As you, the reader, must have noticed, I am biased in my survey. Some rule concepts I like; some I don't like. The thing I look the most for in a rule set is a focus on the decisions and detail level I should be concerned with at the command level I am supposed to be playing.
If I am playing a platoon leader, as in "Engage and Destroy", I am concerned with each of my vehicles- how is damage inflicted, and what is its nature? Which crew are hurt? What is each vehicle's ammo status? I should have only limited access to artillery and air strikes, and high level weapons such as chemicals and nukes should be treated almost as random events - I may be advised of them, but certainly cannot control them! Morale, on a vehicle-byvehicle level, is of utmost concern to me. Command Control is at its most basic, at this level.
If I am playing a company commander, as in "Panzerwar", I am concerned with my platoons - they are my primary manoeuver elements. individual vehicles I think about in terms of functional/nonfunctional. I assume that the platoon leaders are worrying about ammo and personnel - I worry about how many vehicle effectives I have. Artillery and airstrikes I can call for, butstill may or may not get. Morale is important to me to the extent that the platoon leaders had better make sure their troops are ready to go; I am concerned with the platoon's overall morale much more than I am about how the crew of a given vehicle feels. Command Control concerns me much more than it did as a platoon leader because I not only have to worry about what my platoon leaders are going to do, but I am also worried about whether they're in control of their people!
If I am playing a battalion commander, or higher, as in "Command Decision", my manoeuver elements are companies (or larger elements) -- I don't even care what happens to individual vehicles, except in terms of their effect on their next higher organization. I probably own my own artillery, I have a hotline to somebody with aircraft, and now treat logistics as an entirely different problem than the platoon leader did -- where the platoon leader treated ammo as a "given" to be worked around, I, due to the length of the battle I am fighting, treat it as a variable to be manipulated along with all the rest -- when companies run short, I pull them back and resupply them. Morale is of concern to me to the extent that it affects my fighting force as a whole -- I am concerned about how my companies are holding up to the battle -- platoons and vehicles don't normally concern me. Command Control is my biggest concern at this level, because it is that which allows me to most effectively use my assets if elements of my command get outside my control, I may as well not have them.
A good set of rules, in my view, is one that causes me to address those problems appropriate to the given command level. An inappropriate lack of, or glut of detail both detract from my enjoyment of the rules. Morale and Command Control have different levels of importance, depending on the command level of the rules. Mistreatment of either can mar an otherwise good set of rules.
The Survey Charts and their associated notes don't attempt to present a single set of rules as "THE BEST". Each set was designed and developed to meet the needs of a specific group of gamers. As a result, they differ with one another in their treatment of modern land warfare. The survey charts merely attempt to provide the gamer with a basis for comparison with which to select the rule set that best suits your needs.
PUBLISHERS
Chaosium
Box 6302
Albany, CA 94706
Enola Games
P.O. Box 1900
Brooklyn, NY 10010
GameScience
1512 30th Ave.
Gulfport, MS 39501
GDW
P.O. Box 1646
Bloomington, IL 61702
GHQ
2634 Bryant Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Greenfield Hobby Distributors
2350 Burdette
Fei ndale, MI 48220
Newbury Rules
15 Cromwell Road, Shaw
Newbury, Berkshire, England
The Piker Game Company
P.O. Box 427
Verclugo City, CA 91046
TableTop Games
53 Mansfield Road
Daybrook, Nottingham,
England NG56BB
Timeline Ltd.
P.O. Box 60
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Wargames Research Group
#35 Long Street
Devizes, Wiltshire, England
Z&M Pub. Ent. Inc.
2425 North 47th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53210
More 20th C. Land Battle Rules A Survey
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #5
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1987 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