Corps Commander/OMG

Modern Rules

by Bill Rutherford

By B.A. Rea-Taylor and A. Ashton, published by TableTop Games, and available from Alliance Miniatures, P.O. Box 2347, Des Moines, IA 50310, $10.00.

OMG is a tactical/operational level set of rules designed to allow players to fight division level modern wargames. Each model represents a platoon of troops; the ground scale is 100 meters per centimeter, and the time scale is nominally one hour per turn. An interesting feature of the game is its use of "modes", or formations; if a unit is in concentrated mode, it is more effective in its attacks, but when attacked, will suffer higher casualties. If a unit is in dispersed mode, its attacks are less effective, but it will suffer lower casualties when attacked, based on the rationale that the dispersed mode unit has begun to dig in and is making better use of terrain to form defensive positions. Command control is evaluated to determine which units may move, change orders, etc. Units must be within certain ranges of their HQ elements and meet certain requirements to remain in command control.

Due to the game's scale, numerous factors are addressed that don't play a significant role in lower (more tactical) level games. Air operations are considerably more varied - flights of aircraft participate in air raids, as opposed to the single or pairs of aircraft. Recce, ECM, and even tactical transport are all viable aircraft missions. Remember that at loom/cm, one foot of tabletop is approximately 1.9 miles! Logistics, in the interests of a fast game, are somewhat simplified - when lines of communications to an HQ are cut, subordinate units suffer limited ammunition availability. Certain larger weapons (missiles, artillery, etc.) are restricted in the number of turns of fire that they have available during the course of the game.

The engineering rules are quite simple in execution, and very broad in scope. Construction, demolition, mine warfare, damaged vehicle recovery and repair, and river crossing operations are all covered in enough detail to require serious consideration when forming game plans. NBC weapons, given the large ground scale, suddenly become practical (only in game terms!) - surgically nuking a strategic bridge becomes something seriously considered. Chemicals function as an ongoing loweffect artillery attack with the added effect of reducing the morale and fire power, and increasing the fatigue level of affected units. As a game wears on, units become tired, losing combat effectiveness; they must be rested, out of combat, to restore their effectiveness.

All of the above occupy the first 44 pages of a digest-sized book. Organization and equipment data fill the book out to an even 100 pages. The game plays smoothly and the rules are relatively unambiguous. These rules have a flavor completely different from any tactical armor rules, being more akin (as noted by the authors in the introduction) to a board game in their mechanics than to any miniatures rules. They do, however, allow players to fight big battles, and to concentrate on a very different set of problems than that faced by the armchair company commander.

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