We have fought for fifteen days for a single house, with mortars, grenades, machine-guns and bayonets. Already by the third day fifty-four German corpses are strewn in the cellars, on the landings, and the staircases. The front is a corridor between burnt-out rooms; it is a thin ceiling between two floors. . . . From storey to storey, faces black with sweat, we bombard each other with grenades in the middle of the explosions, clouds of dust and smoke, heaps of mortar, floods of blood, fragments of furniture and human beings.
I make no apologies. This is a quick and dirty game of room to room combat, because of the three versions I eventually designed it`s actually the most fun and probably in its slightly more abstract form, the most accurate.
To get the most out of this game it must be played FAST! For each action there is an equal and opposite reaction, well this is a game of action and reaction.
Set Up
First, we need to create a three dimensional environment to fight in. Let`s not stand on ceremony. You can draw a floorplan for each storey of the building you are going to assault, or cut out individual floors or rooms from card which are laid on the table. You can even use playing cards laid on a flat surface to represent rooms with a gap left between cards to sumulate corridors and passageways. If you are stuck for layout ideas, but do live in an apartment building copy the plan to that or use the office or factory where you work. Alternatively any municipal building such as a college administration block, the local library, unemployment benefits office or even a department store can provide inspiration.
In this brief game, we are not going to worry about the position of external features such as windows, balconies, fire escapes or the like but we must take note of internal features such as stairwells, landings, corridors, cellar entrances and doors.
The building must have a cellar of several individual rooms or chambers and also a roof garret which runs the length of the building - with possibly only one or two small entrances. A building of two to four floors should be sufficient.
Battles within single buildings are rarely fought in a tactical vacuum so decide beforehand if the buildings adjacent are held by the enemy.
Figures and Organisation
I play Rattenkrieg and it`s derivatives with either individually based 20/25mm figures or multiple based 15mm figures. The figures are organised into teams of 3-5 figures. Two or three such teams make up a section. Three sections combine to make a platoon. Leaders are represented individually. A typical task orientated Wehrmacht Assault Pioneer platoon in 1942 might look like this :
Platoon Leader and 4 Runners
- 1st Section: Gruppenführer, 1 MG34 - 3 men, 2 Flamethrowers - 5 men, 1 Demo team - 5 men
2nd Section: Gruppenführer, 1 MG34 - 3 men, 2 Demo team - 5 men
3rd Section: Gruppenführer, 1 MG34 - 3 men, Carrying detail - 8 men, 1 Medic, 2 Litterbearers
The demo teams have 2kg & 5kg explosive charges and Teller Mines. The carrying detail brings up much needed supplies of grenades, ammo and explosives.
RATTENKRIEG
In an attempt to create the uncertainty of house to house combat, and remove the player from total 'godlike' control over figures this game moves in a series of 'impulses' rather than the more traditional "I move / you move" game turn.
To decide who has the initiative (i.e. goes first each game turn), players bid for initiative from their respective 'ACHTUNG! Factor', like the old TV gameshow 'Name That Tune'. You the player must decide how important getting the first move is to you, or maybe you want your opponent to show his hand and overextending himself, before launching a frantic counter-attack of your own with grenades and tommy-guns. You can also bluff your opponent into moving prematurely.
Before we go any further, let`s agree that it is taken for granted that the troops are doing what they are trained to, or have learnt to do through bitter experience in accordance with their current orders / posture, i.e. if a team has 'Storm' orders, they will shoot or blow the lock off a door, lob in a grenade and follow on the heels of the explosion with tommy-gun fire as they enter the room. We are NOT interested if Private Schimdt is 2cm away from a door only interested in the actions of the teams NOT the individual actions of specific team members.
SETUP :
"ACHTUNG!" Each player starts the game with a total of points (normally 7-10) known as the "ACHTUNG!" Factor. This represents the determination of a side to hold / take the building. The number of points given to each side may be chosen to suit a particular scenario, or simple created with 2xAvD. The nominal attacker, should have at least three more "ACHTUNG!" points to begin with than the defender.
"SCHNELL!" Individual elements (teams and leaders) are given a variable "SCHNELL!" Factor between 7 & 11 which represents experience, training, bravery and stamina. If you want to play a character based game with characters drawn from our Cross of Iron rules, assume that the team either use the "SCHNELL!" of the team leader (senior private, corporal etc) or assume that the character with the highest "SCHNELL!" steps forward and takes charge. Throughout the game as the team`s fortunes fluctuate, so will their "SCHNELL!".
Another method is to assign "SCHNELL!" to figures within a team according to how they are tooled up. Each Rifleman gets 2 points, a Tommy-gunner 3 points, MG34 or DPK LMG 5 points, Assault Pioneers +1 each. Count all specialists with demo charges, flamethrowers etc as riflemen. So the "SCHNELL!" of a team with 2 riflemen and 2 Tommy-gunners is 10 (14 if they are Assault Pioneers). "SCHNELL!" greater than 11 has no effect on the game save to replace that lost by the team as casualties occur.
TOOLING UP
The tools of house to house fighting are knives, bayonets, sharpened entrenching tools, grenades, smoke cannisters, petrol bombs, satchel charges and flamethrowers. For game purposes I have created counters which yyou may photocopy and cut-out. Again, these may be assigned among the attacking and defending teams randomly or according to scenario.
The grenade and petrol bomb counters do not represent individual weapons but a volley of several for greater effect. Once weapon counters are used they must be discarded, with the exception of the entrenching tools/knives counter. A flamethrower team will have a number of counters (usually 3) to represent the number of 'squirts' of flame they can make. A counter is expended with each squirt.
Carrying teams may bring up additional reserves of ammunition in the form of more counters. Teams behind one another in a corridor of in adjacent rooms etc, may pass ammunition counters along if they have HOLD orders. Carrying teams must 'drop' their ammunition counters if they are attacked or count each counter as a -1 modifier
The entrenching tool counter does not have to be carried by the teams, as every man had his own preferred hand to hand close combat weapon. Keep a pool of counters to issue as required. If a team has the entrenching tool counter it means that they have slung their weapons and are ready for some brutal close up action. In certain instances this will give them a distinct advantage but likewise may become a disadvantage if they are caught flat-footed by enemy tommy-gunners.
The player whose troops are storming the building is known as the Attacking player, with the player holding the building being the Defender. These roles do not change unless the scenario involves several buildings, with counter-attacks being made, in which case roles will swop with the flow of the game.
The player currently in play is the Active player.
Every game turn, players are given a number of Impulses equivalent to their current "ACHTUNG!" status. Each impulse allows one element (team or leader) to conduct one action.
A player may distribute these Impulses as they see fit amongst their elements (teams or leaders). Each element can recieve a number of impulses up to but not exceeeding it`s current "SCHNELL!"
EXAMPLE : The German player has an "ACHTUNG!" of 7. He gives his MG Team 2, his rifle team 2 and his Tommy-gunners 3. So, his Tommy-gunners may act up to three times, MG twice etc.
Only the Active player is required to distribute his impulses, the other player must wait till he becomes Active before placing his.
Impulses are converted into actions called ORDERS.
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© Copyright 2000 by Craig Martelle Publications
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