You know those charts that show you what every unit in the world was comprised of and what which gun does to what armor at what angle? This ain't that. You'll need some 6D, 10D, a deck of cards, a 1 1/2 circle, a 2 1/4 circle, a ruler, and some way to indicate dead figs. These rules don't cover grenades, flame weapons, aircraft, super heavy artillery, mines, morale, which side God is on, correctly painted or historical anything. Army sizes Non inf: 3 Med. tanks 3 light tanks 10 trucks or 1/2 tracks to move troops quicklt and AT guns 2 light AT guns (3 fig per gun) 2 Heavy AT guns (3 man per gun) Inf Russian and Japanese Units composed of 1"x 1" stands 9 stands: one 2 fig leader stand, one 2 fig Lt. MG or Lt. mortar stand, and seven fig inf. stands German. British. U.S. and all others: 7 stands same as above but 2 less inf. stands and all stands are 2 figs. All naationalities Hvy mortar/MG units are: 4 stands: one 2 fig leader, three 3 fig weapons stands All nationalities Special troops stands are 1 fig per stand: (Panzerfaust, bazooka, sniper. AT rifle, etc) All nationalities Spotters are one stand 3 figs. Set up Each side rolls 5 6D and doubles the total. This is the amount of points you may field. Cost each: 3 Med. Tank or Hvy Gun 2 Lt. tank or Lt. gun or 1/2 track or Hvy inf. unit 1 Reg Inf. unit or truck a truck or 1/2 track holds 1 unit or can pull 1 gun 1 Special inf. stand may be added to a Reg inf. unit at a cost in points You get 1 spotter for each gun and 1 for a Hvy mortar unit. The side which rolled higher is the attacker and declares which board side he will enter from. The defender sets up within 36" on the opposite side. The defender may have hidden units (as per L.O.S. rules), vehicles and guns and must mark his units deployment on a map. Turns Turns are by card flips. One side is red the other black. The color that comes up may move, fire, move and fire or do nothing. One card activates 1 inf. unit, 1 tank, 1 truck - one of something. After every piece has done its business, that's one turn. If one of something elects to do nothing, that's all it may do that turn. A road column or an inf. unit advancing behind a tank may act as 1 card pull for purposes of movement only. Once fired on or firing they get separate cards. Movement Unit Open Rough Inf 6" 3" Lt. tire 18" 6" Track 12" 8" Reverse 1/2 Roads x2 Woods. jungle. streams. obstructions. and such: 3" Others as per umpire It takes a turn to unlimber a gun Inf getting out of a truck may move full Units getting up from prone or Hvy inf. crews moving their position move 1/2 first movement (they got a slow jump on things) Guns may pivot in place, but may not be handhauled. Ranges Inf. 18" Lt. MG/mortars 24" Lt. tanks/Art 30" Hvy anything 42" Mortars may not fire on targets under its range Firing Targets must be spotted before they can be fired on Automatic spotting if target moved, fired, or is unconcealed and is in Line Of Sight of firer Range for spotting targets if never moved, never fired, 90 percent concealed is: Inf. 6" Others 12" Tank/Gun fire A: roll 1d10, if a hit is scored, apply results by pulling cards or rolling dice. Target type Hit on less than Dice/Cards Inf. 7 roll 1 6d for each fig 1,2,3,4=dead Non armor 8 2 cards Armored/front 5 1 card Armored/side 7 1 card Armored/rear 8 2 cards Field pieces 6 Same as inf. All field guns and MG arc of fire is 45 degrees A natural 1 is always a hit Infantry Fire: Reg Inf. stands roll 1d10 per fig.; Lt. MG 4 per stand; Hvy MG 6 per stand Target type Hit on less than Dice/Cards Armor 9 1 card Non Armor 9 2 cards Gun crews 6 roll 1 6d for each fig 1.2.3.4=dead Inf. 6 roll 1 6d for each fig 1.2.3.4=dead Only special anti tank inf. may damage armor To Hit Modifers: Add or subtract from die roll. Cumulative. Lt. cover +1 Prone +2 (Inf. only) Heavy cover +3 Attacker Heavier-2 (i.e.: Hvy field piece vs. Lt. tank) Attacker Lighter +2 Under 1/2 range -2 under 1/4 range automatic hit If any inf. unit is fired on by any weapon it must go prone. Russians or lapanese attacking ignore this rule inf./mg stands may split fire or pour as many shots as can bear on one target All targets must be called prior to firing. ("I'm putting 4 hvy mg shots on this stand and 2 on this one.") Indirect Fire: Targets must be in L.O.S. of spotter. No premeasuring. Place a marker where you want your shell to land. Call the distance. The shot falls on the line from the firer to the marker at the distance called. Light mortars firing on any target or light guns firing on inf. have a 1 1/2 circle of potential hits. Heavy mortars firing on any target or heavy guns firing on inf. have a 2 1/4 circle of potential hits. Any inf. under the circle are dead, any vehicle over 50 percent is destroyed , but under 50 percent pulls 1 card if armored. 