Wargame Rules for Armoured Warfare
These rules are essentially an update and
revision of the WRG ARMOR/INFANTRY 1955-75
rules. Like their predecessor, they are intended to be
used for company to battalion level actions. The
figure scale remains one to one (i.e. one model tank
represents one tank), but both the time and ground
scales have been modified. The earlier rules used a
ground scale of 25 meters/inch, with an optional
scale of 100 meters/ inch suggested for restricted
space.
The new rules use 50 m/inch, with alternatives of 25 and 100 m/inch mentioned. All distances in the rules are given in meters, so the players must convert them to the actual ground scale being used. The time scale used is 100 see/turn for movement and area fire, but aimed fire is assumed to last for only 30 seconds. The main effect of this compared to the earlier version is to give greater movement rates. It should be remembered that time scales for low level tactical rules are nominal at best due to the omipresent but unpredictable delays that occur in actions of this type in real life.
One other scale change is the fact that the 300 m nearest the table edge behind each side is used to represent the "behind the lines" area which is normally "off table" in other rules, using a compressed ground scale. The use of this area enables the deployment of artillery and other rear area units in a manner which allows much more specific determination of artillery ranges and artillery fire on these types of targets, etc.
The amount of space used for this representation is relatively small (a 6" strip for the normal scale) and should not reduce the effective table area available for playing too much.
The rules include a moderate level of detail, about the same as the earlier set. They distinguish between different types of ammunition and range finders, but don't concern themselves with the area of a target hit or the actual damage caused. A hit results either in a kill or suppression for one bound.
Probably the largest change from the earlier rules is in the options allowed for actions in a single turn.
Due to the increased time scale, the number of actions which can be combined in a turn has been increased. There are 6 different choices of actions possible for each category of unit (vehicle, passenger, or other). The same option for different categories has similar actions, within limitations imposed by the category. Simple possible actions for a vehicle are fire on an area once, or fire on an individual target twice while halted.
A more complex option is to fire once on an individual target, move a quarter move, fire again on an individual target, and if stabilised move another quarter. A passenger would be able to fire once with MG and once with rifles while in a vehicle performing this option. The corresponding option for a unit on foot (other category) would allow it to move half and then fire once with rifles on a target within 50 m.
Range of Options
The range of options available allows significantly greater sophistication in combining fire and movement than a simple fire-then move (or vice versa) turn sequence can, while still retaining credible and playable restrictions on combinations of actions which a completely unstructured turn sequence wouldn't allow.
Written orders are used, generally for each platoon. These orders give a general action for the unit such as "Take and hold hill 109". They only have to be rewritten if the unit is to do something else, not every turn. They are similar to the orders used in the WRG Ancient Rules, but far less specific. There are also rules for communications delays and for unit coherence which restrict how dispersed a unit can be and how quickly its orders can be changed.
Spotting of previously undiscovered enemy is not automatic at a certain range. Instead a die roll is made to determine if the enemy is successfully spotted, with the odds of success improving as the range decreases, until it finally becomes automatic.
A similar rule to this was used in the 1944 rules by Arnold Hendrick. In general it is possible to locate enemy at longer ranges than in the previous edition, but is not certain at ranges where it previously was. In 1944 this sort of spotting added significantly to the amount of time required to play it; it may well have the same effect in these rules.
The direct fire procedure in these rules is essentially the same as in the previous edition. There are two types of fire available, individual aimed fire and suppressive fire (previously direct area fire). The first of these is intended to hit a specific target, while the second type intends to suppress any enemy within a specific size area (which varies by weapon).
A 1-6 die roll is made for each target to determine if a hit is made. If the target is armored, another roll is made if necessary, to see if the targets armor has been penetrated. Finally a roll is made to see if the target is killed, where the probability of destroying the target is substantially greater for aimed fire than for suppressive fire (AFV cannot be knocked out at all by suppressive). All these rolls are made with a 1-6 die except where the chance to hit would be less than 1/6, where two 1-6 dice are rolled.
The effect of using a small number of 1-6 dice is to greatly restrict the fineness of the distinctions which can be made, perhaps even more so than is consistent with the detail level of the rules. WRG has consistently used only 6 sided dice (either 1-6 or 2-5 dice) in their rules, despite the availability of decimal and other dice, thus restricting the options available to them in representing the probabilities of events.
Change
Another area of significant change in the rules is in the area of indirect artillery fire. In the previous edition of the rules, limitations on calls for indirect fire were subject only to the normal restrictions on communications between units. This failed to adequately reflect the additional restrictions that would be placed on the availability of artillery that is being used to support units other than those represented on the table.
For example, divisional level artillery which is providing support for the rest of the division in addition to the battalion on the tabletop is much less likely to be available immediately than a battery dedicated solely to supporting the battalion. While these distinctions are important in World War II artillery missions, they are even more so for modern artillery where fire control and missions are significantly more sophisticated. Among the missions available are FDF (Final Defensive Fire), programmed fire (e.g. a rolling barrage), or harassing fire.
The various missions can be preregistered or impromptu. These specifications will affect the delay in priority of, and accuracy of the indirect fire. The rules also specifically state which types of ammunition are available for each gun and severely restrict the amount of smoke and illuminating rounds available per gun. Rules are included for airburst HE, scatter mines, and bomblets, in addition to the more common ground-burst HE and smoke etc. The accuracy rules also allow for laser guided projectiles.
