: WWII Must roll a 1 or 2 on a D6, Russian*, Japanese+ must roll a 1 on a D6 Korea Must roll a 1, 2 or 3 on a D6, N. Korean* must roll a 1 or 2 on a D6 *Company Command Vehicles are only ones with Radios Field Phones: Field phone lines can be laid at 2” per turn. They can only be laid by dedicated F.O.s or Engineer units. Phones make contact on a 1 - 5 on a D6. If area where phones or lines are under artillery attack, on a 1 - 2 on a D6 line is cut and entire line must be relayed. Towed Guns/Unguided Rockets: Towing Vehicle must be no smaller then 1 size less than the gun/rocket being towed. Can only carry crew and ammunition. LVC and MVC can fire every turn; UR can fire every other turn. Guns have Class 1 armor. MVC/ 1 & 2 on all sides, All others Front only. When towing a gun, vehicles move at 3/4 regular speed. Limber 1/2 move, Unlimber Full move. APSW (MG): Note: If Firing Vehicle has multiple MGs these may fire at separate targets Machine Guns are classified as LMG, MMG or HMG LMG: Range 6”, pulls 3 chits, may be used in close assault MMG: Range 8”, pulls 3 chits, may NOT be used in close assault, For fire against soft skinned vehicles YELLOWs are effective needs 2 or more to immobilize. HMG: (US 50 cal, USSR 14.5) range 12”, if pindle mount may fire as AA local defense only, AA-1 chit damage, yellow only, multiple guns (US quad 50; pull chits adding 1 chit for each extra barrel against infantry only). Against soft targets and armor 1 targets HMG; Reds are effective; they must achive a 2 for armor 0 and a 3 on armor 1 for a kill. Multiple Gun Twin 20 or German quad 20; pull regular number Mounts of chits and add one extra chit for each barrel firing. Example German quad 20 (MVC/1) 1 chit + 3 extra. Infantry Infantry squads were larger. A full infantry squad takes up 6 capacity points. Specialist squads take 4 capacity points (FO, LMG/MMG, Cmd) Squads can be broken down into 1/2 squads, pull only 1 chit for damage, still require 3 damage to be destroyed, carry 4 capacity points. Paratroops nominate LZ, for each squad use artillery rules to see if they hit the LZ. If they scatter treat as off board artillery to determine scatter, there are no modifiers. Infantry fire range 6”. Infantry pulls 2 chits, US Infantry after 1943 pulls 3 (M-1 Garand). Soviet SMG units have a range of 3”, pulls 2 chits, pulls 3 chits in close assault. WWII and Korean War Infantry need only 3 Points of Damaged to be Destroyed Up to 1 regular squad of Infantry (Command, Rifle or SMG) may ride on a size 3 or larger AFV. Vehicle is restricted to no greater then Very Slow Track Speed. If the vehicle is hit, whether or no there is damage to the vehicle, the Infantry is destroyed. Co. HQ Section have Radios, US only, Platoon HQ have radios or if noted Anti Tank Rockets (Bazooka and Panzer Schreck), Limited to 1 per Platoon Range 4” Pull 2 Chits Panzer Faust: Range 2” Pull 1 Chit, Limited to 2 per squad, no reloads Against Reactive Armor Green Only Against All Other Armor Yellow & Green Only Anti Aircraft: Only guns that are listed as having AA capability can fire. Must be noted as AA Capable or DP {Dual Purpose}, except VTOLs in NOE hover. AA Ranges for MVCs MVC/1 Range 9” NOE, Low [Infantry MVC/1 can NOT be fired in an AA role, these are Anti-Tank Rifles] MVC/2 Range 11” NOE, Low MCV/3 Range 14” NOE, Low, Medium MVC/4 Range 18” All MVC/5 Range 21” All MMG Range 5” NOE HMG Range 8” NOE, Low (US 50 & Russian 14.7) To Score a hit, Roll a 10 on a D10; multiple barrels does not increase chance of a hit, just better chances for damage. For fire at a VTOL in hover, use regular Direct Fire Procedure. Low Velocity Cannons LVC LVC when firing HE rounds at either soft targets Armor 0 or Top Armor 0 or Infantry; have a burst radius. HE vs vehicles is RED/2 (for 0 targets must have at least a Red 1)/ vs Infantry as per HEF. Note for each gun firing of a given size you pull only 1 chit, for multiple tubes pull 1 chit for each and add the result. LVC 3/4/5 may fire AP for point targets, NO burst radius. LVC/1: Diameter of blast 1.5” LVC/2: Diameter of blast 2” LVC/3: Diameter of blast 2.5” LVC/4: Diameter of blast 3” Med Artillery LVC/5: Diameter of blast 4” Hvy Artillery Artillery Correction Artillery was not as accurate in this period. To call in artillery, if the communication roll is successful the firing player rolls a Die; Green D-12, Regular D-10, Elite D-8. On a roll of 1 or 2 for off board artillery or a 1, 2 or 3 for on board attached artillery, the shell comes in where called for. Modifiers: [add to the “to hit” number] +1 Co. Grade