2 if non armored. Anything in a truck or towed by a truck. which is destroyed by fire. if also destroyed. Special Figs Some inf units may contain a special fig like a bazooka or a sniper. Make a note of which unit has what and only place the figure on the table when he fires. The figure may be placed within 3 of any unit stand. Once on the tabk it remains on the table. Snipers get a minus 1 firing at a target. 2nd sequential shot at the same target gets a -2 and so on. Melee: Roll 1D6 high die kills 1 fig. Add 1 for every fig on stand. Add 1 for every Officer. Ties reroll. Card Results Ace through 10 = destroyed 9 = halts next turn 8 = If armed with MG, MG is jammed remainder of game 7 = turns 90 degrees right moves full 1 turn 6 = loose a track or get a flat may not move but thay continue to fire 5 = turns 90 degrees left and moves full next turn 4 = Blows up causing hits on any inf. within 8" 3 = full reverse next turn 2 = dazed: stays stationary 1 turn and may not fire "A Bridge Too Glub" The playtest Brits - Defense: 1 med. tank, 2 hvy AT gun. 1 lt. AT gun. Hvy mortar unit. Hvy MG unit, 7 reg inf with lt. MG's Japs - Attackers: 3 med tanks, 3 lt tanks. 1 It AT gun. 1 lt mortar unit. 8 reg inf 4 with lt mortars 4 with lt mg- 10 trucks The brits were told to hold a long trestle bridge for a retreating British column (it would never appear). They had no engineers to blow it up. Thev started entrenched in hvy cover. The hvy mortars were in a clearing out of sight. The Med tank was hidden in the bush & had a clear shot straight down the bridge. Everything else was lining the river with clear fields of fire. The river was wide & swift ( blue yarn showed its edges ). Only inf could ford the river at 3" per turn. If a stand rolled odd while in the river it went down stream 3" instead of forward. The Japanese flanking column was to seize the bridge to prevent the British withdrawal. They entered in road column because they were told the British hadn't arrived vet. 3 lt tanks, 3 med tanks lt AT & inf in trucks. Whoever held the bridge at the end of turn 10 won. Turn 1: The japs raced for the bridge full tilt but ended up out of Brit. range. The umpire announced - Rolling to see if the British column comes on." Die roll. "No!" I didn't matter what he rolled that column was never coming on. Turn 2: Once again the japs raced for the bridge ( no cards were turned yet as the japs thought they were the only figs on the table) At the end of their movement the lead Japanese elements were in Brit. range & the brits opened up. The 2 hvy ATs had flank shots on the 1st 2 med. tanks & the lt. AT took a shot at the lead tankette. The hvy mortars fired at the leading trucks. The lt AT missed the tankette. The hvy mortar guesstamate distance fell so short it was pitiful but the 2 med tanks took hits. The lead tank was - "dazed stationary" & the 2nd got a "reverse" Turn 3: Opened with the Japanese players praying for red cards so they could get the hell out of the trucks. The first three cards were black. All 3 ATs got hits on trucks taking out 1 inf unit & the lt AT. The third truck drew 2 cards 'right turn move full" then "left turn move full" which eventually would put it careening into the river. Remember that scene in "Back To Bataan" where the little Philippine school boy grabs the wheel of the Jap truck and sends it over the cliff? The game started at 7:30 with 6 people, new rules & went 10 turns & was over by 12:30. It was a Japanese victory. Unknown to the brits at anytime during the game the Japanese could yell "Bonzai!" and all their dead inf came back 12" behind their lead inf stand. Hvy mortars weren't as deadly as I thought. High points were the Brit. tank reduced to a burning hulk blocking the middle of the bridge & the Japanese finding out about the river current. 4 stands were washed off the edge. Their tiny 15mm hands desperately grasping at rocks & logs. Some people thought the hvy MG should have more fire power especially after the japs yelled Banzii. Mortars proved deadly on stationary targets regardless of cover. Inf units really need an AT weapon figure. They had no way to stop a tank if one was still active. It was a real inf fight. Remember if you don't like a rule change it. Back to MWAN #96 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1997 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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