Jagdpanzer

WWII Rules

review by Bill Rutherford

Kevin Cabai, produced by Greenfield Hobby Distributors, 2350 Burdette, Ferndale, MI 48220, $18.00.

These rules are aimed at the would-be tank battalion commander- a fast set of microarmor rules for the 1936-1946 period. They consist of a 251 page plastic-spiral bound 10" format book and two player cards containing most of the game charts needed for play. Before anybody out there chokes, realize that onlythe first 56 pages are actually rules- a good hour or two's read for the average gamer; they're clearly written and well illustrated with examples - and many of these are optional. The balance of the book contains 71 pages of equipment statistics for anything one could imagine using in a game, including much prewar equipment neglected by most rule sets. The final 124(!) pages contain tables of organization for most of the combatants of WWII. I've checked numerous of the tables against other sources - all appear accurate, and where organizations apply to specific units, the unit designations are given.

JAGDPANZER's ground scale is 25 meters per inch, the time scale is one minute per turn, and the figure scale is 1:1, with single-stand squads. The play sequence is straight forward, with: initiative; movement; direct fire; morale; movement; direct fire; artillery; morale.

Movement is sequential, depending upon initiative to determine who moves first during the first movement phase, with that player moving second duringthesecond movement phase. An interesting feature of the movement rules is that movement is strictly timed, with the player moving first allowed considerably longer to move than the second player -- reflecting the first player's planned movement and the second player's hasty reaction to it.

Direct fire is simultaneous, using a die roll based on range to determine hits, and a die roll based on comparison of weapon penetration and target armor to determine hit effects. The infantry fire rules are simple and direct; a die roll is based on the strength of the attacker, and gives no-effect, suppressed, or kill results.

The morale rules are situational, various battlefield circumstances trigger­ing checks whose results are determined by a die roll to range from increased morale at one extreme, to "Surrender" at the other.

The artillery rules include a resolution system similar to that for infantry fire, reasonable scatter rules, and extensive treatment of types of fire missions, associated time-on-target delays, and calling methods.

Vehicle Overruns take place at the end of movement, giving targets the gets the opportunity to fire on and possibly Close Assault the overrunner prior to the Overrun's execution. Balancing the relative difficulty of Overrunning, all Overruns that make it to execution are successful, destroying their targets. This seems a bit arbitrary, but it does speed the game.

There are numerous optional rules to add flavor to the game, including Command Control (I told third company to advance! Why are they just sitting there!?), extensive Field Engineering rules, and comprehensive Air-to-Ground rules.

The major weak spot in the rules, in my opinion, is the optional spotting system. It is deterministic; e.g., if the target is within spotting range of the spotter and no terrain features intervene, the target is spotted. Spotting ranges are fairly liberal (a squad of infantry in the open, presumably taking advantage of what little cover there is on "open" terrain, is visible at 250 meters), making surprise of any sort quite difficult. In a word, the spottingsystern addstothespeed of play, but cletractsfrom the rest of the game in doing so.

The driving philosophy of JAGDPANZER is speed of play - many details have been subordinated to this end. The player is neither a platoon leader, nor a company commander, but is a battalion commander. The rules work well at that level; if players are put in command of companies with these rules, the game flies!

Overall, JAGDPANZER is an easy-to-learn, fast set of rules, ideal for the new player, and enjoyable for the experienced player. The equipment data sections and the organization charts alone would make the rule set worthwhile; combined with the rules, one gets quite a bargain.

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