Officer calling +2 Dedicated F.O. +1 For each round of correction (Walking it in) -1 Conscript or Untrained troops +3 Pre-plotted fire before game turn 1 If the target is missed the impact point is determined as follows: Roll a D-8 for direction with 1 Being towards the firing unit For Distance, based on Firing Unit: D-4 For a LVC unit in direct fire support (can see target) D-6 For On-Board unit in direct support D-10 For Off Board unit Damage From Artillery: Pull 1 chit for each tube in a unit firing at the same target area, results are cumulative. Examples: a 2 gun section fires at an area, hits and pulls 2 chits for each target. A heavy cruiser fires a full broadside at a target and pulls 9 chits for each target; if it had fired a 3 template open sheaf broadside it would pull 3 chits for each target in the 3 areas. (note: for fire correction for open sheaf, shift the entire pattern not per template.) Aircraft Rules WW II had aircraft not aerospace units. The following are the relevant modifications for their use. For attacks by Aircraft us the same system as Artillery above, note only US Troops developed the same type of dedicated FAC teams like the F.O., after 1943. Cost: unit design costs are the same as in regular Dirtside with the exception that the engines are considered to be HMTs instead of FGPs. Speeds Aircraft were not as fast in this period Very Slow Flight 20”/turn, Turning Radius 12” Cost 15% of BVP Slow Flight 35”/turn, Turning Radius 20” Cost 25% of BVP Moderate Flight 50”/turn, Turning Radius 45” Cost 30% of BVP General Sizes: Size 1 Small spotting aircraft; Storch or Birddog Size 2 Smaller Fighters, P-40, Zero, Spitfire Capacity 10 Size 3 Larger Fighters, Fighter-Bombers & Dive-Bombers; P-38, Stunka, Hurricane Capacity 16 Size 4 Light Bomber; Mosquito, Do-17; Cargo C-47 Capacity 20 Size 5 Medium Bombers; B-25 and B-26 Capacity 26 Obviously you can design larger planes however the B-17, B-29, Lancaster and Condor were seldom used in a tactical role. Aircraft are limited to a maximum weapons size one class smaller then their size. Aircraft can not have armor heavier then 1, except ground attack planes may have armor 2. For design purposes LMGs and MMGs are classed as size 0 and take up 1/2 capacity point. HMGs are classed as size 1 and take up 1 capacity point if firing fixed forward. Ball turrets occupy 4 capacity points for a 2 gun turret (HMGs). Dead fall weapons come in 3 sizes, all are classed as HEF: Light bombs 1 capacity points each, treat as Light Artillery, Blast radius 2” Medium bombs 2 capacity points each, treat as Medium Artillery, Blast Radius 3” Heavy Bombs 3 Capacity points each, treat as Heavy Artillery, Blast Radius 4” Each Draws 1 chit per bomb dropped, for multiple bombs results are cumulative. Typical examples would be: Size 1, Birddog; No weapons carries up to 4 people Size 2, P-40 Capacity 10; 4 Light bombs + 4 HMGs + 4 MMGs Size 3, P-38 Capacity 15; 8 HMGs + 1 MVC/2 + 2 medium bombs Size 4, A-26 Capacity 20; 2 Turrets + 4 HMGs + 4 Medium bombs or C-47 Capacity 20; 2 Infantry Teams + 1 Cmd + 1 Bazooka Team Size 5, B-25 Capacity 25; 2 Turrets + 6 HMGs + 4 Heavy bombs Note: these are not perfect but give a feeling for the type of aircraft Restrictions Fighters attacking all other types of aircraft get first fire, if a kill is achieved the target does not have a chance to fire back. Fighters can have no more then 40% of their capacity given over to dead fall or UR type of weapons. Speed Moderately Fast Dive-Bombers and Ground Attack Aircraft may not take opportunity fire against any other aircraft. Ground Attack aircraft (IL-2 Sturmavik) receive a +1 to hit targets in the open. Speed Slow Flight Bombers may attack several targets if they are in the same line of fight. Speed moderately fast Observation Aircraft may only carry LMGs, only they may serve as airborn FACs or FOs. Speed Very Slow Flight Weapons Attacks Direct fire weapons and URs are done using the direct fire rules Dead Fall Weapons attacks are done per the Artillery Rules above. Dedicated Dive-Bombers receive a +2 to hit. If the target is not visible to the aircraft, example targets in woods, they must be called in, use communication and artillery rules. If the aircraft misses the target when dropping bombs use the procedure for artillery scatter to see where they went (treat Dive Bombers as on board artillery and all others as off board). When an aircraft is dropping multiple bombs or firing multiple URs each weapon must be rolled for separately. Worked Out Conversions The following are some of the conversions