How do you recreate the tense confusing atmosphere of street fighting on the table top? Simple- mess with the players' heads! The following three battle reports are all from games developed according to the same system. You start with a conventional two-sided gameGermans vs. Russians, Americans vs. Germans, etc. Each side is divided up into sub-units, each of which is commanded by a single player. And now for the magic element that makes these games work (drumroll)... You (as the scenario designer/umpire) give each sub-unit a different objective and you ruthlessly enforce one simple rule: players cannot discuss their objectives, even with players on their side! Tah dah!! (anti-climactic groan) It sounds like a simple gimmick, but the way it plays out on the table is fascinating. Small squads of soldiers rush around pursuing local objectives. Friendly troops get in your way. Enemy troops appear from nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. Reinforcements arrive unpredictably and from all kinds of unhelpful directions. You can play an exciting fast-paced game for 3 hours and still have no idea what is going on. This system makes for a good no-brainer game that can be quickly thrown together. I suppose that this system could be adapted for any close-terrain situation, but I haven't tried it yet. What You Need A model city- Our group used the same 4x6' layout for 20 mm troops An umpire- Usually a twisted, social ly-deficient individual who derives sick pleasure from confusing the players (in our games it was me.) Your toys- It's amazing how much confusion you can create with so few figures! Note paper- Most of the communication is done by passing hastily-scribbled and often illegible notes. WWII Street Fighting Introduction Scenario One: Stalingrad Shuffle Scenario Two: Gott Mit Uns Scenario Three: C'Est La Gruyere Back to MWAN #115 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum 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