The rules include provisions for fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (which are simple but workable), and simple field engineering rules. A point system is provided to make it easier to balance scenarios or to set up point choice games. Reflected in the point scale are increasing prices for various types of artillery support reflecting the availability and complexity of the support.
Overall the rules appear to be well written and clear. They are generally more sophisticated than their predecessor, without becoming significantly more complex. The data used in them appears more accurate than in the earlier edition, and better differentiations are made between different weapon systems, especially wire guided missiles, than in the earlier set. I would recommend these rules for anyone interested in the modern period with moderate complexity, and more generally for anyone interested in the period from 1935 on for a source of good ideas and adaptable rules.
I, for one, would like to see WRG also revise the 1925-50 rules along these lines, but know of no current plans to do so. With this new edition, WRG may well again have the rules which most accurately reflect the modern battlefield on this scale, a place which the earlier edition questionably lost to rules published since it was written. To my knowledge, the new edition of these rules is only printed in England at this time, and must be ordered from England or through an importer. The review copy was received from WRG and is priced at 2 pounds ($5.50 surface, $7.50 air from Wargames Research Group, 75, Ardingly Dr., Goring by Sea, Sussex, England).
Follow Me
Historical Research Publications
FOLLOW ME is a set of rules for World War II man to man combat, written by Peter Rice. While the introduction claims the rules are for platoon level actions the fact that they also advise that a single player run no more than 5 men or three tanks indicates they are more likely to be used for squad levels actions, at least for infantry. The author recommends as the intent of the rules that each player run one man or tank, thus being forced to identify closely with the survival of his "command"!
The rules are very complex and detailed, but assume that a referee/gamesmaster will be present to handle most of the details so that the players will not be required to be familiar with the intricacies and mechanics involved. These rules are basically intended to be used for WWII skirmish scenarios (like WESTERN GUNFIGHT and BOOTHILL are for the American West).
The basic rules (10 pages out of 17) cover infantry and tanks. Despite the low level the game is intended to represent, rules are also included covering artillery (4 pages) and aircraft (2 pages). Brief sections cover engineering and medical support. In addition to the 17 pages of rules there are 17 pages of tables and data.
Each main section of the rules is introduced by a one page description of an action of the type which the following rules will allow to be added to the game. These descriptions are written in the form of historical vignettes, rather than including any descriptions of the game mechanics involved. As an example, the introduction to the infantry section describes an assault by an American squad on a section of hedgerow.
Due to the small scale of the actions represented, FOLLOW ME concerns itself with a large amount of detail. The infantry spotting and to hit rules include the cumulative effects of posture of spotter, posture of target (9 categories each), the terrain target is in, and the terrain the observer is in (6 categories each). When the armored vehicle rules are added, apparent target size due to range and facing, and apparent velocity due to target speed and angle of approach are used in addition to the infantry spotting and firing modifiers.
In general the cumulative effect of the modifiers is reflected by adding or subtracting percentages of the base percentage. For example the spotting percentage for a man kneeling in 12" high grass to spot a man standing in woods at 90 meters is calculated as follows. The base chance for a kneeling man to spot a standing man is 70%. A straight modifier for range is now added to this. For 90m the modifier is +10%, giving a new base of 80%. Because I assume both spotter and target are on the same level there is no height modifier. Finally, it is necessary to consider the terrain the spotter and target are in.
The modifier for a target in woods being spotted by a man in 12" grass is -45% of the base probability (45% of 80 is 36%) giving a probability of 80%-36% or 44%. It is necessary to go through these calculations for each man attempting to spot another. Obviously a calculator is necessary to play the rules. Which modifiers are straight additions rather than additions of percentages of the base percentage can only be determined by careful examination of the example which is, fortunately given! If one makes the assumption that only the referee is familiar with the mechanics, all the players will be obligated to wait while he performs this type of calculation repeatedly, a procedure non-condusive to a fast moving game even if the referee is highly familiar with the rules.
Some other details covered in the basic infantry rules are weapons reliability by nationality and hit location on men based on target facing and posture (9 categories) with separate tables for aimed and area fire. Details covered in the AFV rules include lucky hits on tanks (e.g. turret ring or suspension) depending on facing modified by high or low aim, tracking for consecutive shots based on rate of fire, gun muzzle velocity vs. tank speed for chance to hit, optics and crew training effects on chances to hit, effects of tank suspension type on speeds in different terrain, and the percentage of authorized ammunition load actually loaded in each tank at the start of the game.
These rules are probably the most detailed and complex for this period that I have seen since4Korn's (an old, innovative for its time, set of rules that included details such as determining the hit location of every round from a 100 round machine gun burst!). The only set of rules currently in print at all comparable to these in detail is TRACTICS, which almost seem simple and abstract by comparison. The calculations to be performed for these rules are unnecessarily abstruse and awkward. To add to the job of reading (and rereading) these rules is the fact that they are printed with the smallest print I have ever seen in a set of rules (including FGU's CHIVALRY AND SORCERY).
A magnifying glass is a virtual necessity. From reading, the rules appear to be thorough in their attention to details, although the mechanics for computations are sometimes obscure. Examples of calculations generally make it possible to figure out how they are done where the rules aren't clear. As a person who has played TRACTICS many times, I am not easily overawed by complex rules, but FOLLOW ME succeeds.
FOLLOW ME is published by Historical Research Publications, Limited, 102 Front Street, Bath, Maine 04530. The copy reviewed was received from the publisher.
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