I worked up. All have ECM D-4 Jeep (Kubelwagon): Utility Vehicle, Size 1 Target D-12, Fast Wheeled Armor 0/0 May tow Size 2 field piece Truck: Utility Vehicle, Size 3 Target D-8, Slow Wheeled Armor 0/0 May tow Size 4 field piece American M-3 Half Track (US): APC, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Fast Track, Armor 1/1 HAPSW (Gas engine) M-3 MCMG (US): APC-AAA, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Fast Track, Armor 1/1 HAPSW *4(Gas engine) M-5 Stuart (US): AFV, Size 2, Stealth 0, Target D-10, Fast Track, Armor 2/1, MVC/2, HAPSW, APSW , (Gas engine), Firecon: Basic M-3 Grant: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Slow Track, Armor 3/2, LVC/3 (Sponson), MVC/2 (Turret), HAPSW, Diesel, Firecon: Basic M-4 Sherman: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Moderate Track, Armor 3/2, MVC/3 Turret, Firecon: Basic, Diesel M-4 Sherman Easy8, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Moderate Track, Armor 3/2, MVC/4 Turret, Firecon: Basic, Diesel (Same for British Firefly) German Wirbelwind: AFV-AAA, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Slow Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor 3/2 (Turret 1), Diesel Hetzer: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Slow Track, Sights Very Basic, Armor 3/2, MVC/3 Cas., APSW Sd Kfz 234 (Puma): AC, Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Fast Wheeled, Firecon: Very Basic, Armor: 2/1, MVC/3 Tur., APSW Sd Kfz 222 (Puma): AC, Size 2, Stealth 1, Target D-12, Fast Wheeled, Firecon: Very Basic, Armor: 1/1, MVC/1 Tur., APSW Jg Pz III: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Slow Track, Firecon: Very Basic, Armor: 4/3, MVC/3 Tur., APSW PzKw III: Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Slow Track, Armor: 3/2, Firecon: Very Basic, APSW, Either: MVC/2 or LVC/3 Turret PzKw IV: Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Very Slow Track, Armor: 2/1, Firecon: Very Basic, APSW, Either: MVC/3 or LVC/3 Turret PzKw V: Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Slow Track, Armor: 2/1, Firecon: Very Basic, APSW, MVC/3 Turret PzKw VIa: Size 4, Stealth 0, Target D-6, Slow Track, Armor: 4/3, Firecon: Very Basic, APSW, MVC/4 Turret Half Track 251: Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Moderate Track, Armor: 1/1, APSW * 2 + 2 Infantry Half Track 251: Size 2, Stealth 1, Target D-12, Moderate Track, Armor: 1/1, APSW * 1 + 1 Infantry Russian BTR-152: APC, Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Slow Wheeled, APSW + 2 Infantry JS-122: AFV, Size 4, Stealth 0, Target D-6, Very Slow Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor: 5/3, MVC/5 Turret, APSW Turret, APSW Frt SU-152: Assault Gun, Size 4, Stealth 0, Target D-6, Very Slow Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor: 5/3, LVC/5 Frt SU-100: Assault Gun, Size 3, Stealth 1, Target D-10, Moderate Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor: 4/3, MVC/4 Frt T-34/76: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Moderate Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor: 4/3, MVC/3, APSW Frt., APSW Tur. T-34/85: AFV, Size 3, Stealth 0, Target D-8, Moderate Track, Firecon: Poor, Armor: 4/3, MVC/4, APSW Frt., APSW Tur. Weapon System and Class Weapon Close Range Medium Range Long Range Low Velocity Cannon (LVC) AP rounds only For HE see Pg 3 LVC/1 Lg Mortar* 8 12 18 LVC/2 Hvy Mortar* 10 14 21 LVC/3 12 16 24 LVC/4 16 20 32 LVC/5 19 26 40 Medium Velocity Cannon (MVC) MVC/1 9 13 22 MVC/2 10 16 26 MVC/3 13 20 30 MVC/4 17 25 36 MVC/5 21 32 42 Unguided Rockets (UR) Sizes 1 - 3 10 19 28 Sizes 4 - 5 12 22 50 * Does not fire AP rounds, HEF only see page 3 Weapon Against All Armor Chits Low Velocity Cannon (LVC) LVC/1 & 2 No Direct Fire Fire as Artillery At Close Range Yellow & Green Chits Only At Medium Range Yellow Chits Only At Long Range Green Chits Only Against Infantry Red Chits Only, If Dug-In: Green Chits Only Medium Velocity Cannon (MVC) At Close Range Red Chits Only At Medium Range Yellow & Green Chits Only At Long Range Yellow Chits Only Against Infantry Yellow Chits Only, If Dug-In: Green Chits Only/2 Unguided Rockets (UR) Unguided rockets can fire as Artillery, use on-board artillery rules. Single Target at close range, 2” circle at medium & 4” at long range. At Close Range Yellow & Green Chits Only At Medium Range Yellow Chits Only At Long Range Green Chits Only Against Infantry Yellow Chits Only, If Dug-In: Green Chits Only Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #80 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com